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I2J OUR REGION
Shannon Casas | Editor in Chief
770-718-3417 | news@gainesvilletimes.com
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia
Saturday, November 17, 2018
Mowers, generator, truck taken from business
For The Times
Gainesville police are seeking information in connection with a theft at
Pro Touch Landscape, and believe one of the people involved was driving
this pickup truck.
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
Three lawn mowers, a truck
and other landscaping items total
ling more than $80,000 were taken
from Pro Touch Landscapes on
Thompson Bridge Road, the third
reported burglary there within the
past eight months.
Owner and Gainesville city
councilman Zach Thompson said
the suspect broke in after 9 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 13.
“This time, they used some kind
of a key to get in to the gate. I don’t
know if they picked our lock or if
they had a key that matched our
lock,” he said Friday, Nov. 16.
Two red Exmark zero-turn mow
ers, one red Exmark walk-behind
mower, a black Generac gen
erator, a $50,000 truck and some
plants were stolen.
In March, three suspects dis
abled the electricity and cut the
fence before taking six backpack
blowers.
A squad of suspects struck on
Oct. 26 by cutting the fence and
running a car through it.
The Thompsons reported
roughly 40 items missing along
with a $35,000 truck, totalling
$50,000 in property loss.
The owners decided to offer
a $1,000 reward for information
leading to the arrest.
A similar reward is being
offered in this case.
“It was totally different people
this time. The last time I think it
was some professionals. They were
in and out in about 12 minutes, they
stole a bunch of equipment and it
was probably five people. This one
was just one person, and that one
person took about an hour while he
was getting everything together,”
Thompson said comparing the
most recent burglaries.
Thompson said the truck
from the October burglary was
found in Fulton County, but it
has not yet been released by law
enforcement.
The truck from Tuesday’s case
was recovered without the keys this
week at the Versailles Apartments’
parking lot off of Park Hill Drive in
Gainesville, Thompson said.
Anyone with information is
asked to call Investigator Daniel
Adames at 770-535-3786.
ALYSSA POINTER I Associated Press
Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams makes remarks during a press conference at the Abrams headquarters
in Atlanta, Friday, Nov. 16. Abrams says she will file a federal lawsuit to challenge the “gross mismanagement” of Georgia
elections. Abrams made the comments in a Friday speech, shortly after she said she can’t win the race, effectively ending her
challenge to Republican Brian Kemp.
ABRAMS
■ Continued from 1A
“Let’s be clear: This is not a speech
of concession,” Abrams said. “Because
concession means to acknowledge an
action is right, true or proper. As a
woman of conscience and faith, I can
not concede that.”
The race grabbed the attention
of the nation, with Barack Obama
and Oprah Winfrey campaigning for
Abrams in the final days and
President Donald Trump hold
ing a rally for Kemp.
Unofficial returns showed
Kemp ahead by roughly 60,000
votes out of nearly 4 million
cast on Nov. 6. Kemp declared
himself governor-elect the
next day and stepped down as
Georgia’s secretary of state,
though thousands of absen
tee and provisional ballots remained
uncounted.
Abrams, meanwhile, sent volunteers
across the state in search of voters
whose ballots were rejected. She filed
suit in federal court to force county
elections boards to count absentee
ballots with incorrect birthdates. Her
campaign even planned for possible
litigation to challenge the election’s
certified outcome.
Abrams didn’t take that route. She
said she had concluded “the law cur
rently allows no further viable rem
edy.” Instead, she said she would fight
to restore integrity to Georgia’s elec
tion system in a new initiative called
Fair Fight Georgia.
“In the coming days, we will be fil
ing a major federal lawsuit against the
state of Georgia for the gross misman
agement of this election and to protect
future elections from unconstitutional
actions,” Abrams said, though she
gave no details.
Kemp tried to move past the conten
tious campaign even if his opponent
wasn’t willing.
“The election is over and hard
working Georgians are ready to move
forward,” he said. “We can no longer
dwell on the divisive politics of the
past but must focus on Georgia’s bright
and promising future.”
Kemp had been secretary
of state since 2010. He was
backed by and had embraced
Trump as he tried to maintain
GOP dominance in a state that
hasn’t elected a Democrat to
the governor’s mansion since
1998.
Trump praised the Demo
crat in lauding Kemp’s victory,
tweeting: “Congratulations
to Brian Kemp on becoming the new
Governor of Georgia. Stacey Abrams
fought brilliantly and hard — she will
have a terrific political future! Brian
was unrelenting and will become a
great Governor for the truly Wonder
ful People of Georgia!”
Kemp stormed to the GOP nomi
nation with ads featuring everything
from the candidate cranking a chain
saw and jokingly pointing a gun toward
a teen male suitor of his daughter, to
Kemp’s offer to “round up criminal
illegals” himself in his pickup truck.
He’s promised a tax cut and teacher
pay raises and pledged to continue
Georgia’s refusal to expand Medicaid
insurance under President Barack
Obama’s 2010 health care overhaul.
Abrams’ campaign sparked huge
energy across the state and she
became a national Democratic star.
Election turnout among both sides’
energized bases nearly equaled that of
the 2016 presidential vote.
Aides close to Abrams said that
since the election she had been wres
tling with competing priorities: She
wanted to advance her assertions that
Georgia’s elections process — which
Kemp managed as secretary of state
— makes it too hard for some citizens
to vote. But she also recognized that
a protracted legal fight would harm
that cause and potentially her political
future.
Kemp’s victory is an important
marker for Republicans ahead of the
2020 presidential election. Kemp’s
narrow margin already suggests that
Georgia, a state Trump won by 5 per
centage points in 2016, could be a gen
uine battleground in two years. Trump
bet big on Kemp, endorsing him ahead
of Kemp’s Republican primary runoff
and campaigning for him the week
end prior to the Nov. 6 election. Now,
Trump will be able to return with an
incumbent governor as he seeks a sec
ond term.
