About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (March 17, 2023)
6A Weekend Edition-March 17-18, 2023 The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com LOCAL/NATION Lula’s oldest living veteran celebrates 98th birthday BRIAN WELLMEIER I The Times From left, Lula ladies Lou Myers, Joey Bradley, Debbie Smith and Marilyn Grier pose for a photo with former Councilman Mordecai Wilson at his home to celebrate his birthday. BY BRIAN WELLMEIER bwellmeier@ gainesvilletimes.com On Wednesday, more than two dozen people paid homage to Lula’s oldest liv ing veteran and former City Councilman Mordecai Wil son, who celebrated his 98th birthday March 15. Throughout the day, folks went in and out of his home as he reclined in his chair, speaking with visitors and reflecting on his life — amounting to nearly a cen tury of service to his country and community. In the early 1940s, Wilson boarded a Greyhound bus and headed north to Boston — a new world compared to the rural hamlet of Bidwell, Ohio, he grew up in. In Boston, he’d worked in the hotel industry and then at a defense plant producing bomber jackets for about six months. It was 1943 when he was summoned by the U.S. military. Standing before a draft board, he was told he could wait until he was called to serve, or enlist immediately. “Take me now,” Wilson said, and by December he was rolling across the Atlan tic Ocean on a U.S. Navy vessel, crossing the equator with no real idea where on the planet he was or where he was being taken. He was taken to what he now describes as a “God-for saken island” in the Pacific, where he was stationed for two years as a Black service man in an era of segregation and racial inequality. There were air-raids at any given time, with Japa nese Zero fighter planes descending on the island. Bullets riddling the land. Bombs wailing down from above and explosions quak ing through the Earth as balls of fire reached toward the sky. He and other soldiers would take cover, some times returning fire in futil ity with an Ml Carbine as the planes buzzed overhead. After nearly three years in the Navy, Wilson returned home to the U.S. and mar ried the woman who’d become his lifelong partner, Mary. He still remembers when he knelt before her in the parking lot of a fine arts museum and proposed. After wiping tears from her face, Mary smiled and said yes. The two settled in Bos ton. But by the 1990s, weary of the city, Wilson and his wife went south to Georgia, where Mary was raised. The two moved to Lula, into a quaint home just across the railroad tracks downtown - where Wilson still lives today. Elected in 2000, Wilson served on Lula’s City Council for 20 years. Despite leaving office in 2020, he remains an active member of local government. Even now, he still attends each work ses sion and council meeting, often reciting a prewritten statement filled with opti mism and positive senti ment regarding the future of the city during public comments. A resident of Lula since the ’90s, Wilson has wit nessed the sweeping changes that have taken place across the city and the region as a whole over the last few decades: the heavier traffic, the growing number of businesses, the homes dotting the once-rural land scape and the surge in Hall County’s population. And as he brooded on this notion at his home last Wednesday, he stressed the need to promote greater opportunity for the youth, to ensure hope for younger generations is sustained and not lost. “What has been for the older (generation) is not suf ficient today, especially for our young,” he said. “I want to see and build a (better) future for our youngsters.” Among the many accom plishments achieved during his time in office, Wilson noted the often-overlooked progress the city made in further developing its water/ sewer infrastructure, which he said has played a major role in accommodating the growth expected to reach Lula in the coming years. “Thanks to City Manager Dennis Bergin and (council members), now we have an outstanding waste treat ment plant and a sufficient amount of water that’s being increased all the time,” Wil son said. Today, about two years since Wilson left office, an obvious rift has divided two factions of Lula’s residents — with heated exchanges, blunt accusations and per sonal attacks lobbed back and forth during the public comments segments of each regular meeting since Sep tember. Wilson addressed the division, stating, “I think there needs to be changes... everybody is different, and I hate to see what has taken place in many ways. I think changes need to be made.” Wilson also called for unity within the city, stat ing that its elected leaders should look to take proactive strides to mend relations between their constituents. “I think we have some council members, now, that are very bright and intelli gent and have a good outlook for the future ... we need that,” Wilson said. “The mayor is the head person that’s supposed to be out there leading, but he can’t do it all by himself. He needs council members to help him. We need to get past the bickering with one another and do what is best for every one. I see signs of that start ing to happen.” Just before 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, as visitors started to leave, Wilson tied his shoes and soon started out the door behind them — on his way to Lula City Hall to attend the work session that evening. Wilson expressed grati tude for the many years he’s had. He said he’s forever grateful for the people in Lula who support and help him as if he were a member of their own family. And in a way, he said he knows he always will be. