Newspaper Page Text
Front - April 7 4/5/05 5:49 PM Page 1
“An Ounce Of Prevention Is Worth A Pound of Cure”
Child Abuse Prevention Month Being Observed In Pickens County During April / Page 14B
APRL7, 2005 VOLUME 117 NUMBER 48 JASPER, GEORGIA 30143 USPS 431-830 THREE SECTIONS 56 PAGES PLUS SUPPLEMENTS
Briefly. . .
It’s Time To
Walk, America
The March of Dimes Walk-
America will be held April 9.
Registration and pictures begin
at 9:00 a.m.; biscuits, fruit,
donuts, juice and coffee at
10:00. Warm up with a Curves
fitness instructor and then the
walk begins. After the walk
there will be door prizes, T-
shirt judging and prizes. Hot
dogs, chips, DQ Dilly Bars and
Coke products will be avail
able. Everyone come and join
the fun. Page 15A
Whose BBQ
Is The Best?
With the 1st Annual Habitat
for Humanity Hullabaloo com
ing on April 16, barbecue
chefs who fancy themselves to
be better than the average
backyard griller will have a
chance to prove their profi
ciency at applying smoke to
pork shoulders, ribs or brisket.
In addition to the BBQ Cook
off, there will be a chili com
petition too along with lots
more activities. Page 5B
Everything But
The Kitchen Sink
Not to leave anything out,
the Nelson City Council
touched on a long list of topics
during their meeting Monday.
From a disgruntled cry for
long-promised paving to a
motherly concern over broken
playground equipment, council
members heard a lot, kept lis
tening and took action where
appropriate. Page 24A
Who Will Be
In The Garden?
With the arrival of Spring,
gardeners are itching to dig in
the dirt and a series of articles
on local gardeners, “In the
Garden,” is set to begin. The
Progress invites readers’ sug
gestions of local gardeners for
these articles. Page 6B
Deaths
Lois Bagwell
Lamar Cloer
Tom McFarland
Betty Fowler
Paul Holcombe
OBITUARIES ... .See Page 17B
Weather
By WILLIAM DILBECK
HI
LOW
RAIN
Tuesday
70
43
.00
Wednesday
67
49
.91
Thursday
66
56
.58
Friday
66
41
.73
Saturday
47
40
.06
Sunday
64
44
.00
Monday
74
45
.00
Visit Us
On The Web
www.pickensprogress .com
The Progress is
printed in part on
recycled newsprint
and is recyclable
City workers Willie Washington {left) and Jackie Howell load a
dryer for the recycling center during Jasper’s “Great American
Clean-up” this April.
Spring Cleanup
underway in Jasper
By Jeff Warren
Got a dead dryer crowding your
basement, a washer gone to spin
cycle heaven, a water heater sun
ning in the side yard like a beached
whale? It is time to get that stuff to
the curb and call the city. April is
“Great American Clean-up” month
in both the city of Jasper and Pick
ens County.
If your property lies within the
city limits, drag your junk to the
street and call city hall for a pick up
appointment any Saturday in April.
City workers will arrive at the
appointed time to haul that stuff
away. Brush is the only trash the
city is excluding in its bid to spruce
up town.
Continued on page 4A
School Board in discussion
on Superintendent’s contract
Supt. Shiver says he's seeking contract renewal
despite recent application to other school system
By Christie Pool
Pickens County School Superin
tendent Lee Shiver said last week
he would like to have his contract,
which runs through June of 2006,
extended despite having applied for
the job as superintendent of the
Oconee County School District.
Shiver was one of two finalists
for the job, coming in second to
Thomas Dohrmann, an assistant
superintendent for the Cobb County
School District. The Oconee County
board announced the finalists in
early March.
“I would very much like to have
the contract extended and stay
here,” Shiver said during a phone
interview. “I had been contacted by
someone in (Oconee’s) school sys
tem last year and asked to consider
applying. It’s a larger system and
more responsibility.”
Local school board Chairman
Mark Mitton said the board has
made no decision as to whether they
will or will not extend Shiver’s con
tract. Shiver became Pickens Coun
ty’s Superintendent in 1999.
Mitton said the board must make
a decision on the matter by April
15.
“We have to, of course, every
year do a superintendent’s evalua
tion,” Mitton said. “We did (Shiv
er’s) in February and he has
responded to his evaluation. We, the
board, have not sat down in execu
tive session to finalize anything
about his contract.”
In previous years, a superinten
dent’s evaluation was considered an
open record. Due to a change in the
law some years ago the annual
Continued on page 5A
Thanksgiving kidnapper gets
100-years-plus in prison
Charles Roger Hyde, age 56 of
Pickens County, was convicted
Thursday in Gilmer County of
charges stemming from the Thanks
giving 2003 abduction of an East
Ellijay Wal-Mart employee, accord
ing to Appalachian Circuit District
Attorney Joe Hendricks.
After the jury deliberated for
about two hours, Hyde was found
guilty of armed robbery, kidnap
ping, attempted rape, aggravated
sodomy, two counts of aggravated
assault, false imprisonment, two
counts of terroristic threats, and
hijacking of a motor vehicle.
He received a sentence of life in
prison, plus over 100 years of
prison to run consecutive to the life
sentence, said Hendricks.
