About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 3, 2018)
LOCA^SOUTHEAST The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com Monday, December 3, 2018 7A Hunt for hellbenders is part of protection plan Associated Press ATLANTA — Researchers are donning wetsuits and wading into north Georgia streams to conduct an underwater search for giant salamanders known as hellbenders. The effort is part of a survey designed to get a sense of the state of the hellbender in the north Geor gia mountains. Scientists have come to realize that the big salamanders might be in peril — and the federal govern ment is now considering whether to protect them, WABE Radio reported. Hellbenders can grow to nearly 2 feet long and might live as long as 20 or 30 years, spending much of their time beneath rocks in cold, clean streams. They have flat, round heads and a wide mouth that makes them look like they’re smiling. “I don’t know that there’s a lot going on in a hellbender’s head. But it’s a face a mother and a herpetolo gist can love,” said Thomas Floyd, a wildlife biologist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources who’s leading the survey. They also have many nicknames. “I’ve heard a few, most common in this portion of the southern Appa lachians is probably mud dog,” said Floyd. There’s also snot otter. He continues: “Water dog, gram pus, grumpus, mollyhugger, horny head, devil dog.” And finally, old lasagna sides, in recognition of the curvy flap of skin that runs down hellbenders’ torsos. In north Georgia, the group of researchers is looking for hellbend ers because the species seems to be in trouble, so they’re trying to learn more about where they live and how they’re doing. They check Georgia streams every few years for hellbenders to get a sense of their demographics. After just a few minutes of look ing, they find one. It’s a young hell bender, which is especially exciting, said Floyd. “It’s neat to see an adult, but it’s even neater to see a small juvenile, ” he said. That’s because in streams where hellbenders aren’t doing well, researchers only find the adults, meaning, for some reason, they’re not reproducing well, or the eggs or young salamanders aren’t surviv ing. A stream like that will eventu ally lose its hellbenders. Across their range, hellbenders are in decline, scientists say. Their range generally covers the Appa lachian Mountains, from southern New York to North Georgia. “So historically, hellbenders occurred in about 15 states and probably across more than 500 streams,” said Bill Hopkins, a pro fessor at Virginia Tech who studies hellbenders. Researchers began realizing in the 1980s that hellbender numbers were dropping, Hopkins said. Since then, they’ve figured out that about 40 percent of hellbender popula tions are either totally gone or about to be. Another 40 percent are declining. “It’s really bad, and I think hell bender biologists across the nation would agree with that,” Hopkins said. “That’s something that we’re all really, really worried about, and we’re trying to understand what the causes are.” The biggest problem for hell benders is damage to those clean streams they live in; when forests get cut down, or roads are built, or an area gets developed, that can pollute or silt up a stream and make it bad for hellbenders. Sometimes people intentionally kill hellbenders, so that’s a prob lem, too. Disease could be an issue. And then there’s climate change, “something that we’re very worried about,” Hopkins said. Climate change could affect them in a few ways. Those cold streams the hellbenders like could get too warm. The forests around the clean cold streams could change and potentially not shade the streams as much or filter the water as effectively. And extreme weather — heavy storms or drought — can also affect the streams, either by drying them up, or flooding them and washing away the rocks the hellbenders live under. “It’s almost like climate change is this accelerator that really ampli fies the effects of all the other threats that this animal experi ences,” Hopkins said. COLUMBIA, S.C. Indictment: Inmates used dairy, State House to smuggle items Inmates and their accom plices used bread deliveries, a prison dairy and inmate work crews at the South Car olina State House to smuggle drugs, cigarettes, cellphones and other items into state prisons, according to recently announced indictments. Seventeen people were charged in what the attorney general’s office described in Friday’s indictments as “sophisticated and highly lucrative conspiracies” to smuggle large amounts of contraband into state prisons. Authorities said an inmate known as “Christ” oversaw the network that relied on people inside and outside prison walls. A prison dairy farm at the Wateree Correctional Institu tion in Sumter County