Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 6A
BANKS COUNTY NEWS
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2024
Public Safety
19 arrests reported by sheriffs office
The Banks County Sher
iff’s Office charged 19 peo
ple recently, including:
•Gelacio Avellaneda-Ura-
po, 48, 3228 Brackett Drive,
Gainesville, driving without
a valid license.
•Ryan Dillon Cantrell,
33, 400 Hickory Flat Road,
Gillsville, terroristic threats
and acts and simple assault.
•Heather Ann Cornelius,
36, Homer, burglary and
criminal trespass.
•Emmanuel Orso-Ro-
may, 17, 2331 North Broad
Street, Commerce, driving
without a valid license and
no registration.
•Codey Shoemake, 34,
673 Alpine Court Circle,
Cornelia, possession of
methamphetamine, reckless
driving, driving without a
valid license, failure to stop
at stop sign, no valid license
plate and fleeing or attempt
ing to elude a law enforce
ment officer.
•Matthew Neal Brissey,
32, 4041 Williams Bridge
Road, Toccoa, driving under
the influence of intoxicants
(DUI), driving without a
valid license and failure to
maintain lane.
•Kevin Scott Fowler, 45,
308 Palmer Street, Greer,
S.C., obstruction of a law
enforcement officer.
•Cody Cheyenne Gibis,
30, 201 Granite Road,
Maysville, possession of
a sawed-off shotgun and
possession of a firearm by a
convicted felon.
•Kellie Anny McCoy, 45,
125 Pine Crest Drive, Alto,
theft by receiving stolen
property.
•Kimberly McElreath,
53, 145 Walkers Way, Com
merce, criminal trespass.
•Pedro Luis Tulux-
an-Basilio, 32, 2361 Dun-
woody Crossing, Dun-
woody, driving without a
valid license and failure to
yield.
•Gavin Brent Anderson,
17, 65 Griffeth Lane, Dan-
ielsville, theft by shoplift
ing.
•Terrance Perrymond, 23,
1524 Jackson Way, River-
dale, driving without a valid
license and giving false in
formation to a law enforce
ment officer.
•Gilmar Lopez-Vicente,
32, 1509 Frederick Road,
Opelika, Ala., driving with
out a valid license.
•Brian Neely, 44, 55 Stag
horn, Nicholson, theft by
shoplifting.
•Carvilius Jamaal Tuck,
35, 124 Waterford Ridge,
Lula, simple battery.
•Martha Zarate, 39, 3061
Oakcliff Road, Atlanta,
DUI.
•James Joseph Lawson,
69, 110 Gray Hill Drive,
Homer, failure to appear.
•Jose Candido Suli-
nas-Garcia, 46, 830 Mead
ow Creek Drive, Cornelia,
driving without a valid li
cense and expired tag.
Incidents reported to Banks County Sheriffs Office listed
Incidents reported re- 'simple assault during a 'theft by taking at an Crossing business. Hwy. 441, Commerce, ad- location,
cently to the Banks County domestic dispute at a West- Eisenhower Drive, Com- -stolen vehicle recovered dress. 'shoplifting at a Banks
Sheriff’s Office includes the brook Road, Commerce, merce, address. at Lula location. -simple assault at a Wof- Crossing business when
following: address. -shoplifting at a Banks -theft of property at a ford Creek Road, Baldwin, someone didn’t scan right.
NEWBRIDGE OPEN
The new bridge over the Hudson River on Ga. 51 has re-opened. The original bridge was built in 1937 and was widened in 1979. Work will continue on Ga. 51 in the area on and surrounding
the bridge. Drivers in the area are asked to drive carefully and watch for construction crews. Work to replace the bridge began in 2022.
Cryptocurrency mining stirring concerns across rural Georgia
By Dave Williams
Capitol Beat
News Service
Opposition is growing
across Georgia to cryptocur
rency mining, the process of
creating Bitcoins and other
forms of virtual currencies
at giant server farm sites.
