Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, January 21,2016
Jasper, Georgia
Volume 128 Number 39
www.pickensprogress.com
75 cents
Nettes beat
Cartersville
Page1B
Judge
Bradley
to retire
Page 4A
Chamber
holds
winter ball
Page 18A
Jasper vs. Ellijay, Blue Ridge, Dahlonega
Why are
we last?
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
“There’s nothing to do in
Jasper.”
“Why don’t we have a Long-
Hom or a movie theatre?”
“Blue Ridge and Ellijay have
so much more. What’s wrong
with people here?”
Anyone who lives in Pickens
County has heard these com
plaints or made them themselves.
The Progress talked to a few
local leaders and key players
about economic development
here to address why Jasper seems
to have been “skipped,” and
what, if anything, should be done
about it.
The Mayor
Jasper Mayor John Weaver
ended our lengthy interview on
the subject by saying he wished
the discussion would have hap
pened on a ride down south, to
Roswell or some other congested
town. Instead, it was conducted
in his office where he pulled up
a Google Earth map. He zoomed
into Jasper before panning
aroimd to metro areas in Georgia.
“Look at this,” said Weaver,
who has been in office since
1992 when the city limits didn’t
reach much farther than the Pick
ens County Chamber of Com
merce.
“These places are completely
saturated with people and traffic.
Let’s say we get all of these
things, a Publix or a theatre or a
boom in population or whatever,
our traffic is going to be twice as
bad and we just might not like
living in Pickens County any
more. I don’t feel like I need to
defend Jasper because we enjoy
a great quality of life. You have
to be careful what you wish for
because growth is not free, and
with the dogs come the fleas.”
The mayor’s apprehension
about effects of increased popu
lation should in no way imply
that he has made efforts to im
pede economic development
here. The city of Jasper has spent
the last two-plus decades annex
ing property up and down High
way 515. Just after he took
office, the city adopted a policy
that required any landowner who
wanted the benefit of sewer and
water to annex into the city lim
its. The policy stands to this day.
The city has also expanded water
and sewer systems along the
highway.
During his administration,
there have also been projections
of a massive spike in population
for Pickens County. Between
1990 and 2000 the county grew
by 59.3 percent, well above the
state rate of 26.4 percent. A 2005
study from the Georgia Office of
Planning and Budget projected
Pickens’ population would in
crease by 90 percent from 2000
to 2015, which didn’t hold true.
For about a decade now the
county’s population has held
steady around 30,000.
“I’ve never used bureaucracy
to get in the way of develop-
See Growth on Page 17A
Nelson audit
finds many
problems,
possible
embezzlement
Council will hold special
meeting Jan. 21 to address
a financial house in disorder
By Ralph O. Dennis
Contributing writer
The 2015 audit for the city of Nelson has been
delivered. It is not a good one. Ten matters of errors
or discrepancies were cited.
This audit, filled with problems found in the
city’s books, will be presented to the council at a
special meeting on Thursday, January 21, for the
purpose of receiving the presentation and explana
tion from the auditing firm of Welch, Walker & As
sociates. The meeting is at 7 p.m. and is open to the
public.
Most of the problems cited were tied to poor or
non-existent record-keeping, making it hard to
trace where funds from the city had actually gone.
Looking at some of the missing financial
records from different city accounts, involving a
total of $955, the auditors said embezzlement was
possible as there is no explanation at all for where
the money had gone.
Going back to the 2012 audit and cited again
this year was the segregation of duties. “Segrega
tion of duties could be improved. Ideally, the duties
of cash handling and bookkeeping should be seg
regated in order See Audit on Page 14A
977-2016
The Piggly Wiggly was the oldest grocery store still operating in Jasper at the time of its closing Sunday. Some of the employees from
this location will begin working at the Ellijay store. There were many tearful goodbyes during the final weekend.
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
It’s Saturday, the day before
Jasper’s Piggly Wiggly would close
its doors forever, and former em
ployee Blake Brooks is looking at
the front of the oldest grocery store
in town with its iconic Pig emblem
that’s missing “Wiggly” sign.
Brooks recalled being one of a
handful of part-time bag boys in the
1980s while he was attending Rein
hardt College.
This would have been the glory
days of the small grocery store,
which opened in May of 1977, right
as Benny Townsend’s grocery store
on Main Street was closing.
