About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 14, 2018)
L2J OUR REGION Shannon Casas | Editor in Chief 770-718-3417 | news@gainesvilletimes.com The Times, Gainesville, Georgia Friday, December 14, 2018 30 days for man who bit girl at Lanier BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com A Dacula man cannot teach and must avoid areas “where chil dren congregate” for the term of his probation in a negotiated plea entered Dec. 4. Jonathan William Herbert, who formerly worked for Gwinnett County Public Schools, entered a plea under the First Offender Act for battery, public drunken ness and bribery. He was previ ously accused of biting a 14-year-old girl’s buttocks July 4 at Lake Lanier, but the sexual battery charge was dismissed by the dis trict attorney’s office. The sentence was 30 days in confinement at the Hall County Detention Center followed by four years of probation, according to court documents. According to the dismissal order by Northeastern Judicial Circuit District Attorney Lee Dar- ragh and Chief Assistant District Attorney Wanda Vance, the girl was playing volleyball at Lake Lanier Islands when the incident occurred. After speaking with the victim and her mother, the district attorney said “they would like to see the case resolved without requiring the juvenile to testify.” “The state is therefore offer ing a plea offer to a felony resolu tion with a requirement that the defendant not teach for the term of probation, have no contact with the girl and complete counseling,” Darragh and Vance wrote. The prosecution “has some con cerns that the jury might nullify and return convictions on the other counts, but not the sexual battery” because the case varies from other sexual assault cases. According to the indictment, Herbert was also accused of offering a deputy $200 “with the purpose of influencing him in the performance of his official duties.” If Herbert completes the terms of his probation, the case will be discharged “without court adjudi cation of guilt,” according to court documents. The additional terms of probation include 40 hours of community ser vice, 2 12-Step meetings per week for four years, two drug screens per month for four years in addition to drug and alcohol treatment. Herbert SCOn ROGERS I The Times Participants in the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce tour hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Candler Park Condominiums Thursday, Dec. 12, at the site of a condo unit currently under construction. Candler Park Condominiums adds 5 new units in final phase BY KELSEY RICHARDSON krichardson@gainesvilletimes.com Candler Park Condominiums has implemented the last phase of its construction. Two new units will be available to the condo community on March 1, and three more will arrive in June. Keeping with its original regula tions, only people 55 years and up will be able to live in these condo spaces. Co-owned by brothers Bradley and Daryl Dunckel, the condos will be priced in the mid- to upper $400,000 range. Daryl said the proj ect’s total cost equates to around $2.5 million. The new condos will include an 1,800-square-foot first floor with two bedrooms, and an optional 1,700-square-foot basement. “We’re catering to a mature audience who wants to downsize from a large home, but still wants quality materials and finishes on the inside,” Bradley said. “They’ll be able to lock up and go away for weeks without having to worry about exterior maintenance.” Bradley said the community’s No. 1 attribute includes its proximity to the hospital and local businesses. Daryl said the five units will be the last phase of a project that started in 2006. With the new addi tions, Candler Park Condominiums will have a total of 28 units. For more information about Can dler Park Condominiums, contact Gina Kendrick at 770-654-5698. EGGS ■ Continued from 1A just property owners but we have a lot more people that take advantage of the educa tion process,” Dunahoo said. Hawkins said ESPLOST, a penny sales tax that funds local schools, could be an alternative funding source. Protecting community hospitals The Certificate of Need program is a Georgia Depart ment of Community Health program that evaluates pro posals for new or expanded health care services or facili ties. The goal of the program is to avoid duplication of ser vices and improve access to health care. Hawkins said the program was designed to protect the investments of hospitals that offer specialized services, like The Heart Center of Northeast Georgia Medical Center. Community hospitals suffer when private hospi tals can afford to only treat patients with insurance, he said. “If you have a private entity, for-profit hospital or clinic move in to the area and treat only insured patients and cash pay patients, then they can effectively charge less for the treatment because they’re not charg ing non-payers. That is very harmful to our community hospitals,” Hawkins said. Miller also said hospitals who treat indigent patients should be protected, noting the closures of several rural hospitals that have forced patients to travel to larger cities to get health care. Technology Legislators were asked about the possibility of wire less companies putting small cell antennae on poles to help with capacity as demand for high-speed internet increases. Dubnik said small cell technology and rural broad band were issues raised to him frequently during the most recent legislative ses sion. In the past, there have SHANNON CASAS I The Times The convention center ballroom at Lanier Technical College’s new campus was named the Kathryn L. “Kit” Dunlap Ballroom Thursday at the annual Eggs & Issues breakfast put on