December 5, 2014 — Gwinnett Daily Post

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Gwinnett Daily Post FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

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Vol. 45, No. 47

GCSO unit using plate readers to serve warrants

By Tyler esTep

fice’s field operations commander, said Thursday. “It’s really amazing that there’s that much difference between LAWRENCEVILLE — traditional warrant service Over a three-month trial and doing the LPR system.” period, a handful of Gwinnett “The LPR system” is a County sheriff’s deputies reference to the department’s took a fresh approach toward four license plate readers, serving warrants. devices mounted on squad The results were imprescars that read license plates sive enough to make their on passing vehicles and comnew unit a permanent one. pare them to state and local “I did not expect those databases of wanted persons. kind of numbers,” Maj. Kirk When Williamson started in Williamson, the sheriff’s of- his current position earlier tyler.estep @gwinnettdailypost.com

this year, deputies suggested the devices — originally obtained to keep tabs on sex offenders — might be useful in everyday warrant service.

Williamson decided to give it a 90-day trial and, between Aug. 3 and Nov. 3, a small handful of deputies went to work. They picked high-traffic areas across the county, set up shop and let the LPRs bring bad guys to them.

Over those three months, the team served 175 of their own warrants, plus 33 for

other agencies.

In the 90-day stretch beforehand, the same deputies worked the old fashioned way — knocking on doors, interviewing witnesses, etc.

— and served just 44.

“I really didn’t know (what to expect),” Williamson said, “but I did not expect it to be a 397 percent increase.”

The offenses covered the gamut, from traffic and ordinance violations to felonies.

A new unit at the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office is using vehiclemounted license plate readers like these to help serve warrants. (Special Photo)

See WARRANTS, Page 9A

Minimum wage hike sought by legislators

By KrisTi reed kristi.reed@gwinnettdailypost.com

— is particularly important for the sake of nearly 500 nurses the hospital employs.

Even before Schmidly came on, Chief Nursing Officer Stuart Downs had been trying to increase nurse morale, after finding the mood of the workers lower than he’d like when he started last year.

Now, the new CEO and CNO are working together

The start of the next session of the Georgia General Assembly is still more than a month away, but several Gwinnett lawmakers have already prefiled bills aimed at increasing the state minimum wage, making HOPE calculations more fair and legalizing certain types of marijuana usage.

District 100 State Rep. Dewey McClain, D-Lawrenceville, along with State Rep. Tyrone Brooks, D-Atlanta, has prefiled a bill which, if passed, would increase The question the state’s I ask (other minimum lawmakers) is, wage to ‘Could you live $15 per on (minimum hour. The wage)?’” bill — — State Rep. Dewey McClain, House Bill D-Lawrenceville 8 — would provide for annual minimum wage increases to match the rising cost of living and would eliminate various eligibility exemptions from the minimum wage law.

McClain, who serves as the current president of the Atlanta North Georgia Labor Council AFL-CIO, said he believes the state’s current minimum wage, the federal $7.25 rate, is simply not adequate.

“A person can’t survive on that income at all,” he said.

Even at $15 per hour, McClain said, a worker would only gross approximately $31,000 a year and net $20,000 or less annually.

“You’re still almost in poverty at $15 an hour,” he said.

According to McClain, he has plenty of support from fellow Democrats and will be working to convince Republican lawmakers that the state’s current rate is not high enough.

“The question I ask them is, ‘Could

See EASTSIDE, Page 9A

See WAGE, Page 9A

“

New Eastside CEO Scott Schmidly, left, talks with Evelyn Williams, a nurse assistant on the ICU floor of the North Tower at Eastside Medical Center in Snellville. Before coming to Eastside in October, Schmidly was the CEO at St. Joseph’s in Atlanta and hopes that his skills in relationship building and leadership will help create a place where the staff loves coming to work and patients feel welcome. (Staff Photo: David Welker)

Eager for Eastside Hospital’s new CEO puts employee morale first

By Joshua sharpe

about their professional histories and their lives. At doorways, he slows his pace to let them walk through SNELLVILLE — In a suit first. of fine cloth, with glimmerIt wouldn’t be difficult to ing cufflinks at his wrists, imagine him as a political the new CEO walks the halls candidate, out on the stump at Eastside Medical Center. for votes.

The smiling, dark-haired Scott Schmidly, though, man stops to speak to nearly already has the job. every employee he passes.

He took over the SnellWith each of the subordiville hospital on Oct. 1, and nates, he shakes hands or all of this — every affable hugs. He chats and asks move — fits with his plans joshua.sharpe @gwinnettdailypost.com

for improving Eastside from the ground up, starting with employee morale.

“We spend so much time of our waking hours at work,” the 43-year-old father of two said. “We really want to celebrate everybody in our organization.

“It’s not really about our title.”

Schmidly said fostering a positive professional culture — he likes to call it a “work-life community”

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2A • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

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Cops: Custodian had cocaine on school property

By Tyler esTep

an Sloan Roach, an employee at the Hoschton high school was leaving work on Nov. A now-former custodian at 19 when they discovered a Mill Creek High was arrested “black zippered pouch” in last month after allegedly the staff parking lot. The emdropping cocaine in a school ployee then took the pouch to parking lot. an assistant principal.

According to Gwinnett “The pouch contained County schools spokeswom- some first aid items, a pictyler.estep@gwinnettdailypost.com

GGC to step up STEM pledge

By KeiTh Farner

keith.farner @gwinnettdailypost.com

As part of a partnership between the White House and more than 140 college presidents announced on Thursday, Georgia Gwinnett College is stepping up its pledge to STEM education.

The Lawrenceville school has committed to five primary goals for its graduates by 2020 in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. The Obama administration and college presidents such as GGC’s Stas Preczewski Stas Preczewski attended several events at the Reagan Building in Washington to discuss building networks between high schools, colleges and communities.

GGC officials said the school would increase STEM enrollment by 25 percent, STEM retention by five percent and STEM graduates by 50 percent.

The school also pledges to have STEM enrollment and retention of underrepresented populations be at or above STEM enrollment for adequately represented populations.

GGC spokeswoman Sloan Jones said the School of Science and Technology has an enrollment of 2,992 majors (a student could have more than one major) including 1,270 in biology, 44 in chemistry, 476 in exercise science, 1,032 in information technology and 170 in math.

That makes up 27.5 percent of GGC majors.

Biology and IT are the second and third most popular majors at the school behind business, which has 2,480 students.

GGC’s full-time first time freshmen retention is 68 percent, while the retention rate for SST majors who are full-time first time freshmen is 62 percent.

Twenty two percent of GGC’s 2014 graduates were in the SST. By comparison of ethnicities, GGC’s total population is 39 percent white, 31 percent black, 16 percent Hispanic, 9 percent Asian and 5 percent are others. In science and technology, 34 percent are white, 32 percent are black, 15 percent are Hispanic, 13 percent are Asian and 6 percent are others.

Preczewski said in a statement that the STEM initative is an outgrowth of the college’s overall commitment.

“GGC is an innovative model for 21st century higher education and an access institution that was built from the ground up for individual student success — no matter the level of academic preparation, learning style, work schedule or financial barrier,” he said.

“Our model is a perfect fit for this initiative that has the ability to transform education as we now know it.

ture, a portion of a drinking straw with a white powdery residue on it, and a white powder tied in a cellophane wrapper,” Roach said in an email.

The assistant principal then contact the school resource officer, who began an investigation.

It was unclear Thursday how that investigation eventually led to 41-year-old Mary Katherine Williams, then a custodian at Mill Creek, but she was arrested Nov. 24 and charged with a single count of possession of a Schedule II drug. An arrest warrant alleged that

Williams “lost her black zippered pouch” in the parking lot and identified the powder inside as cocaine.

Roach said Williams is no longer employed by the school district. The 41-yearold Buford woman was released the same day as her arrest on $11,200 bond.

Mary Katherine Williams

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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014 • 3A

Tibetan monks create sacred art in Milledgeville

By Laura CorLey The M acon Telegraph

MILLEDGEVILLE — Christina Thomas watched from behind a roped-off wooden table Wednesday as four monks stroked a metal bar across coneshaped tubes filled with sand, which precisely fell

onto a hand-drawn design.

“I am amazed by the amount of patience that it takes for them,” said Thomas, a sophomore at Georgia College who watched the artwork in progress at Allen’s Market.

“The amount of detail that is going into the work is practically surreal. I don’t

think that I would have that much patience ever in my life.”

Since Monday, 10 monks from Drepung Loseling Monastery’s North American seat in Atlanta have been working in shifts to make the sacred mandala of Avalokiteshvara, a richly designed

and detailed sand painting.

Avalokiteshvara is the bodhisattva, or enlightened being, of compassion. Monks re-create the mandala’s design from memory.

The monks are in Milledgeville for a fiveday residency sponsored

by Town and Gown Arts, a partnership between

Milledgeville Allied Arts and Georgia College’s Arts Unlimited Committee.

For many, the mandala is the highlight of “The Mystical Arts of Tibet” tour. After it’s completed Friday, half of the colorful sand painting will be swept into an urn and shared with the audience. The other

half will be poured into the Oconee River.

“That represents impermanence,” said Geshe Thubten Loden, spokesman for the monks visiting Milledgeville. “When we have an understanding of that impermanence, then in our day-to-day life, (if) we lose our possessions or our partner ... it will not make us that much more stressful (because) we know that it’s a part of life (and to) let it be like that.”

The mandala is also destroyed to bring about global healing, Loden said. The monks believe every single grain of sand contains healing energy, and by pouring it into the water, “eventually ... it will (come back as) rain,” Loden said.

“We believe making the mandala will bring peace and harmony to the environment and to each of its inhabitants here in Milledgeville,” he said.

The chak-phur, which are the cone-shaped tools used to pour the sand, are rubbed with a metal bar and “with that vibration, it makes the flow of sand,” Loden said.

To become a geshe, Loden studied for 17 years.

He said going on the tour meant giving up family life for three goals: contributing financially to his monastery, sharing Tibetan culture, and bringing peace and harmony to the planet.

Thomas, a psychology and criminal justice major, said she studied Tibetan monks in her world religion class but came to a new realization while watching them create the mandala.

“In the western world, we go to church on Sunday and we go to church on Wednesday, but we go about our daily lives.

Religion is (a monk’s) life,” Thomas said. “I don’t think we often have that concept of religion, and that’s something I’m pulling away from this whole experience.”

Dozens protest at MARTA station The assoCiaTed Press ATLANTA — Demonstrators gathered again in downtown Atlanta to protest a New York City grand jury’s decision not to indict a white police officer in the videotaped death of an unarmed black man.

A group of roughly 100 protesters gathered near the Five Points MARTA train station to protest the grand jury declining to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who was accused of using a chokehold to subdue Eric Garner on Staten Island July 17.

About 150 protesters also gathered in downtown Atlanta on Wednesday night after learning of the grand jury’s decision. Atlanta Police spokesman Officer John Chafee said no arrests, injuries or damage had been reported after the Wednesday demonstrations.

Local media reported that several universities also held protests, some featuring “die-ins,” which involve groups of demonstrators lying on the ground.

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4A • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

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Microsoft reps offer career examples to South students

By Keith Farner

keith.farner @gwinnettdailypost.com

SNELLVILLE — Before Wednesday’s class in introduction to digital technology, Karla Martinez planned to pursue a career in cosmetology.

Then she heard that the lead developer on one of the largest gaming franchises going, Assassin’s Creed, is a woman. Now Martinez is thinking about a change in career paths.

The South Gwinnett High sophomore said her future looks different with a career in gaming development as an option.

“It seems more fun,” she said.

That thought process was common among the students in teacher Keithe Williams’ class on Thursday as they heard from four representatives from Microsoft who offered ways to access scholarships, mentorships and software downloads that would otherwise cost tens of thousands of dollars.

“It gives you a preview of what it will be like,” Martinez said.

Added senior Layhela Fontaine, “It gives me a better understanding of what part of game development I want to do.”

Senior Minh Nguyen said some of the programs come with a tutorial, which is a bonus.

Microsoft employee Darrell Williams, left, and South Gwinnett High teacher Keithe Williams talk with students on Thursday in an introduction to digital technology class about software development, video game production, college scholarships and mentorships.

Eric Tarplin was one of four representatives from Microsoft who visited South Gwinnett High School on Thursday to discuss software development, video game production, college scholarships and mentorships with students in an introduction to digital technology class. (Staff Photos: Keith Farner)

“If I knew there were programs like this out there, I probably would have started earlier,” he said.

Darrell Williams, Eric Tarplin, Tommy Patrick and Ramses Trammell came to South from the Microsoft retail store in Perimeter Mall as a community outreach to expose students to programs like YouthSpark, which is a Microsoft company-wide initiative to create opportunities for youth.

The event was another example of businesses par-

ticipating in the first year of South’s academy model that gives students examples of real-world careers and a path to land a job.

“In order for an academy model to work, we have to have businesses in the local area invested in students to give them jobs that are needed,” Keithe Williams said. “We have thousands and thousands of jobs out there, but we have millions and millions of people looking because they don’t have the technical skills to fill those positions.”

During the class pe-

riod, students divided into groups and brainstormed about software applications and how to develop and market them.

Among the ideas was an app that creates outfits out of clothes, and uses accessories and makeup to complete the appearance.

Another group created a female character that lost her memory, but gained it back during the course of the game that took place in a futuristic setting.

But the winning group as chosen by the Microsoft visitors was a cellphone

battery that is charged through a combination of electric power, solar energy and human energy.

Williams’ also brought his wife, Adrienne Williams, a Microsoft attorney, to discuss intellectual property, copyrights, trademarks and patents.

“They were rapt, especially considering I stood between them and lunch,” she said. “They had a lot of questions about the applications of the different laws, how you actually obtain a copyright for it, what the limits are on it, they had a lot of questions.”

Keithe Williams said his wife, a product of a Bronx housing project and singleparent household who has become a senior attorney at a Fortune 100 company

is another example that a career can be reached.

The idea, Keithe Williams said, is to expose students to something that they might not otherwise think is possible for someone from Snellville.

The hope is to make progress on the statistics that Williams posts in his classroom that say less than 0.1 percent of students who take the Advanced Placement computer science are Hispanic and African-American.

The visit by Microsoft employees is the beginning of what Williams hopes turns into a long-term partnership that includes student internships and field trips to the Microsoft Technology Center and “imagine if” room.

Gwinnett Great Days of Service luncheon honors supporters

By Katie Morris

Shining Star Award was given to Great Days commitee member Jan Murphy for her outstanding work.

“We look forward to next year’s Great Days of Service. Mayor Nancy Harris has agreed to help

katie.morris @gwinnettdailypost.com

LAWRENCEVILLE — When Gwinnett Great Days of Service was first founded 14 years ago, there were 10 projects and 100 volunteers.

The following year, there were still 10 projects but participation had grown to 1,000 volunteers.

This year’s event had more than 300 projects, 129 schools that collected 85,000 food and personal care items, 68 participating agencies and 27 sponsors.

Jennifer Hendrikson, Chair of Gwinnett Days of Service, announced this year’s success during her welcome address at the Great Days of Service luncheon held at Gwinnett Technical College.

The 15th annual Gwinnett Great Days of Service was held Oct. 24 and 25. The volunteer event organized by the Gwinnett Coalition for Health and Human Services benefits local nonprofit agencies that provide goods and services to community members struggling financially or emotionally.

Event organizers, sponsors, supporters, volunteers and dignitaries, including Lawrenceville Mayor Judy Jordan Johnson and

The Great Days of Service Luncheon on Thursday honored event organizers and supporters including, from left, Ann Cramer of Coxe Curry and Associates, Ellen Gerstein, Executive Director of The Gwinnett Coalition, David Welden, Executive Vice-President of Administration, Jan Murphy GDOS committee member and Shining Star Award recipient and Jennifer Hendrickson, GDOS Chair. (Staff Photo: Katie Morris)

Duluth Mayor Nancy Harris, gathered at Thursday’s luncheon to celebrate the events success. Sponsors were honored with plaques and certificates given as tokens of appreciation for their support.

This year’s keynote speaker, Ann Cramer, delivered a heartfelt speech encouraging the community to continue joining together and making a difference.

“This community has found a way to do kind, good actions that not only make a difference here but indeed it does fit in with

dove-tail exactness, budding up against Walton, over against Fulton and down against DeKalb.”

Cramer said. “We can see that Great Days of Service are propelled by great people and great people are in Gwinnett, so thank you all.”

After her speech, Cramer was presented with a special framed Great Days of Service T-shirt. Jennifer Hendrickson was also given special recognition for stepping in as event chair in the middle of this year’s event. This year’s

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chair along with Jennifer (Hendrickson) next year.

We are delighted about that,” Gwinnnett Coalition Executive Director Ellen Gerstein said. “We hope that everyone will continue to support this event, bring-

ing more volunteers and sponsors. I’m sure we can make next year even bigger and better.”

For more information about Great Days, visit www.gwinnettgreatdaysofservice.org.

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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014 • 5A

Commissioners seek public’s input on budget

By Kristi reed

ments, increased library funding as well as new positions in courts, the sheriff’s department and animal conNext Monday, Gwinnett residents trol. The budget will also provide for will have the opportunity to provide the opening of the new Level Creek feedback regarding the county’s 2015 Park in Sugar Hill and the construcproposed budget. tion of two new fire stations.

The Gwinnett County Board of The proposed 2015 budget, as Commissioners has called a meeting well as a link to an online feedback for Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. to receive public form, is available online at gwininput on the $1.42-billion 2015 bud- nettcounty.com. Comments will be get proposal which includes, among accepted through Wednesday, Dec. other items, a 4 percent pay increase 31. Residents wishing to provide for county employees. input in person are invited to attend Commission Chairwoman Charthe Dec. 8 public hearing which lotte Nash presented the fiscal year will be held in the auditorium at the 2015 budget proposal during a Nov. Gwinnett Justice and Administration 18 briefing. In addition to the pay Center located at 75 Langley Drive in increase for county employees, the Lawrenceville. budget also includes additional road Commissioners are scheduled to services, transit service enhanceadopt the 2015 budget on Jan. 6. kristi.reed@gwinnettdailypost.com

Commission Chairwoman Charlotte Nash presented the 2015 proposed budget during a briefing last month.

(Staff Photo: Kristi Reed)

Community group raises funds for holiday lighting From staFF reports

Power to have electricity run to the sign to make the holiday Thanks in part to the efforts light installation possible. of community volunteers, According to Debbie Peachtree Corners’ Paul Duke Mason, head of the Peachtree Parkway gateway sign is now Parkway Improvement Projlighted and decorated for the ect, the lighting project was holidays. completely funded by UPCCA The United Peachtree Corthrough donations from resiners Civic Association, which dents and businesses. raised the $40,000 to construct This year marks the first the monument located at the time the sign, which was split of Peachtree Parkway and erected in 2008, has been Peachtree Industrial Boulelighted and decorated. The city vard, worked with Georgia purchased and installed the

lights, garland, wreaths and bows on the monument and erected a star-topped tree next to the sign. Both the sign and tree will be lit each evening through the holidays.

“It’s great to have the Peachtree Corners gateway sign lighted at last,” Mayor Mike Mason said in a statement.

Mason added the monument will soon have more enhancements including permanent lights and new landscaping.

The Peachtree Corners gateway sign project was the result of a fundraising effort by the United Peachtree Corners Civic Association.

(Special Photo)

Va. brewery taps prominent family’s 300-year-old beer recipe By michael FelBerBaum The Associated Press

RICHMOND, Va. —

What do you get when you combine water, American persimmons and hops and ferment it

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with yeast? A beer based on a 300-year-old recipe scribbled in a cookbook kept by Virginia’s prominent Randolph family.

Ardent Craft Ales in Richmond recently brewed “Jane’s Percimon Beer” unearthed from the book in the Virginia Historical Society’s collections from the 1700s that contains food, medicinal remedies and beer recipes. The formula for the Colonial-era concoction is one of thousands of alcoholic recipes in the society’s collection that provide a glimpse into what Virginians and others were drinking in the 18th century and other points in history.

“You can feel a connection across time when you’re drinking something that maybe hasn’t been drunk for a couple hundred years,” said Paul Levengood, president and CEO of the Virginia Historical Society, a privately funded nonprofit that collects, preserves and interprets the state’s history. “It’s a fun way to bring the past into the present.”

As one would expect, the process of brewing the beer was dramatically different from the techniques and equipment used in modern-day brewing. Where current recipes include very specific instructions on the amount of ingredients and timing, the handwritten formula of just a few

Kevin O’Leary, co-owner of Ardent Craft Ales, takes a sample of Persimmon beer at the facility in Richmond, Va., on Tuesday. Ardent Craft Ales is tapping into the Virginia Historical Society’s collections to serve up a 300-year-old beer made with persimmons from a cookbook from the 1700s. The beer recipe is one of several in the society’s collection that provide a glimpse into what Virginians and others were drinking in the 18th century.

(AP Photo/Steve Helber)

short sentences contains no detailed instructions or quantities. The first trial run using about 17 pounds of persimmons yielded only three gallons of beer.

“With a lot of these recipes, the real fun of it is trying to figure out where the little pieces of wisdom hid in the recipes,” said Tom Sullivan, who brewed the beer with fellow Ardent Craft Ales co-owner Kevin O’Leary.

“If you’re making this stuff for yourself and your family and drinking it all the time, you bet your bottom dollar the end product was good.”

And how does it taste?

The light peach-colored concoction conjures touches of sweetness and tangerine-like notes from the persimmons and just a

whisper of spiciness from the English Golding hops.

The libation is considered a table beer, clocking in at an extremely easydrinking 3 percent or less of alcohol by volume.

That would be pretty typical of alcoholic beverages of the time that were enjoyed with many meals.

In 1790, annual percapita alcohol consumption for those over age 15 was 34 gallons of beer and cider, five gallons of distilled spirits and one gallon of wine, according to US government figures cited in an article in the “Colonial Williamsburg” history magazine. Unlike alcohol that was boiled and fermented, water at that time included high levels of bacteria that sickened those who drank it.

Sullivan said the brewery hopes to comb through other recipes in the society’s collection and create other beers from Virginia rich beer history. And with craft beer gaining consumer interest across the country, Levengood said the partnership presents an opportunity to discuss alcohol production and consumption throughout history.

Archaeologists recently uncovered the remains of what is likely an 18th century brewery on the campus of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg. Officials at the nation’s second oldest college say the discovery will allow them to tell a broader story about campus life in the Colonial era that involved the interaction of slaves, Native Americans, faculty and students.

And beer caves built in 1866 along the James River in Richmond were listed on the National Register of Historic Places earlier this year. The brick and granite remnants were from the James River Steam Brewery founded

by David G. Yuengling Jr., son of the founder of “America’s Oldest Brewery” in Pottsville, Pa., the year after the fall of Richmond to Union troops.

“That’s the great thing about Virginia, right?

You’re tripping over (history) every day and you don’t even realize it sometimes,” Sullivan said.

First Orion launch scrubbed; NASA will try again today By marcia dunn AP Aerospace Writer

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Wind gusts and sluggish fuel valves conspired to keep NASA’s new Orion spacecraft on the launch pad Thursday, delaying a crucial test flight meant to revitalize human exploration.

NASA aimed for another shot this morning as tens of thousands of disappointed and weary launch guests hustled out. The weather report was iffy — forecasters expected higher winds, clouds and rain — but managers were optimistic the wind direction would shift in their favor.

United Launch Alliance’s Dan Collins, who’s in charge of the unmanned Delta IV rocket, said he

was confident the valve trouble, seen before on a previous mission, could be quickly overcome.

“The team was absolutely on their game, listening to everything the rocket was telling us, and it ultimately told us it wasn’t ready to go today,” Collins told reporters. “And so we’ll go make sure we’ve got a happy rocket ... and send Orion off to a very, very successful test flight.”

Orion is how NASA hopes to send astronauts on round trips to Mars in the decades ahead. This inaugural flight, while just 4 1/2 hours, will send the unmanned capsule 3,600 miles into space.

It’s the first attempt to send a spacecraft capable of carrying humans beyond a couple hundred miles

of Earth since the Apollo moon program.

NASA’s new countdown clock — making its debut alongside Orion — got a workout as problem after problem cropped up in the final four minutes Thursday.

The initial launch was delayed by excessive wind and a cargo ship believed to be in the launch-danger zone; it later turned out the ship was in a safe spot.

Then the valve trouble cropped up in the rocket’s first-stage boosters.

“It was a roller coaster: We’re going, we’re not going,” said Sarah McNulty, a space educator who was helping NASA escort the several-hundred news media on hand. “I’m running on no hours of sleep, zero, zero hours.”

6A • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014 To Your Good Health

gwinnettdailypost.com

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Keith Roach

Particle tets give better info?

DEAR DR. ROACH: I read your column daily and have confidence in y our advice. My question pertains to cholesterol, specifically LDL-P (particles) and how they differ from LDL-C (cholesterol). My cholesterol readings are as follows: total, 176; triglycerides, 170; HDL, 50; LDL, 92.

My particle numbers are LDL-P of 1,570, and the SMLD-P was 930, so my doctor advised me to increase my pravastatin dose from 10 mg to 20 mg. Because of statin side effects, I resist increasing my dose.

Today, how often are physicians basing their prescriptions and advice on particle numbers rather than on cholesterol readings? I’m 80, in good health with no diabetes or known heart disease, try to eat a healthy diet and walk at least a mile daily.

In your opinion, should I increase the statin dosage?

— N.B. ANSWER: There are two questions here.

The first is whether the measurement of LDL particles adds value to the measuring of LDL cholesterol levels, and although there is some preliminary evidence that it might, most authorities don’t recommend using the reading except in certain high-risk populations, especially in people with diabetes.

The second question is when is it appropriate to increase the dose of statins? For most people, the recommended goal of therapy is an LDL number of less than 100, which you have already achieved with your medication, diet and exercise.

Levels of less than 70 are advocated by some cardiologists in people of very high risk (such as people with multiple coronary artery blockages already).

Because you are at a reasonable level and don’t have diabetes or heart disease, and especially because you have side effects, I would not recommend increasing the dosage for someone in your situation. I do recommend continuing your healthy diet and walking, which have many benefits beyond cholesterol and the heart.

Dr. Roach regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but will incorporate them in the column whenever possible. Readers may email questions to ToYourGoodHealth@med.cornell.edu or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475.

Health newsletters may be ordered from www.rbmamall.com.

HOROSCOPES

WEATHER WATCH

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SOLUNAR TABLES

The solunar tables for lakes are based on studies that show fish and game are more active at certain times during the lunar period.

MAJOR

The Gwinnett Daily Post (UPSP 921-980, ISSN 10860096) is published Wednesday through Friday and Sunday by SCNI, 725 Old Norcross Road, Lawrenceville, GA 30045. Periodical postage paid at Lawrenceville, GA 30044. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Gwinnett Daily Post, P.O. Box 603, Lawrenceville, GA 30046-0603.

