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Winter
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Page 10-11A
Former PHS
athletes now
hall of famers
Page IB
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pickensproaress.com _
Veteran’s widow finally
receives stolen benefits
Business uptick here
Damon Howell / Photo
Linda Brannon shares photos of her late husband along with
correspondence with the VA concerning burial benefits that
were stolen following her husband’s funeral.
phone call she had been wait
ing for.
The widow of Vietnam war
veteran Glenn Brannon was
notified that she had finally re
ceived the burial benefits she
was due from the Veterans Ad
ministration after they were
stolen in the mail last year.
Mr. Brannon died last Feb
ruary. Not long after, Mrs.
Brannon was notified by the
Veteran’s Administration that
she would receive $1,034 for
See Benefits, Page 13A
Congressman,
newspaper,
funeral home
thanked
By Christie Pool
Staff writer
christie@pickensprogress.com
After months of phone calls
and queries, last Tuesday
Linda Brannon received the
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
The following are recent or ongoing de
velopments in Pickens’ retail and industrial
business scene:
•Fatz Cafe on Noah Drive in Jasper sold
in June of 2014 for $1.76 million to a John
B. and Georgette S. AS Narguizian of Sher
man Oaks, Calif. The Narguizians pur
chased the building and accompanying 2.48
acres from Store Capital Acquisitions, LLC.
In March of 2014 Store Capital Acquisi
tions, LLC purchased the parcel for $1.48
million from Old Mill Stream #5, LLC.
•Pizza Hut on West Church Street in
Jasper sold in November of 2014 for
$792,000 to the Kemhadjian Family Trust
of Wichita, Kans. The Kemhadjian Family
Trust purchased the building and accompa
nying .81 acres from Carolina Pizza Co.
•Vemie Jones Ford in Jasper sold in De
cember 2014 for $5 million to Shottenkirk
Real Estate, LLC. Shottenkirk Real Estate
purchased the building and accompanying
7.27 acres from Pickens County Invest
ments.
•There are currently five warehouses in
some stage of construction at Sharp Moun
tain Business Park on Highway 108. Ac
cording to Pickens County Public
Information Officer Norman Pope, a furni
ture restoration business and a wrecker serv
ice are two businesses that will operate from
those buildings.
• Construction is ongoing at the future
site of Hibbett Sports and Family Dollar in
See Business, Page 13A
Hibbett Sports is scheduled to open this spring in the new retail area on Old Philadelphia Road in Jasper.
Anonymous $30K donation helps church rebuild
“It shows that
we’re part of
something
bigger,” says
pastor Stewart
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
Pastor Jerry Stewart couldn’t
believe it when he opened his
mailbox one day a couple of
months ago to find a $30,000
anonymous cash donation for
his church, Gospel Outreach,
whose meeting place burned to
the ground last January.
Stewart’s congregation used
to meet at the old Bargain Bam
building on old Hwy. 5 but a fire
destroyed all but one Bible and
a tambourine.
Without missing a Sunday,
chinch members first met at the
chamber of commerce then
moved to the community center.
Immediately following the dev
astating fire they set plans in
motion to begin searching for a
permanent location.
“The building burned on Jan
uary 11 (2014) on a Saturday
night,” said pastor Jerry Stew
art. “It was overwhelming, but
See Donation, Page 13A
Changes in school standards
should benefit Pickens students
Investigation follows
marble plant death
Kevin Voyles with his wife Kim. A fund has been set up to benefit
his children, Kasen and Kalia.
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
The federal Department of
Labor’s OSHA is investigating
the death of a worker at the Ga.
Marble location in Tate on Janu
ary 12 th.
Kevin Voyles, 28, the father
of two young children, was
killed after an estimated 7,000
pounds of marble slabs fell on
See OSHA, Page 13A
Local school official says
new state guidelines will
look at more than scores
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
The constantly shifting world of educational
testing/curriculum/standards changed again
earlier this month for Pickens and Georgia pub
lic school students.
Gone soon will be the Common Core plat
form, which raised hackles among educators.
Following a vote by the state school board Jan
uary 15th, students and educators will move to
a revised version of the Georgia Performance
Standards for Math and English/Language Arts
in the next academic year.
Dr. Sandy Greene, director of teaching and
learning at Pickens County schools, says the
latest change bodes well for the local students
and teachers.
Rather than being something new, Greene
said this change is a return to something similar
to the Ga. Performance Standards that were
used prior to the adoption of Common Core.
[Georgia Performance Standards were used in
2012 and prior years. The Common Core Geor
gia Performance Standards replaced them for
the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 academic years.]
When implemented for the next academic
See Standards, Page 13A
Pickens County Schools District
CCRPI Historical Scores
U
pdated Score
2012
2013
2014
68.3
74.4
72.3
80.1
83.2
83.2
73.47
79
69
72.5
77.8
74
Harmony ES
Updated Score
2012
2013
2014
70.4
67.7
78.2
Hill City ES
Updated Score
2012
2013
2014
78.3
82.9
78.2
Jasper ES
Updated Score
2012
2013
2014
64.6
75.4
70.6
Tate ES
Updated Score
2012
2013
2014
67.6
76.9
67.3
Jasper MS
Updated Score
2012
2013
2014
82.7
77.2
80.9
Pickens County Middle
Updated Score
2012
2013
2014
80.1
88.2
86.3
Pickens High
Updated Score
2012
2013
2014
73.4
79
69
CCRPI scores presented to the
school board at the January meeting.
Obituaries - Page 8A
Evelyn Gibson, Kevin Voyles, Chuck Duncan, Malan Blanchard
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