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Front - April 8 4/6/04 7:13 PM Page 1
Pickens Churches Invite Everyone To Celebrate Easter This Sunday
Community Easter Egg Hunt Set For Saturday Morning At Roper Park / Pagel3B
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APRR.8, 2004 VOLUME 116 NUMBER 48 JASPER, GEORGIA 30143 USPS 431-830 THREE SECTIONS 53 PAGES PLUS SUPPLEMENTS
Briefly.
• •
“An Ounce
Of Prevention ...”
On display on the courthouse
lawn are 383 pinwheels, each
representing one of the child
abuse or neglect cases in Pick
ens County last year. Pinwheels
for Prevention are part of Child
Abuse Prevention Month being
observed here to make residents
aware of the seriousness of the
problem and the importance of
prevention. Page 13A
Roundup Time
Keep Pickens Beautiful
reports that the Great Ameri
can Cleanup is off to a good
start here. Along with general
litter removal and sprucing up
the county during April, KPB
is leading an effort to round
up some items not so easily
removed: junk cars, old appli
ances and scrap tires. Contact
KPB for details. Page 12A
“They Touched Me ”
This week the Progress
begins a new series by Wayne
Smith, the founder of the
Friendship Force and a retired
minister and missionary whose
journeys have
taken him
around the
world many
times. Over the
years, his trav
els and the
projects he has
been involved
with put him in contact with
thousands of people — from
the most famous celebrities to
everyday people on the street.
Smith says hundreds of these
people touched him deeply,
leaving an imprint on him and
teaching him about life. In this
series entitled “They Touched
Me” Smith recounts some of
these encounters. Page 2B
Weather
By WILLIAM D1LBECK
HI
LOW
RAIN
Tuesday
65
42
.14
Wednesday
65
35
.00
Thursday
54
36
.00
Friday
55
38
Trace
Saturday
65
45
.10
Sunday
57
39
.00
Monday
62
38
.00
Deaths
Jack Robinson
Broughton Bannister
Odella Williams
Ada Golden
Mary Frances Tatum
OBITUARIES ... .See Page 14B
Visit Us
On The Web
www.pickensprogress .com
The Progress is
printed in part on
recycled newsprint
and is recyclable
Damon Howell / Photo
The throng of shoppers who checked out the bargains during the Thrift Store’s first day of
operation at its new location.
Community Thrift Store
in business at new location
Volunteers praised for hard work
By Michael Moore
About 150 people gathered outside the Communi
ty Thrift Store Thursday morning for the grand open
ing and ribbon cutting at its new location.
The Thrift Store, run by Pickens County Commu
nity Resource Association (PCCRA), has moved into
a brand new facility on Samaritan Drive in Jasper.
Store managers said they had outgrown their previ
ous location on Sanders Street, and the shelves at the
new store were fully stocked with donated items
when the doors opened.
Don Russell of PCCRA spoke briefly to the
crowd, which consisted not only of shoppers but also
volunteers from community organizations, and local
government officials.
Russell gave credit to those in attendance and the
community as a whole for the success of the Com
munity Thrift Store.
“This building is not the Thrift Store, you are the
Thrift Store,” he told the crowd. “I don’t see a build
ing. I see a community coming together and chang
ing Pickens County for the better.”
Commissioner Bill Newton, who also spoke at the
grand opening, was particularly helpful in acquiring
a new location for the Thrift Store, Russell said.
Newton praised all the volunteers who helped
open the new facility.
“I should be thanking all of you,” said Newton.
“Volunteers are the backbone of the community.
Without volunteers, there would be children without
shoes, coats, and health care.”
He added that Pickens County is “like a family.”
“Hopefully we’re all working together to help
some of the less fortunate,” he said.
The new 14,000 square foot building was con
structed by Appalachian Design and Development.
Among its useful features are three loading docks,
fitting rooms, and space for volunteers to process the
donations. Also, there is a 24-hour drop-off area for
donated items.
Samaritan Drive turns off Highway 5 South, not
far from the old hospital.
Experts believe rape,
sexual assaults going
unreported in Pickens
Victims reluctant to speak to authorities
out of fear, misunderstanding
By Michael Moore
There are likely more incidents
of sexual assault and rape in Pick
ens County than those reported to
law enforcement agencies, accord
ing to two local social service
workers.
Dr. Shelia Frances, executive
director of Family Connection,
believes that nationwide statistics,
and the results of a recent commu
nity survey, indicate that there may
be more sexual abuse and rape than
is reported to local authorities.
Nationwide, one in four females
is sexually assaulted by the age of
18. For males, the rate is 1 in 6.
But the rate of assault in Pickens is
much lower than the national aver
age.
“In 2002 there were eight sub
stantiated incidents of sexual
assault or rape in Pickens,” said
Frances. “That is not consistent
with the national figures by and
large.”
The executive director of North
Georgia Mountain Crisis Network,
Cindy Westberg, said sexual assault
is a “highly unreported crime”
among victims of all ages.
She said her office, which
assists victims of sexual abuse and
domestic violence, received rape
crisis calls from 22 victims
throughout Pickens, Gilmer, and
Fannin Counties in 2003. Most of
those were reported to law enforce
ment, according to Westberg.
There were also calls from 15
victims whose attack occurred
much earlier than when they called,
Westberg said.
“We get a lot of rape crisis calls
where the assault happened a
month or two ago,” said Westberg.
She said it is the victim’s deci
sion to report the crime to law
enforcement, and North Georgia
Mountain Crisis encourages them
to do so. Victims are also encour
aged to seek medical attention.
