Morris Anthony “Tony” Lewallen, age 64, of Cornelia, passed away on Monday, March 4, 2024.
Born on November 29, 1959, in Commerce, he a son of the late Morris George Lewallen and Hazel Ann Chosewood Lewallen. Mr. Lewallen employed with Dahlonega Hardware and had formerly worked with Ingles. He loved God and his family and was known for helping others.
In addition to his parents, he was also preceded in death by grandmother, Ethel Chosewood.
Survivors include son Brent Lewallen of Lula; daughters and son-in-law Beth Dixon of Commerce and Lauren Anderson (John) of Clarkesville; eight grandchildren; brother and sister-in-law George Nicholas “Nicky” Lewallen (Chrystal) of Demorest; nephew Tyler Lewallen; sister and brother-in-law Starri Aceves (Alex) of Clarkesville; nephew Joshua Aceves; and niece Daniella Aceves.
The family will receive friends from 5-7 pm on Monday, March 11, 2024, at McGahee-Griffin & Stewart Funeral Home.
Diego Ibarra's preliminary hearing on felony charges stemming from what law enforcement officers say was a fake green card will take place at the Bootle Federal Courthouse in Macon on Thursday. (Grant Blankenship/GPB News)
The brother of the man charged with the homicide in Athens of a nursing student had his own day in federal court Monday on felony charges stemming from what authorities say is a fake U.S. permanent resident card.
The hearing in Macon’s Bootle Federal Courthouse was the first appearance for Diego Ibarra, 29, on those charges.
Ibarra was stopped by Athens-Clarke County Police because he matched the physical description of the person sought for the killing of student Laken Riley. Ibarra’s brother, Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, was later arrested on murder charges stemming from the death. Ibarra is said to have proffered a fake document often called a green card when asked to produce ID.
Ibarra entered the courtroom Monday in shackles and a set of orange Butts County jail coveralls. Some of the hair bleached blonde on top of his head had been dyed back to a shade of teal.
After the hearing began, aside from subtle nodding, he was near motionless as he listened to a translator repeat the charges against him as well as his rights in the face of those charges as they were presented by Judge Charles Weigle.
“I want to remind you of your right to remain silent,” Weigle said. “That means you don’t have to answer any questions about your case.”
Weigle also told Ibarra that he has a right to ask for an official from the federal government to tell a consular official from Venezuela about his arrest.
That was where the hearing ended. Calendar conflicts between attorneys delayed the hearing about how and where Ibarra would be detained over the longer term until Thursday.
Ibarra’s attorney from the federal defender’s office Chauntilia Adaway said she didn’t know where Ibarra is being held until then. Butts County is not one of the handful of counties who proactively work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, in detaining immigrants, but US Marshals often ask county jails to hold federal defendants, too.
A Georgia bill inspired by Laken Riley’s killing would force all Georgia counties into similar collaborations with ICE.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Diego Ibarra was earmarked for speedy removal from the country upon arrival at the border almost a year ago, but was released from custody by immigration officials after presenting them with what they termed “a credible fear” of returning to his native Venezuela. Adjudication of that claim was planned for a later date.
Since then, Ibarra has been arrested three times by Athens law enforcement. The charges include DUI, driving without a license, shoplifting and failure to appear in court for a fingerprintable offense.
If he is found guilty of possessing a fake permanent resident card, Ibarra could face up to 10 years in prison.
This article comes to the Now Habersham through a news partnership with GPB News
A driver has been charged with distracted driving after rear-ending a woman’s car in Clayton. The injured driver was not wearing a seat belt and did not have her license with her, state troopers say.
Terry Lee Brown, 54, of Lakemont, was driving a Jeep Wrangler south on GA 76 behind a Chevrolet Equinox. The traffic in front of the Equinox slowed down, but troopers say Brown was distracted by his cell phone and didn’t see the slowing traffic. He hit the rear of the Equinox.
