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The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
Saturday, December 1,2018 9A
Ga. extends absentee ballot deadline
BY KATE BRUMBACK
Associated Press
Georgia’s secretary of state
agreed Friday to extend the
deadline for accepting absentee
ballots for the runoff election
after the state Democratic Party
filed a lawsuit saying some
county election officials waited
too long to send out the ballots.
Results of the Nov. 6 general
election were certified on Nov.
17, but at least 65 of the state’s
159 counties didn’t send out
absentee ballots for the Dec. 4
runoff until this week, accord
ing to the federal lawsuit filed
Thursday. Since absentee bal
lots generally must be received
by the time polls close on Elec
tion Day, that left some would-be
absentee voters with less than a
week to get their ballots back to
election officials.
In a court filing agreeing to
the extended deadline sought by
the Democrats, interim Secre
tary of State Robyn Crittenden
maintains there was no wrong
doing by state or county election
officials. The proposed consent
order submitted to the court Fri
day says absentee ballots post
marked by Dec. 4 and received
by Dec. 7 will be counted.
There are two state races on
the runoff ballot — secretary
of state and a seat on the Public
Service Commission.
In the secretary of state
race, Brad Raffensberger, a
little-known Republican state
lawmaker, received about 49.1
percent of the nearly 3.9 million
votes tallied, while Democrat
John Barrow, a moderate for
mer congressman, got 48.7 per
cent. Libertarian Smythe Duval
took about 2.2 percent.
Republican Chuck Eaton
faces Democrat Lindy Miller in
the PSC runoff.
The lawsuit was filed against
Crittenden in her official capac
ity as the state’s top elections
official. A statement from
spokeswoman Candice Broce
says Crittenden and her staff
worked as quickly as they could,
but some counties took longer
because they lack the capacity
to print their own ballots.
“All parties involved — the
Secretary of State’s office, the
counties, and the vendors —
worked as expeditiously as pos
sible to prepare absentee ballots
for the run-off. The insinua
tion that the Democratic Party
makes in its complaint that any
party involved in this process
was not working as quickly as
possible is completely false,”
she said.
The state Democratic
Party voter protection hotline
received calls from voters seek
ing help getting absentee ballots
they applied for, the lawsuit
says. It was the latest in a series
of lawsuits filed before and after
the general election raising con
cerns about how and whether
the state counts certain ballots.
Georgia law says county offi
cials have to send absentee bal
lots to eligible applicants for a
runoff election “as soon as pos
sible” after the results of the
general election are certified.
Data from the secretary of
state shows five counties began
sending out absentee ballots on
Nov. 19, the first business day
after the general election results
were certified, the lawsuit says.
Several others sent out absentee
ballots on Nov. 20 or 21.
But 44 counties didn’t send out
absentee ballots until Nov. 26,
and 21 more waited until Nov.
27, the lawsuit said.
“This has and will result in
arbitrary and disparate treat
ment of voters who seek to exer
cise their respective rights to
vote via absentee mail-in ballot,
based solely on their county of
permanent residence,” the law
suit said.
The lawsuit noted that 283,839
people requested absentee bal
lots in the general election and
at least 121,301 people had sub
mitted applications for absentee
ballots for the runoff election.
In a consent order submit
ted to U.S. District Judge Amy
Totenberg, the two sides agreed
that any absentee ballots post
marked by Dec. 4 and received
by Dec. 7 would be counted
if they are otherwise eligible.
The secretary of state agreed to
send instructions to that effect
to county election officials by 6
p.m. Friday.
Crittenden also agreed to
notify the public by putting out
a press release by 6:30 p.m. Fri
day and putting a notice on the
secretary of state’s website by 10
a.m. Saturday.
But the consent order makes
clear that the secretary of state
doesn’t concede that any county
delayed in sending out absentee
ballots for the runoff and says
all election officials worked as
quickly as possible to get the
ballots out. The consent order
also says the Democratic Party
stands by its allegations.
Cities cancel events
over weather concerns
Christmas is going to have to wait for
some parts of the Deep South because of a
threat of severe weather.
