About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 7, 2018)
ELI OUR REGION Shannon Casas | Editor in Chief 770-718-3417 | news@gainesvilletimes.com The Times, Gainesville, Georgia Wednesday, November 7, 2018 Body found in Lanier in apparent drowning BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com The body of a Lawrenceville man, who reportedly told his friend he had planned to “go fish ing all night,” was discovered Mon day, Nov. 5, in Lake Lanier, Hall County and Department of Natural Resources authorities said. Benjamin Franklin Jackson, 48, told a friend Sunday, Nov. 4, about his fishing plans. By 3:50 p.m. Monday, Jackson’s wife reported him missing and used his cellphone’s geolocation data to find the device near Flowery Branch Park off of Mitchell Street. With help from another person, she found his “pickup truck off of the railroad tracks between Bell Drive and Mitchell Street. His fishing equipment and chair were nearby and close to the shore,” Hall County Sheriff’s Office spokes man Derreck Booth wrote in a news release. Jackson’s body was found roughly 20 feet from the shore three hours after his wife called authorities. “The preliminary investigation found no signs of foul play in what appears to be an accidental drown ing,” Booth said. Jackson’s body was transported to the medical examiner’s office for autopsy, and the case is still under investigation by Hall County authorities. BOB ANDRES I Associated Press A steady stream of people vote at the St Mary’s Orthodox Church in Roswell, Ga., Tuesday, Nov. 6. GOP holds slim lead in several statewide races Associated Press SAVANNAH — As voting con tinued in several counties early Wednesday, Republicans appeared to hold slim margins on the way to holding control of several statewide offices Open seats Candidates squared off to fill the statewide offices given up by Repub lican Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Brian Kemp, Georgia’s GOP secretary of state, when they joined the election- season scramble to replace term-lim ited GOP Gov. Nathan Deal. Republican Geoff Duncan, a for mer state lawmaker, faced Demo cratic businesswoman Sarah Riggs Amico in the race for lieutenant gov ernor and held a 53-47 percent lead at 1 a.m. Duncan would be only the second Republican to hold the job since it debuted on the ballot in 1946. Democrats last won the No. 2 state wide office in 2002. Former Democratic congressman John Barrow, who lost his House seat in 2014, sought a comeback in the race for secretary of state. Republi can state Rep. Brad Raffensperger hoped to keep the office of Georgia’s elections chief in GOP hands and held a razor-thin margin. Libertarian Smythe Duval is also on the ballot. GOP Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens’ decision to step down created yet another vacancy. Republican Jim Black, Hudgens’ for mer chief of staff, had 51 percent of the vote against Democratic insur ance agent Janice Laws. Also in the race was Libertarian Donnie Foster. Other showdowns GOP state School Superintendent Richard Woods won a second term against Democrat Otha Thornton Jr., who was the first black man to serve as president of the National PTA. Republican Labor Commissioner Mark Butler defeated Democrat Richard Keatley, a former professor of French and Italian. And Agricul ture Commissioner Gary Black won re-election over Democratic soft ware developer Fred Swann. Republican Attorney General Chris Carr faced his first election test since the governor appointed him two years ago to fill the unexpired term of his predecessor, Sam Olens, and seemed to be on his way to vic tory against opponent Charlie Bailey. Public Service Commission Two Republican members of Georgia’s utility-regulating Public Service Commission hoped to defend their seats amid criticism over esca lating costs for building two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle near Augusta. GOP incumbent Chuck Eaton faced Democrat Lindy Miller and Libertarian Ryan Graham for the commission’s District 3 seat in metro Atlanta and held a slim lead. Republi can commissioner Tricia Pridemore was being challenged by Democrat Dawn Randolph and Libertarian John Turpish for the PSC’s District 5 seat in western Georgia. GOVERNOR ■ Continued from 1A would be the first black woman in American history elected governor in any state and the first woman or nonwhite governor in Georgia history. She’s already made history as the first black woman to be a major party gubernatorial nominee. Kemp, a 54-year-old businessman and veteran secretary of state is vying to maintain the GOP’s hold on a state that is nearing presidential battle ground status courtesy of its growth and diversity. Republicans have won every Georgia governor’s race since 2002. Ballot access and election integrity flared up in the final weekend after a private citizen alerted the Geor gia Democratic Party