The Equinox driver, Elizabeth Mayfield, 35, was taken to Mountain Lakes Hospital with a complaint of back pain. No serious injuries were reported.
Ninth District Opportunity is again preparing to assist those who need help with their home cooling bills.
You may be eligible for financial help if you live in a home where everyone is 65 or older or you are medically homebound. Eligibility is based on income.
The program for the elderly and homebound begins April 1. The general public may apply starting May 1.
If you qualify, Ninth District Opportunity will make a one-time payment to your home energy supplier to help offset your utility bills.
You may apply for the program by phone at 855-636-3108 or through the Ninth District Opportunity website on or after the program’s opening date.
Ninth District Opportunity Program Director Brenda Dalin says applications will be accepted until all funds are exhausted.
Age and income verification is required. Visit the www.ndo.org for more details.
Ninth District Opportunity’s service area covers over 20 North Georgia counties, including Banks, Habersham, Hall, Hart, Franklin, Rabun, Stephens, and White.
Lillian Eugenia Smith was an author and social critic of the segregated South. She was known for her nonfiction and fiction work, including her best-selling debut novel "Strange Fruit," published in 1944. Smith lived in Rabun County, Georgia. (photo courtesy Piedmont University)
This year marks the 80th anniversary of Smith’s debut novel “Strange Fruit,” the 75th anniversary of “Killers of the Dream,” and the 70th anniversary of “The Journey.” The Lillian E. Smith Center is scheduling various events over the course of 2024 to commemorate these anniversaries.
“Celebrating Lillian E. Smith” is the first celebration this year of Smith’s legacy and work.
The community is invited to events on Mar. 19 at 7:00 PM at the Georgia Center for the Book in Decatur and on Mar. 20 at 3:30 PM at the Mason-Scharfenstein Museum of Art at Piedmont University in Demorest.
“Lillian Smith’s work echoes through the decades and remains relevant today,” said Dr. Matthew Teutsch, Director of the Lillian E. Smith Center. “These celebrations will be an opportunity to introduce Smith to new audiences and to revisit her prescient observations about the human condition.”
Presenters include Rev. Dr. Benjamin Boswell, pastor at Myers Park Baptist Church in Charlotte, Dr. Keri Leigh Merritt, historian and author of an upcoming biography on Smith, and Dr. Jennifer Morrison, Assistant Professor of English at Xavier University in Louisiana.
On writing her 1949 memoir “Killers of the Dream,” Lillian Smith said, “I wrote it because I had to find out what life in a segregated culture had done to me, one person. I had to put down on paper these experiences so that I could see their meaning for me. I was in dialogue with myself as I wrote, as well as with my hometown and my childhood and history and the future, and the past. Writing is both horizontal and vertical exploration.”
WASHINGTON (States Newsroom) — Voters in more than a dozen states will cast their choice for U.S. president Tuesday in the largest single day of nominating contests on the 2024 election calendar.
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, the clear Republican front-runner, are chasing more than one-third of their respective parties’ delegates during the “Super Tuesday” races.
Contests will be held in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia, and the U.S. territory of American Samoa. Iowa Democrats will also announce unofficial results from their mail-in caucus.
A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court decision Monday allowed Trump to remain on the primary ballot in Colorado, striking down an unprecedented decision by the state’s highest court to remove the former president. The Colorado court ruled Trump’s actions during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol disqualified him from contention under a Civil War-era constitutional clause barring insurrectionists from holding future office.
While the delegate math doesn’t add up for either Biden or Trump to clinch the Democratic or Republican nominations Tuesday night, the one-day wave of primaries and caucuses is expected to set up both men for presumptive-nominee status later this month.
Trump, who has won all but one primary contest so far, has picked up 273 delegates of the 1,215 needed to secure his party’s nomination, according to the Associated Press delegate tracker.
Former South Carolina Gov. and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, Trump’s remaining GOP primary challenger, has gained 43 delegates, including all 19 of the party’s District of Columbia delegates over the weekend.