Cities from Louisiana to Georgia are
postponing or canceling annual parades
because forecasters say there’s a possibility
of strong storms on Friday and Saturday.
The postponements include cities like Sul
phur in Louisiana; Opelika in Alabama; and
Albany, Georgia.
Forecasters say there’s a threat of severe
storms from southern Kansas to coastal
Mississippi on Friday. The possibility of
bad weather moves eastward on Saturday
to include much of the southern portions of
Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, plus the
western Florida Panhandle.
The Storm Prediction Center says storms
are possible as far as the Great Lakes.
CHEROKEE
Neighbors rescue woman as
explosion, fire destroy house
Officials in Cherokee County are investi
gating an explosion and fire at a house in the
northeast part of the county.
Neighbors reported hearing an explosion
about 12:30 p.m. in the 200 block of Trenton
Lane, fire department spokesman Eddie
Robinson said.
When firefighters arrived, the house was
already fully engulfed, he said.
Two neighbors got the house’s only occu
pant out, and she was taken to a hospital in
fair condition. Her identity was not released.
“I thought it was a bomb that had gone
off,” Jim Whitehead, a neighbor, told Chan
nel 2 Action News.
After he ran toward the house, Whitehead
said he couldn’t get in the front door, so he
ran toward the back. He and another man
pulled the woman out.
“She was in the kitchen. I heard her. I was
yelling, trying to get anybody’s attention who
may have been inside,” Whitehead said.
“And I heard her screaming for help.”
The house was a total loss, Robinson said.
The cause is under investigation.
Associated Press
AT\BAMA
Man convicted in
mall shooting to
return for charges
Associated Press
A man suspected in an Alabama mall
shooting that resulted in police killing another
black man on Thanksgiving agreed to return
home from Georgia to face charges.
Handcuffed and wearing a blue jail uni
form, Erron Martez Dequan Brown, 20,
appeared emotionless during a brief hear
ing. He appeared to glance back at someone
in the courtroom audience.
Brown, of Bessemer in
Birmingham, told Magis
trate Judge Lillian Caudle
he would voluntarily return
to Alabama, where authori
ties now have 15 days to
remove him from the Ful
ton County jail.
Alabama officials did
not indicate when Brown
might arrive at the jail in Birmingham.
Federal marshals arrested Brown on an
attempted murder charge Thursday near
Atlanta. He is charged with attempted mur
der in the shooting of a teenager who was
wounded at the Riverchase Galleria in
Hoover, just south of Birmingham.
Authorities say an officer responding to
the scene at the mall fatally shot another
armed black man, Emantic “EJ” Bradford
Jr., who was initially believed to be the
shooter. Bradford’s killing prompted demon
strations by protesters who say he was shot
because he was black.
Bradford’s family has retained a patholo
gist to perform an independent autopsy, the
family’s attorney said Friday.
A statement issued Friday by family attor
ney Ben Crump says the autopsy will “deter
mine whether he was shot multiple times and
if he was shot from the front or the back.”
The statement said the autopsy results will
be released to the media after they become
available to the Bradford family.
Protests will continue over the police kill
ing of Bradford, 21, organizers have said.
Bradford’s funeral is set for Saturday at
Birmingham’s municipal auditorium. The
Rev. Jesse Jackson will give the eulogy.
OBITUARIES
Loney Jim Gravitt
Died Nov. 30, 2018
Mr. Loney Jim Gravitt, age 70,
of Cleveland, passed away Friday,
Nov. 30,2018.
Mr. Gravitt was born to the late
Luther and Fannie Mae William
son Gravitt. He was preceded in
death by parents, brother, David
Gravitt, and sister, Linda Gravitt.
Mr. Gravitt was a line engineer for
ATandT and a member of County
Line Baptist Church.
Survivors include wife of 49
years, Glenda Gravitt, Cleveland;
son and daughter-in-law, Jeffery
Gravitt and Elizabeth Almond,
Sandy Springs; daughter and son-
in-law, Rhonda and Chris Roden,
Cleveland; son, Rodney Gravitt,
Cleveland; grandchildren, Har
ley Gravitt, Luke Gravitt, Olivia
Gravitt, and Craig and Heather
Roden; sister-in-law, Peggy Ander
son; and numerous nieces and
nephews.
