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Shannon Casas Editor in Chief | 770-718-3417 | news@gainesvilletimes.com
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Sunday, December 9, 2018
Wintry mix likely until Monday
Up to three inches of snow projected for Hall County
Significant ice accumulation on
trees and power lines is likely, along
with as much as 3 inches of snow, as
part of a winter storm warning issued
by the National Weather Service.
Heavy mixed wintry precipitation
was expected Saturday night, includ
ing snow, ice and possibly sleet.
The warning is in effect from 10
p.m. Dec. 8 to 1 a.m. Dec. 10 for the
region north and east of a line from
Blairsville to Dawsonville to Gaines
ville to Homer. More snow is expected
in areas with elevation of 2,500 feet.
Hall County and counties to the
northeast were inside the winter storm
warning from late Saturday night into
1 a.m. Monday, Dec. 10. The projection
for counties within the winter storm
warning was snow/sleet up to 3 inches.
The NWS model had Gainesville
and surrounding areas with minimum
temperatures near freezing.
North of Gainesville and Dahlonega
is where the NWS has the highest con
fidence of ice accumulation from Sat
urday to Sunday.
High winds and wet soil could also
increase the chances for downed trees
and/or power lines, according to the
NWS.
Through 7 p.m. Monday, central
and northeast Hall was considered
under moderate storm severity, which
translated to “perhaps a day or two
of recovery time for snow and/or ice
accumulation events.”
The southwest part of the county
was listed as minor severity, which
meant “minor disruptions” and “none
to minimal recovery time.”
The weather service warns that
power outages and tree damage are
likely in the area under the warning.
Georgia Department of Transpor
tation district spokeswoman Katie
Strickland said the department is using
brine on Ga. 316, Interstate 85 and Ga.
400, and crews will begin 12-hour shifts
at 7 p.m. Sunday.
“We are ready to respond if we see
things worsen any sooner than Sunday
evening,” Strickland wrote in an email.
Jackson EMC spokeswoman April
Sorrow said the company has all 120
linemen on call as well as 100 contrac
tors ready to go.
“Every night, we usually have 10
guys that are on call for that (Lumpkin
and Hall counties) area. My assump
tion would be that we would have dou
bled that capacity,” Sorrow said.
Times staff reports
A meeting
is held at
Gainesville
City
Emergency
Services
concerning a
winter storm
warning issued
by the National
Weather
Service on
Saturday, Dec.
8. The NWS
model had
Gainesville and
surrounding
areas with low
temperatures
near freezing.
AUSTIN STEELE
The Times
‘Skaters will be coming from
miles around to skate here’
Ex-offenders
transform lives
after DUI Court
NICK BOWMAN I The Times
Jayden Parr flips his board while skating at Sardis Enrichment School on Friday, Dec. 7. Parr is
one of the skateboarding and science students of Sardis teacher Jasen Spinks, who drafted a
1,700-signature petition supporting the creation of a skate park in Gainesville.
Residents
share likes,
dislikes about
skateboard
park to be built
in Gainesville
BY JOSHUA SILAVENT
jsilavent@gainesvilletimes.com
The recent release of a
conceptual design for Gaines
ville’s first skateboarding
park brings construction of
the long-awaited project one
step closer to fruition.
And though the design has
been met with mostly posi
tive reviews from local youth,
old-school skaters and other
“stakeholders” who spoke
with The Times, there is
still an opportunity to make
changes that some would like
to see.
Michael Graham, deputy
director of the city’s parks
and recreation department,
said the hope is “to finalize the
concept soon and then get an
updated estimate of probable
cost for the construction.”
A plan to break ground
on the project in July still
remains the “ideal situation,”
Graham added.
The parks department
will build the approximately
20,000-square-foot skate park
at the intersection of Pine and
High streets in the midtown
section of the city.
Wally Hollyday, a Califor
nia-based skate park designer,
created the design that Lose
Design of Lawrenceville will
use for construction.
The project is meant to
incorporate drops, rails, pipes,
ramps, bowls and other ele
ments that define both park
and street-style skating.
“This park really reflects
the street-skating style and
identity of our skaters,” said
resident Fred LaValley, who
participated in public input
meetings on the project ear
lier this fall. “The design
team’s approach to letting us
be part of designing it is inge
nious, and allows the park to
be unique. Skaters will be
coming from miles around to
skate here. A lot of us are still
in near disbelief that it’s really
happening.”