A total of 854 of 2,429 Republican delegates are up for grabs this Super Tuesday, with many states awarding their entire delegate totals to the candidate who reaches the majority of the vote.
California and Texas carry Tuesday’s two largest delegate counts at 169 and 150, respectively. Texas GOP rules state that another 11 delegates will be awarded at the party’s convention in May.
Biden has so far clinched 206 of 3,934 Democrat party delegates. A possible 1,420, more than one-third of the delegate count, are available in Tuesday’s races. Democrats award their delegates proportionally to candidates who receive at least 15% of each race’s vote.
Biden’s Democratic primary challengers, author and activist Marianne Williamson and U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota, have yet to receive any delegates.
AP projects Trump could tie up his party’s presumptive nomination by March 12, and Biden as early as March 19.
Democrat and Republican primary voters will head to the polls in Georgia, Mississippi and Washington on March 12, as will GOP voters in Hawaii. Democrats in Hawaii will vote a week earlier on March 6.
Both parties will hold presidential primary contests in Arizona, Illinois, Kansas and Ohio on March 19. Republicans will also vote that day in Florida. The Sunshine State is no longer holding a Democratic primary.
Candidates with a majority of delegates are officially nominated at each party’s massive summer conventions. Republicans will meet July 15-18 in Milwaukee, after which Democrats will convene Aug. 19-22 in Chicago.
Barring any surprise circumstances, Biden and Trump are expected to receive their party’s nominations.
A Senate Bill named after Henry County deputy Daniel D. Podsiadly, right, would help police offices receive lost wages for serious injuries suffered on the job. Henry County Sheriff Reginald Scandrett, left, is congratulated by Lihontnoia Democratic Sen. Tonya Anderson after the Senate passed the Podsiadly bill on Thursday. (Ross Williams/Georgia Record)
(Georgia Recorder) — The Georgia House is expected to consider criminal justice legislation designed to toughen penalties for people who sell fentanyl that causes an overdose and a bill that gives police officers more pay while recovering from severe injuries sustained on the job.
A bipartisan Senate majority supported legislation voted to create the crime of aggravated involuntary manslaughter for those convicted of delivering or selling drugs laced with fentanyl that caused the death of another person. The measure is now before the House chamber, which has until March 28 to pass legislation for this year.
The bill is named after former Lowndes County resident Austin Walters, who, while suffering from anxiety and depression in 2021, purchased fentanyl-laced Xanax pills. In September 2021, Walters was killed by a single pill laced with fentanyl after suffering from anxiety, resulting in him seeking drugs off the street.
In the days following Walter’s death, his father emailed Cogdell Republican Sen. Russ Goodman, asking for help from state lawmakers in crafting criminal penalties for people providing fentanyl, a substance that is 100 times more potent than morphine.
Usually, fentanyl overdoses are caused by the substance being made illegally by mixing it with another drug without the user’s knowledge.
Fentanyl was responsible for more than 70,000 of the 106,000 drug overdose deaths in the United States in 2021, according to the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Under Senate Bill 465, someone convicted of the new charge could serve between 10 to 30 years or life in prison. Prosecutors won’t have to prove the defendant knew the substance was tainted in order to bring charges of involuntary manslaughter.
Goodman said the legislation gives law enforcement and prosecutors stronger means of punishing fentanyl dealers. On Thursday, he thanked Walters’ parents for fighting to prevent other parents from suffering the heartbreak caused by the poisonous substance.
“Drug dealers benefit from the requirement currently under Georgia law that the state must be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the dealer knew the chemical identity of the drugs he sold,” Goodman said. “Under Austin’s Law when the defendant intentionally sells what he believes to be a controlled substance and that substance kills someone then law enforcement will have the tools to bring that drug dealer to justice.”
