About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 12, 2018)
LOCA^SOUTHEAST The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com Wednesday, December 12, 2018 7A DEATH NOTICES Taylor Nichole Adkins Died Dec. 10,2018 Taylor Nichole Adkins, 16, of Daw- sonville died Monday. Funeral ser vice, 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 15, funeral home chapel. McDonald and Son Funeral Home, Cumming. Betty Borders Died Dec. 9, 2018 Betty Borders of Commerce died Sunday. Wimberly & White Funeral Home, Commerce. Melissa Simpson Cahill Died Dec. 10,2018 Melissa Simpson Cahill, 61, of Johns Creek died Monday. Memorial ser vice, 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 15, funeral home chapel. McDonald and Son Funeral Home, Cumming. Walter Thomas Carry Died Dec. 7, 2018 Walter Thomas Carry, 88, of Cum ming died Dec. 7. Ingram Funeral Home & Crematory, Cumming. Jane Cox Oct. 2, 1950-Dec. 10,2018 Jane Cox, 68, of Dawsonville died Monday. Funeral service, 11 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 13, Coal Mountain Baptist Church, Cumming. Ingram Funeral Home & Crematory, Cumming. Pamela Denise Davenport March 31, 1959-Dec. 9, 2018 Pamela Denise Davenport, 59, of Gainesville died Sunday. Memorial service, 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 15, Rock Hill Congregational Holiness Church. Little & Davenport Funeral Home and Crematory, Gainesville. Jordan Earls Died Dec. 4, 2018 Jordan Earls, 27, died Dec. 4. Funeral service, 11 a.m. Thurs day, Dec. 13, Hickory Grove CME Church. Wimberly Funeral Home, Gainesville. Penithia Hamer Died Dec. 3, 2018 Penithia “Star” Hamer died Dec. 3. Funeral service, 11 a.m. Wednes day, Dec. 12, Hunter Hill First Baptist Church, Atlanta. Wimberly Funeral Home, Gainesville. Freddie James Knight Died Dec. 10,2018 Freddie James Knight, 73, of Winder died Monday. Memorial ser vice, 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 13, funeral home chapel. Lawson Funeral Home, Hoschton. Leroy Littlejohn Died Dec. 6, 2018 Leroy Littlejohn, 70, died Dec. 6. Visitation, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 12, funeral home chapel. Dexter T. Sims Mortuary, Gainesville. William Jonathan Looney Sept. 6, 1957-Dec. 9, 2018 William Jonathan “Jon” Looney, 61, of Cornelia died Sunday. Funeral service, 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 15, funeral home chapel. McGahee- Griffin & Stewart Funeral Home, Cornelia. John Wesley Samuels Died Dec. 9, 2018 John Wesley Samuels of Gaines ville died Sunday. Wimberly Funeral Home, Gainesville. Janett Shreffler Jan. 10, 1935-Dec. 11, 2018 Janett Shreffler, 83, of Dahlonega died Tuesday. Funeral service, 2 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 13, funeral home cha pel. Anderson-Underwood Funeral Home, Dahlonega. Julius 0. Thomas Jr. Died Dec. 10,2018 Julius O. Thomas Jr., 89, of Gaines ville died Monday. Memorial Park Funeral Home, Gainesville. Danny Lloyd Umberhant Died Dec. 10,2018 Danny Lloyd Umberhant, 64, of Commerce died Monday. McGahee- Griffin & Stewart Funeral Home, Cornelia. Lois Mae Hill Walls Died Dec. 10,2018 Lois Mae Hill Walls, 86, of Clarkes- ville died Monday. Graveside service, 2 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 13, Habersham Cemetery. McGahee-Griffin & Stew art Funeral Home, Cornelia. Obituary information Death notices are printed free as a public service by The Times. More information can be provided in paid obituaries. The rate is $50 per 100 words (or any part thereof). There is an additional mandatory $40 fee for online services, which includes a guest book that allows family and friends to post condolences. Deadline for publication is 6:30 p.m. seven days a week. Death notices and obituaries are accepted only from funeral homes. They should be emailed to obits@gainesvilletimes.com. All submissions will appear in The Times and online at gainesvilletimes. com. For additional information, please call 770-718-3435 or 800-395-5005, extension 3435, between 3 and 6 p.m. weekdays. Developer can return in January with Oakwood townhomes plan BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com A new year might ring in a dif ferent result for a developer who has stalled in two separate efforts to get Oakwood’s OK to build townhomes between McEver, Flat Creek and Oakwood roads. The Oakwood City Council voted Monday, Dec. 10, to table two plans by Buford-based MB Endeavors — one involving 120 townhomes between Flat Creek and McEver Roads and one involving 107 