Abrams’ political future is less cer
tain. She made believers of old-guard
Democrats in Georgia who didn’t
think a black woman could compete in
a general election, and she emerged
as the party’s clear leader. But the
party also has plenty of other ambi
tious politicians who will want to take
advantage of the path that Abrams’
has charted. The next big shot for
Democrats is a 2020 Senate race, with
Republican Sen. David Perdue mak
ing his first re-election attempt.
Kemp
TAD
■ Continued from 1A
Square development.
“The TAD that we
adopted back in 2006 for
midtown, we were head
ing into the recession and
not a lot happened, but I
think we’ve seen recently
with the announcement of
downtown projects, mid
town projects, that TAD is
a huge reason why a lot of
that stuff has happened,”
said Rusty Ligon, Gaines
ville’s community devel
opment director. “Devel
opers know that it’s there,
and a lot of properties
wouldn’t have happened
if not for that TAD.”
When a property is
developed, taxes on that
parcel will go up, but a
TAD allows property own
ers to use that increase to
their advantage. Money
from that increase can go
into a fund that is used to
pay for improvements to
the property. Municipali
ties nationwide use TAD
programs to encourage
development in areas
that are blighted or need
incentives to draw in
developers.
SCOTT ROGERS I The Times
The city of Gainesville wants to establish a tax allocation district to
encourage retail development on the city’s west side.
Officials: School
‘never in any
danger’ over
social media post
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
A Chestatee Academy student has been sus
pended after the Hall County Sheriff’s Office and
Hall County Schools investigated a possible social
media threat on Friday, Nov. 16.
It was “quickly determined” that the school and
students were never in danger, said Hall Schools
spokesman Gordon Higgins.
The student, a boy in seventh grade, reportedly
posted a picture of himself on a social media plat
form holding what appeared to be a handgun, Hig
gins said.
Another student notified the school resource
officer at Chestatee about the photo.
Hall County Sheriff’s Office investigators visited
the student’s home and confirmed that the weapon
was an Airsoft pistol, Higgins added, a non-lethal
gun firing plastic projectiles used in competitive
shooting sports, similar to paintball gun games.
Higgins said the gun in the social media post was
not brought to campus.
Parents with children at Chestatee Academy
were sent the following message around 1:20 p.m.
on Friday:
“Today, a Chestatee Academy student informed
the school resource officer of a threat against
the school posted on social media. An immediate
investigation followed. Through the investigation
with administration and law enforcement, it was
determined that the school was never in any dan
ger. However, a student has been suspended and
is facing possible charges from law enforcement.
If you have any questions, please call the school
principal Jennifer Kogod.”
The student, however, is not being charged with
any crime, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Reporter Joshua Silavent contributed to this story.
Lanier Tech names
Eddy recipient of 2019
Rick Perkins Award
BY JOSHUA SILAVENT
jsilavent@gainesvilletimes.com
Pennie Eddy has been named Lanier Tech’s
Rick Perkins Award winner for 2019 for her work
as director and instructor for the college’s account
ing program.
The Rick Perkins Award is
given annually by the Technical
College System of Georgia to the
outstanding instructor of the year.
' , •DC-'
Each of the system’s 22 colleges
selected a winner, who will now
compete in one of three regional
3 r /(.
competitions in March.
" A'
From each region, three rep-
resentatives are then selected Et| dy
for the overall state competition,
which will be held in April at a TCSG leadership
conference.
“Pennie exemplifies the kind of teacher we
pride ourselves in at Lanier Technical College,”
President Dr. Ray Perren said in a press release.
“She not only engages and trains her students in the
classroom, but also brings a healthy background
of industry knowledge and experience. We know
she will make Lanier Tech proud as she moves for
ward in this competition.”
Eddy began at Lanier Teach as an adjunct
instructor before taking on a full-time teaching
role.
Eddy has 13 years of experience as an
accounting instructor in the Technical
College System of Georgia and more than 16 years
of experience as an accounting manager and certi
fied professional accountant.
She was selected for the inaugural I-Lead Lead
ership training program at Lanier Technical Col
lege and serves as an adviser for Skills USA — a
partnership of students, teachers and industry
working together to ensure America has a skilled
workforce.
“I know that the faculty and staff of the Tech
nical College System of Georgia match the needs
of today’s employers with today’s workforce by
providing hands-on training,” she said. “It’s about
today’s needs, and the TCSG is perfectly positioned
to respond to those needs; that’s what sets us apart. ”
SCAM
■ Continued from 1A
The U.S. Attorney’s Office
said more than $3.5 million
was deposited into bank
accounts before transferring
“the majority of the funds to
Costa Rican bank accounts.”
“These defendants stole
the life savings of dozens of
elderly victims and received
more than $3.5 million,”
said U.S. Attorney Byung
J. “BJay” Pak in a news
release. “These schemes
unfortunately are all too
common and citizens should
be wary of contests that
require upfront payments to
receive a prize.”
After release from cus
tody, Aguilar must be turned
over to immigration officials
for removal proceedings. He
will be on supervised release
for one year, while Sibaja
has a three-year supervised
release.
Neither are allowed to
“incur new credit charges
or open additional lines of
credit without the approval
of the probation officer.”
A restitution hearing has
been set for Jan. 28.
According to court docu
ments, the victims were
instructed to send checks
“via overnight delivery to
mailboxes located in Buford
and Dacula.”
The forfeiture provision
upon conviction would apply
to “all property constituting
or derived from proceeds
obtained directly or indi
rectly as a result of said
violations,” which would
include money in various
bank accounts, smartphones
and laptop computers.