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school
Officials: Boy, 11, had gun at
Student arrested after .22-caliber weapon found in book bag
BY LAYNE SALIBA
lsaliba@gainesvilletimes.com
A sixth-grader at East Hall
Middle School was arrested and
charged Friday after another stu
dent reported he had a weapon
while at school.
Hall County Sheriff’s Office
spokesman Derreck Booth said the
11-year-old student had a ,22-cali-
ber handgun, which was found in
his book bag in his locker.
“School officials and the school
resource officer immediately
detained the boy, retrieved the bag
from his locker, discovered the
loaded handgun in it and seized it,”
Booth said.
A folding pocket knife was also
found in the book bag, Booth said.
The school was on lockdown
after the report. The lockdown was
lifted at 11:30 a.m., an hour after
administrators were alerted.
Investigators believe “the stu
dent took the items at some point
this week from a family mem
ber without the family member’s
knowledge.”
Booth said there was no indica
tion that the student made any
threats with the gun and he coop
erated with authorities while being
arrested.
The student was charged with
two counts of possession of a
weapon on school property, Booth
said.
School spokesman Gordon Hig
gins said in a statement the student
has been suspended and a mes
sage about the incident was sent to
parents.
The student is being held at the
Gainesville Regional Youth Deten
tion Center pending a scheduled
hearing Tuesday.
Satisfying a community need
SCOn ROGERS I The Times
Carol J. Leverette checks a pan of macaroni and cheese in the oven at M&M Down Home Catering on Athens Street. The caterer
is preparing to serve more than 800 people this Thanksgiving.
Caterer prepares to feed 800 or more on Thanksgiving
Photo courtesy RHONDA WHELCHEL I For The Times
Volunteers prep for last year’s Thanksgiving Day meals
provided by M&M Down Home Catering of Gainesville.
BY JOSHUA SILAVENT
jsilavent@
gainesvilletimes.com
Martha Randolph,
owner of M&M Down
Home Catering in Gaines
ville, certainly knows a
thing or two about feeding
people.
But the demand for
her annual Thanksgiving
Day meal this year keeps
growing and growing — so
much so that it’s beginning
to take a village to feed the
village.
“We’ll take requests
until the day of,” Randolph
said. “It has grown every
year (since its inception
five years ago). We started
out just feeding folks (liv
ing) under the (Queen City
Parkway) bridge.”
In fact, the mission all
along has been “to feed the
homeless, elderly, and sick
and shut-in here in the city
of Gainesville,” Randolph
said.
But there are a lot of
residents living paycheck
to paycheck, right on the
verge of poverty if their
car breaks down or a medi
cal injury pulls them out of
work for too long.
“There’s a big need,
especially with the elderly
because Meals on Wheels
don’t serve that day,” Ran
dolph said. “But you don’t
have to explain to us what
your need is.”
Already, Randolph and
her team have collected
about 350 names of people
to serve, including those
assisted by local social ser
vice agencies and homeless
missions like the Salvation
■ Please see FEED, 6A
M&M Down Home
Catering holiday meal
What: 5th annual Thanksgiving
Day community feeding
When: Thursday, Nov. 22
Where: Throughout Gainesville
More info: If you or anyone
you know is in need of a free
Thanksgiving Day meal,
call 678-696-5970 or email
mandmcateringservice@yahoo.
com. Meal delivery is restricted
to a 10-mile radius from 996
Athens St. in Gainesville. Those
outside this radius can still get
a meal but they must pick it
up. For more information, visit
mandmdownhomecatering.
weebly.com.
What’s on the menu?
Chicken, dressing and gravy, green
beans and pinto beans, mashed
potatoes, rolls and dessert.
Donations needed:
■ Volunteers and financial
contributions - call 678-696-5970
or email mandmcateringservice@
yahoo.com
■ Carry-out plastic or paper
dining and dessert plates
■ Foil pans, trash bags, charcoal
■ Potatoes, onions, cornmeal,
green beans, butter, poultry
seasoning
■ Cleaning supplies
‘There’s a big need, especially with the elderly because Meals on Wheels don’t
serve that day. But you don’t have to explain to us what your need is.’
Martha Randolph, owner of M&M Down Home Catering
Committee:
Consistency
needed on
broadband
BY MEGAN REED
mreed@gainesvilletimes.com
State lawmakers want to expand broadband
access throughout Georgia, particularly in rural
areas.
But to deploy that technology, utility compa
nies often have to use space in public rights of
way, which could be owned by a municipality
or the state. A state Senate committee, which
met in Gainesville Friday, is looking at ways to
expand those utilities while working with util
ity companies, as well as local
and state governments.
State Sen. Butch Miller,
R-Gainesville, said the state
needs a more consistent sys
tem to address how utility
companies use rights of way.
“We have 159 counties and
600 cities, and everybody’s
doing something different.
First we need to address the
immediate concerns, then address the long
term concerns with a standardized system
that benefits municipalities, the counties, the
vendors, and most importantly benefits the citi
zen,” Miller said in an interview.
Not having broadband access in an area can
deter businesses from moving there and can
make it more difficult for existing businesses to
operate, Miller said.
The committee’s third meeting was Friday,
■ Please see BROADBAND, 6A
Miller
Family draws new
leader to foster care
support agency
BY JOSHUA SILAVENT
Jsilavent@gainesvilletimes.com
Natalie Milom had a few good reasons to
relocate to Georgia to become the new execu
tive director of Supporting Adoption and Fos
ter Families Together, a nonprofit with family
crisis centers in Gainesville,
Cumming and Rome.
But each of the reasons had
to do with one thing: family.
The move from Greenville,
S.C., brings Milom closer to
her own family, including a
sister in the Atlanta area, and
offers her the opportunity to
get back to the kind of work
she loves and does the best.
“I knew I wanted to get back
into working for children and families — the
foster care population,” Milom said.
SAFFT founders Brian and Ashley Anderson
■ Please see FOSTER, 6A
Sponsor SAFFT at the
ClubCorp Charity Classic
What: Charity golf tournament for Supporting
Adoption and Foster Families Together
When: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 17
Where: Windermere Golf Club, 5000 Davis
Love Drive, Cumming, 30041
More info: To register and sponsor, visit
safft.org/clubcorp-charity-classic/
Milom
40901
06835
INSIDE
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Lake Lanier level: 1,069.42 feet
Full pool 1,071. Up 0.02 feet in 24 hours
Sabrina Morgan, 33
Joseph Yarberry, 58