WARREN ON THE WAY, 9A
Gwinnett Daily Post Wednesday, February 13, 2019
www.gwinnettdailypost.com
75 cents ©2019 SCNI
Vol. 49, No. 19
586813-1
Senator and presidential candidate to visit Gwinnett on Saturday
Northside, Gwinnett Health get OK for merger Trade Commission grants final approvals Federal Trade Commission completed its review of the merger and gave its approval to move forward. The agreeAfter years of delay, the ment was approved by the merger between Northside State of Georgia Office of the Hospital and Gwinnett Attorney General in NovemHealth System, the parent of ber 2017. Gwinnett Medical Center, “We are excited to move has finally been approved, forward on the merging of officials announced Tuesday. our two health systems,” said In a statement, the systems Bob Quattrocchi, president said that late last week, the and CEO of Northside By Isabel Hughes
isabel.hughes @gwinnettdailypost.com
Hospital. “Leaders from both systems are already meeting to develop a comprehensive integration plan that honors our employees and physicians. This plan ensures that our patients continue to receive quality health care with no disruption of service.” Officials said Tuesday that the two systems now will focus on finalizing patient, operational and business
functions. The combined system is expected to be operational by summer 2019. “Through the merged entity, Gwinnett County will continue to have access to world-class medical treatment,” said Philip Wolfe, president and CEO of Gwinnett Health System. “Health care is a dynamic industry
Health care industry officials said the merger deal between Northside Hospital and Gwinnett Health System has finally been approved by the Federal Trade CommisSee MERGER, Page 8A sion. (File Photo)
Valentine’s day
Waffle House taking dinner reservations
One of Peterbrooke Chocolatier's busiest times of the year is Valentine's Day. The chocolate store is gearing up for the annual rush this week. One of its best sellers on Valentine’s Day is its chocolatecovered strawberries. (Staff Photos: Isabel Hughes)
By Curt Yeomans
“ ”
A place to treat yourself
Local chocolatier gears up for holiday By Isabel Hughes
of hard chocolate into Peterbrooke’s two vats — one that’s filled with milk chocolate and the other that contains dark Each morning when Scott chocolate. Gottuso walks into work, his Then, once the thick liquid focus immediately turns to the reaches 86 degrees, Gottuso day’s vats of chocolate. tests it. “(Chocolate) is very temper“That’s what our bag of amental,” Gottuso, a chocolat- pretzels is for,” Gottuso said. ier at The Forum at Peachtree “You’ll see (imperfections) Corners’ Peterbrooke Choco- if the chocolate’s not ready latier, said. “When we get yet. There’s nothing wrong here every morning, we have with it (taste-wise) — you can to get the chocolate stirring eat it — but it’s imperfect. and we turn on our temperChocolate is finicky; humiding machines. We start at 115 ity, temperature — all of these degrees with the chocolate in things affect the chocolate the morning, and slowly bring process, and we do not dip it down to 86 degrees.” anything that goes on our shelf For about two hours, Gotunless (the chocolate) is in tuso continuously stirs the temperance.” liquid candy, feeding chunks As Peterbrooke Chocolatier isabel.hughes @gwinnettdailypost.com
curt.yeomans@gwinnettdailypost.com
For some local couples, Valentine’s Day won’t just be a chance to answer the Bee Gees’ question of “How deep is your love,” but also to show how scattered, smothered and covered it is. Waffle House will give couples a chance to find out on Thursday with its annual Valentine’s Day dinner for two offerings. Nearly 200 locations are participating, including five restaurants in Gwinnett County. But hold on: Fans of Waffle House might argue any trip to one of its restaurants is special, but this won’t be like any trip to the eatery. Waffle House will offer something a little more romantic with dimmed lights and white tablecloths. “Valentine’s Day is about spending time with the one you love at a place you love,” Waffle House spokesperson Jessica Kinskey told FOX 5 Atlanta. “And it’s even better when you can do that without spending a lot of money.” The participating locations in Gwinnett are located in Lawrenceville, Norcross, Snellville, Buford and Auburn. However, couples that want to take advance of the romantic waffle dinners must make reservations in advance. “This is the only night that Waffle House locations take reservations,” Kinskey said. “We’ve had customers asking
See waffle house, Page 8a
Chocolatier Scott Gottuso stirs Peterbrooke Chocolatier’s vat of milk chocolate as he prepares it one recent morning. The store is gearing up for its Valentine’s Day orders and rush.
gears up for Valentine’s Day, one of the store’s busiest times of the year, the pressure is on to ensure its chocolate is of the highest quality. The chocolatier makes almost all of its merchandise in-store, which is part of what makes the brand so unique, Gottuso said. But with only a limited time
to work with the chocolate once it’s tempered daily, Gottuso’s days leading up to Feb. 14 are busy ones, filled with orders ranging from chocolatecovered strawberries to the store’s well-loved chocolate popcorn to chocolate bouquets and chocolate gift buckets. See chocolate, Page 8a
Waffle House is offering special Valentine’s Day dinners for two on Thursday for couples who make reservations in advance. (Special Photo)
HOOPER RENWICK SCHOOL
Early site plan raises concerns that black history could be lost Hooper Renwick had been the school all black curt.yeomans students in Gwinnett County @gwinnettdailypost.com attended before desegregaGraduates of the old tion occurred in the late Hooper Renwick School 1960s. The announcement in Lawrenceville raised in 2017 that the original concerns Tuesday that building would be saved early plans for the school’s with a new library attached preservation, with a new generated buzz. library attached, might mean But the plans presented covering up a piece of local Tuesday showed new library black history. space wrapped around the By Curt Yeomans
front and side of the building, meaning the school building would no longer be visible from Neal Street. They also called for gutting 11 of the school’s 12 classrooms and replacing them with an adult reading area and a community room. That generated heated pushback from members of the Hooper Renwick Preservation Committee.
“We’re very passionate,” committee chairwoman Theresa Bailey said. “This is where we started our school days in the first grade. We remember every teacher, every experience, and it just means the world to us.” The plans for the school’s preservation and the library’s design are far from See PLAN, Page 8a
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CAS Architecture’s Chad Smith explains an early version of the plans for the Hooper Renwick School with a library added on during a meeting of the Hooper Renwick Preservation Committee on Tuesday. (Staff Photo: Curt Yeomans)