was a key location in the scheme, authorities said. The farm provides milk to the institu tions within all of the prison system. According to the indict ment, people outside prison would hide duffel bags stuffed with items on the farmland property at night. Inmates working at the dairy would tuck the items in secretly marked milk crates that were “ultimately trucked to all of the institu tions with the system.” Similarly, items were stashed adjacent to a Colum bia bakery that provides bread for state prisons. Inmates accompanying truck drivers on deliveries would sneak the items into prisons. Co-conspirators would hide items “at various locations around the State House and the state office buildings” and inmates on State House work duty “would obtain it and return it back within the prison walls for delivery throughout the system.” The indictment alleges a prison inmate Baraka Ramos, who is nicknamed “Christ” was behind some of the smuggling operations. Local news outlets report that Ramos told a judge Fri day that the accusations are untrue. Ramos’ lawyer said the charges were announced on the same day Ramos was scheduled to be released from prison for a previous drug trafficking conviction. Meet the painter behind some of Macon’s great buildings OBITUARY Howard Lee Carnes Died Dec. 2,2018 Howard Lee Carnes, age 83, of Gainesville, passed away Sunday, Dec. 2,2018. Mr. Carnes was born in Forsyth County to the late Sol- oman Robert and Margaret Self Carnes. He was preceded in death by sisters and broth ers, Martha Carnes, Ausbon Carnes, Leota Carnes, John Carnes and Marshall Carnes. Mr. Carnes was a textile worker at New Holland Mill for 45 years. Survivors include son and daughter-in-law, Randy and Margaret Renee Carnes, Gaffney, South Carolina; son, Vince Carnes, Gainesville; daughter, Sony Jones Lopez; grandchildren, Victoria Carnes, Justin Carnes, Jessica Carnes, Casey Jones, Heath Jones, Cody Lopez, Dallas, and Angel; sister, Kathleen Dorsey, Gillsville; brothers, William Carnes, Cleveland, and Robert Carnes, Banks County. Funeral services will be held 2 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018, at the chapel of Bar rett Funeral Home. Inter ment will follow in Concord Baptist Church Cemetery in Cumming. The family will receive friends from 6-8 p.m. Monday, Dec. 3, 2018, at the funeral home. Barrett Funeral Home, Cleveland Sign the online guest book at gainesvilletimes.com. The Times, Gainesville, Ga. Dec. 3, 2018 DEATH NOTICES Helmut Paul Feller Jan. 2, 1934-Dec. 2, 2018 Helmut Paul Feller, 84, of Alto died Sunday. Funeral service, 11 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 4, funeral home chapel. McGahee-Griffin & Stewart Funeral Home, Cornelia. Linda HtJtter Frankum Oct. 23, 1944-Dec. 1, 2018 Linda Trotter Frankum, 74, of Demorest died Satur day. Funeral service, 4 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 4, funeral home chapel. Whitfield Funeral Home & Crematory, North Chapel, Demorest. Myrtle Poole Lewallen Aug. 4, 1927-Dec. 2, 2018 Myrtle Poole Lewallen, 91, of Baldwin died Sunday. Funeral service, 11 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 4, Line Baptist Church. Whitfield Funeral Home & Crematory, South Chapel, Baldwin. Curtis Charles Loggins Jr. Died Nov. 30, 2018 Curtis Charles Loggins Jr., 64, of Gainesville died Fri day. Memorial Park Funeral Home, Gainesville. Geneva Fletcher Weldon Died Dec. 1,2018 Geneva Fletcher Weldon, 92, of Jefferson died Satur day. Funeral service, 11 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 4, funeral home chapel. Evans Funeral Home, Jefferson. BY JENNA EASON Associated Press MACON — Walking through some of Macon’s most prominent struc tures, the history flows through the halls, but few people hear the story of the man responsible for those buildings and the beauty they still possess. Tony Long has been involved with painting and maintaining buildings since the 1950s, and he has won many awards for his preservation efforts including the Excellence in Preservation award at the annual Georgia Trust Preservation Awards cer emony in 2017. “Once they’re gone, they can’t ever come back,” Long said. “I know there’s some fantastic new stuff, but when I go somewhere, I go to muse ums, old churches, his toric buildings. I don’t go into new skyscrapers. ” Long’s painting busi ness, A.T. Long & Son Inc., was started by his father, A.T. Long, after his return to Macon at the end of World War II. “I must’ve had a gene that I enjoyed being around construction,” he said. “The most fun that I had was just getting in the truck and going with my dad everywhere.” Long said he didn’t really start painting houses until he graduated high school in 1957. “I must have painted a thousand closets learn ing how,” he said with a laugh. Long said he graduated from