35

30

31

LAKE LEVELS

Lake

Full

Allatoona

(840.0) ........ 827.67

Yesterday

Lake

Full

Yesterday

Lanier

(1071.0) ...... 1067.28

Blackshear (237.0) ....... 233.47

Nottely

(1779.0) ......1759.41

Blue Ridge (1690.0) ......1666.68

Oconee

(435.0) ....... 434.98

Burton

(1865.0) ......1855.88

Seminole

(77.50) ...........76.60

6:22-7:22 a.m............5:09-6:09 p.m.

Carters

(1072.0) ...... 1071.17

Sinclair

(339.8) ....... 338.25

POLLEN COUNTS

Chatuge

(1927.0) ......1914.94

Thurmond

(330.0) ....... 323.89

Harding

(521.0) ....... 520.60

Tugalo

(891.5) ........889.14

Hartwell

(660.0) ....... 654.94

Walter F. George(190) ...... 187.78

Jackson

(530.0) ....... 528.68

West Point (635.0) ....... 629.80

....................... 11:48 a.m.-1:48 p.m.

MINOR

Trees: Low Weeds: Low Grass: Low

TODAY IN HISTORY

LOTTERY Thursday Cash 3 Midday: 2-4-8 Cash 4 Midday: 9-3-3-5 Ga. 5 Midday: 9-9-1-2-8 Wednesday Cash 3 Midday: 9-5-7 Cash 3 Evening: 8-8-2 Cash 4 Midday: 6-2-9-3 Cash 4 Evening: 3-4-2-0 Ga. 5 Midday: 3-9-5-2-9 Ga. 5 Evening: 8-2-0-8-5 Fantasy 5: 6-13-17-23-35 Powerball: 25-30-32-46-54, Powerball: 26, Power Play: 3x

TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1933, the era of alcohol prohibition ended as Utah became the 36th state to ratify the 21st Amendment.

In 1955, Martin Luther King Jr., E.D. Dixon, Rosa Parks and other activists launched an organized bus boycott in Montgomery, Ala. In 1955, the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merged, forming the AFL-CIO. In 1994, Newt Gingrich of Georgia was selected to become the first Republican Speaker of the House in four decades.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Martin Van Buren (1782-1862), eighth U.S. president; George Armstrong Custer (1839-1876), U.S. Army officer; Walt Disney (1901-1966), cartoonist/filmmaker; Strom Thurmond (1902-2003),

governor/senator; Otto Preminger (1906-1986), film director; Little Richard (1932- ), singer-songwriter; Joan Didion (1934- ), author; Jose Carreras (1946- ), opera singer; Margaret Cho (1968- ), actress/comedian; Amy Acker (1976- ), actress; Keri Hilson (1982- ), singersongwriter; Frankie Muniz (1985- ), actor.

TODAY’S FACT: The 21st Amendment expressly gave each state the right to restrict or ban the purchase or sale of alcohol, which meant that many states continued to enforce prohibition laws even after 1933. Mississippi was the last state to repeal prohibition, in 1966.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1978, longtime Cincinnati Reds star Pete Rose signed a 4-year, $3.2 million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies, becoming Major League Baseball’s highest-paid player at the time.

READER’S GUIDE

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Who To Call

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Stepfather wants to walk her down the aisle DEAR AMY: My daughter is getting married next year. I am very happy for her and don’t want to interfere with her plans, but I am really afraid that she won’t ask her stepfather (my husband) to walk her down the aisle.

He has been in her life for a long time, while her father has not. I know he would be very hurt to be excluded, and might even choose not to come to the wedding if he is excluded.

What should I do?

— Mother of the Bride DEAR MOTHER: Many women choose to walk down the aisle alone or with their partners — not their parents.

The whole idea of a man “giving a woman away” strikes some women as antiquated and sexist. Perhaps your daughter feels this way.

This is your daughter’s choice and I suggest that you accept it and not set this up as a hurtful exclusion, but as a legitimate choice. Staying away from the ceremony because of this would be extremely hurtful.

It would be great if your daughter saved a “spotlight” dance for her stepfather; this is one way she can highlight the relationship with him.

DEAR AMY: I just had a baby. My mother in-law has

like a college fund, to put the money toward, but she says she’ll do whatever she wants.

I flat-out told her if we receive too many toys, they will be donated. Now, she is buying toys for an infant, sometimes multiples because she forgets what she bought.

I am outraged at her behavior and her blatant Amy Dickinson disrespect for our wishes.

She is lonely and none of already said she will buy us her kids can seem to rein her mountains upon mountains in. I do not know what to do of toys. I believe her. anymore.

Last Christmas, our niece, — Enough Toys who is 4, received nearly 20 DEAR ENOUGH: Your toys, including a $500 item, mother-in-law may have from just my mother-in-law. a problem bigger than her The child receives gifts from overspending issues. If she every family member, so is forgetting what she has it’s not like no one else buys bought and can’t seem to pay things for her, there is no her bills, she might be strugneed to “make up” for gifts gling with some memory or she wouldn’t receive. mental health issues.

It’s like this every holiday/ You and your husband birthday. A million toys, too must be on the same page. If much money spent, while or when you receive a mounmy mother-in-law is behind tain of toys for the baby, ask on her mortgage and repeat- her to choose one to give to edly asks us for help. the child and you will return I have said to her that at the rest and return the money Christmas I don’t want too to her. many toys for my child. I Do not act angry or harsh, was told how horrible that is but loving and firm. Say to of me, how dare I deprive a her, “We asked you not to do child of playing and that I’m this and we feel very strongbeing selfish. My husband ly about it. Your generosity tried backing me up on this, is creating problems for us. but his mom wouldn’t hear The best thing now would it. We gave her alternatives, be for you to hold the baby

Ask Amy

and enjoy her along with us.

That’s what we really want for Christmas.”

DEAR AMY: I very much liked your suggestion to “Bill” regarding a premeal blessing for multi-faith/ non-faith gatherings, and have another to offer.

I was raised in a staunch Catholic family, but have not practiced Catholicism for many years. We also sought a blessing that matched our beliefs, which came to us by way of our children who learned this blessing when they were in day care more than 25 years ago.

It goes like this: “We wish for peace, food, and happiness for people all over the world. Thank you for our food. Amen.” It’s simple, allinclusive, a message of heartfelt wishes, and an expression of our own gratitude.

— Amen DEAR AMEN: I like it.

Thank you.

You can contact Amy Dickinson via email: askamy@tribpub.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @askingamy or “like” her on Facebook. Amy Dickinson’s memoir, “The Mighty Queens of Freeville: A Mother, a Daughter and the Town that Raised Them” (Hyperion), is available in bookstores.

Stay calm and plan every move in advance when dealing with money matters. Resist the pleas from anyone asking for a loan or handout. A strict budget will keep you from getting in over your head and allow you to save for something special.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) — Keep anyone trying to persuade you to do something that goes against your morals or beliefs at arm’s length.

Don’t give in to temptation or you will damage your reputation and confidence.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) — Business and pleasure will go hand-in-hand. You will make a favorable impression on your peers with your friendly and relaxed manner. Useful advice will come from an unexpected source.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — You will be overtly emotional to remarks or gestures made in your presence. Step away from the situation before a heated discussion breaks out. It’s better to retreat than to have regrets.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) — Take time to have some fun. Spend the day at a spa, take a hike or listen to music. Time spent alone or with someone you love will ease your jangled nerves.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) — Your earning potential can increase if you are willing to learn new skills.

Take a close look at the qualifications you need to land a top position and start the ball rolling.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) — Difficulties while traveling will be aggravating. Keep a level head during traffic delays or poor weather conditions.

It’s best to slow down and let everything around you unfold naturally.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) — Get out and interact with people who appreciate your attributes and stimulate your senses.

Beneficial personal and professional connections will be made if you network. Share what you have to offer.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) — You can reduce your stress level if you refuse to let others take advantage of you. Following your intuition will enable you to make the best choice.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) — Don’t be tempted to reveal your personal secrets. Deal with unfinished projects and chores.

You will accomplish all you set out to do and still have time left over for relaxation.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept.

22) — The key to a current situation can be resolved if you discuss your dilemma with someone you trust and respect. The expertise offered will ensure that you are on the right path.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) — Decisions regarding your financial future should take top priority.

Make a list of everything you already have in place and set realistic goals to achieve your desired outcome.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) — Deception is evident. Someone will keep important information from you. Don’t believe everything that you are told or shown. Get the facts firsthand and you won’t make a costly mistake.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014 • 7A

gwinnettdailypost.com

world&nation WORLD Australia restarts asylum visas

Holder promises Garner probe ReuteRs

SYDNEY — Australia’s conservative government on Friday reintroduced controversial temporary visas that will free thousands of would-be refugees languishing in detention centers to live in the community — but they may face deportation at the end of three years.

Thousands of people seeking refuge reached Australia by boat before the previous government instituted a hard-line policy to send such asylum seekers to thirdparty countries for processing and made them ineligible to settle in Australia.

That backlog, which includes hundreds of children, will now be able to leave detention centers in Australia and live for three years in the community, where they will have work rights and may eventually apply for skilled or other migrant visas.

If they don’t get a permanent visa, they can be sent back to their country of origin.

NEW YORK — U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday promised a full investigation into a white New York police officer’s role in the choking death of an unarmed black man, following a night of protests over a grand jury decision not to bring charges in the incident.

More protests were expected on Thursday in New York. The grand jury’s decision on Wednesday came nine days after the news that a white officer in Missouri who shot and killed an unarmed black teenager would also not face criminal charges.

The New York officer, Daniel Pantaleo, could face disciplinary action from an internal probe, his lawyer said, adding that he expects that process to move quickly.

A departmental investigation will likely focus on whether he employed a chokehold, banned by New York Police Department regulations, contributing to Lawmakers set the death of 43-year-old Eric last-ditch push Garner as officers arrested for ISIS war bill him in July.

The New York and MisWASHINGTON — Dem- souri cases have sparked ocrats on the Senate Foreign sometimes violent protests Relations Committee made a around the country by last-ditch push on Thursday demonstrators who say to vote on an authorization U.S. law enforcement and for the use of military force the criminal justice system against Islamic State before are stacked against Afrithey hand full control of Congress over to Republicans next month.

As debate intensified in the House of Representatives and Senate over the camBoehner: House paign against the militant has ‘leverage’ Islamist group in Iraq and on immigration Syria, Democrats launched WASHINGTON — Iga plan to attach a formal noring objections from authorization for the use of some conservative Repubmilitary force as an amendment to a water bill the panel licans, U.S. House Speaker considered — and passed — John Boehner on Thursday on Thursday. vowed to plow ahead with Republicans vehemently a spending bill that avoids a objected, accusing Demogovernment shutdown while crats of forcing a politically keeping some budget “levermotivated vote in order to age” over President Barack get on the record as objectObama’s immigration order. ing to sending any U.S. Boehner told a news troops — “boots on the conference that he expected ground” — to battle Islamic the bill, which provides full State. funding for all government agencies except the DepartRobbery sparked ment of Homeland Security through September 2015, to terrorism charge pass next week with some against teenager help from House Democrats.

DHS, which controls the MONTREAL — A agencies that would imple15-year-old charged with ment Obama’s plan to allow terrorism-related offenses millions of undocumented in Canada was initially arimmigrants stay and work in rested for armed robbery in the United States, would get October before authorities only a short-term funding realized he had planned to extension, likely until sometravel abroad to join jihadtime in February, Republican ist fighters, police said on lawmakers said.

Thursday.

The teenager, who has not Hagel unveils been named, is the youngest person and the first minor to new efforts to face such charges in Canada, fight sex assault the Royal Canadian Mounted Police told Reuters.

WASHINGTON — DeHis arrest follows October fense Secretary Chuck Hagel attacks by suspected jihadist unveiled four new initiatives sympathizers in Montreal to combat sexual assault in and Ottawa that killed two the U.S. military on ThursCanadian soldiers. Both of day as the Pentagon released those attackers, including a preliminary report for 2014 one who launched an attack showing signs of improveon the Canadian Parliament, ment after a three-year were shot dead by security crackdown on the crime. officers.

The report found a drop Montreal police said they in overall cases of sexual arrested the boy after he assault and a greater willingallegedly robbed a store with ness by troops to report an “edged weapon.” assaults to authorities. But — From wire reports it also voiced concern that

NATION

PEOPLE Cosby attorney says accuser tried to extort money

LOS ANGELES — Bill Cosby’s attorney contends that a woman and her attorney engaged in an extortion attempt before filing suit earlier this week, claiming that the entertainer molested her when she was 15 years old.

In a filing in Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday, Cosby’s attorney Martin Singer said that Judy Huth’s allegations of sexual assault in 1974 are “meritless and unsupported,” and that the lawsuit was filed after Cosby rejected her and her attorney’s demand for payment.

Protesters, demanding justice for the death of Eric Garner, disrupt traffic while raising Singer’s claim is made in their hands during a “sit-in” at an intersection in Times Square, Manhattan, N.Y., on a notice of demurrer. He also Thursday. (Reuters) is seeking sanctions against Huth and her attorney, Marc can Americans and other nence after a Cleveland po- as white lives.” minorities. lice officer last month shot Stuart London, the police Strecker.

“Plaintiff Judy Huth Speaking in Cleveland, dead a 12-year-old boy who officer’s lawyer, said in an filed a meritless and unsupwhere he announced the was carrying what turned interview Thursday that ported 40-year-old claim Justice Department had out to be a replica pellet gun Pantaleo testified to the found the police department on a playground. grand jury that he never put against Bill Cosby alleging decades-old sexual abuse in that city systematically New York City Mayor pressure on Garner’s neck. immediately after Mr. Cosby engaged in excessive use of Bill de Blasio, who took of- Instead, Pantaleo said he rejected plaintiff’s outraforce, Holder said officials fice in January promising to used a proper takedown geous demand for money in must do more to repair the improve relations between technique, London said. trust between police officers minority New Yorkers and That account was echoed order not to make her allegations public,” Singer wrote and the communities they police, told reporters on

by Patrick Lynch, the patrol.

Thursday the city’s thoupresident of the patrolmen’s in the filing.

Federal investigations into sands of patrol officers union, who called Pantaleo the Missouri and New York would undergo extensive a “model” officer at a press Judge won’t void cases, which are ongoing, retraining. conference on Thursday.

Beastie Boys are not enough, said Holder, “The relationship between London said he expects who is the country’s top law police and community has the internal police review to verdict over video enforcement official. to change,” he told a news conclude quickly, perhaps NEW YORK — A federal The Cleveland investiga- conference. “People need within weeks, and expressed tion, which began in March to know that black lives and confidence his client would judge on Thursday refused to throw out Beastie Boys’ $1.7 2013, gained added promibrown lives matter as much be exonerated. million jury verdict against Monster Beverage over the energy drink company’s use in federal funds, includof the hip-hop group’s music ing Pell Grants, providing in a promotional video withfederal aid to the neediest families. The U.S. govern- out permission.

In a 69-page decision, ment is claiming damages U.S. District Judge Paul of more than $6 million.

Engelmayer in Manhattan “To generate as much said there was “ample basis” revenue as possible, Fastto believe the video could Train would fill its classes confuse people into believwith ineligible students,” ing incorrectly that Beastie the complaint said.

Boys, a 2012 inductee into The school’s recruiting tactics included employing the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, had endorsed Monster exotic dancers, authorienergy drinks. ties said, and encouraging He also said jurors could attractive women to dress Speaker of the House John Boehner holds a news conference provocatively when going infer that Monster intended in the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Thursday. (Reuters) to deceive viewers and to recruit young men. benefit from its apparent more than 60 percent of sex- to uphold gay marriage association with a group ual assault victims believe bans.

Chimpanzees “particularly popular among they have been subjected to That decision, by the 6th have no human young men, Monster’s target retaliation for reporting the U.S. Circuit Court of Apdemographic.” crime. peals, created a split within rights: N.Y. court Monster conceded shortly As a result, Hagel the courts, increasing the ALBANY, N.Y. — In before the trial that it was included an effort to fight chances the Supreme Court the first case of its kind, liable for copyright infringeretaliation as one of the four will rule on the issue. a New York appeals court ment, but that Beastie Boys new directives he proposed rejected on Thursday an didn’t deserve the $2.5 milto help carry forward the Florida college animal rights advocate’s lion of damages it sought. fight against sexual assault in used strippers to bid to extend “legal perthe military. sonhood” to chimpanzees, Pratt circling recruit students saying the primates are Ruling would ‘Magnificent’ TAMPA, Fla. — A forincapable of bearing the permit Florida profit Florida college used responsibilities that come with Washington exotic dancers to recruit with having legal rights. gay marriages LOS ANGELES — Chris students and faked high A five-judge panel of the TALLAHASSEE, Fla. school diplomas and atten- Albany court said attorney Pratt is in early talks to star with Denzel Washington — Same-sex marriages dance records to qualify its Steven Wise had shown could begin in Florida in pupils for millions in fedthat Tommy, a 26-year-old in MGM’s “Magnificent Seven” remake. early January after the 11th eral financial aid, according chimp who lives alone Antoine Fuqua is directU.S. Circuit Court of Apto a civil complaint. in a shed in upstate New ing. peals declined on WednesFastTrain, which once York, was an autonomous The 1960 original, itself a day to further stay a lower operated seven campuses creature, but that it was not court ruling that overturned across Florida, fraudulently possible for him to under- remake of Akira Kurosawa’s “Seven Samurai,” starred Yul the state’s ban on gay wed- secured grants and loans stand the social contract dings. for students, state and fed- that binds humans together. Brynner and Steve McThe appellate court ruleral prosecutors said, an“Needless to say, unlike Queen. It centered on seven gunslingers who protect an ing would permit same-sex nouncing plans on Wednes- human beings, chimpancouples to tie the knot day to join a whistleblower zees cannot bear any legal oppressed Mexican village from a group of outlaws. when the stay expires after case against the defunct duties, submit to societal The script was most reJan. 5. State officials can school and its owner. responsibilities or be held cently reworked by John Lee appeal to the U.S. Supreme The school promised a legally accountable for Hancock, with “True DetecCourt. free education in recruiting their actions,” Presiding While gay marriage some students to its innerJustice Karen Peters wrote. tive” creator Nic Pizzolatto advocates have had the city campuses, authorities Wise said that he would writing the previous version.

Talks are still in the early upper hand in the courts in said in the civil complaint. ask the Court of Appeals, the past year, a CincinnatiFrom 2009 to its closing New York state’s top court, stages, but sources say they are progressing. based federal appeals court in June 2012, FastTrain to hear the case.

— From wire reports on Nov. 6 became the first received some $35 million — From wire reports

Court: Child disabled by mom’s drinking not crime victim

By Michael holden Reuters

LONDON — Britain’s Court of Appeal on Thursday rejected claims that a child born with severe brain damage because her mother drank excessively while pregnant was a victim of crime, a ruling which has important consequences for expectant women.

Lawyers acting for the girl, now aged 7 and known only as

MUST READ CP, had argued that she should be entitled to compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority as her mother, who had an alcohol addiction, had inflicted “grievous bodily harm” by poisoning her.

The girl, now in the care of a local authority which brought the claim, was born with Fetal

Alcohol Spectrum Disorder that can cause severe learning difficulties and growth problems.

Media reports said the mother had been drinking eight cans of strong lager and half a bottle of vodka a day.

Three Court of Appeal judges accepted that CP was poisoned and had suffered harm, but ruled that under English law a fetus was not considered a person and so the mother could not have

committed a crime.

“We have held that a mother, who is pregnant and who drinks to excess despite knowledge of the potential harmful consequences to the child of doing so, is not guilty of a criminal offense under our law,” Justice Colman Treacy said.

There were 252 diagnoses of FASD in England in 2012-2013.

Campaigners said a contrary decision could have led to pregnant

women being liable for criminal offences for a growing list of activities which could risk their babies’ health.

“This is an extremely important ruling for women everywhere,” Ann Furedi, chief executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, and Rebecca Schiller, co-chairman of Birthrights which promotes pregnant women’s human rights, said in a joint statement.

perspectives

J.K. Murphy, Vice President, SCNI jk.murphy@gwinnettdailypost.com

gwinnettdailypost.com

Todd Cline, Editor

todd.cline@gwinnettdailypost.com

PAGE 8 A • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

Garner case has sickening outcome

WASHINGTON — I can’t breathe.

Those were Eric Garner’s last words, and today they apply to me. The decision by a Staten Island grand jury to not indict the police officer who killed him takes my breath away.

In the depressing reality series that should be called “No Country for Black Men,” this sick plot twist was shocking beyond belief.

There should have been an indictment in the Ferguson case, in my view, but at least the events that led to Michael Brown’s killing were in dispute. Garner’s homicide was captured on video. We saw him being choked, heard him plead of his distress, watched as no attempt was made to revive him and his life slipped away.

This time, there were literally millions of eyewitnesses.

Somebody tell me, just theoretically, how many does it take?

Is there any number Eugene that would suffice? Or Robinson is this whole “equal justice under the law” thing just a cruel joke?

Black men are being taught a lesson about how this society values, or devalues, our lives.

I’ve always said the notion that racism is a thing of the past was absurd — and that those who espoused the “post-racial” myth were either naive or disingenuous. Now, tragically, you see why.

Garner, 43, was a black man. On July 17, he allegedly committed the heinous crime of selling individual cigarettes on the street. A group of New York City police officers approached and surrounded him. As seen in cellphone video footage recorded by an onlooker, Garner was puzzled that the officers seemed to be taking him into custody for such a piddling offense. He was a big man, but at no point did he strike out at the officers or show them disrespect.

But he wasn’t assuming a submissive posture as quickly as the cops wanted. Officer Daniel Pantaleo placed him in a chokehold, compressing his windpipe — a maneuver that the New York Police Department outlawed two decades ago. Garner complained repeatedly that he was having trouble breathing. The officers wrestled him to the sidewalk, where he died. An emergency medical crew was summoned but officers made no immediate attempt to resuscitate him.

The coroner ruled Garner’s death a homicide. He suffered from asthma, and Pantaleo’s chokehold killed him.

The Staten Island prosecutor presented evidence against Pantaleo to a grand jury; the other officers involved in the incident were given immunity in exchange for their testimony. On Wednesday, it was announced that the grand jury had declined to indict Pantaleo on any charge.

This travesty — there’s no other word for it — came just nine days after a St. Louis County grand jury declined to indict Officer Darren Wilson for Brown’s death. Demonstrators took to the streets across Manhattan. What else was there to do but protest? Set aside the signs that say “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot.” Bring out the signs that say “I Can’t Breathe.”

There are two big issues here. One involves the excessive license we now give to police — permission, essentially, to do whatever they must in order to guarantee safe streets. The pendulum has clearly swung too far in the lawand-order direction, at the expense of liberty and justice.

As I wrote Tuesday, we are so inured to fatal shootings by police officers that we do not even make a serious effort to count them; the Michael Brown case illustrated this numbness to the use of deadly force. Garner’s death is part of a different trend: The “broken windows” theory of policing, which holds that cracking down on minor, nuisance offenses — such as selling loose cigarettes — is key to reducing serious crime.

Police officers, whose brave work I honor and respect, are supposed to serve communities, not rule them.

The other big issue, inescapably, is race. The greatest injury of the Brown and Garner cases is that grand juries examined the evidence and decided there was no probable cause — a very low standard — to believe the officers did anything wrong. I find it impossible to believe this would be the result if the victims were white.

Garner didn’t even fit into the “young black male” category that defines this nation’s most feared and loathed citizens. He was an overweight, middle-aged, asthmatic man. Now we’re told that the man who killed him did nothing wrong.

Eric Garner was engaged in an activity that warranted no more than a warning to move along. But I recognize that he also committed a capital offense: He was the wrong color.

Eugene Robinson’s email address is eugenerobinson@washpost.com.

More freedoms go up in smoke This week’s warm weather notwithstanding, there have already been plenty of fireside moments this fall.

Who doesn’t like a good fire? Provided it’s cold outside, I can sit next to one for hours, watching those coals glow and listening to the crackle until I’m good and sleepy. Enjoying a hot beverage — or a frosty cold one if you’re so inclined — makes for an even better experience. You can snuggle with a loved one by the fireplace or tell lies with your buddies next to the campfire.

Of course, some people don’t just have fires for ambience.

They use them for heat. Throwing another log on the fire has been a home-heating tradition since the cavemen. But it’s getting harder to do, and if some in government get their way, it’ll be nigh on impossible.

The EPA issued new regulations this year severely limiting the amount of fine particulate matter — or PM2.5 in government speak — that wood-burning, pellet and masonry stoves produce.

PM2.5 includes things like carbon, carbon monoxide and the nebulous “Volatile Organic Compounds.”

In other words, smoke.

Nate McCullough According to the EPA, “Residential wood smoke can increase particle pollution to levels that pose serious health concerns, and in some areas constitutes a significant portion of the fine particle pollution problem.”

What areas? The mountains of Montana, Alaskan backwoods, rural Nebraska or any of the other mostly secluded areas where people burn wood for heat? Does the agency really expect us to believe that a few Appalachian cabins are as dangerous to the air as industrial factories or the zillions of cars and trucks on the highway? To hear it from them, you’d think our chimneys in winter resembled the 19th century London skyline.

The new regulations call for a limit of 12 micrograms per cubic meter per hour. For

the nonscientific, that’s a tiny amount of smoke. By comparison, one of the EPA’s own cited studies says that you are exposed to more second-hand cigarette smoke simply standing on the sidewalk in a major city.

In addition to regulations for newly manufactured stoves, the EPA also has a “monitoring program” for manufacturers, retailers and homeowners.

Yes, in the tradition of the see-something, say-something rule hatched by the Patriot Act, you can also turn in your neighbor’s non-compliant wood-burning stove.

Now, to be fair, the new regulations do not cover previously manufactured stoves, so don’t worry that the woodstove police are going to come kicking in your door. Not yet, anyway. But there is a move afoot in many communities to not only ban all stoves but all types of wood-burning apparatuses, including your fireplace. (There is no word yet on whether these same communities are going to ban all the diesel-smoke belching 18-wheelers that deliver literally everything that Americans use on a daily basis.)

Fireplaces are not just decorative. They’re used for

emergency heat, and for some, it’s the only source of heat.

And as anyone who’s spent any time using only wood for a heat source can tell you, keeping the fire going is hard enough work without having some government busybody standing over your shoulder making sure the wood doesn’t burn too much.

I have a good friend who at one time was so poor he lived in a house that had gaps in the walls through which the Illinois snow would occasionally blow in. He can remember busting up furniture to keep the fire going. Can you imagine him answering a knock on his door only to find a government official telling him to extinguish his fire because he was harming the environment?

