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2A Thursday, March 16, 2023 The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com T-Mobile acquires Mint, which is partially owned by Ryan Reynolds RICHARD SHOTWELL I Associated Press Ryan Reynolds arrives at the 36th annual American Cinematheque Awards, Nov. 17, 2022, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. U.S. wireless carrier T-Mobile announced Wednesday, March 15, that it is buying prepaid wireless brand Mint Mobile, in which actor Ryan Reynolds is a part owner, as part of a cash-and-stock deal worth up to $1.35 billion. BY MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP Business Writer T-Mobile will acquire Mint Mobile, partly owned by actor Ryan Reynolds, as part of a cash-and-stock deal worth as much as $1.35 bil lion. T-Mobile’s purchase of Ka’ena Corp. will give it access to Mint, along with Ultra Mobile and whole saler Plum. The brands, which already use T-Mobile for their network, will be run as a separate business unit. Ryan Reynolds said on Twitter that he never thought he’d own part of a wireless company and never expected to sell it to T-Mobile. Mint Mobile, partly owned by actor Ryan Reynolds, is being acquired by T-Mobile as part of a cash-and-stock deal worth as much as $1.35 billion. T-Mobile’s purchase of Ka’ena Corp. will give it access the budget wireless provider Mint, along with Ultra Mobile and wholesaler Plum. The brands, which already use T-Mobile for their network, will be run as a separate business unit. “I never dreamt I’d own a wireless company and I certainly never dreamt I’d sell it to T-Mobile.” Reyn olds said in a tweet. “Life is strange and I’m incredibly proud and grateful.” The U.S. wireless carrier said Wednesday that it is acquiring the brands’ sales, marketing, digital and ser vice operations. It plans to use its supplier relationships and distribution scale to help grow the brands and offer competitive pricing and greater device inventory to more U.S. consumers seek ing low cost offerings. T-Mobile US Inc. said Mint and Ultra Mobile are complementary to its exist ing prepaid services, Metro by T-Mobile, T-Mobile branded prepaid and Con nect by T-Mobile. T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert said the company plans to give a boost to Mint’s already successful digital direct-to-consumer business. “Over the long-term, we’ll also benefit from apply ing the marketing formula Mint has become famous for across more parts of T-Mobile,” Sievert said. “We think customers are really going to win with a more competitive and expansive Mint and Ultra.” Mint founders David Glickman and Rizwan Kas- sim will stay on at T-Mobile after the transaction is com plete to manage the brands. Reynolds, meanwhile, will remain in his creative role for Mint. The actual price of the deal will depend on Ka’ena Corp.’s performance during certain periods before and after the closing. The trans action is targeted to close later this year. T-Mobile, based in Bel levue, Washington, became one of the country’s largest cellphone service carriers in 2020 after buying rival Sprint. THANK YOU FOR READING FULL ACCESS WITH YOUR SUBSCRIPTION The Times’ print edition brings you in- depth coverage of the biggest local news stories. To access all of the local news our team is reporting, activate your digital subscription. Go to www. gainesvilletimes.com/register, and after filling out the form, check the box “already a subscriber.” Print Traditional print editions are currently published Wednesday and Friday for delivery by mail. EPaper This platform offers the traditional look of a newspaper page but available on your tablet or other device. Editions are published Tuesday through Saturday, with two of those being replicas of the print edition. 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As your honestly local news source, we serve our readers first. Find us on these platforms or reach out to our newsroom at news@ gainesvilletimes.com or 770-718-3435. She (Times gainesvilletimes.com A Metro Market Media Publication © 2023, Vol. 76, No. 54 Thursday, March 16,2023 HOW TO REACH US 345 Green St. N.W., Gainesville, GA 30501 P.0. Box 838, Gainesville, GA 30503 (770) 532-1234 Hours: 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., Mon.-Fri. Drive thru open: 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., Mon.-Fri. Publisher Stephanie Woody swoody@forsythnews.com Group Editor Nate McCullough, nmccullough@gainesvilletimes.com Editor John Chambliss jchambliss@gainesvilletimes.com Director of Audience Shannon Casas, scasas@gainesvilletimes.com Controller Susan Andrews, sandrews@gainesvilletimes.com Production Dir. Mark Hall, mhall@gainesvilletimes.com TALK TO AN EDITOR, REPORT AN ERROR If you spot an error, we want to correct it immediately. We also want your news tips and feature ideas. 