The Week In Review

SUWANEE NEWS WEEK: Elections and Charter Schools ...

A recap of some top news stories from Suwanee and Gwinnett.

As we begin a new week, it's time to review some top Suwanee and Gwinnett news stories from the week that just passed. CHARTER SCHOOL AMENDMENT: There was plenty of election news, but a development that really hit home in Gwinnett was the so-called Charter School Amendment. Georgia voters approved an amendment that would allow the state to set up charter schools without local school board approval. The decision drew the disapproval of Gwinnett Schools Superintendent Alvin Wilbanks. What were some of your favorite news stories recently in Suwanee? Tell us in the comments below. GCPS DISTRICT III RACE: One local election drew some particular attention in November. Veteran Gwinnett school board member Dr. Mary Kay Murphy faced a spirited …

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From World War II to Retail Career to Suwanee (3rd in Series)

Freedman's career in television electronics and family life prospered after World War II.

Hank Freedman has a modern television in his Suwanee residence, has a Facebook page and works a cell phone well. But he remembers things called test patterns and rabbit ears. He broke into Atlanta retail in 1946 after Army service in Germany -- at $9,000 a year. After seven years with Davisons, he got a call from a former associate there to join Rich's, then the dominant department store in Atlanta. (Rich's since has been absorbed by Macy's.) -- Do/did you have any family members who served in the military? Do you have memories of the early days of TV? Share your memories and photos in the comments below. Freedman recalled WSB debuting in 1948 with little more than a test pattern. Then, both television and his career took off in 1956, when…

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WWII POW: 'Our Feelings Can't Be Described' (2nd in Series)

A Suwanee man recalls diary entries of his captivity in Germany in 1944-45.

There was a march of some 30 miles in the German winter, enduring bombing by other Allied forces -- and the conversation of one German officer "who wanted to shoot us." And so was part of the World War II prisoner of war experience for Hank Freedman, now 91 and a Suwanee resident. Freedman was born in Boston in 1921 and was drafted into the Army in 1942. His company was shipped to Europe in 1944 when German forces started new movements. His unit was transported to Europe via a British cruise ship, and once in England, he purchased a diary -- which he still has. During the famed Battle of the Bulge, the company was shipped into Germany's Ardennes Forest in November, and Freedman and his fellow soldiers were concerned with intelligence and …

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