About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 27, 2018)
Lanierland opens with full day of games at Chestatee High. SPORTS, 1B THURSDAY, DECEMBER 27,2018 | $1.00 | GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA | gainesvilletimes.com Michael Williams turns himself in Former gubernatorial candidate maintains innocence on insurance fraud charges BY NICK WATSON AND MEGAN REED nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com mreed@gainesvilletimes.com Former gubernatorial candidate Michael Williams turned himself in to the Hall County Jail on Wednesday afternoon on charges of insurance fraud and false report of a crime. Williams, a state senator from Cum- ming, was charged by a Hall County grand jury Dec. 18 after an investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. A.J. Richman, Williams’ attorney, said Dec. 26 that Williams was main taining his innocence and was waiting to see the state’s evidence. “Right now, our position is Mr. Wil liams did not do this,” Richman said. “We’re not really apprised of their evi dence yet. They haven’t disclosed that. I’m sure they will soon, but at this point, we don’t know what it is they’re saying other than what the indictment says.” An arraignment date has not been set yet, Richman said. A $10,000 bond was agreed upon by Richman, Northeast ern Judicial Circuit District Attorney Lee Darragh and Hall County Superior Court Judge Clint Bearden. According to the indictment, Wil liams is accused of “claiming that com puter servers were stolen from his place of business, when in fact they were not” when filing an insurance claim to The Hartford. Williams exited the jail before 4 p.m. Wednesday. Asked if he had any comment to peo ple who previously voted for him, Wil liams said, “I appreciate their support, and they are behind me. ” He did not comment regarding the allegations. In May, Williams’ campaign spokes man Seth Weathers told The Times that about $300,000 worth of cryptocurrency servers were missing from Williams’ office on Monroe Drive in Gainesville. Williams had been using the servers for his business, LPW Investments, and running campaign operations out of a separate part of the building. Former gubernatorial candidate Michael Williams leaves Hall County Jail after turning himself in Wednesday, Dec. 26, on charges of insurance fraud and false report of a crime. Bond was agreed upon at $10,000 AUSTIN STEELE The Times New sports bar set for downtown KELSEY RICHARDSON I The Times Mike Mills, general manager of the upcoming restaurant ChopBLOCK, says he is excited to bring a new sports-centric place to the community of Gainesville. ChopBLOCK coming to the square this February BY KELSEY RICHARDSON krichardson@gainesvilletimes.com The chatter of sports broadcasters and glow of games on giant TVs will fill the upcoming ChopBLOCK Food and Spirits when it opens on Friday, Feb. 1. The new two-story sports restaurant is located on the Gainesville Square at 110 Main St. Mike Mills, the brains and general manager behind the operation, said he hopes to bring a fresh take on sports bars in the two-story restaurant. Robert Knapp, longtime friend of Mills and Kevin Shaffer, a former Atlanta Falcons player, teamed up with Shaffer to make the ultimate sports bar vision come true. Both Knapp and Shaf fer own the restaurant. “We’re just sports nuts that love good food,” Mills said. He said the restaurant’s name, Chop BLOCK, is derived from the name of an illegal football block and the tool used by butchers. Mills describes the place as a pre mium casual sports restaurant. When entering ChopBLOCK, people walk over a chunk of 10-yard-line turf, which is surrounded by high-top cock tail tables. Traveling further into the restaurant, people will see a long com munity table, bar, six booths and 14 sets of TVs from 65 to 130 inches. Mills said all of the booths will be equipped with multiple USB ports. He encourages customers to take advan tage of the booths for work lunches. People will have the option to access the restaurant’s second level via the stairs or an elevator. The upstairs room will be available for private parties and coach clinics. Seating up to 100 people, Mills said he plans to support local high school and middle school teams by offering up the second level for their use. Through connections with Shaf fer, ChopBLOCK intends to provide sports celebrity signings every month. These famous people include sports ■ Please see BAR, 8A Hall County commissioner leaving happy Gibbs is satisfied with record of achievement after two successful terms Gibbs BY JOSHUA SILAVENT jsilavent@gainesvilletimes.com Since the Great Recession, and particularly over the last four years, Hall County has rebounded with robust residential and com mercial development. Though much of this devel opment has centered on the southern part of the county as Gwinnett seems to overflow into the area, as well as within the city limits of Gainesville, North Hall has seen its share of growth, too. And Scott Gibbs, who has served as the county commis sioner representing North Hall since 2011, has seen the economic rebound up close and personal. It also has been a little political. “I came in at the height of the recession,” Gibbs said. “I saw what my business had been through as far as cuts and struggles, and I felt like I was equipped to help the county get to where it needed to be.” The impact the recession had on state and local government budgets came to roost during Gibbs’ first year in office. The county was running an $11 million deficit, and dramatic spending cuts included employee furloughs, layoffs and service reductions. The county also had just $6 million in reserves, plus mounting debt, and was having to borrow money to pay its bills. “It was a horrible thing,” Gibbs said. But reserves are now at $23 million, some debt has been paid down, and sewer service has been expanded to more rural parts of the county, Gibbs said. Those are just a few signs of an economy that has bounced back — for now. From the completion of the North Hall commu nity center to the ongoing buildout of the Gateway Industrial Centre off Ga. 365 (including the recent I Please see GIBBS, 8A INSIDE WEATHER 2A DEATHS 9A 0 40901 06835 Advice 10A Bridge 10A Business 12A Calendar 2A Classified 4B 8 Comics 11A Get Out 6A Lottery 2A Opinion 4A Our Region 8A Sports 1B TV/puzzles 10A Lake Lanier level: 1,070.73 feet Full pool 1,071. Down 0.06 feet in 24 hours Delores Bowen, 74 Carolyn Bellamy, 76 Evelyn Edge, 100 James Ferguson, 70 Debra Hubbard Clara Jachode, 76 G. A. Kitterman, 74 L. D. 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