If the EPA wants to help the air, then it should fight the real polluters and leave average folks alone.

There are simply bigger fires to put out than the ones in rural America’s stoves.

Email Nate McCullough at nate.mccullough@gwinnettdailypost.com. His column appears on Fridays. For archived columns, go to www. gwinnettdailypost.com/natemccullough.

A home-cooked meal does the body (and soul) good With a farm background, there has always been that warm affection for home cooked meals. Having grown up with simple tastes, there was nothing that could top a menu that included peas, butterbeans, mashed potatoes and fried chicken.

If there were a choice between the above, prepared by my mother’s hand, and a meal at a five-star restaurant, it would be hard to turn down the aforementioned servings from my mother’s kitchen.

There are a lot of small town Rotary invitations during the year, and I always remind Rotarians that those invites keep coming because of honoring Rotary’s long standing tradition of not paying honorariums to its speakers.

However, there is always the realization that you are likely to get a home cooked meal at a Rotary luncheon. A nice tradeoff indeed. From Elijay to Jackson, from Rome to Cartersville and Thomasville to Valdosta, you can expect, in most cases, fried chicken and often mashed potatoes.

Breakfast is the meal that brings about the greatest of fulfillment today. Like most everybody else, starting the morning with a cup of coffee is one of the most uplifting times

Loran Smith of your daily routine. Coffee and a couple of hours of work before breakfast can make your day. Fruit and cereal for starters and segueing into sauteed mushrooms and a glass of fresh orange juice. Lunch is usually something on the light side, and so is dinner. Eat heavy, and sleep seems to become restless.

There are exceptions, however. Like holiday dinners.

Thanksgiving brought about one of the most delightful meals in memory. Usually the most memorable meals are those when you enjoy a good time. The setting and the atmosphere enhance the meal.

Travel has its multiple assets, but there is nothing worse than being on the road and dining alone.

Our Thanksgiving dinner started early. There was soft music in the background, accented by a crackling fire.

Grandchildren were relaxed

and in a spirited mood. Boy, is that ever a plus. Kids can get cranky for whatever reason, which does not enhance the dinner experience.

There was no turkey. We substituted smoked pheasant.

After killing a few pheasants in South Dakota in the fall, I knew that having them smoked and shipped home would make our Thanksgiving. Our daughter, Camille, who enjoys cooking to the fullest, added tasty butterbeans from the farmers market and squash. Plus Red Mule grits from Tim and Alice Mills farm on Harve Mathis road in Northeast Clarke County. The Ritz Carlton in Chicago serves Red Mule grits.

If they are good enough for the Ritz, they are certainly good enough for me.

The smoked pheasant was garnished by pear relish, which came to us from Lisa Hardin of Stripling’s, the sausage folk. She makes it like my mother used to make it, and I have learned that a little pear relish to go with some of Stripling’s smoked sausage makes for a delightful breakfast.

The most stimulating enhancement for our Thanksgiving dinner came with a bottle of Terry Hoage’s wine. You likely know about Terry, the

one-time Georgia rover back who was a National Football League veteran of 14 years.

Originally, he had planned to study medicine, but football kept getting in the way. When it all came to an end, he was playing for the Arizona Cardinals, but made the decision to move from Phoenix to California, which led to a career in winemaking. Terry and his wife, Jennifer, do it all — from cultivating the vineyards to harvesting and production. If you enjoy a meal with a bottle of his syrah which he named “The Hedge,” there is little question about the ranking of dinner in your memorable meals collection.

Nothing like a meal with “connections.” Smoked pheasant from South Dakota, butterbeans and squash from the local farmers market, pear relish from Warwick, Ga. and red wine from Paso Robles, Calif. — all prepared by someone who enjoys cooking in the tradition of your grandmother.

An indolent fire and children laughing made humility permeate the atmosphere.

Loran Smith is co-host of “The Tailgate Show” and sideline announcer for Georgia football. He is also a freelance writer and columnist.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014 • 9A

gwinnettdailypost.com

Cops: Man injured when train hits car in Norcross

By Joshua sharpe

identified, had to be pulled from the mangled car by firefighters’ hydraulicextrication tools, said Capt.

NORCROSS — Only Tommy Rutledge, spokesscraps of a mangled Mazda man for the Gwinnett and strewn personal effects County fire department. remained Thursday night “The patient was conshortly after a train crashed scious, alert and breathing,” into a man’s car in downbut taken to Gwinnett Medtown Norcorss. ical Center in “emergency For reasons that weren’t status,” Rutledge added. immediately clear, the man, “There were no other inwho was alert after the juries reported and no one crash, reportedly stopped else was in the vehicle, per on the tracks near Holcomb firefighters.”

Bridge Road around 6:15 Around 8 p.m., the car p.m. He became trapped had been hauled away and when the railroad crossing bits of the wreckage lay in arms came down as the the dirt: the Mazda’s ashtrain approached, according tray, glass, jagged scraps to authorities. of plastic, a container of The man, who wasn’t chewing gum — and the joshua.sharpe @gwinnettdailypost.com

•From Page 1A to keep the nurses engaged and happy.

Schmidly said they are the front-line workers who shape the public’s opinion of the hospital and, naturally, make a considerable difference in the quality of care patients receive.

This is something the Texas native has learned in his long career as a hospital administrator. Before coming to Eastside, he was CEO at

•From Page 1A you live on it?’” he said.

While McClain hopes to improve the financial situation for Georgia workers, State Rep. Dar’shun Kendrick, D-Lithonia, whose 93rd district includes portions of southern Gwinnett County, is seeking to address a problem for

•From Page 1A And while the main focus was serving warrants,

victim’s still-working HTC cellphone.

An expired car insurance card, belonging to a Mazda, was among the debris. But authorities declined to confirm if the man listed was the same as the injured, citing the ongoing investigation.

Norcross police officers parked their cars, blocking off several streets to keep drivers out of the area while railroad officials inspected the scene near South Peachtree Street.

The officers and the train quietly pulled away at about 8:20 p.m.

Rutledge said the man’s injuries did not appear to be life-threatening.

Norcross police remained on the scene for two hours Thursday night after a train hit a car near Holcomb Bridge Road in downtown Norcross. (Special Photo)

Eastside Atlanta’s Saint Joseph’s Hospital and COO at Medical City Dallas Hospital — Medical City Children’s Hospital in Dallas and Medical Center of Arlington in Arlington.

He has also learned what it’s like to be far from in charge.

In his early 20s, Schmidly “just happened to get a job in a hospital” as a lab assistant after an ill-fated plan to backpack Europe with friends fell through, he said. Before

that, he had considered following in his father’s footsteps, becoming a lawyer.

Until the lab job fell into his lap, Schmidly had seen hospitals as grim places where you went to see sick people.

“But I enjoyed it a lot,” he said. “I enjoyed the complexity, I enjoyed the business. (And) the administrator at that hospital for whatever reason — I don’t know why — took an interest in me.”

The administrator guid-

ed Schmidly and helped him find something he never knew was in him.

Schmidly now describes it as a “calling” to help people, a calling he says he’ll put to good use at Eastside Medical Center.

Working closely with other administrators, Schmidly is taking on a variety of goals to increase the level of care the hospital provides.

They’ve been tackling emergency room visit times, pushing to ex-

Donald Barr Donald Earl Barr, age 84, Dacula, GA, passed away on December 3, 2014. Junior E. Flanigan of Flanigan Funeral Home and Crematory, Buford, GA 770-932-1133 www. flaniganfuneralhome.com

DULUTH

Jane Bengel Marian Jane Spearman Bengel age 88 of Duluth, Georgia passed away Wednesday, December 3, 2014 surrounded by her family. Jane embraced all that life offered, gave of herself generously, loved abundantly, and was loved dearly by her family and friends. She was an active member of the Presbyterian church throughout her life, most recently at Pleasant Hill Presbyterian Church in Duluth, GA. Jane was born and raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Quite ahead of her time, she earned a degree in Architectural Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and became the first woman licensed as a professional engineer in Tennessee.

She was preceded in death by her parents Ida and George Spearman, loving husband, Robert, sister Nelle Davis, brother George Spearman and is survived by her children, George Bengel, Marian Miller (Dan), David Bengel (Belinda) and grandchildren Norman, Lindsay, Robert, Evelyn, Mark l d d l

in essence, he said the importance of the people behind anything positive the hospital does can’t be ignored.

He said he finds evidence of this in the mission statement of Hospital Corporation of America, Eastside’s parent company: “Above all else, we are committed to the care and improvement of human life.”

When you break the statement down, he notes, people — “we” — come first.

son, D-Norcross, has prefiled a bill and a resolution, both related to marijuana usage.

Thompson’s Senate Bill 7 would allow doctors to prescribe up to two ounces of marijuana for specific medical conditions including cancer, glaucoma, epilepsy and others. Thompson has also prefiled Senate Reso-

lution 6 — a constitutional amendment which, if approved by voters, would allow for retail marijuana sales with the tax proceeds earmarked for education and transportation.

The prefiling period began Nov. 15 and continues until the General Assembly convenes on Jan. 12.

traditional warrant service,” Williamson said.

“We’ve got to be able to track people and find

people that way, but it’s an incredible thing to augment traditional warrant service.”

Wage Georgia’s top students.

In a Nov. 19 YouTube video, Kendrick explained her “HOPE Equality Bill” — House Bill 6 — would “level the playing field” for students taking international baccalaureate, advanced placement and dual credit college courses by changing the way the Georgia Student Finance Commission calculates a

student’s HOPE scholarship average.

Currently, the GSFC weights grades in courses up to a 4.0. Students who earn an “A” in a more challenging course receive no additional benefit. The result, Kendrick explained, is that a student who earns an “A” is effectively treated the same as a student who earns a

“B” under HOPE calculations. Kendrick’s bill would allow “A” students to receive higher than a 4.0 — a change she said would give those students full credit for their work.

“This is a minor change, but I think it is an important change,” she said.

On the Senate side, State Sen. Curt Thomp-

Warrants the team — unofficially dubbed “the LPR unit,” for now — also issued 201 traffic citations.

They issued 35 in the previous period.

The LPR unit is now a permanent one, but the

new methodology will not be overtaking the entire department.

“It will not replace

obituaries DACULA

tend services for baby boomers and expectant mothers, and generally stepping back to evaluate how Eastside might do things differently.

They’re also working on a new 18-week nurse residency program, which is set to begin with its first class in February.

But for all of these things to work, Schmidly knows the hospital’s employees must feel good about their time on the job and their relationships with coworkers;

Bengel, Grace and Kendal Miller.

Her memorial service will be conducted by Dr. Dave Fry, at the Pleasant Hill Presbyterian Church, 3700 Pleasant Hill Road, Duluth, Georgia, on Saturday, December 6th at 3pm.

Family will receive friends at the church on Friday, Dec 5th from 4 to 7pm. In lieu of flowers the family respectfully requests donations be made in memory of Jane Bengel to the Pleasant Hill Presbyterian Church, 3700 Pleasant Hill Road, Duluth Georgia, 30096.

SEVIERVILLE, TN

in-law: Dan Buice and wife Beth; Sister-in-law: Megan Buice; Several nieces and nephews whom she loved dearly.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105-1942 in Janel’s name.

The family will receive friends 3-7 PM Thursday with funeral service following at 7:30 PM at First Baptist Church, Pigeon Forge. Family and friends will meet 11 AM Friday in Smoky Mountain Memory Gardens for interment.

Arrangements by Atchley Funeral Home, Sevierville. (www.atchleyfuneralhome.com)

For more obituaries, visit www.gwinnettdailypost.com.

LAWRENCEVILLE

Ricky Martin

Carolyn Plofchan

Eugene “Gene” J. Heath, age 80, of Lawrenceville, GA passed away on December 3, 2014. Tim Stewart Funeral Home in Lawrenceville, 300 Simonton Rd. SW Lawrenceville, GA 30045.

Mr. Ricky Herby Martin, age 49, of Gainesville passed away Thursday, November 27, 2014.

Memorial Park South Funeral Home, 4121 Falcon Parkway, Flowery Branch, Georgia 30542 is in charge of arrangements. www. memorialparkfuneralhomes.com.

Mrs. Carolyn Plofchan, age 91, of Flowery Branch passed away Wednesday, December 3, 2014 at her residence. Memorial Park South Funeral Home, 4121 Falcon Parkway, Flowery Branch, Georgia 30542 is in charge of arrangements. www.memorialparkfuneralhomes.com.

LAWRENCEVILLE

LAWRENCEVILLE

SOCIAL CIRCLE

Marion Johnson Marion Juanita Greeson Johnson, 84 of Social Circle, passed November 27, 2014. Tim Stewart Funeral Home, Monroe Chapel. 770-267-2594

Bettie Fisher

Janel Maples Buice, age 36 of Sevierville, passed away Sunday, November 30, 2014.

She loved being a teacher and enjoyed her 1st grade class at Pigeon Forge Elementary. Janel especially loved her family and friends.

She was preceded in death by her father, Steve Maples, nephews, Cullen and Regen Morris, Survivors: Husband: Nathan Buice; Children: Carlee, Jenna, and Nate Buice; Mother: Linda Maples; Sisters: Tishia Morris and husband Dan, Tara Torrence and husband Cliff, Joy Maples, and Whitney Maples; Father and Mother-in-law: Tim and Vicki Buice; Brother-

Ms. Bettie B. Fisher, age 71, of Gainesville passed away Monday, December 1, 2014. Memorial Park South Funeral Home, 4121 Falcon Parkway, Flowery Branch, Georgia 30542 is in charge of arrangements. www.memorialparkfuneralhomes.com.

DACULA

Harold Goodall Harold Graeme Goodall, age 82, of Lawrenceville, GA passed away December 3, 2014. Wages & Sons Gwinnett Chapel, 1031 Lawrenceville, GA 30046, 770-277-4550. www.wagesandsons.com

FLOWERY BRANCH

Eugene Heath

GAINESVILLE

Janel Buice

GAINESVILLE

BUFORD

Alma Knussman Alma Knussman, age 87, Buford, GA, passed away on December 4, 2014. Junior E. Flanigan of Flanigan Funeral Home and Crematory, Buford, GA 770-932-1133 www. flaniganfuneralhome.com

15 photos are available with all Obituaries and Death Notices $

Call for details

770.963.9205

Ext.1162 or Ext.1163

Jerry McDaniel Jerry Clyde McDaniel, age 71, died December 3, 2014. A native of Barrow County, Mr. McDaniel was the son of the late Lester Lee and Mary Agnes Royster McDaniel. Mr. McDaniel was a self employed Contractor and Developer.

Mr. McDaniel was a member of Buford Masonic Lodge #292, York Right, and the Yerab Temple.

Funeral services will be held Saturday December 6, 2014 at 2:00pm at the Smith Memory Chapel.

Rev. Scott Tanner will officiate. Burial will follow at Carter Hill Cemetery.

Survivors include his wife; Mary Jane Porter McDaniel; son; Jerry Clyde (Donna) McDaniel Jr.; daughter; Michelle Lee McDaniel; brother; Charles Lee McDaniel; grandchildren; James Jerry McDaniel, Brandon Lee McDaniel, and Jacob Fitzgerald McDaniel; great grandchildren; Ethan, Hayden, Dillan, and Gavin McDaniel, and Lilly Cox. The family will receive friends from 6-8pm Friday at the funeral home.

Smith Funeral Home, Winder, has charge of arrangements.

Robert Priester Mr. Robert Carlton Priester, age 67, of Lawrenceville, Georgia, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, December 2, 2014. Memorial Park South Funeral Home, 4121 Falcon Parkway, Flowery Branch, Georgia 30542 is in charge of arrangements. www.memorialparkfuneralhomes.com.

LOGANVILLE

Ethan Rutledge Ethan “Puddin” Hunter Rutledge, age 19, of Loganville passed away Sunday, November 30, 2014.

LAWRENCEVILLE

James Whitehead James “Jimmy” Whitehead, age 77, of Lawrenceville, GA passed away Thursday, December 4, 2014. Georgia Cremation is assisting family with local arrangements. Georgia Cremation 3116 U.S. Highway 23 Duluth, Georgia 30096. 678-584-0914.

GeorgiaCremation.com.

10A • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

gwinnettdailypost.com

Will 2015 be the year for medical marijuana?

By Andy Miller

Georgia Health News

ATLANTA — Marlo Smith used to have up to 30 seizures a day. Now she’s down to roughly one seizure every two or three days.

The improvement in the youngster’s condition came after she and her mother and siblings moved from Georgia to Colorado.

Colorado has Marlo Smith relaxed its laws against marijuana use, and has drawn many families from other states seeking medical cannabis treatment. Marlo, 7, is receiving three doses a day of cannabis oil there.

Meanwhile, her father, Dr. James Smith, is still in Georgia, living apart from his family and continuing his work as an emergency physician at Gwinnett Medical Center.

But if a Georgia House bill to legalize medical marijuana is approved in next year’s General Assembly, the Smiths could be reunited and resume their normal family life in metro Atlanta.

If that occurs, a hopeful Dr. Smith told reporters Wednesday, “I get to see her all the time. I get to have my family back.

It’d be Christmas.’’

State Rep. Allen Peake introduced James and Courtney Smith at a state Capitol news conference focused on his bill to make medical marijuana legal in Georgia. Peake, a Macon Republican, said the Smiths are among at least 17 Georgia families living in Colorado so they can have access to medical marijuana.

“We need to bring Georgia families home,’’ Peake said. He cited the Smiths in saying, “That’s

“I have tremendous sympathy for these families,’’ Galloway added.

Dr. Smith asked the lawmakers to look at him as more of a “desperate father’’ than a physician.

He said that after five months on her medication, Marlo has made remarkable progress.

“Her personality came back,’’ he said. “She’s reading again.”

Smith told the panel that before her medical cannabis regimen took effect, Marlo’s medications “increasingly turned her into a zombie.”

“We tried every other option,” Smith said. “It is working and is the only thing that has worked.”

He said the oil she Rep. Allen Peake of Macon speaks with reporters while Dr. James Smith and his wife, Courtney, look on. The Smiths’ takes is very low in THC, daughter is in Colorado so she can have access to medical marijuana. (Special Photo) the main psychoactive why I’ll fight to my last nabis would be grown allowed. and Washington that their ingredient in cannabis. breath for (these) famiin Georgia. It would be Only registered pastate-regulated marijuana (In layman’s terms, that lies.” means the oil would not available for other diagtients would have access programs won’t be a Peake led the charge in noses besides children’s be very effective in makto the treatment, and it priority for federal law the 2014 General Assem- seizure disorders. Those ing a person ‘‘high.”) would only be dispensed enforcement. bly session for medical Georgia could take the could include multiple by licensed entities Virginia Galloway of marijuana, but his mealeading edge in research sclerosis, ALS, Crohn’s within the state. The bill the Faith and Freedom sure ultimately collapsed disease, autism, cancer, would also decriminalCoalition of Georgia told into medical marijuana in the Legislature’s final if it were legal here, he glaucoma and chronic ize the possession of the committee Wedneshours. pain, he said. medical cannabis oil in day that she has concerns added.

Marijuana legalizaSmith said his family He added that he Georgia for those patients about the lack of adtion is a complex, conhoped that the oil could who legally obtained the equate scientific research could afford the move to troversial subject. Some be available for patients medicine in another state. on the efficacy of medical Colorado, but that ‘‘for states that have legalized within a year of the govGov. Nathan Deal has marijuana. Galloway also many Georgia families, medical marijuana, such this is not an option.” ernor signing a legalizapushed for clinical trials said there are potential Smith urged lawmakers as Colorado, have also tion bill. of medical marijuana at problems with monitorlegalized recreational pot.

“We’ve learned from Georgia Regents Univer- ing the use of marijuana, to create a solution for But many medical mar- last year’s failure,’’ Peake sity in Augusta. as well as the legal issues Georgia families. “Fear ijuana advocates strongly said.

Also Wednesday, Peake involving federal laws on should never prevent a just result.” oppose allowing recreHe said he is against a chaired a legislative marijuana. ational use and say it’s recent legislative prostudy committee hearing a totally different issue. posal by state Sen. Curt on medical marijuana.

Meanwhile, federal laws Thompson, D-Tucker, to He told lawmakers that against marijuana remain allow recreational use 33 states have approved on the books, although of marijuana in Georgia. medical marijuana. they are not currently Peake said his own House But other testimony being zealously enforced Bill 1, which would lesounded alarms about against medical users. galize medical marijuana passing a bill in GeorSmith is hopeful the only, is “very tight, very gia. Rick Allen of the Georgia medical marirestricted.”

Georgia Drugs and juana bill will pass this Peake’s bill would Narcotics Agency noted time around. “I think allow a limited number that the federal stance we’re smarter,’’ he told of licensees to grow, remains that cannabis is reporters. “We’re better manufacture and distrib- a Schedule 1 controlled prepared. Our goal is to ute medical marijuana substance, and as such, come up with the best in Georgia. Use would cannot be prescribed. medical cannabis legisla- be restricted to mediFederal law prohibits tion in the country.” cine that’s a liquid, pill marijuana and its prodPeake said that under or injection. Smokable ucts. The Justice Departhis proposal, the canmarijuana would not be ment has told Colorado

HEALTH BRIEFS Eastside offering Snellville free weight loss community surgery seminar center hosting blood drive Snellville’s Eastside Medical Center is offering residents a free seminar on weight loss surgery on Dec. 11.

The event, held at the hospital located at 1700 Medical Way, is intended to give those interested in learning more about bariatric surgery all the information needed.

The seminar starts at 5:30 p.m. and will take place in classroom 1 in the hospital’s north tower.

To register, call 800242-5662.

Relay For Life holiday gift card announced

The Centerville Community Center is hosting a blood drive Dec. 19.

The event, held from 3 to 7 p.m., will take place at the center located at 3025 Bethany Church Road in Snellville.

Walk-ins are welcome, but appointments are encouraged. Photo ID is required.

For more information or to set an appointment, visit www.redcrossblood. org or call 800-GIVELIFE.

Relay For Life can benefit,” a statement from the charity said. “Get the perfect gift for someone The American Cancer on your list while jump Society says it is offering starting your Relay For holiday shoppers a way Life fundraising.” to get what they need for The program is the their loved ones and help result of a partnership others at the same time. between the American The charity has reCancer Society, Giftleased the Relay For Cards.com and MasterLife MasterCard Gift Card.

Card, which can be used When someone purduring the holidays or chases one of the cards year round, in an effort from GiftCards.com, to raise money for those Relay For Life receives 1 affected by cancer. percent of the sale.

“Everyone buys gift For more information, cards for their loved ones visit www.relayforlife. for the holidays, and org/mastercardgiftcards. when you do so this year, — From staff reports

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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014 • 11A

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Gwinnett Chamber hosts health care awards ceremony leading the way through innovation, patient and The Gwinnett Chamber family care, philanthropic on Thursday night honefforts and volunteerism, ored those making strides according to the chamber. in the local medical com“Health care is esmunity with its annual sential to our commuHealthcare Excellence nity in many ways,” Dan Awards.

Kaufman, President and The ceremony, held CEO, Gwinnett Chamber, at the Sonesta Gwinnett said in a news release.

Place Atlanta in Duluth, “Not only does it affect celebrated individuals and every individual on a organizations who are personal level, but it is FRom staFF RepoRts

also considered a strategic economic development tool for attracting companies to relocate to or expand and invest in Gwinnett County.

“Moreover, healthcare professionals and services comprise a significant part of our community’s economy, creating jobs and fueling our education sector as well.”

Among the award

winners were three local doctors who were name “Physician of the Year” in their field.

Bruce E. Carter, a Lawrenceville dentist, who has been practicing since 1985, took home the award in the dental category. Ben Abraham, a doctor of osteopathic medicine at Snellville’s Abraham Medical Center, won for family practice.

Hampton Groover, an MD who serves as the medical director at Peachtree Christian Hospice in Duluth, was picked in the specialist category.

Other winners of the night were: • Paige Havens of Brain Injury Association of Georgia — Volunteer Service award.

• David McCleskey of Gwinnett Health System

— Community Leadership award.

• The Concussion Institute — Corporate Achievement award.

• Greg Lang of Good Samaritan Health Center of Gwinnett Inc. — Executive Administrator award.

• Alana Sulka of the Gwinnett County Board of Health — Healthcare Professional award.

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yardsticks for Obama’s health care law, which The Associated Press offers subsidized private insurance to people who don’t WASHINGTON — have access to coverage Many people covered under through their jobs. Sharper President Barack Obama’s premium hikes were comhealth care law will face mon before it passed. higher premiums next year, The modest average the administration acknowl- increases reported for 2015 edged Thursday. While mask bigger swings from the average increases are state to state, and even modest, it’s more fodder for within regions of a state. the nation’s political battles According to data released over health care. by the administration, some Officials stressed that communities will still see millions of current Health- double-digit hikes while Care.gov customers can others are seeing decreases. mitigate the financial hit Most are somewhere in the if they’re willing to shop middle. around for another plan in “Prior to the Affordable a more competitive online Care Act taking place, we marketplace. Subsidies saw double-digit increases will also help cushion the in health care costs in this impact. country,” said White House It’s currently taking an spokesman Josh Earnest. average of 30 minutes for “Those were routine.” returning customers to Many people who go update their coverage. back to the website “will Premiums for the most now find that their costs are popular type of plan are limited to only 5 percent on going up an average of 5 average,” he said, “a much percent in the 35 states lower cost increase than was where the federal governin place before the Affordment is running the health able Care Act.” insurance exchanges, said a Even after Thursday’s report from the Health and report, the bottom line Human Services Departremains blurry. ment.

Last year, the administraMonthly premiums are tion released its analysis of one of the most important premiums before the start and politically sensitive of open enrollment season.

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This year’s snapshot came more than two weeks after sign-ups had started and covered 13 fewer states.

Among the missing states were two of the largest, California and New York.

Last year’s report provided average premiums for three types of plans across 48 states — close to a national number. This year’s report has no comparable statistic.

With both chambers of Congress under Republican control next year, the health care law will face even closer scrutiny from opponents still pursuing its repeal.

Nonetheless, industry experts said the picture appears positive for consumers and the administration.

“Benchmark premiums going into year two of the health law are very stable nationally, driven largely by strong competition among insurers,” said Larry Levitt of the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. “How the law is playing out varies quite a bit across the country, with premiums increasing in some areas but actually going down in other places, which is almost unheard of.”

Administration officials said that on the whole, the market for individual insurance has gotten better for consumers.

“In today’s marketplace, issuers are competing for business,” Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell said in a statement. “Returning customers may find an even better deal if they shop and save.”

The administration says about two-thirds of current customers can still find coverage comparable to what they have now for $100 a month or less if they shop.

