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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2018 | $1.00 | GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA | gainesvilletimes.com
Honestly Local
GA House aims to improve school safety
Panel calls for creation of statewide team to respond to threats and to coordinate efforts
BY JOSHUA SILAVENT
jsilavent@gainesvilletimes.com
The Georgia House of Represen
tatives is calling for the creation
of a statewide threat management
team to coordinate school safety
and security resources through the
executive branch, or governor’s
office.
The management team would
be designed to coordinate with
local school districts, law enforce
ment agencies and mental health
providers to work to prevent and
respond to violence on public
school campuses.
It is one of many recommenda
tions made earlier this month by a
House study committee on school
security, and follows recommen
dations made previously by a fed
eral panel and by a similar Senate
committee in November.
State Sen. Butch Miller,
R-Gainesville, president pro tem
pore, told The Times earlier this
month that he expects school
safety legislation and funding to be
a “very high priority” in the 2019
legislative session.
In its report, the Senate commit
tee said it explored “possible pro
grams, solutions and safeguards to
strengthen school safety in three
key areas: the prevention of emer
gencies at or attacks on our schools
from occurring in the first place;
the physical security of school
buildings, facilities, and buses
themselves in the case of an actual
emergency; and the responses
of school authorities, state and
local law enforcement and emer
gency services personnel, stu
dents, teachers and staff to active
emergencies should they occur on
campus.” The committee recom
mended increased state mental
health counselors and allowing
local schools systems to use spe
cial purpose local option sales tax
revenues to fund the hiring of addi
tional social workers or counselors
(SPLOST funds are restricted to
facilities improvements and other
capital development projects).
The committee also called for
a “data-sharing system by which
Georgia’s schools, social services,
and law enforcement agencies are
able to coordinate together to cre
ate, share, and curate secure indi
vidual student profiles throughout
a student’s educational career.”
The House recommendations
concur with these proposals also
while adding to them.
■ Please see SAFETY, 6A
Flash flooding closes roads,
has Lake Lanier overflowing
KELSEY RICHARDSON I The Times
Joshua Yule, left, and Garrett McHenry said they were shocked at how much the flooding of West Fork Little River on
Friday, Dec. 28, had changed the layout of their usual hangout spot on Jim Hood Road in North Hall.
Dense fog for most of North Georgia through Saturday morning
Times staff reports
More than 2.5 inches of
rain Friday caused flood
ing in parts of the county,
with four roads still closed
after 9 p.m. around Lula and
Murrayville.
A flash flood warning was
in effect for part of the day in
Hall County, according to the
National Weather Service. It
expired Friday evening.
Lula Park on Ga. 52, Belton
Bridge Road at Pea Ridge
Road, Belton Bridge Road
at Belton Bridge Park, all in
Lula, as well as Conner Drive
at Claude Parks Road in Mur
rayville were closed because
of flooding, Hall County Sher
iff’s Office Lt. Scott Ware said.
Cagle Mill Road in Lula
was closed Friday afternoon
due to flooding from the
North Oconee River.
Jim Hood Road in the area
of West Fork Little River in
North Hall was closed Friday
morning but reopened Friday
afternoon.
Matt Tarver, Gainesville’s
deputy director of public
works, said Friday that no
roads in the city closed due to
flooding, but crews did clear
drains.
A dense fog advisory is
in effect until 9 a.m. Sat
urday, Dec. 29, for North
Georgia counties and cities,
with an estimated visibility
of one-quarter mile or less.
Gainesville saw 2.65 inches
of precipitation, accord
ing to the National Weather
Service.
Releases from Buford
Dam have been reduced to
control flooding conditions
downstream of Lake Lanier,
according to James Hathorn
Jr. of the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers.
As of 8:15 p.m. Friday, the
water level at Lake Lanier
was 1,072.72, which is 1.72
feet above full pool.
NICK BOWMAN I The Times
The Wilshire Park creek rushes through a culvert during
heavy rain on Friday, Dec. 28. The National Weather
Service issued flood warnings for portions of North and
South Hall, and a flash flood watch covers all of North
Georgia through Saturday morning.
