About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (July 23, 2020)
Pop-up gallery at the Quinlan showcases ‘quarantine’ art. INSIDE, 3A Thursday, July 23,20201 GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA | gainesvilletimes.com Water service to be interrupted today on Quincy Drive in Flowery Branch. INSIDE, 5A Lost Wall Honestly Local Support, backlash on Trump Census move Leaders weigh in on president s attempt to prevent count of those here illegally Associated Press WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump signed a memoran dum Tuesday, July 21, that seeks to bar people in the U.S. illegally from being included in the headcount as congressional districts are redrawn, a move that drew immediate criti cism and promises of court chal lenges on constitutional grounds. According to the memo, census workers would continue counting immigrants who are in the country illegally, but they would not be fac tored into decisions about congres sional representation. The Census Bureau would have five months to come up with a way to accurately estimate the number of residents illegally in each state in order to sub tract them from the overall count. Trump said including them in the count “would create perverse incentives and under mine our system of gov ernment.” Seats in U.S. House of Representatives are redistributed every 10 years based on changes in population found in the census. U.S. Rep. Doug Col lins, R-Gainesville, said he supports the move “to ensure American citizens receive turn a Collins accurate representation in Congress.” “Allowing undocu mented immigrants to be counted for the purpose of apportionment poses a variety of issues, includ ing creating perverse incentives and potentially rewarding sanctuary cit ies like San Francisco who blind eye to our nation’s immigration laws,” Collins said. He added: “This could lead to underrepresentation for American citizens in areas with a high popula tion of undocumented immigrants, and could actually disadvantage American citizens here in Georgia, considering our state works dili gently to enforce our immigration laws.” ■ Please see CENSUS, 3A GSP: 1 killed in wreck after driver flees BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com A Gainesville man who allegedly sped away from an attempted traffic stop was involved in a fatal wreck Wednesday in North Hall, according to authorities. Hall County Sheriff’s Office deputies attempted around 1:20 p.m. Wednesday, July 22, to stop a Chevrolet Equinox on Bethel Road near Northwoods Road. Georgia State Patrol Sgt. C.E. Parker said the car accelerated “rapidly” as soon as the deputy turned on his blue lights. The Equinox’s driver, Christopher Wayne Sosebee, 30, allegedly “failed to negotiate a righthand curve,” driving onto the north shoulder and overcorrecting, Parker said. The car came across Bethel Road, driving up and down a rocky embankment before landing on top of a Chevrolet 2500 work truck. The driver of the truck, Brian Allen Hayes, 48, of Gainesville, was pronounced dead at the scene. Sosebee was taken to a local hospital for his injuries, and his passenger, Tiffany Lynn Frank lin, 28, of Gainesville, was also transported for ■ Please see WRECK, 3A City police want local input for accreditation BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com Gainesville Police want community mem bers to take a survey on the department’s per formance as part of its re-accreditation process with the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies The department said the goal is gauging the community’s opinions on safety, performance, competency and attitude “in keeping with our commitment to correcting actions, practices and attitudes that may contribute to commu nity tensions and grievances.” “It is extremely important that we establish feedback in these areas so that we can continu ally strive to provide a professional delivery of police services to the city of Gainesville,” according to the police department. The survey comes at a time of national debate over police reform in the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. Several high-profile incidents between police and activists during the ensuing protests have heightened attention on the subject. Local civil rights and law enforcement lead ers recently held a pair of open-air meetings in Gainesville to discuss community concerns and the police perspective. Anyone wishing to take the survey can go to gainesville.org/community-survey/, which is ■ Please see INPUT, 5A Churches adapt to COVID-19 Photo courtesy Beth Buffington Weikel Swimmers attend a Sunday evening service at Gainesville First United Methodist Church on July 19. The church is located on Thompson Bridge Road and has a lakeside service area and dock below. Religious leaders, church-goers attend online, outdoor services BY MEGAN REED mreed@gainesvilletimes.com During the COVID-19 pandemic, local churches have had to get creative in find ing new ways to gather. “The hardest thing is not being able to be with your people in times of crisis. That’s been my biggest stress and my big gest struggle,” said the Rev. Tom Smiley, senior pastor at Lakewood Baptist Church in Gainesville. While Lakewood has been able to adapt with streamed services and socially distanced in-person services, Smiley said he has not been able to go to the hospital to minister to those with health issues or hug someone grieving at a funeral. “I love our people, and I love being with them and serving them in those types of moments, and I have not been able to,” Smiley said. At Lakewood, church-goers are asked to distance and avoid contact such as hugs or handshakes. Space is limited, and masks are encouraged. People can also watch services online. As many churches limit in-person gath erings to reduce the spread of COVID-19, religious leaders and church-goers have moved to online or outdoor services or have required reservations to ensure there is enough space to spread out in each parish. “We hope to, even virtually, be a place where we can offer spiritual comfort and guidance through this time,” said the Rev. Jeremy Shoulta, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Gainesville. First Baptist Gainesville offers a weekly outdoor service where people bring their own seating and are encour aged to wear face masks. Another weekly indoor service has no congregational singing and requires church-goers to wear masks. Those planning to attend ■ Please see CHURCHES, 6A Hall ties its record for COVID-19 patients Associated Press WASHINGTON - Labo ratories across the U.S. are buckling under a surge of coro- navirus tests as the number of confirmed cases in Georgia surpassed 150,000 Wednes day, and the state Department of Public Health reported 81 deaths, the second-highest number reported so far. Locally, Northeast Georgia Health System tied its one- day record for the number of patients being treated at 159. That’s an increase of 18 from the day before and 76 from the week before. The hospital has Hall County locations in Gaines ville and Braselton and treats patients from across Northeast Georgia. A chart provided on its website displays an upward trend in the seven-day rolling average of the percentage of positive cases across its loca tions and some other medical facilities including Longstreet Clinic and Northeast Geor gia Physician Group. Most COVID-19 cases do not require hospitalization. An upward trend is also dis played in the seven-day mov ing average provided by the Georgia Department of Public Heath for the state. Hall ranks No. 25 in the state for per cap ita cases of the virus. With the U.S. tally of infec tions at 3.9 million Wednesday and new cases surging, the bot tlenecks at labs are creating problems for workers kept off the job while awaiting results, nursing homes struggling to keep the virus out and for the labs themselves, dealing with a crushing workload. Some labs are taking weeks to return COVID-19 results, ■ Please see COVID-19,6A This e-edition sponsored by:
