Area briefs: Thanksgiving break at UGA, grant money for Lavonia PD

There are no classes today at UGA: University of Georgia students are out for the rest of the week on Thanksgiving break.

There are honors for the Athens-Clarke County Leisure Services Department, winning—for the tenth time in the last two decades—an Agency Award from the Georgia Recreation and Parks Association. Athens-Clarke County Leisure Services says the award is based on outstanding programs and accomplishments over the past year.

Georgia lawmakers—Athens Republican Representative Houston Gaines among them—are one week away from a special session of the legislature, called by Governor Brian Kemp after a US District judge ordered new congressional and legislative redistricting maps. Judge Steve Jones says the maps as drawn three years ago violate parts of federal voting rights laws.

There is grant money for the police department in Lavonia, a quarter-million dollars from the US Justice Department: the Lavonia PD plans to use the money to hire two new police officers.

A Cobb County man is facing drug charges in Hall County: Truc Bui, 27 years old from Kennesaw, was caught with what the Hall County Sheriff’s Office says was 18 pounds of marijuana, pot with an estimated street value of $45 thousand.

There’s a guilty plea from a Gainesville man: 33 year-old John Honeycutt was arrested on child molestation allegations three years ago. He gets a 25-year prison sentence.

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