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Honestly Local
Man challenges Lula mayor over prayer
BY BRIAN WELLMEIER
bwellmeier@gainesvilletimes.com
The common custom of saying
prayer before the start of a meet
ing sparked controversy at a Lula
work session Monday.
Resident Joseph Johnson
expressed his grievance to the
council after he was denied by
Mayor Joe Thomas from leading
invocation with an “atheist” — or
non-Christian — prayer.
After calling for Thomas’ resig
nation, Johnson also denounced
the mayor for comments he made
at a GMA-held sexual harassment
training seminar in January.
Citing an article published by
The Times on Jan. 24 regarding
residents’ efforts to recall Thomas,
Johnson accused the mayor of
endorsing Christianity as an estab
lished religion of the city, as well as
alienating people with secular and
non-Christian beliefs. Johnson said
he plans to file a lawsuit against the
city on the basis of religious dis
crimination, and he asked that offi
cials eliminate prayer from future
meetings.
“(In the article), you referenced
it was your decision to start with
the Lord’s Prayer,” Johnson told
Thomas. “I asked you tonight,
before the meeting, if you would
entertain me giving a non-Chris
tian prayer for invocation, and you
denied that.”
“You have directly endorsed,
multiple times, one religion over
another,” he said. “That is a viola
tion of the Establishment Clause
of my First Amendment rights... I
would ask the council that, if we are
not going to allow secular prayers
for invocation, we stop prayer alto
gether — as it is offensive if we’re
endorsing one over the others ... I
will be filing a formal complaint, as
well as a civil suit.”
Johnson confirmed to The Times
Tuesday that he’s filed a formal
complaint with the City of Lula
against Thomas for “religious dis
crimination.” The complaint was
forwarded to the city’s law firm for
review.
■ Please see PRAYER, 4A
BRIAN WELLMEIER I The Times
Lula resident Joseph Johnson speaks to council members Monday,
Feb. 13. Johnson has filed a complaint against Mayor Joe Thomas over
religious discrimination.
Five minutes or fine
STAR students
named in Hall,
Gainesville
HALL: SAM MALONE
BY BEN ANDERSON
banderson@gainesvilletimes.com
Sam Malone, a senior at Flowery Branch
High School, marches to the beat of his own
drum, though the idiom should
probably be modified because
drums seem to be one of the
few instruments he doesn’t
play.
“I play a lot of instruments,”
said Malone, who was named
Hall County Schools’ STAR
student Tuesday, Feb. 14. “I
play flute, piccolo, piano and
saxophone, and I also like to
write music.”
His father, Lee, credits his son’s indepen
dence for his academic success.
“Sam doesn’t really follow pop culture, where
■ Please see MALONE, 5A
Malone
SCOTT ROGERS I The Times
A motorist drives past a newly installed parking tracker device Wednesday, Feb. 8, on the square in downtown Gainesville. The
short gray poles were installed at the request of the Gainesville Police Department and are intended to deter cars from blocking or
parking in 5-minute zones.
City installs parking trackers to deter misuse of loading zones
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
Loading trucks and five-minute park-
ers, beware: The clock is ticking.
To deter people from misusing the
loading/unloading and five-minute park
ing around the Gainesville downtown
square, city officials signed a deal for
technology to supervise these spots and
potentially issue citations.
The city signed a five-year contract
with Minnesota-based Municipal Parking
Services on Dec. 20 for “Sentry SafetyS-
ticks,” a bollard-looking device that moni
tors parking vehicles.
For providing the parking monitors,
Municipal Parking Services is paid a
transaction fee per violation of 40%. For
a $20 citation for a loading zone infrac
tion, Municipal Parking Services receives
$8.
Gainesville Police Chief Jay Parrish
said he began receiving complaints from
business owners about parking issues:
people being there all day, including
parking in the loading zones and five-
minute zones.
One example was the loading zone on
Bradford Street, which could fit a couple
of cars.
With nowhere to go, a delivery truck
for a restaurant shuts down the road and
backs up traffic.
“We just didn’t have the uniform patrol
availability to go address all these load
ing zone violations, so I just began to look
outside the box at what could help solve
that,” Parrish said.
Police said the devices were placed
in the following areas: five-minute load
ing/unloading spots in front of Down
town Drafts (Bradford Street), Atlas
Pizza (Washington Street) and THRIVE
Coworking (Main Street); and beyond
Martin Furniture and Design (Main
Street).
Parrish said there are currently four
part-time civilian downtown security
■ Please see PARKING, 4A
GAINESVILLE:
HASSAN KHAN
BY BEN ANDERSON
banderson@gainesvilletimes.com
Hassan Khan hasn’t even graduated Gaines
ville High School yet, and he is developing
a computer program aimed at eliminating
human bias in the redrawing
of congressional districts.
“I don’t even understand
some of the stuff he’s doing
right now,” said Khan’s
teacher, Karnati Chandra,
whom Kahn credited for
sparking his interest in com
puter science.
Khan was recognized Tues
day, Feb. 14, as the STAR stu
dent for the Gainesville school system, which
also included two private schools, Lakeview
Academy and Riverside Preparatory Academy.
The Student Teacher Achievement Recogni
tion honors the state’s highest-achieving high
school seniors and the teachers who have had
the greatest influence on them.
■ Please see KHAN, 5A
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