Funeral services are sched
uled for 4:30 PM Sunday, Dec. 2,
2018, from the Chapel of Barrett
Funeral Home. The Rev. Steve
Williamson will officiate. Inter
ment will follow in Mossy Creek
Baptist Church Cemetery.
The family will receive friends
from 1-3 PM Saturday, Dec. 1,
2018, and 3:30-4:30 p.m. Sunday,
Dec. 2, 2018.
To share a memory or leave a
condolence with the family, visit
barrettfh.com.
Barrett Funeral Home,
Cleveland
Sign the online guest book at
gainesvilletimes.com.
The Times, Gainesville, Ga.
Dec. 1,2018
Lilly Hood
Died Nov. 21,2018
Lilly Hood of St. Albans, Queens,
left us on Nov. 21, 2018, at the age
of 100. She is formerly of the Bronx
and Atlanta, Georgia.
Til her retirement she had been
employed in the
hair salon in a
Rich’s in Atlanta.
She has joined
her parents, sib
lings and her hus
band Coloquitt.
There was a
viewing at the J.
Foster Phillips
funeral home in NYC on 11/28/18.
Her burial is planned for Dec. 3,
2018, in Atlanta, Georgia
J. Foster Phillips Funeral Home,
New York City, N.Y.
Sign the online guest book at
gainesvilletimes.com.
The Times, Gainesville, Ga.
Dec. 1,2018
Russell “Russ”
Richard Lamp
Jan. 12, 1943-Nov. 17, 2018
Mr. Russell “Russ” Richard
Lamp, age 75, of Flowery Branch
passed away Saturday, Nov. 17,
2018, surrounded by his family
after a long, difficult battle with
Alzheimer’s disease.
Memorial Services will be
2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8 in the
Chapel of Memorial Park South
Funeral Home. The family will
receive friends on Saturday, Dec.
8, prior to the service from 1 p.m.
to 2 p.m. The Rev. Jeffrey Wright
will officiate.
Mr. Lamp was born Jan. 12,
1943, to his beloved parents the
late Donald G. and Marjorie
Knop Lamp in Omaha, Nebraska.
He retired from Haas Automa
tion, where he finished a lifelong
career as a leader in the salesman
ship of advanced technology. Russ
was larger than life, with a laugh
and a joke for all who crossed his
path. He loved adventures, boat
ing, catching up with friends and
family over a good meal, and
cheering on the Nebraska Corn-
huskers. He was entirely devoted
to his family, especially his bride
of 52 years.
Mr. Lamp is survived by his
wife, Cheri Lamp of Flowery
Branch; sons and daughters-in-
law, Dr. Jeff and Cheryl Lamp of
Flowery Branch and Chris and
Danielle Lamp of Ball Ground,
daughter and son-in-law, Dr. Eliza
beth and Robert Slade of Camden,
South Carolina; 11 grandchildren;
brother and sister-in-law, Dr.
Bill and Jo Lamp of Columbia,
Maryland; sisters and brothers-in-
law, JoAnn and Dwayne Glass of
Kansas City, Missouri and Ginni
and Justice Clarence Thomas of
Fairfax, Virginia; brother-in-law
Chuck Dodgen and his wife Marla
Keith of Flowery Branch, sister-
in-law Amanda Dodgen of Atlanta
and several nieces and nephews.
He is pre-deceased by his parents,
Donald and Marjorie Lamp and
brother-in-law Ron Elliott.
In lieu of flowers donations may
be made to the Memory Center of
Atlanta, in memory of Mr. Russell
“Russ” Lamp 12050 Findley Rd.
Duluth, GA, 30097.
Memorial Park South Funeral
Home, Flowery Branch
Sign the online guest book at
gainesvilletimes.com.
The Times, Gainesville, Ga.
Dec. 1,2018
Robert “Bob”
Dempsey Milledge
Oct. 10, 1933-Nov. 13, 2018
Dr. Robert Dempsey Milledge,
“Bob” to family, friends, and col
leagues, passed away on Nov.