That estimate takes into account the tax credits that most consumers receive, which cover about threefourths of their premiums on average.

Also, 91 percent of customers will have a choice of three or more insurers this year, with each company usually offering a range of plans. That’s a notable improvement from last year, when 74 percent of customers had similar options.

The most popular coverage, known as the lowest cost silver plan, will go up 5 percent next year across the 35 states included in the administration’s analysis.

The second-lowest cost silver plan — the benchmark the government uses to set subsidy levels — will go up an average of 2 percent.

Tax credits are based on a person’s income and the premium for the secondlowest cost silver plan in their community. The slow premium growth for the second-lowest cost silver plans is also good news for taxpayers who are subsidizing the program.

Open enrollment season for 2015 is now in its third week and runs through Feb. 15. The next big deadline for consumers is Dec. 15, the date by which new customers must sign up if they want their coverage to take effect on Jan. 1. For current customers, it’s the deadline to make changes and updates that would take effect Jan. 1.

12A • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

gwinnettdailypost.com

Parents voice concerns with redistricting proposal

By Keith Farner

boundary input forms, along with numerous phone calls and emails.

Several of the school SUWANEE — In a spir- board members noted ited hearing where nearly the tremendous parental 40 residents spoke to the involvement and support Gwinnett County Board of at the schools that was on Education about proposed display at the meeting. redistricting plans across Many of the residents the county, the passion for who spoke live in “Secthe Brookwood and Nortion 15” — the label cross clusters was evident. on school district maps About 300 people at— where 501 students tended a public hearing at attend Brookwood clusthe Instructional Support ter schools such as Gwin Center on Thursday night Oaks Elementary, Five where the School Board Forks Middle and Brookand CEO/Superintendent wood High, and under J. Alvin Wilbanks heard the proposed redistricting mostly concerns about would move to Alford Elechildren being moved to mentary, Richards Middle a new or different school. and the new cluster high Before residents spoke, school on Old Norcross Wilbanks said the planRoad in Lawrenceville. ning department received While upset to begin 1,400 suggestions from with when the boundary keith.farner @gwinnettdailypost.com

maps were released in early October, residents said they were disappointed when revisions came out this week and when changes were not made to their area, they felt as if their voice was not heard.

Several of the parents said they bought a house in that area specifically because of the academic reputation and tradition of the Brookwood cluster.

Moving their children to a school that would not have the standards, ratings and test scores the parents are proud of would lower their property values, they said.

And moving to homes deeper into the Brookwood cluster is often too expensive.

Another set of parents who voiced concerns were residents who live in the

Spalding Corners neighborhood of Peachtree Corners. They said their neighborhood, which has 23 students, is being split between Peachtree Elementary and Simpson Elementary in the southwest part of Gwinnett.

Overall, the proposed plans call for about 14,000 students to be affected from 31 schools and six existing clusters. The plans are to accommodate the four schools opening in August, including a new cluster high school.

Including the new one, eight clusters — Berkmar, Central Gwinnett, Collins Hill, Meadowcreek, Norcross, Brookwood and Peachtree Ridge — will be affected by at least a sliver of students.

It’s the first time for

redistricting — which was commonplace in the 1990s — since 2009 when 29 schools and four clusters were affected.

The need to redistrict was caused by the western and central parts of Gwinnett growing faster than any area in the county in the last seven years.

Several people questioned the school board’s criteria about drawing the boundary lines and whether that was because of socio-economic levels.

In his opening statement, Wilbanks said that kind of data and race or ethnicity, municipal boundaries, and type or cost of housing are not factored in.

But undaunted, several parents questioned that criteria, and referenced an “elephant in the room.”

“There really isn’t an elephant in the room,” BOE Chairman Dan Seckinger said. “If there was, we’d be doing something about it.”

One resident said there seems to be a “moat” around Simpson Elementary and there is a perception that you cannot go there if you live in an apartment.

“We don’t really give a rat’s tail if a kid lives in an apartment or a $700,000 house,” Seckinger said.

Next week, the district’s planning department will develop final recommendations. On Dec. 18, there will be a 6 p.m. public meeting for comments the same night the Board of Education will vote on redistricting changes.

Beacons pop up in stores to assist shoppers in holiday season

By Mae anderson

smartphone might light up with a sale alert. Stand in the dress section for a while NEW YORK — From and a coupon may pop up American Eagle to Apple for something on a nearby Stores, beacons are popping hanger. up everywhere. Are they “The most important a shopper’s best friend or thing a shopper might need another pesky Big Brother to get access to when they monitoring our every go into a store are ratings move? and reviews, coupons and The square or rectangupromotions,” said Erik lar devices, smaller than McMillan, CEO of Shelfa smartphone, can hang bucks, which is working on a wall or be placed on with video game retailer a machine and communiGameStop and others on its cate with your phone via beacon marketing. BeaBluetooth signals. Accons give customers that cessed through apps you research right there in the download to your smartstore — when they have phone, beacon technology their wallets and are lookcan do everything from ing to buy. guide you to the correct Macy’s Inc. has installed airport terminal to turn on beacons in all of its 840 your coffee maker as you department stores; other sleepily enter the kitchen. chains such as Kohl’s are In retail, beacons aim to testing them in some entice you to spend money. locations. McMillan likens As you enter a store, your beacons to the early days of AP Technology Writer

retail websites in the 1990s when “all of a sudden it got to the point that ‘you can’t not have a website.’”

He predicts the technology will skyrocket from the 50,000 beacons in use now to between 5 million and 10 million next year.

The vast majority of shopping is still done in stores. E-commerce is fast-growing, but accounts for only about 9 percent of total retail sales, according to Forrester Research.

Beacons merge in-store shopping with mobile access to information — and data shows they work.

Between July and September, 30 percent of shoppers who received a “push-ad” from an in-store beacon used that offer to buy something, according to a survey by Swirl, a marketing technology company that has worked with

Saturday, December 6th.

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retailers such as Lord & Taylor, Hudson’s Bay, Alex and Ani, Kenneth Cole and Timberland to deploy beacons. Sixty percent of shoppers opened beaconsent messages, and over half of those surveyed said they would do more holiday shopping at the stores as a result of their beacon experience.

Graham Uffelman, a 45-year-old New Yorker, said he bought Bluetooth headphones at Best Buy because of a deal he got via the Shopkick beacon marketing app.

“The app knew I was in the store and actually suggested a product I wanted,” he said. “The experience was great but also a little unnerving in the sense that the store knew who I was and that I was present in their location. It felt a little Big Brother-like.”

And that’s the challenge.

Not everyone is thrilled that a beacon app is monitoring them when they walk around with their cellphone.

Outdoor advertising firm Titan drew such outcry last month when it installed beacons in phone booths in New York that the city had to take them out.

Eamon Bauman, 24, an IT systems administrator in Wisconsin, said he wouldn’t let a store’s app have access to his location even if it meant coupons or deals.

“It’s providing retailers too much information about ourselves,” he said. “If a retailer really wants to draw me into their store, showing me deals before I get to the mall is a better way.”

Chloe Joslin, 22, a student in Jonesboro, Arkansas, was taken aback when she drove by a Walgreens

and a notification on her phone from the Walgreens app popped up.

“The app never asked for permission to use location services and to my knowledge I had disabled them from almost every app to avoid such a situation,” she said.

Because location settings can be different for individual apps, though, it can sometimes be difficult to disable all services. The pop-up likely resulted from the phone’s location setting for nearby store notifications, said Walgreen Co. spokesman Phil Caruso in an email. He said customers can turn off notifications if they prefer not to receive them. Currently, the drugstore retailer is using beacon technology on a pilot basis in only a very small number of its Duane Reade stores.

sports

gwinnettdailypost.com

SECTION B • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

KICKOFF EDITION

Archer, Etowah hope to continue historic runs tonight

By DaviD FrieDlanDer

the game looking to embrace the moment, rather than be intimidated by it.

“I think our school and comLAWRENCEVILLE — Tomunity are excited about what’s night’s Class AAAAAA state happened,” said Etowah coach semifinal between Archer and Dave Svehla, whose Eagles are Etowah is a historic one even the first team from Cherokee before its 7:30 kickoff.

County to advance to a state Whether it remains historic for semifinal game. “We’ve had either the No. 9 state-ranked Titremendous support within our gers (10-3) or the visiting Eagles school and outside support even (11-2), both of whom are making from other schools in (Cherokee) their first appearances in the semi- county. finals, remains to be seen.

“We have a very close-knit However, both teams come into group of coaches, and we do supdavid.friedlander@ gwinnettdailypost.com

port each other when our teams are having some success. It’s a source of pride, I think, around the entire county.”

Aside from their historic runs and carrying their respective counties’ mantle in the state’s largest classification, the two teams don’t have a whole lot in common.

Etowah will certainly give Archer a dramatically different look this week.

After facing primarily spread

Archer’s Robbie Armstrong (5) rushes the quarterback during last Friday’s Class AAAAAA quarterfinal game against Hillgrove.

(Staff Photo: David Welker)

See ARCHER, Page 4B

Pack mentality

Buford’s backfield power and speed backs, top to bottom, Martin Magnram, Xavier Gantt, Joshua Thomas and Evyn Cooper pose for a portrait at Buford High School on Thursday. While each has a specific skill they bring to the backfield, these four running backs have shared the role evenly throughout the season. (Staff Photos: David Welker)

Buford tailbacks share the spotlight for top-ranked Wolves

By Paul thomas

paul.thomas@ gwinnettdailypost.com

Peruse Buford’s offensive stats and it’s easy to see that there is no individual star.

Which is perfectly fine with head coach Jess Simpson and his flock of talented tailbacks.

The Wolves as a team

have rushed for 3,338 yards, but no individual rusher has more than 698 yards. Four different backs have carried the ball at least 50 times for Buford, which is 13-0 in its first season of Class AAAA football and in pursuit of its seventh state championship in the last eight years. The Wolves will travel to Cartersville today for a 7:30 p.m.

semifinal matchup.

Senior Joshua Thomas leads the way with 698 yards rushing and 16 touchdowns on 81 carries. Xavier Gantt has 671 yards and 10 TDs on 55 carries, but was held out last week with a hamstring injury. Evyn Cooper has 461 yards on 63 carries and Martin Mangram has 347 yards on 56 carries.

“They’re team guys,” Simpson said. “This isn’t anything new to us. We just have a tradition of skill guys and running backs, that kind of understand our style of play. They understand how we win games. They understand what it takes to win games in November and December.

“Our kids for years

have been buying into this philosophy … we’ve had a bunch of groups back to back to back that have had this mentality. I think that’s a credit to our running back coach Fyrone Davis, and it’s a credit to our kids and their unselfishness and how much they love the team. How much they want to win.”

The quartet might as

well be mockingbirds when stating their philosophy on sharing carries and rotating as much as they do, sounding like Simpson’s clones.

Cooper said the running back corps operates as one back, even though several guys have gotten game reps this season, while Thomas

See WOLVES, Page 2B

Spartans revved to battle Slayton commits to Georgia historic power Fitzgerald

By Christine troyke christine.troyke@ gwinnettdailypost.com

NORCROSS — Topranked Greater Atlanta Christian lost a coin toss with Fitzgerald for home field advantage in tonight’s Class AA semifinal showdown.

For a minute, it’s a disappointment. Then, head

By DaviD FrieDlanDer

commit to major Division I college program, joining Micah Abernathy (Tennessee), Paul Carothers (Navy) Unlike three of his we’re excited.” and Tyler Cooksey (Georgia The unbeaten Spartans teammates, Greater Atlanta Tech).

Christian football standout have been forged in fire And after careful conthis season. Nine of their Darius Slayton had mulled sideration, he chose to join over his college future 13 wins came against the Bulldogs program over teams that made the state throughout his 2014 season. similar scholarship offers The wait finally ended playoffs and five of those from several other proThursday after the multi-tal- grams, including finalists were over quarterfinalented senior announced his South Carolina, Auburn and ists. They’ve beaten the verbal commitment to attend Tennessee. teams ranked No. 2, 3 and 10. Now comes fifth- the University of Georgia.

“It was just the coaches Slayton becomes the and community there,” SlaySee SPARTANS, Page 4B fourth Spartan senior to ton said of what swayed him david.friedlander@ gwinnettdailypost.com

coach Tim Hardy said, it’s a thrill.

“There’s something about playing a playoff game in south Georgia that’s just awesome,” Hardy said. “Obviously, they have a program with great historical tradition and success, a place that football means a lot.

“And the 2014 team is pretty daggone good. So

to pick Georgia. “It just felt like it was the best fit. I’ve kind of known (what the decision was) around Sunday or Monday, but I decided to wait until Thursday to make the announcement. That’s what me and my parents decided. I’m definitely excited to be done with the process.”

The deliberate timetable of his Slayton’s decision fits in with his personality, says GAC head coach Tim Hardy, who is thrilled he

See SLAYTON, Page 4B

2B • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

gwinnettdailypost.com

Buford prepared for complete Cartersville team

By Paul Thomas

When Buford head coach Jess Simpson began to break down Cartersville on film last Saturday afternoon, there wasn’t much — if anything — he wasn’t impressed with.

Buford (13-0), ranked No. 10 in the country by USA Today, will travel to Cartersville tonight for a AAAA semifinal game at 7:30 p.m.

“This time of year you expect to play a complete football team and that’s what they look like,” Simpson said.

Like Buford, Cartersville (12-1) is playing AAAA football for the first time this season, and having plenty of success. The Hurricanes, ranked No. 3 in the state, breezed through the first two rounds of the playoffs,

•From Page 1B and Gantt credited the teamfirst attitude in Buford.

“I think just overall we work as just one team,” Gantt said. “We all don’t want to be that one selfish guy that just wants the ball every time. We all talk about if we went to this school where this guy has this many carries, or that many yards, but it doesn’t really faze us. I think that working together and working as one just makes us better than just one individual person.”

The quartet doesn’t just share carries in the backfield for Buford, but also are a big part part of the defense as well. Cooper, Mangram and Gantt play corner, while Thomas is a linebacker. All but Gantt said they want to play offense in college.

When on offense they

thrown 26 touchdown passes this season, with just six interceptions.

Buford Wolves (8-AAAA) “Offensively, they’re very Coach: Jess Simpson well-coached,” Simpson Record: 13-0 said. “They’ve got a big Last week: Beat Marist 30-6 Cartersville Hurricanes (7-AAAA) offensive line. They’ve got a Record: 12-1 very talented young quarterLast week: Beat Sandy Springs 35-31 back that I think is going to Last meeting: Buford won 21-10 in 2012 AAA semifinals be as good as anybody here Directions to Cartersville High School: Take I-285 to in the state in a few years.”

I-75 N. Take exit 288 and turn left onto Ga-113 S/E Main St. Simpson said the message Slight right onto E Church St and the school is on the right. to his team throughout the week was to just prepare a guy out there who can’t going to be complicated for day-by-day for the Hurreally, really run.” us to break free, but we can ricanes. As long as his team takes care of the details, then The Wolves expect the do it for sure.” he likes its chances to make Hurricanes to do everything Offensively, Cartersit back to the Georgia Dome they can against their offen- ville has a host of big-play sive line to free up Cartersthreats led by Kalin Heath, a for the seventh straight ville’s athletic linebackers.

Kansas State commit. Heath season.

“It’s about your focus “Their team is athletic as is used in a variety of roles, and it’s about your preparaa whole, but their lineback- lining up as the tailback in tion and it’s about how you ers are really good,” senior I-formations and as a slot approach it,” Simpson said.

Evyn Cooper said. “Their receiver when the team “It’s like you have a test Fridefensive linemen are going spreads it out wide. day night and there’s nothing to do what Marist did and At quarterback for the like walking into that test chop our linemen and their Hurricanes is freshman totally prepared. We always linebackers are going to Trevor Lawrence. The talk about we control that.” flow and fill holes. So it’s 6-foot-4 signal caller has

BUFORD AT CARTERSVILLE

paul.thomas@ gwinnettdailypost.com

Buford coach Jess Simpson talks to the team after defeating Marist last Friday in the AAAA quarterfinals.

(Photo: Karl L. Moore)

before defeating Sandy Springs 35-31 last weekend in the quarterfinals.

The 31 points were the most allowed by Cartersville all season, and the first time since Sept. 26 that it allowed more than 10 points in a game. The Hurricanes have posted three shutouts this

year.

“Defensively, they’re extremely long and athletic,” Simpson said. “Their kids play really, really hard.

They create problems for people. They create negative plays. They’re athletic on the D-line, linebackers and secondary. They don’t have

Wolves each bring a different skill set to the backfield.

“We all bring something special to the game,” Thomas said. “Speed, power, agility, elusiveness, quickness. You’ve just got to be a family. You can be like ‘Oh my God I’m not getting in, I’m not getting in.’ But we don’t have that here at Buford. Everybody’s patient, everybody waits their turn. Even when somebody else is in everybody’s’ encouraging and wanting that person to do well and just get better when they’re getting in.”

Thomas is the big bruiser of the group. At 6-foot, 200 pounds the senior is averaging 8.6 yards per carry. On defense he has 50 tackles on the year, including 28 solo stops.

Last week against Marist he ran for 75 yards and

three touchdowns in a 30-6 quarterfinal win. Thomas is mulling several college offers, including from the likes of Missouri and Georgia Tech.

“He’s hard to bring down,” Cooper said. “He has really good speed also.

People underestimate his speed and his ability, but in the open field he’ll make you miss, he’ll run you over, he’ll do whatever it takes to get to the end zone.”

With Thomas taking on the role as the punishing back, Cooper and Gantt are the home-run threats.

Gantt averages 12.2 yards per carry, has two kickoff returns for touchdowns and scored on a blocked bunt.

He’s hoping his hamstring will allow him to get back in the mix against Cartersville, but it did limit him throughout the week.

Like Thomas, the junior has a number of offers from SEC and ACC schools including Georgia Tech, Miami and Mississippi State.

“He’s one of the most explosive kids in our program,” Simpson said of Gantt. “He’s a great cover corner, and he’s a guy that when he touches the ball everybody takes notice because you think something big is going to happen.”

Cooper, who committed to Purdue on Tuesday to likely play defensive back, is averaging 7.3 yards per touch, has two rushing touchdowns and a receiving score.

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound athlete is a threat on the perimeter, whether he’s lining up in the slot or coming down the line in motion for a jet sweep.

“Cooper has the explosiveness of Xavier Gantt, but he’s a little longer,” Simpson said of the senior.

“He’s a big-time speed track guy. He’s had a good end of the season, he’s been coming on and he’s gotten healthy. He’s really just added a lot here lately.”

Mangram brings a mix of speed and power to the table. The dependable junior is known for always being lined up right, whether playing running back or cornerback.

He’s run for six touchdowns this season and recently picked up a scholarship offer from Wake Forest.

“I just kind of know what I’m doing,” he said of his role in the segment. “I rarely mess up and just have some speed and power, just kind of a good mixture of both.”

Whoever is in the game at

tailback for the Wolves, the rest of the segment believes that the offense will be productive with that particular back in the game.

They don’t believe that just based on the fact that they’re all friends who pull for each other, but because they know they have a stable of runners to pull fresh legs from.

Which is exactly why Simpson is such a firm believer in the running back by committee approach.

“We feel like we’re going to be fresh and we’re going to play fast in the second half,” Simpson said. “Obviously, the other thing it does is if you’re bit by an injury, it doesn’t just destroy the moment of what you’re doing on offense. You’ve got guys who are ready and can step up and play.”

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ondeck

gwinnettdailypost.com

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014 • 3B

Getting to Know … Shane Woodward

Greater Atlanta Christian’s defensive coordinator Shane Woodward came over to the school in 2012 after two seasons on the staff at Mountain View. He was brought down to Gwinnett

by Tim Hardy, who was Today a coach at Wheaton ColBASKETBALL 6 p.m. — Mill Creek at Collins Hill lege when Woodward was 6 p.m. — Mountain View at Duluth a player there, and the two 6 p.m. — Norcross at North have worked together for five 6 p.m. — Peachtree Ridge at Meadowcreek years now.

6 p.m. — Providence at Twiggs Co. Woodward was a three6 p.m. — Wesleyan and Hapeville Charter at Ben Hill year starter and all-conRec Center ference defensive back at 6:30 p.m. — Berkmar at South Wheaton after co-captaining 6:30 p.m. — Brookwood at Parkview his Vista (Calif.) High School 6:30 p.m. — Central at Archer team to a CIF Division I 6:30 p.m. — Dacula at Shilo 7 p.m. — Lanier at Salem championship in 2004.

SWIMMING & DIVING In this installment of • Buford at Frances Meadows Aquatic Center “Getting to Know …,” 3 p.m. — Bettie Hudson Memorial 11 Diving Invitational at Woodward talks to staff writMountain Park er Christine Troyke about a 5 p.m. — Holy Innocents’ at Wesleyan variety of topics, including WRESTLING moving around the country • Archer, Parkview in Southern Slam Duals in Eastside, as a kid, a major power outSC age during his official first • Collins Hill in Lake Norman Duals date with now-wife Michele 5 p.m. — Dacula in King of the Mountain at Towns Co. and Gwinnett County footNorth, Brookwood, Central, Duluth in Woodstock Wolverball more than living up to ine Classic 5 p.m. — North Hall at GAC the advance billing.

CT: Does the reality live up to the early impression?

SW: Definitely. I think I didn’t anticipate the level of coaches down here though.

They are so good. If you’re coaching in this county, there’s a lot of pride to be a part of that group of guys.

It’s just outstanding top to bottom.

Gwinnett Preps

5 p.m. — Peachtree Ridge at Jackson Co.

The Home Teams TODAY

NEXT at Green Bay Mon, 8:30 p.m.

ESPN/92.9 FM

Off Falcons

UPCOMING Pittsburgh Dec. 14, 1 p.m.

CBS/92.9 FM

Bowl game TBD

Off UGA football

FSU/ACC title Sat, 8 p.m.

ABC/680-AM

Bowl game TBD

Off

at Toledo Tue, 7:15 p.m.

at Kalamazoo Wed, 7 p.m.

at Brooklyn Fri, 7:30 p.m.

SS/92.9 FM

Denver Sun, 3:30 p.m.

SS/92.9 FM

Off

Colorado Sun, Noon SECN/ 750-AM

Seton Hall Dec. 21, 6 p.m.

ESPNU/750-AM

Off

USC Upstate Sat, Noon RSN/680-AM

Appalachian St. Mon, 7 p.m.

ESPN3/ 680-AM

Off Tech football

Gladiators

Hawks

UGA hoops

Tech hoops

PTV = Peachtree TV, SS = SportSouth, FSS = Fox Sports South

On TV

Today

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

7 p.m. — Texas at Kentucky ESPN 7 p.m. — Florida International at Louisville FSS 9 p.m. — Florida at Kansas ESPN 9 p.m. — Coastal Carolina at Auburn FSS

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

7 p.m. — MAC Championship: Bowling Green vs. Northern Illinois ESPN2 9 p.m. — Pac-12 Championship: Arizona vs. Oregon FOX 7 p.m. — M AC Championship -- Bowling Green vs.

Northern Illinois ESPN2

COLLEGE HOCKEY

8 p.m. — Boston College at New Hampshire NBCSP

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

7 p.m. — Buford at Cartersville PBS

NBA

7:30 p.m. — Atlanta Hawks at Brooklyn Nets SS Saturday

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Noon — Rutgers at Seton Hall FSS 12:30 p.m. — Wisconsin at Marquette CBS 1 p.m. — Saint Joseph’s at Villanova FS1 3:15 p.m. — Women’s: Jimmy V Classic: Connecticut at Notre Dame ESPN 3:15 p.m. — Kansas State at Tennessee ESPN2 4:30 p.m. — Northwestern at Butler FOX 5:15 p.m. —Gonzaga at Arizona ESPN 5:15 p.m. — St. John’s at Syracuse ESPN2 3:15 p.m. — Kansas State at Tennessee ESPN2 4:30 p.m. — Northwestern at Butler FOX

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Noon — Iowa State at Texas Christian ABC Noon — Houston at Cincinnati ESPN Noon — C-USA Championship: Louisiana Tech at Marshall ESPN2 3:30 p.m. — Oklahoma State at Oklahoma FS1 4 p.m. — SEC Championship: Alabama vs. Missouri CBS 7:30 p.m. — Temple at Tulane ESPN2 7:45 p.m. — Kansas State at Baylor ESPN 8 p.m. — ACC Championship: Florida State vs. Georgia Tech ABC 8 p.m. — Big Ten Championship: Ohio State vs. Wisconsin FOX 10 p.m. — Mountain West Championship: Fresno State at Boise State CBS

COLLEGE HOCKEY

8 p.m. — Maine at UMass-Lowell NBCSP

GOLF

2:30 p.m. — PGA Tour Hero World Challenge, Third Round NBC

NBA

8 p.m. — Golden State Warriors at Chicago Bulls WGN

SOCCER

7:45 a.m. — English Premier League: Newcastle United FC vs Chelsea FC NBCSP

Feedback

• Will Hammock, Sports Editor: will.hammock@gwinnettdailypost.com • Christine Troyke, Staff Writer: christine.troyke@gwinnettdailypost.com • David Friedlander, Staff Writer: david.friedlander@gwinnettdailypost.com • Paul Thomas, Staff Writer: paul.thomas@gwinnettdailypost.com • Scott Smith, Senior Correspondent: scott.smith@gwinnettdailypost.com • To report scores, call 770-339-5850

Call 770-963-9205 to subscribe to the

Gwinnett Daily Post.

CT: Where did you grow up?

SW: I actually grew up outside of Philadelphia and then I played high school football in San Diego.

CT: How old were you when you moved to San Diego?

SW: I was in eighth grade.

So I got a chance to spend five years down there and played for a great program.

My dad’s job moved us all over the place. We lived in Phoenix at one point. And I went to college in Chicago.

So I’ve been all over.

CT: What sports did you play growing up?

SW: Baseball and football. Some basketball. But football was always No. 1.

After freshman year I didn’t play baseball. Just football.

CT: So were you at a pretty big school then?

SW: I was. It was 4,000 kids. It was huge. I was meeting people for the first time at graduation. I kid you not. It was crazy.

CT: Did you take advantage of living by the ocean while you were in San Diego?

SW: Absolutely. My parents still live down there, too. San Diego, it’s one of the prime spots in the whole country to grow up. And it was good football down there.

CT: If I could afford to live there, I would.

SW: (smiling) There’s a reason I live here. That’s the truth.

CT: What position did you play?

SW: I played wide receiver and strong safety.

Then when I got to college, I played free safety.

CT: When it came time to make the college decision, what were the big factors for you?

SW: I went to such a big school that had kids going to play Division I football. I’ve got some buddies that are still playing in the NFL. So I glamorized that in my mind, but I just wasn’t that level of athlete, so I was looking around at different places to potentially walk on.

