Five Hall men indicted on federal arson charges
over burned police car. insde, 3 a
Man found dead in Lake Lanier
Body of 60-year-old discovered floating in area of his home
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
Hall County authorities
are investigating the death
of a 60-year-old Gainesville
man that a fisherman found
floating Tuesday in Lake
Lanier.
Hall County Sheriff’s Office
deputies were called around 2:45
p.m. June 16 to Balus Creek near
Whites Mill Road regarding an
unresponsive man.
The man, Ben Bidgoly, was
transported to Northeast Geor
gia Medical Center, where he
was pronounced dead. Foul play
is not suspected, Sheriffs Office
spokesman Derreck Booth
said.
One of Bidgoly’s family mem
bers reported him missing
after he had already arrived at
the hospital.
Booth said Bidgoly lived in the
area where he was found, and
his boat was found in the same
area.
The body has been sent to
the medical examiner for an
autopsy, and the Sheriff’s Office
is still investigating the death.
Hospitality
industry had
73% jobless
BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com
The unemployment rate was 73% for those
working in Hall County’s hospitality industry in
April, or at the height of the shutdown due to
the COVID-19 pandemic.
“That was a devastating impact to our work
force in the community,” Stacey Dickson, Lake
Lanier Convention & Visitors Bureau president,
said Wednesday, June 17, during a tourism
webinar sponsored by the Greater Hall Cham
ber of Commerce.
In comparison, the overall unemployment
rate in Hall was 10.6% in April, an all-time high,
according to the Georgia Department of Labor.
Hall’s jobless numbers in May will be
released later this month.
■ Please see HOSPITALITY, 3A
Local children’s
garden reopens
at end of month
BY KELSEY P0D0
kpodo@gainesvilletimes.com
When kids step into the Ada Mae Pass Ivester
Children’s Garden at the Botanical Garden in
Gainesville, they’ll enter a land of whimsy and
wonder.
The $2.1 million garden, which had a soft
opening in early March, will reopen to the pub
lic on Tuesday, June 30. It is named for New
Holland native and avid gardener Ada Mae
Pass Ivester, mother of Doug Ivester, former
Coca-Cola Co. CEO and philanthropist.
Mildred Fockele, director of the Gainesville
garden, said the grand opening celebration set
for March 21 was postponed because of the
pandemic. When it becomes safe for people to
gather in large groups, Fockele said she plans
to host a celebration for the new space.
This children’s adventure in particular
begins with a winding path to the top of a hill.
■ Please see GARDEN, 5A
The fight over Old Joe
Group vows to seek statue’s removal from Gainesville square
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Above: Protesters
of the Confederate
monument Old Joe in
downtown Gainesville
met Wednesday,
June 17, to discuss
its removal from the
downtown public
square. Right:
Chairman of Northeast
Georgia Democratic
Socialists of America
Brad Lathem welcomes
protesters. About 85
people gathered in
downtown Gainesville to
protest the monument.
Photos by SCOTT ROGERS
The Times
BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com
A group of vocal, sometimes feisty protesters
called for removal of the Old Joe statue in the
downtown Gainesville square Wednesday night.
The group of about 85 people called on
the Hall County Board of Commissioners to
revoke a lease it has with Old Joe’s owner, the
United Daughters of the Confederacy, that was
renewed in 2008 and lasts until 2033.
“I want a commitment from the Hall County
commissioners to remove this statue and
replace it with something that fosters a united
community where all are welcome,” Christine
Osasu told the crowd.
She said the statue — a Spanish-American
War soldier modified and placed as a Confed
erate monument in 1909 — “honors a people,
a society and a government that enslaved our
black brothers and sisters and kept them as
forced laborers, tortured them, raped them.”
Osasu urged the crowd “to not wait until the
lease expires.... There is no such thing as an
irrevocable lease.”
The Hall County commission “has requested
that the county attorney look into this issue,”
spokeswoman Katie Crumley said Friday, June
12.
Osasu was part of a line of speakers who
addressed the crowd off the Spring Street side
of the square for about an hour. Occasionally,
speakers turned to a handful of counter protest
ers on the other side of Old Joe, near a small
group of Hall County sheriff’s deputies, and
addressed them.
Except for the occasional taunt or jeer, the
June 17 event was mostly peaceful on both sides,
and the counter protesters left early.
In one tense moment, Christen Lott Hunte,
one of the few African-American participants
protesting Old Joe, started addressing fellow
protesters when she wheeled around and faced
the counter protesters.
“Your racism and your bigotry does not scare
me. It does not intimidate me. It empowers me,”
Hunte said. “I will continue to talk. ... We’re
going to continue to fight and that starts with not
just dismantling this ugly thing back here, but
it’s about dismantling a system.
“We’re going to continue to let our voices be
heard, because if you’re going to be silent, you
are going to be compliant.”
The protest ended with several chants, includ
ing “Black lives matter” and “Say his name —
George Floyd.”
■ Please see 0LDJ0E, 3A
Hawkins’ ‘surprise billing’ measure passes state Senate
BY MEGAN REED
mreed@gainesvilletimes.com
The Georgia Senate voted
Wednesday, June 17 to approve
legislation that would help patients
avoid “surprise bills,” or unexpect
edly high medical costs from receiv
ing care from an out-of-network
provider at an in-network facility.
House Bill 888 was introduced by
State Rep. Lee Hawkins, R-Gaines-
ville, in February, before the state
legislature went on a three-month
hiatus due to the COVID-19 pan
demic. The Senate passed it 53-0
Wednesday, and the Geor
gia House of Represen
tatives passed the bill in
March. Next it will go to
Gov. Brian Kemp.
The bill received sup
port from all of Hall Coun
ty’s delegation in both
chambers of the General
Assembly.
If a patient goes to an in-
network health care facility, they
would be charged the in-network
fee, even if their provider was out-
of-network with their insurer. The
insurer and provider would work
out the difference, and the
bill outlines an arbitration
process through the Geor
gia Insurance Commission
er’s office.
For nonemergency
services, like a regular
checkup, patients would
be given 48 hours notice
before treatment if they
have scheduled with an
out-of-network provider. Patients
could then decide to change their
plans or pay extra.
The bill takes the patient out of
the dispute over cost, Hawkins said,
allowing them to receive treatment
without having to worry about going
back-and-forth with an insurer or
provider.
Hawkins said the goal of the bill
is alleviating the burden of medi
cal costs on families and preventing
bankruptcies stemming from health
care expenses.
“I truly feel like this is going to be
so good for patients,” Hawkins said.
“It will take a load off families that
already are stressed with trying to
make ends meet, and with this pan
demic and everything else going on,
I think it’s a really good accomplish
ment that our legislature has made
here to help people in this state.”
Officials with Northeast Geor
gia Health System were in contact
with legislators as the bill was being
written.
“We absolutely support patients
having as much relevant informa
tion as possible when making deci
sions about their health care, as well
as the premise of legislation that
would help patients make decisions
about elective procedures,” Deb
Bailey, executive director of gov
ernmental affairs for NGHS, said in
a statement in February.
Hawkins
