About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (June 6, 2020)
4B Weekend Edition - June 6-7, 2020 The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com LOCAL SCOn ROGERS I The Times J.C. Penney at Lakeshore Mall in Gainesville is one of the retail chain’s 154 stores nationwide that’s closing as part of bankruptcy proceedings. JCPENNEY ■ Continued from 1B for the next few years.” Al-Hadidi said he hasn’t heard from J.C. Penney about the bankruptcy pro ceedings or what lies ahead. He expects “they will open, they will liquidate, then they will close (the store) permanently. (The company has) not been honest or transparent. We have heard about (company devel opments) through the news.” J.C. Penney says on its website that “store closing sales for the first round of store closures are expected to take 10-16 weeks to complete.” Specific details about the Lake- shore location were not available. Gainesville’s J.C. Penney closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it remained closed even as other J.C. Penney stores, including the one at the Mall of Georgia in Buford, reopened. The store’s demise is the latest blow to the already struggling 50-year-old, 500,000-square-foot Lakeshore Mall. In 2019, longtime anchor Sears closed. J.C. Penney, which once stood at Spring and Main streets, where Sweet Magnolia’s restaurant is now located, has been a Lakeshore stalwart. “It’s been there since the beginning (in the late 1960s),” said Tim Evans, vice president of economic develop ment at the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce. Several years ago, the retailer debated whether to tear down its Lakeshore store and rebuild, but it ended up making extensive renova tions, including new flooring. But J.C. Penney, along with other traditional department stores, includ ing Sears, have struggled through the years fending off the likes of Walmart and other discount retailers. And then there’s e-commerce, led by internet giant Amazon. J.C. Penney’s Lakeshore store had dodged waves of nationwide closings, including one in 2019. “The end of Penney’s is not neces sarily the end of Lakeshore Mall, but certainly not the end of the usefulness of that location,” Evans said. “It gives the opportunity for new life for some thing else. That’s a fantastic location... and I don’t have any doubt that there’ll be some new opportunity down the road.” Police: Man accused of striking officer in head with gold crucifix BY NICK WATSON nwatson @gainesvilletimes.com A Gainesville man was accused of striking a Gainesville Police officer on her head with a gold crucifix, police said. Sebastian Mar- cos-Bautista, 31, was charged with aggravated assault on a peace offi cer and obstruc tion. There is also an immigration hold listed on the Hall County Sher iff’s Office jail database. Officers were called out around 10:45 a.m. Monday, June 1, to Summit Street regarding an abnormal behavior call, where wit nesses said Marcos-Bau- tista was “carrying a stick or paddle into businesses,” Cpl. Jessica Van wrote in an email. When they got to the scene, officers saw Mar- cos-Bautista in a tussle with other individuals and tried to detain him. “At this point, he had his fist wrapped with a gold cruci fix, with the sharp end of the cruci fix exposed,” Van wrote in an email. Van said Marcos- Bautista struck an officer on the head, resulting in a lacer ation and bleeding. The officer received medical treatment and is back on duty. Defense attorney Matt Cavedon declined to comment. HATE ■ Continued from 1B Sen. Butch Miller, R-Gainesville, said he feels such a bill will require a great deal of patience and coop eration to create legislation that is both passable and enforceable. “The hate crimes bill will be a delicate pro cess, and it’s not as simple as either side would have you believe. There is no place for racism or injustice in our society or in our government,” he said. Miller said there are potentially other substi tute bills that have been drafted. “There are many legislators on both sides of the aisle that are very pas sionate about the issue, and right fully so. The scenes that we have wit nessed in the last few weeks are troubling to say the least,” Miller said. Miller said he feels the mandatory mini- mums take power from the judge regarding jus tice for the victim and rehabilitation for the offender. “We want to make sure that we don’t create a cir cumstance that exacer bates problems that we already have in terms of incarceration of... non-vio lent juvenile offenders,” he said. Miller CUTS ■ Continued from 1B return,” Kemp said. Kemp said education, health care and public safety would be budget priorities. “With the closing of schools, Georgia fam ilies have a renewed appreciation for our teachers, counselors, specialists and staff. These men and women are unsung heroes,” he said.... Now more than ever, we see that access to quality, affordable health care is essential and life-saving. There’s no doubt we owe a huge debt of gratitude to our doc tors, nurses and frontline workers and above all, we must continue to put patients first.” He said addressing human trafficking and gangs was another priority. “We must reaffirm our commitment to keep all Georgians safe,” he said. Kemp said he would send an updated rev enue estimate to the chairmen of the Geor gia House of Representatives and Georgia State Senate’s appropriations committees. “While near-term state revenue collec tions are uncertain, we are seeing reassuring signs of fiscal resilience in our state,” he said. The state’s fiscal year restarts July 1. THANK YOU! Thank you to our readers and business partners who have generously donated to help sustain our editorial mission. Many of you have sent kind words of encouragement along with your donation. Your thoughtfulness has uplifted the spirits of our team. Thank you also to those in our community supporting independent local journalism by purchasing a subscription or advertising with us. A special thanks to the donors below and the many more who requested to remain anonymous. Ann Gillespie Edward Walker Joseph Cooley Priscilla Strom Anne Higgins Eric Falls Joseph Seymour Rebecca Lopez Barry Stinson Gene and Joy Cape Judy Kreps Regina Wilson Becky Byrd H Ferrell Singleton Kathy Hamilton Reneigh Satterfield Beth Lisk Hudson Wilson Kenneth Helfrich Richard Levasseur Betty Foster In honor of Charlie Kristi Westmoreland Richard Pilcher Bill Stephens in honor of and Lessie Smithgall Larry Pritchett Robert G Kopp in memory of Johnny Vardeman In memory of Andy Pearson Linda Brady Dr Charles B Kopp Billy Grimes J Alexander Lisbeth Fabiny, Five Seasons Robert L Owen Brian Moss J C Bedingfield Health & Wellness Coaching Ruth Ebbs C Randall and Dorothy A Murray James Bailey Lois Kemp Silas Caroline Kelly Jane Hemmer Lydia J Sartain Stan Preczewski Charles George Janet Walker Mark Hall Stanley Longman Cherilyn Singleton Jennifer M Pulliam in memory Marty Owens Steven Minion Chris Sanders of G Donald Pulliam Maxine Gilstsrap Stuart Albertson Christine Peters Jeremy Bargainnier Mean Marie Tamara Guilday Chuck Hendrickson Jerry Castleberry Merrianne Dyer Tamra and Steven Glenn Dale Granata Jerry V Lewis Nancy Clark Tamra Schardl Daniel Herrmann Jill Momper NINJON Inc Taylor Roark David George Jo McClellan Patricia England Teresa Gay Debbie Powell John and Patricia Mouvery Patrick Horgan Thomas Vivelo Don C Hill John Brady Pete Roshau Wandreka Dubose Donald Urbancic John Ferris Phyllis Solgere William Rogers SUPPORT LOCAL INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM! 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