I loved Penn State growing up. I looked at that.

But I wanted to be at a place that wanted me. You just want to be valued at

GAC defensive coordinator Shane Woodward oversees warmups prior to the Spartans season opener against Benedictine at GAC. (Photo: Kyle Hess)

whatever you do. I found saw that maybe I could do that in Wheaton College that for other people. outside of Chicago. It’s actually where I met Tim, Coach CT: What do you like Hardy. about Chicago?

SW: It’s an awesome CT: He was coaching city. I love the four seasons. there?

My wife’s family is there SW: It’s interesting. He and having gone to school was coaching on the ofthere, a lot of my great fensive side of the ball. He friends are there. It’s cold and I didn’t really interact all the time. much. At the college level, CT: Except in June and you sort of work with your July when it’s sweltering position group. So it’s the and just as humid as it is past five, six years that I’ve down here. been working for him, we’ve SW: (laughing) It can be. gotten to know each other a whole lot better than we did CT: When did you at that point. make the migration down here?

CT: When you went to SW: I got engaged after college, did you go with an a year of being a grad asidea that you might want sistant. I was making no to get into coaching and money. I think I was making teaching? $500 every two weeks. And SW: Absolutely. One of I realized I needed to start our prerequisites in high providing for somebody. school was you had to reI knew Coach Hardy had search and evaluate a profes- started up a program down sion you wanted to be a part here at Mountain View. He of. I chose coaching. had emailed some of the I never really anticipated coaches at Wheaton saying, being a teacher. Obviously ‘Hey, I’m looking for some coaching is teaching. And guys.’ It just clicked in my I love encouraging young head. So I called him up people and being a part of and here we are. Two weeks that. I never thought I’d be after getting married, we a part of it in the classroom. drove down here. It was But I love it. Getting people wild. My wife is a trooper. to be their best, it’s fun. I She’s Chicago born and enjoy it. bred and I said, ‘Let’s go down to the South.’

CT: What do you teach?

CT: Well, Atlanta is the SW: Here it’s called South, but it’s not. academic support. It’s our SW: We didn’t realize version of special education that. It’s great. and it’s not nearly as severe as you’ll find in some of the CT: So what were your public school settings. But impressions? Obviously kids with learning difficulyou would have looked ties. That’s what my educa- into it before committing tion background is in. to come down here, but being here is different CT: What was your than looking it up on the first job after getting your Internet. degree?

SW: My prerequisite SW: I was a graduate as- for coming down here and sistant at Wheaton. I stayed coaching, really anywhere on staff there for a year and in high school, was I wanted I was working part time at a to coach for somebody that high school at the same time did it right. That treated in their special needs depart- players like they mattered. ment. It was my first taste of That valued the program. teaching.

And anybody that knows Tim knows he’s the consumCT: You’ve lived a lot of mate professional. He’s just places. What are some of outstanding with what he your favorite things about does and I wanted to be a those places? part of that.

SW: In San Diego it’s And I knew Gwinnett obviously hard to beat the County football, the more weather. But the people that I researched it, I was like, molded me into who I am ‘Holy smokes.’ This is an today football-wise withimpressive place to be. So out a doubt, the two head it was kind of a no-brainer coaches I had just poured so from that standpoint. much football knowledge into me there. I look back CT: Is Georgia football and I know my start, my in general on the radar root, was there at the high when you’re up in Chischool level from those cago? guys that were just so pasSW: Oh, absolutely. Even sionate about the game. growing up in California, And then my coaches at there are those few states Wheaton, Rod Sandberg everybody knows about. and Mike Swider, are just California believes it’s it. awesome men who valued Texas believes it’s it. Florida football but also cared about believes it’s it. Then you’ve the character and who you got Ohio and Georgia. So were becoming. That’s the definitely we knew Georgia side I saw that I loved and had some excellent players.

CT: Do you have kids?

SW: I do. I have a little girl, Tatum, who is 1 ½ years old and a daughter on the way.

CT: Will you encourage your daughters to try sports?

SW: Yeah, I want them to do what they enjoy. I valued (sports). I enjoyed it. It worked for me. I want them to be a part of something where they can find a similar thing whether it’s playing an instrument or whatever it is.

CT: How did you meet your wife?

SW: We met at Wheaton.

We didn’t start dating until our last semester there. In a school of 2,500 people, I hadn’t met her until the end of my senior year. It was pretty cool. She was living with one of my roommate’s girlfriends.

CT: Was there an official first date?

SW: It was the middle of October and we went to do a hayride in Chicago. Literally 30 minutes before we were leaving, a huge electrical storm comes in, knocks out all the power in the area. So we walked around this farm.

Nobody was there. Nothing was functional. We walked around just talking and getting to know each other.

Then we went to Starbucks.

I didn’t know she didn’t drink coffee.

CT: When and if you have any free time is there anything you like to do?

SW: There’s not a lot of it between July and December. I’m a homebody. I love reading. I love just spending time with my wife just going on walks. I know it sounds cheesy, but I need to recharge after a crazy week.

We love traveling and seeing our family. We’ve got some great destinations.

My wife has five sisters that all live in the same town.

Italian family from the city.

They didn’t go far.

The great thing for me is I love her family and I get to see the guys I played football with that are still in the area. Some of my buddies and roommates are coaching at Wheaton. There are few things like the football fraternity. It’s a blast to see them.

CT: Looking back, were you crazy to want to play in the snow?

SW: It was great. Even now, it’s one of the best memories we had. Also because it was the playoffs and it’s a game we won.

CT: What was your first car?

SW: I had a 1985 Dodge pickup that had a Mitsubishi engine inside of it. Yeah, my brother who is 6-foot-4 barely fit in it. And California state government paid me $1,000 to take it off the road because it didn’t pass emission standards. So I made money on an $800 vehicle. It was awesome. It might also be why California is in debt right now.

PREP ROUNDUP

Central beats Archer 68-63 in region play From StaFF reportS LAWRENCEVILLE — Central Gwinnett boys basketball improved to 2-0 in region play (4-1 overall) beating host Archer 68-63 Thursday. Senior Jeremiah Buford led the way with 16 points.

Adnan Antonio had 10 points and Karon Jackson added nine.

GIRLS HOOPS GIRLS HOOPS Archer 62, Central 34 LAWRENCEVILLE —Archer used an 18-3 run in the third quarter to pull away from Central 62-34. The Tigers remained unbeaten at 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the region.

Tatiana Wayne led Archer with 14 points and three steals. Madison Newby added eight points, seven assists and six rebounds.

Autumn Newby contributed 10 points and five steals, and Amber Skidgel had 11 points

and five rebounds.

Central’s Briana McGee led all scorers with 18 points.

WRESTLING WRESTLING Mountain View tops Meadowcreek LAWRENCEVILLE — Mountain View defeated Meadowcreek 46-13 in wrestling Wednesday night, improving to 12-1 on the season.

The Bears’ victors were Logan Burroughs (106 pounds), Sam Ezzell (120), Justin George

(132), Adam Flatt (138), Alonso Reyes (145), D.J. Schrenk (152), Jamar McEachern (170), Austin Brown (182), Sawyer Soucie (195) and K’maron Patterson (285).

Peachtree Ridge sweeps matches SUWANEE — Peachtree Ridge’s wrestling team swept matches against Mill Creek and Johnson-Gainesville on Wednesday night.

The Lions defeated Mill Creek 43-33 and Johnson 41-40.

4B • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

gwinnettdailypost.com

Bears’ Barber, Hawks’ Petit lead Gwinnett Jim McElwain new coaches all-county cross country teams Florida head coach championships (19861987), four region championships (1985-88) and one county championship (1988) as Shiloh’s coach.

Merritt was a two-time individual state champion who helped Brookwood to a No. 3 national ranking in 1989. Medcalf was a three-time region champion (1978-80), a county champion (1980), a twotime, first-team all-state pick (1979-80) and a Foot Locker national qualifier, where he finished fourth in the South Region and 23rd nationally in 1980.

The coaches also named their all-county teams for this season. Those selections are below:

From StaFF reportS The Gwinnett County high school cross country coaches honored their allcounty runners and inducted three new members into their hall of fame during a Thursday night banquet at Meadowcreek.

Mountain View’s Tyler Barber and Mill Creek’s Hannah Petit were voted runners of the year, while the coach of the year awards went to Hebron Christian’s Bob Gardner and Mike Beaudreau in the boys division and Mill Creek’s Terry Brand in the girls division.

The new hall of fame inductees are Shiloh’s Willie McKenzie, Brookwood’s Tara Merritt and Parkview’s Robert Medcalf.

McKenzie won two state

Girls All-County Team Ashton Askew, Brookwood Anna Dent, Collins Hill Lacey Ellenburg, Collins Hill Lauren Flynt, Brookwood Yanely Gomez, Grayson

Gabriella Gusmerotti, Norcross Sydney Hendricks, Providence Mary Kathryn Knott, Peachtree Ridge McKenzie Knudsen, Archer Kitty Moraes, Collins Hill Maggie O’Leary, Norcross Meghan Peel, Peachtree Ridge Camryn Petit, Mill Creek Hannah Petit, Mill Creek Daniela Rodriguez, Dacula Sara Scales, Mill Creek Sidney Sheppard, North Gwinnett Emily Swanigan, Providence Michelle Valezquez, Peachtree Ridge Melody Weiler, Parkview Jordan Zimmerman, Wesleyan Boys All-County Team Tyler Allan, Collins Hill Tyler Barber, Mountain View Jordan Ashwood, Mill Creek Henry Collins, Wesleyan Ben Cook, Brookwood Sam Costa, Mill Creek Jonathan Ernst, Grayson Michael Fadeley, Brookwood David Giuliano, Brookwood Teja Gummadi, Peachtree Ridge Colson Hagan, Hebron Noah Hollis, Mill Creek Trent Johnson, Hebron Kumail Kazmi, Parkview Ethan LoCicero, Mill Creek Sumit Mondal, Brookwood Chris O’Brien, Brookwood Isaac Penman, Peachtree Ridge Nate Reichard, Peachtree Ridge Patrick Smith, Brookwood Bobby Tucker, Mountain View

Honorable mention Archer: Halle Smith, Stephen Yarbrough Berkmar: Alejandra Barron, Santiago Fabra Brookwood: Renee Silver, Jordan Bullock Buford: Erin Marsh, Andone Mendoza Central Gwinnett: Lauren Keeler, Axel Avalos Collins Hill: Aileen Bueno, Jeremy Page Dacula: Karly Rookis, Jackson Helfrich Duluth: Liliana Encarnacion, Bobby Pelland GAC: Ripley Fricano, Miller Kettle Grayson: Rachel Lott, Connor Stepps Hebron: Miranda Taylor, Wesley Warbington Lanier: Christopher Tromp, Zoie Gardner Meadowcreek: Guadalupe Ruelas, De’kevis Wiley Mill Creek: Elena Guerra, Gavin Childers Mountain View: Alyssa O’Neil, Tyler Harkins Norcross: Sarah Stephens, Will Thomas North Gwinnett: Sarah Melkerson, Jeramey Hampton Parkview: Rachel Hurst, Jackson Wise Peachtree Ridge: Alexis McKenzie, Pedro Solares Providence Christian: Anna Huntington, Duncan Gotfredson Shiloh: Davida White, Ryan Vina Wesleyan: Kylie Reed, Bailey Renfroe

By mark Long

The Associated Press

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley wanted a coach with an offensive track record of success.

Foley even agreed to pay extra to get him.

After working though a sticky buyout issue, Jim McElwain left Colorado State on Thursday to become Florida’s next head coach.

“It’s an honor to be a part of the one of most powerful brands in college athletics in the Florida Gators,” McElwain said in a statement. “I’m humbled, yet very excited about the tremendous opportunity. I can’t tell you how eager I am to get to Gainesville to set a course for who we are going to be and what we

will be all about.”

The Gators announced the hiring at the same time McElwain started a team meeting with players and assistants. Reporters heard a loud ovation before McElwain exited the room in tears.

McElwain agreed to a six-year deal at Florida that will average $3.5 million annually. He made $1.5 million this season at Colorado State.

“Coach McElwain was someone we targeted from the beginning of the search,” Foley said. “The more we worked through the process and did our due diligence, coupled with our meeting and conversations with him and those around him, it was obvious he is the right person to lead the Florida Gator football program.”

Tide used to playing for titles Cook ignites FSU run game the SportS Xchange

off emotional wins over Thanksgiving weekend.

Missouri will be making The Tigers needed to an appearance in the SEC rally to beat Arkansas 21Who: Alabam vs. championship game for a 14 to earn its berth when Missouri second straight season, but a loss would have made When: Saturday 4 p.m. that certainly doesn’t give Georgia the West Division Where: Georgia Dome the Tigers an advantage in representative.

TV: CBS experience over Alabama Bama knew it already in Saturday’s game in was in by the time it Atlanta. game, 28-21 over Florida, kicked off against Auburn The Crimson Tide has in 1992, then lost to Florida because of Mississippi played in the title game in the 1993, ’94, and ’96 State’s loss earlier in the three times in the last six games. day to Mississippi, but years, including its national The Tide’s other loss was the Tide were looking at championship 2012 season again to Florida in 2008. more than just conference when it held off Georgia In addition to the ’92 and implications.

32-28. ’13 victories, the Tide beat The Tide needed a vicAlabama has played in Florida in 1999 and 2009. tory to keep the top spot the game eight times, winMissouri was blitzed 59- in the College Football ning four of the meetings, 42 by Auburn last year in Playoff rankings, and over the 22-game span. getting to the game for the besides, the opponent was But three of the four first time in just its second arch-rival Auburn. The Tide losses came in the first five season in the conference. fell behind 33-21 earlier years the game was played.

Both Missouri and in the third quarter before Bama won the inaugural Alabama are coming winning 55-44.

SEC CHAMPIONSHIP

By Brent kaLLeStad The Associated Press

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The emergence of Florida State freshman speedster Dalvin Cook is giving the Seminoles a running game they can lean on, adding productive balance to their offensive attack.

Cook is finishing so strong that he’s threatening Greg Allen’s 33-yearold Florida State freshman rushing record of 888 yards. And it couldn’t come at a better time for the second-ranked Seminoles (12-0, 8-0 Atlantic Coast Conference, No. 4 CFP), who square off against No. 12 Georgia Tech (10-2, 6-2, No. No. 11 CFP) in Saturday’s

Daily Post Picks

WILL HAMMOCK

CHRISTINE TROYKE

DAVID FRIEDLANDER

MITCH BLOMERT

SCOTT SMITH

DAVID WELKER

DAVID GREENE*

Etowah at Archer

Archer

Archer

Archer

Archer

Archer

Archer

Archer

Buford at Cartersville

Buford

Buford

Buford

Buford

Buford

Buford

Buford

GAC at Fitzgerald

GAC

GAC

GAC

GAC

GAC

GAC

GAC

3-0 (140-32)

3-0 (139-33)

3-0 (136-36)

3-0 (138-34)

3-0 (134-38)

3-0 (127-45)

3-0 (125-47)

s

YOU PICK ’EM: Make prep football predictions at www.gwinnettprepsports.com/contests. Each week’s winner will receive a Kindle Fire HD. *Each week’s picks feature a guest picker. This week’s guest picker is David Greene, former South Gwinnett, UGA and NFL quarterback and now SEC Network analyst

•From Page 1B offenses the first three weeks of the postseason, the Tigers will have to adjust to a power running game this week.

It’s not that the Eagles can’t throw the ball, it’s just that with a stable of running backs like theirs, led

by Tyray Devezin, who has stepped up after his older brother Raishod was injured to run for 1,487 yards on the season, they don’t often have to.

And with a massive offensive line blocking for them, led by twin Georgia Tech commits Brad (6-foot-5, 275 pounds) and Scott Morgan (6-6, 275), Etowah will definitely challenge Archer up front.

“They’re no strangers to the weight room,” Tigers coach Andy Dyer said of Etowah. “They do a great job in the weight room up there, and it’s definitely (seen) on film because their kids are extremely physical.

They’ll hit you in the mouth.

“They’re going to run lead, counter and toss. You’d better be ready to stand in the box and hit them in the

Who: Florida State vs.

Georgia Tech When: Saturday 8 p.m.

Where: Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, N.C. TV: ABC

ACC championship game in Charlotte, N.C. Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson ranks Cook among the best backs he’s had to prepare for all season, comparing him to Georgia’s Nick Chubb and Sony Michel.

“He’s at least that caliber,” Johnson said. “He’s got great speed and really catches the ball well.”

The 6-foot, 200-pound Cook has 728 yards after topping the 100-yard

•From Page 1B

The staff makes its predictions for this week’s prep football winners

Last week (overall)

ACC CHAMPIONSHIP

Archer

ETOWAH AT ARCHER

•From Page 1B

ranked Fitzgerald.

Etowah Eagles (5-AAAAAA) The Purple Hurricanes Coach: Dave Svehla have lost just one game Record: 11-2, No. 2 seed themselves this season, Last week: Beat Newton 43-29 in the quarterfinals Archer Tigers (8-AAAAAA) a 22-19 nailbiter with Coach: Andy Dyer Thomasville. They’re Record: 10-3, No. 1 seed led by senior quarterLast week: Beat Hillgrove 56-13 in the quarterfinals back Gerald Morgan and When: Today, 7:30 p.m. sophomore fullback J.B. Last meeting: First meeting King.

Directions to Archer High School: From I-85 take Ga. “They’ve got a number 20 exit toward Lawrenceville. Follow road through downof guys who are just explotown Lawrenceville as it turns to Jackson then New Hope sive with the ball in their Road. School is on the right. hands,” Hardy said. “It mouth, or you’re not going starts with (Morgan), but But while Svehla knows to get the football.” the his Eagles will have their there are a handful of guys Hanging onto the footthat we have to be accounthands full, he is confident ball and keeping Archer’s able for. they will be up to the chaloffense off the field might be lenge.

“It’s a shotgun version Etowah’s biggest challenge “Archer’s playing fantastic of the wing-T so in some on the night. sense it reminds you of a football right now,” Svehla The Tigers have had little said. “They look tremendous Wildcat kind of offense.” trouble rolling up yardage The Spartans saw on film. They look big, they or points over the last half look fast, they look physical. something similar in of the season, with its own BEST Academy and it’s There are only four teams powerful line paving the way left, so you’re going to star back Deshawn Waller. for skill players like quarter- expect that everybody that’s GAC won that game by 30 back Gabe Tiller (158-261-9, left can play some ball. points.

2,663 yds., 29 TDs), plus “They do a great job “Archer’s got it rolling other skill threats Kyle Davis pretty well right now, but I of pulling guys and (56-1,030, 8 TDs), Randy cross keys,” Hardy said. feel like our kids are (also) Nails (1,379 total yds., 11 playing pretty good football “They’re offense is really TDs), Dylan Singleton (642 right now. We’re going to pretty fun to watch.” total yds., 13 TDs) and The Spartans are allowdo what we do, and do it the Jamyest Williams (991 total best we can and hope that ing an average of just 11 yds., 12 TDs). points per game this season it’s enough Friday night.”

mark for the third time with career-best 144 yards in Saturday’s 24-19 win over Florida. His effort helped the Seminoles close out a second straight perfect regular season with their 28th consecutive victory.

“There’s not enough positive things you can say about Dalvin,” said senior center Cameron Erving, a two-time winner of the ACC’s “best blocker award.” “He’s been very, very vital to our success.”

Florida State announced Thursday that Williams’ concussion will keep him out of Saturday’s showdown against Yellow Jackets, which means more opportunities for Cook.

Slayton

he’ll be a success.”

Just exactly what role was able to put his decision Slayton will try to have that to rest on the eve of one of success in was something the Spartans’ biggest games that was up in the air during in their history, as they pre- his recruitment. pare for their fourth appearHowever, it appears the ance in the Class AA state 6-foot-2, 185-pound receivsemifinals tonight against er/defensive back will get Fitzgerald. his first shot to contribute “I’m just excited for on offense for the Bulldogs Darius,” Hardy said. once he reports to Athens “He’s managed the whole next summer. process well. First and “I was pretty much (beforemost, I’m excited ing recruited) as an aththat he was able to find a lete,” said Slayton, who currently leads GAC with program he was excited 46 receptions for 760 about. He’s got a huge yards and 13 touchdowns, smile on his face. That’s and has added 21 tackone more thing off his les and a team-best five plate, and now he and his teammates can concentrate interceptions on defense, with two of those picks on going out and trying being returned for scores. to win (tonight’s) game.

He’s a tremendous football “(But) I’m going in (concentrating) on offense.” player, and I’m confident

Spartans GAC AT FITZGERALD GAC SPARTANS (6-AA) Coach: Tim Hardy Record: 13-0 Last week: Beat Vidalia 34-22 FITZGERALD PURPLE HURRICANES (1-AA) Coach: Jason Strickland Record: 12-1 Last week: Beat Pace Academy 49-21 Last meeting: First meeting Directions to Fitzgerald High School: From I-675 take I-75 S. Take exit 82, turn left onto E Washington Ave for 23 miles. Turn right onto N Merrimac Dr, then left onto W Roanoke Dr. Take the second left onto S Gordon St.

and feature an impressive stable of defensive workhorses.

“The big thing for us defensively is everyone is accountable for their job, for their gap, for their read key,” Hardy said. “You play good defense when you have 11 guys doing their job. When I try to step outside and do my job and someone else’s, I don’t even do mine. That’s the thing — to trust everyone will do the things they need to do.”

Offensively, Hardy is looking for balance. GAC’s ground game is led by 1,000-yard rusher Micah Abernathy, but Jaelen

Venable has also racked up nearly 700 yards. The Spartans have two receivers with over 700 yards in Georgia-bound Darius Slayton and Justin Phan.

Beyond that, it’s a night where mental focus will be as important as making big hits or powering through the open seams.

“Nothing bad happens on a Friday night — and by that I mean, there’s going to be ups and downs,” Hardy said.

“You just have to have an even keel. Don’t get down about something. Don’t get too high. Be blind to the scoreboard. We’ll tell you when to stop.”

gwinnettdailypost.com

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2014 • 5B

Nolan, Falcons face tough task against Rodgers

By GeorGe Henry

Bowl alternate, back from a seven-game shoulder injury absence last week.

FLOWERY BRANCH And Nolan hopes that When: 8:30 p.m. Monday — At 5-7 and sporting the the defense builds some Where: Lambeau Field, NFL’s most leakiest, the momentum with 12 intercepGreen Bay, Wis. Atlanta Falcons look like tions in the last six games.

TV: ESPN a mismatch against Green They’ll need it against Bay star quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who has thrown no Rodgers. open lane, (but) he’s got a picks at Lambeau Field since Falcons defensive coorgreat feel for what’s around Dec. 2, 2012 and 31 touchdinator Mike Nolan doesn’t him so he can keep his eyes down passes in that span. exactly agree. downfield and still maneuver “We’ll make the effort to If Atlanta can keep the and stay alive. disrupt him in any way we score close early, Nolan be“Without question he’s an can, but he’s a difficult guy lieves his team has a chance exciting player to watch.” to disrupt because you might to pull a big upset.

For Atlanta, this week be asking for something Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Mike Nolan marks the first of three That doesn’t mean he that you don’t want,” Nolan watches during practice in Flowery Branch, Ga. this preexpects anything to come straight weeks against some said. “I don’t think we really season. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File) easily. of the NFL’s best QBs. They want Aaron to get out of “If you let him sit there host Pittsburgh’s Ben Roeth- the pocket, but at the same in the pocket, he’ll take his winning streak at Lambeau backs Eddie Lacy and James lisberger next week and visit time you don’t want him just time and do his thing, but if Field.

Starks are tough to tackle.

Drew Brees in New Orleans sitting there and picking you he gets out and gets flushed, Atlanta’s defense is last Nolan considers Rodgon Dec. 21. apart. He can do that.” he goes,” Nolan said. “He’s in total yards, last against ers, though, to be among the Despite his defense’s staMoore says the defense a very hard one to figure in the pass, second-worst in best quarterbacks ever to tistical shortcomings, Nolan must create takeaways, as that regard.” sacks, fifth-worst in thirdplay in a West Coast-style likes how his young players tough as that assignment Conditions hardly seem to down percentage and 22nd offense — an elite player have responded to a rough seems against a stingy quarfavor the Falcons on Monin scoring. who makes everyone around start to the season. terback such as Rodgers. day night at chilly Green It looks grim on paper. him better.

The Falcons never had “It’s proven when you Bay (9-3).

Rodgers, the 2011 MVP, “He keeps plays alive all their best defender, Sean win the turnover battle The Packers rank second has physical playmakers the time,” Nolan said. “He’s Weatherspoon, after the you come out with the in scoring this year and have who run hard and fast. His got a tremendous ability just standout linebacker suffered win, probably,” Moore outscored their last five receiving corps, led by to flick the ball and be aca season-ending injury in the said. “As long as we cause home opponents by a comRandall Cobb and Jordy curate. When he scrambles, summer. turnovers, it gets us off the bined 128 points in the first Nelson, creates problems for a lot of guys will bring their But they got safety Wilfield and puts the ball in half. They have a six-game small cornerbacks. Running eyes down and try to find the liam Moore, a 2012 Pro the offense’s hands.”

The Associated Press

FALCONS AT PACKERS

Grayson’s Hayes accepts all-star game invite Grayson senior Jordan Hayes has accepted an invitation to the Semper Fidelis All-American Game, scheduled for Jan. 4 in Los Angeles.

Hayes, a Duke commitment, was a standout on the Grayson defense this past season and earned second-team all-county honors on defense by the Touchdown Club of Gwinnett.

Blake Ferguson named top long snapper for the class of 2015

Buford High School long snapper, Blake Ferguson was declared the top snapper for the class of 2015 after attending the Rubio Long Snapping camp on Sunday.

“The accuracy and consistency Blake showed was uncanny,” Chris Rubio said. “His misses were by inches and every snap is within milliseconds of each other. The kid is a machine right now.”

Ferguson, an LSU commit, was among approximately 80 other participants from Florida,

By Guy CurtriGHt rolled to a 65-29 vicyear mainstays from state Jr. — the son of the longnocents’ was within a point Mississippi, Tennesse, Staff Correspondent tory over GAC (1-3) on Alabama, Ohio, South tournament teams — are time coach now at Grayson when the junior forward Thursday night at the Long gone and the Spartans are Carolina, Kentucky, and — and Golden Bears are made two foul shots with NORCROSS — New Forum.