13, 2018, at the age of 85. He is
survived by his wife of 57 years,
Deanna Swindle Milledge (Dee),
his children Robert and John
Milledge of Birmingham, AL,
and Lisa Milledge and Lucy Katz
of Atlanta, GA, his brother Lewis
DeBlois (Brother) Milledge of
Coral Gables, FL, seven grand
children, and three great-grand
children, as well as his fondly held
in-laws and cats.
He was born on Oct. 10, 1933,
to Lewis DeBlois and Lucile
Dempsey Milledge of Coral
Gables, FL. He was a man of sci
ence and faith, attending Emory
University and Emory School of
Medicine (1957), and a perpetual
student of varied interests: from
astronomy and natural history
to religious studies, Renaissance
art, and Italian language. He was
a proper bibliophile, an incessant
reader across genres and fields, of
history, politics, theology, of high
and low fiction (with special heart
for his own generation of writers,
Updike favored among them),
poetry, and of “how-to” manuals
of just about every practical con
cern: from fixing a dishwasher to
navigating the oceans.
A wryly funny and committed
contrarian, he became a doc
tor out of a family of lawyers, a
fan of Trollope over Dickens, a
cheekily sparring viewpoint to
the local paper’s editorial page,
and a trusty spokesperson for tra
ditions and institutions, lest they
be forgotten, misremembered or
meddled with.
He was also an inquiring and
adventurous traveler (encouraged
and accompanied by Dee), a capa
ble electronics tinkerer, a ham
radio builder and operator, and an
avid collector of tools, machines,
clocks and stray cats. Among
other leisure pursuits he was a
tentative sailor. After retirement
he was an inveterate apprentice
of woodworking and boat making,
whose yearly idyll was a trip to the
Wooden Boat School in Brooklin,
Maine, where he proudly joined
the all-volunteer alumni work
crews that opened the summer
session, with a week or two of
boat-building courses following.
Bob is remembered as an eager
trombone player, an aficionado
of Mozart (especially the Magic
Flute) and the poems of A.E.
Housman and Tennyson, and as
an ever-ready spout of a few cher
ished, good-naturedly sacrilegious
Italian exclamations.
At work, he was treasured as a
conduit for a seemingly oceanic
current of good to bad jokes that
coursed through the operating
rooms of his medical career as
an interventional radiologist, a
career which began in Little Rock,
passed through Lexington, KY,
involuntarily detoured during the
Vietnam War to Walter Reed Hos
pital in D.C., and ended at Atlan
ta’s Crawford Long Hospital.
He will be sorely missed and
lovingly remembered.
A memorial service to celebrate
his life will be held on Jan. 5,2019,
at 2 p.m. at Saint Gabriel’s Episco
pal Church in Oakwood, GA.
Wages and Sons Funeral Home,
Lawrenceville
Sign the online guest book at
gainesvilletimes.com.
The Times, Gainesville, Ga.
Dec. 1,2018
John R. Pirhalla
Sept. 26, 1930-Nov 27, 2018
Mr. John R. Pirhalla, age 88
of Gainesville,
passed away on
Nov. 27,2018.
A Celebration
of life service
will be held at
11 a.m. on Satur
day, Dec. 8, 2018,
in the Chapel of
the First Baptist
Church. The Rev. Jim Ramsey
will be officiating. The family will
receive friends after the service at
the church.
Mr. Pirhalla was born on Sept.
26, 1930, in Wilkesboro, Pennsyl
vania to the late John Rudolph
Pirhalla and the late Margaret
Matusek. He was raised in Jessup,
Pennsylvania. Mr. Pirhalla played
football for Scranton University,
the United States Air Force and the
University of Miami. He enjoyed
tennis and flying his airplanes.
He is survived by his wife Eve
lyn Ray Pirhalla; daughter Lisa
Cecil; daughter Sherrie Braxton;
son John Pirhalla III; daughter
Lorilynn Monty; daughter and
son-in-law Lisa and Scott Roach;
grandchildren Lauren Herring,
Jeff Cecil, Harrison Hove, Jordan
Jonas, Eli Pirhalla, Katie Holdren,
Madison Strong and Mason Roach;
great grandchildren Cohen Her
ring, Addison Herring and Amelia
Jonas.