Residents of Gilmer
County in the North Geor
gia mountains recently beat
back a proposed rezoning
to allow a cryptocurren
cy server farm in that rural
community. Just north of
Gilmer, the Fannin County
Commission has enacted a
ban on crypto mining.
And several hundred
miles to the south, the
Southern Georgia Regional
Commission, which rep
resents 18 primarily rural
counties, has published a
model ordinance counties
can use to put restrictions
on the development of cryp
tocurrency farms.
Opponents complain that
server farms generating
cryptocurrency are extreme
ly noisy, impose a huge
drain on electricity and wa
ter resources, and don’t gen
erate enough jobs to justify
those negative consequenc
es.
“It’s the biggest con on
the public ever,” said Cyn-
die Roberson, cofounder
of Gilmer County Citizens
Against Crypto Mining,
which brought out hundreds
of residents to a meeting of
the county’s planning com
mission to oppose the proj
ect.
“So many attended, peo
ple were wrapped around
the courthouse,” Roberson
said.
The General Assembly
took up the issue during this
year’s session in the form
of a bill aimed at growing
the industry by offering
a sales tax exemption on
equipment purchased to
equip cryptocurrency server
farms and prohibiting local
governments from passing
noise ordinances specifical
ly targeting crypto mining.
The industry already has
gained a solid foothold in
Georgia. Roberson’s group
has documented 30 crypto
currency mining operations
in 20 communities across
the state, from Rome and
Dalton in Northwest Geor
gia to Swainsboro, Sand-
ersville, and Brooklet in the
southeast.
In fact, Georgia mines
the second-most cryptocur
rency in the country behind
Texas.
“Bitcoin mining is more
than just an economic ac
tivity,” Bo Ginn, who man
ages the Sandersville crypto
mining operation for Neva-
da-based CleanSpark Inc.,
told state lawmakers during
a hearing on the bill in Feb
ruary.
“It’s an important tech
nological advancement that
brings substantial invest
ment, innovation and job
creation to Georgia, espe
cially to our rural communi
ties,” he said.
But Rep. Penny Houston,
R-Nashville, said she and
her constituents have had a
“terrible experience” since
a crypto mining server farm
began operating in Adel.
“The noise is absolutely
atrocious,” she said. “They
bring no money in, no
jobs in, except for people
who are there guarding the
place.”
Houston also complained
about the amount of elec
tricity crypto mining uses.
Large data centers are hav
ing an impact on Geor
gia’s power grid, as state
lawmakers demonstrated
this year when they passed
legislation — subsequently
vetoed by Gov. Brian Kemp
— that would have tempo
rarily suspended a tax break
aimed at attracting more
data centers to Georgia.
“We’ve built two (nucle
ar) reactors over at Plant
Vogtle, and we’re using so
much power, we’re going
to have to build another
one,” Houston said. “When
we have to build another
reactor, it’s going to be the
taxpayers of this state who
have to pay for it.”
Rep. Scott Hilton,
R-Peachtree Comers, who
introduced this year’s cryp
tocurrency bill, said it is not
at the top of his priority list
for the 2025 General As
sembly session. However,
he said he believes the leg
islature eventually should
address the cryptocurrency
issue.
The model ordinance
might be a place to start. It
allows the development of
crypto mining operations
but sets standards for noise
levels and appearance serv
er farms would have to meet
before they could set up
shop.
“I think those who are
seeking to move these here
would be amenable to rea
sonable accommodations,”
Hilton said.
Bob Sherrier, a staff attor
ney with the Atlanta-based
Southern Environmental
Law Center, said he would
rather let local governments
regulate crypto mining op
erations than impose state
control.
“Some industrial areas
(suitable for a server farm)
are next to residential,” he
said. “It should be within
the control of local govern
ment to say, ‘That area’s
OK, and that area’s not.’ “
LESLIE SPORNBERGER JONES, LLC
ATTORN EY-AT- LAW
Northeast Georgia's
Strong, Strategic, and Skilled Defense.
Criminal, DUI, Traffic, Commercial Drivers, and
Professional Licensing. Trials and Appeals.
Phone: (706) 224-0321
www.lesliejoneslaw.com