Georgia. Long snappers retooling. deep and ferocious defen49.6 seconds left. Then he Greater Atlanta Christian Erika Cassell, a 6-foot-2 “It will be a process sively. had a basket and two more gathered at Pinecrest girls coach Lady Grooms junior, had 10 points, eight and I knew it would be,” Academy in Cumming, “They’ve got a lot of free throws to ice it. could hardly have had a rebounds and three blocked Grooms said. “But I’m talent, but they also play GAC (4-1) got 13 points Georgia to learn from the much tougher assignment shots in a strong effort best and get the most exvery excited about the the right way,” Grooms from senior forward Eric posure possible to college for her first home game and inside, but it was the flashy future.” said. “It was good for my Jamison and 10 from coaches.

Region 6-AA opener.

Pointer who stood out.

Lexi Mann is a building sophomores and freshman sophomore point guard Holy Innocents’ was Rubio Long Snapping, “A great player makes block and she held her own to see exactly what it takes Brian Coffey. Senior guard runner-up for the Class A is the No. 1 authority on everyone else better and against Holy Innocents’ to be a champion.”

Cam Boyd scored seven private school state chamthat’s what she does,” with 13 points despite foul before fouling out midway Long Snappers in the pionship last year and is a country and has followers Grooms said. trouble.

GAC boys 58, in the fourth quarter. from all over the world; favorite in Class AA after Grooms knows about GAC scored the first four Holy Innocents’ 49 Travis Anderson scored attending in mass to the moving up. excellence on the court. As points of the game, but then The Holy Innocents’ 13 points to lead Holy In“Did I want to play them Lady Hardmon, she was a the Golden Bears went on boys showed they were nocents’ (3-1). The Golden sought-after camps and in the first game? No,” standout at the University a 13-0 run and a 16-6 lead ready for the move up to Bears led by four points in events offered across the Grooms said. “Did I want country. Last year alone, of Georgia and then in the after the first quarter grew Class AA, giving two-time the third quarter as GAC Rubio Long Snapping had my team to see how good WNBA. to 43-12 at halftime. It was defending state champion suffered through a cold over 100 long snappers they were? Yes. They’re She’s had plenty of suc- 53-23 going into the short- GAC a scare before the shooting night. move on to play major what we want to be somecess as a coach, too. But ened fourth quarter.

Spartans pulled away in The GAC boys and day. And we’ll get there.” college football around there will be growing pains Pointer had 18 points by the final minute for a 58-49 girls are off until TuesSophomore point guard at GAC as she replaces Cal intermission, with 13 com- victory. day, when they host Pace the country and has mulKhayla Pointer had 24 Boyd. ing in the second quarter.

Garrett Covington scored Academy in Region 6-AA tiple long snappers in the points and six assists as Brianna Cummings Holy Innocents’ is 22 for GAC, including six play. Pace is also moving NFL. —From Staff Reports Holy Innocents’ (5-0) and Sydni Means — fourcoached by Tony Watkins clinching points. Holy Inup from Class A.

Rebuilding GAC girls no match for Holy Innocents’

Youngsters bolster Norcross past North Mill Creek’s Jarvis

By DaviD FrieDlanDer

from the right corner capped an 8-0 run that put the Blue Devils up 22-16 with 4:13 left in the half.

NORCROSS — Facing a big rival However, North closed the half on in its Region 7-AAAAAA opener, a 10-4 run over the final 2:46, with Norcross boys basketball coach Jesse Kameran Calhoun hitting a pair of free McMillan knew his young team would throws and dishing off to K.J. Hancock have to rely on some key veterans. for a 3-pointer to give the Bulldogs a And while seniors Ricky Madison three-point lead, though Cameron’s and Tim Cameron each had a big night, steal and layup pulled Norcross back to the Blue Devils wouldn’t have manwithin 30-29 at the break. aged a 72-64 win over North Gwinnett But in the second half, the Blue Thursday without big contributions Devils began to work in the paint just from a few youngsters. like McMillan had wanted.

Rayshaun Hammonds posted a The 6-foot-7 Hammonds and 6-6 double-double with 12 points and 14 Madison (18 points, 12 rebounds) rebounds, while fellow sophomore combined for Norcross’ first 13 points Zach Cooks used some hot perimeter of the third quarter, with all but a shooting for a game-high 20 points, 3-pointer from Madison coming either and connected on clutch free throws in the paint or at the foul line. down the stretch.

That helped the Blue Devils outscore “Our first five games, the atmoNorth 20-8 in the period and build a sphere was a lot different,” McMillan seemingly comfortable 49-38 lead said after Norcross improved to 6-0 heading into the final frame. overall and 1-0 in region play. “There “(Norcross is) a good team, and was an empty gym, or we were on the they’re well coached,” North coach road a long way from home. We’re Zach Smith said. “Jesse, I’m sure, dealing with a majority of guys with made the adjustments he needed to the exception of (Devin) Huffman, make in the second half … I think they Cameron and Madison (with) zero scored 29 in the first half, and then game (experience) at Norcross. came out in the first five minutes of that “In the second half, we calmed down third quarter and scored 16 points. a little bit and said, ‘Let’s get the ball in “A lot of that attributed to turnovers, the paint a little bit a little bit more and though. We accomplished what we let’s stop relying on the 3 (-point shot) wanted to in the halfcourt, for the most because we are a rhythm team.’ If we part. We had some breakdowns, but the can get a couple (shots) to the rim, get guys were pretty committed to it.” a couple of free throws, get a couple of True, the Bulldogs were hampered layups, those shots will start to fall, and by the bulk of their 21 turnovers in the we did.’ first three quarters.

Surprisingly, it was the smaller But after trailing as much 57-42 folBulldogs (3-1, 0-1) who did their dam- lowing a Huffman 3-pointer with 5:47 age in the lane in the first half, holding to play, North began to chip away by 26-17 rebounding advantage, while the forcing Norcross in to some turnovers, taller Blue Devils bombed away away six in the fourth quarter, and turning from 3-point range, hitting six shots them into transition points. from behind the arc in the opening 16 Calhoun struck for eight points in the minutes. fourth quarter, while Jaye Stackhouse Norcross took the biggest lead for added eight of his own to lead at a huge either team after Cameron’s 3-pointer North run. david.friedlander@ gwinnettdailypost.com

And when Jack Stucke drained a 3-pointer from the corner with 31 seconds left, the Bulldogs were suddenly within 67-64.

But Cooks, who had knocked down a trey of his own a little over a minute earlier, was able to get to the line and hit two clutch free throws to move the lead back to 69-64 with 29.7 seconds left.

Then, after the usually reliable Stucke missed two free throws, with a third being wiped out by a lane violation, with 14.3 seconds left, Cooks calmly drained two more from the line, while Madison added another free throw in the waning seconds.

“I’ve been through pressure before when I play on the (AAU) circuit,” Cooks said. “In the first half, when I knocked down a couple of 3s and Tim hit a couple of 3s, that opened it up for us. We penetrated a little bit and kicked it out. It was a team effort (Thursday).”

In addition to the big night from Cooks, Madison and Hammonds, Cameron contributed 16 points, seven rebounds and three steals, while Amir Butcher dished out four assists.

Calhoun posted a double-double, finishing with 16 poins and 12 rebounds and adding four blocked shots and three assists, to lead North, while the Bulldogs also got 14 points, eight boards and four assists from Stackhouse and 14 points and six rebounds from Stucke.

Dejan Tojcic also pulled down eight rebounds.

Norcross girls 53, North 27 Taylor Mason and Tylia Gillespie each scored 18 points as Norcross (5-1, 1-0) rolled past North 53-27 in its region opener.

Vash Perry added nine points and nine steals, while Bena McCoy dished out nine assists for the Blue Devils.

Jessica Belcher scored 18 points, 12 in the fourth quarter, to lead North.

honored as all-region teams announced From StaFF reportS The Region 7-AAAAAA football coaches announced their all-region teams this week.

The coaches chose first and second teams, and also named Mill Creek’s Shannon Jarvis as the coach of the year. Jarvis led the Hawks to the No. 2 seed and a state playoff berth this season.

The individual players honored are as follows: All-Region 7-AAAAAA Football

First team Quarterback John Urzua, North Gwinnett Running backs Johnathan Hawkins, Mill Creek Naceem Antenor, Peachtree Ridge Wide receivers Jared Pinkney, Norcross Josh Imatorbhebhe, North Gwinnett Canyon Slade, Collins Hill Tight end Daniel Imatorbhebhe, North Gwinnett Offensive line Mitch Hyatt, North Gwinnett Kaleb Kim, Mill Creek Josh Fannin, Mill Creek Kendel Wright, Mountain View Chad Walker, Mill Creek D’Andre Plantin, Norcross Returner Codi Russell, Collins Hill Defensive line Miles Fox, Collins Hill Dorian Kithcart, Norcross J.B. Kouassi, Norcross Tomon Fox, Collins Hill Anree Saint-Amour, North Gwinnett Linebackers Tyler Voyles, Mill Creek Jordan Jones, Mountain View

Robert Snyder, Collins Hill Breon Dixon, Peachtree Ridge Defensive backs Jaye Stackhouse, North Gwinnett Kielan Whitner, Mountain View Kendrec Grady, Norcross Joe Smith, Peachtree Ridge Athlete Daniel David, Mill Creek Punter Kendrew Wynn, Norcross Kicker Brad Harvey, North Gwinnett Second team Quarterback Chance Thrasher, Peachtree Ridge Running backs Nick Harris, Mountain View Kameron Pickett, North Gwinnett Wide receivers Khalil Newton, Duluth Tyler Campbell, Peachtree Ridge Christian Sutton, Peachtree Ridge Almonzo Brown, North Gwinnett Tight end Jake Lund, Mill Creek Offensive line Alex Higgins, Peachtree Ridge Bobby Klemm, Mill Creek Braxton Hale, Collins Hill Jay Hearn, North Gwinnett Miles Pate, Peachtree Ridge Returner Jared Simpkins, Norcross Defensive line K’maron Patterson, Mountain View Jalen Broadnax, Norcross Steven Harwell, Collins Hill Tyler Vernon, Mill Creek Oliver Niyungeko, Meadowcreek Linebackers Chris Allen, Norcross A.J. Terry, Collins Hill Kam Jones, Peachtree Ridge Rodney Jones, Duluth Defensive backs Kaiden Smith, Mountain View Des Howard, Collins Hill Chad Clay, Peachtree Ridge Jarett Cole, Norcross Gerard Butler, Mill Creek Punter Jeff Hollingsworth, Mountain View Kicker Erik Fuentes, Collins Hill

6B • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014 CLOSE TO HOME

John McPherson

gwinnettdailypost.com FAMILY CIRCUS

Bill Keane

Today’s Solution

BEETLE BAILEY

BLONDIE

Mort & Greg Walker

Dean Young & John Marshall

DILBERT® Scott Adams

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE

Zits

PEANUTS

Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

GARFIELD

PICKLES

Charles M. Schulz

POOCH CAFE

Jim Davis

Chris Browne

Paul Gilligan

Brian Crane

Sudoku is a number-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with several given numbers.

The object is to place the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once.

Solution to today's Sudoku

WHATZIT SOLUTION:

Today’s Answer: Enhancer

Gwinnett Daily Post

Friday, Dec. 5, 2014

week end what to do, hear, see, watch, read, visit and eat in Gwinnett and Atlanta

upcoming best bets

The Daily Post gives you a list of upcoming events you won’t want to miss.

Suzy Bogguss will perform a holiday concert at the Red Clay Music Foundry in Duluth on Friday, Dec. 19. (Special Photo)

TANNERY ROW ARTIST COLONY’S ‘WINNERS CIRCLE’ The “Winners Circle” exhibit will be shown Dec. 13 through Jan. 17 at Tannery Row Artist Colony located at 554 W. Main St., Building C in Buford. The exhibit will feature artwork from Tannery winners of the 2014 juried shows. The show will feature the works of Donna R. Biggee, Christine P. Canova, Tonya Haswell, Jenny Bishop Heaton, Adrienne Forshner Kinsey and Judith Surowiec. The opening reception will be Dec. 13 from noon to 4 p.m., giving guests the opportunity to meet the artists and enjoy some holiday fun. For more information, visit tanneryrowartistcolony. com.

To submit an event for the Weekend section, email features@gwinnettdailypost.com.

‘SWINGIN’ LITTLE CHRISTMAS’ Suzy Bogguss will perform her holiday concert, “Swingin’ Little Christmas,” on Friday, Dec. 19, at the Red Clay Music Foundry in Duluth. The festive show will include songs like “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” and “Two Step Round the Christmas Tree.” The Grammy winner recently released her new album “Lucky,” which honors legendary songwriter Merle Haggard.

Tickets to Suzy Bogguss’ Swingin’ Little Christmas concert are $30 to $40. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit EddieOwenPresents.com.

‘DISNEY JUNIOR LIVE ON TOUR!’ Feld Entertainment Inc., presents “Disney Junior Live on Tour!

Pirate and Princess Adventure” on Dec. 13 at 7 p.m. and on Dec. 14 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center, 2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway in Atlanta. Tickets start at $20. To order tickets, call 770-989-5035 or visit www. ticketmaster.com. For more information, visit www.feldentertainment.com.

inside

The Dish ................... Pg. 4 Art Beat .................... Pg. 5 Showtimes .............. Pg. 12 Movies ............. Pgs. 13-15

By Venue ................ Pg. 18 Gwinnett Calendar .. Pg. 19 2 • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

The “Weekend” arts and entertainment guide includes select events in the coming week. To be considered for a listing, send a fact sheet to: Weekend, Features Department, Gwinnett Daily Post, 725 Old Norcross Road, Lawrenceville, GA 30045; or call 770-963-9205, email features@gwinnettdailypost. com or fax 770-339-8081.

Weekend Design: Corinne Nicholson

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226382-1

TICKETS ON SALE TODAY AT THE GEORGIA DOME BOX OFFICE & ONLINE AT TICKETMASTER.COM gwinnettdailypost.com

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014 • 3

the dish

Great Harvest Bread Co. 10305 Medlock Bridge Road, Johns Creek

By Katie Morris

katie.morris @gwinnettdailypost.com

• Open Since: October 2003 • Owner: Erika and Ray Boland of Johns Creek Location: Great Harvest Bread Co. is in the Bella Palazza shopping center at the intersection of Medlock Bridge Road and Wilson Road.

• Hours: Great Harvest Bread Co. is open Mondays through Fridays from 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and closed on Sundays.

• Atmosphere: Great Harvest Bread Co. is a bakery, store and cafe all rolled into one. Customers are greeted with the sweet aroma of baking bread and pastries as they walk through the front entrance. The friendly staff greets each customer by offering them a free slice of fresh bread. Great Harvest has a bright, inviting atmosphere with light yellow walls and lots of windows, letting in plenty of natural light.

There’s a lot to see upon entering — menu boards with bread selections, samples of house-made spreads, cases with baked goods and shelves filled with spreads, jams, gift baskets and more.

Customers can order breakfast or lunch at the front register then enjoy their meal in the cafe behind. The dining area is spacious with high ceilings and wooden floors and tables. The entire back wall is lined with windows brightening the room with natural light. Great Harvest Bread Co. is kid friendly and offers its young customers a child-sized table with toys.

770-622-0222

www.getfreshbread.com

ON THE MENU • California Cobb — Lightly smoked turkey breast and crispy bacon with avocado and blue cheese spreads on honey whole wheat bread. $7.90 • Garden Salad — Crisp field greens and romaine lettuce with cucumbers, bell peppers, carrots, tomatoes, red onion, black olives, homemade croutons and scratch-made wheat berry salad. $7.50 • BBQ Cheddar Chicken — Hot chicken breast, melted cheddar cheese and crispy bacon with a smokey honey barbecue sauce on grilled focaccia. $8.45 • Breakfast Sandwich — Two Scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese with garlic and herb spread on honey whole wheat. $6

• Menu: At Great Harvest Bread Co., the main focus is on the variety of freshly baked breads, but they do offer a limited breakfast and lunch menu with sandwiches, paninis, salads and rotating soup of the day.

Everything is made to order with fresh ingredients — the gourmet sandwiches and paninis are served on made-from-scratch breads with homemade spreads and quality meats.

A popular menu item is the Louisville Chicken Salad Sandwich with chunks of white meat chicken, roasted in-house, mixed with a homemade herbed mayo dressing and seasoned

4 • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

Above, Great Harvest Bread Co. in Johns Creek offers a breakfast and lunch menu including the Spicy Turkey Club, on right, with smoked turkey breast, roasted peppers and onions, pepper jack cheese with chipotle mayo on grilled focaccia as well as coffee and espresso drinks, scone and bars. Left, the bakery also offers a variety of made-from-scratch breads that are baked inhouse daily using local grain that’s milled on site. (Staff Photos: Katie Morris)

pecans and served on choice of bread. For those wanting a warm sandwich, there are a variety of paninis like the Spicy Smoked Turkey with smoked turkey breast, roasted peppers and onions, melted pepper jack cheese with a chipotle mayo served on grilled focaccia.

Great Harvest Bread Co. also offers an extensive menu

of made-from-scratch loaves of bread, muffins, scones and cookies. Some breads are offered daily like honey wheat, honey white, monkey bread, kentucky bourbon, white cinnamon swirl and more. There are also a variety of breads and sweets that are offered monthly and on certain days, including a few gluten-free options.

gwinnettdailypost.com

• Something You Might Not Know: Owner Erika Boland is a registered dietitian and big supporter of clean eating, which is why all of Great Harvest Bread Co.’s breads are made from scratch without any additives or artificial ingredients. The grains are ordered from a local farmer and milled on-site every morning at 3:30 a.m.

Boland has always loved to cook — she grew up cooking with fresh ingredients and canning foods with her mother. It has always been her dream to be a chef, and many of the breads and spreads offered are her recipes. Boland works together with Great Harvest’s chefs to create the breads and menu items offered.

Arts Association offers a ‘Picture Perfect’ exhibit at library Beautiful works of visual art created by many of North Georgia’s most talented artists are on display until Feb. 28 in the city of Suwanee. This exhibition, the North Gwinnett Arts Association second annual Members Show, was made possible by a creative collaboration between the North Gwinnett Arts Association and the Suwanee branch of the Gwinnett Public Library.

On Nov. 21, artists from the NGAA submitted their works for the annual Members Show.

These pieces ranged from oils, watercolors, mixed media, twodimensional and threedimensional work, photography and pottery.

Judging was held in four

al work was awarded to Adam Newman for “Orange & Brown Fish,” a mixed media piece.

The Best Photography prize was won by Ileana McCaigue with a photo titled “The Lone Waiter of Peniscola, Spain.”

The exhibition is happening at a lovely time.

All artwork displayed Holley Calmes at the library is availbasic categories. The able for purchase from winners received prizes the artists themselves. A and recognition at the holiday gift of original reception that followed. art is always a welWinners included Best comed present. in Show with John Duke More gifts of art are winning for his “Splash to be found close by. of Color,” a watercolor Additional works from piece. the NGAA are on exBest Painting was won hibit and available for

by Vickie Johnson for purchase at the Brown her oil painting, “The Bag Deli in Suwanee Back Path.”

Town Center, as well as Best three-dimension- the NGAA Open Studio

Art Beat

at Charleston Market Place, Unit B-7, in Suwanee Town Center. The Open Studio’s hours are Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Members Show comes on the heels of another annual event for the NGAA. On Nov. 9, the NGAA held their annual Suwanee Classic Car Show in Suwanee Town Center. Clark Howard was the featured guest and honored Georgia Veterans and members of Georgia’s State Defense Force. The show doubled last year’s attendance and will provide art scholarships for at least four graduating high school students.

Photos of this very special arts-related event can be seen at www.flickr.

gwinnettdailypost.com

com/photos/ngaa4arts/ sets/72157648834321589/.

Here’s another feather for the Suwanee cultural cap: It’s time to organize for their next Sculp Tour. The “Call to Artists/Request for Proposal” for sculptures to be exhibited as a part of the outdoor, walkable exhibition of on-loan artwork is available.

This highly successful project will enter its fourth consecutive exhibit of original sculptures showcasing a variety of styles, sustainable materials and sizes. Sculp Tour has been embraced by the community, and during the first two exhibitions alone there were 12 purchases of the exhibition’s artwork.

Artists interested in being a part of this unique opportunity can now apply. Visit suwanee.com/businessmatters.requestsforproposals.php for supporting information. Also, check out suwanee.com/ whatsnew.sculptour.php for information about the current exhibit. After reviewing these resources, feel free to contact Toni Shrewsbury or Denise Brinson at 770945-8996 or by emailing tshrewsbury@suwanee. com or denise@suwanee.com.

Holley Calmes is a freelance writer and public relations consultant specializing in the arts. Email her at hcalmes@mindspring. com.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014 • 5

Gwinnett Ballet presents 34th annual ‘The Nutcracker’

By Katie Morris

IF YOU GO

katie.morris @gwinnettdailypost.com

Gwinnett Ballet Theatre has been producing its version of classic ballet “The Nutcracker” for Gwinnett audiences since 1981.

GBT’s 34th annual production returns to the Performing Arts Center Dec. 5-21, bringing the community together in celebration of the holiday season. The show includes all the beautiful dancing, elegant costumes, festive sets, beloved characters and music that make the ballet a holiday classic.

There will be 11 public performances including three shows with recorded music and eight shows with a full live orchestra.

There are also five outreach shows, including a Scout show with the special pricing of $9 per ticket today at

• What: Gwinnett Ballet Theatre’s “The Nutcracker” • Where: Gwinnett Performing Arts Center, 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth.

• When: Dec. 5-21 Three shows with recorded music — Saturday, Dec. 6, at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 7, at 2:30 p.m.

Eight shows with live orchestra — Fridays, Dec. 12 and 19, at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays, Dec. 13 and 20, at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. and Sundays, Dec. 14 and 21, at 2:30 p.m.

• Tickets: $18 to $35, available at gwinnettcenter.com, by calling 1-888-929-7849 or at the Gwinnett Center Box Office in the Arena Building.

• More Info: www.gwinnettcenter.com or gwinnettballet.org

special needs.

GBT’s “The Nutcracker” will again feature community participation. Almost each public performance honors a local municipality, civic or business organization, medical center or Dancer Makenna Cross as the Arabian Princess from Gwinnett Ballet Theatre’s “The private organization. This Nutcraker,” which returns to the Gwinnett Performing Arts Center in Duluth Dec. 5-21. year, organizations such as (Special Photo: Richard Calmes) Gwinnett Medical Center, Artworks! Gwinnett, New 7:30 p.m. This year, GBT Hirsch Academy to present performance for children Lawrenceville, Summit is also partnering with the a special sensory friendly with Austism and other Chase Country Club, the

Gwinnett Braves and others will enjoy their own “Day at the Nutcraker.” There will also be a different local celebrity playing the role of Mother Ginger, the jolly lady with the big skirt and funny wig in the second act, for each public performance.

For more information, visit gwinnettcenter.com/ events or gwinnettballet. org.

‘Hell’s Kitchen’ winner comes to Lionheart Centre for the Arts

By Katie Morris

“Hell’s Kitchen” season eight winner Chef Nona Johnson will bring a few of her scrumptious creations to the Lionheart Centre for the Arts this Saturday.

The Center, which is located in the Cotton Gin in downtown Norcross, will be a stop on the Holiday Tour of Homes.

Guests can join the cast of Lionheart’s latest play “The Homecoming” as they host the theater’s “Country Christmas Sweet Shop,” a fundraising bake sale running in conjunction with the tour. Chef Nona Johnson, who went by Nona Silvey during “Hell’s Kitchen,” will be a special guest,

every one there. The question she gets asked the • What: The Historic Norcross Holiday Tour of Homes most about her experience • Where: Tour starts at One Heart Church, 706 N. on the show is “What is Peachtree St. in Norcross.

Chef Ramsay really like?”

• When: Saturday, Dec. 6 “Everyone always asks Daytime Tour from 9 a.m to 5 p.m. that same question, and Candlelight Tour from 6 to 9 p.m. he’s really like that. In • Tickets: $20 in advance and $25 the day of the tour. the kitchen, he’s exactly • More Info: historicnorcrossholidaytourofhomes.com like what you see on TV. Nothing is fake,” Johnson said. “Outside of the private cooking lessons. people get back to that, to kitchen he is the most Johnson’s philosophy is get back to the family din- charming man I’ve ever met. He’s very sweet that people shouldn’t have ner,” Johnson said. and complimentary and to break the bank to put Chef Johnson recently always pulls your chair on a great event, so she is returned to the Atlanta providing an affordable area with her wife Briana out. He’s always making sure everyone is taken way to host a great meal. to be closer to her son care of.”

She also hopes to use her Jackson. The family fell For more information company to encourage in love with downtown about Lionheart Center families to sit and enjoy Norcross and decided to for the Arts, visit lionmeals together. make it their home. hearttheatre.org. For more “No one eats around the According to Johnson, information about Chef table anymore. There’s “Hell’s Kitchen” was the Nona Johnson’s company so much going on that no most intense and stressone sits at their table to ful experience of her life, Sizzling Peach, visit sizeat dinner. It’s important but she learned a lot from zlingpeach.com.

IF YOU GO

katie.morris @gwinnettdailypost.com

“Hell’s Kitchen” season eight winner Chef Nona Johnson will bring a few of her scrumptious creations to the Lionheart Centre for the Arts this Saturday during the Norcross Holiday Tour of Homes. (Special Photo)

bringing several Christmas goodies like truffles, crispy cereal treats, paleo and gluten-free pie doughs and old-fashioned hot chocolate with peppermint whipped cream.

Johnson was head chef

6 • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

of the prestigious LA Market after winning “Hell’s Kitchen” before deciding to start her own company, Sizzling Peach.

Johnson offers personal and private chef services for events as well as

gwinnettdailypost.com

The Christmas spirit

New Dawn Theater presents heartwarming holiday story

By Katie Morris

katie.morris @gwinnettdailypost.com

Yes, folks there is a Santa Claus. If it’s in the Gwinnett Daily Post, it must be so.

New Dawn Theater Company is bringing to life the holiday story of a little girl’s quest to prove there really is a Santa by having it printed in the newspaper.

“Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus” will run on the New Dawn stage in Duluth through Dec. 21.

The heartwarming play inspired by the famous editorial “Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus” brings two stories together.

The story takes place in New York City just before Christmas in 1897. Young Virginia is left pondering whether or not Santa really exists after friends tease her. Meanwhile, a writer for the New York Sun, Frank Church also struggles against tough holiday times as he attempts to find his voice. Even though they don’t know each other, the spirit of Christmas brings little Virginia and Frank Church together.

The play is directed by Sherry Ingbritsen with 12-year-old Kinsley Purser playing the role of Virginia and Tim Scruggs as Frank Church. Actor Chuck Mason reprises his role of Father Michael, which was the also first part he performed with New Dawn Theater in 2006. Mason said he was excited to return to the play and the role of Father Michael.

IF YOU GO • What: “Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus” • Where: New Dawn Theater, 3087 Main St. in Duluth.

