The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current, December 17, 2018, Image 6

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The times., December 17, 2018, Image 6

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Newspaper Page TextI2J OUR REGION Shannon Casas | Editor in Chief 770-718-3417 | news@gainesvilletimes.com The Times, Gainesville, Georgia Monday, December 17, 2018 FOOD ■ Continued from 1A Services set for fallen officer across our country,” Perdue said in a statement. But, he added, the bill is “not perfect.” “It fails to make common- sense changes that would help put Americans receiving food assistance back to work,” Per due added. “However, I am encouraged by the willingness of President Trump and Agri culture Secretary (Sonny) Per due to deal with this issue.” Republicans had sought to tighten eligibility by expanding work requirements for recipi ents up to 59 years of age from 49 years, and also parents with children ages 6 to 12. Had these proposals been included in the bill, it could have affected up to 1.1 mil lion households receiving food assistance, according to an esti mate by Mathematica Policy Research. About 9 percent of house holds in Hall County receive food stamps, according to U.S. census 2017 one-year estimates. Across Georgia, about 1.7 million people use food stamps, and about one in eight of all Americans use the program. According to the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, 45 percent of recipients in Geor gia are children, 18 percent are elderly or disabled, and 23 per cent live in rural areas. Adding eligibility require ments, the left-leaning GBPI argues, fail to “recognize the steep barriers low-income people must overcome to find work.” ‘It fails to make common-sense changes that would help put Americans receiving food assistance back to work. ’ Sen. David Perdue Man trapped under vehicle, killed Sunday A man was trapped under a commercial vehicle and killed Sunday afternoon in southeast Hall County. The 47-year-old victim was found deceased at about 4 p.m. Dec. 16 in the 7300 block of Berry Hill Drive. His name has not been released, pending noti fication of family. The Hall County Sheriff’s Office, Hall County Coroner’s Office and Georgia’s Motor Car rier Compliance Division are investigating, but the incident appears accidental, according to preliminary information. The cab of the truck appeared to be unoccupied. Compiled from a Hall County Sheriff’s Office press release Person who fled traffic stop arrested A person who fled from a Hall County Sheriff’s Office deputy during an attempted traffic stop was taken into cus tody Sunday, Dec. 16, sheriff’s 1st Lt. Chris Dale said. He had no other immediate details. “We will probably be able to get something more detailed out once all the reports come in,” Dale said. The pursuit began after the driver ran a stop sign at 3:17 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 15. Dale said the driver “ditched the car shortly after” and was on the run near Holly Springs Road and Skitts Mountain Road in Clermont. A K-9 unit was used to track the driver, and Georgia State Patrol assisted with troopers on the ground and a unit in the air Saturday until about 6 p.m. Jeff Gill Missing man with dementia found safe An 89-year-old Gainesville man who had been reported missing was found safe in South Carolina, Gainesville Police Sgt. Kevin Holbrook said Sun day, Dec. 16. The Gainesville Police Department had said Alfred Wheeler Ringer, 89, of Gaines ville, was last seen driving a car around 10 a.m. Dec. 15. Ringer has dementia, the police department said. Jeff Gill Funeral services are scheduled this week for DeKalb County police offi cer Edgar Isidro Flores. Law enforcement escorted his body from DeKalb to Habersham County on Saturday, including along Interstate 985 through Hall County, where people lined the highway to honor his service. The 24-year-old took gunfire Dec. 13 while pursuing a man who ran from a traffic stop on Candler Road in DeKalb, accord ing to police. He was shot multiple times and pro nounced dead at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. He is survived by family in Cornelia and Baldwin. Visitation is scheduled 6-8 p.m. Monday, Dec. 17, at Whitfield Funeral Home, North Chapel, in Demorest. A funeral service will be held at Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Flowery Branch at 11 a.m. Wednes day, Dec. 19. Interment will follow at Yonah Memorial Gardens. An earlier funeral service is planned 11 a.m. Dec. 18 at All Saints Catho lic Church in Dunwoody. Flores had been hired by the metro Atlanta police force in May 2017. At roughly age 15, Flores began working for Jaemor Farms in Alto. Jaemor’s Drew Echols on Friday remembered Flores telling him of his dream to be a police officer. Echols recalled he was a happy and hard worker at the farm. “Even at 15 years old, (he) worked with grown men and kept up. He did a good job,” Echols said. Friend Carina Trejo, who came Saturday to watch the procession on 1-985, also remembered him as “always happy.” “He was so humble, he loved to help out people, he was always there when I needed him,” she said.” I’m just going to miss him a lot.” Shannon Casas, Nick Watson and Layne Saliba contributed Flores Courtesy Jimmy Smith, Hall County Schools Russell Rego received an honorary diploma from North Hall High at the Hall County Board of Education meeting on Monday, Dec. 10. The Marine Corps veteran attended the school before joining the Marine Corps in 1972 and serving until 1993. School honors veteran with diploma ‘We’re not giving anybody anything. These individuals (like Rego) gave of themselves so that we can enjoy what we enjoy today. They’ve earned every bit of the diploma. It is our honor. Thank you for your service.’ Will Schofield, Hall County Schools superintendent BY JOSHUA SILAVENT jsilavent@gainesvilletimes.com Russell Rego has appeared in the pages of The Times on a few occasions in recent years. In 2014, he discussed, along with his wife, Delia, the men tal health and substance abuse struggles many military veter ans face today. In 2016, Rego brought to the public’s attention his fight for tax relief for disabled vets like himself. The next year, the Russell D. Rego USMC Act passed the Georgia House of Representa tives. It has since stalled in the Senate, but if it passes it would allow qualified disabled veter ans to file for a three-year ret roactive reimbursement of the Disabled Veteran Homestead Tax Exemption. To qualify, honorably dis charged Georgia veterans must own the home and use it as a pri mary residence. The exemption extends to surviving spouses who haven’t remarried and minor children as long as they remain in a home in the same county. Now, as 2019 approaches, Rego has more news to share. Earlier this month, he was awarded an honorary diploma from North Hall High, where he had attended school before enlisting in the Marine Corps. “It’s truly a special honor,” he said before the Hall County Board of Education on Dec. 10. “Fifty-six years I’ve waited to receive this.” Rego never did return to fin ish high school and graduate. Instead, he served from 1972 to 1993, including in Vietnam during the last months of the war, leaving shortly before the fall of Saigon. He was later sta tioned in South Korea. Rego also raised a family, with his two now-grown children attending North Hall High. And he now has grandchildren, too. His service to the community and the nation left an unmis takable impression on Hall County Schools Superintendent Will Schofield. “This is about as special as it gets,” he said. The state allows individuals who left school to serve in for eign wars to receive honorary diplomas. Schofield said Rego had earned his diploma through his sacrifices for Americans. “We’re not giving anybody anything,” he said. “These indi viduals (like Rego) gave of them selves so that we can enjoy what we enjoy today. They’ve earned every bit of the diploma. It is our honor. Thank you for your service.” Rego posed for pictures with his wife, daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren while those in attendance gave him a stand ing ovation. But Rego, like a true service man, shifted the focus to his wife, who he said had “put up” with him for 40 years. “If there’s a medal for wives of military people, she’d get the highest one,” Rego said. DOWNTOWN ■ Continued from 1A JEFF GILL I The Times A mixed-use development is still in the works at the old Cooper Pants Factory site off Maple and Broad streets in downtown Gainesville. 150 market-rate apartments in floors above. “We feel like these future residents will be able to walk to everything they need,” Knight said at the announcement. “The time is right for both of these projects. We’re very excited about getting started. We’re thankful to the city for giving us this opportunity.” The Cooper Pants factory site holds a place in history, as well. The factory was caught up in a 1936 tornado that devastated downtown, killing more than 200 people. The twister caused the factory to collapse, sparking a fire that trapped and killed about 70 workers, mostly young women. A his toric marker was placed on the site in October 2014. Knight also is developing Parkside on the Square off Main and Spring streets. That project features 15,000 square feet in street-level retail and 32 luxury condominiums filling the four floors above the retail. Parkside would sit on what is now a parking lot occupying the fourth side of the square. Construction also has been underway for sev eral months on a $12 million, 60,000-square-foot, four-story building that would house Carroll Daniel’s new headquarters. The first floor of the building off Main Street at Jesse Jewell Parkway will be open for retail, restaurant and office space. Carroll Daniel will occupy the second and third floors, and the fourth floor will feature recreational and meeting space uses with a rooftop deck. As part of the downtown work, two floors are being added to the parking deck on Main Street. The first three floors reopened in November, and the remaining three floors are set to be open in January. When the project is complete, the deck will have 180 new spaces, bringing the total to about 600. The fifth floor of the expanded parking deck will have 64 spots set aside for Parkside residents. FOREST ■ Continued from 1A Davis, executive director of The Nature Conser vancy in Georgia, said in a statement. According to The Conservation Fund, the act “will help to streamline land management, better protect key habitats, and enhance recre ational access for hunting, fishing and hiking.” U.S. Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., said the act will also update some park boundaries to improve recreational access and support its economic impact on the region. “Northeast Georgians have always been thoughtful stewards of their beautiful land scape, and the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest Land Adjustment Act will expand their opportunities to hunt, fish, hike and care for local forests,” U.S. Rep. Doug Collins, R-Gaines- ville, said in a statement. “On behalf of the Georgians who spend their time and make their living using our state’s forests, I’m thankful that my friend David Perdue and I were able to bring these improvements to land management over the finish line.”