and a private attorney of vulnerability in the online voter database Kemp that oversees in his current job as secretary of state. Those private communications ended up with Kemp announcing, without providing any evidence, that he was launching an investigation into Georgia Democrats for “possible cybercrimes.” Kemp pushed back Monday against concerns that his call for an investiga tion is politically motivated. But Abrams would have none of that, declaring Kemp a “bald-faced liar” intent on deflecting attention from security problems with his system. Nonprofit Protect Democracy said in a news release that it filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to keep Kemp from being involved in counting votes, certi fying results or any runoff or recount. The lawsuit says that Kemp presid ing over an election in which he is a candidate “violates a basic notion of fairness.” Secretary of state’s office spokeswoman Candice Broce called the lawsuit a “twelfth-hour stunt.” Both nominees frame the election as no less than a battle for Georgia’s soul, a contest so intense that early voting has approached the overall number of ballots cast in the gover nor’s race four years ago. Georgia law requires a majority to win, so the presence of a Libertarian on the ballot could yield a Dec. 4 runoff. “I’ve never seen a time where the state of Georgia had more at stake than we do in this contest,” Kemp told supporters at one of his final cam paign stops. In the closing days, Kemp basked in President Donald Trump’s glow, after a Sunday rally that drew thousands of boisterous Republicans to central Georgia to see Trump deplane from Air Force One. Abrams, meanwhile, continued as she has throughout her campaign noting the potential historical signifi cance but arguing the contest should be about more. “I don’t want anyone to vote for me because I’m black,” she told support ers in Savannah on Monday. “And no one on the ballot needs a vote because we’re women. And I don’t even want you to vote for us just because we’re Democrats. You need to vote for us because we’re better.” The Georgia outcome is among the most closely watched of any midterm contest for reasons beyond Abrams’ race and gender. Democrats are expected to pick up several governor’s seats across the country, particularly in the Midwest region that helped pro pel Trump to the White House in 2016. But flipping what has been a GOP stronghold like Georgia would signal a potential meaningful shift in the elec torate and open up a new battleground ahead of 2020. MIDTOWN ■ Continued from 1A redevelopment plan, and the zone was adopted in the city’s land development code in 2005. City offi cials want to encourage redevel opment in Gainesville’s midtown, which includes several industrial developments. “It really set the vision and stan dards for this overlay to improve the aesthetics and functionality of the uses within this area.... For 13 years now, we have identified additional uses that really just do not contribute in a positive way,” Tate said. The ordinance passed 4-1, with Councilwoman Barbara Brooks opposing. Brooks said after the meet ing that she was not comfortable with having gas stations in the area, and the perimeter of the overlay zone includes major roads that have plenty of places for drivers to get gas. Allowing gas stations could lead to more liquor or package stores, she said. No one had spoken in opposition to the ordinance at a Tuesday hearing. The ordinance went into effect immediately. Long lines, machine issues mar vote on Election Day Associated Press ATLANTA - Problem signs that arose during weeks of early voting car ried into Election Day as some voters across the country faced hours-long lines, malfunctioning voting equipment and unexpect edly closed polling places. Some of the biggest back ups were in Georgia, where the governor’s race was among the nation’s most- watched midterm contests and was generating heavy turnout. One voter in Gwinnett County, Ontaria Woods, waited more than three hours and said she saw about two dozen people who had come to vote leave because of the lines. “We’ve been trying to tell them to wait, but people have children,” Woods said. “People are getting hungry. People are tired.” The good-government group Common Cause blamed high turnout com bined with too few vot ing machines, ballots and workers. Fulton County elections director Richard Barron acknowledged some pre cincts did have lines of vot ers but said that was due to the length of the ballots and voting machines taken from use because of an ongoing lawsuit, although plaintiffs in the case dis pute that as a reason. While voting went on without a hitch in many communities, voters from New York to Arizona faced long lines and malfunction ing equipment. By Tuesday afternoon, the nonpartisan Election Protection hotline had received about 17,500 calls from voters reporting prob lems