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The publisher reserves the right to change rates during the term of the subscription. Notice of a rate change may be made by mail to the subscriber, in the news paper or other means. Rate changes may be implemented by changing the duration of the subscriptions. Second class postage paid at Gainesville. GA. Postmaster: Send address changes to: P.0. Box 838, Gainesville. GA 30503. Periodical p paid: USPS 212-860 Delivery problems call (770) 532-2222 SINGLE COPY The Times is available at retail stores, newspaper racks and at The Times for S1.00 Midweek Edition and $2.00 Weekend Edition. For our digital subscription offerings, go to gainesvilletimes.com/subscribe EVENTS Gentle Yoga. 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. March 22, 29. Blackshear Place Branch Library, 2927 Atlanta Highway, Gainesville, dl9345@bellsouth.net. Free. Guided Hike. 10-11 a.m. March 17. Elachee Nature Science Center, 2125 Elachee Drive, Gainesville. 770-535-1976, sam@ elachee.org. Ghost Hunting 101.5:30-10 p.m. March 17. Hall County Library System, Gainesville Branch, 127 Main St. NW, Gainesville. 770- 532-3311 ext. 4011, gkoecher@hallcoun- tylibrary.org. Free. “Jungle Book Kids” presented by Lyman Hall Elementary School. 1:30-3 p.m. March 18. Chestatee High School, 3005 Sardis Road, Gainesville. 732-735-1161, sandyn- joe2003@yahoo.com. Free. Spring Storybook Ballet: “Peter Pan.” 7:30- 9:30 p.m. March 24; 1 -3 p.m. and 6:30- 7:30 p.m. March 25; 2-4 p.m. March 26. Pearce Auditorium at Brenau University, 202 Boulevard NE, Gainesville. 770-866- 5353, info@gbcdance.com. $15-$25. Fox Gradin Arts in the Outdoors Program. 10 a.m. to noon March 25. Elachee Na ture Science Center, 2125 Elachee Drive, Gainesville. 770-535-1976, sam@elachee. org. Mutts on Main. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 25. Historic Gainesville square, 112 Main St.SW, Gainesville, lshubert@gainesvil- lega.gov. ONGOING Alzheimer’s Caregivers Support Group. 5:30- 6:30 p.m. first Tuesdays of the month. Grace Episcopal Church, 422 Brenau Ave. NE, Gainesville. 727-409-6608, char- lenebestdewitt@gmail.com. Free. Gold Rush Quilting Guild. 10 a.m. to noon first Wednesdays of the month. Friendship Baptist Church, 3513 Westmoreland Road, Cleveland, alenekempton@gmail.com. Turning Leaves Book Club. 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. first Wednesdays of the month. Linwood Nature Preserve Ecology Center, 118 Springview Drive, Gainesville. 770- 535-8293, karin.hicks@uga.edu. Northeast Georgia Writers. 1 -3 p.m. first Wednesdays of the month. Gainesville Downtown Library, 127 Main St. NW, Gainesville. Talltaleswriter@gmail.com. Free. Publish your event Don’t see your event here? Organizers can go to gainesvilletimes.com/ calendar and submit their events for publication online and in print. Click the “+Add event” button at the top right and follow the prompts to add information and a photo. Events publish at the editors’ discretion. See more Go to gainesvilletimes.com/calendar for the full interactive calendar of events throughout the region. Card workshop. 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. first Sat urdays of the month. Hall County Library System, Gainesville branch, 127 Main St. NW, Gainesville. 770-532-3311 ext. 4011, gkoecher@hallcountylibrary.org. Ekphrasis for the Masses. Noon to 1 p.m. second Tuesdays of the month. Quinlan Vi sual Arts Center, 514 Green St. NE, Gaines ville. 770-536-2575, info@qvac.org. Free. War Stories Book Club. 4-5 p.m. second Thursdays of the month. Murrayville Branch Library, 4796 Thompson Bridge Road, Gainesville. 770-532-3311 ext. 171. Free. Discovery Saturdays. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. second Saturdays of the month. Elachee Nature Science Center, 2125 Elachee Drive, Gainesville. 770-535-1976. $3 - $5. Georgia Cross Stitchers. 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. second Saturdays of the month. Hall County Library System, Gainesville Branch, 127 Main St. NW, Gainesville. 770-532- 3311 ext. 4011; gkoecher@hallcountyli- brary.org. Free. Homeschool Day. 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. third Thursdays of the month. Elachee Nature Science Center, 2125 Elachee Drive, Gainesville. 770-535-1976. $15. Gainesville Lacers. 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. third Saturdays of the month. Hall County Li brary System, Gainesville branch, 127 Main St. NW, Gainesville. 770-532-3311, gkoecher@hallcountylibrary.org. Tea with Jane Austen: A Reading Group. 3-4 p.m. fourth Fridays of the month. Hall County Library System, Gainesville Branch, 127 Main St. NW, Gainesville. 