“We were constantly bagging
groceries and dodging cars in the
parking lot in an attempt to load gro
cery bags into customers' cars,” he
recalled. “It truly was a busy place
for customer and employee alike.”
When asked what else he remem
bered about working there, Brooks
said, “mainly all the people who
have shopped here.”
There was no shortage of others
visiting the store one last time when
word spread that “The Pig,” as the
local landmark has been called for
decades, was closing.
Employees were told Friday that
the time had come, “to bow out
gracefully,” according some of those
at work Sunday.
One employee said they had no
ticed that their business had slowed
but it didn’t seem so drastic that it
would cause the store to close.
15-year Piggly Wiggly employee
Kitty Lansdowne was hugging some
customers goodbye as she finished
her shift Sunday, the final day of op
eration. See Pig on Page 3B
Road rage, theft
suspect sought
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
The investigation of a road rage in
cident during the heavy rains on De
cember 28th, led Jasper police and
sheriff investigators to a suspect they
consider dangerous and a large
amount of stolen goods.
Sgt. Matt Dawkins with the Jasper
Police said they were investigating an
incident where a motorist reported a
white van had been tailgating very
close behind them, frightening the oc
cupants of the car, while they were
traveling Cove Road. After the two
vehicles passed underneath the red
light on Main Street, the back window
of the motorist’s car was shattered.
Dawkins said initially they
couldn’t tell what had caused the win
dow to break. They posted video of
the white van on their Jasper Police
Facebook and someone provided an
address.
They also learned that Pickens
sheriff investigators were interested in
talking with the same suspect, Jeffery
Nathan Coleman, after one of his ac
quaintances reported that Coleman
Suspect Jeffery Coleman photo
from Pickens Sheriff Facebook post.
had shot him in the face with a BB
gun and pistol whipped him. Cole
man, 37, was staying here at a Cove
Road residence, but lists a Cherokee
address on his probation information.
Dawkins said they now believe that
See Stolen on Page 14A
Kilpatrick named 2016 STAR Student
Hannah Kilpatrick has
been named the 2016 STAR
Student of Pickens High
School. The announcement is
made by the Optimist Club of
Jasper, local sponsor for the
Pickens STAR Program. Kil
patrick is the daughter Rex
and Beverly Kilpatrick of
Jasper. She has selected Mrs.
Christine Westbrook as her
STAR Teacher.
The PAGE Student
Teacher Achievement Recog
nition (STAR) program, now
in its 58th year, is sponsored,
administered and promoted
by the Professional Associa
tion of Georgia Educators
(PAGE) Foimdation. Since its
inception, the STAR Program
has honored more than
25,500 students and the
teachers they have selected as
having the most influence on
their academic success. To
obtain the STAR nomination,
high school seniors must
have the highest score on a
single test date on the three
part SAT and be in the top 10
percent or top 10 students of
their class based on grade
point average.
Kilpatrick plans to attend
Vanderbilt University in
Nashville, TN after gradua
tion and major in Biomedical
Engineering. Hannah se
lected Mrs. Westbrook as her
STAR Teacher because “AP
Biology has been my favorite
class at PHS and this is
largely thanks to Mrs. West
brook. She has challenged
me and made me think and
discover new things on my
own.”
She went on to say “The
most important lesson I
learned from Mrs. Westbrook
had nothing to do with biol
ogy. I still remember her
warning at open house that
this class wasn’t necessarily
difficult, but you had to de
velop good time management
skills to do well. Mrs. West
brook went above and be
yond what was required of
her as our biology teacher.
She not only managed to help
us walk away with a thor
ough understanding of the
subject, but also tried to teach
us about life and gave us les
sons we could carry with us
long after the 10th grade.”
Hannah is a member of
the Pride of Pickens March
ing Band. This past season
she served as the Secretary
and Co-Pit Captain. She is
the President of the PHS Beta
Club and is the Senior Class
Treasurer. She is a member
of the Academic Team and
was a participant in the Youth
Leadership Program through
the Pickens County Chamber
of Commerce. Hannah en
joys playing the piano and is
currently a student under the
supervision of Patti Adams.
Mrs. Westbrook teaches
AP Biology at Pickens High
School. She has taught for 22
years. When asked how she
would describe Hannah, Mrs.
See STAR on Page 14A
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HRITQ • Bennie Wright ‘Joyce Woodson
v/DI I O • Bradford Williams Jr. ‘Shirley Wood
PAGE 15A • David Kumnick
