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
