About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 11, 2019)
CM K WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11,2019 | $1.00 | GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA | gainesvilletimes.com Honestly Local Businesses mull closing for rally Socialist group announces intent to counterprotest Saturday in Dahlonega BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com With different groups planning to rally near downtown Dahlonega Saturday, Sept. 14, business owners and managers are facing a deci sion: stay open or shut down. The event has been described as a patriotic show of support for President Trump by organizers while opponents say it is a white supremacist rally. Mayor Sam Norton and Julia Norton, who also run the Picnic Cafe and Dessertery, announced the eatery will not be open on the day of the rally. “Family values and a sense of community are what most busi nesses on the Square are about here in Dahlonega. We will close Saturday, Sept. 14, and encourage others to be home with their fam ily. We will reopen the day after these disruptive protests and coun ter protests,” according to a state ment posted on social media. On Aug. 2, the city of Dahlonega first received a notice of intent to rally Sept. 14 at the welcome cen ter by a group called “Conserva tive Citizens of Lumpkin County.” The organizer is Chester Doles, a north Georgia resident. He’s a former member of the Ku Klux Klan and was an organizer for the National Alliance, a mostly defunct white supremacist group with deeply anti-Semitic and anti immigrant beliefs. A week after the notice was filed it was withdrawn and a simi lar notice was filed by a different Lumpkin County resident. “No information about the pur pose of the event was provided in the notice, but the applicant described his intent as being ‘a rally for the President’ in con versation with the city marshal,” according to the city’s statement. Fliers for the event shared on social media prominently feature smiling pictures of Trump. Rep. Doug Collins, R-Gainesville, is listed as an “invited” speaker at the event. But Collins said in a statement last week that he will not attend. He says “white supremacy and white nationalism have no place in our country.” ■ Please see RALLY, 4A ‘Everybody was together’ SCOn ROGERS I The Times Right after the 9/11 attacks Art McGovern of Gainesville signed up to be an air marshal on commercial airline flights. He also made a trip to Ground Zero shortly after the attacks. Ex-air marshal recalls joining after 9/11, visiting Ground Zero BY MEGAN REED mreed@gainesvilletimes.com In September 2001, Art McGovern of Gainesville was working for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta as a special agent lead investigator. Then, the nation experienced the ter rorist attacks of 9/11, in which about 3,000 people were killed. By the end of the month, McGovern was boarding flights as a federal air marshal, hoping to do his part to protect people on board flights at a time when many were afraid to even book a plane ticket. Before 9/11, air marshals only flew internationally, McGovern said. But the attacks highlighted the need for marshals on domestic flights, and the program was rapidly expanded as the George W. Bush administration issued calls for federal agents to volunteer for the hundreds of positions. “People were afraid to fly. They weren’t going to get on an aircraft,” McGovern said. “So that was the pres sure that was put on the White House by (airlines). They said, how are we going to get people to fly?” McGovern had signed up to be an air marshal shortly after 9/11, answering ■ Please see MARSHAL, 9A Man killed in fiery crash off of1-985 BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com A Demorest man died hours after his car caught on fire Monday, Sept. 9, in a wreck involv ing a tractor-trailer on Interstate 985, according to authorities. Christopher Noel Baker, 26, was driving north bound on 985 in a Toyota Prius behind Don nie Wilson, 44, of Columbus, who was driving a tractor-trailer for Performance Food Group of Oakwood. The two cars were approaching a Georgia Department of Transportation work zone around 9 p.m. at mile marker 11, which had closed the right lane and congested traffic. Wilson’s tractor trailer came to a stop. Georgia State Patrol Cpl. Major Patterson said Baker “for unknown reasons” did not stop and struck the tail end of the tractor-trailer head-on. “(The Prius) traveled partially under the rear of the trailer and subsequently caught on fire. (Wilson) was able to extinguish the fire with his fire extinguisher,” Patterson wrote in an email. Two off-duty medical personnel helped Baker before he was transported to Northeast Georgia Medical Center. Baker was pronounced dead at the hospital. Wilson was uninjured. Patterson said no charges will be filed. Bridges inching closer to finish BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com From lane closures to a traffic shift, it has been a busy week for bridge replacement projects in North Hall. Traffic has shifted to newly paved lanes on Cleveland Highway/U.S. 129 approaching Long- street Bridge over the Chattahoochee River. The shift will allow road crews to build two of the remaining retaining walls, according to the Geor gia Department of Transportation. The new Longstreet Bridge is expected to open in late December. Also, a lane closure is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily through Thursday, Sept. 12, between ■ Please see BRIDGES, 8A INSIDE 0 40901 06835 Advice 6B Business 4B Calendar 2A Classified 8B Comics 7B Life 5B Lottery 2A Opinion 7A Sports 1B TV/puzzles 6B WEATHER 2A High Low £ 92 70 Lake Lanier level: 1,069.16 feet Full pool 1,070. Up 0.10 feet in 24 hours DEATHS 8A Ethan Painter, 25 Christopher Mull, 23 Travis Holland, 89 Joseph Frey, 28 Jerry Fletcher, 75 Estelle Stringer Mary Hamilton, 85 Kay Lamaitis, 68 Topsy Ho-Shing, 86 Raymond Stelmachers, 83 Robert Cook, 88 Bette Binkley, 73 Darlene Huskin, 55 Merlin Suggs, 83 Shirley Johnson, 84 Irene Yarbrough, 93 Bobby Simmons, 62 Thomas Johnson, 55 Mary Hamilton, 85 Christopher Baker, 26 Connie Finks, 60 Thomas Owen, Jr., 66 STRAIGHT YEARS AMONG HIGHEST BMT SURVIVAL RATES IN THE NATION Our Blood and Marrow Transplant (BMT) Program is one of only two adult programs in the country that have achieved survival outcomes significantly exceeding the expected survival rate for the last 10 years. With state-of-the-art facilities and a dedicated team of experts, Northside has one of the most comprehensive BMT programs in the nation. Learn more at builttobeatcancer.com m NORTHSIDE HOSPITAL CANCER INSTITUTE
