Newspaper Page Text
Front - May 6 5/4/04 4 :35 PM Page 1
Pickens County Rabies Clinic Coming This Saturday
Protect Your Pet, Your Family and Your Neighbors: Have Your Animal Vaccinated / Page 9B
MAY 6, 2004 VOLUME 116 NUMBER 52 JASPER, GEORGIA 30143 USPS 431-820 THREE SECTIONS 52 PAGES PLUS SUPPLEMENTS
Briefly. . .
Is Your Child
Safe In Your Car?
A new law in Georgia will
extend to five-year-olds the
requirement that children ride
in safety seats. Safety experts
applaud the lawmakers for
broadening the law but note
that many older children need
to be in booster seats too. Seat
belts are designed for adults —
passengers shorter than 4 feet 9
inches and under 80 pounds are
much safer when buckled into
an appropriate safety seat.
Highway safety advocates urge
parents to use booster seats and
make sure they’re doing so
properly. Page 11B
Job Fair
Next Tuesday
Some 30 area employers will
be participating in a job
fair/career expo at Appalachi
an Tech next Tuesday. In addi
tion to the Technical College,
the state labor department,
area chambers of commerce,
N. Ga. Employer Committee
and other workforce develop
ment groups are presenting the
program designed to bring
employees and employers
together. If you’re interested in
exploring career opportunities,
bring your resume and be
ready for an on-site interview
when a number of full- and
part-time positions are expect
ed to be filled. Page 8A
Youth Art
On Display
The Children and Youth Art
Exhibit is underway at the Art
Center in downtown Jasper
and will continue through May
14. Residents are invited to
enjoy the colorful and creative
works done by young Pickens
County artists. Page 15A
Weather
By WILLIAM DILBECK
HI
LOW
RAIN
Tuesday
66
43
.00
Wednesday
69
42
.00
Thursday
72
55
.00
Friday
68
61
.08
Saturday
74
62
.32
Sunday
65
39
.37
Monday
55
35
.00
Deaths
Lois Bell
Howard Kendrick
Betty Wheeler
Maye Simonds
Pearl Stewart
William Clearman
Evelyn Christopher
J.W. Wheeler
Danny Whitmore
OBITUARIES ... .See Page 8A
Visit Us
On The Web
www.pickensprogress .com
The Progress is
printed in part on
recycled newsprint
and is recyclable
Party races set for July 20 primary election
All action on Republican
ballot with contested races
for commissioner, sheriff,
coroner and
By Michael Moore
Unless Independent candidates
sign up for qualifying at the end of
June, all local elections for 2004
will be decided in the Republican
primary on July 20.
No Democrats will be running
for local offices in this year’s elec
tion as qualifying for the two par
ties ended Friday at noon.
But Independent candidates will
qualify for the July election during
the week of June 28 to July 2 at
noon.
The following candidates for
local offices will appear on the July
20 primary ballot as Republicans:
Sole Commissioner — Robert
P. Jones, William (Bill) Newton —
Incumbent, Andrew L. Robb;
Chief Magistrate Judge —
school board
Larry Ray — Incumbent;
Superior Court Clerk — Gail
Brown;
Coroner — Kevin Roper, Lon
nie Waters — Incumbent;
Sheriff — Brian Millsap, Chris
Romine, Billy P. Wofford —
Incumbent;
School Board Post 4 — Ervin
Easterwood — Incumbent; Lynn
Mulkey;
School Board Post 1 — Joan
Locke, John T. Trammell, Shirley
Whitaker — Incumbent.
Locke currently serves as the
school board member from another
post, but has moved to the area
already served by Whitaker. A
replacement to fill her unexpired
term will be appointed, according
to the elections office.
Continued on page 4A
Mary Ellen Childree, local Republican Party official, introduces candidates during a program last
week. 15 local candidates qualified as Republicans.
Students urged to be careful during prom weekend
No drugs found at PHS
in canine unit search Monday
By Dan Pool
Using six specially trained dogs,
law enforcement agents combed the
PHS campus Monday finding no
drugs during the surprise sweep.
Law enforcement agents said
they were pleasantly surprised that
nothing was found in a search which
they admitted didn’t check every
student, but was very thorough.
Sheriff Billy Wofford said his
department as well as the school
administration had been given infor
mation and heard parents express
concern that there was a drug prob
lem on the campus, but Monday’s
search indicated that if there is a
problem, it’s not widespread.
“Parents had been telling me
there was a problem and the princi
pal had been given some informa
tion,” the sheriff said. “It was noth
ing solid, but you take this seriously.
I assumed we would find something.
It eased my mind knowing that the
children aren’t into drugs.”
Wofford said there was one arrest
made during the day for underage
possession of alcohol. According to
reports, beer was found in one stu
dent vehicle.
Wofford said six specially trained
dogs randomly checked classrooms,
plus student cars, staff cars, and
common areas inside and outside the
school buildings.
He said they couldn’t search
every single student or classroom
and it’s possible they missed some
one holding drugs, but the search
was thorough enough to convince
him there isn’t a widespread prob
lem.
He said the dogs “hit” on six of
the student cars, but no illegal drugs
were found.
According to agents, there are
any number of reason the dogs with
extremely sensitive noses can “hit”
including a recent passenger in the
car who had the smell of drugs on
them.
