Gwinnett’s oldest locally owned newspaper - established 1988 Covering Braselton, Buford, Dacula, Lawrenceville, Sugar Hill,
Vol. 29, No. 7
Influential people page 2
FREE
page 6
Outstanding service page 15
MAY 2017
A little planning means a lot of love for your family By Carole Townsend Staff Correspondent
Strategies
www.gwinnettcitizen.com
Everybody has a story, or has heard a story, about the nightmare that unfolded when a loved one’s life was tragically interrupted or cut short by injury or illness. Such a time in any family is fraught with fear, chaos and indecision. Decisions must be made in a highly emotional climate; family members’ opinions and wishes often differ. Critical decisions may have to be postponed until someone can rush over to the courthouse and stand before a judge, pleading for certain permissions. It’s a scenario that can be avoided with some thought and planning. “We do both planning and cleanup,” said James Miskell, J.D., founder of the Estate Planning and Law
Group of Georgia, James M. Miskell, P.C. “Believe me, what you want for your family is the planning.” Why? Quite simply, planning provides peace of mind for everyone. Miskell is passionate about the importance of having a plan in place, one that clearly outlines what happens to your assets during a period of temporary disability or one of death. It’s a topic no one wants to jump into as a family, but having such critical discussions spares everyone involved a lot of pain, disagreement and, in many cases, permanent emotional damage to a family. No one wants that, no matter how difficult the conversation. Miskell is so passionate about the importance of estate planning that he holds as many as 3 workshops every month, open to anyone who wants to
See PLAN on Page 16
Ga’s Prisoner Re-entry Initiative
Photo by Auveed Bagheri-Cawthon
On a recent Wednesday morning in March, Attorney Jim Miskell held an estate planning workshop for a group interested in learning about options available to protect their assets and loved ones, during their lifetime, in the event of being incapacitated, and in the best interest of their beneficiaries after their death.
Baked to take first place in Science Fair
Congratulations Maggie! page 19
INSIDE Gwinnett Pulse 2 Health & Wellness 12 Classifieds 19
PRESORT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID LILBURN,GA PERMIT NO. 99 ECR-WSS POSTAL CUSTOMER
Photo Credit: Joanna Daou
Gwinnett Superior Court Chief Judge Melodie Snell Conner speaking about the importance of community-wide efforts to reduce recidivism.
By Staff Reports Tabernacle International Church, a large and inviting place of worship near the corner of Simonton Road and Grayson Highway, was host to The Department of Community Supervision’s (DCS) first GA--PRI Stakeholders Meeting on February 28th. The meeting convened state leaders, resource providers, volunteers, and service professionals to introduce Governor Deal’s new initiative, GA-PRI or GA’s Prison-
er Reentry Initiative. The meeting was to include several specific plans and outlooks for Gwinnett county, led by Community Coordinator Lee Robbins. The GA-PRI, signed into law in July 2015, provides additional funding to Georgia’s judicial departments, crucially including additional resources towards reducing prison recidivism in the state. Recidivism is the tendency for a former inmate to re-offend upon returning to free society.
See RE-ENTRY on page 18
Photo by Marci Moore and Jorge delValle
Hunter delValle and Austin Moore display their science fair project and results. By Carole Townsend Staff Correspondent In the Gwinnett Science and Engineering Innovation Fair, held on Friday, February 24, 2017, Dacula Middle School students, Austin Moore and Hunter delValle, won first place for their entry titled, “Easy Bake Oven?” Next door neighbors and friends since the age of three years old, Austin
and Hunter teamed up to develop a solar cooker for their science fair project. What question did the thirteen year old, seventh graders want to answer? Austin and Hunter wanted to know what materials cook food fastest using the sun’s rays so that a make-shift oven can be used by people who don’t have money, but could afford them to have a hot meal. Austin described the process. “Us-
See SCIENCE on page 6