About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (March 27, 2024)
* 1 Cherokee Bluff, North Hall —< m 4 - • - - earn region baseball wins Monday, sports, id Midweek Edition - MARCH 27-28,20241 $2.00 I GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA I gainesvilletimes.com Girl, 10, expresses herself with homemade candles. life,ib Honestly Local Oakwood election had ballot discrepancies’ BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com Two hundred voters who do not live in Oakwood cast ballots in a March 12 special election to fill an Oakwood City Council seat, according to a Hall County Elec tions document obtained by The Times. “The Board of Elections is also aware that 22 Oakwood voters who should have been able to vote in this race were given ballots that did not contain this race,” the docu ment states. The document goes on to say that Elections Director Lori Wurtz “has investigated this matter and has determined that these ballot discrepancies were not the result of actions of the Hall County Board of Elections and Registration and its staff.” The document doesn't say what caused the discrepancies. On Tuesday, March 26, Wurtz deferred to Hall County spokes woman Joy Holmes, who later in the day deferred to the elections office for further comment. The document says that 319 Oakwood residents voted in the election, but 519 ballots were cast, with 302 for Rhonda Wood, 214 for Volley Collins and three write-ins. Early voting for the March 12 presidential preference primary took place Feb. 19-March 8, with Oakwood residents being able to go to any Hall County polling location for advanced voting in the city's special election. “I was going to contest (the results), but for me to contest it, I have to hire a lawyer,” Collins said Monday. “For me, it's just not worth spending all that money to go forward with it, for me.” Wood said late Monday, “The result that I saw election night, I won. I’m going to stick with those results, and I am looking forward to going to work for the City of Oakwood, as well as taking care of the citizens of the city.” Georgia Secretary of State See Oakwood 13A Molestation trial begins Scott Rogers The Times Repo Lewis sits in Hall County Superior Court Tuesday, March 26, for the first day of his trial for child molestation. Lewis is charged with one count of enticing a child for indecent purposes and five counts of child molestation. Jury hears opening statements in Gainesville mans case BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com It started with trips to Pink at the Mall of Georgia. Repo X Lewis, of Gainesville, picked out a tight dress for the 11-year-old girl then suggested some seamless underwear for her, according to the prosecution. When asked by the prosecutor how many times they went to Pink, a lingerie line by Victoria's Secret, the girl said it was “almost every time we went to the mall.” The situation then worsened, prosecu tors said. Lewis now stands trial on charges of enticing a child for indecent purposes and five counts of child molestation. The alle gations range from May 2021 to January 2022. He was arrested in September 2022 after it was disclosed to Gainesville Police. Assistant District Attorney Brooke Jackson said during opening statements Tuesday, March 26, that Lewis was a man the 11-year-old girl “once looked up to.” The prosecutor said the Gainesville man “used every single time that they were alone to massage and molest her” for months. “He would say that certain songs were their songs that would make her feel uncomfortable,” Jackson said. The prosecution and defense showed photos of bras and underwear that Lewis suggested she wear. Jackson said when the two would go to a store, Lewis would tell the girl to pretend like she was his girlfriend. “He'd also say when they were riding around in the car, ‘Do you know how to tell how big a man's penis is? Why don't you go ahead and show me on my forearm how big you think my penis is?”’ the pros ecutor said during her opening statement. “And that stuff would go on and on, ladies and gentlemen. Day after day, little by little, Mr. Lewis would push those bound aries with this little girl.” Jackson said the girl was told not to tell her mom. Defense attorney Jake Shapiro started his opening statement with references to emails sent by the mother to Lewis the day before the girl talked to police. The excerpts from Aug. 29, 2022, included the phrases “I’m about to blast you everywhere” and that he was “about to see how insane I am.” Lewis' defense contended that the alle gations are a concocted lie being pushed by the girl's mother. Shapiro also showed a text from the girl to Lewis on Aug. 29, 2022, that read, “Well I guess this is goodbye.” An evidentiary matter of much dis cussion outside the jury's presence was Lewis' relationship to the girl's mother. Superior Court Judge Jason Deal See Lewis 18A 284-unit subdivision up for vote on Thursday BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com A proposed South Hall subdivision with ever- changing housing numbers goes before the Hall County Board of Commissioners for final action Thursday, March 28. The number of homes in the development on 117 acres off Guth, JM Turk and Stanley roads started at 324 and was later whittled to 314. On Monday, March 25, assistant planning director Beth Garmon told the commission the number is now 284. See Subdivision 13A Hall County Board of Commissioners What: Public hearing and final action on proposed 284-home subdivision When: 6 p.m.Thursday, March 28 Where: Hall County Government Center, 2875 Browns Bridge Road, Gainesville Scholarship made to honor GHS student who died BY BEN ANDERSON banderson@gainesvilletimes.com Gainesville High School has announced the establishment of the Jeremy Medina Memorial Scholar ship in honor of the 17-year- old baseball player who died tragically after a campus bat ting cage accident last year. Starting this year, the schol arship will be awarded annu ally to a graduating senior “who embodies Jeremy's qualities of hard work, character, athleticism, and academic excellence,” the high school announced Monday on social media. All seniors are eligible for the scholarship, not just baseball players. See Medina 13A ONLINE 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 INSIDE Calendar 2A Life Classified 2B Opinion Comics 4D Region Fun+Games 3D Sports IB 6A 1C ID 0 40901 06835 8 Capture Your Share of the Sun cooperative solar jacksonemc.com/renewables