Captain Allen Wigington said
when a certified canine “alerts” to a
vehicle, officers can hold it until
they have a search warrant. Monday
they weren’t asked to obtain any
warrants as students all willingly
opened their cars.
Wofford, who worked with one
of the canine teams said the students
were pleasant and respectful if excit
ed to see the dogs and agents on
campus.
The date of the search was kept
secret from everyone in the school
system. Principal Lloyd Shaddix and
the campus police had requested the
search, but both asked to be kept in
the dark about the date.
Wofford said, an officer called to
alert the school they were coming
only after they topped the hill lead
ing to the school on Dragon Drive.
The search was conducted using
four canine teams from the Depart
ment of Corrections and two from
the Cherokee County Sheriff
Department.
Interim Campus Police Chief
Tina Craig said there had been a
couple of recent arrests for drugs
and it had been awhile since they
last swept the entire campus.
“We like to surprise them, to see
how they are doing,” she said. “It’s
good that we didn't find anything.”
Zero Tolerance
For Alcohol
In Vehicles
On Prom Night
During this school year which is
drawing to a close, there have been
three possession of alcohol, four
possession of prescription drugs,
three possession of marijuana and
three possession of methampheta-
mine arrests.
Craig said all those figures are
fairly consistent with recent years,
except the meth which is a growing
problem at all levels of the commu
nity.
She said most all charges were
at the high school, except for one
case of the possession of alcohol
which occurred at a middle school.
Sheriff Wofford said the date of
the drug sweep had been deter
mined by the schedule of the canine
units, but he was extremely happy
it fell at the start of the week lead
ing up to the prom, setting a tone of
caution.
The sheriff’s department will be
holding other safety events prior to
the prom to caution students
against the dangers of excessive
drinking and drinking and driving.
All area law enforcement agen
cies will be participating in addi
tional traffic patrols next weekend,
particularly Saturday night.
This will be the first year the
prom has been held out of the
county, in Woodstock, which means
more time on the road for students
and more risks.
Captain Wigington said in the
past they have set up roadblocks
not so much to catch students mis
behaving, but to establish a pres
ence and remove adult drunk driv
ers from the road when there will
be a lot of students out late.
Wigington warned the commu
nity that there will be roadblocks
along routes in Pickens County
next weekend and no warnings will
be given. “Especially for students,
we will have zero tolerance for any
alcohol in a vehicle,” he said.
“It’s just about keeping the kids
safe,” the sheriff said.
Board of Assessors hears
update on property digest
Lawyers for county, Young Life
discussing exemption request
By Dan Pool
Chief Tax Assessor Roy
Dobbs said an attorney who spe
cializes in property tax issues
and an attorney for Young Life
are in discussion over the Christ
ian camp’s request that all build
ings and property at their 1,150
acre holding here be tax exempt.
Dobbs said it had been his
and the board’s opinion that the
Sharp Top Cove Camp be denied
tax exempt status.
But Dobbs said there are very
specific laws governing exemp
tions and opinions aren’t what
count.
The county has contracted
with an attorney from
Gainesville who specializes in
these issues to handle their side.
Dobbs said that attorney and the
legal representatives of Young
Life are in the preliminary stage
of talks. Dobbs said he has previ
ously explained the county’s
position to the Young Life
lawyer that the exemptions
wouldn’t be given.
Dobbs said 25 acres and the
original structures at the camp
have been considered tax exempt
following a request from previ
ous owners the Burnt Mountain
Baptist Assembly.
That exemption has remained
in place with no further discus
sion for many years, but last year
the Christian group asked to
have all their property consid
ered tax exempt, he said.
According to the website,
www.younglife .org/sharptop-
cove/ the camp features a 30
room motel, three dormitories,
400 seat dining facility, gift
shop, swimming pool and other
amenities in the Grandview area.
Young Life is a national
organization with 25 camps
around the country including the
one here.
• Also at their last meeting,
Dobbs said the board of asses
sors heard an update on “nod’s,”
properties Not On Digest. He
said this category encompasses
both inaccuracies in existing
information as well as recent
changes. He said at this time
there are a number of items that
have to be reconciled between a
separate mobile home digest and
the general real property digest.
Jasper expanding water service
to meet residential demand
By Michael Moore
The city of Jasper, having just
completed preparations for com
mercial growth in the Highway
515 sewer system, is now in the
process of upgrading water infra
structure on the other side of town,
primarily to meet residential
demand.
Work is being done at the water
system’s intake site on Cove Creek
and the adjacent mines to increase
the city’s daily pumping capacity,
and to supply water eastward on
Cove Road.
Construction has been on and
off since the beginning of the year
to upgrade the city’s main line
pumping water from the well at the
mines, down the hill to the pump
house on the creek, and then to the
water treatment plant on Wood
Lane Road.
When completed, the six-inch
main that transmits raw water to
the plant will be replaced with a
new ten-inch line.
Water plant superintendent
David Hall said the upgrade is
sorely needed, and will significant
ly increase the amount of water
pumped to the plant each day.
“Right now we’re pumping
about 550,000 gallons per day. The
ten-inch main will bring that up to
750,000 gallons per day,” said
Hall.
The ten-inch line will continue
up to Still Hollow, where it will tie
onto an existing eight-inch line to
the water plant.
Continued on page 4A
Water Plant Supervisor
David Hall (left) and Mayor
John Weaver at the Water
Treatment Plant discussing
the city’s expansion projects.