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate (the commu nity),” he said. “I would never believe that I would ever see this (day) happen.” Lakeview Academy going to robotics championship BY BEN ANDERSON banderson@gainesvilletimes.com The Lakeview Academy student robotics team is advancing to the world championship of the FIRST Lego League Challenge, an international robotics competition, the private Gainesville school announced. “We are incredibly proud of these stu dents,” said John Simpson, Lakeview’s head of school. “The team has advanced to state competition six years, but this is the team’s first trip to the international competition. It’s a huge accomplishment for the students and Lakeview.” Lakeview competed against 34 other teams from around the state, and only three other teams from Georgia quali fied for the FIRST World Championship. Lakeview will be among over 400 teams from around the world competing at the 32nd annual championship. The FIRST championship is the culmination of a youth robotics competition season and is an annual celebration of science, technology, engineering and math. FIRST was founded in 1989 by inven tor and entrepreneur Dean Kamen, who was disappointed in the number of students, particularly women and minorities, who pursued science and technology careers. The six team members who will make the trip to Houston are Dylan Mulka, Henry Stewart, Scott Rivenbark, Adam Lauzon, Emilia Horton and Lara Mar tins de Oliveira. The team is advancing after winning the Innovative and Inspire awards. The Innovate award recognizes teams that have an innovative and creative robot design, and the Inspire award recog nizes teams that are outstanding in all categories of the FIRST Tech Challenge program. “The Inspire award is the one we’re always after as a team,” said Mikhail Lovell, Lakeview’s robotics coach for the past eight years. “The Inspire award is more important than building the best robot on the field. It’s about being an outstanding team in all respects, from outreach about FIRST, to community service, to leading robot camps, to shar ing our robots at the Christmas on Green Street parade and more.” Earning a first place in the Innovate award was the result of a multi-month process of robotic design, prototyping, Photo courtesy Lakeview Academy Lakeview Academy’s robotics team is one of three in Georgia that is advancing to the world championship of the 32nd annual FIRST Lego League Challenge, an international robotics competition for students. and revision, the school said. “The key design piece that set us apart from the other teams this year was a central mechanism that allowed the robot to act similarly to a construc tion excavator and have a completely independent top half,” Lovell said. Lovell says robotics attracts a particu lar type of student, but there’s a place for everyone on a robotics team. “At some level we’re all nerds, but as a coach my goal is to appeal to as many kids as possible,” he said. “We have kids who only work on code and oth ers who only work on social media and marketing.” Lovell says a number of his students go on to earn engineering or technology degrees from Georgia Tech, University of Georgia and other universities. “What’s unique about robotics is that it is one of the few activities that a stu dent can get involved in that has a long term goal that they have to work toward, he said. Three taken to hospital after crash with sports car, minivan BY BEN ANDERSON banderson@ gainesvilletimes.com Two people in a sports car Wednesday were criti cally injured when the driver of the vehicle lost control on Aviation Bou levard and crashed into a minivan, Gainesville police said. The crash about 3:30 p.m. shut down Avia tion Boulevard between Dorsey Street and Queen City Parkway, officials said. “It appears a sports car lost control and struck a minivan,” police Lt. Kevin Holbrook said. Holbrook said two peo ple in the sports car were transported to the hospital in critical condition. The driver of the mini- van was transported to the hospital in stable condition. Big banks create $30B rescue package for First Republic BY KEN SWEET AP Business Writer NEW YORK —Eleven of the biggest U.S. banks Thurs day announced a $30 billion rescue package for First Republic Bank in an effort to prevent it from becoming the third to fail in less than a week and head off a broader banking crisis. San Francisco-based First Republic serves a similar clientele as Silicon Valley Bank, which failed last week after depositors withdrew about $40 billion in a matter of hours. New York’s Signa ture Bank was shuttered on Sunday. It appears that First Republic, which had depos its totaling $176.4 billion as of Dec. 31, was facing simi lar issues. The group of banks behind the rescue package con firmed that other unnamed banks had seen large with drawals of uninsured depos its. