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COPYRIGHT - THURSDAY, AUGUST 25, 2011
A guide to
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VOLUME 124 NUMBER 17 • JASPER, GEORGIA • 500=
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Inmate Workforce Program
saving county money
Out o f the dark, into the light
Mother of autistic child
describes journey from
brokenness to salvation
By B. Joan Wilson
Progress contributor
Win-Win solutions are talked
about a lot, but in reality, they
are pretty rare. Pickens County
Sheriff Donnie Craig imple
mented a plan in 2009 that has
benefitted senior citizens, storm
victims, homeless pets, Pickens
County taxpayers and the in
mates at the Pickens County De
tention Center.
You may have seen inmates
picking up trash on roadways.
Did you know inmates actually
converted the old fire station
building near the Bargain Bam
into the Pickens County Animal
Shelter? They also help staff the
shelter.
Inmates also work to clear
trees that block roads after
heavy stonns—like after recent
tornados in west Pickens
County. That’s right: the inmate
workforce. Cleared trees move
to a lot behind the jail, where in
mates and cut and split them into
firewood. In fall and winter, the
Senior Citizens Center staff
works with the sheriff’s office to
deliver this firewood to needy
senior citizens who heat their
homes with it.
The inmate workforce also
provides maintenance services
at county buildings like fire sta
tions and the airport.
The grounds at the Georgia
State Patrol office in Pickens
County are maintained by an in
mate who also washes patrol
cars. And rather than hire a cook
and maintenance person for the
detention center. Sheriff Craig
uses inmates to perform those
duties.
In 2010 the county inmate
workforce spent 6,850 hours
picking up trash on 155 miles of
county roads. The trash picked
up filled 3,000 garbage bags.
Aluminum cans were separated
out and sold to a recycler to pur
chase tools or an occasional
hamburger lunch for the crew.
The inmates contributed
See Inmates on Page 12A
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
Imagine having a child who
won’t look at you or talk to you.
Imagine having a son who won’t
smile, but who spits, screams,
flaps his arms and bashes his
head against the wall.
Imagine all of that, and then
try to imagine the devastation
and heartache that comes with
being the parent of an autistic
child.
With her autistic son, Bradley,
now 13 years old, Kelly Ingram
of Jasper has lived through what
she describes as hell on Earth.
But through her new and power
ful relationship with Christ, she
has emerged into a place where
love, hope and grace trump de
spair.
From the kitchen table of her
Sharp Mountain home, Ingram
held nothing back as she retold
her story, from living simply as a
young and happily married
woman, through life-changing
brokenness into a rich and fulfill
ing world of motherhood and a
new career ministering through
music and media.
Ingram and her husband Mark
married just out of high school
and divided their time between
working during the week and let
ting loose on the weekends.
Jasper boy Bradley Ingram
and his mother Kelly at the Spe
cial Olympics. Bradley is 13
years old and has autism.
Dining her teenage years, In
gram attended a performing arts
school but gave that up after
marriage. She worked “regular
jobs” as administrative assistants
and receptionists and had no in
terest in God or spirituality. She
and her husband lived on their
own terms.
“The jobs were stuff that I
hated,” she said. “But weekends
were partying hard, and that was
pretty much it. Then Bradley
came, and it all changed.”
Ingram was 24 when her son
Bradley was bom. After a few
See Journey on Page 12A
Pickens inmates split firewood behind the jail. The wood will be given to senior citizens this winter
to heat their homes. This is just one of the projects the sheriff’s office has undertaken using their inmate
workforce.
Qualifying next week
for Nelson Council races
Jasper club optimistic,
30 years and counting
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
The Optimist Club of Jasper’s
Charter President Von Hinton
said when he came to Pickens in
1970 there were only two civic
clubs in town; the Jaycees and
the Lions Club.
Since then, dozens of other
organizations have been fonned
in the county with some going on
to become great successes and
others dissolving or disbanding
over time.
The Optimist Club of Jasper,
which Hinton formed in 1981, is
one of the success stories. With
strong leadership and dedicated
membership, Hinton says the
group has survived and thrived
for three long decades.