• When: Dec. 5-7, 11-14 and 18-21 Showtimes are at Thursdays and Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 8 and 2 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.

• Tickets: $15 for adults and $12 for seniors and children • More Info: www. newdawntheatercompany.com

“I love Father Michael.

It’s not a big part, but I love the character. He’s a good man and I really like what he stands for,” Mason said. “I’ve always believed in Santa Claus. I think this play has a positive message for the whole family, especially children because we’re telling them, ‘Just because you can’t see something doesn’t mean it’s not real.’ And not just with Santa Claus but anything in life, and I really like that.”

Other cast members include Charles Hannum as Chief, Jay Croft as Papa, Karin Goss as Mama, Barbara Allen as Mrs. Marbury and Carla Scruggs as Mrs. Madison. The production also includes several young actors — Sophia Allen as Missy, Quinn McDonald as Charly, George Peters Jr. as Lige and Allison Shoupe as Miss Birch.

For more information visit, newdawntheatercompany.com.

Above, Young Virginia, played by Kinsley Purser, is comforted by her Papa, played by Jay Croft, because she’s upset there may not be a Santa Claus in New Dawn Theater’s production of “Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus.”

Left, Lige, played by George Peters Jr., assures Young Virginia, played by Kinsley Purser, that Santa Claus is very real in New Dawn Theater’s production of “Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus.” (Staff Photos: Katie Morris)

gwinnettdailypost.com

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014 • 7

Sugarloaf Ballet will present two holiday performances at the Gwinnett Performing Arts Center in Duluth this holiday season — “Nutcracker Excerpts” will be presented on Wednesday, Dec. 10, and “Nativity Ballet” will be performed on Thursday, Dec. 11.

(Special Photo: artMstudio)

Sugarloaf Ballet offering 2 holiday-themed shows

By Katie Morris katie.morris @gwinnettdailypost.com

Sugarloaf Ballet is giving the gift of dance to the community this holiday season by offering two performances, “Nativity Ballet” and “Nutcracker Excerpts.”

“Nativity Ballet” shares the birth of Christ through movement — Sugarloaf Ballet has offered the show to the public free of charge since 2006. What started as a 15-minute excerpt with Mary, Joseph and a few angels has grown into a full-length production at the Gwinnett Performing Arts Center.

Audiences are taken on a journey from the angel’s foreshadowing of Jesus’ birth through the jubilee of his arrival. The set includes a manger sheltering the swaddled infant

and animals overlooking the arrival of visiting angels and traveling wise men.

“We are so blessed. A generous donor wholeheartedly believed in the message attached to this ministry and wanted to help us. Through their gift, we are able to continue offering this inspiring performance to the surrounding community free of charge,” Lori Zamzow-Wire, Sugarloaf Ballet Artistic Director, said in a press release.

“We have the opportunity to share the Gospel and the true reason for the season, Jesus.”

After the success of last year, Sugarloaf Ballet wanted to again involve Sugarloaf Performing Arts ballet students in the holiday festivities. Lori Zamzow-Wire, Michelle Bourgeois and other artistic staff partnered to

8 • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

create renditions of wellloved Nutcracker suites.

“Nutcracker Excerpts” includes classic numbers like Peppermints, Snow, Waltz of the Flowers, Arabian, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and more.

Sugarloaf Ballet will also host a Sugarplum Tea on Sunday, Dec. 7, from 2 to 4 p.m. at its studios, 1140 Old Peachtree Road, Suite B, in Duluth. The event will include crafts, dancing, tea, sweets, photo opportunities and more. Tickets are $12.

The “Nutcracker Excerpts” will be performed on Wednesday, Dec. 10, at 7:30 p.m., and “Nativity Ballet” will be performed on Thursday, Dec. 11, at 7:30 p.m. Both are family-friendly shows and open to audience members of all ages. For more information, visit sugarloafballet.org or call 770-476-0025.

gwinnettdailypost.com

Paul Reiser returns to Atlanta for show after nearly 25 years

By Katie Morris

katie.morris@gwinnettdailypost.com

Seasoned actor, writer and producer Paul Reiser recently returned to his stand up comedy roots, performing at comedy clubs in LA and across the country.

Atlanta audiences will be able to see the comedian get “Up Close and Personal” at Atlanta Improv this weekend.

Reiser, best known for co-creating and starring in the critically acclaimed series “Mad About You,” was one of only a handful of comedians given the opportunity to create a sitcom. His film credits include “Aliens” and “Beverly Hills Cop I and II,” and recently he appeared in the movies “Life After Beth” and “Whiplash.”

Reiser said he’s excited to return to Atlanta after almost 25 years because he’s always found it to be a fun, memorable city. He even once wrote a pilot set in the capital of the South, but unfortunately, it didn’t get picked up.

“It was two single players, a guy and a girl, both serially unmonogamous. It really didn’t have to take place in Atlanta, but to me it was always such a sexy town. A lot of young people on their way up and going out at night. There was an energy in the town that I remember feeling,” Reiser said.

According to Reiser, he didn’t really have a plan when he returned to standup comedy — he’d had the desire to perform for years and one day decided to just quit putting it off.

“I’ve been enjoying it in ways that I didn’t imagine. It’s like getting together with old friends. The audience that comes to see me, they know who I am.

Now 25 years later, we’re going through the same things again and it’s great,” Reiser said. “Stand-up is unlike anything else in how immediate it is.”

The comedian develops material and rehearses his act the same way — the only thing that’s changed is him.

“You know I’m working the same way I used to, but I’m at a different point in

“Mad About You” star Paul Reiser will get “Up Close and Personal” performing at the Atlanta Improv comedy club on Dec. 5 and 6. (Special Photo)

my life. You talk about different things in your 50s than when you were in your 20s or 30s,” Reiser said.

After his act, Reiser does meet-andgreets with audience members and said he’s enjoyed hearing feedback about “Mad About You.” “What’s been an extra bonus is doing meet-and-greets after the show and saying hello and taking pictures. People will come up and remember something from ‘Mad About You,’” Reiser said. “They’ll point out a specific scene or line that they loved. I was never out there when the show was on the air, so it’s nice to see the connection and know it affected people.”

Paul Reiser will perform today and Saturday at 8 and 10:30 p.m. at Atlanta Improv, 56 E. Andrews Drive in Atlanta.

Tickets are $30. For more information, call 678-244-3612 or visit improv.com.

Call 770-963-9205 or visit www.gwinnettdailypost.com to subscribe to the

Gwinnett Daily Post gwinnettdailypost.com

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014 • 9

Alliance celebrates 25 years of ‘A Christmas Carol’

By Katie Morris

katie.morris@gwinnettdailypost.com

The cast is seen in a scene from the Alliance Theatre’s “A Christmas Carol,” which will run through Dec. 24. (Special Photo: Greg Mooney)

10 • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

gwinnettdailypost.com

For 25 years, Alliance Theatre’s “A Christmas Carol” has warmed the hearts of people from all over the southeast. It’s become a Christmas tradition for not only local families but also the cast of all Atlanta actors.

Many have been involved in the production for over ten years like Thomas Neal Antwon Ghant, as Bob Cratchit, and Bart Hansard, as Mr. Fezziwig and the Ghost of Christmas Present. Director Rosemary Newcott has been involved in the production for 24 years, starting as an actress, then becoming assistant director and now as director.

Je Nie Fleming started acting in Alliance’s production back when she was a child, playing one of the Cratchit children, then going on to play Mrs. Cratchit. This year, she is playing Mrs. Fezziwig and Scrooge’s maid, Mrs. Dilber. Over the years, Fleming said she’s really bonded with other cast members.

“You bond with the cast because you spend so many days and hours together. People share stories about their families, and we get to be together for Christmas and Thanksgiving. It’s great to be with the people that you’ve made your extended family,” Fleming said.

“I’ve grown as an actor and a person doing this show. Anytime I get the chance to perform in this show I take it.”

David de Vries joined the cast this year as Scrooge — his credits include playing Lumiere in the Broadway production of “Beauty and the Beast” and Dr. Dillamond in the National Tour of “Wicked.”

The Atlanta actor has played Bob Cratchit and Jacob Marley in past productions of “A Christmas Carol.” Fleming and de Vries worked together as Mr. and Mrs. Cratchit back in 1992.

“I get to work with him again, and working together now as adults has been an amazing process. It’s

gwinnettdailypost.com

IF YOU GO • What: “A Christmas Carol” • Where: The Alliance Theatre located at The Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. in Atlanta.

• When: Dec. 5-24 Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 2:30 and 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Additional performances will be added Sunday, Dec. 21, at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 23, at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. and Wednesday, Dec. 24, at 2:30 p.m. There will be no performance on Wednesday, Dec. 24, at 7:30 p.m.

• Tickets: Tickets start at $25, $17.50 for children, and are available at The Woodruff Arts Center Box Office by calling 404-733-5000 or visiting www.alliancetheatre.org/christmas.

• More Info: www.alliancetheatre.org

Jaden Robinson stars as Tiny Tim with actor Jeremy Varner in the Alliance Theatre’s “A Christmas Carol.” (Special Photo: Greg Mooney)

been neat to see the evolution,” Fleming said.

De Vries has also observed the show evolve and said his taking on the role of Scrooge has definitely brought a new energy to the show.

“This production is fined tuned but there are always surprises. Anytime someone new comes into the show it gets an infusion of energy, so me being new to the project brings something new to it,” de Vries said. “This is the 25th anniversary and the show has definitely evolved. I notice differences from four years ago. It’s an ongoing thing, but we’re still trying to honor

the story as David Bell adapted it.”

De Vries started working with Newcott months ago, developing the character of Scrooge and figuring out what motivates him.

Newcott has worked with many Scrooges over the years and feels each one has brought something new to the role.

“No two actors are the same.

Each person brings their own gift and perspective. You have to allow who they are, their theories and interpretation to emerge,” Newcott said. “A lot of the cast is returning, and it makes them rethink their process and characters, which isn’t easy. But it’s energizing the production because it’s different.”

Newcott said she feels priviledged to be involved with the show each year and still loves “A Christmas Carol” because it’s a timeless tale of redemption and transformation. She also feels it’s a story about acceptance and embracing all members of the community.

“What’s so special about our production is that it’s multi-cultural in its casting. It really reflects the community of Atlanta, and I really love it because it’s ours,” Newcott said. “It has that sensibility of embracing everyone in the community, which is a beautiful sentiment.

We all go to the theatre and want to see ourselves on stage. I’ve really loved working in this community, and there’s a real desire here to connect as a community.”

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014 • 11

BUFORD Regal Cinemas, mall of geoRgia 20 3333 Buford Drive 678-482-9263 www.regmovies.com

The Pyramid (R)

12:45, 3:05, 5:20, 7:35, 9:50, 12:05 Horrible Bosses 2 (R)

11:30, 12:00, 2:00, 2:30, 4:30, 5:00, 7:00, 7:30, 9:30, 10:00, 12:00 Penguins of Madagascar (PG)

12:30, 2:00, 4:30, 5:30, 7:05, 9:30, 11:50

Penguins of Madagascar 3-D (PG)

12:00, 2:30, 3:05, 5:00, 7:25, 8:00, 10:00, 10:30 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (PG-13)

12:30, 1:00, 1:30, 2:00, 3:45, 4:15, 7:00, 10:15 Beyond The Lights (PG-13)

HOWTIMES S MOVIE TIMES FOR FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5

For movie showtimes for Saturday and Sunday, visit the theater websites.

DULUTH

11:50, 2:45, 5:25, 8:05, 10:45

Dumb and Dumber To (PG-13)

1:45, 4:20, 7:05, 9:40, 12:10

Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas (PG)

11:55, 2:15, 4:30, 7:05, 9:15, 11:25 Big Hero 6 3-D (PG)

8:45

Big Hero 6 (PG)

Regal Cinemas, medloCk CRossing stadium 18 9700 Medlock Bridge Road, Suite 170 770-814-8437 www.regmovies.com

1:55, 2:20, 4:55, 7:00, 7:40, 9:45, 10:00

11:05, 1:30, 2:10, 3:55, 6:15, 8:45, 9:15

11:50, 3:15, 7:10, 10:25

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (PG-13)

2160 Hamilton Creek Parkway 678-482-0624 www.regmovies.com Horrible Bosses 2 (R)

1:40, 2:25, 4:30, 5:05, 7:15, 7:45, 9:55, 10:25 Penguins of Madagascar (PG)

12:15, 2:40, 5:10, 7:40, 10:40

Penguins of Madagascar 3-D (PG)

12:45, 2:10, 4:40, 7:10, 9:35

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (PG-13)

12:30, 1:00, 3:45, 4:15, 7:00, 7:30, 10:15, 10:45 Beyond The Lights (PG-13)

5:15, 10:05

Dumb and Dumber To (PG-13)

2:05, 4:45, 7:35, 10:10

Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas (PG)

11:55, 2:15, 4:30, 7:05, 9:15, 11:25 Big Hero 6 3-D (PG)

1:20, 7:20

Big Hero 6 (PG)

1:30, 1:50, 2:10, 4:20, 4:40, 5:00, 7:10, 7:30, 7:50, 10:05, 10:25, 10:45 Dumb and Dumber To (PG-13)

2:25, 5:05, 8:00, 10:40

Big Hero 6 3-D (PG)

2:30, 5:15, 7:50, 10:30 Big Hero 6 (PG)

2:10, 4:45, 7:20, 9:55

Interstellar (PG-13)

1:35, 4:10, 7:00, 10:15

Nightcrawler (R)

2:05, 7:55

Birdman (R)

4:50, 10:45

St. Vincent (PG-13)

1:40, 4:30, 7:45, 10:40 Gone Girl (R)

2:15, 4:00, 7:15, 10:30

studio movie gRill 3850 Venture D rive 770-957-9545 www.studiomoviegrill.com

Horrible Bosses 2 (R)

11:30, 2:25, 5:00, 7:45, 10:25

Penguins of Madagascar (PG)

11:00, 1:15, 4:05, 6:30, 9:05

12:40, 1:50, 4:20, 4:50, 7:50, 10:10, 10:30

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (PG-13)

1:25, 5:30, 9:30

11:00, 12:00, 12:45, 1:55, 2:50, 3:50, 4:50, 6:00, 7:00, 8:00, 9:15, 10:15, 11:15

Interstellar (PG-13) Nightcrawler (R)

12:20, 3:50, 7:00, 9:45

Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (PG)

12:15, 3:05, 7:55

St. Vincent (PG-13)

3:05, 5:35, 8:05, 10:35 Gone Girl (R)

12:50, 4:10, 7:25, 10:00

Beyond The Lights (PG-13)

11:45, 2:35, 5:20, 8:15, 11:05

Penguins of Madagascar (PG)

Penguins of Madagascar 3-D (PG)

11:40, 4:30, 6:55

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (PG-13)

10:20, 11:15, 11:50, 12:30, 1:15, 2:15, 3:30, 4:15, 5:10, 6:00, 6:35, 7:10, 8:10, 9:00, 9:35, 10:15 Beyond The Lights (PG-13)

2:05, 4:50, 7:40, 10:20

Dumb and Dumber To (PG-13)

10:30, 1:20, 4:05, 6:50, 10:25 Big Hero 6 3-D (PG)

10:20, 1:00, 6:40

Big Hero 6 (PG)

10:25, 11:30, 2:10, 3:10, 4:50, 7:25, 9:40 Interstellar (PG-13)

11:40, 12:10, 2:40, 4:55, 7:15, 9:45 Horrible Bosses 2 (R)

12 • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

Penguins of Madagascar (PG)

Penguins of Madagascar 3-D (PG) The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (PG-13)

5:20, 7:30, 9:45

1:30, 3:15, 10:00

The Equalizer (R)

1:30, 4:30, 7:30, 10:30

CaRmike 12 snellville 1905 Scenic Highway Presidential Market Center 770-979-1519 www.carmike.com

Horrible Bosses 2 (R)

1:20, 4:20, 7:20, 8:15, 10:00

Penguins Of Madagascar (PG)

2:30, 4:45, 7:00, 9:15

Penguins of Madagascar 3-D (PG)

12:45, 3:00, 5:15, 7:30, 9:45

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (PG-13)

12:45, 1:30, 2:15, 2:45, 4:00, 4:30, 5:00, 5:30, 7:00, 7:30, 7:50, 8:15, 9:45, 10:15 Beyond The Lights (PG-13)

12:50, 4:00, 7:10, 9:50

Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas (PG)

1:00, 3:15, 5:30, 7:45, 10:00 Big Hero 6 (PG)

12:50, 2:00, 4:00, 4:55, 6:50, 7:30, 9:25, 10:00 The Judge (R)

12:45, 4:00

Regal snellville oaks 14

Interstellar (PG-13)

geoRgia tHeatRe Co., town CenteR value 700 Gwinnett Drive, No. 216 678-985-2222 www.georgiatheatrecompany.com Annabelle (R) The Boxtrolls (PG)

STONE MOUNTAIN

SNELLVILLE

12:20, 3:40, 7:00, 9:30

Gone Girl (R)

11:00, 2:35, 6:00, 9:25

The Pyramid (R)

Maleficent (PG)

Dumb and Dumber To (PG-13)

4:05, 7:05, 9:30

5900 Sugarloaf Parkway, Suite 415 678-847-9265 www.amctheatres.com

5:15

1:45, 4:15, 7:40, 10:10

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (PG-13)

amC sugaRloaf mills 18

How To Train Your Dragon 2 (PG)

The Pyramid (R)

St. Vincent (PG-13)

5:10, 7:20, 9:35

Gone Girl (R)

7:15, 9:50

1:05, 4:05, 7:05, 10:05

Fury (R)

10:20, 1:20, 4:15, 7:15 11:10, 3:45, 9:30

22 Jump Street (R)

4:45, 10:40

John Wick (R)

Into The Storm (PG-13)

St. Vincent (PG-13)

4:00, 7:00, 9:45

2125 E. Main St., Snellville 770-972-7469 www.regmovies.com

4:00, 10:15

5:20, 7:40, 9:55

Fury (R)

1:15, 6:15, 8:45

The Equalizer (R)

Nightcrawler (R)

10:15

Birdman (R)

11:15, 3:00, 6:45, 10:35 11:00, 4:40, 10:55

11:35, 1:20, 4:20, 7:10, 10:05

Dolphin Tale 2 (PG)

11:30, 12:00, 2:30, 3:45, 5:00, 7:30, 9:50

Nightcrawler (R)

The Theory of Everything

5:20, 7:35, 9:50

11:00, 1:30, 3:40, 6:15, 9:00 Interstellar (PG-13)

12:30, 4:05, 6:20, 9:30

1:45, 4:45, 7:30, 10:20

Nightcrawler (R)

4:05, 5:00, 7:10, 8:00, 9:50

The Boxtrolls (PG)

11:35, 2:10, 4:40, 7:20, 10:00

10:30, 11:25, 12:20, 3:05, 4:00, 7:00, 8:00, 9:25

11:15, 1:45, 4:30, 7:15, 9:55 Big Hero 6 (PG)

Big Hero 6 (PG)

5:15, 7:25, 9:35

11:30, 12:15, 2:05, 3:00, 4:40, 5:45, 7:15, 8:30, 9:50

Dumb and Dumber To (PG-13)

Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas (PG)

Interstellar (PG-13)

11:45, 2:15, 4:40, 7:00, 10:35

2:35, 4:35, 5:20, 8:05, 10:25

12:05, 2:30, 5:05, 7:35, 10:05

Regal Cinemas, Hamilton mill 14

amC Colonial 18

11:40, 2:00, 4:00 Big Hero 6 3-D (PG) 1:15, 6:45

11:20, 1:10, 2:00, 3:50, 4:50, 6:30, 7:40, 9:25, 10:10

Penguins of Madagascar 3-D (PG)

DACULA

LAWRENCEVILLE

2:25, 5:00, 7:35, 10:10

Horrible Bosses 2 (R)

Penguins of Madagascar (PG)

Gone Girl (R)

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes (PG-13)

Beyond The Lights (PG-13)

Dumb and Dumber To (PG-13)

1:30, 2:00, 5:10, 5:30, 7:40, 8:10, 10:10, 10:45

Horrible Bosses 2 (R)

1:00, 4:00, 7:10, 9:55, 11:25 St. Vincent (PG-13)

6:45, 9:55

1:45, 4:40, 7:25, 10:20

Dr. Cabbie

Nightcrawler (R)

11:00

The Pyramid (R)

11:30, 3:00, 7:00, 10:30

11:45, 12:00, 3:30, 4:00, 7:25, 8:00, 11:20

Guardians Of The Galaxy (PG-13)

1:30, 4:15, 7:05, 9:50

Action Jackson

Interstellar (PG-13)

6:15, 7:00, 7:30, 8:15, 9:15, 10:00

SMGTOONS: Chuck and Friends

825 Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road 770-237-0744 www.amctheatres.com

11:30, 12:30, 2:10, 3:15, 4:45, 5:55, 7:30, 10:10 Interstellar: IMAX (PG-13)

1:35, 7:30

1:30, 4:00, 9:30

1:00, 3:10, 5:30, 7:40, 10:00 1:00, 4:15, 7:00, 10:15

1:00, 2:00, 2:55, 4:00, 4:30, 5:30, 6:35, 7:00, 8:00, 9:15, 10:00 John Wick (R)

1:00, 7:40

Birdman (R)

1:30, 4:15, 7:15, 10:00

The Best Of Me (PG-13)

1:45, 4:30, 7:15, 10:05

The Book Of Life (PG)

1:30, 7:00

nCg stone mountain 1825 Rockbridge Road, Stone Mountain 678-476-1020 www.ncgmovies.com/stone-mountain Horrible Bosses 2 (R)

11:45, 2:15, 4:45, 7:15, 9:40

Penguins of Madagascar (PG)

11:00, 12:30, 2:45, 5:00, 7:10

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (PG-13)

1:10, 4:05, 7:00, 9:55

Dumb and Dumber To (PG-13)

11:10, 1:40, 4:15, 6:45, 9:35 Interstellar (PG-13)

11:00, 2:30, 6:05, 9:00 Big Hero 6 (PG)

11:05, 1:30, 4:00, 6:30, 9:15

Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (PG)

SUWANEE

1:00, 4:25, 8:00, 10:00

Dracula Untold (PG-13)

5:30, 10:30

St. Vincent (PG-13)

1:45, 4:15, 7:00, 9:30 Gone Girl (R)

1:00, 3:30, 7:00, 9:30

The Good Lie (PG-13)

movie taveRn

2855 Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road 678-730-6900 www.movietavern.com Movie times not available

Comments from the audience welcome.

Love movies? Want to tell everyone what you think? Become a Film Fan. The Post will pay for the movie and a light snack.

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11:45, 12:15, 1:00, 1:50, 2:30, 3:15, 4:00, 5:15,

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went to Christian Slater in “Interview with the Vampire?”

4. Name the last person to receive an acting Oscar nomination who was under the age of 10.

5. What falls out of the sky in “The Gods Must be Crazy” (please be as specific as possible)?

The first person (located

Lights, camera,

questions Test your film knowledge with Michael Clark So, you think you’re good at movie trivia? Every week, we give readers the opportunity to flex their movie muscles by answering five trivia questions from our movie critic, Michael Clark.

The last animated feature film to include a character identified as Batman was “The Lego Movie.” (Special Photo)

2. Name someone to win an Oscar for directing their first feature film.

A: Kevin Costner for Congratulations to last “Dances with Wolves” and week’s winner, Joe Cook of Sam Mendes for “American Loganville.

Beauty” 3. Name someone who has Here are last week’s ques- acted in all of the feature films tions again and the answers: directed by Jason Reitman.

1. Who was the last A: J.K. Simmons person to win an Oscar 4. Name the last animated for playing a non-fictional feature film to include a politician? character identified as BatA: Daniel Day-Lewis in man.

“Lincoln” A: “The Lego Movie”

DISC SPOTLIGHT MICHAEL CLARK

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by Frank Capra, it stars Jimmy Stewart as the title character, thought by the governor of an unnamed state as a naïve rube and thus a pliable replacement

in the US) to respond with all the correct answers receives a prize package of movie-related goodies, which could include promotional T-shirts, hats, posters, DVDs, video games and more. The winner also gets their name published in the next Weekend section. Please email your answers, along with your name to clarkwriter@

mindspring.com. Include “Gwinnett Daily Post Trivia Contest” in the subject line.

In the event no one answers all of the questions correctly, the person with the most correct answers submitted by 6 p.m. the Monday after the contest is posted will be the winner. Only one winner per household is eligible each 30-day period.

If you could live forever, would you?

5. What song by Lynyrd Skynyrd has been included most often in feature films?

A: “Sweet Home Alabama” Now, for this week’s questions: 1. Name a film that included studio cover versions of Beatles songs performed

by Paul McCartney.

2. Name a movie where Tom Cruise appeared “full frontal.”

3. Who was originally cast in the role that eventually

for a recently deceased member of congress.

The plot – far darker than you might expect for a 1939 production – only gets better with age.

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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014 • 13

movies

‘Penguins’ offers laughs for both children, adults EDITOR’S NOTE: Film Fans features local residents reviewing the movie of the week: “Penguins of Madagascar.” Want to be a film fan? Email features@gwinnettdailypost.com.

HHHH

two stars

The “Penguins of Madagascar,” the latest family film from the DreamWorks studio, is the story of four penguins on an adventure around the globe as they try to stop the menacing Dr. Octavius Brine from kidnapping and injecting the world’s penguins with a deadly serum. As we’ve come to expect from DreamWorks, the animation is crisp and beautiful and, although I did not experience the film in 3-D, one can tell there was some attention to getting a few “in your face” moments throughout the movie.

There is some fun voiceover work here; listen for Benedict Cumberbatch as Classified, the leader of the North Wind (the undercover organization that assists the penguins in their quest) as well as John Malkovich as the evil Dr. Brine. Comedians Ken Jeong and Andy Richter also have smaller roles. While the movie is clearly aimed at kids, a few adult jokes are thrown in here and there to keep the grownups from getting bored.

But the trouble is, I did get bored. While not overly long, it is easy to see where the plot is

headed and how things will wind up. It seemed like we simply moved from one action sequence to another with not a lot of time devoted to developing the characters or the relationship between these four adorable penguins.

— Paul Tate, Sugar Hill

HHHH

Three Stars

Most animation sequels and spin-offs turn out to be bad ideas. For example, we were subjected to “Planes: Fire and Rescue” earlier this year, which was a snoozer that practically everyone has forgotten by now.

However, “Penguins of Madagascar” is such an entertaining extension of the “Madagascar” franchise that all I can say to DreamWorks Animation is: “What took you so long to make this sequel?”