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insures deposits up $250,000 for individual accounts. Republic’s shares dropped more than 60% Monday, even after the bank said it had secured additional funding from JPMorgan and the Federal Reserve. The rescue package brought back memories of the 2008 financial crisis, when banks collectively came to the aid of weaker banks in the early days of the crisis. Banks then bought each other in hurried deals in order to keep the crisis from spreading further. The $30 billion in unin sured deposits is seen as a vote of confidence in First Republic, whose banking franchise before the past week was often the envy of the industry. The bank catered to wealthy clients, many of them billionaires, and offered them generous financial terms. The Wall Street Journal reported that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg got a mortgage through First Republic. First Republic shares had been down as much 36% earlier Thursday, but ral lied after reports the rescue package was in the works. The stock closed up 10%. As part of the aid pack age, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo have agreed to each put $5 billion in unin sured deposits into First Republic. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs will deposit $2.5 billion each into the bank. The remaining $5 billion would consist of $1 billion contributions from BNY Mellon, State Street, PNC Bank, Truist and US Bank. “The actions of America’s largest banks reflect their confidence in the country’s banking system,” the banks said in a statement. Notably the banks came to the rescue of one of their competitors, while Silicon Valley Bank failed because its closest and most loyal customers — venture capi talists and start ups — fled the bank at the first sign of trouble. “We are deploying our financial strength and liquidity into the larger sys tem, where it is needed the most,” the banks said. The nation’s banking reg ulators also issued a state ment praising the rescue package. “This show of support by a group of large banks is most welcome, and demon strates the resilience of the banking system,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Act ing Comptroller of the Cur rency Michael Hsu, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Pow ell and FDIC Chairman Mar tin Gruenberg said in a joint statement. The $30 billion bet on First Republic is seen as a bulwark against future bank runs. The shares of many midsized banks were hit hard this week as inves tors feared depositors would withdraw their cash and run to the nation’s biggest banks. Over the weekend the federal government, deter mined to restore public confidence in the banking system, moved to protect all the banks’ deposits, even those that exceeded the FDIC’s $250,000 limit per individual account. While the banking crisis started with Silicon Valley Bank, regulators told reporters earlier this week that it became necessary for the government to backstop the banking system because it appeared more runs were possible. Microsoft adds AI tools to Office BY HALELUYA HADER0 Associated Press NEW YORK — Microsoft is infusing artificial intel ligence tools into its Office software, including Word, Excel and Outlook emails. The company said Thurs day the new feature, named Copilot, is a processing engine that will allow users to do things like summarize long emails, draft stories in Word and animate slides in PowerPoint. Microsoft spokesperson Jessica Dash said the new Office features are currently only available for 20 enter prise customers. It will roll it out for more enterprise customers over the coming months. Microsoft is marketing the feature as a tool that will allow workers to be more productive by freeing up time they usually spend in their inbox, or allowing them to more easily analyze trends in Excel. The tech giant based in Redmond, Washington, will also add a chat function called Business Chat, which resembles the popular Chat- GPT. It takes commands and carries out actions — like summarizing an email about a particular project to co workers — using user data. “Today marks the next major step in the evolution of how we interact with com puting, which will funda mentally change the way we work and unlock a new wave of productivity growth,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in a statement. Mattel, Instacart and other companies have also been integrating generative AI tools like ChatGPT and the image generator Dall- E to come up with ideas for new toy cars and answer cus tomers’ food questions. Microsoft rival Google said this week it is integrat ing generative AI tools into its own Workspace applica tions, such as Google Docs, Gmail and Slides. Google says it will be rolling out the features to its “trusted testers on a rolling basis throughout the year. ”
