About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 2024)
I Georgia senators look to ban ' ranked-choice voting method in state, inside,3a Thursday, January 25,20241 GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA I gainesvilletimes.com Hall County Courthouse may be renovated soon BY BRIAN WELLMEIER bwellmeier@gainesvilletimes.com Long overdue renovations to Hall County's Courthouse are slated for approval this week. Commissioners on Thursday are expected to authorize $2.3 million to Premier Elevator Company Inc. to replace seven outdated elevators in and around the facility. Funding for the project would come from SPLOST VIII, capital projects and the American Rescue Plan Act funds. There are four elevators in the main courthouse and one in the outdoor parking deck used by the public. Two others are used for inmate access to courtrooms. Warden Walt Davis said the elevator cars - built just after the turn of the century about 22 years ago - have long surpassed their lifespan and warrant replacement. “The courthouse is one of our primary county buildings, and we need to have reliable access in that building," Davis said. “The elevators currently in that building have reached obsolescence. Parts are no longer available for them. They can't be effectively maintained and are routinely breaking down, so we desperately need to update those elevators and put in a non-proprietary system that allows us to maintain those long term.” The item is placed on the consent agenda for approval at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 25, at the Hall County Government Center. If approved, work could begin in late spring and take a year and six months to complete. Hall County's Board of Commissioners in June approved $196,100 on a study to explore the future design and possible “construction of a new courthouse” or expansion of the current facility. The judicial study sought to gather and analyze an abundance of current data on Hall County's Judicial System, including current and future See Renovate 13A ‘Too big of a gamble’ Photos by Scott Rogers The Times Guadalupe Cuarenta stands in Hall County Superior Court Tuesday, Jan. 23. He faced allegations of child molestation from 2012, but took a plea deal he intially rejected for 15 years with the first year served in custo dy and the remainder on probation. Man takes previously rejected plea deal in child molestation case BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com After originally declining a child molestation plea deal, a Gainesville man heading to trial took the deal before the jury entered to hear opening statements Wednesday, Jan. 24. Guadalupe Cuarenta, 26, took a negotiated plea on a child molestation charge from 2012. Superior Court Judge Lindsay Burton adopted the recommended sentence of 15 years with the first year in custody and the remainder on probation. The plea dismissed the most serious charge of aggravated child molestation, where a conviction would mean at least 25 years in prison. Cuarenta declined the deal Tuesday, Jan. 23, after a day of negotiations but accepted the offer Wednesday morning before his trial started. The trial was set to start Tuesday but was derailed after prolonged arguments over an evidentiary issue. The subject was whether the defense could question or suggest that the victim misidentified Cuarenta. The key piece of information for that defense: Another person accused of child molestation and later convicted on separate charges also lived in the same house as the victim around the time of the allegations. That man ultimately entered a plea to false imprisonment and received Attorney Blake Poole, left, and assistant district attorney Harold Buckler speak Tuesday, Jan. 23, in Hall County Superior Court. The state's concern, of course, any type of argument that this a probated sentence, though some portion of the case was transferred to Juvenile Court. Assistant District Attorney Harold Buckler said Tuesday the current case involved allegations of a young girl being sexually abused in the summer of 2012, though the allegations did not come until 10 years later. Around the same time as these present allegations, the victim's sister was molested by another person, Buckler said. is other person was in fact the one who molested her,” Buckler said, adding that the victim in the current case has not wavered on her identification of the suspect. Defense attorney Blake Poole said part of the defense is about this other case and whether or not the victim is See Cuarenta 13A Kroger gas station closed for expansion BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com A usually crowded Kroger gas station off Spout Springs Road in Braselton has closed for expan sion and improvements. The South Hall gas station is set to reopen April 24, said Ali Daughtry, project manager with Rob ertson Loia Roof architectural firm, in an email. The project calls for adding four gas pumps under a canopy and expanding the attendant-only kiosk to include a restroom. The gas station, which had operated with five pumps, is in front of the Kroger grocery store- anchored shopping center at 7380 Spout Springs Road, between Friendship Road/Ga. 347 and Thompson Mill Road. “This is a very busy fuel center and customers often have to wait quite a while to get gas at peak times,” according to Robertson Loia Roof in Bra selton documents. “Expanding the fuel center will allow more customers to fuel up at once, thereby reducing the wait time and will improve the con gestion around the fuel center area.” The project also calls for installing an under ground storage tank for diesel fuel. The expansion is proposed in an area now used for parking. “The diesel (fuel) would be for customers with work trucks and cars/trucks that require diesel (fuel),” according to the architect. Jeff Gill The Times A Kroger gas station off Spout Springs Road in South Hall has closed for expansion and improve ments. Qualifying, voting dates set for special election to fill Lula’s District 3 seat BY BRIAN WELLMEIER bwellmeier@gainesvilletimes.com Lula officials have announced qualifying dates for a special election to fill the city's Dis trict 3 seat, which was vacated by former Councilman Gene Bramlett after a 3-0 vote by council members to remove him from office in December. Bramlett declined to file an appeal to challenge his removal, though he can legally qualify to run again for District 3 in February. Bramlett, who was elected in 2021, said last week that he planned to focus on his health and stay out of city politics. He told The Times again Wednes day that he had no plans to launch another bid for District 3. Special election Candidates can qualify for District 3 from 8:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 19 to Wednesday, Feb. 21 at Lula City Hall, located at 6055 Main St. The qualifying fee is $100. Early voting at East Hall Community Center, located at 3911 P. Davidson Road, will take place from April 29 to May 17, including Saturday voting on May 4 and 11. Early voters can cast their ballots from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon- day-Friday between April 29 and May 10. Hours expand to 7 a.m.-7 p.m. May 13-17. Satur day voting hours on May 4 and 11 will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Starting March 4, absentee ballot requests will be available at Hall County Government Center, located at 2875 Browns Bridge Road in Gainesville. Election Day voting will be held at First Baptist Church of Lula, locatd at 5767 Maiden Lane, from 7 a.m.-7 p.m May 21.