Democratic Sen. Kim Jackson of Atlanta said that while the bill provides judges with discretion in sentencing, the new crime could also result in felony charges against a college student who unknowingly shares laced drugs with a friend.
Goodman said that the new law is intended to ensure the people distributing an illegal drug to a teenager are held responsible.
“This epidemic is plaguing our country and killing our children,” he said inside the Senate chamber in late February. “I’m hoping that this increased deterrence is going to make it where those fentanyl-laced drugs never show up in the hands of that 17-year-old child.”
House lawmakers have until March 28 to pass a Senate bill named after a Henry County deputy who lost wages not covered by worker’s compensation insurance while recovering from injuries sustained after being shot during an ambush.
Senate Bill 371, known as the “Daniel D. Podsiadly, Jr. Act,” would change how the State Board of Worker’s Compensation handles cases involving police officers who suffer a catastrophic injury in the line of duty.
Under the bill, the injured officer would be eligible to receive the same benefits and pay as prior to suffering the injuries. A claim for catastrophic injuries would be investigated by the State Board of Workers’ Compensation to determine whether an office is eligible for the difference between their worker compensation and their law enforcement salary.
Podsiadly and two Clayton County police officers were shot in July 2023 while pursuing a man suspected of killing four people a day earlier in a Hampton subdivision. The 30-year veteran Henry deputy testified before a Senate committee about the stress of trying to pay his bills while recovering from serious injuries.
Henry County Sheriff Reginald Scandrett organized a fundraiser to help pay his deputy’s bills but soon after contacted state Sen. Brian Strickland, a McDonough Republican, about needing the state to provide financial support for officers facing similar situations. Workers compensation generally pays about two-thirds of the average weekly pay for an employee and in Georgia the maximum weekly amount for a temporary disability is $675.
Strickland would co-sponsor the legislation with Democratic Sen. Emanuel Jones, who also represents a section of Henry County.
“He recently returned to work and is back serving the citizens of Henry County, but because of his service and leadership of Sheriff Scandrett, they wanted to see the passage of this bill In the event another officer finds himself or herself in a similar situation,” Strickland said.
“Senate Bill 371 allows the state to step up and support these peace officers to make sure that while they’re home recovering, paying the bills supporting their family is one less thing to have to worry about,” he said.
If you were kicked out of your Facebook or Instagram account while scrolling earlier Tuesday, you weren’t alone.
Meta’s social media platforms had problems Tuesday morning, with Instagram, Facebook, Facebook Messenger, and Threads pulling up “failure to load” error pages.
DownDetector reported over 461,000 outages at 10:37 a.m. at the outage’s peak. Instagram also had over 70,000 reported outages at the peak.
Apps were also affected, which refused to reload or kicked out users entirely.
“Earlier today, a technical issue caused people to have difficulty accessing some of our services,” said Andy Stone, a communications representative for Meta. “We resolved the issue as quickly as possible for everyone who was impacted, and we apologize for any inconvenience.”
All platforms appear to be fully functional now, although some users say they are having issues with logging back in due to the two-factor login protocol.
Georgia Democratic Congressmen Hank Johnson and Sanford Bishop fill out qualifying paperwork, while candidates including Congresswomen Lucy McBath and Nikema Williams wait in line behind them. (Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder)
ATLANTA (Georgia Recorder) — The Georgia Capitol was abuzz Monday with lawmakers and hopeful lawmakers lined up to qualify to run for office.
All of Georgia’s 14 Congressional representatives, 56 state senators, and 180 state representatives will be up for election. A lot of them – and a lot of people who want to replace them – showed up at the Capitol Monday for the first of five days of signups.
An open seat
One person who won’t be dropping by is Republican Congressman Drew Ferguson, who announced he would not be running late last year, opening up a seat in the deeply conservative 3rd District.
Former state Rep. Philip Singleton (Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder)
Three Republican former state lawmakers signed up to try their hands in Congress Monday. Former state Rep. Philip Singleton and former state Sens. Mike Dugan and Mike Crane will be on the Republican ballot next to retired police officer Jim Bennett.
