About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (March 5, 2024)
Tuesday, March 5,20241 GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA I gainesvilletimes.com M Supreme Court restores Trump to ballot, rejecting state bans, inside,4a Honestly Local Department of Labor files injuction against Kittrich BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com The Department of Labor filed an injunctive complaint against a Gainesville company, alleging that the company retaliated against an employee who complained to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration about exposure to chemical fumes, according to court documents. The acting Secretary of Labor, Julie Su, brought the complaint Feb. 14 in U.S. federal court against Kit trich Corporation, which is doing business as Avenger Products LLC. The Times reached out to the Candler Road pesticide and agricul tural manufacturer twice via phone over multiple days for comment, but no responses were received. The complaint noted that the company had $254,189 in proposed penalties from citations issued between June 2018 and December 2019. The most notable of these came in December 2019, when OSHA issued a news release about $90,801 in potential penalties for “exposing employees to amputa tion, fire and electrical hazards.” According to the complaint, the employee was working from Febru ary 2017 through March 6,2020 as a customer services manager. A week after the news release, employees “were confronted by strong chemical fumes due to defen dants' failure to ensure exhaust fans were on while producing the Agrisel Bifenthrin Pro 2E insecti cide,” according to the complaint. The employees sought emer gency medical treatment for their exposure to the fumes. The operations manager was ordered by the owner the following day to remove all of these products and that they would no longer do business with Agrisel. However, production continued into 2020, according to the complaint. The customer services manager's mother, who also worked in the office, “was so overcome by chemi cal fumes that she had to stop work” and went to the emergency room, according to the complaint. “The doctor called poison control and OSHA to let them know what happened to her,” according to the complaint. “Over the next few days, (the customer services manager) and her mother continued to notice strong chemical fumes within the office.” Despite her mother being termi nated in early 2020, the customer services manager continued work at the facility. She experienced “severe nausea, sweating, and dizziness,” according to the complaint. The production manager fdled out an OSHA form about the fumes, and OSHA received a notice of alleged safety or health hazards. After she sought medical treat ment in February 2020, the doctor diagnosed the employee with “pos sible organic phosphate poisoning,” according to the complaint. She returned to work days later and still came into contact with the fumes, requesting a respirator from the production manager. The customer services manager called See Kittrich 13A Trial gets underway Photos by Scott Rogers The Times Diandre Andreus Dryden appears in Hall County Superior Court Monday, March 3, for charges of malice murder, felony murder and aggravated assault for the death of Latasha Smith, 34. 144 townhomes proposed near Flowery Branch BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com More townhomes may come to Flowery Branch — this time near Lake Lanier. H. Carson Smith IV of Buford is proposing the 144- unit development at 6300 Jones Road, near Safe Hide away Harbor Bay marina and Fish Tales Lakeside Grille. The development also would be next to Tide Water Cove town- homes and Trails West mobile home park. Flowery Branch City Council What: Public hearing for proposed 144 townhomes at 6300 Jones Road When: 6 p.m. Thursday, March 7 Where: Flowery Branch City Hall, 5410 Pine St. “The proposed development is compatible with the character of the surrounding area and would provide a high-quality residential development that would complement the mixed-use nature of the area,” Smith says in a letter to the city. The community would feature two amenity areas, including a “smaller green space with a gazebo overlook ing a small cove of Flowery Branch Bay.” Within walking distance would be Flowery Branch Bay Park off Mitchell Street. See Townhome 13A Opening statements heard in Gainesville mans murder trial BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com In the early hours of Jan. 23, 2023, Diandre Dryden backed a car up to his apart ment in the Pointe Lanier complex and appeared “to grab something rather large,” Assistant District Attorney Dexter Riley said. He struggled for 20-30 minutes to no avail to get the item in the car. Dryden, 24, of Gaines ville, is seen later on sur veillance footage dragging the object across the lawn, leaving it under a tree. “That object had a name,” Riley said. “That name was LaTasha Smith.” A Hall County jury heard opening statements Mon day, March 4, for Dryden, who is charged with murder in the Jan. 22, 2023 stran gling death of Smith, 34, of Buford. Dryden was indicted on charges of malice murder, felony murder and aggra vated assault. Smith was found Jan. 23, 2023 in the grass outside of the Pointe Lanier Apart ments on Spring Road. The indictment accused Dryden of striking Smith in the head multiple times and strangling her. Riley said Smith, a mother of three married for 16 years to her highschool sweetheart, was in a “little bit of a rough patch” in her Assistant District Attorney Dexter Riley gives jury members an opening state ment in Hall County Superior Court. relationship. Smith started to look for someone else. She soon met Dryden. After texting back and forth, they agreed to go out Jan. 22,2023. The two are seen on sur veillance footage walking through the Pointe Lanier apartment complex and at a nearby liquor store. Riley said Dryden took Smith into his apartment “and beat her so badly that her face became nearly unrecognizable.” Dryden's prior defense told The Times that Dryden maintained he was not involved in Smith's death. Attorney Larry Duttweiler gives jury members an See Dryden 13A opening statement. Celebrate sweets at Chocolate Crawl in downtown Dahlonega BY ERICA JONES ejones@dawsonnews.com Through March 10, local chocolate lovers can satisfy their sweet tooth and explore downtown Dahlonega, thanks to the town's annual “Chocolate Crawl” event. The annual event allows visitors a chance to sample a wide range of chocolate treats from nearly a dozen of the downtown businesses. This year's participating businesses include: • Paul Thomas Chocolates • Bourbon Street Grille • Nighthawk Tavern • Connie's Ice Cream & Sandwiches • Dahlonega Fudge Factory • Spice & Tea Exchange See Chocolate 13A File photo Paul Thomas Chocolates is one of the Dahlonega businesses that is part of this year’s Chocolate Crawl.
