About Pickens County progress. (Jasper, Ga.) 1899-current | View Entire Issue (May 31, 2007)
Local Churches Continue Efforts To Alleviate Drug Problem Here Plans Outlined For Establishing A Counseling Program In Pickens County • Page 10B THURSDAY, MAY 31, 2007 VOLUME 120 NUMBER 4 • JASPER, GEORGIA 30143 • USPS 431-820 • THREE SECTIONS 40 PAGES PLUS SUPPLEMENTS Briefly ... EPD Tightens Watering Rules Declaring that every area of Georgia is now gripped by a persistent drought, the EPD is requiring more strin gent out door water use. Taking steps to prepare for a dry summer, EPD is enacting a “level two” drought response. Page 14B Nelson Baptist Celebrates A Long Tradition Founded in 1912, Nelson Baptist Church marks its 95th anniver sary homecoming Sunday, June 3, looking back on a history that includes more than one major construction rehash. Page 8B NOT A Travelogue of New Zealand Libraries and maga zines are filled with arti cles about New Zealand, listing things you must do and see. But a Pickens resident, just back from a visit, reveals some of the quirks and oddities he encountered there. Page 5B Memorial Day Flag ceremonies, the laying of wreaths, a rifle salute marked local observance of the holi day, but this national remembrance is fast los ing significance for most Americans, the featured speaker said. Page 12C Weather By WILLIAM DILBECK HI LOW RAIN Tuesday 83 60 .00 Wednesday 81 62 .00 Thursday 77 59 .00 Friday 81 58 .00 Saturday 83 57 .00 Sunday 82 57 .00 Monday 83 62 .00 Deaths Dallas Lance Agnes Searcy Joe Goss OBITUARIES . ..See Page 5A Visit Us On The Web www.pickensprogres s .com The Progress is printed in part on recycled newsprint and is recyclable Jasper Police investigate first case of teens “huffing freon” Latest drug trend can be lethal, says air conditioning expert Damon Howell / Photo A helicopter drops water on the Sharp Mountain wildfire last Thursday as smoke rises above the forest. The Pickens blaze was put out Saturday afternoon but smoke from south Georgia fires blanketed the area Sunday morning. The threat of wildfire remains high as the drought continues across the state. Wildfire burns over Sharp Mountain Latest blaze shows challenges Pickens firefighters face with continuing drought, rural residential development By John R. Pool A wildfire that began last Wednesday in the Sharp Mountain area of Pickens County kept firefighters busy until Saturday afternoon before it was extinguished. According to Georgia Forestry Commission Ranger I Chris Hooks, flames scorched some 60 acres before all hot spots were put out, finally snuffing wind-blown embers that had spread the fire. Drought conditions, that have woodlands in a tender-dry condition, and rugged terrain on the mountain made it difficult for firefighters to bring the blaze under control. Hinton Fire Chief Jerry Edwards said the fire was reported at about 8 p.m. Wednesday on Fire Tower Road which ascends Sharp Mountain from the Hill City area. He said firefighters found five separate fires along the road when they arrived at the scene. Edwards believes the fires were intentionally set at intervals of 500 to 1,000 feet along an iso lated section of the road. Pickens County Chief Deputy Allen Wigington said the Sheriff’s Office is investigat ing the fires as arson. He said law enforcement has been looking for a dark-colored small pick up truck seen in the area prior to the fires. The Sheriff’s Office is working with the Georgia Forestry Commission and the Pickens County Fire Department in their investigation. Firefighters extinguished four of the five fires Wednesday night with rakes and water hauled to the scene, Edwards said. But the fifth fire spread into steep, inaccessible terrain where volunteer firefighters were not properly equipped to pro ceed. Edwards said steep slopes with rock faces posed too much risk for a State Forestry Commission plow unit as well. On Thursday and Friday, in addition to fire fighters on the ground, a Georgia State Patrol helicopter, called in by the Forestry Commission, dropped water on the blaze. Ground crews included a prison firefighting Continued on page 12A State Patrol kicks off “Summer HEAT” traffic enforcement effort Georgia motorists can expect a lot of heat this summer, and not just the kind that could fry your radiator and disable your air-conditioning system. Local and state law enforce ment agencies kicked off their annual “100 Days of Summer HEAT” campaign Wednesday with a press conference at Georgia State Patrol (GSP) post 28 in Jasper. Senior Trooper Larry Schnall, GSP public informa tion officer, said for the rest of the summer police departments, sheriff’s offices, and troopers statewide will participate in a “strategic traffic enforcement” campaign. The effort will ensure there is a higher visibility of law enforcement vehicles on the roads, which Schnall said has proven to lower traffic viola tions and, in some cases, crime in general. “Georgia State Patrol is committed to traffic enforce ment across Georgia, and taking a proactive approach to saving lives,” said Schnall. He estimat ed throughout the state this summer, over 800,000 citations will be issued to motorists. Summer HEAT will also include the “Click-It or Ticket” campaign to enforce the state law requiring safety belt use, and educational efforts to inform drivers of road safety. “Safety belt use is the best defense against reckless or impaired drivers,” said Schnall. Spencer Moore of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety said over 700,000 Continued on page 10A By Dan Pool Roger McDaniel, owner of Air Conditioning and Heating Outlet, said he immediately grew suspicious on a recent Jasper service call when two teenagers told him the unit was “out of freon” as soon as