Woman, infant rescued jffom truck in creek
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson
@gainesvilletimes.com
The Forsyth County
Swift Water Rescue Team
and Lumpkin County
first responders pulled a
woman and a 2-month-old
baby out of a Ford Ranger
that traveled into Clay
Creek in Lumpkin County
Friday, Dec. 28.
The driver, Andrea
Marie McMeans, 29, of
Dahlonega, was driv
ing around the curve on
Clay Creek Falls Road
when the truck drove off
the shoulder, down an
embankment and struck
a tree.
“Upon entering the
creek, the swift current
of the rising creek pulled
the Ranger approximately
300 feet downstream. The
Ranger came to a rest in
the middle of the creek
facing north,” Georgia
State Patrol Post Com
mander Curtis Bradshaw
wrote in an email.
McMeans and the
2-month-old boy were
taken to Northeast Geor
gia Medical Center in
Gainesville with non life-
threatening injuries.
Warrants were issued
for McMeans on charges
of DUI, DUI child endan-
germent and failure to
maintain lane.
McMeans and the
child were both properly
restrained at the time of
the crash, Bradshaw said.
Man accused of
identity fraud
takes plea deal
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
A Gainesville man, who was charged with 14 counts
including identity fraud and theft by receiving stolen
mail, accepted a plea deal that decreased his jail time
by potentially more than a decade.
Benjamin Russell Smith, 41, took a
negotiated plea deal for one year in
confinement followed by four years
of probation, according to court docu
ments. Smith will receive credit for
time served since August 23,2017 when
he was arrested by Oakwood and Hall
County authorities. He pleaded guilty
Dec. 4 to all counts, including one fel
ony count of theft by receiving, five
misdemeanor counts of theft by receiv
ing, six counts of identity fraud, one
count of fourth-degree forgery and one
count of reckless conduct.
Under Georgia law, the forgery,
reckless conduct and misdemeanor
counts of theft by receiving all carry
a maximum 12 months in jail. Identity
fraud and the felony theft by receiving
sentence could be between one and 10
years incarceration. If the judge had
sentenced Smith with the minimum jail time for the felo
nies and maximum on the misdemeanors consecutively,
the total sentence would have been 14 years.
Smith and his co-defendant, Amanda Starr Bryant, of
Gainesville, were occupying a U-Haul van at the Flow
ery Branch McDonald’s.
The investigators discovered “stolen mail, credit
cards, checks” and more items involving personal
identification.
“The total amount of checks for victims who live out
side of Hall County was at least $121,259.15 not including
■ Please see PLEA, 6A
Bryant
Local police, FBI
work together on
$50K heroin bust
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
A collaboration between Gainesville Police and an
FBI task force resulted in two arrests and 179 grams
of suspected heroin worth more than
$50,000, police said.
Alex Dean Johnson, 28, and Aleck-
xandrea Pritchett, 20, both of Gaines
ville, were arrested and taken to the
Hall County Jail.
The charges in the case include pos
session of heroin, possession of heroin
with intent to distribute, possession
of marijuana, possession of synthetic
narcotics and possession of drug-
related objects.
Johnson and Pritchett are still being
held at the jail, and no attorney infor
mation was available Friday, Dec. 28,
with Magistrate Court officials.
Pritchett’s attorney Brett Willis
declined to comment.
Sgt. Kevin Holbrook said a search
warrant was executed Dec. 18 at the
■ Please see HEROIN, 6A
Pritchett
40901
06835
INSIDE
WEATHER 2A
DEATHS 7A
Advice
5B
Life
4B
High Low
Barbara Allison, 86
Robert Moore, 83
Bridge
5B
Lottery
2A
W 6349
Gary Black, 70
William Rabun, 78
Business
3B
Opinion
5A
Patricia Born, 74
JD Raines, 86
Calendar
2A
Our Region
6A
Joseph Cummings, 87
Richard Rensing, 74
Classified
7B
Sports
1B
Tony Hall, 72
Honorio Roman, 36
Comics
6B
TV/puzzles
5B
Lake Lanier level: 1,070.86 feet
Full pool 1,071. Up 0.17 feet in 24 hours
Bob Meister, 97
Hillard Moon, 85
Bonita Swope, 81