See Optimistic on Page 12A
By Jeff Warren
Staff writer
jwarren@pickensprogress.com
Qualifying opens and closes
next week for Nelson residents
who want to run for a seat on the
Nelson City Council. By council
terms normally expiring, three
council seats come open at the
end of this year. A fourth seat
stands open now, due to the re
cent resignation of Paul Feldman
who formerly served.
A special election to fill the
remainder of Feldman's uncom
pleted term will be added to Nel
son's Municipal General Election
ballot, a ballot that will include
the other three seats to be filled.
That General Election is to occur
Tuesday, November 8, 2011 at
Nelson City Hall.
As with most any modern
Public invited to groundbreaking
at Bethany-Salem Fire Department
Bethany Salem Fire Department would like to invite the commu
nity to a ground breaking ceremony. It will be held on Friday, Sept.
2, at 10 a.m. The site for the new fire station is 200 Henderson Moun
tain Road, just off of Highway 108.
election in the county, early
voting and advance voting at
the Pickens County Elections
Office will precede the No
vember 8 election. The Pick
ens County Elections Office is
at 83 Pioneer Road in Jasper,
near Chattahoochee Technical
College and City Park.
Qualifying of candidates to
run for those Nelson Council
seats coming up for a vote in
November begins Monday.
Qualifying opens Monday,
August 29, at the Pickens
County Elections Office.
Qualifying closes with the
close of the Elections Office
work day the following Fri
day, September 2.
The Elections Office is
See Races on Page 15A
County, Young Life Camp continue
3-year battle over tax exempt status
ruling giving Young Life of
Texas tax-exempt status for 647
of its 1,146 acres in the Grand
view area.
The debate over whether the
property qualifies for tax-ex
empt status under either the
state’s religious worship statute
or public charity exemption will
likely not be resolved until the
coming year as both sides will
again present oral arguments to
an appeals judge.
“We have filed a notice of ap
peal to challenge the trial court’s
ruling in part,” said Jane Range
of Hulsey, Oliver and Mahar
who is representing the county’s
interests. “There was a motion
for summary judgment that
made two contentions: that the
facility is a public place of wor
ship and that it is a purely public
charity. The judge ruled mostly
in their favor (regarding) the
public place of worship. We plan
to appeal that part of the ruling.”
Range said it would likely be
the better part of a year before a
ruling is made on the appeal.
“We’ve taken the first step.
It’s just going to be a long
process,” Range said. “I’m com
fortable that this decision the
trial court made was not correct
based on current law, and we’re
See Tax on Page 15A
By Christie Pool Attorneys for Pickens
Staff writer County have filed a notice of ap-
christie@pickensprogress.com peal to challenge a trial court’s
Young Life website / Photo
Aerial view of the Young Life campus
Damon Howell / Photo
Paving Underway on Grandview County employees work Tuesday “lev
eling” Grandview Road. The leveling layer is essentially the same material as a top coat but is applied
before final paving to the roughest spots of a road to prepare it for a smooth top coat.
Road Department Supervisor Greg Collis said the work on the five mile road should be wrapped up
by next week. He said the county will receive $300,000 of the $330,000project cost from state Department
of Transportation funds.
“We have to put in a little, but it’s our $30,000 to the state’s $300,000, ” Collis said. “I know people
like to see some of the money we send to the state coming back. ” The
work will be performed using road department employees and equip
ment.
Collis said they wanted to re-pave Grandview “before it gets in de
plorable condition. ” He said if you take the state routes out, roads like
Grandview along with Jerusalem Church Road and Jones Mountain
Road are considered primary routes in Pickens County. Jerusalem
Church and Jones Mountain have been re-surfaced in recent years.
“We’ve been trying to keep our main routes in good condition and
then get to the secondary roads when we get a chance, ” Collis said.
Obituaries ■ Page 11A
Brenda Woodward
Edna James
Elizabeth Weir
Flora Ledrew
Phillip Butt
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