About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (March 5, 2024)
LOCAL/NATION The Times, Gainesville, Georgia I gainesvilletimes.com Tuesday, March 5, 2024 3A Leaks in water systems further stress small cities UNG gets featured on Lifetime show hosted Brynn Anderson Associated Press Lisa McGuire stands near her former walkway on Thursday, Dec. 7, as she describes a fire that engulfed her home, killing her two dogs, in a Prichard, Ala., neighborhood with a history of severe water loss. When a neighbor called her about the fire, she said she rushed home to find firefighters with an empty hose attached to a hydrant. BY TAMMY WEBBER Associated Press Trillions of gallons are lost from aging drinking water systems across the U.S., underscoring an economic and public health reckoning after decades of deferred main tenance and disinvestment that leave some communities struggling to provide reliable service. The problem is especially acute in older industrial and rural areas in the eastern half of the country that have expe rienced significant population and industrial decline that leave behind poorer residents, vacant neighborhoods and too-large water systems. In the Detroit enclave of Highland Park, where the population halved in the past 20 years, an estimated 70% of the water is lost from pipes up to 120 years old. Several Chi cago suburbs likely are losing more than 40% of water. And some Georgia systems are los ing more than 80% of their treated drinking water, said Sunil Sinha, a water researcher at Virginia Tech. A January cold snap caused water line breaks in dozens of communities, including Memphis, Tennessee, and an Arkansas town that was without water for two weeks. But systems crack and leak year-round. Jackson, Mississippi's system almost collapsed in August 2022, leaving many of the 150,000 residents without water for weeks. Even before that, it was losing an estimated 65% of water, including mil lions of gallons gushing from broken pipes for years, said Ted Henifin, the water sys tem's federally appointed third-party manager. “The waste and cost to ratepayers if you're losing 50 or 60 percent of your water, it's enough to make your blood boil,'' said Eric Oswald, drinking water director at Michigan's Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. He said water loss affects many shrinking and older Michigan communities. Yet water loss has drawn less scrutiny than issues like lead service lines and over flowing sewers, although it has serious consequences: Communities buy or treat far more water than they other wise would; water in oversized systems can become stagnant, requiring lines to be flushed; and loss of pressure from pipe breaks can allow contamina tion to enter the system. Experts say investment often is deferred because rais ing water rates is unpopular, but also because it's difficult to borrow money and strug gling communities must spend scarce resources on other needs, such as fire protection and police. Such communities often are “between a rock and a hard place," said John C. Young, who helped manage Flint, Michigan's recovery efforts after its lead crisis. He now oversees the water and sewer board in Prichard, Alabama, — which loses about 60% of its treated water—after it was sued for defaulting on a $55 million loan. by Montel Williams BY BEN ANDERSON banderson@gainesvilletimes.com The University of North Georgia was featured on a March 1 episode of a Life time show hosted by Montel Williams that provides home makeovers to military members and their families. The episode, titled “Military Makeover: Operation Career,” focuses on UNG's role as one of the nation's six senior mili tary colleges and the only one that pro duces officers solely for the U.S. Army. The show visited UNG's Dahlonega and Gainesville campuses. The episode will re-air at 7:30 a.m. March 7. It is also streaming on the UNG YouTube page and featured on the Mili tary Makeover website. UNG is the Military College of Georgia and commissions about 100 second lieu tenants each year for the Army, Georgia Army National Guard and Army Reserve. More than 60 alumni have gone on to become flag officers. The show features interviews with UNG President Michael Shannon, alumni and a current cadet. Shannon is a retired U.S. Army officer who worked for more than a decade as a nuclear technology expert for the U.S. Department of Defense. Submitted Photo UNG was featured on a Lifetime show hosted by Montel Williams called “Military Makeover,” which provides home makeovers to members of the military. Police: Man accused of beating BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com A Flowery Branch man was accused of punching a teen driver until he was unconscious, telling him he would also sexually assault his 15-year-old sister in the passenger seat, police said. Duane Andrew Sud- derth, 57, was charged with aggravated battery, aggra vated assault, child cruelty In the first and third degree, terroristic threats, entering auto and aggressive driv ing. He was booked in to the Gwinnett County Jail, where he remains with no bond. Gwinnett County Police teen unconscious were called Wednesday, Feb. 28 to Buford Dam Road and Old Shadburn Ferry Road to an 18-year-old who reported being beaten unconscious. The teenager told police he was driving on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard and R.H. Smith Boulevard near a pickup truck. The teen and the truck driver “exchanged hand gestures,” police said, and the truck driver fol lowed the teen. The teen and his 15-year-old sister pulled into a private drive way on Buford Dam Road near Marina Way, police said. “The teen reported that the man pulled in behind him, exited his vehicle, and then began to punch him repeatedly in the face