About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 18, 2024)
Judge imposes $364M penalty verdict in Donald Trump fraud case. INSIDE,4A Sunday, February 18,20241 GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA I gainesvilletimes.com USB /BM Mark Pettitt vacates seat on school board, announces run for clerk of court, inside, 3a Honestly Local State cuts ties with bus company after complaints BY BEN ANDERSON banderson@gainesvilletimes.com The Georgia Department of Human Services said T&T Trans portation, a subcontracted bus company that receives government funding, will no longer service Northeast Georgia after numerous complaints from two agencies in Hall County. DHS said T&T will cease work as a subcontractor within eight months. T&T is subcontracted by Deanna Specialty Transportation, an Augusta-based company that has a $6.49 million contract with DHS to provide transportation ser vices to eligible agencies in North east Georgia. “Deanna Specialty Transpor tation indicated to DHS on Feb. 6, 2024, that T&T Transporta tion is planning to cease work as a subcontractor for DHS-related transportation services within 7-8 months,” DHS said in an email. DHS did not immediately respond when asked to elaborate on the change. The precise relationship between T&T and Deanna is unclear. Both companies appear to be based in the same city and operated by some of the same people. Given that, it is unclear whether a change of subcontractor is likely to improve the quality of service provided by Deanna. Even though DHS is responsible for supervising Deanna and any of its subcontractors, DHS also appeared to be unclear about the relationship between Deanna and T&T. “We are currently investigat ing the extent of the relationship between the contractor and its sub contractor,” DHS said in an email. Deanna CEO Shawn Thomas refused to answer any questions when reached over phone Thurs day. When reminded that his com pany receives taxpayer money, he said, “It makes no difference.” “That is shameful and unaccept able,” Phillippa Lewis Moss, who oversees government-funded com munity services in Hall County, said of Thomas's response. DHS has placed Deanna on a 30-day corrective action plan after two Hall County agencies — the Gainesville-Hall County Senior Life Center and Avita Commu nity Partners — collectively fded more than 100 written complaints over the last several months, one of which came in mid-November after a 77-year-old woman nar rowly escaped a T&T bus moments before it erupted in flames. See Bus 13A Filling some big shoes Scott Rogers The Times New Brenau University President David Barnett talks Thursday, Feb. 15, on the journey which led him to be the private university’s 11th President. Barnett had been serving as the interim president since the death of Brenau president Anne Skleder in October. Meet Brenau s BY BEN ANDERSON banderson@gainesvilletimes.com When Brenau University's new president isn't thinking of ways to increase enrollment, limit student debt and meet the needs of an ever-evolving student population, you can often find him watching sports, reading books or playing pickleball. “I'm an avid sports fan, and so I consume a lot of sports,” David Bar nett said in an interview on Brenau's Gainesville campus. “I play pickleball as a participant, and then I read — I'm sort of a bookworm. And so every day, I usually spend an hour or two reading something that is somewhat profes sional but personally fulfilling.” In case you're interested, he recently finished reading a novel titled “Mr. Jimmy From Around the Way,” and is currently reading a book about the cri ses facing higher education. Barnett and his wife Kimberly have two children and a grandson. He is an active member of a local church and participates in a number of civic organizations. Barnett was born and raised in Smyrna, Georgia. He said his family new president, worked in the cotton mills after World War II, and his father later started a trucking business and put Barnett to work. “I spent most of my life working with my dad, because we considered family labor,” Barnett said with a laugh. Barnett graduated from Campbell High School, then enrolled at Mercer University, where he played baseball and obtained a bachelor's degree in religious studies. After college, he worked in commer cial construction in Atlanta for about a decade then enrolled in graduate school at the University of Louisville, earning a specialist in education degree and a doctorate in educational leadership and organizational development. He went on to serve as administra tor at several Christian private col leges, most recently as the academic compliance officer and associate dean of students at Spalding University, a Catholic women's college in Louis ville, Kentucky. He said that experience has helped him find success at Brenau, which he joined in 2005. “The context in which Brenau oper ates is very similar