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Weekend Edition - JULY 11-12,2020 | $2.00 | GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA | gainesvilletimes.com
Honestly Local
Dozens nabbed in $700K drug bust
11-month investigation leads to 48 arrests; 50 kilos of meth seized
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
An 11-month drug investiga
tion has led to 48 arrests and
more than 50 kilos of metham-
phetamine seized, according to
authorities.
The estimated value of the
drugs seized was $705,000.
The arrests were announced
at 11 a.m. Friday, July 10, at the
Hall County Sheriff’s Office.
Georgia Bureau of Investiga
tion Director Vic Reynolds
was flanked by representa
tives from local law enforce
ment — Sheriff Gerald Couch
and Gainesville Police Chief
Jay Parrish — as well as other
regional law enforcement
leaders.
Reynolds said the investiga
tion “centered around a major
methamphetamine and heroin
trafficking distribution ring
operating here in the North
east Georgia area” and reach
ing into the metro Atlanta area.
The Appalachian Regional
Drug Enforcement Office and
the FBI Major Offenders Task
Force worked together in the
investigation that also seized
half a kilogram of heroin,
weapons, cash and vehicles.
“As you look up here this
morning, this is a great exam
ple of how this is supposed to
work. When you have this type
of inter-agency cooperation at
a federal level, at a state level
■ Please see DRUGS, 7A
NICK WATSON I Associated Press
Northeastern Judicial Circuit District Attorney Lee
Darragh speaks at a press conference Friday, July
10, at the Hall County Sheriffs Office concerning
an 11-month drug investigation.
Ahead of the movement
Confederate statue once on public display now stored at museum
BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com
For all those clamoring for Confed
erate statues to be destroyed or put in
a museum, a statue that once stood in
downtown Gainesville went through
both those fates years ago — but without
a mob or protesters involved.
The statue of Confederate soldier
Col. Christopher Columbus Sanders was
once an eye-catching sight, with Sand
ers seated atop a stone base supported
by four columns at the U.S. courthouse
at Green and Washington streets.
The tornado of 1936 swept away the
monument, as it also brought tremen
dous damage and death to the sur
rounding area. Parts of the statue were
scattered throughout town, with parts of
it, including Sanders’ head, ending up in
the possession of residents.
Through residents returning pieces of
the statue, Sanders today has a home at
the Northeast Georgia History Center at
Brenau University.
But he’s still in pieces, with the head
separated from his torso and chair,
inside the museum off Academy Street
and two of the columns stored outside
the museum. Also facing the elements
is the monument’s round base, which
describes Sanders’ Confederate military
credentials.
Sanders, a Franklin County native,
fought in the Army of Northern Virginia,
which was led by Gen. Robert E. Lee.
“He served throughout the war and
was wounded twice,” said Glen Kyle,
executive director of the History Center.
“He was at Antietam, at Gettysburg. He
was wounded three or four days before
Lee surrendered at Appomattox.”
“After the war, he went to South Geor
gia to do some business, then he came
up to Gainesville and started a bank and
became a prominent member of the
community,” Kyle said.
Also after the war, he was offered
the rank of brigadier general in the
U.S. Army, but he declined, settling in
Gainesville and later organizing and
serving as president of the State Bank
ing Company, according to his display.
■ Please see STATUE, 5A
SCOTT ROGERS I The Times
The remains of a statue of Col. C.C. Sanders resides today inside the Northeast Georgia
History Center in Gainesville. The marble statue used to reside alongside the Federal
Courthouse at the corner of Green and Washington Streets until it was destroyed in the
1936 tornado. Sanders was a Gainesville resident who served in the Army of Northern
Virginia of the Confederate States of America.
Remdesivir
helping, but
supply unclear
BY MEGAN REED
mreed@gainesvilletimes.com
Northeast Georgia Medical Center doctors
have been using the anti-viral drug remdesivir
to treat COVID-19 patients since May, but the
state may not be able to supply additional doses
once supplies run out.
“This medication works
by reducing the virus’ abil
ity to replicate and spread in
the body,” Dr. Supriya Man-
nepalli, chair of NGMC’s
Infection Prevention and Con
trol committee, said in a state
ment. “I am usually fairly
conservative in my evaluation
of new drugs, but this one has
truly impressed me and has been life-saving for
many.”
Mannepalli said NGMC started using the
drug May 18, and as of July 7,144 patients had
begun a course of treatment with remdesivir at
■ Please see DOSES, 4A
Mannepalli
9th candidate
faces charge
of contempt
A Democratic candidate for the U.S. House
9th District seat is in jail on a contempt of court
charge.
Gwinnett County Jail and
Sheriff’s Department records
show Brooke Siskin, who
faces Devin Pandy in an Aug.
11 runoff, was jailed late
Thursday.
Records show the charge
as contempt of court with no
bond set.
This is Siskin’s second
arrest this year. She was arrested in March
after an incident at a Gwinnett bank.
Siskin was the top vote getter in the June
Democratic primary, with Pandy second.
Nate McCullough
Siskin
DEATHS 2B
Billy Almond, 74
Denise Boggs, 67
Curtis Chappell, 94
Leonard Church, 85
Wanda Fields, 59
Jim Gable, 76
Kathleen Galbraith, 76
Johnny Gray, 57
Ricky Higgins, 49
Ruth Leonard, 87
Barbara Loving, 84
Victorina Mancilla-Torres, 78
Patricia Nash, 69
Elna Patterson, 82
Nolan Phillips, 34
Joseph Prinzo, Jr., 80
John Reed, 72
David Reesman, 94
Sarah Robertson, 82
William Rucker, 73
Carolyn Sheppard, 88
Jeffery Simpson, Sr., 58
James Smith, 73
Thomas Stapler, 17
Vallon Summerour, 70
Ima Underwood, 85
Carl Webb
W. L. Whelchel, 90
Jack Whitlock, 45
0
4 0 9 01
06825
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groove on.
Find your orthopedic expert today at
nghs.com/move I 770-462-5285
Northeast Georgia Medical Center
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