through the window,” police said. “The man told him that he would sexually assault his 'girlfriend' in the passenger seat.” The “girlfriend” was the teen's sister, police said. Using camera footage, police were able to iden tify Sudderth and arrested him Sunday, March 3, at his home. Sudderth Jeff Gill The Times A Buford resident is proposing 144 townhomes near Lake Lanier in Flowery Branch. FROM 1A Townhome Also, Smith said he would pay for any needed upgrades to Mitchell Street, which runs from the lake to downtown. Prices for the homes weren't available Mon day, March 4, and Smith couldn't be reached for comment. A public hearing on Smith's proposal is set for Thursday, March 7, before Flowery Branch City Council at City Hall, 5410 Pine St. Smith is seeking to annex and rezone nearly an acre for the develop ment and rezone another 21-plus acres to tradi tional neighborhood development. The council's first vote on the proposal is set for April 4. Flowery Branch plan ning officials are rec ommending denial “considering the over whelming traffic on Mitchell St will be caused by the proposed develop ment,” city documents state. Also, “the proposed use does not comply with the character area of the future development map,” the city said. “This project is residential in nature but does not include single family detached homes.” FROM 1A Chocolate • Picnic Cafe & Dessertery • Crown & Bear • Blue 42 Market • Tea Rabbit's • Shenanigans Irish Pub During the event, visitors can expect to sample a wide range of chocolate confec tions, including hot chocolate, pies, fudge, cookies, drinks and more. The event is free and family friendly. To participate, visitors can pick up a free “passport”, while supplies last, at the Dahlonega Visitor Center from March 4 to 10. The passport includes a list of partici pating businesses and directions on how to navigate Dahlonega's downtown to get to each one. For more information about the Dahlonega Chocolate Crawl event, go to https://www.dahlonega.org/ events/festivals-and-annual-events/ dahlonega-chocolate-crawl/. FROM 1A Kittrich OSHA Feb. 24, 2020 to request an OSHA safety and health visit, according to the complaint, But the next day, the complaint alleged the employee was told that the defendants “were not going to do anything about the chemical exposures.” The employee was offered two weeks pay to leave the com pany, according to the complaint. An OSHA industrial hygienist contacted the Avenger Products office on March 5, 2020 to speak with the employee's man agers. The customer services manager “answered the phone as part of her duties and spoke with (the industrial hygienist) regarding her own complaint,” according to the complaint. The day after the phone call, the employee was presented with termination paperwork to sign, according to the complaint. According to the complaint, OSHA determined that the company violated the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 by terminating her “because of her exercise of rights.” “Further, defendants' actions have a chill ing effect on employees' exercise of rights under the act because their decision to ter minate (the employee) deters employees from reporting potential safety and health hazards at the worksite and/or from cooper ating with OSHA in future investigations,” according to the complaint. The complaint is seeking for the judge to find that the defendants unlawfully dis criminated against the employee and to make her “whole through payment of her lost wages, other benefits and compensa tory damages suffered by reason of such unlawful discrimination.” The Department of Labor is also seeking to allow OSHA representatives to conduct trainings about safety hazards and stop the company from further discrimination. A Department of Labor spokeswoman confirmed the location of these allegations but did not comment further. FROM 1A Dryden “Sometimes people engage in risky behavior,” defense attorney Larry Duttweiler said toward the beginning of his opening statement. “Some of that risky behavior leads to regretful behavior.” The two were highly intoxicated, the defense said, and Duttweiler pointed to what will be discussed with the medical examiner about the causes leading to Smith's death. While admitting that what was shown on the video was disrespectful to a dead body, Duttweiler said his client is not facing a charge of concealing the death. “He does something that he thinks will completely cast suspicion off of him, but it ends up throwing sus picion completely on him,” Duttweiler said. The prosecution started the trial with three Gaines ville Police officers who responded to the scene. Officer Taylor Gatlin testified about responding to a 2:38 a.m. 911 call after a man spotted Smith on the lawn. Gatlin's body camera showed the officer point ing a flashlight at Smith's naked body as he checked a pulse. Her clothes were hiked above her chest and down around her knees. Another officer, Alexan der Rivera, was seen hav ing a casual conversation with Dryden as the officer tied the police tape around a post. Dryden was taken into custody on unrelated charges. Patrol officers advised Investigator Brad Raper there was a phone in Dryden's pocket that kept ringing. “If I remember correctly, it was 33 missed calls from 'Hubby,'” Raper said. The phone continued to ring, and Raper picked up and notified the man that he had his wife's phone in the midst of a death investigation. Scott Rogers The Times Assistant District Attorney Dexter Riley questions Gainesville Police Officer Alexander Rivera Monday, March 3, in Hall County Superior Court during the murder trial of Diandre Andreus Dryden, 24, who is indicted on charges of mal ice murder, felony murder and aggravated assault for the death of Latasha Smith, 34.