Singleton said he’s expecting seven Republican candidates to qualify, but he thinks he’s the best man for the job.
“They’re doing a lot on the campaign trail now, and unfortunately, I’m the only one that’s ever done it in the legislature,” he said. “So to me it’s about telling the truth to the voters, and then when you get into office and you get elected, you actually have to do the things you said you were going to do. That’s more than a token vote on the topic once every legislative cycle and try to cover your bases.”
Dugan said he thinks voters will find his record superior.
“In the four years that I was majority leader, you look at issues that the state had been talking about for decades that we needed done and never got them done, during those four years, we got them done,” he said. “Whether it be in the military, whether it be in business, whether it be legislative, I’m the only person in this race that has a proven record of actually accomplishing things.”
Former state Sen. Mike Dugan (Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder)
Two Democrats have qualified for District 3, retired physician Val Almonord and nuclear medicine technologist Maura Keller.
A periwinkle state?
All five of Georgia’s Democratic congressional incumbents qualified Monday morning.
The Democratic Party has been gaining in Georgia in recent elections, and Congresswoman Nikema Williams, chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia, was chipper about her party’s prospects.
“People are lined up this morning waiting to get in to qualify,” she said. “We’re gonna have a very diverse slate of candidates up and down the ticket, some new state legislative lines, we are gonna be competitive in places where we have not been competitive before, a few more fair districts on the ballot, so I am looking forward to Georgia Democrats performing in every corner of every county.”
If Georgians are excited about the Democrats in the corners of their counties, they are less jazzed up about the Democrat in the figurative corners of the Oval Office.
Congresswoman Nikema Williams (Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder)
A recent Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll found that if the election were held last month, 45% of the respondents said they would have given their vote to presumptive Republican nominee former President Donald Trump while 38% would go for President Joe Biden.
As he shook hands with and chatted with newly official GOP candidates, Georgia Republican Party Chair Josh McKoon predicted Biden’s weakness would help Republicans chalk up wins this November.
“Like in many other states, immigration and the economy are the top two issues,” he said. “(Trump) has been talking about immigration for eight years. He’s got a huge advantage over President Biden on that issue. He’s got an advantage over President Biden on the economy. People vote their pocketbooks. They vote national security, and I think that means they’re going to be voting Republican in November for President Trump and the rest of our ticket.”
Biden is not Mr. Popular in the state, but Trump is also disliked by many Georgians. The same Morning Consult poll found Trump’s somewhat unfavorable and very unfavorable ratings were 12% and 40% respectively, while 30% had a very favorable opinion and 16% said had a somewhat favorable opinion.
Rep. Rich McCormick speaks with Georgia Republican Party Chair John McKoon after qualifying to run for re-election (Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder)
Biden scored a very unfavorable rating from 45% of respondents, with another 13% holding a somewhat unfavorable opinion. The president was seen as very favorable by 21% and somewhat favorable by 18%.
Williams said she was “excited” to have Biden at the top of the ballot and touted some of his accomplishments, including the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act. She said Democrats will be working between now and November to remind Georgians about those accomplishments.
“Elections are hard. We’re a true battleground state now,” she said. “We’re not blue, we’re not red, we’re periwinkle. But we’ve got work to do. We have to continue to get our message out to the voters and make sure that they understand who has delivered for them. Democrats deliver day in and day out.”
District shuffle
One Democrat, Congresswoman Lucy McBath, is hoping to deliver to another district yet again.
McBath, now of the 7th District, is running in the 6th District after a federal judge approved a redistricting plan that made her seat friendlier to Republicans.
McBath said she is used to this sort of thing. She flipped the 6th District in 2018, but 2021’s redistricting plan drew the 6th as more conservative, so McBath challenged and defeated fellow Democrat Carolyn Bourdeaux for her seat in the 7th.
