About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (March 23, 2023)
LOCAL The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com Thursday, March 23, 2023 3A Man found dead in fire at Gainesville camper BY NICK WATSON nwatson ©gainesvilletimes.com A man was found dead in a camper destroyed by a fire in Gainesville on Wednesday, according to authorities. Hall County firefighters responded around 2:30 p.m. to the 2200 block of Barnes Drive, where a camper was engulfed in flames roughly 50 feet behind a residence. Firefighters were able to extinguish the fire and pre vent it from spreading to the house. Hall County Fire Rescue spokeswoman Kimberlie Ledsinger said a man who lived in the camper was found dead at the center of the camper. The Hall County Sheriffs Office and Fire Marshal’s Office are investigating the fire. qw * vL ' gwum rrwmfi, ir. v ifrrgfjf *1 /JJjPr Lfill I Sr. A man living in a camper behind a Barnes Drive home was killed Wednesday, March 22, when the camper caught fire. NICK WATSON The Times FIGHT ■ Continued from 1A When asked why they accused the wrong student, Cooper said they got inac curate information from student witnesses. “The battery (charge) was decided upon by the school from the evidence that we felt like we had with the statements and so forth,” he said. He said they realized they made a mistake after The Times published a story with a video of the fight. “That’s the evidence we had,” he said. “That’s kind of what you go on. We didn’t have video at the time.” But before publishing the previous article, The Times sent a video of the fight to district spokesman Stan Lewis asking him to identify who is who. “Based on the school’s investigation, it was Men dez who kicked the teacher in the face,” he responded over text at the time. Mendez’s mother Mireyna said in a previous statement that her son was wrongfully charged. “David simply isn’t the person they say kicked the teacher,” she said. Through a family friend, Mendez and his mother declined to comment for this story, as did Mendez’s defense attorney, Hall County Public Defender Brian Dille, when reached over email. When asked if he feels like he owes Mendez an apology for wrongfully charging him, Cooper said, “No, I’m not going to go as far as (saying we owe) an apology. I do think we owe an explanation, because we have to make decisions like that with the information we have at the time. .. We don’t take those decisions lightly because it’s serious stuff.” “You know, you get in sit uations like this, and things do happen,” he said. “So I mean, he did get into a fight at school. We had evidence that we had, but we feel like, in our initial responses, we felt like it was on target.” After a fight last Septem ber, Cooper told students that anyone who gets in a fight will be charged. But he noted that in this case, while he did decide to pursue a battery charge, it was the Sheriff’s Office that decided Image from video submitted to The Times A screenshot from a video shows a teacher attempting to stop a fight between two students at East Hall High School on Wednesday, March 8. NGHS ■ Continued from 1A three years, which would make its hospitals the most expensive in Georgia. “These demands are not sustainable and would sig nificantly drive up health care costs for the people and employers we serve in Northeast Georgia. One of our self-funded cus tomers would see their health care costs increase by more than $3.5 mil lion. We ask that NGHS join us at the negotiating table with a realistic pro posal that’s affordable for consumers.” NGHS said in response to the price hike it “is actu ally only asking for a sin gle-digit increase to bring UnitedHealthcare in line with other commercial insurance companies.” As for those affected by the contract talks, NGHS says on its website, “Only UnitedHealthcare commercial (employer- sponsored) health plans are impacted by the negotiations.” And UHC says in a state ment, “If we are unable to reach an agreement, NGHS will no longer par ticipate in our network for employer-sponsored and individual plans and our Veteran Affairs Commu nity Care Network, effec tive May 1,2023.” UHC projects “total membership impact is just more than 12,000.” Does all the fighting seem like deja vu? NGHS and Anthem were engaged in a similar battle in 2019. Negotiations dragged past a Sept. 30 deadline that year, with the two parties finally reaching an agreement in January 2020. In that case, NGHS had agreed to honor in-net- work rates for Anthem patients past the deadline until Dec. 31, saying it was taking a loss of about $10 million per month. When an agreement had not been reached by Jan. 1, Anthem patients became out-of-network with most NGHS facilities. NGHS notes on its UHC website that people admit ted to the hospital before April 30 will be covered at in-network rates through the end of their inpatient stay. Also, “certain patients, including those who are hospitalized, pregnant or undergoing an active course of treatment prior to the contract end date may qualify” for contin ued care at in-network rates for a “defined period of time.” Those patients must apply before April 1. And NGHS also says that “new legislation in Geor gia provides extended coverage to some patients as if they were in-network until Oct. 27.” to charge him with a felony. “Once we refer it we don’t have control over what law enforcement chooses to charge him with,” he said. Hall County Schools spokesman Stan Lewis echoed Cooper’s defense in an emailed statement to The Times. “This incident was the result of two students who ultimately made a poor decision, and there are con sequences for such behav ior. We must do everything in our power to teach stu dents that violence is not an appropriate means to solv ing problems,” Lewis wrote. “In disciplinary situa tions such as these, schools must make the best decision possible with the evidence at hand. If new evidence comes to light that reveals a different consequence is appropriate and necessary, we fully support schools adjusting disciplinary mea sures. It’s important to get it right, while at the same time holding students account able so that they avoid mak ing poor decisions in the future.” JOIN US FOR OUR PREMIER DISCOVER NORTH GEORGIA TRAVEL AND LEISURE GUIDE The Event will feature great places to Visit, Dine, PLay & Stay! It's a must have for families planning a day trip or weehlong holiday. SPONSORSHIP AND BOOTH SPACE AVAILABLE CONTACT YOUR LOCAL SALES REP OR MARKETING@GAINESVILLETIMES.COM FOR MORE INFORMATION. Transportation Forum Tuesday, April ii 11:30 am -1:00 pm University of North Georgia Gainesville Campus I Performing Arts Center $20 Chamber Members • $25 Guests Includes Lunch ■ Reservations Required Cerri Collins, 770-532-6206 x 106 Email: gcollinsfalghcc.com Reservations Online: GHCC.com/EVENTS Presented by ff c Rgchester pinnacle rank One Bank for Lite Featuring Russell McMurry Commissioner Georgia Department ofTransportation This important forum with CDOT representatives, City of Cainesville and Hall County officials, creates discussion with Chamber members, businesses and community leaders. 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