I2J OUR REGION
Shannon Casas | Editor in Chief
770-718-3417 | news@gainesvilletimes.com
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
OAKWOOD
Construction begins on affordable housing project
BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com
Construction has started on an 84-unit
affordable housing apartment complex off
Atlanta Highway/Ga. 13 in Oakwood.
“We’re officially off and running, but
(recent rains) have slowed us down,” said
Gary Hammond, principal of Atlanta-based
Landbridge Development LLC.
The project is slated for completion in 14
months.
Heading into winter, “we will try to make
progress every single day, but we have got
to have a few days of sun and dry condi
tions,” Hammond said.
The $12 million Peaks of Oakwood is
planned on 9 acres off Osborn Road, across
from Christ Place Church.
Plans are unchanged since the project
was first pitched to city officials in 2016.
The complex will feature a clubhouse,
community room for gatherings and func
tions, laundry area and a playground and
gazebo.
Hammond said in an earlier interview
that federal housing tax credits “are the
major financing source for the project,
and I don’t believe we could move forward
without (them).”
Unlike federal Section 8 housing, no
rents will be government-subsidized, he
said.
Instead, “rents... are artificially lower so
that the units are built for people making a
certain income based on household size,”
Hammond said.
Peaks of Oakwood, he said, would be “a
very high-quality product that we’re capa
ble of building for a reasonable rent.”
“People can agree or disagree on this type
of housing, but there’s no denying there’s a
lot of demand for it,” Hammond said.
Peaks of Oakwood was one of 30 rental
housing properties selected throughout the
state in 2017 to receive $23.2 million in tax
credits. Projects vary from new construc
tion to rehabilitation.
The state “is proud to help local commu
nities develop affordable housing solutions
that fit the character and needs of their
communities,” DCA Commissioner Chris
topher Nunn said at the time.
“We’re very excited, and the market is
fantastic for what we’re proposing,” Ham
mond has said.
An opportunity to begin exploring
Photos by AUSTIN STEELE I The Times
Mackenzie Walker, right, a dual enrollment student at Lanier College Career Academy, leads a tour of the kitchen available to
culinary students during a program selection meeting at Lanier College and Career Academy on Tuesday, Nov. 27.
Man sought in theft
of collection jar for
employee’s family
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
A man ordered food earlier this month at the
Thompson Bridge Road Wendy’s and left the
store with a jar of money intended for the family
of an employee who recently died, according to
authorities.
A Hall County Sheriff’s Office deputy took the
report Nov. 19 regarding the theft around 8:30 p.m.
Nov. 4. The employee told the officer he was waiting
to get surveillance footage before reporting it to law
enforcement.
“The employee told the deputy that the suspect
had ordered food and was waiting by the cash regis
ter. When the man received his food, he grabbed the
plastic jar on the counter and left the store, accord
ing to the employee,” Sheriff’s Office spokesman
Derreck Booth wrote in a news release.
The jar was being used to raise money for the fam
ily of an employee who recently died, though the
amount of money is unknown.
The store did not answer multiple calls from The
Times.
The suspect is a white man with a left arm tattoo.
He wore blue jeans, a dark shirt and a red-and-tan
hat on Nov. 4.
Anyone with information is asked to call the
Sheriff’s Office’s criminal investigations division at
770-533-7706.
LCCA programs of choice give young students an early career path
Attendees listen during a presentation for a program selection meeting at Lanier
College and Career Academy.
BY JOSHUA SILAVENT
jsilavent@gainesvilletimes.com
The Lanier College & Career Acad
emy has given students like Mason
Douglas, a 15-year-old high school
freshman, the opportunity to begin
exploring their passions as they ready
for the workforce.
Douglas, who is studying the culi
nary arts in addition to his core classes,
credits his teachers for his burgeoning
success.
Now, he’s considering enrolling at
LCCA full time, where he can earn a
high school diploma while engaging in
apprenticeships, internships and even
paid jobs through the school’s many
partnerships.
And it’s something that his father,
Matt, wishes had been available to him
at that age, if only because of how much
he’s seen his son excel.
“I’d have been all over it,” he said
with a chuckle.
Matt said his son wasn’t the type of
student interested in traditional aca
demics or team sports, which other high
schools value with great esteem.
Mason’s mother, Amanda, said had
she known about LCCA, she might have
encouraged their older daughter, who is
now in college, to attend.
On Tuesday, Nov. 27, LCCA officials
held an open house and tour for eighth
graders in the Hall County School Dis
trict to explore their own options in
culinary arts, agricultural mechanics,
cosmetology, and heating and air con
ditioning specializations.
LCCA partners with about 20 local
businesses, as well as Lanier Technical
College for dual-enrollment courses.
The school gives students whose
career paths do not include attend
ing traditional liberal arts colleges a
chance to learn trade skills.
LCCA Principal David Moody said
the event was designed to introduce pro
spective students to these programs that
help “our kids to become work-ready.”
“We’re excited about the opportu
nity to work with your young men and
women,” Moody told parents.
Manufacturing is a field where
demand for middle-skilled labor is high.
And LCCA officials said these are the
kinds of jobs they are readying students
for — jobs that require more than a
high school diploma but, perhaps, less
than a bachelor’s degree.
Several parents asked about the logis
tics of how the school works.
For instance, the scheduling allows
students to complete their core require
ments for a diploma while working
toward certificates in one of the pro
gram specialties.
Class sizes are also small, and trans
portation is provided from the student’s
zoned or “home school,” where they
are welcome to return if they decide
LCCA isn’t a good fit in the long run.
