About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 29, 2020)
LOCAL The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com Wednesday, January 29, 2020 5A Supreme Court seeks responses in latest water wars litigation BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com The stage appears set for water wars to drag into a fourth decade. The U.S. Supreme Court is giving Georgia and Florida 45 days to file briefs responding to a Dec. 11 report issued by a special master who ruled against Florida. The court’s notice is indicated on a docket listing proceedings and orders in the case dating to September 2013. In the latest litigation, Florida has claimed it has suffered economic and ecological harm from Georgia’s “over consumption of water” in the Apala- chicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin, which straddles Georgia, Flor ida and Alabama and has Lake Lanier as its headwaters. Florida is asking the court to freeze Georgia’s water usage at current levels in the ACF to 2050 and approve even tighter controls during droughts. In his 81-page ruling, U.S. Circuit Judge Paul J. Kelly Jr. recommended that the Supreme Court not grant Flori da’s request for an equitable apportion ing of waters in the ACF. “The evidence has shown that Geor gia’s water use is reasonable, and the evidence has not shown that the ben efits of apportionment would substan tially outweigh the potential harms,” Kelly said. The Supreme Court will decide whether to accept Kelly’s recommendation. The battle with Florida is the latest chapter in water litigation also involv ing Alabama that dates to 1990. Longstreet Bridge now open to traffic SCOn ROGERS I The Times Traffic crosses the newly completed Longstreet Bridge Tuesday, Jan. 28, shortly after the lanes were open to motorists. BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com Longstreet Bridge opened to North Hall drivers on Tuesday, Jan. 28. The two-lane bridge over the Chat tahoochee River is part of a larger project that includes replacement of the Bells Mill Bridge over East Fork Little River. Bells Mill is also on U.S. 129, north of Longstreet Bridge. The $34 million bridge replace ments were awarded to E.R. Snell Contractor in May 2017. The overall official completion date is September 2020. Removal of the old bridge will begin within a week of Longstreet’s opening, the Georgia Department of Transpor tation has said. Also, a 5-day detour will be in place for Thompson Mill Road, a local road within the project limits. Drivers wish ing to turn on Thompson Mill Road will need to take Parker Road while grading and final tie-ins are finished, according to the DOT. Longstreet Bridge is the latest in a series of Lake Lanier bridge replacements. Several years ago, the state began pushing to replace the bridges that were put in place as part of Lake Lani er’s creation in the mid-1950s. The biggest of those projects is replacement of Browns Bridge on Browns Bridge Road/Ga. 369. The bridge crosses the Chattahoochee River at the Hall-Forsyth County line. The $27 million project is set for completion in April 2020. SENATE ■ Continued from 1A Under current Georgia law, Loeffler and any other candidates, regardless of party, would run together in a November special elec tion. If no one wins a major ity of the vote, a runoff would be held in January — with control of the Senate potentially in the balance. But the new bill, opposed by Kemp, would establish May primaries. The mea sure was approved Monday by a subcommittee of Geor gia’s House Governmental Affairs Committee. Kemp promptly issued a veto threat. “You don’t change the rules at half-time to benefit one team over another,” spokeswoman Candice Broce said in a statement. So far, two Democrats have announced plans to challenge Loeffler. Matt Lieberman is an Atlanta educator and the son of for mer vice presidential can didate Joe Lieberman. Ed Tarver of Augusta served as U.S. attorney for Georgia’s Southern District during President Barack Obama’s two terms. The Rev. Raphael War- nock, who pastors the Atlanta church once led by Martin Luther King Jr. and his father, is considering a bid and could announce soon. He’s widely seen as the favorite of party lead ers, and a primary could allow the winner to consoli date party support. DAHLONEGA UN G locked down during suspect chase BY NICK BOWMAN nbowman@gainesvilletimes.com A suspect fleeing from a Lumpkin County Sheriff’s Office deputy led to a brief lockdown of the University of North Georgia Dahlonega campus on Saturday, Jan. 25. The suspect was believed to be armed. At about 5:45 p.m., UNG Public Safety locked the campus down while officers pursued the suspect, who fled during a traffic stop, according to UNG spokeswoman Sylvia Carson. The suspect was not affiliated with UNG, Carson said, and the lockdown was lifted by 6 p.m. after the per son had been apprehended by law enforcement. According to a Lumpkin County Sheriff’s Office report, Seth Stephen Thompson, 32, was riding as a passen ger inside the car that was pulled over. Thompson allegedly ran from the traffic stop. After a search with a tracking dog, an officer told Thompson to “come out of the culvert with his hands up. “I then observed a male pop out of the manhole cover and begin fleeing north away from us,” according to the report. Officers later found Thompson at the Bellamy Apart ments in Dahlonega. “(Thompson) was apparently fleeing from law enforcement because of outstanding warrants being out on him,” according to the report. Thompson was charged with obstruction of a law enforcement officer. He also has holds in Forsyth and Hall counties. Thompson • NEW Travel Trailers ALL www.NATCSHOWS. 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