Newspaper Page Text
The Upson Beacon
Thursday, March 4, 2021
Page 5A
Local Leaders Talk Economic Development
Grella Facilitates Meeting
Community leaders at
tended a day-long eco
nomic development
meeting at the Upson EMC
Annex recently, facilitated
by Mike Grella of Grella
Partnership Strategies, to
discuss strengths and
weaknesses of Upson
County relative to indus
trial recruitment and re
tention.
Among Grella’s video
guest speakers were Carl
Nelson, managing princi
pal of Infrastructure
Ready Acquisitions & De
velopment, and Daniel
James Consulting, a busi
ness management and
marketing solutions com
pany “designed for flexibil
ity to respond to new
demands and opportuni
ties.”
Nelson, whose firm
specializes in location eco
nomics, site selection, and
commercial real estate de
velopment, discussed
“highest and best use” of
available sites and federal
grant writing for infras
tructure improvements.
He touched on what types
of sites attract prospects
and how to answer the
“tricky questions” local of
ficials maybe asked during
recruitment.
James addressed the
creation of social and digi
tal media accounts and ac
count management,
website updates, and
search engine optimiza
tion to increase com
munity exposure. He
added the importance of
expanding Upson County’s
network of relationships
with site consultants, de
velopers, and corporate
decision makers.
Grella’s discussion
topics included Upson’s lo
cation, quality of life, and
demographics, along with
education, labor, and
workforce development
training. He and Industrial
Development Authority
Executive Director Kyle
Fletcher shared ideas re
garding incentive policies
and strategies for potential
industry.
Grella was hired by the
Upson commissioners last
year to aid with grant writ
ing, recruitment, and gen
eral consulting. After
limited progress during his
initial six-month,
$45,ooo-plus contract
with the county, Grella of
fered to extend the agree
ment for an additional six
months at no extra charge,
according to Chairman
Norman Allen and County
Manager Jason Tinsley.
At last week’s IDA
meeting, Allen rec
ommended that the IDA
pay one month ($7,500) of
Grella’s fee while the com
pany assists the board with
various initiatives, accord
ing to Fletcher. No formal
action was taken by the
IDA regarding Grella’s fee
payment.
During the meeting,
Allen discussed the need
for workforce housing
within the city limits, and
encouraged board
members to request that
developers consider con
struction projects address
ing the need.
Woodbury Man Arrested After Shooting Vehicle
Eric Deshawn Harps of
Walker Road in Woodbury
was arrested and charged
with two counts of aggra
vated assault after firing a
weapon into a vehicle while
traveling on Highway 19
north of Thomaston, accord
ing to a report from the
Upson County Sheriff s Of
fice.
Harps’ ex-girlfriend,
Elizabeth Manley, and her
friend, Rafael Maxedon,
completed repairs to her
Nissan Altima at a residence
on Stage Coach Road
around 7:30 p.m. last Fri
day, then left to test drive
the vehicle. As Manley
reached the end of Stage
Coach Road, she noticed
Harps at the stop sign in his
mother’s Chevrolet Equinox,
the report stated.
Harps followed Manley
and Maxedon as they turned
left onto Highway 19, left
onto McCorkle Curve Road,
and right onto Highway 19
traveling north, Manley
said. Harps passed on the
left and Manley “heard a
pop and her driver side rear
window shattered,” accord
ing to the report. Manley
turned off the highway and
Maxedon called 911 to re
port the incident.
Deputy Will Sanders and
Sgt. Mike Rucker observed
the shattered side window
and what appeared to be a
bullet hole at the rear post of
the window, Rucker’s report
stated. Meriwether County
Sheriffs Office was con
tacted, and verified that the
Chevrolet was in the drive
way of Harps’ mother’s
house on Walker Road.
Rucker and Sanders,
along with members of the
Meriwether SO and Wood
bury Police Department,
met at Ingles in Woodbury
to plan the arrest. Harps was
taken into custody without
incident at his mother’s res
idence, according to the re
port. He also was charged
with two counts of reckless
conduct.
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God Healed Don of Spondylosis
I am a pastor from Kansas. I
had prayed for others in times
past, and God had healed them,
yet I wasn't receiving healing
for myself. I had spondylosis,
a degenerative disease of the
spine. The doctors told me it
was incurable. As it progressed,
I became incapacitated with
excruciating pain.
TPD Reports Arrests for Meth Possession
Lance Steven Frick and
Sharon Elaine Fuller, both
of Thomaston, were ar
rested and charged with
possession of methamphe-
tamine in unrelated inci
dents, along with multiple
drug-related reports from
the Thomaston Police De
partment.
Frick was stopped on
Cherokee Road for failure to
maintain lane and only one
working brake light, accord
ing to a report by TPD ca
nine handler Jared
Fordham. While Frick was
detained in the parking lot
of Upson Regional Medical
Center, canine Beno indi
cated the presence of a nar
cotic odor, Fordham said.
A female passenger in
the car “appeared to be hy
perventilating” and “be
came frantic,” stating that
police could not search the
vehicle without her father’s
permission, according to the
report.