Amy Cruz was in attendance with her
two daughters, one in seventh and the
other eighth grade, who are interested
in studying culinary arts and cosmetol
ogy, respectively.
“I think if this would be a better expe
rience, and easier, then it’s good for
them,” Cruz said.
Cruz’s biggest challenge going for
ward may not be trying to inspire her
children, which can be a challenge with
students in this age group, but making
sure her daughter, Kionna, for exam
ple, can explore all her passions.
“I want to go to space,” Kionna said.
Nate Lamp, an eighth-grader at C.W.
Davis Middle who is also interested
in joining the culinary arts program,
said he’s been inspired by his father’s
cooking.
“He’s a foodie,” Cheryl Lamp, his
mother, said.
So much so, in fact, that during a taste
test Tuesday in the kitchen where stu
dents learn the ins and outs of cooking,
Nate was picking out which flavors he
wasn’t fond of, such as the ginger.
The deadline for eighth-grade stu
dents to apply for placement at LCCA
is Dec. 7.
The process includes a written essay
about why students want to attend
LCCA, with interviews and decisions on
acceptance made in January.
“It looks very interesting,” Lamp
said.
SCOTT ROGERS I The Times
Stormy Dean visits her burned out mobile home Tuesday, Nov.
27, in the Dixie Mobile Home Park off Titshaw Drive. Dean and
her daughter Jenna, 5, were at home when the fire started early
Monday morning, but their dog did not make it out.
FIRE
■ Continued from 1A
autistic child.
“She kept saying, ‘It’s so
hot, Mommy. It’s so loud,”’
Dean said of her daughter’s
words as she covered her in
a blanket and ran toward the
single-wide trailer’s door.
The blaze Monday, Nov.
26, at Dean’s Titshaw Drive
mobile home destroyed
everything. Anything rec
ognizable had irreversible
smoke or water damage.
Dean tried to go back in
and get Blaze, her bulldog pup
in a kennel.
“In the 60 seconds it took
me to carry (Jenna) down
that hallway and start back
in for Blaze, it was engulfed
and it was so hot I couldn’t get
back in,” she said.
Dean cut two inches off of
her hair that was singed in the
fire, but her daughter made
it out unscathed. She said the
smoke detectors did not alert
them.
“Another two minutes, and
me and her would be dead,”
Dean said.
The cause of the fire has
not yet been determined,
but Dean believes it was
electrical.
The flames affected about
half of the single-wide mobile
home and were quickly extin
guished, according to the fire
department.
“They carried (Blaze) out
and they worked on him for
like 30 minutes trying to bring
him back,” Dean said.
The firefighters, however,
did retrieve Jenna’s turtle,
Yertle, who is now safe in a
hotel bathtub.
The family received assis
tance from the American Red
Cross and is temporarily in a
hotel.
Dean saved one porcelain
ornament, and Jenna’s Christ
mas presents were safely hid
den in a car trunk.
After her escape Mon
day, Dean is advocating
that everyone check their
smoke alarms and to get out
as quickly as possible if they
find themselves in a similar
situation.
A GoFundMe account was
created for Dean and her
daughter. The fundraiser had
$1,110 as of 7 p.m. Tuesday,
Nov. 27.
“I don’t want my child in
a hotel for Christmas,” Dean
said.
For The Times
Authorities are seeking information on a man alleged
to have stolen a collection jar at the Thompson
Bridge Road Wendy’s this month.
Cleveland man hurt
after car strikes tree
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
A Cleveland man was seriously injured Saturday,
Nov. 24, after his car struck a tree on Cleveland
Highway, according to authorities.
Georgia State Patrol said Robert Gene Duty, 57,
was driving a Ford Fusion around 9:05 a.m. Saturday
on Cleveland Highway at Donna Drive.
Duty was headed southbound on Cleveland High
way when he traveled onto the east shoulder and
struck a tree with his front bumper, Cpl. Joshua Hed-
den wrote in an email.
“(Duty’s car) traveled approximately 86 feet from
the edge of the roadway to the tree,” Hedden wrote.
Duty was seriously injured. He was cited for fail
ure to maintain lane and driving while unlicensed.
Multiple animals die in
mobile home fire, cause
of Lula blaze unknown
Dozens of animals including cats, birds and rep
tiles were killed in a Lula mobile home fire, accord
ing to authorities.
Hall County firefighters responded Tuesday eve
ning to the 6000 block of Lookout Court, where a
double-wide mobile home was fully involved in fire.
“Multiple animals including dogs, birds and rep
tiles are deceased,” Capt. Zachary Brackett wrote in
an email.
One adult and one child were displaced because of
the fire and will be staying with family.
Brackett said 15-20 reptiles, 15-20 cats, a dog and an
“unknown number of birds” were killed in the fire.
Nick Watson
Hall County Animal Shelter
offering discounted adoptions
Now through New Year’s Day, the Hall County
Animal Shelter is having holiday specials on pet
adoptions.
All senior dogs older than the age of 6 are free to
adopt, and all large dogs are available at a reduced
cost of $25. Kittens are $25, and adult cat adoptions
are free.
The typical fee is $85.
Adoptions cover spaying or neutering, a rabies
shot, microchipping, a health exam and the pet’s first
set of shots.
The shelter is at 1688 Barber Road in Gainesville.
It is open for adoptions Tuesdays through Saturdays
from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
For more information, call 678-450-1587.
Compiled from Hall County Government
press release
