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L2J OUR REGION
Shannon Casas | Editor in Chief
770-718-3417 | news@gainesvilletimes.com
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia
Friday, November 30, 2018
Gainesville man
killed driving wrong
way on Interstate 85
A Gainesville man died Wednesday after driving
the wrong way on Interstate 85 in Jackson County
and striking another car, also killing the other
driver.
Carlos Cobb, 32, was traveling southbound Nov.
28 in the left lane of 1-85 north in his 2005 Ford Mus
tang, according to the Georgia State Patrol.
He struck head-on a 2006 Honda Civic driven by
Eugene Lafontant, 40, of Lawrenceville, who was
driving north on 1-85 North in the left lane.
“It is unknown why (Cobb) was traveling the
wrong way,” Cpl. Luke Mize said in an email
describing the wreck.
Both drivers died at the scene. No one else was
in the vehicles.
Jeff Gill
Voters can now choose who assists them
at polls in local, state elections in Georgia
A federal judge signed an order
Thursday deciding that in future elec
tions in Georgia, voters who need assis
tance can be helped by any person of
their choice, other than their employer
or union.
The order was negotiated by voter Jin
Kwon, Asian Americans Advancing Jus
tice — Atlanta, and Secretary of State
Robyn Crittenden.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday by
Asian Americans Advancing Justice
— Atlanta, Asian Americans Advanc
ing Justice — Los Angeles and two pro
bono law firms, asked the judge to block
a Georgia law that limited assistance in
non-federal elections to only relatives
and people within the precinct.
The Secretary of State’s office has
issued guidance to county election offi
cials telling them that voters can get
assistance from anyone of their choosing
if they are unable to read the ballot with
out help. There will also be no limit to the
amount of people someone can assist.
“This law should have never been
passed in the first place, but we are very
pleased that the Secretary of State was
willing to work with us to swiftly end
it,” said Phi Nguyen, litigation direc
tor at Advancing Justice-Atlanta, in a
statement.
“Today is a victory not only for Mr.
Kwon but also for all (limited English
proficiency) voters across the state of
Georgia who will now have the right in
every election to bring an interpreter of
their choice.”
The order states that county election
officials cannot require people assist
ing voters to check off any boxes on any
forms, including those on absentee bal
lots and absentee ballot envelopes, indi
cating their relationship with the voter
or how many people they have helped.
However, officials are not prevented
from requiring people assisting voters to
identify themselves.
Compiled from press releases from
Georgia Secretary of State Office and Asian
Americans Advancing Justice —Atlanta
Photos courtesy Lanier Technical College
Lanier Technical College begins to move robotics and welding equipment to its new North Hall campus on Wednesday,
Nov. 28. The new campus will be the official home of administrators and business offices on Dec. 3, while the college
will be operating in full by Jan. 9.
JAY REEVES I Associated Press
The parents of shooting victim Emantic “EJ” Bradford Jr.,
Emantic Bradford Sr. and April Pipkins, flank attorney Ben
Crump during a community event in Birmingham, Ala., on
Tuesday, Nov. 27. Police in suburban Hoover shot and
killed their son in a shopping mall on Thanksgiving night.
Suspect arrested
in Alabama
mall shooting;
protests continue
BY JAY REEVES AND KATE BRUMBACK
Associated Press
LANIER
■ Continued from 1A
specialized equipment.
Moving the last heavy-
duty items was delayed until
after students finished final
exams on Wednesday.
“We didn’t want to do
anything to impact our stu
dents,” Perren said.
The new campus will
become the official home of
administrators and business
offices on Dec. 3, Perren
said, while the college will
be operating in full by Jan. 9.
Lanier Tech will host
2,700-plus students when it
opens for classes on Jan. 22.
The college will include
a wide variety of programs,
including allied health, con
tinuing education, ammonia
refrigeration, general edu
cation, business, computer
science, adult education,
early childhood education,
motorsports, welding, diesel
technology and fire science.
Among the new build
ings is a 40,000-square-foot
conference center with a
20,000-square-foot ballroom
that can comfortably house
750 people.
“The big (challenge)
now,” Perren said, “is it’s
one thing to physically
move, but another getting
organized, putting every
thing in place.”
RECORDS
■ Continued from 1A
The clerks are also having trouble
knowing which warrants are active
and which have been closed out.
“We’re just in limbo right now with
two different systems,” Meeks said.
The system in place for the sher
iff’s office is the same that Gaines
ville Police put in place several years
ago.
“Everyone is in the process of
learning the new system, and this will
be an ongoing process with additional
meetings to follow,” Sheriff’s Office
Lt. Scott Ware wrote in an email.
Baker said the clerks should soon
be getting access to the new system.
“We think that we’re going to be
able to learn enough about the new
system as time goes on so that we can
interact together at about a level that’s
at least acceptable so we can run and
they can run,” Forrester said.