townhomes and some commercial development between McEver and Flat Creek. The delay was to give MB Endeavors the opportunity to propose a single plan to the city in January. After Councilwoman Sheri Millwood’s made the motion, Mayor Lamar Scroggs asked John Purcell of MB Endeavors, “Is that satisfactory with you?” “Yes, sir,” Purcell said. B.R. White, the city’s com munity development director, had told the Oakwood Planning Commission on Nov. 19 that MB Endeavors was looking to fuse the 120-townhome development with the multi-use development off McEver Road. White said the blending might reduce overall residential density of the project and add single-fam ily homes and some commercial development. “The layout will change,” White told the planning board. MB Endeavors has been try ing for a couple of months to get residential housing approved between McEver, Flat Creek and Oakwood roads. A 12-acre site featuring resi dential and commercial compo nents off McEver and Flat Creek roads, was rejected in November by the City Council. And MB Endeavors had tried Oct. 8 to get a 107-unit townhome project between Flat Creek and Oakwood roads approved. Coun cil voted down that proposal. Several residents spoke at that meeting opposing the project. Concerns included that it might infringe on the privacy of neigh boring residents and increase crime. One resident spoke about how the development would be another example of “rapid, ram pant development” that’s turning the area into “another Gwinnett County.” Jimmy Grant of Oakwood reg istered his opposition Monday night. “Y’all turned it down a month ago,” he told the council. “What are they doing? Keep coming back and see if they can change something every time to get this thing approved?” Grant said he was concerned about traffic impacts from the development. “This is not right,” he said. “We’ve got too much right now in Oakwood to deal with.” Oakwood modifies alcohol ordinance Oakwood City Council tweaked its alcohol ordinance Monday night to reflect voters’ Nov. 6 OK of earlier Sunday alcohol sales at restaurants. Voters in Hall County, Gaines ville, Flowery Branch and Oak- wood approved allowing sales to begin at 11 a.m. instead of 12:30 p.m. Moving forward, the cities and county “are looking at the imple mentation date” of Feb. 3, City Manager Stan Brown told the council at its Dec. 10 meeting. “We’re just trying to eliminate confusion between different jurisdictions,” he said. Ordinances must be amended by the governments to reflect the change before restaurants can start serving. Church can move on construction plans Christ Lutheran Church at 3612 Old Oakwood Road will be able to move forward with construction plans, including a new sanctuary. The church, which is off Mundy Mill Road, was given Oak- wood City Council’s OK Monday night to reduce a setback require ment, enabling the project. “Like most churches, includ ing the one I attend, you do a long-range plan and you work out the phases of construction and then, as the money comes in, you build in phases,” said B.R. White, Oakwood’s community develop ment director, during the Dec. 10 meeting. The new sanctuary is the third phase of Christ Lutheran’s plans. “We’re ready to move for ward,” church member Alan Overcash told the council. “Obvi ously, we want to get it built yesterday.” Photo courtesy DAWSON COUNTY EMERGENCY SERVICES Two men were killed in a head-on collision Tuesday on Ga. 400. Fatal wreck on Ga. 400 leaves 2 dead BY ALLIE DEAN Dawson County News A Dawsonville man and Dahlonega man were killed on Ga. 400 Monday when a southbound vehicle crossed the median of the highway into the northbound lanes and struck the other vehicle. Troopers responded to the two-vehicle wreck at 1:24 p.m. Dec. 10 near Henry Grady Highway in Dawson County. Both drivers were pronounced dead on the scene, according to a press release from the Georgia State Patrol. There were no other passengers in either vehicle. Tony Ray Chastain, 56, of Dawsonville, was driving a 2003 Lincoln Town Car south on Ga. 400 in the left lane. Colquitt Juanez Thompson, 63, of Dahlonega, was driving a 2015 Chevrolet Silverado north on Ga. 400 in the right lane, according to the state patrol. Chastain’s car left the roadway, crossed the median, traveled into the northbound lanes and collided head-on with Thompson’s truck. Distracted driving does not appear to be a factor in the wreck. Drugs and alcohol are also not suspected. Both drivers were wear ing seatbelts. Despite rainy conditions, the release states