at their polling places. Kristen Clarke, president of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which helps run the hotline, said that number was well ahead of the last midterm election in 2014, when it had received about 10,400 calls by the same time. Tuesday’s election marked the first nation wide voting since Russia targeted state election systems in the 2016 presi dential race. Federal, state and local officials have been working to make the nation’s myriad election systems more secure. There were no signs throughout the day that Russia or any other foreign actor had tried to launch cyberattacks against voting systems in any state, federal authorities said. There was also no indication that any systems have been compro mised that would prevent voting, change vote counts or disrupt the ability to tally votes, U.S. officials said. That was little comfort to voters who found them selves waiting in long lines or dealing with malfunc tioning voting equipment. Permitting for business park begins in Gainesville BY MEGAN REED mreed@gainesvilletimes.com The Gainesville City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to start the permit ting process for a 1,300-acre business park on city land off of Allen Creek Road. The property near the Allen Creek Soccer Com plex, will be divided into 20 lots. The city has signed on as the business park’s first tenant and will operate water resources and public works maintenance facili ties there. The city has owned the land since 1990, when state and federal regulations required municipalities to use spray irrigation for sewer treatment plants. Because the land is near Allen Creek, flood plains and ponds, the city will have to apply for permits with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers before the site is developed. Gainesville currently has five business parks that are almost full. The city plans to work with the Greater Hall Chamber of Com merce to recruit businesses for the new business park. “We’re excited about the possibilities here moving forward. .. 1,300 acres of city-owned land there that we feel can really be a shot in the arm for our commu nity,” City Manager Bryan Lackey said. A trail would connect one end of the business park to the soccer complex. The cost and timeline for the project have not been finalized yet. Bus shelter panels damaged by alleged BB gunfire The city of Gainesville spent more than $1,000 to replace bus shelters panels after police believe someone fired at the shelters with a BB gun. Gainesville Police took two reports Oct. 31 of criminal damage to the Hall Area Transit bus shelters on Athens Street. Sgt. Kevin Holbrook said it “sounded like someone drove by with a BB gun” and shot at the plastic shelters. According to the report, the damage happened sometime between Oct. 8 and Oct. 29. “I am told that we replaced four panels at a cost of $1,024,” City Manager Bryan Lackey wrote in an email. Nick Watson FIELDALE ■ Continued from 1A fixing the Georgia Dock Broiler price index.” The price index data from 2000- 2016 can be found on the Geor gia Department of Agriculture’s website. Fieldale Farms and the plain tiffs entered a settlement agree ment in July 27, 2017, and the cor poration paid it into an interest- bearing escrow account around Aug. 28, 2017, according to court documents. In the memorandum con cerning the settlement’s final approval, Fieldale Farms is reported as one of the small est broiler market shares of all the defendants. The settlement also requires Fieldale Farms to make current or former employ ees available for interviews and depositions as well as other docu ments for the plaintiffs’ continued prosecution. After sending out thousands of notice forms, posting notices in industry publications, creating a website and toll-free call-in num ber, there were 109,695 potential class members. Only 43 of those sent opt-out requests. According to the memoran dum, the settlement agreement was reached before the U.S. Dis trict Court in Illinois ruled on the motions to dismiss. “In fact, Fieldale Farms argued that their antibiotic free broil ers were much more akin to the halal, kosher, free range, and organic broilers not included in the (Direct Purchaser Plain tiffs’) proposed class,” according to the memorandum. “Although rejected in the order on the motions to dismiss, the court cau tioned that the argument could prevail at a later stage in the liti gation. Because the settlement was negotiated before the court ruled on Fieldale Farm’s motion to dismiss, the (Direct Purchaser Plaintiffs) properly took into account the risk of that argument prevailing at the motion to dis miss stage or later — which likely would eliminate most or all of the claims against Fieldale Farms.” The memorandum asked the court to grant final approval of the settlement. Attorneys for neither side returned calls for comment from The Times.
