About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 16, 2024)
mt (ttin fs Gainesville baseball season with ceremony to remember Medina. SPORTS, 1C Weekend Edition - FEBRUARY 16-17,20241 $2.00 I GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA I gainesvilletimes.com Local churches offer ashes on Gainesville Square for Ash Wednesday, region, sc Honestly Local Trucking company, family settle suit for $10M BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com A North Carolina trucking company and its insurer have settled a case for $10 million involving a Gainesville woman killed in a crash in 2016 on Interstate 85. Taliah Freeman, 32, of Gainesville, was killed in an April 23, 2016, wreck in Gwinnett County after a chain-reaction collision. Nearly eight years later while the jury was deliberating the case, the parties reached a settlement, with roughly 95% of it going toward Freeman's family. The case was brought by Freeman's mother, Sandra Gallo, on behalf of Freeman's son, who was 6 years old at the time of her death. The defendants were C&T Durham Trucking Company, of Greensboro, North Carolina, and ACE American Insurance Company. “To see the insurance company finally acknowledge responsibility with this payment, after presenting a mean- spirited, meritless defense was satisfying for our clients,'' attorney Matt Cook said in a statement. The plaintiffs were represented by Cook, Shane Lazenby, Nathan Nicholson, Josh Bearden, Jon Greer, Brittany Rowe and Walter Rucker. See Settle 14A ‘A very inadequate response’ Scott Rogers The Times Gainesville-Hall County Senior Life Center members line up to board buses Wednesday, Jan. 31, to go home. Seniors at the center have filed complaints about the bus company, T&T Transportation. Bus company under fire after complaints from Hall agencies BY BEN ANDERSON banderson@gainesvilletimes.com When 77-year-old Ruth Higgins boarded the bus in the early morning hours of Nov. 16, as she had done many times before, she could have scarcely imagined that she would soon make a chilling brush with a fiery fate. The bus, owned and oper ated by a state-contracted company that provides trans portation services to agencies throughout Northeast Georgia, pulled up to Higgins's home in Lula, parked at the edge of her driveway and swung open its doors. Higgins boarded the bus around 5:45 a.m. and took her seat as the first passenger of the morning commute, bound for the Gainesville-Hall County Senior Life Center, where a day of activities awaited her. But before she could fasten her seatbelt the driver ordered her to get off the bus. See Bus 15A Homeowners file lawsuit against HOA in Oakwood BY BRIAN WELLMEIER bwellmeier@gainesvilletimes.com Three residents in an Oakwood subdivision have sued their homeowners association in civil court amid allegations they were targeted by board members and buried in fees for spurious violations and that “unreasonable'' actions were “taken in bad faith.'' Since last year, Laurel Glen homeowner Marianne Thomas has been hit with more than $3,000 in HOA fines — as well as a “special assessment" for the board's attorney fees — for violations she said aren't in the neighborhood's covenants. Thomas and her neighbors, Doug and Gail Harris — who also received a $3,000 “special assessment” — have filed the lawsuit to force the HOA board to drop the fines against them. Lazega & Johanson, the legal firm represent ing the HOA board, could not be reached for comment. Secretary of Laurel Glen's HOA Ellen Spaeth and former president Andrew Rod gers, who stepped down late last year, also could not be reached. “We just want them to erase the fines,” Thomas told The Times. “We just want our legal fees (paid), and don't want to pay theirs.” The lawsuit filed in Hall County's Superior Court states Thomas was cited for a wide-range of violations that include the location of her trampoline, “five weeds present in Thomas' yard” and fig trees Thomas said she “purchased and planted” two years before notice she'd be See HOA14A Man acquitted in July 4 shooting on Dawsonville Highway case BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com A Gainesville man accused of shooting at another man and a rideshare driver was found not guilty on all counts after a three-day trial. Emcee Dante Weaver was acquitted on a 10-count indictment stemming from a shooting July 4, 2023 on Dawsonville Highway at McEver Road in Gainesville. Weaver was indicted on six counts of aggravated assault, two counts of first- degree criminal damage and one count each of terroristic acts and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. In his opening statement, Assistant District Attorney Dexter Riley detailed a love triangle involving Weaver, a woman with whom he has a child and another man. The prosecutor told the jury about the danger the shooting placed on the county's citizens as shots were fired from one car into another. Defense attorney Blake Skipper told the jury the state's case “might look good from far” but was “far from good” when examined up close. He argued to the jury that it was based on circumstantial evidence and coincidences. The defense attorney said he believed the district attorney's office got “tunnel vision” after learning of Weaver's identity and the matching vehicle description. The jury took the case before 11 a.m. Wednesday and returned with a verdict at 4 p.m. “We worked hard on this case and I think the jury reached the right decision,” Skipper said in a statement to The Times. “I'm just happy for Mr. Weaver. I hope he can put this behind him and move on with his life.” Weaver has another pending case of second-degree criminal damage to property. Weaver ONLINE INSIDE gainesvilletimes.com/newsletters: Sign up to receive email newsletters from The Times gainesvilletimes.com/apps: Download The Times’ app for a user-friendly online experience and app notifications for big stories Calendar 2A Life Classified 7C Opinion Comics 1D Region Fun+Games 4C Sports 1B 6A 8C 1C 40901 06825 • NOW OFFERING ^ ROBOTIC HEART SURGERY GEORGIAHEARTINSTITUTE.ORG/ROBOTICS GEORGIA HEART INSTITUTE
