About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (July 18, 2024)
LOCAL/STATE/NATION The Times, Gainesville, Georgia I gainesvilletimes.com Thursday, July 18, 2024 3A Board or Elections votes to place transportation sales tax on ballot BY DENISE ETHERIDGE deniseetheridge@gainesvilletimes.com A new one-cent sales tax to be used solely for transportation projects will come before voters this fall. The Hall County Board of Elections voted to place the Transportation Spe cial Purpose Local Option Sales Tax referendum on the Nov. 5 ballot. If Hall County voters approve the referendum, the sales tax rate will increase from 7% to 8% in April 2025. County officials said that up to $390 million in revenue can be collected over 6 years for transportation projects such as roads, bridges, bicycle paths, sidewalks and accompanying infra structure, should the referendum pass. The proposed legislation, signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp in May, changed the law requiring that all municipalities in a single county TSPLOST must sign an Intergovern mental Agreement to levy a full penny tax. The new legislation now requires only municipalities representing more than 50% of a county's municipal population to sign an IGA to levy the tax at a full penny. Last year the City of Buford declined to sign such an agreement between Hall County and the cit ies. On June 27, Buford was among the Hall County municipalities that signed the 2024 Transportation SPLOST IGA. John Clifford The Daily Sentinel via AP Ml Lawsuit put forth over law extending terms for Ga. PSC BY JEFF AMY Associated Press ATLANTA — Two groups on Wednesday sued to overturn a law extending the elected terms of Georgia's public service commissioners, saying it violates the state constitution for the five Republicans to be allowed to serve terms longer than six years. Georgia WAND Education Fund, Georgia Conservation Voters Education Fund and Brionte McCorkle, the execu tive director of the conservation group, filed the suit in federal court in Atlanta. They allege that the law passed this year also violates their due-process rights under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is the defen dant because he oversees elections. The Public Service Commission regulates what Georgia Power Co. and some natural gas companies can charge. In recent years, it has allowed Georgia Power, a unit of Atlanta- based Southern Co., to raise its rates. Kim Scott, Georgia WAND's executive director, said voters should get a say on those rising rates. “We have been stripped of our right to be able to vote for people, commissioners, that will live up and adhere to their mission, which is providing safe, reliable and equitable power, gas and telecom for Georgians," Scott said. Spokespeople for Raffensperger and state Attorney General Chris Carr declined to comment, saying the state had not yet received a copy of the lawsuit. Commission elections were frozen after a different lawsuit, in which McCorkle was one of four plaintiffs, claimed that the power of Black voters was illegally diluted because the five commissioners are elected statewide. A federal district court said such statewide votes were discriminatory, which could have been a groundbreaking ruling if it stood. A car is crushed by the fallen building that hosted the Gansevoort mural that was struck by a tornado, in Rome, N.Y., Tuesday, July 16. Much of the U.S. and Canada is cleaning up or still dealing with a new wave of severe storms that have caused deaths and damage this week from the Plains to New England. Extreme storms flood the Ozarks; New York town is hit by a tornado BY ANDREW DEMILLO AND ED WHITE Associated Press LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Another wave of severe storms pummeled a wide swath of the United States and Canada, leading to flash floods and water rescues Wednesday in the Ozark Mountains, dropping a tor nado that ravaged a town in upstate New York and stranding drivers in high water around Toronto. The relentless series of storms has caused deaths or damage from the Plains to New England this week. Hundreds of thousands of people have lost power and air conditioning during days of sweltering heat. As much as 11 inches of rain fell overnight into Wednesday on parts of the Ozarks in Arkansas and Missouri, the National Weather Service said. Buses and ambulances evacuated 86 people from a nursing home in Yellville, Arkansas, where water rose to about 4 feet during flash flooding, Marion County Sheriff Gregg Alexander said. A section of a bridge washed out, and a historic courthouse flooded. In Flippin, Arkansas, people went door to door to get as many as 40 residents to flee dangerous conditions before floodwaters began to recede. At least 30 resi dents were evacuated from an apartment complex in Greenbrier, 34 miles north of Little