to the context in David Barnett which I worked at the last school in Kentucky ... same programs, same student makeup, heavily related to women's education in terms of having a women's college and single-gender education,” he said. Barnett was appointed interim presi dent in October following the death of the university's first female president, Anne Skleder, from leukemia, and he officially took the helm earlier this week. Skleder was beloved by the Brenau community, and Barnett spoke about trying to fill her shoes. “From my perspective, she and I shared many of the same values, per spectives and philosophies around higher education,” Barnett said. “That's why we worked very well together. We both identified closely with Brenau's mission, and I see my work as being a continuation of really all of the presi dents before us and trying to help Bre nau live (up) to that mission and that commitment to providing the educa tion for folks that are in particular roles, in particular jobs in the community.” See President 13A What voters should know for primary ballots BY BRIAN WELLMEIER bwellmeier@gainesvilletimes.com Voters have until March 1 to request absentee by mail ballots for the upcoming March 12 presidential primary and from March 4 to May 10 for the May 21 primary election. All registered voters can request absentee ballots at the elections office at Hall County's Government Center, located at 2875 Browns Bridge Road in Gainesville. Ballots will be time stamped and issued to voters by mail within three business days. After being filled out, voters can send ballots back to Hall County elections officials by mail, return the ballot to the elections office in-person or deposit the ballot in a dropbox located on the lower level of Hall's County Government Center, county election officials said. If a ballot is lost, contaminated or not received, they can be canceled by filling out an ABM cancellation form, which should then be delivered to elections officials by mail, fax, email or submitted in person. Absentee ballots must be received by elections officials by 7 p.m. on Election Day to be counted. According to elections officials, “except in the case of physically disabled electors residing in the county or munic ipality, no absentee ballot shall be mailed to an address other than the permanent mailing address of the elector as recorded on the elector's voter registration record or a tem porary out-of-county or out-of-municipality address.” Authorities: Woman aided an attempt to smuggle contraband BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com A Dawsonville woman was accused of throwing a bag of contraband at the Gainesville state patrol post in an attempt for a family member to smuggle the items into the Hall County prison, according to authorities. Megan Christine Hetrick, 34, was charged with felony contraband across the guard line. She was booked Tuesday, Feb. 13, in to the Hall County Jail and released the following day. The charge relates to an incident Dec. 10 at the Georgia State Patrol post on Cleveland Highway with a nearby Hall County Correc tional Institute inmate work detail. According to the war rant, a state patrol corporal saw a black bag being thrown onto the state patrol property from a white Kia SUV. The corporal retrieved the bag and found “four bags of loose tobacco, rolling papers and electrical tape,” according See Hetrick 13A Hetrick Deputy details case against woman accused of hitting man with hatchet BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com A Hall County Sheriff's Office deputy provided details on a case of a man struck in the head with a hatchet, though the defense attor ney argued there was a “serious issue” with identifying the suspect. Rachel Michelle Millwood, 40, appeared in Magistrate Court Fri day, Feb. 16, with attorney Chloe Owens regarding a charge of aggravated assault. The Hall County Sheriff's Office said Millwood and the 42-year-old man were in an argument around 7:40 p.m. Thursday behind an Atlanta Highway laundromat. The man was taken to the hospital prior to Deputy Zach ary Martin's arrival, and he had already been medicated before law enforcement were able to get a statement from him. The man came from Lyman Street and said “his girlfriend had hit him over the head with a hatchet,” Martin said. Martin was given a description of the suspect at the time, which was a “heavyset white female wearing a black shirt and cartoon- ish, funny-looking pants.” Martin said he encountered a woman, later identified as Mill- wood, who matched the descrip tion, though he described the pants as “colorful.” Millwood declined to speak with law enforcement without an attor ney present. See Millwood 13A Rachel Michelle Millwood enters Hall County Magistrate Court Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, for a com mittal hearing for charges of aggra vated assault. Scott Rogers The Times
