About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (June 16, 2020)
Free drive-thru COVID-19 testing, food distribution today in Gainesville. insde, 3 a Tuesday, June 16,20201 GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA | gainesvilletimes.com New student housing complex proposed at UNG. inside, sa Honestly Local GAINESVILLE High school’s new center gets approval BY KELSEY PODO kpodo@gainesvilletimes.com After nearly two years of planning, the first of Gainesville High School’s redesign will begin with the construction of the new Advanced Studies Center. The Gainesville City Board of Education gave the go-ahead on Monday, June 15 with a unanimous vote in favor of the project. Funding for this construction will come from the state capital outlay funds in the amount of $8,957,551. Carroll Daniel Construction Company has already been chosen to complete the work. The new building will house the school’s career, technical and agricultural education programs in addition to higher level classes such as AP biology and AP chemistry Gainesville Superintendent Jeremy Williams said the building should open in time for the beginning of the 2021 school year. He said other Gainesville High projects like a new cafeteria, media center and student activities center will follow. The 43,100-square-foot facility will sit in the vacant lot on the corner of Rainey Street and Century Place. “As soon as possible is our target for breaking ground,” Williams said. “I’m most excited that we can actually put a shovel in some dirt and quit talking about our plans, and start showing the plans.” Buford man ‘We have an opportunity to unify together’ Photos by SCOTT ROGERS I The Times Above, below: The Black Students of Gainesville gather with others in downtown Gainesville Monday, June 15, to protest police brutality and stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. Area college students speak on police brutality, systemic racism charged after 3-county chase BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com A set of spike strips stopped a Buford man who allegedly led a handful of law enforcement agencies on a weekend chase reaching speeds as high as 100 mph, police said. Flowery Branch Police noticed a 2011 gold Toyota Camry around 9:30 p.m. Friday, June 12, in the city’s downtown area. Chief David Spillers said the car was stolen out of Gainesville and wanted by Gwinnett County Police, who had chased the vehicle earlier that day. “The vehicle led officers on a chase in the downtown area of Flowery Branch, and at one point attempted to strike one of the officers who was driving another vehicle as the pursuit was underway,” according to Flowery Branch Police. The suspect vehicle reached speeds of 80-100 mph on McEver Road to Ga. 20, as it eventually headed toward Forsyth County. Law enforcement from Hall, Gwinnett and Forsyth counties joined the Georgia State Patrol in the pursuit. The car eventually stopped at the inter section of Ga. 9 and Atlanta Road in Forsyth County, where three people in the car got out and ran into a wooded area. The Forsyth County Sher iff’s Office’s K9 unit tracked down the suspected driver, Lamont Washington David, 35. The other two occupants were not found, though police were unsure if there were any charges for these two people as a result of the chase. David was booked into the Hall County Jail, where he is being held on a $13,740 bond. He was charged with aggravated assault, theft by receiving stolen property, driving on the wrong side of the road, speeding, reckless driving and fleeing or attempting to elude. David BY NATHAN BERG nberg@gainesvilletimes.com The Gainesville Square was completely silent for 8 minutes and 46 seconds Mon day afternoon, but it was far from empty. Protesters organized by the Black Students of Gainesville marched down Spring St. from 2 Dog restaurant to the square on Monday, chanting “No jus tice, no peace” as they congregated for speeches from Brenau students and fac ulty members, an African drumming show and an 8 minutes, 46 second-long moment of silence taken to honor the lives of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other victims of police brutality and systemic racism in the United States. Rain and rolling thunder was not enough to wash the protest away, as Black Stu dents of Gainesville members simply started handing out ponchos, and the event continued as planned. Marissa Brown, a recent Brenau gradu ate who was leading the chanting through a megaphone during the event, said the protest and those like it were essential to pushing the nation toward inclusivity and equality. “Let’s not wait for another black man or woman to get killed in Gainesville,” she said. “We don’t want to wait for that. We want to make a change now.” The main purpose of the protest, according to Brenau senior Lathan Rob erts, was to spread knowledge about the Black Lives Matter movement. Roberts said he was happy that his voice, and the voices of black people around the country, are finally being heard. ■ Please see STUDENTS, 3A Governments adapt to virtual meetings BY MEGAN REED mreed@gainesvilletimes.com When the COVID-19 pandemic put a hold on many in-person gatherings, local governments had to find new ways to engage the public, with many moving to online meetings. The pandemic came at a busy time of year for local governments, too. Most gov ernments’ fiscal years restart July 1, so they finalize budgets in the spring. Governments are required by law to allow community members to view and par ticipate in meetings. For Hall County and many of its municipalities, the first meetings from the onset of the pandemic were held to announce a state of emergency or address the government’s response to the virus. The Gainesville City Council, for exam ple, met March 20 to adopt a resolution encouraging people to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines to slow the spread of the virus. It was the city’s first meeting on Facebook Live. “That was our first jump into it, almost out of necessity,” City Manager Bryan Lackey said. Gainesville continued to stream meet ings and work sessions on its Facebook page throughout the pandemic. Now, as some in- person gatherings resume, meetings will no longer be streamed live, although the voting meetings will be video recorded and posted online shortly after the meetings end. Officials have been missing the face-to- face interactions with community mem bers, Lackey said, and hearing comments or questions in-person during a meeting makes it easier to respond immediately. “If people are able to contact us right after looking at (the video), we’re able to be more responsive because if you do send a comment in the middle of the meeting, we have a tough time responding to it,” Lackey said. ■ Please see MEETINGS, 3A This e-edition sponsored by:
