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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
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Lake Lanier level: 1,070.73 feet
Full pool 1,071. Down 0.06 feet in 24 hours
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Debra Hubbard
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