Westberg said there are many
reasons a victim may not report an
assault or rape. The crime is of an
intimate nature, and there is a fear
of being identified publicly. Also,
there is a common tendency to
blame the victim, and many times
the victim blames herself or him
self.
Many are afraid that the legal
system will fail to protect them.
“Some victims don’t know all
the things about the system or
they’ve heard horror stories,” said
Westberg. “The more we dispel the
myths and keep everybody work
ing together, the more it will be
reported.”
She noted that most rapes are
perpetrated by a known person, and
marital and dating rape are com
mon. Many of those victims say
they just want to move on, West
berg said.
Two recently reported rape
cases in Pickens County both
involved suspects who the victims
knew prior to the attack.
Sexual assault is also common
among teenagers even though it is
not always reported, Westberg said.
“Girls only talk about it among
their friends,” she said. “Dating
violence is even more of a secret.”
Frances says another problem is
that often the perpetrator is not
held accountable.
Family Connection recently
conducted a survey in Pickens
whose goal was to find out what
issues the community is concerned
about. A summary of the results of
the survey appeared in the March
25 edition of the Progress.
Among the survey’s findings
was that teen pregnancy is a top
concern for youth girls, but not for
boys. Sexually transmitted diseases
were the number two concern for
teenage girls.
Frances said the apparent lack
of concern for these issues among
youth males represents the prob
lem.
“The focus is always on the
girl,” said Frances. “You never
hear about how many boys have
fathered a child. We tend to focus
on teen behaviors more than on
what is happening to teens.”
She added that holding the male
accountable would encourage vic
tims to report the crimes.
Westberg noted, “Rarely has
there been an immediate arrest
because there has to be an investi
gation first, and meanwhile the
offender is just out there.”
Also, family crimes such as sex
ual abuse and domestic violence
were of lower concern among all
survey respondents than Frances
had expected. She said this is again
likely because many such incidents
go unreported.
Westberg said the Pickens
County community, particularly the
Domestic Violence Task Force, has
done well in helping the victims.
The 306 total calls North Geor
gia Crisis received last year from
Pickens residents who were victim
ized by family violence is the low
est of the three counties, she said.
For more information on North
Georgia Mountain Crisis Network,
call (706)632-9024 or visit their
website at www.georgiacrisis.com.
Their 24-hour confidential hotline
is 1-800-33-HAVEN, or (706) 632-
8400.
Family Connection can be con
tacted at (770) 737-0386, or via
email at
pickensfamily@ellijay.com.
oard may disclose discussions with Jasper council
School Board Chairman says decision
to close March meeting under review
By Christie Pool
In light of last week’s Progress article and
editorial which took issue with the school board
for holding a closed meeting with the city coun
cil in mid-March, school board chairman Tony
Young said the board will likely disclose their
discussion from the private meeting.
In a statement at last week’s regular monthly
meeting Young said, “In regard to the (board’s)
meeting of March 17, the board’s decision to
close the meeting was made after consultation
with our attorney. On the advice of our attorney
we closed the meeting. After the article and edi
torial in this week’s Progress we will take a close
look at that decision.”
Young said the contents of the meeting “will
likely” be disclosed following the review.
Young had signed an affidavit stating the
board closed the meeting to discuss pending liti
gation with their attorney. However, Board
Attorney Phil Fandrum III was not present at the
meeting. During a break in the meet
ing, Superintendent Lee Shiver told the Progress
reporter that he contacted the state’s attorney
general’s office who confirmed that the meeting
should not have been closed.
• In other business, administrators reported
there are now 64 dropouts this school year. In
March five more students left school bringing
the total number of dropouts for each grade as
follows: 13 in 9th; 25 in 10th; 18 in 11th, 8 in
12th grade. In all, 40 males and 24 females have
left school this year. Continued on page 3A
Work underway on Cove Road Fire Station
By Dan Pool
Although the name is not fully
decided, work is underway on the
new volunteer fire station on Cove
Road and the fire chief there says it
will greatly cut response times
when open later this year.
Trees have been cleared and
grading should be underway soon
on the planned 7,800 square-foot
building which could house three
fire trucks, with offices, training
areas, living quarters, plus a sepa
rate bay for an ambulance with
space for EMS personnel.
The building may also house a
sheriff’s precinct office and will
serve as a voting precinct.
No timeframe for establishing
the ambulance or sheriff staff there
has been set.
Grandview Fire Chief Sam
Knighton said this will speed
response time in the area they serve
which extends from Burnt Moun
tain Road all the way to the four
way stop on Cove Road at McClain
Mountain.
Being able to have trucks on
both ends of Grandview will defi
nitely cut response times, Knighton
said.
“It’s hard to run Grandview
Road, which is five miles long, fast
at night because of all the deer,” he
said.
Knighton said the new station
may be called the Cove Road Sta
tion, but will still be operated as
part of the Grandview Volunteer
Department with its 24 volunteers.
Knighton said the Grandview
Department is serving a growing
population with many affluent new
homes.
He said, “There are a lot of new
homes in our area, big homes,” he
said.
Knighton said many of the peo
ple moving to the area expect more
protection and are initially sur
prised to find they are served by
volunteers. Continued on page 3A
At the site where the new
Cove Fire Station will be locat
ed (l-r): Susan Knighton, Com
missioner Bill Newton, Frank
Pendley and Barbara Pendley
who donated the land, Assistant
Fire Chief Brian Dean and Fire
Chief Sam Knighton.