The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current, December 07, 2018, Image 8

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The times., December 07, 2018, Image 8

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Newspaper Page TextL2J OUR REGION Shannon Casas | Editor in Chief 770-718-3417 | news@gainesvilletimes.com The Times, Gainesville, Georgia Friday, December 7, 2018 BOB MCMAHAN | 1933-2018 Creator of Hall’s first SWAT team dies at 85 Lt. Bob McMahan remembered for molding officers the old-school way BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com Back when Sheriff Gerald Couch and Uniform Patrol Division Capt. Brad Rounds were young “slick- sleeve” officers, Lt. Bob McMahan molded the young men of the Hall County Sheriffs Office with his old- school type of teaching. “As a 19-year-old rookie coming out of the jail, he was my first lieuten ant that I had to deal with and man, he was intimidating. He was big to begin with and had that deep raspy voice that was so distinctive to him,” Rounds said. McMahan, 85, died Tuesday. Couch and the Rev. Mike Burgamy will officiate the funeral Friday, Dec. 7, at Memorial Park Funeral Home. “Lt. Bob McMahan was a true leader. I remember his gruff sur face demeanor, but it was just one of many tools he used as an excellent teacher and leader in our department,” Couch said in a statement. “The (lieutenant) was known as someone you could count on. Department leadership would frequently go to him with difficult tasks because they knew he’d tackle them with success. Perhaps his greatest achievement in the Sheriffs Office was how he served his colleagues. He was a brother, father figure, adviser and counselor to many.” After a couple of months of McMahan constantly chewing him out on the shift, Rounds went to the patrol office to talk to the lieutenant. “He goes, ‘I know that you’ve got more in you than what you’re putting out, and I want to see it. I want to see you succeed out here.’... He wanted to motivate me in his own way, but it was the old- school way. People wouldn’t understand that today. ” McMahan was an Army Ranger who received the Purple Heart, the Vietnam Service Medal with a Silver Star and other accolades for his service. In 1973, he became a patrolman and was eventually promoted to lieuten ant in 1984. Couch requested McMahan’s badge number out of respect for the lieutenant. “My condolences go out to his family and friends. I assure them that his legacy will live on in the men and women of our agency. His level of service to the community and country is a rarity,” Couch said in a statement. McMahan was also responsible for creating the first SWAT team in the 1980s for the sheriff’s office, then just a handful of officers. McMahan initiated the team’s creation and got the training set up for the officers. “He was a charger. Any chance he had to make the sheriff’s office bet ter, make the patrol division better, he would,” Rounds said. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, Dec. 7, in the Memorial Park Funeral Home chapel. Inter ment will follow in Antioch Baptist Church Cemetery. McMahan Former Hall official accused of stealing underwear gets 12 months probation BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com A former Hall County Elections Board member accused of taking two packages of boxer briefs from Walmart was sentenced under the First Offender Act to probation. Tommy Sandoval received 12 months of probation under the First Offender Act on a charge of theft by shoplifting from Janu ary 2017. “With regard to the Walmart theft, he was offered First Offender treatment. He’ll have some community service to do, pay a small fine and at the end of his first offender term, his charge will also be dismissed,” defense attorney Arturo Corso said. Under the First Offender Act, Sandoval will have the case dis charged if he fulfills all of the terms of his sentence. According to court documents, Sandoval will also have 60 hours of community service and a $992.50 fine. He also was ordered to have no contact with any Walmart in Hall County, accord ing to the sentencing document. In a separate case, Sandoval was accused of theft by taking in an alleged March 2016 incident. According to court documents, Sandoval alleg edly took a 30-ounce Yeti stainless steel cup. “An employee of the elections office began missing the Yeti cup,” Gainesville Police Sgt. Kevin Hol brook previously told The Times. Corso said Sandoval was given a pre-trial diversion program for the Yeti cup, and the attorney said he expects both charges to be dismissed. Sandoval did not return a call for com ment Thursday. Cagle presents $3M grant to Jackson County Schools Courtesy of Hall County Fire Services Two people were displaced as a result of a Thursday, Dec. 6, house fire on East Ridge Road in Gainesville. Two displaced after East Ridge Road fire Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, along with representatives from the Technical College System of Georgia, presented Empower College and Career Center with a $3 million grant to build a “workforce engine” for Jackson County Schools. In partnership with Lanier Technical Col lege, Empower College and Career Center is “designed to provide the students of Jack- son County with valu able opportunities and resources that will ensure student success and accelerate regional economic growth,” according to a press release. The college and career center connects students with more than 50 business, industry and commu nity partners for skilled job train ing. Pathways for study include manufacturing and mechatron- ics; health care science; multime dia and audio-visual production; architecture and construction; and transportation, distribution and logistics. More than 20,000 students are already enrolled in college and career academies across Geor gia, which aim to train high school students for in-demand careers that when filled help local businesses and commu nities prosper from a skilled workforce. “Our students deserve every opportunity for academic success — and with the creation of Georgia’s next four college and career academies, we are one step closer to ensuring students across our state have access to these world-class learning institutions,” Cagle said. “These school systems have embraced innovation in the classroom, bringing business and commu nity leaders together to ignite economic growth for many years to come.” Joshua Silavent BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com At least two people were dis placed as a result of a Thurs day, Dec. 6, house fire on East Ridge Road in Gainesville. Hall County Fire Services responded before noon Thurs day to the house in the 1200 block of the road, where they found a 1,300-square-foot home