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EDGAR FLORES
Local services
planned for fallen
police officer.
OUR REGION, 6A
Man left North Hall
for Vietnam. Now,
he’s finally getting a
high school diploma
OUR REGION, 6A
PARTNERSHIP IN EDUCATION
The Bobcat Buzz team of young journalists
brings you news from their school, page 4B
MONDAY, DECEMBER 17,2018 | $1.00 | GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA | gainesvilletimes.com
Honestly Local
Downtown plans still churning
Timeline unclear for mixed-use development at old Cooper Pants factory site
BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com
A Gainesville developer is prob
ably several months away from
having a “defined plan for con
struction” for retail and apart
ments on the old Cooper Pants
Factory site.
“For the past several months, we
have been working on site plans
with our architects and civil engi
neers for a mixed-use deal,” Tim
Knight said in a recent email.
“We now have three different
mixed-use scenarios we are work
ing on, and the one we choose will
be dependent upon several factors,
including highest and best use for
the site, tenant credit level and ten
ant demand.”
Knight Commercial Realty has
an option contract on the property
off Maple and Broad streets and
Jesse Jewell Parkway. It was part
of a request for proposals submit
ted with Carroll Daniel Construc
tion to the city last year.
“They still have over a year
remaining on that option, as the
thought process by both the city
and Knight was that they would
focus on the Parkside (on the
Square) project first,” City Man
ager Bryan Lackey said. “That
timing also works well with Carroll
Daniel completing their project
before that project begins.”
In May 2017, city officials
announced several projects in a
$53 million makeover of the down
town area, including a $25 million
investment at the Maple and Broad
streets site.
At the time, the project was
described as including 30,000
square feet of street-level retail
and restaurant space with about
■ Please see DOWNTOWN, 6A
A little Christmas joy
JEFF GILL I The Times
Jennifer Vargas passes her nearly 5-month-old son, Gael, to Jeff Forrester, during his visit as Santa Claus on Sunday, Dec.
16, to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville.
Jeff Forrester, dressed as Santa Claus, holds 3-month-old Isabella during a
visit Sunday, Dec. 16, to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Northeast Georgia
Medical Center in Gainesville.
Babies at hospitals
NICU get visit
from Santa Claus
BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com
Santa Claus didn’t bring gifts or
candy, but it didn’t matter to Jennifer
Vargas.
He brought joy, and that gesture was
enough.
“This is the season to give things, and
that was very nice,” said the Rabun
County mom, after Santa had spent
time holding and posing for pictures
with her son, nearly 5-month-old Gael.
Jeff Forrester, dressed as Santa,
made his way spreading cheer Sunday,
Dec. 16, through the Neonatal Inten
sive Care Unit at Northeast Georgia
Medical Center in Gainesville. He was
joined by his wife, Pamela, playing the
part of Mrs. Claus.
It’s the sixth year the Forresters
have made the visit part of their holi
day plans.
“There’s a lot of times when there’s
first-time parents and they don’t know
whether they’re going to have another
Christmas with (their newborns),” Jeff
Forrester said. “This is one of our high
lights of the season.”
He does other Santa events, “but this
is one where we donate our time, how
ever long it takes.”
Jeff went room to room talking with
parents and holding babies whenever
he could. Pamela took pictures along
the way, with plans to give the families
copies of photos after the event.
“This is great, very great,” said
Claris Centeno, 34, of Gainesville.
Centeno’s daughter, Isabella, was
not quite a pound when she was
born. The 3-month-old girl is growing
stronger, but she still needs medical
attention.
The last few months have been tax
ing, as Centeno makes the daily trip to
the NICU to check on her daughter.
She wants to bring Isabella home for
Christmas, but otherwise, “I should be
working.”
The Forresters were scheduled to
visit 23 families on Sunday, said Amy
Chastain, a registered nurse who coor
dinates the annual visit.
The effort is meant to bring a little
happiness to families.
“This is not where they want to be
this time of year,” Chastain said.
“People don’t usually think about
these families,” Pamela said in a
2016 interview during a Christmas
visit. “Their first Christmas with their
babies is spent in a hospital.”
She added: “It’s also a ministry for
us.”
For Vargas, the NICU has almost
become like a second home.
“I was here a week before I gave
birth,” she said.
Gael is making progress, but leaving
is still a “far goal.”
He cried as Santa held him, with
mom shaking a rattle over him to try to
quieten him. It worked, and the mom
and son posed for pictures with Santa.
“He’s a little spoiled, but that’s OK,”
Vargas said.
FARM BILL
Food stamp
work rules
unchanged
Some wanted to expand
eligibility requirements
BY JOSHUA SILAVENT
jsilavent@gainesvilletimes.com
The U.S. Congress last week passed an $867 bil
lion farm bill that does not include budget cuts or
stricter eligibility requirements for the Supple
mental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly
known as food stamps.
A growing trade war with China churned bipar
tisan support for the bill, which allocates subsidies
to American farmers. President Donald Trump is
expected to sign it into law.
The bill does add measures to ensure that those
receiving food assistance can
not do so in more than one state
at a time, and also calls for the
launch of a pilot program to ver
ify the income of recipients.
Food stamps have long been
in the crosshairs of conservative
politicians.
U.S. Sen. David Perdue,
R-Ga., a member of the Senate
Agriculture Committee, said
passing the farm bill was impor
tant for Georgia’s $73 billion agriculture industry.
“Growing up working on my family’s farm, I
learned at an early age that agriculture is not just
a business — it’s a way of life for many people
■ Please see FOOD, 6A
Perdue
Forest land
conservation
gets a boost
BY JOSHUA SILAVENT
jsilavent@gainesvilletimes.com
The U.S. Congress last week passed a bipar
tisan $867 billion farm bill that includes the
Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest Land
Adjustment Act, which lawmakers said will
expand recreation in Northeast Georgia through
“modified land exchanges.”
The act allows the U.S. Forest Service to sell iso
lated parcels within the two national forests.
The Chattahoochee National Forest comprises
750,145 acres across Northeast Georgia, with
large swaths in Rabun County.
The proceeds from the sale of 30 identified
parcels totaling 3,841 acres would be used to pur
chase additional forest service land from private
landowners within the forest’s boundaries.
Conservationists applauded the passage of the
act.
“The money generated from the sales of these
small areas of land will be put towards buying
more critical lands for conservation and recre
ation, a result that benefits all Georgians,” Deron
■ Please see FOREST, 6A
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