In lieu of flowers, the family
requests that donations be made to
the music department at the First
Baptist Church, 751 Green Street,
Gainesville, Georgia 30501.
Online condolences can be made
at www.memorialparkfuneral-
homes.com.
Memorial Park North Riverside
Chapel, Gainesville
Sign the online guest book at
gainesvilletimes.com.
The Times, Gainesville, Ga.
Dec. 1,2018
DEATH NOTICES
Mattie Sue Barnes
Died Nov. 29, 2018
Mattie Sue Barnes, 86, of Cum-
ming died Thursday. Funeral
service, 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec.
1, funeral home chapel. Ingram
Funeral Home and Crematory,
Cumming.
Michael Duane Bennett
Died Nov. 20, 2018
Michael Duane Bennett, 49, of
Carrollton died Tuesday, Nov. 20.
McDonald and Son Funeral Home
and Crematory, Cumming.
Flossie Skelton Black
May 13, 1918-Nov. 29, 2018
Flossie Skelton Black, 100, of
Demorest, died Thursday. Funeral
service, 2 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 4,
Chattahoochee Baptist Church.
Whitfield Funeral Homes and Cre
matory, Demorest.
Betty Louise Butcher
Died Nov. 22, 2018
Betty Louise Butcher, 80, of Clay
ton died Thursday, Nov. 22. Memo
rial service, 11 a.m. Satuday, Dec.
8, Roswell First Baptist Church.
Memorial Park South Funeral
Home, Flowery Branch.
Paul Chambliss
July 10, 1941-Nov 28, 2018
Paul Chambliss, 77, of Cleve
land died Wednesday. Memorial
service, 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec.
2, funeral home chapel. Barrett
Funeral Home, Cleveland.
David Stanley Duncan
Died Nov. 30, 2018
David Stanley Duncan, 71, of
Cornelia died Friday. Barrett
Funeral Home, Cleveland.
Leonard Thomas Herring Jr.
Died Nov. 29, 2018
Leonard Thomas Herring Jr.,
84, of Oakwood died Thursday.
Funeral service, 2:30 p.m. Sun
day, Dec. 9, funeral home chapel.
Memorial Park South Funeral
Home, Flowery Branch.
Leah Belle Holland
Died Nov. 30, 2018
Leah Belle Holland, 95, of
Gainesville died Thursday.
Memorial Park Funeral Home,
Gainesville.
Lucius Charles Hood
Died Nov. 27, 2018
Lucius Charles Hood, 75, of
Cleveland died Tuesday. Barrett
Funeral Home, Cleveland.
Mary Alice Kapise
Died Nov. 30, 2018
Mary Alice Kapise, 70, of Cleve
land died Friday. Barrett Funeral
Home, Cleveland.
Peggy Ruth Allison Marchman
March 8, 1948-Nov. 29, 2018
Peggy Ruth Allison Marchman,
70, of Oneida, Tenn. died Thurs
day. West-Murley Funeral Home,
Oneida, Tenn.
Cecil Murphy
Died Nov. 29, 2018
Cecil Murphy, 75, of Marietta
died Thursday. Memorial Park
Funeral Home, Gainesville.
Gus George Pappas
Died Nov. 28, 2018
Gus George Pappas, 90, of Sugar
Hill died Wednesday. Funeral ser
vice, 11 a.m. Friday, Dec. 7, Saint
Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene
Greek Orthodox Church. Ingram
Funeral Home and Crematory,
Cumming.
Benjamin Sims
Died Nov. 22, 2018
Benjamin Sims of Gaines
ville died Thursday, Nov. 22.
Funeral service, 1 p.m. Saturday,
Dec. 1, Bethel Church of Naza-
rene. Wimberly Funeral Home,
Gainesville.
Obituary information
Death notices are printed free
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Deadline for publication is
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Death notices and obituaries
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All submissions will appear
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For additional information,
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