Jan. 29, 2013 - School Bus Driver Bertha Hutson was honored last night at the Hall County Board of Education meeting. She was recognized for her actions related to a Jan. 3 school bus wreck near Athens Highway and Barrett Road in East Hall. Hutson’s bus, carrying 20 students from Myers Elementary School was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer hauling heavy machinery. Officials said two students complained of “minor injuries” but were not transported…

Jan. 29, 2013 - Officials determined that the threat made against Flowery Branch High School was a hoax, but not before some 1,000 students were checked out of class yesterday after hearing about the message. Hall County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Kiley Sargent said, the message was sent over the weekend through InstaGram and mentioned "shooting" but did not name a specific person. The message was brought to the attention of school officials…

Jan. 18, 2013 - The Martin Luther King, Junior Holiday will be observed on Monday, January 21, so the City of Gainesville will be closed. Hall County's administrative offices, courts and community centers will be also closed Monday. However, the landfill and compactor sites will remain open. Solid waste and recycling will be picked up Tuesday for Monday customers. Tuesday customers will be picked up Wednesday. Thursday and Friday will be normal schedule…

Jan 16, 2013 - Yesterday afternoon an armed drug suspect attempted to flee from a Deputy. According to Hall County Sheriff's Sgt Stephen Wilbanks around 3:50 PM yesterday 33 year-old Jeremy Peck was arrested after struggling with an officer. The officer was able to hang on until back-up units arrived at the Marathon gas station on Athens Highway at Roy Parks Road. According to Wilbanks, the suspect had a handgun in his waistband. No one was injured.…

Jan. 15, 2013 - Yesterday the Board of Education approved $100,000 in special purpose local option sales tax funds for safety upgrades to the county’s 33 public school campuses. The upgrades range from adding peepholes in delivery doors to replacing locks to upgrading communication equipment on campus. Superintendent Will Schofield told the Times, “It runs the entire gamut." He said, “Nothing is major, but when you’ve got 33 different campuses…

Jan. 14, 2013 - Hall County officials wish to remind property owners in the county that April 1st is the deadline for filing a Taxpayer Return of Real Estate or Personal Property with the Tax Assessors office. In Hall County, Real and Personal Property forms can be found on the county Tax Assessors office web page under "Forms and Applications". Forms must be received or postmarked by April 1 with the official USPS postmark in order to be considered…

Jan. 14, 2013 - Today two new members of the Hall County Legislative Delegation will be sworn in at the start of the session. Lee Hawkins will represent the 27th District in the state House of Representatives, which covers North Hall County and part of White County. Timothy Barr will represent the newly redrawn 103rd District, which is parts of South Hall and North Gwinnett counties. -- On January 31st new Hall County Board of Commissioners Chairman…

Jan. 14, 2013 - Former Gainesville City Manager Bryan Shuler died Friday at his home in Moultrie Georgia. According to the Moultrie Observer, Shuler was 55 years old and died after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. According to the Gainesville time, Shuler was a native of Charleston, South Carolina and came to Gainesville after local public sector jobs in South Carolina and Delaware. His first job in Gainesville was that of Gainesville-Hall County…

Jan. 11, 2013 - Hall County named the new warden yesterday: Walt Davis. Davis was named the new warden of the Hall County Correctional Institute by the Hall County Board of Commissioners on Thursday. His appointment is effective Feb. 4. According to Officials, Davis has nearly 30 years of experience in criminal justice, including numerous senior management positions with the State Board of Pardons and Paroles. Those positions include division director,…

Jan. 11, 2013 - The Georgia Bureau of Investigation charged a former Hall County jailer on Thursday with striking a handcuffed inmate last month. David Pirkle was arrested yesterday morning and charged with simple battery and violation of oath of office. His bond was set at $10,000. Pirkle was fired Monday after an internal investigation of the Dec. 30 incident in which the Hall County Sheriff’s Office reported he struck the handcuffed inmate “without…