About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 14, 2023)
Moldova again at center of tug between Moscow and the West. INSIDE, 4A Tlil ] Tuesday, February 14, 2023 | GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA | gainesvilletimes.com Industrial development in Oakwood gets approved. INSIDE, 3A Honestly Local Ex-teacher faces new Millholland BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com A former Gainesville High School teacher charged with child molestation has been arrested on new charges he violated his bond order, according to court documents. Cameron David Millhol land, 27, of Dawsonville, was accused in August of child molestation after allegations of inappropriate conduct over Snapchat with a student. The bond order included conditions that he have no contact with children under charges of violating bond the age of 18 excluding his sibling. Millholland was also barred from using smart phones, social media and internet contact except for work. According to an affidavit for a Superior Court arrest warrant filed Feb. 8, Millhol land visited Riverview Ele mentary School in Dawson County on Jan. 25 and Feb. 3. Millholland, who coached boys golf and taught social studies, resigned from Gaines ville High Aug. 19. Magistrate Court Judge Andy Maddox declined to grant a bond for Millholland after a Sept. 16, committal hearing, but the Hall County District Attorney’s Office later consented to a $30,000 bond. Superior Court Judge Kath- lene Gosselin granted the ■ Please see MILLHOLLAND, 3A ‘It helps with mental health’ Photos by SCOTT ROGERS I The Times Spout Springs School of Enrichment students and siblings Tucker Zimmerman, 11, right, and Piper Zimmerman, 9, use new playground equipment Monday, Feb. 13, after the school’s PTO raised $65,000 from the community to have the site built. Elementary PTO raised $65K for fitness-style playground BY BEN ANDERSON banderson@gainesvilletimes.com Children are spending way more time staring at their screens in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Parent Teacher Organization at Spout Springs School of Enrichment wanted to do something to combat that trend, so they raised nearly $65,000 to build a secondary playground and donated 5% of the money to St. Jude’s Children Research Hospital. They cut the ribbon Monday morning. Children ages 6-10 spent an extra 1.4 hours each day looking at a screen after the onset of the pandemic, according to a meta-analysis pub lished by The Lancet last year that looked at 89 studies from around the world. That is the largest increase in screen time of any age group. The study found that the more time kids spend looking at their screens, the less they sleep, the poorer their diet and the worse their mental health. “Teaching some of the stuff we lost with COVID, how to socialize and con nect with others and be physically active,” said Jared Belew, principal at Spout Springs, one of Hall County’s 20 elementary schools. “It helps with mental health.” Gina Nuzzo, PTO president, said children help raise money for a new project every year as part of their Seminole Sprint fundraiser by solicit ing donations from family members and neighbors. This year, she said, they wanted to do something a little different. “They have a whole playground over there with slides and all of that fun stuff,” she said. “The goal was to give them something to play on but where they’re still moving but not run ning down a slide.” “It’s just a very cool concept,” she said. “Maybe we start a trend.” ExoFit Outdoor Fitness manufac tures outdoor fitness equipment for parks and schools not unlike what you might find in a commercial gym. Their ExoKids line provides equip ment specifically designed for kids under the age of 13, such as the Dou ble Leg Press, The Air Skier and bal ance beams. “I really like it. I think it’s like fun and stuff,” said Nuzzo’s fourth-grade daughter Gia. Her favorite machine is the Air Skier, where kids stand on a small platform and swing back and forth. “I was really surprised how well it worked out and how it was all grass and now it’s a playground.” Former PTO president Nikki Bowen said TurfMark, a Flowery Branch- based company, provided about $2,000 of mulch for free. “We have a very supportive commu nity,” she said. When asked to name her favor ite machine, Bowen’s second-grade daughter Reese said, “The thing where you go side to side.” “I like everything,” she said. Spout Springs School of Enrichment PTO members cut a red ribbon Monday, Feb. 13, opening a new playground at the school built with money raised from the community. PTO members are from the left, Nikki Bowen, Morgan Ellis, Spout Springs Principal Jared Belew, Gina Nuzzo and Jennifer Zimmerman. l TT7 Tmj m - — . 31 Motorcyclist dies in Browns Bridge Road accident BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com A man was thrown from his motorcycle and killed after a wreck Friday, Feb. 10, on Browns Bridge Road, police said. Gainesville Police said Shane Copeland, 31, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash Friday on Browns Bridge Road and Cresswind Parkway. Lt. Kevin Holbrook said Copeland was rid ing a Honda motorcycle around 4:40 p.m. Fri day going west on Browns Bridge Road. Holbrook said Copeland’s motorcycle hit a Ford Taurus entering the road from Cress- wind Parkway. The driver of the Taurus, Michael Ehlers, 74, of Gainesville, was transported by ambu lance to Northeast Georgia Medical Center with minor, visible injuries. Holbrook said police are still investigating the wreck, though speed is believed to be a factor. Photo provided byAsbury Chapel Asbury Chapel, Gainesville’s first Global Methodist Church, holds Sunday services at Memorial Park Funeral Plomes and Cemeteries North-Riverside Chapel at 989 Riverside Drive, Gainesville. New Methodist church begins services in Hall BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com Dick Williamson worshiped for decades as a United Methodist Church member, but recent years had put a bad taste in his mouth. The denomination was “going more and more progressive, and that is not my theol ogy,” said Wiliamson. “I’m very basic in my theology. I’m very conservative.” He said he felt called by God to help start a Global Methodist Church in Gainesville. The end result was Asbury Chapel, which began meeting regularly on Jan. 8. The Global Methodist Church began as a new denomination on May 1, 2022, breaking away from United Methodists after a long, heated debate over same-sex marriage and the ordination of openly gay clergy. “We have been more than blessed,” Wil liamson said in an interview this week about Asbury’s beginnings. “The people I’ve talked to, I’ve asked them for two things: attendance and their financial support.” The church first gathered for a candle light service on Christmas Eve, an event attended by 125 people, Williamson said. Asbury holds worship services at 9:30 a.m. every Sunday at Memorial Park Funeral Homes and Cemeteries North-Riverside Chapel at 989 Riverside Drive, Gainesville. Williamson, 88, left Gainesville First United Methodist to start the new church, but members have come from many area churches, said Asbury’s pastor, the Rev. Whit Martin. For his part, Martin, 41, grew up in the Gainesville area, attending Gainesville First United as a youth as part of a spiritual journey that included visiting other area churches. Called to the ministry at an early age, he last pastored at a United Methodist Church in Villa Rica in West Georgia before he got a call from Williamson asking him if he was interested in leading the new church. “I am humbled to be called to work ■ Please see CHURCH, 3A
