About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (June 3, 2020)
8A Midweek Edition - June 3-4, 2020 The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com LOCAL/BUSINESS Hall County tourism industry is focus of June 17 webinar An update on Hall County’s battered tourism industry will be given by area tourism officials in a June 17 webinar. The “Gainesville-Hall County Tourism & Hos pitality Update” presenters will be Stacey Dick son, Lake Lanier Convention & Visitors Bureau president, and Robyn Lynch and Regina Dyer of the Gainesville Convention & Visitors Bureau. The event, being held by the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce, is set for 10-11 a.m. Those interested can register online. A confir mation email with the dial-in number and meet ing ID number will be sent to the participant. Local tourism has taken a hit during the pan demic, with many parks and attractions closed and events canceled. But officials have said they are hopeful for a rebound, as recreation areas reopen and Georgians may stay close to home for vacations. Jeff Gill S. Hall apartments vote, public hearing now set for Aug. 3 A Hall County Planning Commission vote on a 350-unit gated apartment complex proposed in South Hall has been delayed until Aug. 3. The applicant, Gainesville engineering firm Rochester & Associates, requested the postponement. The project off Thompson Mill Road, east of Spout Springs Road and next to 248-unit Noble Vines apartments, calls for 13 residential build ings, a clubhouse, swimming pool and passive park. It is projected for completion in 2022. Area residents, meanwhile, have circulated a petition against the project. The planning board’s vote would be just a recommendation of approval or denial. The recommendation then would be forwarded to the Hall County Board of Commissioners for a public hearing and final action. Jeff Gill Area businesses report little damage so far SHANNON CASAS I The Times Onlookers watch as people protest in the streets of downtown Gainesville, Saturday, May 30. BY NATHAN BERG nberg@gainesvilletimes.com Cori Hughes never doubted the people of Gainesville. Hughes, a shift leader at Downtown Drafts on the Gainesville Square, said she and her co-workers had concerns about potential damage to the business after watching peaceful protests in Atlanta turn violent Friday night but trusted that the local protest would not get out of control. “There were some high tensions out side,” she said. “But we just had faith in Gainesville and they proved us right.” With protests going on around the coun try, businesses in many cities have faced vandalism and looting. But through the first few days of protesting in Gainesville, that hasn’t been much of an issue for local businesses so far, and most report no negative fallout from the weekend’s events. Though Gainesville police originally reported that windows had been broken at Slack Auto Parts on Main Street, Slack manager Barry McNicholas said the report was false and that the only damage the building had suffered was some graf fiti paint. McNicholas said weekend business was largely unaffected by the protests. “As far as adversely affecting business, I can’t say it’s done that,” he said. “The biggest change this morning has been everybody wondering about damage that doesn’t exist.” Lauren Waycaster, a manager at Inman Perk Coffee on the Gainesville Square, said that peaceful interactions between protesters and police officers was key to keeping things from getting out of hand. The relatively peaceful nature of the protests came as no surprise to Waycaster, who said she’s always seen Gainesville as an exceptionally safe community. She said she is pleased that protesters have been allowed to continue without much police interference or escalation. “From what I’ve seen so far, the police have been letting the protesters do what they came to do, which I really appreci ate,” Waycaster said. “As a business, we agree that justice needs to be served.” Waycaster said the business has proto col in place to get employees to safety in case things turned violent, but she is not expecting to have to use them. Brandon Beeco, an assistant manager at Wild Wing Cafe on Jesse Jewell Parkway, said the restaurant also has an emergency plan in place, which includes early closing and a rendezvous point for all employees to check in to make sure everyone gets to safety, but he is also not expecting it to be necessary. “There was a little bit of anxiousness on Saturday beforehand, because we weren’t really sure what was going to happen,” he said. “But it seemed like everything went fairly smooth, so we’re just happy nobody got hurt. Nothing was damaged or any thing like that.” Beeco said that Wild Wing Cafe stands behind local protesters and those around the country, so long as the local pro tests do not turn to violence, looting and vandalism. “We definitely support the cause,” he said. “We’re just glad that there was no violence or destruction or anything. We would just encourage people if they do want to keep protesting, do the same thing. Keep it professional. Keep it organized. But we definitely support the cause.” Stocks extend gains on Wall Street to a 3rd straight day BY ALEX VEIGA Associated Press Stocks closed broadly higher on Wall Street Tuesday, extending the market’s win ning streak to a third day. The latest gains, which followed a rally in global stocks, were driven by optimism that the global economy will begin to recover as governments gradually allow businesses that were closed due to the coronavirus outbreak to reopen. The S&P 500 closed 0.8% higher after spending much of the morning wavering. Technology, industrial and health care sec tor stocks accounted for a big slice of the gains. Energy stocks far outpaced the rest of the market as the price of crude oil rose again. Bond yields rose, another sign of ebb ing pessimism among investors. So far, Wall Street’s momentum has not been derailed by the wave of daily unrest across the U.S. that began last week in Min neapolis as a protest over police brutality. Cities across the country have been rocked by violence and destruction for seven days in a row, drawing threats from the White House to send troops in to put down the unrest. The S&P 500 gained 25.09 points to 3,080.82. The Dow Jones Industrial Aver age rose 267.63 points, or 1.1%, to 25,742.65. The Nasdaq composite, which is heavily weighted with technology companies, added 56.33 points, or 0.6%, to 9,608.37. The index had been down 0.8% in the early going. Smaller company stocks had some of the biggest gains. The Russell 2000 index picked up 12.84 points, or 0.9%, to 1,418.21. NASA astronauts launched into space by SpaceX on Saturday rang the opening bell from the International Space Station early Tuesday to kick off trading on the Nasdaq. Stocks have now recouped most of their losses after the initial economic fallout from the coronavirus knocked the market into a staggering 34 % skid in February and March. The S&P 500 is now down 9% from its all- time high in February. It's Good Cents for Education LET’S GET RIGHT TO THE POINT E-SPLOST BENEFITS . Keeps our schools out of debt . Alternative to higher property taxes . Investment in local education . NO. 1 REASON: Our children GENERAL OBLIGATION BOND . Jump starts critical school projects • To be paid back with E-SPLOST revenues Paid for by Citizens for Better Education 2020 ' TUESDAY JUNE 9 .REFERENDUM’. VOTE YES W fl rnm V Bmb%iP ON TUESDAY Supporting Gainesville and Hall County Schools E-SPLOST VI and GENERAL OBLIGATION BOND A continuation of the school sales tax program for another 5 years
