About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 12, 2020)
Hall football programs adjusting to missed practice time due to coronavirus. spouts,m Midweek Edition - AUGUST 12-13,2020 | $1.00 | GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA | gainesvilletimes.com Honestly Local Tackling diversity in Agencies, community leaders discuss representation of BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com As the national spotlight has shown on law enforce ment agencies and race relations, local community activists say agencies should focus on staff diversity. Leaders of those agencies agree that reflecting the population served is ideal, but for various reasons both agencies struggle to reach that goal for some demographics. In Gainesville, Latinos make up the largest per centage of the population, according to U.S. Census ■ Please see DIVERSITY, 4A ] White ] Latino ■ Black Gainesville Gainesville Police demographics demographics Asian Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Gainesville Police Department and Hall County Sheriff’s Office Hall County demographics law minorities Hall County Sheriff’s Office demographics P ^ ELECTION fc J 2020 IN AND OUT, QUICK’ SCOTT ROGERS I The Times Voters cast their ballot Tuesday, Aug. 11, at the West Whelchel precinct at Gainesville First United Methodist Church. Lines were short and the same COVID-19 precautions from the June primary were in use. Voters, poll managers report smooth process for runoff BY NATHAN BERG nberg@gainesvilletimes.com Voters had little trouble casting bal lots in the runoff Tuesday, Aug. 11, at Hall County’s polling places. Many residents reported the pro cess took just a few minutes from start to finish, as they chose candidates in three races — Georgia’s 9th Con gressional District’s Republican and Democratic nominations and the GOP nomination for the Georgia Senate District 50 seat. With nearly 10,000 votes between absentee ballots and early voting already accounted for prior to Tues day, county officials predicted short lines on Election Day, and according to poll managers and voters at various precincts, they were right. Turnout numbers were not available as of press time. “There was nobody in there when I arrived,” said Philip Wilheit Jr., who voted at Journey Church on Mount Vernon Road. “I went straight in and voted right away. No problem at all.” Lisa Nichol, who voted at the East Hall Community Center, had a similar experience. “It was as easy as can be,” she said. “In and out, quick. No issues at all.” Latoya Castillo, poll manager at Bre- nau Downtown Center, said no voters had needed more than a few minutes to cast their ballots as of 10 a.m. Tues day morning, attributing the slow day ■ Please see POLLS, 8A Runoff results For updated results and more coverage, visit www.gainesvilletimes.com. U.S. House of Representatives, Georgia’s 9th District With 156 of 166 of precincts reporting. Republicans Andrew Clyde, R 56% Matt Gurtler, R 44% Democrats Devin Pandy, D 68% Brooke Siskin, D 32% Georgia Senate, District 50 With 36 of 36 of precincts reporting. Stacy Hall, R 50% Bo Hatchett, R 50% NGHS now expects $150M revenue loss BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in plum meting revenues for the Northeast Georgia Health System as elective surgeries were halted, and the system has had to “get creative with our supply chain,” CEO Carol Burrell said Tuesday, Aug. 11. Burrell spoke about the health system’s challenges through the coronavirus pan demic at the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce’s Eco nomic & Political Forecast at Lanier Technical College’s Ramsey Conference Center. The Times spoke in June with health system officials about the financial impacts of the pandemic, at which point NGHS expected revenue losses of $200 to $250 million through September. NGHS now expects an estimated $150 million shortfall in net revenues this budget year, Burrell said. Brian Steines, NGHS chief financial officer, told The Times on Tuesday that those original revenue projections were based on losses in April and May. “Once we resumed elective sur geries and other services in June, we saw rev enues return to more normal levels,” he said. The crisis “has really forced us to think quickly and respond very efficiently,” Burrell told those gathered in person and virtually to hear the forecast. “Our team has been looking at things and changing on a daily basis, so our communication has reached an all-new level.” Burrell said halting elective surgeries in mid- March, phasing them back in two months later and then fully restarting them in June has pre sented a key challenge for system hospitals to make money. “That is how we generate our bottom line and how we reinvest in this organization and this community,” Burrell said. But, she said, the health system is “optimistic with the (elective) surgeries coming back.” Burrell also reviewed the trends in the num ber of COVID-19 patients being treated at sys tem hospitals, noting that hospitals seem to be hovering at a new, higher threshold than a peak the system saw in April. ■ Please see CHAMBER, 5A Burrell DEATHS 6A Grace Adams, 85 Gloria Anthony, 65 Mercedes Brackett, 28 Eunice Bruce, 75 Glenda Carlton, 76 Cecil Callahan, 78 Georgina Clayton, 55 Jerry Cobb, 61 Janet Couch, 65 Lela Crane, 87 Theresa Domingue, 67 Brenda Etris Harriette Finger, 90 Leah Fraser Billy Gathright, 74 Stephen Goode, 27 Richard Hoffman, 70 Roy House, 63 Randy Jackson, 64 Robert Jackson, 86 William Johns, II, 88 Ray Jones, 88 Virginia Jones James King, 89 Syble Langford, 77 Norma Legg, 88 Paul Martin, 67 Jacqueline McDaniel Mona Montgomery, 61 Shirley Parden, 76 Joshua Payne, 34 Alan Pilcher, 71 Donna Puckett, 80 Brenda Reynolds, 73 Charles Rudd, 90 Pany Sithideth, 43 Wanda Skinner Mildred Smith, 67 Roslyn Strickland Catherine Stumpf, 87 P. Mike Tate, 72 Bobbie Thomas, 85 Millard Walters, 93 Patricia Welborn, 70 Rebekah Whelchel, 86 Caleb Womack, 19 Clinton Yarbrough, 48 0 *40901 06835 8 We will make it through this, and the strength of hope will shine brightly. EH NORTHSIDE HOSPITAL £ ' ■ !■■■■■■■■■■• ■■«■■■■
