Newspaper Page Text
Planning Your Visit to the Georgia Aquarium
Local travel writer tells how to get the most out of going • page2b
THURSDAY, AUGUST 2, 2007 • VOLUME 120 NUMBER 13 • JASPER, GEORGIA • 500
Water Skiers
Compete
Over 300 water skiers
from throughout the
southeast converged on
Whitestone Lakes last
week for the Southern
Regional Championships.
Page 15A
Minimum Wage:
Minimum Impact
The minimum wage
raise last week from
$5.15 to $5.85 per hour
went largely unnoticed in
Pickens County as the
local job sector is mostly
starting workers at higher
pay scales. Page 15A
Money for Roads
DOT Board Chairman
Mike Evans delivered a
check to Pickens County
last week for $210,391.
The LARP funds will be
used for resurfacing local
paved roads. Page 3A
Republicans
to Picnic Here
A picnic that will serve
as the rallying event for
Republicans across the
9th District will be held
in Jasper this Saturday.
All GOP supporters from
the 14-county area are
invited to talk politics,
eat BBQ and enjoy local
musicians. Page 11A
Town of Jasper:
1860s War Years
In observance of
Jasper’s 150th anniver
sary local historian Mimi
Jo Butler continues a
series of articles, this
week focusing on the
1860s War Years, a most
fascinating period in
local history. Page 5A
Weather
By WILLIAM DILBECK
HI
LOW
RAIN
Tuesday
83
63
.07
Wednesday
85
65
1.38
Thursday
84
65
.00
Friday
84
67
.00
Saturday
82
69
1.71
Sunday
83
69
.02
Monday
84
68
.15
Deaths
Herbert Howell
Jeanette Martin
Dwight Conn
Joseph Guggino
Susan Jones
Harold Tidwell
Ethan Goodwin
Harold Bannister
James Crawford
OBITUARIES . ..See Page 11B
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and is recyclable
Rabies case confirmed
in west Pickens
Mad raccoon attacks dog
By Michael Moore
Madness erupted briefly in
Pickens County’s tranquil west
end Thursday, July 19, when a
rabies-infected raccoon showed
its face at a resident’s back yard.
B. T. Stewart was sitting on
his porch on Highway 53 that
afternoon when he saw the lone
coon emerge from the woods
and brazenly march toward the
house.
Stewart’s 70-pound-plus
golden retriever, being a good
watchdog, ran up to the tres
passer in an
who immediately suspected the
coon was suffering from the
rabies virus, which can elicit
unusual behavior from infected
animals.
So Scott Stewart shot the
rodent several times before it
was clearly deceased.
“He shot [the coon] out of
the tree, and then he had to
shoot it three times in the head,”
said B. T. Stewart. “It was hard
to kill. A coon is pretty tough.”
While Stewart had not seen a
coon in his thirty years living in
Pickens County, he
attempt to scare it jj , , , used to hunt the
away from herTleClltrl OjjlClCllS nocturnal critters in
home and the litter
of puppies she had
recently given
birth to.
But the “mama
coon,” (a full-
grown female) in a
fit of rabid rage,
jumped on the
dog’s back as soon as she got
close enough. The retriever
threw the vermin off, but the
coon jumped on her again.
“The coon kept jumping on
her, and then it ran up a tree,”
said Stewart.
While the animal was treed,
Stewart’s son Scott arrived at
the house. He had a pistol in his
truck, and his father asked him
to shoot the intruder down.
“We didn’t want to take any
chances,” said B. T. Stewart,
say pet
vaccinations
need to be
up-to-date.
his younger days
elsewhere. He is
familiar enough
with the animals to
know how they
normally behave.
“A coon don’t
come up to a dog
like that, especially
in the daytime,” he said.
Stewart called the Pickens
County Environmental Health
office to report a possible case
of rabies.
Jan Stephens, who runs the
office, said they cut the head off
the coon’s carcass, and shipped
it to a state laboratory in the
Atlanta area. Within 48 hours
the test results came back, indi
cating the coon was indeed pos
itive for rabies.
Continued on page 10A
August 27-August 31
Qualifying set
for council election,
Jasper Mayor
Nearby towns have drastically
different election formats
By Dan Pool
Races for mayor and three council seats in Jasper and races for
three council seats in Nelson will be on the ballot November 6,
2007.
