About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (May 16, 2020)
Save up to $175 COUPONS INSIDE TOGETHER APART CELEBRATING THE CLASS OF 2020 Congratulations to the 2020 Gainesville, Hall County seniors. INSIDE ahcatraes gainesvilletimes. mt ettnes North Hall’s senior Kelly has a talent for swimming, passion for neuroscience, sports, 14b Weekend Edition - MAY 16-17,2020 | $2.00 | GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA | gainesvilletimes.com Honestly Local Early voting begins Monday in primary Polling moved from Hall County Government Center to Gainesville Exploration Academy BY MEGAN REED mreed@gainesvilletimes.com The polls will look a little different when early voting for the June 9 primary begins Monday, May 18, with some extra precau tions and a new location to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Early voting has been moved from the Hall County Government Center to Gaines ville Exploration Academy on McEver Road. Voting will be held there 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, beginning May 18. During the third and final week of early voting, June 1-5, voters can go to the North Hall Community Center, the East Hall Community Center and Spout Springs Library, in addition to Gainesville Explora tion Academy. Voters can also cast their bal lots from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, May 30, ■ Please see VOTE, 8A ■ ^ ELECTION IJ 2020 Learn more The Times has provided preview coverage of contested races for positions representing Hall County residents. That coverage began May 6 and is available at gainesvilletimes.com/election2020. Inside today What’s on the ballot, when to vote, how to vote and more, 7A Candidate forums Hall County Sheriff Candidates Forum 5:30 p.m. May 26, Hall County Chairman Candidates Forum 5:30 p.m. May 27. Register online at gainesvilletimes.com/ candidateforums/ SCOTT ROGERS I The Times Paige Thompson helps set up early voting Friday, May 15, at Gainesville Exploration Academy. ‘We are taking charge’ SCOn ROGERS I The Times Gov. Brian Kemp visits Fieldale in Gainesville Friday, May 15, for a tour of the chicken processing plant. Kemp, leaders address COVID-19 spread in Hall, Latino community BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com State leaders Friday spent time at a local poultry plant and in Gainesville’s largely Latino business district on Atlanta Highway as they sought to learn more about the area’s unique issues with and reaction to COVID-19. Hall County was declared a hot spot in April, with a disproportionate num ber of coronavirus cases being docu mented in the Latino community. Some 60% of Hall County patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 Inside Free COVID-19 testing available at Walmarts in Oakwood, Cornelia, 4B identify as Hispanic/Latino, according to data provided May 13 by Northeast Georgia Health System. The 2019 census projections estimate a 29% Latino population in Hall County. On Friday, Gov. Brian Kemp said during his visit to Gainesville that Hall County’s cases are continuing to flatten. Leaders in the Latino and health community have worked on education and testing efforts. Norma Hernandez, president of the Northeast Latino Chamber of Com merce, has spearheaded a Gainesville Against COVID-19 task force involving Hall County Latino leaders and local medical professionals. The task force Friday was helping with free testing at a drive-thru event at La Flor de Jalisco on Atlanta Highway. “We are taking charge. This is stop ping right here,” Hernandez said Fri day in the shopping center. ■ Please see LATINO, 4A SELECTION 2020 | E-SPLOST AND BOND REFERENDUMS School heads say sales tax, bonds critical BY NATHAN BERG nberg@gainesvilletimes.com Hall and Gainesville school superintendents expressed concern this week that the eco nomic downturn caused by COVID-19 could affect voter opinion on sales tax and bond referendum votes originally scheduled for March, as well as collections for the sales tax. A special election on the Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax and bond referendums to fund capital projects for schools was orig inally scheduled for March 24 and is now set for June 9. “I think it would be pretty pollyannaish to say that what we’ve seen in the last three months is positive,” Hall County Superintendent Will Schofield said. “We’ve seen a primary election delayed twice. We’ve experienced a worldwide pandemic, and now we’re in the midst of one of the greatest downturns in the shortest amount of time we’ve seen in this country since the Great Depression.” Both Schofield and Gainesville Superintendent Jeremy Williams say the vote, for which early voting begins May 18, will have drastic impacts on area schools. The E-SPLOST gives a penny for every dollar spent to fund capital projects for the Hall, Gainesville and Buford school systems. Residents will also vote on a bond referendum that would grant Hall County and Gainesville ■ Please see EDUCATION, 6A Williams DEATHS 2A Samuel Barazzone, 80 Elmaneze Broadwell, 97 Steve Couch, 55 Brenda Dougherty, 68 Michael Gannon, 36 Robert Gaskins, 66 Joan Gateley, 80 Use Garcia-Marquez, 29 Thomas Holloway, 72 Debbie Hunt, 69 Bong Thi Le, 89 Frances Lotti, 75 James Murray, 50 Sherman Neese Jr., 80 Florita Nicolaie, 94 Cheryl Peterson, 63 Nellie Pirkle, 89 Bobby Randolph, 76 Ozzie Reid , 87 Mary Rivers Terrence Savage, 70 Zachary Speir, 37 Frances Summers, 85 EllaTrotman, 80 Jean Tucker, 76 Sidney Tucker, 79 Leonard Wiley Jr., 82 INSIDE Classified 8B Comics Inside Life 10B Lottery 2A Opinion 11A Fun+Games 1E 4 0 9 01 06825 9 CANCER CARE NEVER STOPS. Find your cancer specialist at nghs.com/cancer Northeast Georgia Medical Center