Rock, state emer gency managers said. “We're not griping, because we absolutely needed the rain, but it will take a little while for us to drain out and clean the road ways back up," the sheriff said. Bill Scruggs and his crew from Wild Bill's Outfitter, based south of Yellville, scrambled to save their canoes and kayaks from a sandbar in the Buffalo National River as waters quickly rose before dawn Wednesday. “Right now, that gravel bar is 8 feet underwater, and it's still coming up," Scruggs said. Nearly 5 inches of rain fell overnight on the tourist hub of Branson, Missouri. Taney County Sheriff Brad Daniels said several camp grounds were evacuated and people had to be rescued from a flooded mobile home park in nearby Hollister. Cities across upstate New York declared states of emergency after a storm swept through Tuesday with high winds and spectacu lar lightning. A confirmed tornado in the city of Rome tipped over vehicles and left streets clogged with tree debris, power poles and electrical transformers. The winds were fierce enough to move a multi-ton tourist attraction, a B-52 bomber displayed at Griffiss Business and Technology Park. Steeples crumbled and roofs were torn apart at First Presbyterian Church and St. Mary's Church, both built in the 1800s. St. Mary's is not an active church and is pri vately owned. “These are beautiful old churches. It breaks my heart," Rome resident Barb Mulvey said on Facebook. A mural of a Revolution ary War figure on horseback — a Rome landmark — was destroyed, along with the building on which it was painted. All that remained was an image of a horse hoof. Speaking outside St. Mary's, Gov. Kathy Hochul said it was “miraculous" no one was killed in Rome, a city of 31.000. She toured the downtown Wednesday and said 22 buildings were damaged or destroyed. She described trees “collapsed like toothpicks," houses with their roofs gone, and mobile homes tipped over with peo ple inside. “To our residents of Rome: Do not be discour aged. This community is resilient and we will build back," Mayor Jeff Lanigan said. The governor marveled at narrow escapes, includ ing two children in a medi cal waiting room who emerged unscathed, though the building was partially “obliterated." Storm debris hit and killed an 82-year-old man who was outdoors about 30 miles away in Canastota, village administrator Jer emy Ryan said. Hochul said three homes collapsed and 30 structures were also dam aged in the community. Trees fell on houses and cars Tuesday in Keene, New Hampshire, forcing some residents to evacuate. Around Toronto, flooding temporarily closed several major roads and left driv ers stranded. Authorities said they rescued at least 14 people from flooding on the highway. About 200,000 homes and businesses lacked power Wednesday in northeastern U.S. states, according to PowerOutage.us. The East Coast from Maine to the Carolinas was warned of weather that could feel hot ter than 100 degrees in some places. A storm helped bring under control a forest fire burning at a military bomb ing range in New Jersey as it dropped half an inch of rain, the state forest fire service said. This week's severe weather struck the Chicago area especially hard. The weather service said it so far has confirmed at least 18 tor nadoes in northern Illinois and northwestern Indiana: six on Sunday and 12 during a frightening stretch Mon day night. The larger bunch emerged from a derecho, long-lasting windstorms that began in Iowa and rolled east for hours, senior meteorologist Brett Borchardt explained. “It's not unprecedented but it's very unusual. When we have a line of storms like that they're prolific tornado producers," he said. The number of homes and businesses in Illinois and Indiana still without elec tricity finally dipped below 100,000 on Wednesday, according to PowerOutage. us. Across the U.S., the storms have led to at least five deaths, including the one in New York. Flooding killed an 88-year-old couple who were in their car near Elsah, Illinois, on Tuesday and a 76-year-old passen ger in a pickup in Rockford, Illinois, on Sunday. A fallen tree killed a 44-year-old woman in Cedar Lake, Indi ana, on Monday. FROM 1A Mondesir “instead of rendering aid," but was later apprehended. Two witnesses told The Times on Wednesday that the injured child was a girl. William Reynolds, 60, who lives in the unit above, said he was walking down the stairs as the SUV smashed through the wall, shaking the building. “The whole car was inside," he said. The hole was covered by a large piece of plywood Wednesday, and there was caution tape on the door of the unit. Reynolds said Mondesir drove the car forward and back several times but that the car was stuck. “He drove in the house like three times and then couldn't get past them bushes and stuff, I guess, because some thing was stopping him