Georgia High School Association
rules in favor of playing fall sports;
football put on two-week delay.
SPORTS, 1B
Midweek Edition - JULY 22-23,2020 | $1.00 | GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA | gainesvilletimes.com
Honestly Local
New plans for
Gainesville
grads amid
pandemic
BY THOMAS HARTWELL
thartwell@gainesvilletimes.com
As is the plight of nearly every high school
senior in any graduating class of 2020, Gaines
ville High School’s nearly 500 graduates will
have to settle for a different kind of commence
ment experience at City Park on Friday, July
24.
The Gainesville City School System late last
week decided its original plans for a full but
delayed graduation ceremony, with all gradu
ates and families to attend at once, will not be
possible given the continued spread of COVID-
19, Superintendent Jeremy Williams told The
Times.
In a letter published to the high school’s
Facebook page on Saturday, July 18, Gaines
ville High School Principal Jamie Green said
the school system had hoped that the risk of
community spread would diminish over time
when the “difficult but necessary” decision to
delay graduation was made in May.
“A crisis that was unanticipated to begin with,
now continues to develop in ways we could not
have foreseen,” Green’s letter says. “Even with
the strictest safety protocols in place, we cannot
■ Please see GRADS, 4A
Related
Hall Schools superintendent: District
continuing to examine options for return to
school, 4A
Sheriff’s Office
mourns loss of
jail lieutenant
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
A Hall County Sheriff’s Office lieutenant with
20 years of service died Monday, July 20, after
a serious illness.
Sheriff’s Office spokesman
Derreck Booth said Lt. Brian
McNair, 53, had been trans
ported Sunday, July 19, from
his Habersham County home
to Northeast Georgia Medical
Center in Gainesville.
The Sheriff’s Office did not
have information on McNair’s
cause of death but said he had
tested positive for COVID-19 last week.
McNair had not been at work since July 9. He
served in the jail division.
“Our hearts are broken, that’s for sure. He’s
going to be missed. He’s just one of those guys
that whenever you saw coming, you smiled,”
retired Capt. Brad Rounds said. “He always had
you laughing about something. That’s just the
way he was. If you were in a bad mood and you
spent 10 minutes around him, he’d have you
laughing about something. ”
■ Please see JAIL, 8A
Aid up in the air
SCOTT ROGERS I The Times
Acupuncturist Steve Collins demonstrates the traditional Chinese medicine Tuesday, July 21, on patient Nicole Kiang at his office
at The Spa on Green Street.
Debate rages on whether to extend $600 federal jobless benefit
BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com
A debate may be raging in Washing
ton, D.C., over whether to extend federal
unemployment benefits, as well as other
help as part of a new stimulus package.
But locals say there’s still widespread
need, and the benefits are still needed.
“My practice has been hit hard and I
remain partially unemployed due to the
drop in people who are either unable or
unwilling to venture out,” Gainesville
acupuncturist Steve Collins said this
week. “My patient load has dropped in
half and if it weren’t for (funding assis
tance) , I very well might be on the street. ”
Despite some positive signs, unemploy
ment is a rampant problem nationally,
and congressional leaders are consider
ing an extension to the federal jobless
benefit, which is set to end Saturday, July
25. The federal CARES Act, a coronavi-
rus relief law enacted in March, provided
an extra $600 weekly through July 31 to
Americans receiving jobless benefits.
A package from Senate Major
ity Leader Mitch McConnell, being
crafted this week behind closed doors,
is expected to replace the $600 with a
smaller amount.
It’s one of the more controversial
aspects of stimulus funding. Critics have
said that between state and federal jobless
money, workers are getting more money
than they were while employed and thus,
have no incentive to return to work.
One crack in that argument is that
“unemployed workers must attest each
week that they haven’t refused an offer of
work to keep receiving benefits,” accord
ing to the Georgia Department of Labor.
“Generally, if you reject an employer’s
call to return to work, then you have quit
your job and are no longer eligible for
unemployment compensation.”
■ Please see JOBS, 11A
Retailers begin to enforce face covering rules
BY KELSEY P0D0
kpodo@gainesvilletimes.com
Not wearing a mask is becoming less of
an option for those visiting popular grocery,
pharmacy and department store chains in
Hall County and across the country.
Companies like CVS Pharmacy, Target,
Publix, Kroger and Walmart have already
implemented face-covering policies nation
wide to help limit the spread of COVID-19.
Tuesday, July 21, was the first day Pub
lix has asked customers to don a mask.
David Brewer, manager of the Thompson
Bridge Road location in Gainesville, said
his staff has taken steps to inform people,
including placing an instructive sign at the
entrance and making announcements over
Inside
■ New NGMC Gainesville mobile unit
opens, 11A
■ New state partner to increase
COVID-19 testing capacity, 11A
the intercom.
Although masks are mandatory, Brewer
said Publix’s employees will not drag some
one out of the store for not following the
rules. Instead, they’ll politely ask them to
wear one or take one of the store’s free face
coverings. So far, Brewer said he hasn’t expe
rienced any challenges with guests observing
the policy.
“We did have one customer inform
■ Please see MASKS, 11A
Stores requiring
masks in Hall County
ALDI: Effective Monday,
July 27
Best Buy: Effective now
CVS Pharmacy: Effective now
Kohl’s: Effective now
Kroger: Effective now
Publix: Effective now
Sam’s Club: Effective now
Target: Effective Saturday,
Aug. 1
Walmart: Effective now
Walgreens: Effective now
DEATHS 6A
John Anulies, 76
Jamerrick Brown, 36
Shannon Brunson, 82
James Burris, 52
Tony Carlock, 56
Horace Chuang, 86
Wiley Coley, 88
Deborah Cooper, 65
Joyce Davenport, 79
William Dunigan, 78
Joshua Edwards, 35
Webster English, 93
Ethel Freeman, 93
Edward Gaither, 69
Dokaor Gazboda, 50
Richard Gebelein, 87
Robert Huey Gillian, 48
Jimmy Helton, 65
Betty Hendrix, 88
Douglas Higham, 68
Mary Jackson, 81
Clyde Jones, 57
Jack Jones, 92
Joann Kinnard, 88
Florence LaSure, 80
Jalen Leonard, 19
Rainey Lilly, Infant
Roy Lingerfelt, 84
Howell Loggins
Jerry Mauldin, 76
Brian McNair, 53
Lamar Millsap, 70
Virginia Morrow, 92
Roy Ochsen Jr., 78
Danny Payne, 65
Drusella Roberts, 81
Anne Sands
Sherka Statham, 33
Max Stiarwalt, 59
Lucille Syers, 94
James Tankersley, 85
Carol Taylor, 74
Pamela Trotter, 59
Annette Tucker, 72
Lori Van Scoten, 56
Rex Watson, 86
Sylvia Wheeler, 66
Jim White, 75
Sheila Wilber, 61
Pauline Williams, 86
Virginia Young, 76
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