A search produced a
backpack containing the
passenger’s driver’s license
and three glass tube smok
ing devices which contained
white powdery residue. A
cigarette pack above the
steering wheel near the
speedometer also contained
a white powdery substance,
Fordham’s report stated.
Tests of the substance
were positive for meth, and
the passenger would not
claim ownership of the
backpack or any of the nar
cotics. Frick “insisted that
all the smoking devices and
narcotics belonged to him,”
according to the report.
In an unrelated incident,
Officer Justin Sanders was
conducting a welfare check
on two females, “one was a
known prostitute,” in front
of the United Bank location
near Days Inn at Northside,
according to Sanders’ re
port.
Sanders said he saw
Fuller drop a purple Crown
Royal bag, but Fuller re
peatedly denied knowledge
of the bag. When Sanders
retrieved the bag, it con
tained a glass pipe with a
white crystal powder sub
stance, the report stated.
The substance field tested
positive for meth.
Other unrelated charges
reported by TPD include
Sharon Elaine Railey, pos
session of a Schedule II sub
stance; Mary Clark,
possession and use of drug
related objects; and Amy
Dunn, willful obstruction of
law enforcement.
Then I came to the For My Life Retreat at Be in Health. I
learned about the spiritual root causes of my disease and
also about what was blocking my healing. I dealt with
some things that I recognized in my life, and by the end
of the week-long retreat, I realized that I had no more
pain! God had healed me!
I am now back to regular life. I can do what I love again,
including fishing and playing golf. My life has been
restored to me, and I can continue to serve God the way
that He called me to do. For My Life completely changed
my life. -Don
Read more here: bit.ly/don-spondylosis
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Watch Hope of the
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services live on
Sundays at 10:30 am
at BelnHealth.com
Or join us in person!
Be in Health is a ministry of Hope of the Generations Church
4178 Crest Hwy (74W), Thomaston, GA 30286
Need Prayer? Call: 706-646-1488
Upson County COVID-19 Update
Local Nursing Homes Reporting No New Cases or Deaths
Upson County reports
3,216 positive COVID-19
cases with 114 deaths as of
noon last Tuesday, accord
ing to the Johns Hopkins
University & Medicine Co-
ronavirus Resource Center.
Numbers reflect 37 new
cases (up from 30 last
week) and three new
deaths (down from four
last week) since Tuesday
one week prior. During that
time, Upson’s per capita in
fection rate increased from
12.1 to 12.3 cases per 100
residents, more than l-in-
10. Pike County, at 10.9 per
100 residents, is the only
Upson-adjacent county ex
ceeding i-in-10 infection
rate. Lamar is at 9.9 per
100, and Taylor is at 9.5 per
100.
A consensus of online
sources report Georgia with
983,879 (up 21,664 for
the week) positive cases
and 16,834 ( U P 5 2i for the
week) deaths as of noon
last Tuesday.
Johns Hopkins lists the
following confirmed cases
for counties bordering
Upson: Monroe, 2,395 ( U P
65) cases with 88 (up one)
deaths; Pike, 2,036 (up 28)
with 31 (no change) deaths;
Lamar, 1,882 (up 40) with
49 (up one) deaths; Meri
wether, 1,855 (up 33) with
59 (up eight) deaths; Taylor,
761 (up 12) with 23 (up one)
deaths; Crawford, 650 (up
five) with 16 (no change)
deaths; and Talbot, 448 (up
six) with 17 (up two) deaths.
Total number of positive
cases reported among res
idents and staff at local
long-term health care facil
ities (including Harborview,
Providence, and Riverside)
is 316 (no change in res
ident or staff cases) dur
ing the same period, with 53
resident deaths (no
change), according to
Georgia’s Long-Term Care
Facility COVID-19 Report
from the Georgia Depart
ment of Community Health.
The report shows Har
borview (103 residents/102
tested) with 92 resident
cases (no change), 71 res
ident recoveries, 34 staff
cases (no change), and 21
resident deaths (no
change). Providence (80
residents/82 tested) reports
67 resident cases (no
change), 52 resident recov
eries, 34 staff cases (no
change), and 15 resident
deaths (no change). River
side (54 residents/117
tested) reports 59 resident
cases (no change), 42 res
ident recoveries, 30 staff
cases (no change) and 17
resident deaths (no
change) from one week
ago.
FOUR YEARS IN A ROW!
THANK YOU UPSON COUNTY!
Thank you to all who chose
Fletcher-Day Funeral Home
their favorite funeral home in the
Upson Beacon’s Readers’ Choice poll.
We are privileged to have served our community for
the past 127 years, and we pledge to continue offering
caring, compassionate service in the future.
FLETCHER-DAY
funeral C^Come
Since 1893
628 N Church St. • Thomaston, GA 30286
706-647-6644
www.fletcherdayfuneralhome.com
THANK YOU UPSON COUNTY!
Piggie Park Voted
Upson’s Favorite:
Barbecue, Hot Dog & Fries
Piggie O Park Drive-in
Highway 19 North - Thomaston
706-648-3330