About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 31, 2020)
6A Friday, January 31,2020 The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com LOCA^STATE Ebenezer pastor Warnock enters Senate race BRANDEN CAMP I Associated Press The Rev. Raphael G. Warnock speaks during the Martin Luther King Jr. annual commemorative service at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta on Monday, Jan. 20. BY BEN NADLER Associated Press ATLANTA - The Rev. Raphael Warnock, pastor of the Atlanta church where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. preached, announced Thursday he’s run ning for U.S. Senate, challenging recently appointed Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler. With his influential pulpit at Ebenezer Baptist Church, War nock immediately brings some Democratic star power to the race — and some powerful friends. Within hours of entering the race, Warnock locked up perhaps the most coveted endorsement in Georgia Democratic politics when Stacey Abrams, the par ty’s 2018 nominee for governor, announced she’s supporting his campaign. Warnock, 50, launched his run with a campaign website video that traces his life from the sub sidized Savannah housing proj ect where he lived as a child to becoming pastor at the historic church. “I think that it’s harder for a kid now who is growing up in similar circumstances than it was for me then,” Warnock said in an inter view Thursday morning. “I’m see ing that in the communities I serve as pastor at Ebenezer Church, but I’m seeing it in communities all across this state.” “I’m running because I think that this is a critical moment in our state and in our country,” War nock said. “I want to make sure that kids have a path the same way I did. I want to make sure that seniors aren’t having to make the terrible choice between prescrip tion drugs and buying food.” Loeffler was recently appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp to replace three-term GOP Sen. Johnny Isak- son, who stepped down in Decem ber because of faltering health. A wealthy businesswoman and political novice, she now must defend the seat in November in an open special election for the remaining two years of Isakson’s term. The race won’t be filtered by party primaries, meaning that multiple Democrats and Republi cans could be on the ballot. Georgia’s other Senate seat also is on the ballot, with Republi can Sen. David Perdue seeking a second term. The prospect of two GOP-held seats being up for grabs in November has made the state a political battleground, where Republicans still dominate but Democrats smell opportunity as suburban voters and women move away from President Donald Trump’s GOP. The race for Loeffler’s seat was scrambled Wednesday when Rep. Doug Collins jumped in. The northeast Georgia Republican announced his campaign on Fox News, where he’s built a national profile defending Trump. Loef fler also has voiced strong support for Trump since her appoint ment, and is backed by Kemp, the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Abrams narrowly lost the 2018 governor’s race to Kemp and has since garnered national attention for efforts to protect voting rights. She said in a fundraising email to supporters that she’s endorsing Warnock “because Georgia must have a leader who sees all of us and serves all of us.” “I have fought beside him to end voter suppression. I worked with him to protect the Afford able Care Act and to expand Med icaid. I prayed with him as we worried for our fellow Americans who have not benefited from an economy that demands more and more from them but delivers less and less,” Abrams’ email says. Warnock is the third Demo crat to join the race. Also running are Ed Tarver, a former federal prosecutor who served as U.S. attorney for Georgia’s Southern District under President Barack Obama; and Matt Lieberman, the son of former senator and vice presidential candidate Joe Lieberman. Kemp’s anti-gang push includes expanded prosecutor powers BY JEFF AMY Associated Press ATLANTA — As part of his anti gang push, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Thursday said he wants prosecutors to be able to charge crimes across multiple counties and to be able to seek the death penalty for murders committed during gang activity. “Criminal street gangs are plagu ing our communities with violence, drugs, weapons and fear,” Kemp told reporters, with more than two dozen lawmakers behind him. “They’re responsible for the most violent crime in our state.” Some see Kemp’s tough-on-crime message as a throwback to earlier Republican policies that would jail more people, going against a more recent trend in Georgia by Gov. Nathan Deal to reduce harsh sentences. Ashleigh Merchant of the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers questioned how toughening laws would work if Georgia already has some of the nation’s toughest gang laws but is in a gang “crisis.” “Funding more gang prosecu- SAVANNAH — A Georgia man who admitted to being involved in a string of armed robberies and carjackings could be sentenced to life in prison, according to prosecutors. Demetrius Lamar Jackson, 30, pleaded guilty to multiple charges Wednesday, U.S. Attorney Bobby Christine told news outlets in a release Wednesday. tion and gang punishments is not working,” she wrote in a statement. “Perhaps we