by the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce. Ballroom at new campus bears name of chamber president BY SHANNON CASAS scasa@gainesvilletimes.com The convention center ballroom at Lanier Technical College’s new cam pus is now the Kathryn L. “Kit” Dunlap Ballroom. The naming was announced Thurs day at the annual Eggs & Issues break fast put on by the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce and featuring the local legislative delegation. While most of the accolades during the event were directed toward out going Gov. Nathan Deal, he directed some toward Dunlap as he announced the president and CEO of the chamber would be the namesake of the ballroom. “I’m not very much at a loss for words,” Dunlap told the crowd gathered at the breakfast, “but thank you so much for that honor, and I appreciate it.” Dr. Ray Perren, president of Lanier Tech, made a few remarks as the letters above the ballroom were unveiled fol lowing the breakfast. been “two Georgias,” he said, with metro Atlanta having easier access to resources than the rest of the state. That is changing, but there is still a discrepancy, he said. Businesses, local govern ments, schools and indus tries such as health care rely on broadband access, so expanding access should be a priority, Dubnik said. Dunahoo said the neces sary equipment could also be installed underground so aes thetics are less of a concern. “It’s like beautiful Green Street. Who wants to drive and see a telephone pole with little towers or little configu rations on top of it?” Duna hoo said. SCOn ROGERS I The Times Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Kit Dunlap and Gov. Nathan Deal take the stage Thursday, Dec. 13, at the Lanier Technical College conference center during the annual Eggs & Issues breakfast. Report: Plane hit treetops before inverting in crash BY NICK WATSON nwatson@ gainesvilletimes.com A plane struck the treetops near Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport Nov. 17 before it crashed, killing the pilot and seriously injuring the passen ger, according to a National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report released Dec. 11. Robert Carlisle Alber- hasky, 68, of Cumming died after his 2015 Lancair Inter national Legacy RG crashed Saturday, Nov. 17. Mark Lewis, 69, of Flow ery Branch was also in the plane and critically injured. The plane departed Charleston Executive Airport in Charleston, South Carolina en route to Gainesville’s airport. “A witness in an airplane waiting to takeoff from runway 23 saw the acci dent airplane approach the runway. He indicated that he saw the landing lights, which ‘became dim and they appeared to roll 180 degrees’ before the accident,” accord ing to the preliminary report. Lewis reported the air plane “suddenly became inverted” but didn’t remem ber other details. When the two were roughly a tenth of a mile from the runway, the plane struck treetops which were about 50 feet tall. Emergency personnel discovered the single-engine plane had fallen down an embankment along Queen City Parkway. Photos by AUSTIN STEELE I The Times Jeremy Green, co-owner of Sliced, stands in his new Gainesville location during the soft opening of Sliced on Thursday, Dec. 13. PIZZA ■ Continued from 1A a bunch of things good, you won’t do any of it good,” Ted der said. “So, we went sim ple and said, ‘If we can do pizza, and do it really well, that’s what we want.’” People can purchase individual sizes or opt for a 14-inch or 18-inch pizza. Green said the restau rant will use as many local ingredients as possible and sell beer from nearby breweries. He also intends to incor porate eco-friendly habits into Sliced by providing bio degradable straws and recy clable plates. Most of the tables are upcycled pieces made of scrap barn wood from Tedder’s family prop erty in Savannah. Despite eating pizza nearly every day, Green said he never gets sick of it. Both Green and Tedder relish the pizza business and enjoy sharing the same passion. “I love seeing our other stores that got busier every week, every year and packed every weekend,” Tedder said. “It’s so simple and effective with what peo ple want. We’re just trying to do one thing and focus on it. It’s cool to see that pay off and for people to get it.” Sliced offers a variety of specialty pizzas including The Chief, which is topped with pepperoni, sausage, onion, mushroom, black olive and green peppers. BADMINTON ■ Continued from 1A shift, but there is potential for them to be called out during the day,” Johnson said. “Hester does encour age them to learn the layout of the schools.” The issue is the entire shift was there, Johnson said, leaving the county without any officers on the road. “(Patrol officers) will often engage in smaller, lower scale training like traffic stops on slow nights, especially with new recruits and things of that nature,” Johnson said. “It’s encour aged as long as it doesn’t interfere with their duties.” An open records request has been filed with Dawson County Schools requesting video of the incident. With a standard of up to five patrol officers on shift at a time, the sheriff’s office could be down most if not all of a shift after the incident is addressed. “As your sheriff, I apolo gize to our community for this occurrence. We strive to build trust within our com munity, and unfortunately incidents such as this serve to undermine that trust,” Johnson said. “I am very dis appointed in this behavior as I know it is not indicative of our staff as a whole. I want to reassure our community that we truly have excep tional professionals serving our county.” Superintendent Damon Gibbs said Thursday he had no comment on the incident.