Indeed, the push to develop
a skate park is years in the
making and became one of
the most requested facilities
in the parks department’s
master plan.
Jasen Spinks, a teacher at
Sardis Enrichment School in
Hall County, spearheaded a
petition that garnered about
1,700 signatures from local
■ Please see SKATE, 4C
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
Richard Frazier calculated in his head all the
money he’d spent on lawyers, probation, fines
and the time he’d miss work. It came to roughly
$40,000 to $50,000, not including the costs of any
drugs or alcohol.
“Money that I’ll never see again. It might
have bought me a new truck or could have paid
for half my house,” Frazier said.
Frazier, of Dawsonville, was arrested in 2011
for DUI. A year into his probation, he tested pos
itive for drugs and would eventually enroll in
Hall County’s DUI Court in the summer of 2013.
At first he didn’t think he’d
make it through the 15-month
program headed by State
Court Judge Larry Baldwin II
and coordinator Katie Bruner,
but he wasn’t about to go back
to jail.
Frazier said he also knew
time in jail wouldn’t change
anything.
“In a matter of time I would
have been right back where I was doing the
same thing, which (would) sooner or later lead
to another DUI or lead to something else that’s
going to get you in trouble with the law. I got
tired of giving my money to probation officers
and lawyers,” he said.
Fifteen months after joining the program,
he graduated and has been clean for nearly six
years.
“I owe a lot of my sobriety and I owe a lot of
who I am today to that program, in all reality. I
also turned my life over to God about that same
time, too,” he said.
Now in its 15th year, Bruner said the court
has had 822 graduates since 2003. In December,
there were 72 participants.
The four-phase program focuses on sub
stance abuse treatment, counseling and heavy
supervision.
“Most people didn’t get to our program
just because life’s been great but they picked
up drinking in college. A lot of ours have had
trauma in their lives, and that’s led to getting
them where they are. When you’re addressing
the substance abuse, you also have to address
those underlying issues,” Baldwin said.
According to a 2018 report from the Georgia
Council of Accountability Court Judges, two
studies were performed by Applied Research
Services on recidivism. For statewide DUI
courts, graduates had a 21 percent recidivism
rate compared to a 63 percent recidivism rate
for those terminated from the program.
“Any amount of participation in an account
ability court, regardless of completion, leads to
lower recidivism,” according to the report.
Similarly, participants statewide had a 22
percent recidivism rate compared to a 39 per
cent rate for probationers in adjacent counties
who did not enter a DUI Court.
“Any crimes being committed by those indi
viduals that complete our program — that could
■ Please see DUI, 2C
Frazier
Flowery Branch officers, kids load up carts at ‘Shop with
a Cop’
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
Osiyrus Leavell, 8, pinky-prom
ised Sgt. Dalton Hall to ride his
bicycle safely around the check
out registers in the Oakwood
Walmart. Protecting his head with
a black-and-red mohawk helmet,
the boy slowly pedaled the bike
near the garden center with Hall
close behind him.
For his third year, Hall joined
other Flowery Branch Police
officers in the “Shop with a Cop”
event at the Mundy Mill Road
store. His work Saturday morning
included loading a cart of Nerf
guns and “anything that lights up,”
he said.
“It’s probably one of the cool
est things... about working here in
Flowery Branch,” Hall said.
Chief David Spillers said each
kid had a soft limit of $300, with
some going over or under. Around
10 a.m., the chief said he expected
the grand total to be around $6,000
between 18 children, though not
everyone was aiming for toys and
games.
“The little guy I was with
wanted to get groceries for his
mama for Christmas,” Spillers
said.
Nona Gamble, Osiyrus’ grand
mother and guardian, said the
family was affected by a fire in
Riverdale in May.
“We lost everything, and then
my daughter got us an apartment
out here,” she said.
Osiyrus’ and his siblings took to
the Nerf guns and Beyblade toys,
as the kids and officers loaded up
shopping carts.
“I explained to them the impor
tance of Christmas, and that’s really
not to get stuff all the time. Some
times you’ve got to be thankful for
■ Please see SHOP, 3C
Flowery
Branch
Police officer
Dalton Flail
helps Osiyrus
Leavell, right,
6, put his new
bike helmet
on during
Shop with a
Cop at the
Oakwood
Walmart on
Saturday,
Dec. 8. Kids
are given
a soft limit
of $300 to
purchase
whatever they
want, which
included toys
and for some
groceries.
AUSTIN STEELE
The Times