with “heavy smoke showing,” according to Capt. Zachary Brackett. “The home’s roof had been added onto several times which hampered extinguish ment initially,” Brackett wrote in an email. Two adult residents were displaced but refused assis tance from the American Red Cross. No one was injured. The cause of the fire is undetermined. Cagle AUSTIN STEELE I The Times Dare Wicker gives his input during a Hall County Parks and Leisure meeting taking input from the public on the parks master plan at Chestatee High School on Thursday, Dec. 6. PARKS ■ Continued from 1A Charlotte Cliche said she travels to parks around the state with her children, who play soccer. She said she likes parks that have a variety of facilities, so families can go together and each choose what they want to do. Fowler Park in Forsyth County could be used as a model, she said — that park has walking trails, soc cer fields, a small skate park, a community center with fitness classes, and playgrounds, so it is able to draw a wide variety of people. “It’s kind of a one-stop shop, and there are so many differ ent activities,” she said. Another resident said dog parks, or even more animal- friendly trails, could also be an asset so that people in neighborhoods without side walks could have a place to safely help their pets get some exercise. Residents will not have to wait too long for that, although the planned dog park is in a dif ferent part of the county. Little said Murrayville Park, which closed in 2011 but is undergo ing renovations to reopen, will have a dog park. More historical sites was another suggestion. Becky Ruffner, who works in mar keting and public relations for the parks department, said an advisory committee focuses on historic preservation and how the parks department can incorporate historic sites into parks. “We talk a lot about recre ation and sports and green spaces and trails and biking and the lake, but let’s not for get, is it a responsibility of the Parks and Leisure department to also look at historical preser vation in the community where we live?” Ruffner said. “We think so.” The county is already work ing on restoring Healan’s Head’s Mill in Lula to create a county park, which will eventu ally have trails and a heritage center. Ruffner is personally connected to the mill — it was her family’s property and she lived there for a time. Also, the Col. James Rob erts Cabin, which is located at Cherokee Bluffs Park, was the home of a retired American Revolutionary War veteran. The cabin was at the intersec tion of Hog Mountain Road and Friendship Road for almost 200 years until road projects put its future in question. The Roberts family joined with the Hall County Historical Society to donate the cabin, which was dismantled and donated for preservation at the park. The last parks master plan was written in 1999 and updated in 2009. The goal is to finish the new plan by April. Authorities: Teenager stole $196K in jewelry BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com A Winder teenager is accused of stealing $196,000 in jewelry from a Gainesville home where he was remodeling, according to authorities. Robert Rian Babiarz, 17, was working with a company in November to remodel a home on Elysian Circle. The homeowner discov ered the jewelry was miss ing Nov. 15 and called 911. “The contractor who employed Babiarz was cooperative with investi gators, who quickly identified Robert Rian Babiarz as a suspect in the theft,” Hall County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Scott Ware wrote in a news release. A felony theft by taking warrant was issued Nov. 16 for Babiarz, who was arrested Wednesday, Dec. 5. He was booked in to the Hall County Jail, where he remains. No bond has been set. “Investigators have recovered the major ity of the stolen jewelry and returned items to the victim in this case,” Ware said. The case is still under investigation. Babiarz No injuries in minor school bus collision BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com Two Hall County buses collided Thursday afternoon with nearly 70 people onboard in South Hall, but no one was reported injured. The incident involved Bus No. 3315 and Bus No. 2807 at the intersection of Spout Springs Road and Union Circle. There were 29 students on the first bus and 38 students on the second bus, which were transporting from Cherokee Bluff’s high school and mid dle school. “The buses incurred minor damage, but since the crossing guard was damaged on Bus No. 2807, a substitute bus was brought to the scene to continue that route,” Hall County Schools spokesman Gordon Higgins wrote in an email. Bus No. 3315 continued on its route. No injuries were reported. Georgia State Patrol is investigating the wreck. SNOW ■ Continued from 1A this is the area with the greatest chances for accumulations.” The Weather Service is expecting 2.5 to 3-inch rain totals from Columbus to Rome and eastward. Casey Ramsey, Hall County’s interim director of emergency management, said departments have been briefed on the fore cast, and officials are monitoring the situa tion as usual. Ramsey said the community should moni tor weather and be cautious with traveling. “If there is some type of wintry precipita tion falling, unless you need to be on the road, there’s no sense in traveling in that type of environment,” he said. Residents can sign up for citizen alerts through the Hall County website. APARTMENT ■ Continued from 1A The Residential Group also has its eyes on a downtown mixed-use project. The developer is proposing to turn property now occupied by the former City Hall and police station on Main Street between Railroad Avenue and Church Street into 15 apartments and 7,700 square feet of ground-level retail. The City Council voted Nov. 15 to approve $5 million from tax allocation district money to offset demolition and construction costs on the project. Under Georgia law, cities are allowed to designate certain “blighted” areas as TADs, using property tax increments result ing from new growth on public projects to help attract growth and increase the increments. By law, the money can be used for public utilities improvements, such as stormwater systems. The downtown area is part of a TAD. APPLEBEE’S ■ Continued from 1A Denny’s, which is next door, closed about three weeks ago. The restaurants are across from Gainesville Towne Center shop ping center, which has several restaurants, including Golden Cor ral and Panda Express, now under construction. Also nearby are longstanding Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. Unlike Denny’s, Applebee’s had been at its location for many years and was part of a “restaurant row” that sprang up in the area. Other neighboring restaurants include Red Lobster, LongHorn and O’Charleys.