“Penguins” starts with the back story of how Skipper, Kowalski and Rico rounded out their foursome with the rescue of an egg containing the future Private. Fast forward to the present day, and our tuxedoed teammates are executing a daredevil break-in of Fort Knox — not to steal the gold, just the cheese puff snacks in the vending machines inside. There, they run into Dr. Octavius Brine (hilariously voiced

by John Malkovich), an octopus who is bent on revenge against our heroes because they stole his thunder as a kiddie

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attraction at various zoos around the world. Brine is bent on capturing every zoo penguin, then using his Medusa Serum to transform them into hideous monsters who will scare the youngsters.

As the boys attempt to thwart Brine’s plans, they run into a superhero group of animal rescuers called North Wind, led by a wolf named Classified (excellent voiceover by Benedict Cumberbatch).

North Wind is also trying to derail Dr. Brine’s nefarious scheme, yet there’s a clash of egos between Classified and Skipper that undermines the two groups’ attempt to team up against a common enemy. Meanwhile, Brine is scooping up zoo penguins and preparing to launch penguin-Geddon against New York City.

Can the good guys put aside their differences in time to stop Brine in his tentacled tracks?

The storyline is a bit convoluted, especially for children. There are lots of witty one-liners and sight gags throughout the movie, most of which are over the heads of kids but are sure to produce many laughs from adults. The zany action scenes are slapstick at its finest, and the animation is absolutely stunning to watch.

It was great to see Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private back in action.

“Penguins of Madagascar” is a riot for the eyes and a tickle for the funny bone.

— Tim Weekley, Suwanee

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movies Superior cast makes best of weak plot in ‘Low Down’ Low Down (R) HHHH

LOW DOWN (R) Two and half out of four stars

Peppers singer Anthony Kiedis and nine others produced the film).

It is rumored that Flea learned how to play the trumpet for the role and if that is the case and it is his playing that is heard, he’s a mighty impressive quick study.

Although likely to go nowhere fast at the box

By Michael clark Movie Critic

Because they were higher profile and relatively recent, most people assume that stories of woe regarding drug abuse among musicians began with the Rock era, something “Low Down” quickly dispels and unfortunately it is one of the few things it gets right.

Set in the early ’70s, it also looks appropriately distressed and unattractive which is made all the more effective thanks to the depressing content of the narrative. Being a downer is fine provided it is offset by an engaging plot but, like the lead male character — a jazz musician — there is no structure to the story and it ends up wandering all over the place.

Making matters worse is the waste of a primo core cast, yet all four of them are able to rise above the weak material and tentative direction making the film play out better than it should.

This is due in large part because this isn’t a story about the downfall of a once promising musician but how it looked through the eyes of his adoring and eminently patient child.

Before he reached the age of 20 in 1943, Joe Albany (John Hawkes) played in Benny Carter’s orchestra which later led to stints in bands led by Miles Davis and Charlie Parker. Before the age of

office, “Low Down” will likely enjoy a post-theatrical after life on home video as virtually everyone in the movie with a speaking part has their own cult fan base and the movie is just good enough for all of them to warrant buying the film on disc.

(Oscilloscope)

Glenn Close, left, and Elle Fanning star in “Low Down.” (Special Photo: Oscilloscope Laboratories)

30, Albany’s addiction to heroin caused him to fall out of favor with the jazz A-list and he relocated to Europe and largely stayed out of sight until moving to New York in the ’60s where he picked up the occasional studio sideman gig and played small clubs to largely disinterested patrons.

None of Albany’s back story is included in the film, which provides the audience with something of a disservice. It’s hard to discern someone’s life story if the highs of the beginning and the exclusion of an ending are omitted.

Some may say this doesn’t matter as the story isn’t about Joe but rather his daughter A.J. (Elle Fanning) and they would have a valid point.

A.J. (upon whose memoir the screenplay was based) only knew of Joe’s triumphs through his selective recollection and was more or less his sole companion during his New York years. Unlike many musicians of his or other times, Joe relished that A.J. was also a fan and he involved her in

the creative process, acting as a quasi-sounding board and brought her to gigs — something she obviously treasured.

In between the stilted opening and fractured non-ending, rookie feature director Jeff Preiss, the real-life A.J. and her co-writer Topper Lilien bring in two women who had significantly different roles in A.J.’s life.

For reasons better explained by the film, Joe becomes unable to look after A.J. and she moves in with his mother Gram (Glenn Close), a woman who is outwardly stable but every now and then goes off the deep end with hysterical outbursts. Gram’s behavior is downright quaint and homespun compared to that of A.J.’s mother Sheila (Lena Headey), Joe’s ex-wife. A singer of minor renown, Sheila had a serious drinking problem and flittered in and out of Joe and A.J.’s lives on a whim, mostly for the purpose of bolstering her lacking maternal abilities and inability to operate on any level — sober or

hammered.

Given the demons both of her parents dealt with, it’s a wonder A.J. emerged from all of it as well as she did. However, this conclusion must be tempered with the fact that A.J. is telling the story from her perspective which may or may not be biased.

Showing up in limited but effective roles are Tim Daly, “Games of Thrones” star Peter Dinklage and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ bassist Flea (who, in tandem with

Exotic

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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014 • 15

Trans-Siberian Orchestra to debut ‘Christmas Attic’ at Arena From StaFF reportS The Gwinnett Arena will be rocking with holiday spirit next Wednesday as Trans-Siberian Orchestra presents the live debut of “The Christmas Attic.”

The Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) is performing their rock opera “The Christmas Attic” for the first time ever on their 2014 winter tour, which began on Nov. 13.

The original album “The Christmas Attic” was released in 1998 and then re-released as part of “The Christmas Trilogy Box Set” in 2004. The album features one of the band’s

most popular songs, “Christmas Canon.”

According to TSO creator, lyricist and composer Paul O’Neill, the first half of the show will include some songs from “The Christmas Attic” that have never been played live — the second half will feature iconic classics and fan favorites, such as “Wizards In Winter,” “Requiem” and “Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24.”

“After kicking off the New Year in front of 2 million fans at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, followed by our second European tour, the band felt that a perfect way to end the year

would be to perform the only rock opera from the trilogy that has never been seen live,” said O’Neill in a press release. “As I have always said ‘it is fun to write the songs, it is fun to record them, but they are never really completed until we perform them in front of a live arena audience.’”

TSO has sold more than 7 million albums and inspired generations of fans to rediscover the multi-dimensional art form of the rock opera. The band has taken their tour to more than 80 cities worldwide and played to over 7 million people — Billboard

magazine named them as one of the top touring artists of the past decade.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra: The Live Debut of The Christmas Attic will be at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 10, at the Arena at Gwinnett Center. Tickets range from $43.00 to $72.00 and are available at GwinnettCenter.com, the Arena at Gwinnett Center box office or by calling 888-9-AXS-TIX. For more information about The Arena at the Gwinnett Center, visit gwinnettcenter.com. For more information about TransSiberian Orchestra, visit trans-siberian.com.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra: The Live Debut of The Christmas Attic will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 10, at the Arena at Gwinnett Center in Duluth. (Special Photo)

We wish you all a memorable Christmas!

Matthew 3:3 shares, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ Perhaps the heavens in turn shout, ‘Prepare the way for fresh starts; make straight the path of your hearts.’ After Christmas the anticipation of a new year greets us with great possibilities! God’s love came down for each of us, that we are enabled to receive forgiveness through Him by grace. And the humility of the Spirit within us, guides us to a place of forgiveness and anticipation unattainable otherwise.

– Shari L. Rates, Rock Springs United Methodist Church, Lawrenceville

To include your church services on this page contact Mary London at 770-963-9205 x1211 mary.london@gwinnettdailypost.com.

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A Purpose Driven Church

Friendship Baptist Church

Poplar Hill Baptist Church

Join us for Christmas Musical December 13th @ 6pm

234 Shadburn Ave, Buford

3375 Church Lane, Duluth, GA Church Office: 770-497-8227 • Fax: 770-497-9775 Rev. Ronald L. Bowens, Pastor Warmer through Fellowship Deeper through Discipleship Larger through Evangelism Sharing through Ministries AND Stronger through Worship and the Word of God

Rev. Ronald L. Bowens 225741-1

Pastor

Sunday Worship Services................7:30 AM, 11:00 AM Children’s Church............................7:30 AM, 11:00 AM Sunday School ................................................. 9:45 AM Bible Study (all ages) ...................Wednesday, 7:30 PM

770.945.6131 Pastor: Rev. Avery Headd B.A., M. Div.

A United Methodist Congregation

Regency

Church of God 1132 Buford Hwy 770-271-5610 Dr. Terry Reece • Senior Pastor

“Come and get Jesus” “A Church forconnected Hurting to People”

Sunday 10:30 AM Worship Sunday 10:30 AM “J” Town Kids Church Wednesday 7:00 PM Bible Study & Youth regencycog.com

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754 Brogdon Rd • Suwanee www.suwaneeworshipcenter.org

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Friday, December 12th (7-9 PM) Saturday, December 13th (6-8 PM) Rock Springs United Methodist Church 1100 Rock Springs Road, Lawrenceville

“A Christ Centered Church Where Love is the Greatest”

Two services 9:00 and 11:00 am Rev. Ted Rollins

17TH ANNUAL WALK THROUGH BETHLEHEM

Times of Worship Sunday • 8 a.m.~11 a.m.

Times of Instruction Sunday • 9:45 a.m. Church School Sunday • 10:00 a.m. Invitational Counseling Wednesday • Youth Bible Studies 7 p.m.

Wednesday • Adult Bible Studies 7 p.m.

Making Disciples of Jesus Christ for the Transformation of the World.

SUWANEE WORSHIP CENTER

Walk through Bethlehem

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LIVE NATIVITY – THE MARKET PLACE LIVE ANIMALS We are honored to be able to share with our families, friends, and community the gift of our love for Jesus Christ. A Roman soldier will serve as your guide on the journey through Bethlehem and finally to the Christ child. The first stop will be with Isaiah and his prophecy for the night.

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Country’s Eric Church brings Outsiders Tour to Gwinnett From StaFF reportS Country singer Eric Church is bringing The Outsiders World Tour to the Gwinnett Arena next Thursday.

Church has built a reputation as a restless, creative force while following an unconventional path to country stardom.

The North Carolina native gained popularity with his album “Carolina,” released in 2009.

Church’s album “Chief” carried him to Platinum sales status, winning such honors as CMA and ACM Album of the Year awards.

His fourth album, “The Outsiders,” was released last February, delivering his most revealing, personally charged statement. Beyond its diverse approach, the albums recurring lyrical motifs inspired the album’s title and holds considerable personal resonance for Church.

“I’ve always felt like an outsider, and I still feel that way,” Church said in a press release.

“That feeling is something that you never lose, no matter how much acceptance you get.”

Eric Church’s The Outsiders World Tour with special guests Dwight Yoakam and Halestorm will be Thursday, Dec. 11, at 7 p.m. at the Arena at Gwinnett Center, 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth. Tickets range from $29.50 to $69.50 and are available at GwinnettCenter.com, the Arena at Gwinnett Center box office or by calling 888-9-AXS-TIX. For more information, visit gwinnettcenter.com.

Eric Church performs during Keith Urban’s fourth annual We’re All For The Hall benefit concert at Bridgestone Arena in 2013 in Nashville. The country singer will bring The Outsiders World Tour to the Arena at Gwinnett Center in Duluth on Dec. 11. (Special Photo: Frederick Breedon IV)

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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014 • 17

Hunter Hayes brings Tattoo (Your Name) Tour to Arena From StaFF reportS

The young musician quickly gained popularity One of the hottest upafter releasing his self-tiand-coming pop country tled debut album in 2011. artists is bringing his Tat- Hayes most recently retoo (Your Name) Tour to leased the album “StoryGwinnett this weekend. line” last May, including The four-time Grammy the hit songs “Tattoo” and nominee Hunter Hayes, “Invisible.” with special guests Dan + “This tour is definitely Shay and The Railers, will going to be different than be at the Gwinnett Arena anything we’ve ever done this Saturday, Dec. 6. before … and maybe

anyone has ever done. It’s a lot of firsts not only for us, but even for the fans who have seen our show before,” Hayes said in a press release. “Every tour is all about the fans, but this one proves it. Not only are they going to be part of the show, they are the show.”

Hunter Hayes’ Tattoo (Your Name) Tour will be

at the Arena at the Gwinnett Center on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. Tickets range from $35.00 to $45.00 and are available at GwinnettCenter.com, the Arena at Gwinnett Center box office or by calling 888-9-AXS-TIX. For more information, visit hunterhayes.com or gwinnettcenter.com/ events.

Hunter Hayes performing his “Invisible” at the 56th annual Grammy Awards. He will play the Arena at the Gwinnett Center in Duluth on Dec. 6. (Special Photo)

BY VENUE 37 MAIN 37 E. Main St., Buford 678-288-2030 www.37main.com • Dec. 5: Departure • Dec. 6: Coverboy • Dec. 12: The Pak • Dec. 13: Hysteria 40 WATT CLUB 285 W. Washington St., Athens 706-549-7871 www.40watt.com • Dec. 5: Drivin ‘N’ Cryin • Dec. 6: Judah & The Lion, Mosaic • Dec. 10: Rak the Watt • Dec. 12: Tarnation, Hooker, Bread Brothers ARENA AT GWINNETT CENTER 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway, Duluth 770-813-7500 www.gwinnettcenter.com • Dec. 6: Hunter Hayes • Dec. 10: Trans-Siberian Orchestra: The Christmas Attic • Dec. 11: Eric Church with Dwight Yoakam • Dec. 19: Power 96.1’s Jingle Ball • Dec. 20: Justin Timberlake • Dec. 26-28: Marvel Universe Live!

• Jan. 31: Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band PERFORMING ARTS CENTER AT GWINNETT CENTER 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway, Duluth 770-813-7500 www.gwinnettcenter.com • Dec. 5-21: Gwinnett Ballet Theatre’s “The Nutcracker” • Dec. 10: Sugarloaf Ballet’s “Nutcracker Excerpts”

• Dec. 11: Sugarloaf Ballet’s “Nativity Ballet” CENTER STAGE 1374 W. Peachtree St., Atlanta 404-885-1365 http://www.centerstageatlanta.com/shows/centerstage-theater/ • Dec. 5: Clubesque • Dec. 6: Chris D’elia • Dec. 7: Circa Survive • Dec. 8: Devin Townsend Project & Animals as Leaders • Dec. 9: Elle Varner & Adrian Marcel COBB ENERGY PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE 2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway, Atlanta 770-916-2800 www.cobbenergycentre.com • Dec. 5: The Brian Setzer Orchestra Christmas Rock Extravaganza • Dec. 6: So You Think You Can Dance • Dec. 11: Let the Church Say Amen • Dec. 13-14: Disney Junior Live On Tour! Pirate & Princess Adventure EDDIE’S ATTIC 515-B N. McDonough St., Decatur 404-377-4976 www.eddiesattic.com • Dec. 5: Howie Day • Dec. 6: Lucas Mire, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Kelley Lovelace and Rivers Rutherford • Dec. 7: Steven Layne, Ben Watt • Dec. 8: Kevn Kinney • Dec. 9: Sonny Landreth

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and Cindy Cashdollar • Dec. 10: Doria Roberts • Dec. 11: Patterson Hood EVERETT’S MUSIC BARN 4055 Stonecypher Road, Suwanee 770-945-5628 everettbrothers.com • Dec. 6: Edgar Loudermilk, Jeff and Zack Autry, Glen Crain • Dec. 13: Center Stage FERST CENTER FOR THE ARTS 349 Ferst Drive, Georgia Tech Campus 404-894-9600 www.ferstcenter.gatech.edu • Dec. 5: David Benoit Christmas Tribute to Charlie Brown • Dec. 12: A Rockapella Christmas FOX THEATRE 660 Peachtree St. N.E., Atlanta 404-881-2100 foxtheatre.org • Dec. 6: Anthony Hamilton • Dec. 11: Atlanta Ballet’s “Nutcracker” • Dec. 15: Michael W. Smith & Amy Grant Christmas • Dec. 19: Rising Appalachia THE LOFT 1374 W. Peachtree St., Atlanta 404-885-1365 www.centerstage-atlanta. com/shows/the-loft/ • Dec. 14: Goapelle PHILIPS ARENA 1 Philips Drive N.W., Atlanta 404-878-3000 www.philipsarena.com • Dec. 9: Usher

• Dec. 11: The Black Keys • Dec. 17: Fleetwood Mac RED CLAY THEATRE 3116 Main St., Duluth 678-957-7283 • Dec. 5: Kurt Scobie, Miriam Tyson, Jacob Harshman, Brandon Clark • Dec. 6: Angie Aparo, Connor Christian • Dec. 7: Billy Joe Shaver • Dec. 10: Chris Pureka • Dec. 12: Randall Bramblett Band • Dec. 17: Matthew Ryan & Band • Dec. 18: Collin Baxter, Ryan Van Kirk, Jonathan Wisdom • Dec. 19: Suzy Boggus Christmas concert • Dec. 20: The Pierce Pettis and Andy Offutt Irwin Christmas Special • Dec. 21: Dana Rice and FAME • Dec. 22: Joe Grandsen’s Big Band Holiday Show RED LIGHT CAFE 553 Amsterdam Ave., Atlanta 404-874-7828 redlightcafe.com • Dec. 6: The Vaudevillians • Dec. 7: An Evening of Flamenco from Spain • Dec. 11: Johnny Campbell and The Bluegrass Drifters • Dec. 12: Speakeasy Electro Swing Atlanta • Dec. 18: Time Sawyer • Dec. 20: Waller RIALTO CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS 80 Forsyth St. N.W., Atlanta 404-651-4727 www.rialtocenter.org • Dec. 6-7: Gala Holiday Concert

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• Dec. 13: Exit II • Dec. 20-21: Celtic Christmas SMITH’S OLDE BAR 1578 Piedmont Ave., Atlanta 404-875-1522 www.smithsoldebar.com • Dec. 5: Sarah Michaud, Reed Waddell, Tre Broussard, Tab Benoit, DJ Sky • Dec. 6: David Kuhns, Maggie Smith, The White Animals, Passionate Mayhem • Dec. 7: Rye Baby, A Holiday Residency: Jimi Cravity & The Electric Orchestra • Dec. 8: Hamell on Trial • Dec. 9: Narip Holiday Music Biz Mixer • Dec. 10: Freelance Ruckus, Blood on the Harp, Paul Jolley • Dec. 11: The Jauntee, Vintage Soul, Enter the Haggis • Dec. 12: Abe Parker, Joanna Duff, The Sundogs • Dec. 13: Battle of the Beards • Dec. 14: Honeywood, Seryn • Dec. 17: The Miraculous, Mandarins, Scofflaw, Phrenic • Dec. 18: Surviving Allison, Rumpke Mountain Boys • Dec. 19: The Stacktone Slims, Time Sawyer, Back on the Freakout, House of Thomas • Dec. 20: Cory Bishop, Willie Heath Neal THE TABERNACLE 152 Luckie St., Atlanta 404-659-9022 tabernacleatl.com • Dec. 5: Hoodie Allen • Dec. 6: Weezer • Dec. 13: Tyler, The Creator • Dec. 15: Opeth & In Flames

• Dec. 18: Trampled by Turtles • Dec. 20: Flosstradamus • Dec. 30: Umphrey’s Mcgee, Seven Arrows • Dec. 31-Jan. 3: Umphrey’s Mcgee VARIETY PLAYHOUSE 1099 Euclid Ave., Atlanta 404-521-1786 www.variety-playhouse.com • Dec. 6: The Whiskey Gentry • Dec. 10: Hard Working Americans • Dec. 11: A Peter White Chritmas with Rick Braun and Minidi Abair • Dec. 13: The Yacht Rock Revue Holiday Special • Dec. 19: Abbey Road Live • Dec. 20: Kingsized Holiday Jubilee • Dec. 29-31: Railroad Earth VERIZON WIRELESS AMPHITHEATER AT ENCORE PARK 2200 Encore Parkway, Alpharetta www.vzwamp.com No upcoming shows announced WILD BILL’S 2075 Market St., Duluth 678-473-1000 wildbillsatlanta.com • Dec. 5: Georgia Country Night • Dec. 6: El Tri • Dec. 10: Ryan Boss • Dec. 13: 94.9 The Bull’s Georgia Country Christmas • Dec. 19: Outshyne • Dec. 20: Yelawolf Most tickets available through Ticketmaster at 404249-6400 or www.ticketmaster.com.

To submit an event for Gwinnett Calendar, email features@gwinnettdailypost.com.

5:30 on Saturday, Dec. 6. The event will feature a visit from Santa, horse carriage rides, ice skating, music, trains, food Friday, Dec. 5 vendors and much more as Norcross Christmas Tree the crowds mingle before the Lighting tree is lit. For more informaThe city of Norcross will tion, visit cityofsugarhill.com. hold its Christmas Tree LightSimon Kidgits Club ing celebration on Friday, Dec. Breakfast with Santa 5, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. The The Mall of Georgia will choir of the Norcross First be hosting an opportunity for United Methodist Church will children to have breakfast and perform, and guests will have do holiday crafts with Santa the opportunity to enjoy hot from 8:30 to 10 a.m. on Dec. 6 cocoa and cookies proin the Food Court of the mall. vided by the Lion’s Club and The breakfast is free for Simon Mason’s. The festivities will Kidgits Club members and $5 take place in Thrasher Park. for non-members. Please RSVP For more information, visit in advance to mmr4852@ norcrossga.net or call 678simon.com. For more informa421-2000.

Holly Jolly-day Celebration tion, visit http://www.simon.com/ The Holly Jolly-day Celebra- mall/mall-of-georgia/stream/ tion will be on Friday, Dec. 5, in breakfast-with-santa-1420194.

“North Georgia Art Town Center Park. Beginning Ramble” at 6:30 p.m., guests will be The Tannery Row Artist treated to free hot chocolate, Colony will be hosting the cookies and s’mores as well “North Georgia Art Ramble,” a as performances by choruses from the Burnette, Level self guided tour of local artists’ Creek, Riverside, Roberts and studios and galleries, on Dec. Suwanee Elementary Schools 6 and 7 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the colony, 554 West Main and the Sounds of Suwanee Street, Bldg C in Buford. For performers. Santa will also more information, visit tanbe present as the guest of neryrowartistcolony.com. honor to light the tree and to take pictures with the children.

For more information, visit Sunday, Dec. 7 suwanee.com.

Christmas in Grayson Christmas in Grayson will Saturday, Dec. 6 be held on Sunday, Dec. 7, in Grayson Community Park. The ‘Santa’s Missing Mail’ celebration will include free Aurora’s Children Playpony rides, s’mores, a trackhouse will host All Hands less train, a petting zoo and Productions’ presentation of numerous crafts and activities.

“Santa’s Missing Mail” show Magic Moment Photography at 10 and 11:30 a.m. on Dec. 6. Admission is $7 per person. will be there taking photos for a small fee. The festivities For more information, visit will begin at 2 p.m. For more auroratheatre.com information visit cityofgrayson.

36th annual Duluth Tree org or call 770-963-8017.

Lighting The 36th annual Duluth Tree Lighting will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 10 Dec. 6 on Duluth Town Green.

Trans-Siberian OrchesThe event will begin at 4 p.m. tra’s New Rock Opera with activities for children such The Trans-Siberian Oras arts and crafts, letters to chestra will play their new rock Santa, inflatables and a City opera “The Christmas Attic” Hall Open House. The tree at the Arena at the Gwinnett lighting ceremony will begin at Center on Dec. 10 at 7:30 p.m.

6 p.m. For more information, A portion of all ticket sales will visit duluthga.net. benefit select local charities.

Sugar Hill Holiday CelFor more information, visit ebration trans-siberian.com.

Sugar Hill’s Holiday Celebration and Christmas Ongoing events Tree Lighting will begin at ‘A Christmas Carol’

GWINNETT CALENDAR Aurora Theatre will present the holiday classic, Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” through Dec. 21. Tickets range from $20 to $30 and can be purchased online at tickets. auroratheatre.com or by calling the box office at 678-2266222. For more information, visit auroratheatre.com.

Ice Rink at Sugar Hill The Ice Rink at Sugar Hill will be open until to Feb. 22 at 5039 West Broad St. in Sugar Hill. Admission is $10 for children and $12 for adults including skates, but group and family rates are available.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit icerinkatsuagrhill.com.

‘The 12 Dates of Christmas’ Aurora Theatre will present the hilariously festive show “The 12 Dates of Christmas” through Dec. 20. The show takes audiences on an adventure into the mishaps of one woman’s journey back into the dating scene. Recommended for teens and adults, “The 12 Dates of Christmas” will be presented through Dec. 20.

Tickets range from $20-$30 and can be purchased online at tickets.auroratheatre.com or by calling the box office at 678-226-6222.

‘Christmas Canteen’ Gwinnett’s longest running theatrical holiday tradition, the 19th annual “Christmas Canteen” will play until Dec. 21 at Aurora Theatre, 128 E. Pike St. in Lawrenceville. For more information, visit auroratheatre.com.

‘The Nutcracker’ Gwinnett Ballet Theatre will present the 34th annual production of “The Nutcracker” accompanied by the Gwinnett Ballet Theatre Orchestra for the shows of Dec. 12-21.

Shows are Friday evenings at 7:30, Saturdays at 2:30 and 7:30, and Sundays at 2:30 Dec. 5-21 at the Gwinnett Performing Arts Center, 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth.

For more information and to order tickets, call 1-888-9297849 or visit gwinnettcenter. com.

‘Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus’ The New Dawn Theater

Company will present the holiday play “Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus” Dec. 4-7, 11-14 and 18-21. Showtimes are Thursdays and Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 2 and 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Ticket Prices are $15 for adults and $12 for seniors and children.

For more information, visit newdawntheatercompany.com.

‘A Big Top Christmas Carol’ New London Theatre will present “A Big Top Christmas Carol” through Dec. 21. Showtimes are Fridays and Satur-

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days at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Tickets range from $10 to $15. New London Theatre is located at 2338 Henry Clower Blvd. in Snellville. For more information, visit newlondontheatre.org.

SnowWorld Lake Lanier Islands Resort will be hosting SnowWorld which features snow slides, speed sides, skating, carnival rides, fire pits and morethrough Dec. 31. For more information, visit snowworldga. com.

Stone Mountain Park

Christmas Christmas at Stone Mountain Park will be held through Jan. 4. Guests can enjoy the glow of more than 2 million lights, festive music and visits from some favorite holiday characters. The holiday event features the new 4-D movie “Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas,” a nightly Christmas Parade with Snow Angel Snowfall and Fireworks Finale and visits with Santa Clause. For more information, visit stonemountainpark.com/ events.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014 • 19

Suwanee’s Jolly Holly-day Celebration

Come enjoy holiday tunes and snap your photo with Santa Tonight • 6:30 pm Town Center Park

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