he knocked on the door. “There is no way two four teen or fifteen-year-olds know that an air conditioner is out of freon. There is no way I know until I put a gauge on it. But sure enough I go out back, and the point caps [covering the valves where freon is put into a unit] are on the ground and it was out of freon.” McDaniel said he reported this to the apartment manager and it was later discovered that other units in the complex were similarly out of freon. Unfortunately Jasper teens like those around the nation are learning about freon—how to steal the gas from air condition ers and how to “huff’ it. So far no Pickens County teen has learned about how fatal this method of get ting high can be, but a Google Internet search shows many young people across the nation haven’t been as lucky. One arti cle called “Sudden High, Sudden Death” gave a list of numerous teens who had died after “huffing.” McDaniel said this was at least the second time he sus pected that freon was intention ally removed from air condi tioners he was called to check. “Huffing” freon,” as it’s called, is a growing trend where kids or young adults figure out how to release the clear gas into a plastic bag from an air condi tioner and then pull the entire bag over their head. A Department of Justice web site noted that the use of inhalants is believed to be a growing trend among younger teens, but reliable statistics are hard to come by as many healthcare and law enforcement agents may not be aware of the problem to report it. McDaniel, who serves as a tester for air conditioner ser vicemen seeking their freon handling certification, said this is a very dangerous trend and one that is likely to grow even more fatal. McDaniel said freon is a chlorine based chemical which removes oxygen, either in a small room or a body. He said service guys who work in closed spaces repairing freon leaks wear respirators. Currently most air condi tioners use R-22 freon, but many manufacturers are switching to a R-410A freon, which McDaniel says is much more likely to be lethal. “If a kid huffs the new freon, more than likely they are not going to make it away from the unit,” he said. Explaining the basics of removing freon, McDaniel said a trained person could release it in less than a minute, but it’s not something that kids would figure out on their own. “I don’t know how the kids learned to do this stuff,” he said. Jasper Police Chief Harold Cantrell said the department had investigated and made charges recently involving freon stealing, the first cases here. Cantrell said he had never heard of freon huffing, but that Jasper officers will now pay more attention to anyone loitering around air conditioning units. “This first time was an edu cation for the police chief on another way that kids are get ting high,” he said. Cantrell said he is not aware of any case law relating direct ly to freon, but there are sever al charges which could be brought including disorderly conduct, criminal damage to property and theft by taking. He said depending on how much an air conditioner repair costs following illegal freon removal, it could be a felony. Cantrell said he hopes par ents will “get the message” about freon huffing and its dan gers. “You can’t help but wonder what adverse effects on the brain that doing this will cause that will turn up in the future,” he said. McDaniel advised parents or anyone with air conditioners near a public space to be aware of what may be going on when Continued on page 10A Jasper Police Chief: No case law specifically addresses stealing freon, but severed charges could be brought including dis orderly conduct, crimi nal damage to property and theft by taking. To meet growing demand Piedmont Mountainside Hospital in process of $9 million expansion By Michael Moore Construction and other changes are steadily underway in an expansion of Jasper’s Piedmont Mountainside Hospital that will increase the facili ty’s bed capacity by twenty percent, and more than double the size of its emergency care department. The most visible aspect of the $9 million expansion is the construction of a new 4,300 square foot Clinical Decision Unit (CDU) on the south side of the hospital. For about a week, a large crane has been lifting steel beams into place at the site. The new unit, which will be an extension off the existing building, will add six “observation beds,” or short-term beds where patients are checked in for less than 24 hours. The unit will be adjacent to the emergency room, and will take stress off of that department. “When the emergency room is backed up and the hospital is full, we will get patients into this room so the staff can watch them for a few hours before sending them home,” said Mike Robertson, Piedmont Mountainside Hospital (PMH) vice president of operations. It will also expand the radiology department by adding space and tech nology for angiography services, which the hospital does not currently offer, according to Robertson. And it will have room for a permanent MRI unit, or a high-powered x-ray machine, to replace the mobile one the hospital has been using. The CDU and radiology extension is expected to open in October. The hospital’s CEO, Ed Lovern, announced the expansion in December 2006. It will be carried out over an 18- month period. In all, the project will add or reno vate a total of 15,000 square feet of floor space at the hospital. The hospi tal’s total number of inpatient (licensed) and observation (unli censed) beds will rise from 40 to 48. Lovern said in December that the purpose of the expansion is simply to meet the growing demand for services Continued on page 10A Construction contractors were busy installing steel beams for a new wing at Piedmont Mountainside Hospital last week.