Mercer in 1964 with a degree in math and econom ics, and his dad made him a partner in the business. Long has since been involved with painting mul tiple buildings in Macon including the Grand Opera House and St. Joseph’s Catho lic Church. He said he loves decorative painting. Maryann Bates, a free lance photographer and artist who has worked with Long, said he has more energy than anyone she knows. “Tony is the first one up the ladder, the first one up the scaffolding, and my God, you better be able to keep up with him,” she said. Bates, who also had a stu dio at the Contemporary Arts Exchange, said she’s one of Long’s biggest fans. “Macon has no idea what Tony has done for it,” she said. “To me, he is St. Tony, and he always will be.” The recently closed Con temporary Arts Exchange in the Washington Block build ing on Mulberry was another one of Long’s endeavors. He allowed artists to have studio space, and the only cost they had to pay was the electricity bill. “He’s like an old-fash ioned, huge, beautiful steam engine that is not locked to one track,” said Eric O’Dell, a professor of fine arts at Mer cer University and one of the artists who had a studio at the Arts Exchange. “I’ve always appreciated knowing that behind the scenes, his strong and sturdy shoulders were always creating space and room for us to do art.” In looking at other cities who had revitalized their downtowns, it always started with artists, Long said. “To me, what started downtown revitalization was that group of artists that people would come and see and show folks that, ‘Hey, if we can be downtown without getting mugged or having any problems, y’all can too,’ “ he said. But, his support for artists didn’t stop there. “One reason we moved here was it had more wall space,” said his wife, Jenni fer Taylor. “We have a large collection of basically local and regional art, and we love getting to know artists and supporting them anyway that we can.” Taylor said Long has prob ably been involved in some way with around 75 percent of the buildings downtown at least. “He just feels, clearly feels very strongly, that you need to leave a place better than when you got there and do what you can to improve everybody’s lot in a com munity,” she said. “I admire that a lot, and I think that’s an important thing we need to engender in young folks. ” She said Long’s defin ing quality is that he knows everyone and is involved with everything. “He’s able to pull in the needed people or groups or organizations to get some thing done, and he’s a real master at that,” she said. Long also had a hand in the Macon Film Festival along with Craig Coleman and Tabitha Walker. Long painted Macon Little Theater in 1961, which was the first time he had been in a theater with live perfor mances. He began to attend plays and help backstage at the different theaters in Macon. He said he became involved with the produc tion of the Nutcracker at the Grand Opera House in the mid-1980’s. “I don’t do any of the danc ing,” he said with a laugh. “But, backstage and making everything happen is me.” This year’s production of the Nutcracker starts on Dec. 5 and runs through Dec. 9. To honor Long’s support of the theater community, Theatre Macon named Sept. 8 “Tony Long Day” back in 2016, Taylor said. “(He) has benefited the art community, the theater community, the preservation community, and downtown Macon, so we’re lucky to have him,” Taylor said. O’Dell said Long has been one of the firmest believers in preserving Macon. “He was the caretaker of things as they were quiet and not so well known for many years to where now I think they’re having their time in the sun and can flourish more, and Tony deserves an awful lot of credit for all of those things,” O’Dell said. “He is woven into the fabric of what this place is at all lev els. . He makes a place worth living in.” Gene Dunwody Jr., an architect with Dunwody/ Beeland Architects Inc., said that he has worked with Tony for several years to revitalize downtown Macon. He said he and Long would buy build ings to restore that nobody else wanted. “I think he’s the most influ ential person BRUNSWICK County wants homeowners to upload and plot Christmas displays on online map As homeowners decorate for the holidays, one Georgia county is trying to help residents plot tours of their local Christmas lights. Glynn County on the Georgia coast has launched an online map of Christmas displays. Homeowners in com munities including Brunswick and St. Simons Island can add their addresses and upload a photo showing how they’ve decked their walls, roofs and yards. A handful of people have plotted their homes on the online map so far, along with the elaborate light display at the historic district of Jekyll Island state park. 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