GROWTH
■ Continued from 1A
The report draws on dis
cussions with the police
department in December
2017 and identifies two
needs moving forward —
new precincts and a new
training facility. The new
precincts would be in the
New Holland and Daw-
sonville Highway areas. A
10,000-square-foot training
facility is also needed, but
that could be built at the
existing site and would not
require a land purchase,
according to the plan.
New facilities could
be completely funded by
impact fee funds.
Fire and rescue
Gainesville has four fire
stations, the same number
it had in 2006. The city is
in the process of relocat
ing Fire Station No. 2 from
Pine Street to the Park Hill
Drive area, almost doubling
the station’s size at the new
location.
The fire department
had 9,000 calls for service
in 2017 and has seen an
increase of about 1,200 calls
annually since 2010. By
the year 2022, the depart
ment expects about 15,000
calls annually.
Over the next few years,
the city has set aside money
for two new fire stations and
planning for a third addi
tional one.
According to the plan,
there are about 100 homes,
including some in the Cress-
wind at Lake Lanier subdi
vision, that would be better
served by a fire boat than
a fire truck, due to nar
row, steep driveways. The
fire boat would use water
directly from the lake rather
than hydrants.
New training space is also
needed, as only Fire Sta
tion No. 1 is equipped for
training.
Parks and recreation
The report prioritizes
upgrading existing parks
facilities. About 45 acres of
new developed park land
will be needed over the next
20 years to adapt to a grow
ing population, according
to the report, but that could
be achieved through either
building new parks or add
ing to existing ones.
Proposed parks proj
ects include playground
improvements, a new play
ground along the Midtown
Greenway, an outdoor
pool at Frances Meadows
Aquatic Center, a new rec
reation center and a dog
park.
HOOVER — Authorities arrested a suspect in a Thanks
giving shooting that spread panic at Alabama’s largest
shopping mall Thursday, but protesters said they would
continue demonstrations over the police killing of another
black man who was initially believed to be the shooter.
Erron Martez Dequan Brown, 20, of
Bessemer was captured in Georgia at a
relative’s home south of Atlanta, author
ities said. He was jailed awaiting a hear
ing to be sent back to Alabama.
The Alabama Law Enforcement
Agency said Brown was charged in the
shooting of Brian Xavier Wilson, 18,
of Birmingham, who was wounded at
the Riverchase Galleria in Hoover on
Thanksgiving night.
Authorities didn’t announce charges in the shooting of
another person who was wounded, 12-year-old girl, and a
spokeswoman for the agency did not respond to an email
seeking details.
Protesters said Brown’s arrest didn’t resolve what they
referred to as the “murder” of Emantic “EJ” Bradford
Jr., 21, by police, and they vowed continuing demonstra
tions over his shooting death.
“We’re asking members of the public to not spend
another dime in Hoover until they take black lives seri
ously,” Carlos Chaverst Jr., who has helped organize pro
tests, said at a news conference.
In a statement issued by their lawyer, Bradford’s rela
tives said they were gratified by Brown’s arrest and said
it further underscored Bradford’s “unjust” death.
Police have said a Hoover police officer who was work
ing security at the mall during the start of Black Friday
shopping heard shots and responded within seconds. The
officer, who has yet to be publicly identified, saw Brad
ford with a gun and shot him, police said.
Authorities at first identified Bradford as the shooter
who wounded two people. They later retracted that alle
gation and searched for the real gunman.
Bradford’s relatives have said he had a permit to carry
a gun legally, and their attorney Ben Crump has quoted
witnesses as saying Bradford was trying to help when he
was gunned down.
“He was a good guy with a gun,” Crump said.
Court records show Brown previously was arrested in
June 2017 in Huntsville on a charge of using a gun to rob a
man, but the case was dismissed three months later after
prosecutors filed notice that they didn’t want to pursue
the case.
As Brown was being arrested near Atlanta, city lead
ers in Hoover were publicly asking the Alabama Law
Enforcement Agency, which is investigating the shoot
ings, for permission to
release more informa
tion about the shooting
of Bradford.
With its lone black
City Council member,
Derrick Murphy, act
ing as a spokesman, the
city said it would look at
releasing information
on its own if no response
came by noon Monday.
Demonstrators and
relatives of Bradford
have pushed authori
ties to release video and
other evidence about the shooting. Murphy, who joined
other leaders in meeting with Bradford’s relatives earlier
this week, said the city wanted to help answer questions
raised by the family.
“They have our love; they have our prayers,” he said.
Hoover is a city of 85,000 people that gained much of
its population as white residents left Birmingham after
the end of legalized racial segregation in neighboring Bir
mingham. Chaverst, one of the protest leaders, said the
city was “built on racism.”
A statement from the state agency about Brown’s
arrest said it was “highly likely” that releasing evidence
would hamper the continuing investigation, but it didn’t
directly address the city’s request.
Demonstrators
and relatives of
Bradford have
pushed authorities
to release video
and other evidence
about the shooting.
