About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 27, 2018)
I2J OUR REGION Shannon Casas | Editor in Chief 770-718-3417 | news@gainesvilletimes.com The Times, Gainesville, Georgia Tuesday, November 27, 2018 Chamber hosts governor, state legislators for open breakfast BY MEGAN REED mreed@gainesvilletimes.com Community members ca next legislative session and at an event with Hall County’s delegation and Gov. Nathan Deal next month. The Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Eggs & Issues breakfast will be Dec. 13 at the Ramsey Confer ence Center at the new Lanier Technical College campus off Ga. 365. The chamber has space at the venue for 600, with 75 reservations still available as of Monday afternoon. Deal will be speaking, and members attending from Hall’s delegation to t! of Representatives include: get a preview of Georgia’s arn more about state issues Eggs & Issues What: Meet with elected officials and discuss state issues When: 7:30 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 13 Where: Ramsey Conference Center at Lanier Tech, 2535 Lanier Tech Drive, Gainesville How much: $25 chamber members, $35 for nonchamber members; make a reservation More info: Gerri Collins, gcollins@ghcc.com or 770-532-6206, ext. 106 Georgia Senate and House ■ State Sen. Butch Miller, 49th District ■ State Sen. John Wilkinson, 50th District ■ State Rep. Lee Hawkins, 27th District ■ State Rep. Matt Dubnik, 29th District ■ State Rep. Emory Dunahoo Jr., 30th District ■ State Rep. Timothy Barr, 103rd District Deal looks back on administration SCOTT ROGERS I The Times Gov. Nathan Deal is the keynote speaker Monday, Nov. 26, during the Rotary Club of Gainesville’s meeting at the First Baptist Church banquet hall. Issues to be discussed at the event include transporta tion, jobs, workforce development, health care, educa tion, taxes and water. “Our legislators remain OllT legislators interested in hearing what the citizens of this com munity have to say, and the attendees want to hear what the legislators have to say,” Kit Dunlap, president and CEO of the chamber, said in a statement. “The issues that have been iden tified prior to the legisla tive session have a direct impact on our commu nity, and we need to bet ter understand the issues as well as have an under standing of our legislators’ positions on these impor tant issues.” The event, which is open to the public, includes a buffet breakfast. Tickets are $25 for chamber mem bers and $35 for nonmem bers. A table is $350. Reservations are required. To make a res ervation, contact Gerri Collins with the chamber at gcollins@ghcc.com or 770- 532-6206, ext. 106. remain interested in hearing what the citizens of this community have to say, and the attendees want to hear what the legislators have to say.’ Kit Dunlap President and CEO of the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce Courtesy Hall County Fire Services An early morning fire Nov. 27, damaged a single-wide mobile home on Titshaw Drive south of Gainesville. Mobile home fire displaces 2, kills dog, Blaze A mother and her 5-year- old daughter are staying at a hotel after their mobile home caught fire, killing their bulldog pup named Blaze. Hall County Fire Ser vices responded to the fire just after 5 a.m. Monday, Nov. 26, in the 3600 block of Titshaw Drive south of Gainesville. The fire affected about half of the single-wide mobile home and was quickly extinguished, according to the fire department. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. A Gofundme account was created for the woman and her daughter by a fam ily friend. “It turns out there was no insurance on the house. Everything is a total loss and there is no insurance to help with anything,” according to the page. As of 7:45 p.m. Monday, Nov. 26, $790 had been raised for the family. Nick Watson Governor reflects on legislative successes and achievements BY MEGAN REED mreed@gainesvilletimes.com Gov. Nathan Deal returned to his roots Monday, speaking to the Gaines ville Rotary Club about his eight-year administration, which is coming to an end. Deal, who spent most of his adult life in Gainesville, served as the president of Gainesville’s Rotary Club in 1976. Philip Wilheit of Wilheit Packaging, a longtime friend of Deal’s, introduced him Monday, reflecting on Deal’s involvement with the Rotary Club and his political career. Several Rotarians contributed to Deal’s first State Senate campaign in 1979. Then, in 1995, he announced at the Rotary Club that he was switch ing from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party. “Throughout the years, Rotary has played a significant role in Nathan’s political career,” Wilheit said. “... I’d like to thank him for everything he’s done for our state, the great state of Georgia, everything he’s done for Gainesville and Hall County. We take great pride in our relationship with Nathan and Sandra.” Deal thanked the Rotarians for their support before reviewing the highlights of his administration. “Many of you have been very vital players in this process,” he told the club Monday. Recovering from the Great Recession Deal said when he took office in 2011, the state was still recovering from the recession, with a rainy day fund that would only allow the state to operate for about two days. Boost ing the economy became a focus of his administration, he said. “We decided early on that we wanted to grow our way out of the Great Recession, not tax our way out of it.... We are a low tax state, we’re a low regulatory state, and we’re a great place to work, live and do business and raise a family,” Deal said. Statewide unemployment is about a third of previous levels, he said, and now sits at about 3.6 percent. For the ‘I’m proud of the fact that we have spent so much money on education. That is truly the future of our current situation and every future generation yet to come.’ Gov. Nathan Deal Gainesville-Hall metropolitan area, that number is 2.6 percent, the lowest of Georgia’s 14 statistical areas. Deal said employers like Kubota and King’s Hawaiian help keep unemploy ment low in Hall. He said he is excited by new businesses like Fox, which is relocating its headquarters from Cali fornia to Hall later this year and bring ing 800 jobs. New businesses are arriving state wide, he said — Georgia currently has about 20 prospects with an average of 850 jobs each. Investing in education Earlier this year, the state funded the Quality Basic Education formula —which allocates dollars for Georgia’s public schools — for the first time since the program started in 1985. Deal said over half the state’s budget has been set aside for education, which he named as a priority of his administration. “I’m proud of the fact that we have spent so much money on education,” Deal said. “That is truly the future of our current situation and every future generation yet to come.” He said the state’s budget includes $9.8 billion for K-12 education and $2.4 billion for universities. And Hall County has been a focus, too, he said — Georgia has contributed $130 million to Lanier Technical College. “(Lanier Tech) is truly going to be the hallmark of technical college education in the state and probably in the country,” Deal said. The college is opening a new campus in January. Deal said technical colleges are a key part of workforce development, and jobs in Georgia still sit unfilled because of a shortage of skilled work ers, a problem his administration worked to fix, he said. “My common sense says that’s a good place to start,” Dealsaid. “Instead of going and spending all of your effort and going to get new jobs to come in, why don’t we try and fill the ones we already have with Georgians?” The HOPE Career Grant provides tuition grants to students in fields where there is a shortage of skilled workers. About 88 percent of students in the program get a job in the field they were trained for, and 99 percent of them get a job, he said. Reducing burden on state prisons Deal said he decided early in his administration that taking on the chal lenge of criminal justice reform would be a priority for him. Prison commitments dropped by about 20 percent between 2009 and 2017, and African-Americans have seen bigger drops in commitments, Deal said. “That translates to, you have an overall lower prison population,” he said. “If you’re paying close to $20,000 per bed for keeping someone incarcer ated in our system, and you reduce that by about 8,000 below what it was pro jected to be back in 2011, we’ve saved the state a lot of money. ” Accountability courts have helped keep people out of the prison system, Deal said. His son Judge Jason Deal’s Hall County courtroom has been used as a statewide model. “What they are doing is giving peo ple second chances. I tell my preacher friends that if you ever run out of ser mon material, just to go to a graduation ceremony from one of these account ability courts,” Deal said. Other programs have focused on training prisoners for the workforce and giving them an opportunity to get a GED or high school diploma. ABERNATHY ■ Continued from 1A Wilheit Packaging in Gainesville. “He was as honest as the day is long, and he was fun to work with.” Abernathy later sold Diago to Mis sion Foods. After retirement, he opened Eagle’s Nest Pottery in Cleve land and Gainesville. Serving under five governors, he was in his 37th year on Georgia’s Board of Public Safety. Georgia State Patrol Post 6 on Cleveland Highway was dedicated to him in December 2009. Named small businessman of the year in 1984, Abernathy also served on boards at Gainesville Junior College (now University of North Georgia’s Gainesville campus), Lanier Techni cal College and East Hall High School. Known as “Buddy” to his grandchil dren, Abernathy, who lived in Lula, attended Victory Baptist Church. “He loved his country, his family and had a passion for woodworking,” his obituary says. “Most of all, he loved the Lord, reading his Bible with (wife) Ruby in the mornings.” Abernathy “was very concerned about where his friends and family would spend eternity.” “My dad was our family patriarch,” said his son, John Wayne Abernathy, who has been in the funeral business for 26 years. “He was our backbone.” He recalled, “I would call my dad about every morning and tell him what was going on, and he’d give me advice. Already, I miss those phone calls.” Funeral services will be held 2 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 27, at Victory Baptist Church in Gainesville. BUSES ■ Continued from 1A Clay Hobbs, director of trans portation, said the current analog radios use a VHF signal and can only reach about 80 to 85 percent of the county. Antennas have long been sta tioned at Wauka Mountain Mul tiple Intelligences Academy and along Skitts Mountain in North Hall. The Skitts Mountain antenna is being removed, the Wauka Moun tain antenna will remain and a new antenna will now be located on a water tower near Flowery Branch High School to maximize coverage, according to Hobbs. The new radios will have roam ing technology, allowing buses to pick up the strongest possible sig nal from either of the two antenna stations, depending on the bus’ location. The state funding comes on the heels of a spate of incidents at schools across Hall County in recent months that have officials on alert about security threats. “I think it shows we’re on the right path,” Board of Educa tion chairman Nath Morris said. “We’re going to continue to put money into security and safety in areas we hope make a difference.” In September, a Clermont man was accused of threatening to shoot up Wauka Mountain elemen tary and is now facing an indict ment in federal court regarding firearm possession. That same month, a Gainesville man was accused of having an Air- soft pistol in the school safety zone near Lanier College and Career Academy. In early November, a sixth- grader at East Hall Middle School was arrested after another student reported he had a weapon. The school was placed on lockdown after the report. And on Nov. 16, a Chestatee Academy student was suspended after the Hall County Sheriff’s Office and Hall County Schools investigated a possible threat made on social media. It was “quickly determined” that the school and students were never in danger, and the student was not charged with a crime. Morris said each instance involved great communication to either dispel or end the purported threats. “When things don’t go noticed, that’s what concerns me,” he added. Superintendent Will Schofield said there are always limitations in what officials can do to ensure safety and security on school campuses. “But our job continues to be do all that we possibly can to keep our kids and our staff members as safe as possible,” he added. “And one of the things that helps with that is communication.”
