About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 18, 2018)
Save up to $79 COUPONS INSIDE 1 dead, another hurt after plane crash at Gainesville airport, our region, ic Thanksgiving dinner can have a local feel this year, life, ie SCOn ROGERS I The Times New Hall County Fire Services Chief Chris Armstrong, who got his start in the Miami suburb of Miramar, Florida, was hired after an 11 -month gap since former fire chief Jeff Hood’s resignation. Incoming fire chief discusses how he’ll lead department BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com With little fanfare or ado, Chris Armstrong arrived in Hall County in late October just short of his fifth anni versary of being fire chief in Littleton, Colorado. Saying he doesn’t enjoy people mak ing “a fuss,” he left the decision up to the county regarding an official swear ing-in ceremony as the new Hall County Fire Services fire chief. “I appreciate people wanting to know and using that as a platform to really welcome me to the community, but I don’t do this job for me. I do it for the firefighters,” said Armstrong, who had his official first day Oct. 29. That mindset was also shared in his interview for chief as the county searched for a leader for the depart ment for the third time in three years. Armstrong was named as one of three finalists in August for the position vacated by former chief Jeff Hood on Oct. 31,2017. “I’m a big believer, and I said this in my interview, that I’m not really a fire chief: I’m a support services chief, which means myself, as well as the other chief officers, are here to sup port our firefighters to make sure they have the training, tools, equipment and resources that they need to carry out the mission,” he said. The chief prior to Hood, David Kim- brell, was relieved of command in August 2014 following a training inci dent that injured three firefighters operating a ladder truck at the Allen Creek Training Center. Kimbrell was fired in October 2017 from his job as emergency manage ment director after video surfaced of him engaging in lewd sex acts while fire chief. “I think this is a great opportunity for Hall County Fire, Hall County govern ment and the Hall County community as a whole to turn a new page, knowing that there are things that happened in the past but using that as a springboard to launch forward positively rather than dwelling in any kind of place of darkness or negativity,” Hall County spokeswoman Katie Crumley said. Morale issues and questions about leadership have been swirling for at least the past couple of years. In March 2016, a document of more than 80 pages was delivered to assistant county administrator Marty Nix signed by “300,” detailing alleged ethical vio lations in the department. County officials said in previous interviews with The Times that the document was reviewed and handled internally. Hall County Board of Com missioners clerk Lisa Ritchie said there were no records available to The Times’ open records request regarding documents created in the subsequent investigation into the letter. When asked by firefighters if he had read the letter, Armstrong said he had not and had no intention of doing so. “I don’t know what’s fact and what’s fiction. If there was an 80-page docu ment with your name in it and you didn’t know what was written about you, you wouldn’t want somebody else to read it not knowing if it was true or not. I make my own opinions about peo ple based on what I see and how they interact with me, not based on a docu ment that somebody might have had an agenda and wrote,” he said. Armstrong faced a somewhat similar situation almost five years ago when he took the helm in Littleton following the ■ Please see FIRE, 4A T think this is a great opportunity for Hall County Fire, Hall County government and the Hall County community as a whole to turn a new page, knowing that there are things that happened in the past but using that as a springboard to launch forward positively rather than dwelling in any kind of place of darkness or negativity.’Katie Crumley, Hall County spokeswoman UNG GAINESVILLE Housing industry reacting to growth Developer seeks atmosphere similar to other colleges BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com Bill Stark is more than familiar with off-campus, private student housing, as his son attends Clemson University in South Carolina. “It’s very, very popular, and they fill up very quickly,” he said. The South Hall developer is working to meet a similar need at the University of North Georgia’s fast growing Gainesville campus. Grading has started on 18 cottages off Frontage Road in Oakwood, near the Thurmon Tanner Park way entrance to UNG. “It’ll be a sidewalk community,” Stark said. “They can walk out of the unit and walk straight to class. ” Rapid growth at the UNG campus has helped drive the housing market in South Hall, particularly Oak- wood, which envelopes the school on Mundy Mill Road and Thurmon Tanner Parkway. Earlier this month, UNG reported a record 19,722 students — the state’s third largest percentage increase, just behind increases at Middle Georgia State University and Georgia Tech. With 8,160 students, the Gainesville campus had the highest enrollment of UNG’s five campuses for fall ■ Please see HOUSING, 5A Hispanic population growing at quick pace BY JOSHUA SILAVENT jsilavent@gainesvilletimes.com Hispanic students are remaking the student body at the University of North Georgia campus in Gaines ville, a reflection of both the school’s growing enroll ment and the impact first- and second-gen eration immigrants are having locally. “We know that that Hispanic population is going to increase nationally, but par ticularly in our area of Georgia, and even more particularly in the area of Gaines ville,” said Alyson Paul, associate vice president of student affairs and dean of students for the Gainesville campus. Latino students attending UNG, Gainesville Fall 2013:671 Fall 2014: 624 Fall 2015:632 Fall 2016:1,411 Fall 2017:1,608 Fall 2018:1,793 ■ Please see HISPANIC, 5A INSIDE WEATHER 2A DEATHS 2C 0 4 0 9 01 06825 Advice 2E Business 1D Calendar 2A Classified 1F Comics Inside Kitchen 2C Life 1E Lottery 2A Opinion 2D Our Region 1C Sports 1B Viewpoint 3D level: 1,071.38 feet Full pool 1,071. Down 0.17 feet in 24 hours 61 Low 42 James Davis, 94 Joesph lannarone, 93 Joe Banks, 74 Frances Black, 65 Hassie Carson, 96 Joseph Conway, 66 Helen Dunn, 83 Ruth Hummel, 92 Cole Kraft, 20 Peter Laba, 73 Judy Lance, 61 Douglas Price, 73 victory has a nice ring to it. For cancer care that is nationally recognized by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer, visit nghs.com/victory-rings, or call 770-824-9262. U Northeast Georgia Medical Center CANCER SERVICES
