About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (June 24, 2020)
% Gainesville grad Ralston reflects on PGA Tour debut. SPORTS, 1B Midweek Edition - JUNE 24-25,2020 | $1.00 | GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA | gainesvilletimes.com Honestly Local Hate crime bill passes legislature Gov. Kemp next to review bipartisan measure BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com Georgia’s legislators sent a hate crime bill to Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk after a series of votes Tues day, June 23. “Governor Kemp commends the General Assembly’s bipartisan work and will sign House Bill 426 pending legal review,” the gover nor’s office said in a statement. House Bill 426 passed in the state House of Representatives in March 2019 by a vote of 96-64. The Senate Committee on Rules offered a substitute that was voted through on a 47-6 margin Tuesday. The House of Representatives passed the Senate substitute to House Bill 426 on a 127-38 vote before 4 p.m. Tuesday, June 23. The bill would increase punish ments when it is proven in court “beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant intentionally selected any victim or group of victims or any property as the object of the offense because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender, mental disability, or physical dis ability of such victim or group of victims.” There are five “designated mis demeanors” of simple assault, simple battery, battery, criminal trespass and theft by taking. If the person is convicted of one of these “designated misdemean ors,” then the punishment will be a minimum six months impris onment and a maximum fine of $5,000. Misdemeanors are punish able by a maximum 12 months in prison. A felony offense would carry a minimum sentence of two years in prison and a maximum fine of $5,000. The bill also establishes a “bias crime report” for officers to file when investigating these types of incidents. Police departments will then be required to report all incidents under this section to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. ■ Please see HATE, 4A Say ‘hi’ to Sliced Kemp OKs use of rainy day funds BY JEFF AMY Associated Press ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp is giving law makers permission to spend $250 million from Georgia’s rainy day fund to decrease budget cuts in the year beginning July 1. Kemp agreed to tap the state’s piggy bank Monday, June 22, as he set a new revenue esti mate for the 2021 budget year, cutting the ceil ing for spending state-collected revenue from $28.1 billion to $25.9 billion. The Republican governor’s power to set the maximum amount of revenue that Georgia’s government can spend in a year is one of his key influences over how the General Assembly writes a budget. Kemp had to revise his estimate from what he originally set in January after state rev enues tumbled during the COVID-19 pandemic. ■ Please see BUDGET, 4A Photos by SCOTT ROGERS I The Times Sliced is set to open its first franchise location in Oakwood Wednesday, July 8. The Oakwood location is owned by Yanis Latsis. A new Sliced location is opening in Oakwood. The new location will keep the same decor, fast-casual atmosphere and simple menu people know from its other locations. Sliced will soon begin tossing dough in Oakwood. Jeremy Green and Josh Tedder — owners of the pizza restaurant with loca tions in Gainesville, Hoschton, Commerce and Buford — plan to open their first franchise at 3458 Winder Highway, in an old bank at the Robson Crossing shopping center. The restaurant is set to open on Wednesday, July 8. Yanis and Angel Lat sis will serve as the location’s franchisees. When Tedder opened the first Sliced with Green in Hoschton around four years ago, he said they never expected to expand so quickly and open a franchise. “It was always in the back of our heads but not our intentions,” Tedder said. “He (Yanis) approached us, and we said we’d be interested if you want to expand our brand for us.” In love with the restaurant’s concept, both Yanis and his wife took the plunge. “To me, the most exciting part about opening is the pizza,” Yanis said. “It’s the best pizza I’ve ever had. The people I’ve ■ Please see SLICED, 4A Sliced Oakwood opening day When: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Wednesday, July 8 Where: 3458 Winder Highway, Oakwood Sheriff’s worker suspended after online remarks BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com A Hall County Sheriff’s Office employee was suspended five days and transferred to the jail division after “inappropriate remarks” made on social media while off-duty. The Sheriff’s Office announced June 8 the employee, who has not been identified by the department, was on leave pending the inter nal investigation and worked previously in the training unit. It was not immediately clear when the employee was put on leave and for how long nor when the suspension took effect. In a statement provided June 8, the Sheriff’s Office said the comments “in no way reflect the opinion of the Hall County Sheriff’s Office in any way, shape, or form.” “Our employees are expected to maintain a professional demeanor at all times — both off- duty and on,” according to the statement. The Sheriff’s Office declined to provide infor mation about the nature of the comments made on Facebook without an open records request, which The Times has since filed. By law, agencies have three days to respond to an open records request. Pizza restaurant to open new franchise in Oakwood BY KELSEY P0D0 kpodo@gainesvilletimes.com DEATHS 6A Ben Bidgoly, 60 Robert Bradley, 88 Bobby Chaffin, 68 Billy Chandler, 86 Margaret Cruce, 90 Joan Hawk, 92 James Henson, 65 Cloyse Hicks, 79 Margaret Hurd, 81 Jackie Johnson, 70 James Johnson, 83 Patricia Kelly, 61 Jean Lee, 83 Allen Lyons, 60 Hall Martin Kenneth McCormick, 84 Ruby Moore, 78 Edsel Orr, 91 Myrtle O’Shields, 91 Ruthie Pedarre, 10 Jack Roper, 78 William Rylee, 82 Dorothy Smith, 90 Donald Timms, 55 Eulene Tinsley, 74 Leonardo Torres, 13 Whitney Trusty, 32 Charles Turner, 77 Andrea Tyler, 46 Mary Walsh Nancy Ward, 79 Ollie Watson, 88 Mark Washington, 30 Sybil Wilson, 97 0 *40901 06835 8 Georgia’s leader in joint replacements Leading the way for a more active life The Arthritis & Total Joint program at Northside wos among the first in Georgia to perform same-doy, outpatient total joint replacements for hip and knee. Now, we're Georgia's leader in joint replacements. 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