While the two Pickens towns have the usual municipal govern
ments and will hold elections on the same day this year, their vot
ing rules are quite different.
In Jasper, with 1,700 registered voters, each candidate must
choose a post to run for. There are no geographic boundaries so
candidates may pick any seat or any incumbent they want to run
against.
Julianne Roberts, with the Pickens County Election Office who
will conduct both the municipal elections, said under Jasper’s sys
tem you could end up with five challengers facing one incumbent
for a single seat and no challengers for the other two.
“There are no post numbers, the candidates just tell us which
seat they want to run for when they come in,” Roberts said.
Continued on page 10A
. . . n 11 Damon Howell / Photo
2007 School Year Ready to Roll - Mechanics Charlie Ledbetter
(left) and Tracy Allday complete a final safety inspection Tuesday on one of the 75 buses
in the Pickens school system’s fleet. The buses will be off to pick up the eager (and less-
than-eager) students this Friday when another school year opens.
Superintendent Mike Ballew said they anticipate more than 4,300 smiling faces enter
ing the county’s seven campuses. He reported that all the campuses are ready with a cau
tion that drivers and walkers be careful around the construction area on the high school
campus.
Area drivers are also asked to be on the lookout for the buses and their passengers
who will be entering the roadways starting Friday.
Director of Operations Lloyd Shaddix said the buses had a 100 percent pass rate on
the annual state inspection and are ready to begin running the 62 routes delivering stu
dents to the schools and back home.
DFCS hires new director
u I’ve always been a person to
chase challenges, ” says
veteran social worker Liz Watson
By Michael Moore
The Pickens County Dept, of
Family and Children’s Services
(DFCS) has appointed Liz
Watson as its new director. She
began her new job on July 1.
Watson replaced former
director Jean Hollaran, who
retired in June.
Pickens County DFCS
directs state funds to administer
welfare and employment servic
es to local citizens, and coordi
nate foster care and other chil
dren’s services throughout the
county.
As director of Pickens
County DFCS, Watson is
charged with overseeing all the
department’s responsibilities
and programs, and supervising
the staff.
“I have to make sure we’re
following policy and the chil
dren’s needs are being met, and
provide all the services people
need,” said Watson.
Continued on page 10A
Liz Watson, new director
of the Pickens County
Department of Family and
Children’s Services.
Part of 150th Anniversary
Jasper Night at Rome Braves Saturday
Between 1,500 and 2,000 tickets to this
Saturday’s Rome Braves games will be distrib
uted through local merchants for “Jasper Night”
as part of the 150th anniversary of the city.
Jasper Mayor John Weaver encouraged people
to come to the game as part of a special promotion
night honoring the 150th anniversary of the
town’s founding.
“There should be a big turnout,” Weaver said.
“A lot of people are asking about it and seem
excited about it.”
For anyone who wants tickets, call city hall at
706-253-9100.
Following this event, the 150th anniversary
celebration will wind down on September 8 with
an old-timey fair in Jasper.
By the numbers: Pickens continues high population growth
Economic developer predicts we ’ll catch Whitfield County by 2050
More than half of workforce
commutes outside county,
according to latest profile
By Daniel Cumming
Pickens County has seen
some of the most rapid growth
in the North Georgia region in
recent years.
The latest edition of the
North Georgia Regional
Development Center’s Data
Profile shows that when com
pared with Fannin, Gilmer,
Murray and Whitfield counties,
Pickens had the highest popula
tion growth rate from 2000 to
2006.
Pickens grew 29 percent,
which is twice as fast as
Georgia’s growth rate, and
almost five times as fast as the
country as a whole.
Only Gilmer had a bigger
population explosion between
1990 and 2000, Gilmer’s popu
lation growing 75 percent and
Pickens growing 59 percent
while the state’s average was
only 26 percent during that time.
“Pickens County is the 65th
fastest growing county in the
nation,” said Larry Toney,
Pickens County economic
development director. “By
2050, Whitfield will continue to
grow, but Pickens will have
caught up with it, with about
165,000 people.”
According to the latest statis
tics, the population growth did
not bring poverty with it.
Pickens has the lowest percent
age of poverty in the five-coun
ty area with 10.4 percent under
the poverty line in 2004, below
both the state average and the
Continued on page 10A
Population Growth 2000-2006
Percentage Increase
Pickens
Whitfield
National
Murray