that wet roadways do not appear to be a factor, either. The northbound lanes of Ga. 400 were closed until 3:30 p.m. for investigation and cleanup. Norfolk Southern’s relocation to Atlanta to be made official AMY DAVIS I Tribune News Service A Norfolk-Southern train transporting crude oil travels through Port Deposit, Md., on Dec. 17, 2014. Tribune News Service Gov. Nathan Deal and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms are expected Wednesday to formally announce a completed deal to relocate the headquar ters of railroad giant Nor folk Southern to Atlanta, two people told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Deal has called a 2 p.m. press conference at the State Capitol in what will mark the culmination of years of work to recruit the Fortune 500 railroad away from its home in Norfolk, Va. Spokespeople with the city and state Department of Eco nomic Development declined to comment. A Norfolk South ern representative did not immediately return a mes sage seeking comment. The people who spoke to the AJC about Wednesday’s press con ference were not authorized to comment publicly. Norfolk Southern joins PulteGroup, NCR and Mer cedes-Benz among global and North American headquar ters recruited by the state over the past 10 years. The announcement has been expected. The Nor folk Southern recruitment became one of the most pub lic under Deal after it was learned the railroad wanted to sell its land in downtown Atlanta’s Gulch to fund a potential move to Midtown. The Gulch land, mean while, forms the core of what developer CIM Group wanted to buy to build a mammoth 40-acre mix of apartments, offices, hotels and retail between the Five Points MARTA station and Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Norfolk Southern’s pro posed relocation became almost a footnote amid a tense months-long debate over whether the Atlanta City Council would support an unprecedented incentive package for CIM to redevelop the stretch of downtown park ing lots and rail beds. In late October, as the debate over a nearly $2 bil lion public financing package for the up to $5 billion Gulch development hung in the balance, Norfolk Southern CEO James Squires leveled a threat, saying his company wouldn’t move to Atlanta if the Gulch deal fell through. “I would hate to see this slip away,” Squires told Atlanta Business Chronicle days before the council approved the package. “But if it does, we will move on.” Last week, the city of Atlan ta’s development arm, Invest Atlanta, approved $23.6 mil lion in tax breaks for Norfolk Southern’s future headquar ters at West Peachtree Street and Ponce de Leon Avenue. State tax credits for newly created jobs could increase the value of the incentives by millions. Norfolk Southern plans a 750,000-square-foot tower totaling about $575 million, according to an Invest Atlanta document. The company is expected to relocate or create 850 jobs and retain more than 2,000 jobs currently located in Midtown near the Woodruff Arts Center. MCDONOUGH Man dies in shooting at birthday party A man has died after he was shot at a weekend birthday party at a bar southeast of Atlanta. News outlets reported that police in McDonough said 31-year-old Decoby Bar- low of Flovilla was caught in the crossfire when three men opened fire in the parking lot of a bar early Sunday. Investigators say Barlow was going to his car when he was shot in the back. Twenty-eight-year-old Jalon Edwards has been arrested and charged with Bar low’s death. It was not known if he has an attorney yet to talk about the charges. Police are looking for the two others involved in the shooting. DULUTH Police shoot woman accused of stabbing her wife to death The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says authorities shot and wounded a woman accused of fatally stabbing her wife. Conyers police Capt. Jackie Dunn tells WALB-TV that police responded to a report of a disturbance at an area motel Monday and found a conscious woman with about 30 stab wounds. Dunn says the woman told police her wife attacked her. She was later pronounced dead. Dunn says authorities learned the sus pect was headed south on Interstate 75. GBI Special Agent in Charge J.T. Ricket- son says the woman was stopped follow ing a car chase and shot at deputies. He says deputies then shot the woman several times. Her condition is unclear. The GBI is investigating. Authorities haven’t released the women’s identities. Dunn says the couple has a history of domestic violence. Associated Press
