🌱 Brenau Renames Athletic's Center + Two Gainesville Men Electrocuted

Hello, friends. It's me, Lauren Kubiak, your host of the Gainesville Patch newsletter — here to explain everything you need to know about what's happening locally. Today you'll read about these three stories and more.

But first, your local weather:

• Thursday: Cloudy with a thunderstorm. High: 82 Low: 62.
• Friday: Heavy rain and a thunderstorm. High: 64 Low: 45.

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Here are the top three stories in Gainesville today:

1. A meeting is set to take place on Apr. 11 at 5:30 p.m. for a building rezoning from residential to office and institutional off of Green Street Circle in Gainesville. Bradley Dunckel is bringing this request to the Gainesville City Council at the Planning and Appeals Board meeting for the new use of this building. No tenants have been identified in the structure at this point. (Yahoo News)
2. Brenau University and its athletic department have decided to dedicate the school's athletic center and basketball court to former President Emeritus Ed Schrader, Ph.D. Schrader led the university from 2005-2019, supporting student-athletes both in the classroom and on the field. The naming of the center and court was approved by a board of trustees late in 2022, with a ribbon cutting and unveiling held on Mar. 31. (WGAU)
3. An investigation is ongoing about an early Monday morning incident resulting in the death of two Gainesville men. Authorities responded to 2100 Atlanta Highway around 3 a.m. to a fire/explosion at a power substation south of downtown Gainesville that resulted in the electrocution of two apparent thieves. The two were found within the copper fence with a bookbag suspected to be owned by one of the potential thieves; they were later identified as Shane Joseph Law and Christopher Blair Wood. (11 Alive; CBS News)

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Today and tomorrow in Gainesville:

Thursday, April 6

• Judith Surowiec: Moments In Time - Brenau University: Castelli Gallery At The John S. Burd Center (10:00 AM)
• Garden Grooves - Atlanta Botanical Garden, Gainesville Garden (10:00 AM)
• Live Music: Eduardo Cautino - Scott's Downtown (5:00 PM)

Friday, April 7

• Hall County Master Gardeners - Chicopee Woods Agricultural Center (8:00 AM)
• Live Music: Caleb Wilkie - Locos Grill And Pub (7:00 PM)

From my notebook:

• Kilwins Gainesville is officially open for business! This location is downtown on the Square and will be open from 10 a.m until 8 p.m. (Downtown Gainesville via Facebook)
• Georgia Cities Week 2023, sponsored by the Georgia Municipal Association, is running from Apr. 23-29. Gainesville-specific events can be found at the link. (City of Gainesville, Georgia via Facebook)
• Stop by any of the Hall County Libraries and grab a coloring sheet and enter one of the coloring contests for all kids 12 and under. There are three different age brackets for your kids to compete and have fun; all submissions are due by Apr. 30. (Hall County Library System via Facebook)

More from our sponsors — thanks for supporting local news!

Featured events:

• Stress, Depression, and Anxiety Recovery Program (April 16)

You're all caught up for today. I'll see you soon!

— Lauren Kubiak

About me: Lauren is an Editor for Lightning Media Partners. She graduated from Rowan University with a Bachelor’s in journalism. She was previously a full-time editor at an association management firm, editing peer-reviewed nursing journals, textbooks, and newsletters.