About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 31, 2018)
(Pie fumes WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31,2018 | $1.00 | GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA | gainesvilletimes.com What is YOUR choice for the best Halloween sweet treats? life, 4B Honestly Local Sardis Connector closer to right of way acquisition BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com Right of way acquisition for the long-awaited Sardis Connector in northwest Hall County could begin next summer and take two years to complete, engineer Denise Farr said this week. Construction could follow two to three years “after everything is acquired,” she said. Area residents will be able to get more information during a public information meeting set for Nov. 15 at Chestatee High School. Maps of the project will be available. The meeting won’t feature any formal presentations. The planned 3.4-mile, four-lane road, which has been discussed for years, would run from Dawsonville Highway/Ga. 53 in West Hall, start ing at the intersection of Sardis and Chestatee roads, to Thompson Bridge Road/Ga. 60 in North Hall, ending near Mount Vernon Road. “The project would consist of a combination of widening and reconstruction on several existing local roads and roadway construc tion on new locations,” the proj ect’s legal ad states. The new connector is targeted to run along existing segments of Sar dis Road, Fran Mar Drive, Brack ett Drive, Ladd Drive, Ledan Road and Southern Road. ■ Please see SARDIS, 6A Sardis Connector What: A public meeting featuring maps of the proposed road project When: 5-7 p.m. Nov. 15 Where: Chestatee High School, 3005 Sardis Road, Gainesville More info: 770-531 -6800 or hallcounty.org/397/Sardis- Connector-Maps ‘Fight for our future’ r • 1 Gw PUTj^G GEORGIANS FIRST * t 1 M k: 1 nr VPF. L. * * Gubernatorial candidate Kemp speaks to supporters in Gainesville BY MEGAN REED mreed@gainesvilletimes.com Brian Kemp told voters in Gainesville on Tuesday morning that the Nov. 6 elec tion, in which he is running for governor, is “a fight for our future.” Kemp, Georgia’s Secre tary of State, encouraged supporters at Longstreet Cafe to head to the polls. “(Democrats) are turn ing their base out in historic levels. You may not see that here in Northeast Georgia, but I promise it’s happen ing,” Kemp said. “We can not allow people to sit at home. We have to squeeze out every vote that we can to put up a red wall around the good work that these good folks have done in this state for 16 years now and knock ■ Please see KEMP, 6A Online View live footage from the event at facebook.com/ gainesvilletimes. Above: Brian Kemp, Georgia’s Secretary of State and Republican candidate for governor, speaks to supporters at Longstreet Cafe on Tuesday, Oct. 30. Below: Kemp greets Stacey Reece, owner of Spherion, during Kemp’s visit at Longstreet Cafe. Photos by AUSTIN STEELE The Times ‘(Democrats) are turning their base out in historic levels. You may not see that here in Northeast Georgia ...We have to squeeze out every vote that we can to put up a red wall around the good work that these good folks have done in this state for 16 years now and knock that blue wave down.’ Brian Kemp, Secretary of State and Republican candidate for governor Stephens Jr. Suspect in 2016 N. Hall burglaries arrested BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com One of nine suspects charged in 2016 with smash-and-grab burglaries across Hall County was arrested Monday. The arrest is part of a larger statewide inves tigation into an estimated $1.35 million in prop erty damages and loss that led to more than 300 arrest warrants in 2017. “The targets of this criminal gang known to investigators as ‘ABM’, All About Money, included gas stations and mom-and-pop type grocery stores,” Lt. Scott Ware wrote in a November 2017 news release. “The primary items which were stolen during the burglaries were safes, ATM machines and cigarettes.” Gary Javon Stephens Jr., of Atlanta, was at the Gwinnett County Jail on other charges when the Hall County arrest warrant was served Oct. 29, according to the Hall County Sheriff’s Office. Stephens is accused of three counts of smash- and-grab burglary after “knocking a hole in the back wall” of three North Hall businesses and taking merchandise, according to the warrants. Lt. Scott Ware said seven others may be involved in those specific cases. Stephens’ public defender Chris van Rossem declined to comment Tuesday. The businesses affected were the Mount Ver non Market on Mount Vernon Road, the Stop-By convenience store on Cleveland Highway and the Clermont Food Mart on Cleveland Highway. Mount Vernon Market owner Minesh Patel took over the business the month after the bur glary. He said the front door, safe and electron ics in the store were damaged. No one answered the phone at Clermont Food Mart on Tuesday, and a message seeking comment from Stop-By was not returned. Investigators obtained warrants in July 2017 for the nine suspects in the eight total smash- and-grab burglaries reported between May and October 2016 in Hall. “Everyone else has warrants, but if I recall correctly, they are locked up in other counties at the moment,” Ware said Tuesday, Oct. 30. He could not confirm where any of the other suspects are being held. Ware could confirm that one of the suspects, Mario Pass, of Atlanta, was arrested on Oct. 5,2017. “In each case they caused in excess of $500 worth of damage to the stores and stole merchan dise once inside,” Ware wrote in a news release. Ware did not have information on total dam age and property loss in Hall or what merchan dise was stolen. 40901 06835 INSIDE Business 3B Calendar 2A Opinion 4A Our Region 6A Sports 1B TV/puzzles 5B WEATHER 2A High Low V 74 58 \Y Lake Lanier level: 1,069.42 feet Full pool 1,071. Down 0.05 feet in 24 hours DEATHS 7A Cheryl Lynn Anderson Bailey, 74 Georgia Ruth Bailey, 77 Betty Jean Brooks, 88 Margaret R. Brown, 74 Dustin Mark Dyer, 29 Nellie Collins Edge, 86 Larry Joe Faulkner, 73 Randall Foster, 68 Earl Ford Gowder Jr., 71 Richard Harrison, 78 M.L. Head, 86 Myron Bernard Hubers, 68 Benjamin Franklin Morris, 75 DiAnn Perry, 81 Eris McGee Phillips, 86 Jimmie Larry Phillips, 76 William Chase Spires, 33 CALDWELL ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS CALL US TODAY! 24/7/365 • 24-Hour Emergency Service © COMMERCIAL - INDUSTRIAL GENERATORS 2334 Danbury Lane Gainesville, GA 30507 770-531 -7890 caldwellelectric.com I caldwell@caldwellelectric.com Voted Best mm, Electrician in -■ “ Nominated for Best Electrician in Best of Hall 2019 You may vote now atbestofhallcounty.com