Congresswoman Lucy McBath speaks with reporters after qualifying to run for re-election. (Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder)
“We keep having these discussions over and over again, but I’m happy to represent any constituent,” she said. “I’m happy to continue to do the work, and I have decided, as I have in every election, I will not let the extreme Republicans determine when my work in Congress has done. I will let the people decide.”
McBath has so far drawn one challenger from each party. Republican roadside service provider Jeff Criswell threw in his hat Monday, and so did Democratic state Rep. Mandisha Thomas of South Fulton.
The district shuffle means Republican Congressman Rich McCormick will be sliding from the 6th District to the 7th, where he qualified Monday.
Public input is being sought on the future of Gainesville's historic downtown square. (photo courtesy Gainesville Convention and Visitors Bureau)
The city of Gainesville is hoping to get residents’ insight on what they would like to see in downtown Gainesville. The city plans to use the feedback to help shape future development.
The city is hosting two public meetings on March 14 to get feedback on the future of the downtown area. The first meeting will be from 2-4 p.m. at The Vault at The National, located at 109 Green St. The second meeting will be from 5-7 p.m.
Downtown Gainesville has grown rapidly in recent years, and the city is hoping to hear from residents what they want in their town square. City planners say they’re open to all ideas and also want input on what aspects of the historic square could be improved.
Some of the questions residents will be asked include: where people linger, where they sit and stay, how people flow around the square and what park elements they most want to see.
The city will also be asking residents to draw what they envision the downtown square will look like in 10 years.
Residents will have the chance to complete a short survey about themselves and their businesses.
City staff will be on hand for discussion and to answer questions.
The Vault at the National is located at 109 Green Street in downtown Gainesville, Georgia.
A top-10-ranked matchup featuring #4-ranked Tallulah Falls and #5-ranked Elbert County ended in a 1-0 win for the Blue Devils on Monday evening.
Both sides were held to a grand total of six hits. Danny Grant, Chase Pollock, and Diego Gonzalez recorded singles, but TFS couldn’t scratch across a run. Pollock (1-1) was fantastic on the mound, going 5.2 innings while giving up the one earned run on just two hits and four walks against eight strikeouts. He takes the tough-luck loss. Cole Bonitatibus went 1.1 innings in relief with a hit and three strikeouts.
The Indians are now 5-3 overall and 0-1 in region play.
Playing for the first time since February 15, TFS tennis hosted Mt. Paran and earned another split. The Lady Indians won 5-0, while the Indians narrowly beat the defending state champs in a 3-2 loss.
“Great effort by the girls to get another win,” says coach Anthony Cox. “Boys were super close against a defending state champion, so this is something we can build on. Great win for Fabian and David at 2-doubles.”
Ariel Kelsick’s win at 1-singles gives her 22 singles wins for her career, surpassing Evette Corwin (’22) for the program record. The Lady Indians improve to 7-0, while the Indians are now 1-6.
Lady Indians W 5-0 vs Mt. Paran
#1 Singles: Ariel Kelsick (7-0) W 6-1, 6-1
#2 Singles: Jaeda-Lee Daniel-Joseph (5-2) W 6-1, 6-0
#3 Singles: Azaria Junaid (7-0) W 6-0, 6-0
#1 Doubles: Ava Carnes & Keira Webb (1-0) W 6-2, 6-4
#2 Doubles: Lizzie Huebner & Landry Carnes (3-0) W 6-1, 6-1
Indians L 2-3 vs Mt. Paran
#1 Singles: Tanner Davis (4-3) W 6-4, 6-0
#2 Singles: TJ Cox (2-5) L 5-7, 2-6
#3 Singles: Zach Carringer (1-4) L 1-6, 1-6
#1 Doubles: Jake Owensby & Glad Puscasu (1-4) L 0-6, 1-6
#2 Doubles: Fabian Deppe & David Vasic (1-4) W 6-1, 3-6 (10-8)