from coming on back," he said. Reynolds said Mondesir appeared to be an inexperi enced driver. Another man, who declined to provide his name, said he had seen Mondesir struggle to pull the car into the parking space minutes before smashing into the apartment. “And then I walk in and five minutes later he's FROM 1A New around 7 p.m. May 9 at a Dorsey Peek Road residence, where New came earlier to retrieve his car. The Sheriff's Office said New got into an argument with three men and a woman at the scene, which turned physical when he retrieved a baseball bat from his vehicle. After swinging the bat, New returned to his vehicle and started to leave. “Prior to leaving, he pulled a shotgun from the vehicle, fired one shot towards the victims and threatened that he would return," according to the Sheriff's Office. “He then left the scene." No injuries were reported. through that house," the man said. As Mondesir was still try ing to pull the car out, the girl was carried out of the apartment and placed on the ground, Reynolds and the man said. They said the girl's mother was screaming and that the girl's leg was broken. Finally, Mondesir got out of the car and ran into the parking lot, Reynolds said. He said he chased Monde sir, grabbed him and walked him back to the apartment. Then Mondesir fled again, running up the stairs, down the stairs on the other side and into the woods, Reynolds said. While The Times was speaking with witnesses, a woman walked down the stairs of the apartment and stopped near the bottom. Reyolds said it was Monde sir's mother. The Times tried to speak with the woman, but she didn't appear to speak English. Holbrook said police had to use a French translator to communicate with Mondesir. The Times has asked Gainesville police to confirm some of the details of the wit nesses' accounts. “We do not speculate or base information of alleged witness testimony," Hol brook said. “I only provide information that is alleged to be factual from the report." FROM 1A Overstreet the Bloods and a subset known as Sex, Money, Murder, which has trickled down from New York to Hall County. “The indications I have found to this point lead me to believe that these individuals are associated with that particular set of the Bloods," Crane said. Indicia associated with this gang and its subsets include: the color red; the numbers five and 45; certain hand signs; and other lingo. But Crane could not recall specific exam ples tied to Sims or Jackson when cross- examined by their attorneys. Poole attacked the verbiage in the war rants that accused Sims of firing the handgun, though the testimony elicited was that investi gators believe another person was the shooter. After Crane's testimony, Powers volun tarily dismissed a tampering with evidence charge that Jackson faced. Poole and Jackson's defense attorney, Jake Shapiro, argued for the charges to be dis missed, admitting that it was a tough ask to make in a homicide case at the probable cause stage. “He sends a picture of himself (to show) this is what I look like," Poole said. Who shows up to an armed robbery or a murder... (but) before they go do that, I'm going to send you a picture of my face before I commit an armed robbery on you? That doesn't make a lick of sense." Powers pointed Judge Margaret Gregory to the eyewitness in the vehicle's comments to law enforcement, who identified Sims as the shooter “at 80-90% accuracy." “He set this up," Powers said. “And the evidence shows based on the trajectory of the bullet and the second shot fired, that there was no sale of any gun attempted. They came in and shot him immediately." Under Georgia law, any person who aids or abets in a crime can be convicted of the crime. Gregory reminded people in the court that these hearings happen early on while the investigation is still ongoing. The standard for the hearing is whether there was probable cause to issue the warrants. “We're dealing with dangerous acts by very young people with absolutely tragic results," Gregory said. While there was some inconsistent testi mony, Gregory said it does not void the war rant altogether. The judge ultimately moved all of the charges on to Superior Court except for the evidence tampering charge that was volun ¬ Shilo Crane of the Georgia Bureau Of Investigation takes the stand Wednesday, July 17, to give testimony during a committal hearing for Quaran Jackson and Ja’quez Sims for the fatal shooting of Gwinnett County teenager Jaishawn Overstreet. Scott Rogers The Times tarily dismissed. Following the hearing, Poole said he was pleased to hear that the investigation has con tinued to unfold, which has pointed to a differ ent person as the shooter. “It is a terrible tragedy of a case, but we're thankful for the opportunity to get this infor mation today," Poole said. Shapiro declined to comment following the hearing.
