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LOCAL/STATE The Times, Gainesville, Georgia I gainesvilletimes.com Weekend Edition-February 9-10, 2024 3A Special election date set for Gainesville council seat BY BRIAN WELLMEIER bwellmeier@gainesvilletimes.com Editor’s note: This published in a previous E-Paper edition and is being provided here for print-only readers. Gainesville's special election to fill the Ward 4 council seat will coincide with the upcoming May 21 primary. Ward 4 was vacated in December by for mer councilman George Wangemann, who stepped down just a month before his death from bladder cancer. Local business owner Abigail Guzman so far has been the only candidate to announce plans to run for the seat. Candidates can qualify for the seat starting Monday, March 4 through Wednesday, March 6 between 8:30 a.m.-noon and from 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Gainesville's Administration Building, located at 300 Henry Ward Way, on the third floor in suite 303. The qualifying fee is $684. Residents have until April 22 to register to vote in that race. Starting March 4, absentee ballot requests can be made at the Hall County Government Center at 2875 Browns Bridge Road in Gainesville. The presidential primary is scheduled for March 12. Early voting locations for Gainesville’s special election and May primary races • East Hall Community Center • Mulberry Creek Community Center • North Hall Community Center • Spout Springs Library • Murrayville Library • Chicopee Woods Ag Center • Gainesville Civic Center Dates, times for early voting •April 29-May 3 •May 4 •May 6-10 • May 11 •May 13-17 8 a.m.-5 p.m. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Ga. House backs cuts to income, property taxes in unanimous votes BY JEFF AMY Associated Press ATLANTA — The Georgia House on Thurs day passed bills to cut state income and local property taxes, backing priorities of Gov. Brian Kemp and House Speaker Jon Burns. The bills would accelerate an already-planned income tax cut, increase homeowner property tax exemptions in some jurisdictions and raise the amount parents can deduct per child from yearly income taxes. Election-year tax cuts are always popular among Republicans, and all 236 state House and Senate seats are on the ballot this year. Even though growth in state tax collections is slowing, Georgia can afford tax cuts because the state budgeted to spend much less than what it will collect in taxes and had $10.7 billion in unallocated surplus at the end of the last budget year. Representatives voted 165-0 to pass House Bill 1015, sending it to the Sen ate for more debate. Kemp and other Republican lead ers back the measure to roll back the state income tax rate to 5.39%, retroactive to Jan. 1. As of that date, Geor gia gained a flat income tax rate of 5.49%, passed under a 2022 law that transi tioned away from a series of income brackets that topped out at 5.75%. The income tax rate is supposed to drop 0.1% a year until reaching 4.99%, if state revenues hold up. The plan to drop the rate from 5.49% to 5.39%, announced in December would cost an additional $300 million. That's on top of the $800 million the state is projected to forgo as part of the earlier tax cut. House members also voted 165-0 for House Bill 1021, which would raise the amount that taxpayers could deduct for dependents to $4,000 from the current $3,000. With Georgia's income tax rate currently at 5.49%, that works out to as much as $55 more per dependent, or about $150 million statewide. “With the rising cost of groceries, child care costs and numerous other things that parents are responsible for, this will once again prove that the people of Georgia are looking for pro- family policies and we are leading the way," said Rep. Lauren Daniel, a Locust Grove Republican. The House also voted 162-0 for House Bill 1021, which would reduce local property taxes for some homeowners. The bill would need a two-thirds majority to pass the Senate and then must be approved by voters in a statewide referendum in November. The measure would increase the statewide homestead tax exemption to $4,000 from the current $2,000. Rep. Matt Reeves, a Duluth Republican, said that could save homeowners $ 100 a year on their property taxes to local governments and schools. “This gives good tax relief at a time that's needed for people to buy their first home here in Georgia," Reeves said. However, the measure wouldn't apply in all coun ties. Some counties have local homestead tax legisla tion that doesn't allow for the statewide exemption to be added on top of the local exemption. It's unclear how many homeowners the measure would affect, but House Republicans estimate it would save homeowners statewide something less than $100 million a year. Senators are likely to counter with a plan that would cap the rate at which assessed property values could rise for tax purposes, which could limit future property tax increases. Buford man arrested in road rage incident BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com A Buford man upset about being passed on Interstate 985 was accused of fol lowing a man to a Flowery Branch convenience store and pulling a gun on him, police said. Preston James Sweatman, 30, was charged with aggra vated assault. He was booked Thursday, Feb. 7, in to the Hall County Jail, where he is being held on a $5,700 bond. The inci dent happened Sunday, Feb. 4, while a man was traveling on 985 southbound. Flowery Sweatman Branch Police said the man passed a white pickup truck, whose driver “became angry when he was passed and then started tailgating the victim,” according to police. The man got off the interstate onto Phil Niekro Boulevard, pulling into a convenience store parking lot, police said. The pickup driver fol lowed behind him, pulling a gun and making a threat “against his life before driv ing away,” police said. After reviewing video surveillance and getting the license plate number, Sweat man was identified as the driver. The Times has reached out to police for more infor mation on the incident and Magistrate Court for attorney information. Special counsel: Biden ‘willfully’ disclosed classified docs, but no charges warranted BY ERIC TUCKER, LINDSAY WHITEHURST, ZEKE MILLER AND COLLEEN LONG Associated Press WASHINGTON—Pres ident Joe Biden “willfully” retained and disclosed highly classified materials when he was a private citizen, including documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan and other sensitive national security matters, according to a Jus tice Department report that nonetheless says no criminal charges are