Newspaper Page Text
Ghouls to crawl across Pickens this Halloween
—Know when they’ll be out. se« page m
Hospital
Jewelry
Sale
Oct. 24-25
Page 22A
COPYRIGHT - THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013
rr
Winter coat
drive
underway
Page 23A
VOLUME 126 NUMBER 26
Local students
try food from
across U.S. in
Farm-to-School
program
Page 10A
JASPER, GEORGIA
Property
value appeals
continue to
decline
Page18A
750
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call 706-253-2457
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New restaurants
to spice up
downtown Jasper
Lolo’s Bistro to bring
rooftop dining;
“Upper scale” menu
at Madeline’s on Main
By Christie Pool
Staff writer
christie@pickensprogressonline.com
Anchored by The Woodbridge Inn to
the north and 61 Main to the south with
the Carriage House in between, by next
spring downtown Jasper will have a
couple of new names to add to its list of
Main Street dining destinations - Made
line’s on Main and Lolo’s Bistro.
Food is a powerful connector and lin
gering, chatting, and meeting up with
friends and neighbors in local restau
rants plays a large role in the commu
nity. To that end, Madeline’s on Main
co-owner Gerard Monte said he and
partner Hector Rosano are thrilled to be
moving to downtown.
“We are very excited,” Monte said.
“Downtown is where Madeline’s should
have been - her look should have been
there. We were originally just going to
use the current location as a wholesale
catering spot but the door kept opening
and opening and people would ask if we
were open for lunch. So I looked at Hec
tor and said ‘I guess we’ve got to open
for lunch’.”
After some disastrous personnel is
sues earlier this year, Madeline’s closed
at the end of April. The cooking duo had
just opened another restaurant, Millie’s
Diner, in Tate in January and were jug
gling several catering jobs along with
both restaurants before deciding they
couldn’t manage such a large load.
“It just spiraled down from there
after all the personnel issues,” Gerard
said. “Hec- See Restaurants, Page 8A
Damon Howell / Photo
The future location ofLolo’s Bistro at 61 Main Street, Jasper. Restaurant owner
says new eatery will be “trendy, awesome. ”
Heritage Days opens with
memorial to Mayor Cagle
Melissa Maple / Photo
Lynda Cagle, a council-member and wife of the late mayor Peter Cagle, looks
on as a wreath is placed at Talking Rock City Hall in his honor to open the Heritage
Days festival.
Mark Grizzle, from nearby business HollyHocks, hangs the wreath that was
brought down Main Street in a procession featuring Boys Scouts and two bagpipe
players.
Organizers say they were pleased with the attendance and variety of vendors at
this year’s Heritage Days. See more photos and details on Page 9A.
PHS drama presents Godspell Jr. at play competition
Laiken Owens /Photo
Starting off the year with a production featuring a universal message, PHS Drama and Chorus Director Leah VanDoran
said she chose Godspell Jr. to provide the cast with “ample opportunities to shine. ” Students performed at the high school
one-act production competition Tuesday.
Half-pound of meth seized, arrests made
Two other meth-related
arrests made in
unrelated case
“Meth is making a comeback, ”
said task force director
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@pickensprogressonline.com
Four arrests were made Oct. 11
following an investigation in which
officers seized over a half-pound of
meth, cash, firearms and other drugs.
“Meth has really made a come
back,” said Zell Miller Mountain
Parkway Drug Task Force Director
Brandon Owens. “The market is
flooded and prices are going down. It
seems from our small community
that there is a see Meth, Page 8A
County entertains bids for forensic audit
Denney says she feels
“board will vote to move
forward with it.”
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
arcinhardt@pickcnsprogrcssonlinc.com
The county board of commissioners
has received three bids from auditing
firms for a 10-year retrospective foren
sic audit of the county finances - and
according to district commissioner
Becky Denney the likelihood of board
approval for the audit is “high.”
The board reviewed the bids at their
most recent board meeting, Thursday,
Oct 17, and moved to meet with the
low bidder for further discussion.
Commissioners had announced
plans to discuss the bids in a called
meeting with an executive session last
Thursday, but that meeting was can
celled after the Progress raised ques
tions concerning the closed session.
The county requested bids for the in-
depth audit following Grand Jury pre
sentments released in August that,
among other things, called for the
county to “commission a forensic audit
of the finances of Pickens County from
2005-2012,” which should “identify the
amount of expenditure overages,”
“compare them to the Pickens County
minutes to determine adequacy,” and
“examine expenditures shifting across
budgetary lines to avoid detection and
disclose those findings.”
The presentments came after
months of sharp public criticism of the
county’s financial management under
former CFO Mechelle Champion, the
depletion of the county’s fund balance
and the county’s see Audit, Page 8A
New Year’s Eve fireworks
to light up Jasper
By Sheri Crowe
Progress office manager
The city of Jasper along
with the Pickens Chamber
of Commerce are in the
process of planning a New
Year’s Eve party to be held
on Main Street in down
town Jasper.
The only time in recent
history Jasper has held a
public celebration to ring in
the new year was for the
change of the millenium on
See Fireworks, Page 8A
Ball Ground man facing 20 counts of animal cruelty, Page 6A
Obituaries - Page 17A
Joe Stanford Peter Cagle, Jr.
Mary Reynolds Phillip Martin