should instead fund prevention methods such as edu cation, juvenile justice programs, community outreach programs, and accountability courts.” Kemp, though, described his efforts as building off Deal’s reforms. Supporters of his plan have said the state should differen tiate, pursuing lenient policies for non-violent criminals, but harsher sanctions for the worst offenders. Some of moves were telegraphed well in advance by earlier requests to lawmakers. For example, Kemp wants to clarify each separate act listed in the state’s 2010 anti gang law could be prosecuted as a separate offense, allowing judges to give hefty prison sentences for gang members. Each additional charge can bring three to 15 years in prison. Allowing prosecutors in one county to charge crimes in other counties is also something the Georgia Bureau of Investigation had asked for earlier. Merchant said she feared that could lead to prosecutors seeking to bring cases in “tough-on-crime” counties. Jackson and an accomplice were accused of at least five rob beries and at least three carjack ings in Georgia and South Carolina in the span of about three weeks in November 2018, according to news outlets. The crime spree ended when an employee at a cell phone store shot Jackson during an armed rob bery in Columbia, South Carolina. Murders committed during gang activity would be added to the list of other crimes tied to a murder that make a convicted killer eligible for execution, such as rape, armed robbery, kidnapping, murder-for- hire or killing a law enforcement officer. One bill would also expand the state’s power to seize property and put people who commit sex crimes as a gang activity onto Georgia’s sex offender registry. A second bill would create a legal division at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and allow those GBI lawyers to serve as special prosecutors for gang crimes when requested. Currently, the GBI only investigates crimes. Kemp said he saw no reason to fear prosecutors working for an investigative agency instead of having independence, and said having them in an agency under his control underlined gang prosecutions as one of his priorities. But Merchant questions that move. “Without independence from the prosecution, the credibility and public trust of the GBI to remain neutral will be diminished,” she said. Jackson entered guilty pleas Wednesday for discharging and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to crimes of violence, carjacking, robbery and conspir acy to use and carry firearms dur ing crimes of violence, according to news outlets. The mandatory minimum sentence is 17 years in prison, Christine said. Associated Press HISTORY ■ Continued from 1A will encourage young people to overcome their obstacles, no matter what happens in their lives. “There’s no greater story about social injustice and corrup tion in the system, than the Cen tral Park Five,” Robinson said. The five young men, aged between 14-16, were accused and convicted of the brutal beating and rape of a 28-year-old white woman,Trisha Meili, on April 19, 1989, in New York’s Central Park. The five were fully exonerated in 2002 after Matias Reyes, a con victed murderer and rapist serv ing a life sentence, confessed to the crime. The man’s DNA also matched the evidence found at the scene. Now Salaam dedicates his time toward sharing his story and Black History Month events at UNG Gainesville campus: ■ Noon Wednesday, Feb. 5: Yusef Salaam speech, Robinson Ballroom ■ Noon Wednesday, Feb. 12: Black Student Union cultural celebration, Robinson Ballroom ■ Noon Wednesday, Feb. 19: Brazilian Carnaval, Robinson Ballroom ■ Noon Wednesday, Feb. 26: “The History of Wealth in the Black Community” hosted by UNG’s Multicultural Student Affairs, Black Student Union and Student Money Management Center, Robinson Ballroom ■ Noon Friday, Feb. 28: Movie screening of “Harriet,” educating people on the issues of mass incarceration, police bru tality and misconduct, race and law, and the disparities in Ameri ca’s criminal justice system. In 2016, former President Barack Obama presented Salaam with the President’s Life time Achievement Award. The story of the five men has been told in the 2019 Netflix miniseries called, “When They See Us,” and in the 2012 docu mentary, “The Central Park Five.” The documentary will play at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 25, in the Multicultural Student Affairs suite of UNG’s Dahlonega campus. As students and other commu nity members listen to Salaam on Wednesday, Robinson said he wants them to feel empowered and inspired. “I hope that they’ll know the importance of fighting for social justice, and that all of us have a role to not let this happen again in America,” he said. Robinson Ballroom Dahlonega campus: ■ 11 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 11: Documentary showing of “13th,” MSA suite ■ 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 11: Black Student Union Unity Game Night, MSA suite ■ Noon Thursday, Feb. 13: Diversity panel on “An Uneasy Truth: Being Black in America,” Hoag Student Center ■ 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 18: Movie screening of “Harriet,” The Commons Suites ■ 8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 20: A Different World: ‘90s Party by the Black Student Union, location to be announced ■ 11 a.m. Tuesday, Feb, 25: Documentary screening of “The Central Park Five,” MSA suite Prosecutor: Man could spend life in prison for crime spree Obituaries Joan F. Jackson November 24, 1929- January 23, 2020 Joan F. Jackson, age 90 of Gainesville, died January 23, following a lengthy illness. She was born November 24, 1929, the only child of the late Mr. and Mrs. Howard L. T. Fuller. A lifetime resident of Gainesville, Mrs. Jackson attended the city schools, and graduated from Gainesville High School in 1947. She graduated from Stephens College in 1949 and attended the University of Georgia. She married Walton Jackson, Jr. on November 5, 1949. while they were students at the University of Georgia. Following his graduation in 1951, they returned to Gainesville to make their home. She was a member of First Presbyterian Church. Mrs. Jackson is survived by her husband of 70 years, Felix Walton Jackson, Jr., their children: Susan and Philip Hoffstadter, Decatur, Sally and Richard Nash, Adpharetta., Felix Walton III and Laura Jackson, Athens; and grandchildren: Sarah Joanne Hoffstadter, Joseph Walton Hoffstadter, Nancy Madeleine Jackson, and Felix Walton Jackson IV In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be sent to Eagle Ranch, RO. Box 7200, Chestnut Mountain, or Good News Clinic, P.O. Box 2683, Gainesville, or to a favorite charity. At Mrs. Jackson’s request her remains will be cremated and a memorial service will be held at a later date. Those wishing to send online condolences to the family may do so at littledavenport. com Little & Davenport Funeral Home and Crematory of Gainesville is in charge of arrangements. Death Notices Barbara (Crenshaw) Smith Died January 28, 2020 Barbara Crenshaw Smith, age 88 of Ball Ground, died Tuesday, January 28. A celebration of life will be held Saturday, February 1, at 2:00 p.m. at New Hope Christian Church in Lawrenceville. Ingram Funeral Home & Crematory, Cumming, is in charge of arrangements. Barbara Faye Whittington Died January 30, 2020 Barbara Faye Whittington, age 72 of Cumming, died Thursday, January 30. Funeral services for Mrs. Whittington will be held Saturday, February 1, at 11:00 a.m. in the Chapel of Ingram Funeral Home in Cumming. Ingram Funeral Home & Crematory, Cumming, is in charge of arrangements. Brenda Sue Mance Died January 21, 2020 Brenda Sue Mance, age 69 of Gainesville, died January 21. Memorial service will be held Saturday February 1, at Dexter T. Sims Mortuary in The Rev. Charlie, Jr. and Conchita Sims Memorial Chapel. Dexter T. Sims Mortuary, LLC, Gainesville, has charge of arrangements. Corine Teasley Died January 25, 2020 Corine Teasley, age 75 of Royston, died January 25. Funeral service will be held Saturday February 1, at 2:00 p.m. at Royston Grove Baptist Church. Dexter T. Sims Mortuary, LLC, Royston, has charge of arrangements. Dianne (Chastain) Brown Died January 28, 2020 Dianne Chastain Brown, age 69 of Cumming, died Tuesday, January 28. Funeral services for Mrs. Brown will be held Saturday, February 1, at 4:00 p.m. in the Chapel of Ingram Funeral Home in Cumming. Ingram Funeral Home & Crematory, Cumming, is in charge of arrangements. Mattie (Gaynell) Hulsey Died January 29, 2020 Mattie Gaynell Hulsey, age 85 of Cleveland, died Wednesday, January 29. Funeral services are scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Saturday, February 1, at the Chapel of Barrett Funeral Home. Barrett Funeral Home of Cleveland has care of arrangements. Ricky Steve Edwards Died January 29, 2020 Ricky Steve Edwards, age 59 of Gainesville, died January 29. Funeral services are scheduled for Saturday, February 1, at 4:00 p.m. in the chapel at Memorial Park Funeral Home. Memorial Park Funeral Home, Gainesville, is in charge of arrangements. Ronald Rogers Died January 29, 2020 Ronald Rogers, age 69 of Dawsonville, died Wednesday January 29. Funeral services will be held Saturday, February 1 at 3:00 p.m. in the Bearden Funeral Home Chapel. Bearden Funeral Home of Dawsonville has care of arrangements. Thomas E. Richardson, Jr. Died January 23, 2020 Thomas E. Richardson, Jr, age 61 of Suwanee, died Thursday, January 23. No formal service is planned. Arrangements are in the care of Flanigan Funeral Home and crematory of Buford. Death notices are printed free as a public service by The Times. More information can be provided in paid obituaries. The rate is $100 for the first 100 words in print, and $50 per additional 100 words (or any part thereof). This includes an online notice where friends and families can post condolences for 30 days. Deadline for publication is as follows: To run Wednesday, submit by 3 p.m. Tuesday. To run Thursday, submit by 3 p.m. Wednesday. To run Friday, submit by 3 p.m. Thursday. To run Saturday, submit by 3 p.m. Friday. To run Sunday, submit by 3 p.m. Saturday. Death notices and obituaries are accepted only from funeral homes. They should be emailed to obits @gainesvilletimes. com. We no longer accept death notices or obituaries by fax. All submissions will appear in The Times and online at gainesvilletimes .com. For additional information regarding obituaries or death notices please call 770- 718-3419 between the hours of 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Oic Unties gainesvilletimes.com Honestly local. 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