Hendricks noted that Hyde, who
was living on Fairview Road at the
time of the incident, had been
released from prison on parole five
months earlier.
Hyde’s entry on the Georgia
Department of Corrections Web site
lists a multitude of previous offens
es and convictions dating back to
the 1970s. Most of the listed
offenses occurred in Pickens and
Cherokee Counties.
Hendricks said his office was
“very pleased” with the sentence.
“This is a good example of why
we need more prison space,” said
Hendricks.
The case was prosecuted by
Hendricks and assistant D.A. Sara
Grainger. Hyde was represented by
assistant public defender Richard
Thurman. Continued on page 5A
Charles Roger Hyde received
a lengthy sentence after being
convicted of multiple felony
charges.
24-year-old facing drug and counterfeiting charges
Investigation leads to drug searches at Mountainside Manor
A 24-year-old Canton woman is facing drug
and counterfeiting charges after Jasper Police
stopped her following a report that she and a
friend passed a fake $20 bill at the Burger King
Thursday. That arrest led local drug task force
agents to sweep the apartment complex where
the suspect had been staying, making arrests in
three different apartments.
According to Jasper Police Chief Harold
Cantrell the woman and a male companion went
through the drive-thru at the fast food restaurant
and bought a soda and paid for it with a $20 bill
that the cashier thought was fake after checking
it with a special pen.
Cantrell said the manager told the employee
to go ahead and make change and called the
police.
Police didn’t have to go far to stop the couple
— after leaving the restaurant they went to the
Post Office on the same street, where they were
stopped by Jasper Police officers.
Cantrell, who was among the officers
responding, said a search of the vehicle turned
up three other fake $20 bills from under a front
seat and a box containing three packets of what
is believed to be methamphetamine in the back.
Laura Elizabeth Keefe, 24, of Canton is now
facing charges of forgery in the first and second
degrees and possession of a controlled substance
with intent to distribute.
Detective Jim Gleason said the counterfeit
bills are of “average or a little above average
quality.” He said they appear to have been made
on a high-quality computer printer.
Cantrell said there wasn’t a large quantity of
white powder, but Keefe is charged with intent to
distribute as it was “portioned out in a manner”
to be sold.
Gleason said at this point they don’t know if
the suspect made the bills herself or where they
were made, but the case has been referred to the
Secret Service. Continued on page 5A
Property Owners Associations will become
more common under county policy
But not everyone believes
good associations
make good neighbors
By Dan Pool
First came the developer Four
Seasons Property who thought an
area along Price Creek Road would
make a nice mountain subdivision.
They did the surveying, created
roads and established covenants
/restrictions intended to define what
could and could not be built there.
It wasn’t long before Ron and
Linda Jager, in 1997, seeking a
rural lifestyle like they had enjoyed
in Fayette County found the Out
back and bought two lots. When
they moved to the Outback, they
were the first house and the main
road through the 100 lot develop
ment didn’t go far past their lot.
Following them came others,
including both working families
and retirees, who thought the Out
back would be a good place to live.
There was never any mention of
covenants or Property Owner’s
Associations during this period,
according to Mr. Jager, who said he
wanted some loose covenants, but
he and his wife were more “mind
your business and enjoy the coun
try” people.
Even as new neighbors moved in
all went well.
But then, further along the Out
back’s main road Scott Korowotny
put a structure on one of the lots
and somewhere between one-third
and one-half of the property owners
really didn’t like it because it looks
like a commercial warehouse.
Korowotny’s building may or
may not meet the Outback’s
covenants depending on what, or
if, a Pickens judge decides after a
three year lawsuit.
Continued on page 8A
The entrance sign at the Out
back split in half and the com
munity finds itself in the same
circumstance over the lawsuit
between one property owner
and their POA.
City approves
election fees,
audit report
By Michael Moore
The Jasper city council
approved a budget audit for last
year, election qualifying fees,
and a revision to the upcoming
year’s budget at its regular
monthly meeting Monday.
An audit from local private
accountant Land and Associates
was unanimously approved. The
audit covered economic activity
by the city government for the
year ending September 30,
2004.
Edgar Land, who presented
the audit report to the council
for Land and Associates, noted
that the city had a “good year in
the general fund,” as they had a
net increase of nearly $1.2 mil
lion over the previous year.
He also pointed out that in
the water and sewer fund, the
city produced a profit of about
$600,000. Jasper’s sanitation
fund saw a loss of $75,000,
Land said.
The water and sewer fund
and the sanitation fund are both
listed under the city’s “propri
etary funds” in Land’s audit
report.
A qualifying fee of $35 for
city election candidates was also
approved by the council. City
clerk Ramona Roper said this
fee is the most the city can
charge for any candidate to run
for local office.
Council members Hazel
Mosley and Doris Wigington are
up for re-election in 2005.
The council also approved a
revised budget for FY 2005.
City employee Shane Sosebee
said a mathematical error was
corrected, but there is “not a
huge change from the original
budget.”
In the mayor’s report, police
chief Harold Cantrell said the
Jasper Police Department
responded to 753 calls in march.
They included 24 motor vehicle
accidents, 181 citations, four
DUI, two underage possession
Continued on page 4A
