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*£ zj Lakeview Academy boys, girls sweep GIAA Class 3A basketbal state titles in Columbus, sports.id Midweek Edition - MARCH 6-7,20241 $2.00 I GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA I gainesvilletimes.com Celebrate sweets at chocolate crawl in downtown Dahlonega. life,ib Honestly Local Prosecutor details woman’s death outside apt. Jury deliberating in 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 apartment in the Pointe Lanier complex and appeared “to grab something rather large,” Assis tant District Attorney Dexter Riley said. He struggled for 20-30 minutes to no avail to get the item in the car. Dryden, 24, of Gainesville, is seen later on surveillance footage dragging the object across the lawn, leaving it under a tree, the prosecu tor said. “That object had a name,” Riley said. “That name was LaTasha Smith.” A Hall County jury left the court room for deliberations around 2:45 p.m. Tuesday, March 5, in the trial 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 aggravated assault. Smith was found Jan. 23, 2023 See Dryden 15A Diandre And reus Dryden appears in Hall County Superior Court Monday, March 3, for charg es of malice murder, felony murder and aggravated assault for the death of Latasha Smith, 34. Scott Rogers The Times A familiar purpose Photos provided by Gainesville City Schools Gainesville City Schools announced Monday, March 4, that it will purchase the Homestar Financial Corporation build ing at 332 Washington St. for $10.6 million. The building will be used for the district’s nontraditional high school, Horizon Academy. City Schools buys BY BEN ANDERSON banderson@gainesvilletimes.com Gainesville City Schools announced a permanent location of its nontradi tional high school, Horizon Academy, at the school board meeting Monday, March 4. Horizon Academy, which caters to non-native speakers and Gainesville High School students who have fallen behind on their credits, will be housed in the Homestar Financial Corporation building at 331 Washington St. The school board unanimously approved the purchase of the building for $10.6 million. Homestar, a Gainesville-based mortgage lender, announced last Octo ber that it was going out of business. Horizon Academy was first launched in August 2023 and has been See Horizon 13A S10.6M historic building for high school Gainesville High names new principal BY BEN ANDERSON banderson@gainesvilletimes.com Gainesville High School named a new prin cipal Monday, March 4, at the school board meeting. Roberto Rivera, who is cur rently the head wrestling coach and oversees , will replace Principal Jamie Green, who will step down at the end of the school year to take a teaching job in Brazil. Rivera will take the helm July 1. “Mr. Rivera will continue the incredible school culture that we are experiencing now at Gainesville High,” Green said in a news release. “He will bring the structure needed for a school See Principal 13A Rivera Controversial housing proposal gets initial OK BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com A 44-unit housing proposal that has stirred emotions in a Gainesville community moved forward Monday, March 4, with a recommen dation of approval from the Hall County Plan ning Commission. The proposal, which involves relocating residents of a mobile home park, had been tabled from the commission's Feb. 19 meet ing, when commissioners said they wanted more specific rental information. Greenleaf Investment Partners came into that meeting with redrawn plans showing smaller units and rents projected between $1,000 and $1,200. Justin Crighton of W&A Engineering, which is designing the project, told the plan ning board March 4 that mobile home park residents can move into the new units at rents of $ 1,200 per month. Chris Braswell, planning board chairman, See Floyd 13A 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 IB Classified 1C Opinion 6A Comics 4D Region 3B Fun+Games 3D Sports ID 0 40901 06835 8 Capture Your Share of the Sun {nS copp erat|ve JACKSON O U I Cl I JELECTRIC MEMBERSHIP/CORPORATION-" jacksonemc.com/renewables