770-532- 3311 ext. 4011, gkoecher@hallcountyli- brary.org. Free. TODAY IN HISTORY JOHN DURICKAI Associated Press President Richard Nixon gives a national broadcast, March, 17, 1972, from the White House, telling a television audience some federal courts have “gone too far.” He urged Congress to immediately halt all new busing orders. On this date: In 1521, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Ma gellan and his crew reached the Philippines, where Magellan was killed during a battle with natives the following month. In 1802, President Thomas Jefferson signed a measure authorizing the establishment of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. In 1935, Adolf Hitler decided to break the military terms set by the Treaty of Versailles by ordering the rearming of Germany. In 1945, during World War II, American forces declared they had secured Iwo Jima, although pockets of Japanese resistance remained. In 1968, Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York announced his candidacy for the Dem ocratic presidential nomination. In 1968, the My Lai massacre took place during the Vietnam War as U.S. Army sol diers hunting for Viet Cong fighters and sympathizers killed unarmed villagers in two hamlets of Son My (suhn mee) village; esti mates of the death toll vary from 347 to 504. In 1972, in a nationally broadcast address, President Richard Nixon called for a mora torium on court-ordered school busing to achieve racial desegregation. In 1984, William Buckley, the CIA station chief in Beirut, was kidnapped by Hezbollah militants (he was tortured by his captors and killed in 1985). In 1994, figure skater Tonya Harding pleaded guilty in Portland, Oregon, to con spiracy to hinder prosecution for covering up an attack on rival Nancy Kerrigan, avoid ing jail but drawing a $100,000 fine. In 2004, China declared victory in its fight against bird flu, saying it had “stamped out” all its known cases. In 2014, Crimeans voted to leave Ukraine and join Russia, overwhelmingly approving a referendum that sought to unite the strate gically important Black Sea region with the country it was part of for some 250 years. In 2016, President Barack Obama nomi nated Merrick Garland to take the seat of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who had died the previous month. (Republicans who controlled the Senate would stick to their pledge to leave the seat empty until af ter the presidential election; they confirmed Trump nominee Neil Gorsuch in April 2017.) In 2020, global stocks plunged again amid coronavirus concerns, with Wall Street see ing a 12% decline, its worst in more than 30 years; the S&P 500 was down 30% from its record set less than a month earlier. Ohio called off its presidential primary just hours before polls were to open, but Arizona, Flor ida and Illinois went ahead with their plans. ENTERTAINMENT Workers dismantle Florida ride where teen fell to death ORLANDO, Fla. — Almost a year after a Missouri teen fell to his death, a 400-foot amusement ride was being dismantled this week in central Florida’s tourism corridor. A gigantic crane hovered Wednesday beside the towering ride in Orlando’s International Drive tourism district where 14-year-old Tyre Sampson fell in March 2022. A fence encircled the ride and blocked off parts of the nearby side walk and road. The ride’s dismantling was expected to take several days. Sampson, who lives in the St. Louis area, was visiting Orlando during spring break when he died from the fall. An autopsy showed that Tyre Samp son suffered numerous broken bones and internal injuries in the fall, which was ruled an accidental death. It showed Sampson weighed 383 pounds, well above Celebrity birthdays Country singer Ray Walker (The Jordanaires) is 89. Game show host Chuck Woolery is 82. Country singer Robin Williams is 76. Actor Erik Estrada is 74. Actor Victor Garber is 74. Coun try singer Ray Benson (Asleep at the Wheel) is 72. Bluegrass musician Tim O’Brien (Hot Rize; Earls of Leicester) is 69. Rock singer-musician Nancy Wilson (Heart) is 69. World Golf Hall of Famer Hollis Stacy is 69. Actor Clifton Powell is 67. Rapper-actor Flavor Flav is 64. Rock musician Jimmy DeGrasso is 60. Actor Je rome Flynn is 60. Folk singer Patty Griffin is 59. Movie director Gore Verbinski is 59. Country singer Tracy Bonham is 56. Actor Lauren Gra ham is 56. Actor Judah Friedlander is 54. the ride manual’s weight limit of 287 pounds An initial report by outside engineers hired by the Florida Department of Agri culture said sensors on the ride had been adjusted manually to double the size of the opening for restraints on two seats, result ing in the teen not being properly secured. The report said there were many other “potential contributions” to the accident. Associated Press
