About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (June 20, 2020)
Skaters of all ages show up to shred at new park, our region, ib Flowery Branch grad Hughes signed as free agent with Phillies. SPORTS, 12B eh t ettncs Weekend Edition - JUNE 20-21,2020 | $2.00 | GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA | gainesvilletimes.com Honestly Local Sheriff, chief: We’re ahead on reform Couch, Parrish say some initiatives in Trump’s executive order on policing in place, others welcome BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com Gainesville Police Chief Jay Parrish and Hall County Sheriff Gerald Couch addressed some of the measures in President Donald Trump’s executive order signed Tuesday, June 16, regarding poten tial police reforms, saying some of the initiatives are already proce dure for local departments. “The Hall County Sheriffs office already has several of the items in President Trump’s executive order in place, specifically, banning choke holds, mental health train- Parrish Couch ing and being state credentialed. We look forward to seeing how the rest of the order unfolds,” Couch said in a statement. Part of the executive order, Safe Policing for Safe Communi ties, allows the attorney general I Inside Group holds first open-air conversation with police, 1B to allocate Department of Justice discretionary grant funding for law enforcement agencies that adhere to certain credentialing and information sharing while making resources available for other programs addressing com munity relations. Gainesville Police is creden tialed through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforce ment Agencies, where an in-per- son audit happens every four years and “standards, policies and pro cedures” are reviewed electroni cally each quarter, according to the department. The department is also certified through the Geor gia Association of Chiefs of Police. “We just received our (ninth) award after an independent audit last fall. This award was given mer itoriously in the Advanced Accred itation category,” Parrish wrote in an email. Parrish said chokeholds have been prohibited in the depart ment’s policy “except in deadly force situations.” “Chokeholds are not permitted to be used or even taught - this would typically be a use of deadly force situation only,” Couch said. Trump met privately with the families of several black Ameri cans killed in interactions with police before his Rose Garden signing ceremony and said he grieved for the lives lost and fami lies devastated. “Reducing crime and raising standards are not opposite goals,” Trump said before signing the order, flanked by police officials. ■ Please see REFORM, 4A 7 Lanier islands get rescue effort CPOWNIJNE * __ PPti Ml/ A alL m Jfr mm V m 11 ill 1 Hi- m 1 Photos by SCOTT ROGERS I The Times Lake Lanier Association executive director Jennifer Flowers visits some islands in Lake Lanier with Rich York Tuesday, June 16, to inspect new rip rap placed around the island to stop erosion. Lake group, government spend nearly S500K to slow erosion BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com A two-year effort that may have stopped seven of Lake Lanier’s distinctive islands from eventually disappearing was finished in May. The Lake Lanier Associa tion, with the funding help of governments and others, spent nearly $500,000 put ting riprap, or heavy rocks, around the islands dotting the 38,000-acre lake. The rocks were placed along heavily eroded areas, which had turned into sheer cliffs expos ing red dirt and sediment. When done, 9,600 tons of stone were used to armor the islands. In all, the rocks were placed on 6,100 feet, or more than a mile, of shoreline. Con tractors on the project were Marine Specialties and Boat Dock Works of Gainesville. As water filled the lake built by the Army Corps of Engineers in the 1950s, the remains of homes and roads were submerged, but hilltops remained. Those hilltops would become islands, a sce nic spot for boaters to throw down anchors and explore. Rich York, of the Lake Lanier Association, visits a group of islands ■ Please see LAKE, 6A Tuesday, June 16, that have had rip rap installed to stop erosion. Student challenge: ‘Summer slide’ in age of COVID-19 BY NATHAN BERG nberg@gainesvilletimes.com Summer time means more than just warm weather and trips to the beach for students, par ents and educators. For those responsible for young learners, the two-and-a-half-monthlong hiatus from the classroom will always be asso ciated with the dreaded “summer slide.” “When folks talk about the summer slide, they talk about the fact that students don’t have access to academics over the summer time period,” said Matthew Alexander, Hall Coun ty’s elementary schools director of literacy and numeracy. “... Typically with reading, you’ll see children will fall a few levels over the summer. So that’s what we talk about with the summer slide. And the same is going to be true for writ ing and math skills as well.” Alexander said that research varies on quite how much the summer slide affects students, but that young learners and those who come from poverty are always affected the most. That effect will be exacerbated by the school from home finish to the year, particularly for impoverished students with less access to the technology required for at-home learning. “It will certainly be much more significant than in years past,” Alexander said. “Even though as a district we did our very best to get the technology in the hands of every student, even if we could provide them with Chrome- books, some of them don’t have access to wire less networks at home ... Some of our students that are most at risk because of poverty and other factors, they will have regressed even further, yes.” Alexander said it is impossible to know how much the increased summer slide will affect students longer term, but that Hall schools would be doing increased benchmark checks for literacy and numeracy to make sure stu dents are not getting left behind. And while young learners will certainly suf fer from the unusual finish to the school year, there are measures parents can take to ensure students stay as sharp as possible over the sum mer months. For one, parents from both Hall and Gaines ville City schools can access free online resources that will keep young learners engaged throughout the remainder of June, ■ Please see SLIDE, 4A DEATHS 2B Robin Autry, 56 Byron Bag ley, 90 Millie Brackett, 91 Jerry Cantrell, 74 Dylan Canup, 19 Anna Cox, 96 Mary Demonbreun, 70 James Dodd, 82 Emil Erquitt, 71 Robert Hemmerle, 71 Zoey Hicks, Infant Judy Hightower, 59 Helen Honea, 85 Randall Howard, 77 Marjorie Hulsey, 94 James Johnson, 83 Janet Kirshke, 85 Richard Klem, 65 Jordan Lee, 25 Fred Leverington, 52 Ruby Maddox, 96 Santos Marquez, 51 Syble McDaniel, 84 J.C. Mote, 92 Ramon Quintero, 70 Gene Roberts, 86 W. George Schmid, 89 Patricia Smith, 71 Thomas Thornton, 82 Thomas Ulmer Sr., 54 Jacquelyn Westbrook, 91 40901 06825 9 YOUR CARE FROM ANYWHERE. nghs.com/video-visits
