About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 3, 2020)
UNG professor helps create high school course for intelligence work, inside,« Thursday, December 3,20201 GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA | gainesvilletimes.com Britain OKs Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine and will begin shots within days. INSIDE, 5A Honestly Local Virus spike taxing school staff City, county systems consider options with fewer adults on deck’ BY KELSEY PODO kpodo@gainesvilletimes.com A return to blended learning could soon become a reality for some schools in both Gainesville and Hall County districts as COVID- 19 cases continue to rise. After Thanksgiving break, the Hall system experienced a spike in COVID-19 cases among its students and staff, with 70 by the Tuesday, Dec. 1. On Nov. 30, the number was at 46. Gainesville Superinten dent Jeremy Williams said as of Wednesday, Dec. 2, there have been 11 new staff positive cases and 12 student cases in the Gainesville district. Williams said if a school end of does revert to blended learning — which is defined as conducting virtual learn ing with the intention of returning back to in-per- son instruction — the first reason would be because of a staff shortage, and the second would be prompted by “a cluster of cases on a larger scale” than experi- Williams enced previously. “The reality is, for us, that’s been a consideration ever since we started back in September,” Williams said. “Now we’re start ing to see some of the impact from Thanksgiving week. ” Williams said some of his biggest concerns lie with providing cover age among kitchen staff and bus drivers. “Those are the two areas where we’re most vulnerable,” he said. “It may require shutting down routes or schools based on the number of cases we’re seeing.” This week, Williams said the Gainesville district had 50 new quarantine cases with students and staff. This includes those identified as close contacts and people who have tested positive for COVID-19. ■ Please see SCHOOLS, 4A Meeting on the mill Photos by SCOTT ROGERS I The Times Hall County is finishing its master plan for a future park at Healan’s Head’s Mill in East Hall and is seeking community input. Public input sought on plans for potential park in East Hall BY MEGAN REED mreed@gainesvilletimes.com Healan’s Head’s Mill in East Hall, the last standing grist mill in the county, is incorporated into plans for a 100-acre Hall County park. County officials are seeking community input as a master plan for the property is almost finished. The mill on Whitehall Road was built by William Head about 170 years ago, The Times has previously reported. It changed hands over the years until it was bought by Fred and Burnice Healan, the last private owners, in the 1960s. The county bought the mill in 2003 and then in 2018 purchased another 96 acres around the mill. County officials and the Friends of Healan’s Head’s Mill committee, a vol unteer group of community members, have been working with consulting firm Wood and Partners on a master plan for the property. As the plan is finished, final steps include seeking community input about the proposed park. A presentation video on the Hall County Parks and Leisure website shows ideas for the park, which include trails, an information center and history exhib its or demonstrations. The presentation ends with an email address where people can send their own feedback and ideas. One in-person meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 15, at the East Hall Community Center, where community ■ Please see HEALAN, 3A Community meeting on park plans When: 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 15 Where: East Hall Community Center, 3911 P Davison Road, Gainesville Watch online presentation and email feedback: hallcountyparks.org 1 person displaced after Spring Road fire BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com One person was displaced after a Spring Road home was destroyed in a Tuesday, Dec. 1, morning fire, authori ties said. Hall County firefighters responded to the 1,000-square-foot home in the 2000 block of Spring Road just before 7 a.m. Tuesday. The home, which was consid ered a total loss, was fully engulfed in flames, according to Hall County Fire Services Division Chief Zach Brackett. Brackett said Wednesday, Dec. 2, one occupant was displaced by the fire but has found a place to stay. The division chief said investigators determined the cause to be electrical. Hall County firefighters responded to a house fire in the 2000 block of Spring Road just before 7 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 1. Photo courtesy Hall County Fire Services 1st Hall trials may come in January after latest delay BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com Hall County court officials do not expect to hold a jury trial for the rest of 2020 and intend to try again Jan. 4. This week would have likely seen a com petency hearing for Talon Lowery, who was charged in a Nov. 6,2017, murder indictment of shooting Bryan Ramirez, 18, four days earlier at the Texaco station on Cleveland Highway. Court officials, however, issued a cancel lation notice Wednesday, Nov. 23, due to an increase in COVID-19 cases in Hall County. “The mechanism for us is the judges coop eratively and collaboratively speaking to what they feel is appropriate, getting input from the public health department and then we have that jury trial committee that has looked at our plan,” court administrator Jason Stephenson said this week. “They’ll be consulted before making any decision.” Regarding the metrics used, Stephenson said there is no magic number regarding level of infection or threshold that has to be crossed. “Based on Northeast Georgia (Health Sys tem’s) numbers of hospitalizations that they publish every day, which are incredibly help ful that we’re watching very closely, hospital izations were going up,” Stephenson said. NGHS matched its new record Wednesday, Dec. 2, of 181 confirmed patients being treated that was set the day before. ■ Please see TRIALS, 3A Man faces 76 more charges in exploitation of minor case BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com More than a year after his original arrest, a Gainesville man was brought back to Hall County after investigators obtained warrants for 76 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, according to authorities. The Hall County Sheriff’s Office, working with the Internet Crimes Against Chil dren task force, originally searched Aug. 15, 2019, at the home of Mark Jason Wood, 44. Sheriff’s Office spokesman Derreck Booth said Wood was charged with nine counts of distribution of child sexual abuse material and one count of sexual exploitation of children. Booth said Wood was allegedly “in possession of a video depicting minor children engaged in sexually explicit conduct and acts,” and a further search that week found another nine videos. Booth said Wednesday, Dec. 2, that investiga tors obtained warrants in June on 76 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, with 75 of those relating to Wood’s alleged possession of at least 75 images on his computer. The last charge concerns an “image of child sexual abuse mate rial” allegedly on Wood’s phone, Booth said. Wood was booked again into the Hall County Jail Tuesday, Dec. 1, after being transported from Texarkana, Texas. He has qualified for a public defender and remained in the jail without bond Wednesday. The case is still under investigation. Wood