warranted for him or anyone else. The report from special counsel Robert Hur, released Thursday, represents a harshly critical assessment of Biden's handling of sensitive government materials, but also details the reasons why he should not be charged with the crime. The findings will likely blunt his ability to forcefully condemn Donald Trump, Biden's likely opponent in November's presidential election, over a criminal indictment charging the for mer president with illegally hoarding classified records at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. “Our investigation uncov ered evidence that President Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materi als after his vice presidency when he was a private citi zen,” Hur wrote. Hur's report says evidence suggests that many of the classified documents recov ered by investigators at the Penn Biden Center, in parts of Biden's Delaware home, and in his Senate papers at the University of Delaware were retained by “mistake.” Biden said in a statement that he was “pleased” the special counsel had “reached the conclusion I believed all along they would reach — that there would be no charges brought in this case and the matter is now closed.” He made a point of say ing that he sat for five hours of in-person interviews over two days on Oct. 8 and 9, “even though Israel had just been attacked on October 7th and I was in the middle of handling an international crisis.” “I just believed that's what I owed the American people so they could know no charges would be brought and the matter closed,” Biden said. The report comes after a yearlong investigation into the improper retention of classified documents by Biden, from his time as a senator and as vice presi dent, that were found at his Delaware home, as well as at a private office that he used in between his service in the Obama administration and becoming president. The investigation into Biden is separate from spe cial counsel Jack Smith's inquiry into the handling of classified documents by Trump after Trump left the White House. Smith's team has charged Trump with illegally retaining top secret records at Mar-a-Lago home and then obstructing gov ernment efforts to get them back. Trump has said he did nothing wrong. Authorities say $1,200 stolen at Lula Pharmacy after break-in BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com Roughly $1,200 was stolen early Wednesday from the Lula Pharmacy after deputies found the sheet metal, insu lation and sheetrock “removed to allow room for entry” inside, according to authorities. The Hall County Sheriff's Office took the burglary report Wednesday at the Banks Street pharmacy in Lula. Deputies responded to an alarm around 4 a.m. and found a rear door ajar. “In another area on the back of the business, sheet metal, insulation and sheetrock had been removed to allow room for entry into the building,” according to the Sheriff's Office. “There was no one inside when deputies arrived.” The Sheriff's Office said Thursday that $1,200 in cash was missing, but no drugs or merchandise were taken. The investigator said “it appears one person was involved,” but a description was not available. The pharmacy declined to comment when reached by The Times. Gainesville attorney added to prestigious family law group BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com Editor’s note: This published in a previous E-Paper edi tion and is being provided here for print-only readers. A Gainesville attorney was inducted into an exclusive organization for the top 100 family law trial lawyers in the country, according to a news release. According to a Jan. 16 news release, Kelly Miles of Smith, Gilliam, Wil liams, and Miles law firm was inducted into the American College of Family Trial Lawyers. Miles is one of two Georgia attorneys in the organization, which requires at least 20 years of family law experience and membership in the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. Miles was admitted to the bar in 1984 after graduating from Mercer University's law school. Miles FROM 1A Warehouse situated among commer cial and industrial in the immediate area,” an appli cation for the project states. One of the buildings has been aligned so that tractor- trailer trucks won't travel near adjacent homes, the application states. TC Atlanta is seeking two separate rezonings for the 75-acre project — one from lakeside residential to light industrial and one from commercial and resi dential to light industrial. The requests are set to go before the Buford Plan ning Commission at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 13. The board's recommendation would go before the Buford Board of Commissioners for final action on March 4. FROM 1A Sentence “accepted three years in prison instead,” according to defense attorney Chloe Owens. The Hall County Sher iff's Office said the incident happened Jan. 13, 2023 on Yacht Club Road in Flow ery Branch. Wainwright was originally charged with sod omy and aggravated child molestation. The Sheriff's Office said Wainwright “lured the victim into a restroom,” but Owens said there is some missing context to this. Owens said the girl was a month short of being 16 years old, and Wainwright had turned 19 a few days prior. They had attended the same high school and worked together, having exchanged messages that day. Wainwright was indicted in August on aggravated sodomy, aggravated sexual battery, child molestation and two counts of aggravated child molestation. Four of the five charges were dropped to aggravated assault with intent to rape, and the aggravated sexual battery was dropped to sexual battery on a minor. Owens said the charges were reduced “based on Mr. Wainwright's young age, his lack of criminal history and evidentiary issues with the case,” though she did not have specifics on what those issues were. When asked about the reduction in charges, North eastern Judicial Circuit Dis trict Attorney Lee Darragh said it was “extensively ana lyzed” by his staff “in regards to the nature and quality of the evidence, potential defenses and other factors.” Darragh said the resolu tion was appropriate, though he did not detail the issues involved. Wainwright will face the sex offender conditions of probation, and he is banned from Hall and Dawson coun ties during this time. He was also ordered to undergo a psychosexual evaluation. GOSPEL SINGING THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22ND, 2024 7:00PM FEATURING: THE INSPIRATIONS CHRISTIAN HILL BAPTIST CHURCH 5833 GAILEY DRIVE (HWY. 129) CLERMONT, GA REV. JIM ELLIS, PASTOR PHONE: 770-718-7362 706-265-0655
