Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, December 15,2016 Jasper, Georgia
Volume 129 Number 34
www.pickensprogress.com
75 cents
Pickens beats
state average
in latest scores
Page 8A
Cross Country
teams celebrate
at banquet
Page 1B
Princesses
abound at
Royal Winter
Ball
Page 2A
Big shakeup in school's top leadership
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
The Pickens County School
System is going to look drasti
cally different come January after
two top administrators’ recent
resignations and two new school
board members take office next
month.
Within just a few days of one
another last week, Pickens
County School Superintendent
Dr. Lula Mae Perry and Pickens
High School Principal Shane
Purdy announced their resigna
tions. The board of education ap
pointed Dr. Charles Webb - a
seasoned education administrator
- to temporarily fill Dr. Perry’s
position until the board hires a
permanent replacement. He was
hired on a six-month contract.
In a press release, board mem
ber Byron Long said the Pickens
BOE respects Dr. Webb’s experi
ence in guiding districts through
the process of selecting a new su
perintendent, a task he will un
dertake in Pickens.
Dr. Chad Flatt, the PHS assis
tant principal of curriculum, in
struction, and counseling, will
temporarily replace Purdy.
The resignations mark a string
of shakeups in top leadership at
Pickens schools over the last
three years, in which time nearly
every top administrator has re
signed or been moved to a differ
ent position within the system.
Dr. Perry sent out a resigna
tion letter on Wednesday, Dec.
7th. In it, she said her resignation
would be effective January 1,
2017.
“Serving students has always
been a calling for me,” she said.
“Like many, I chose education as
my life’s work to make a differ
ence—in some small way—in
the lives of children. I promised
myself that when the time came
to leave this position, I would do
See School on 14A
Interim
Superintendent
Dr. Charles
Webb
Interim PHS
Principal
Dr. Chad Flatt
Another $2j$K in stolen
funds alleged
Miller faces even
more charges
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
Counsel for Mark Miller
had sought a hearing Friday
to again request bond for the
jailed Jasper lawyer and to
also challenge indictments
against him on the grounds
they are too vague.
But the hearing ground to
a halt after two hours with the
court unable to take any sub
stantive action in the compli
cated case involving dozens
of charges of financial fraud
and theft and a growing list
of victims who were former
clients of the well-known at
torney.
An immediate obstacle for
the defense’s effort to get
bond was the announcement
that the grand jury had in
dicted Miller for charges with
two additional victims earlier
in the week.
Lead defense counsel
Scott Poole agreed that it was
futile to have a bond hearing
on existing charges with
Miller set for arrest on new
charges.
“The reality is he could
have the bond granted and
then be right back in cus
tody,” Poole said. “It’s not
fair for him to get out and
then throw him right back
in.”
Although details were
sparse, both the new victims
of theft by taking, conver
sion and deception were for
mer clients of Miller.
One case involved an es-
See Miller on 14A
Glory Divine - The Splendor of Christmas
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1
Richard Smith / Photo
Mount Zion Baptist Church’s choirs and band presented the musical Glory Divine this week celebrating the birth
of Jesus. Mt. Zion and churches around the county have held, and are still planning, special music and services to
celebrate the Christmas season. Look for worship opportunities during the holidays in this week’s edition.
T-hangar project taking form
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
The airport authority
heard routine reports Mon
day at their monthly meet
ing, including seeing some
preliminary figures for the
long-awaited T-hangar proj
ect.
Ed Wood, the authority
treasurer, said he had gath
ered estimates for a plan to
build 18 T-hangars at the air
port (nine hangars each in
two buildings) that he will
have ready to present to the
airport authority, the devel
opment authority and the
commissioners.
Wood said the next step is
finalizing the figures and
performing a “cash flow
analysis.”
Wood told authority
members the project to build
the hangars and then lease
them to pilots appears “to
cash flow very positively.”
The rough estimates for
all work concerning the T-
hangars was priced at S1.22
million, but that includes a
good deal of site-prep with
FFA approved asphalt for
plane parking; some of the
work would be reimbursed
by the FFA at 90 percent of
the cost.
Following the meeting,
Wood emphasized that the
$1.22 million is a “worst
case scenario” budget and
will likely come in much
lower. Authority member
Jerry Edwards, also speaking
after the meeting, said he
was confident they could
trim that figure down.
Wood said the T-hangars
would boost the economic
vitality of the airport. There
See Airport on 14A
Missing 54-year-old man found
dead of natural causes
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
A 54-year-old Pickens
man was found Friday de
ceased in the woods near
Pickens High School after
he was reported missing
from his nearby residence
nearly a week earlier.
Investigators believe
Robert (Bob) Petti of Sce
nic View Drive died of nat
ural causes with no foul
play suspected.
Detective Chris Webb
said it is not known why
Petti had walked from his
home near the school to the
woods behind it. But it is
believed he “succumbed to
the elements” there. He
possibly left his home dis
oriented from other medical
conditions.
Petti was described by
family members to detec
tives as having health prob
lems, including failing
eyesight.
See Petti on 14A
Robert Petti
Jasper crews battle “Godzilla” of water main breaks
Damon Howell / Photo
The railroad tracks that run through town were flooded from behind the courthouse
north to beyond the wooden bridge Thursday.
“I’dput our guys up against anybody getting repairs done, ”
says Jasper Mayor John Weaver
Staff Reports
City of Jasper water, street
and wastewater crews had
their hands full last week
with two major water lines
being ruptured by a national
company installing dedi
cated fiber optics lines across
the county.
City of Jasper employees
worked as late as 2 a.m. on
some nights and were called
back out after initial repairs
to maintain “backflow”
valves and keep water flow
ing in all area of the city’s
service area. They had signif
icant work on Tuesday,
Wednesday and Thursday
nights.
Mayor John Weaver said
his crews deserve credit for
battling the cold, wet, miser
able conditions at night,
which were somewhat dan
gerous working right against
steep banks near railroad
tracks. Not only did they
complete the work quicker
than expected, the railroad
complimented them for the
neatness of the repair and
clean-up.
“I’d put our guys up
against anybody getting re
pairs done,” he said. “It was
a pretty tough week for us.
We have not had one in a
while like this.”
Weaver said the nationally
contracted company was
plowing for two fiber-optic
lines about four feet deep and
“you don’t miss anything
doing that, [meaning they hit
anything in their path].”
Weaver said some city
lines are hard to locate, espe
cially one that busted — that
was originally laid decades
ago.
“The good thing is now
we know exactly where the
lines are,” he said.
One of his employees
compared the damage to the
lines as being like “Godzilla
came through.”
See Water on 14A
OBITS
PAGE 13A
• Lucy Pomfret
• Pauline Dillard
• Robert Petti
State Patrol helicopter adds excitement
to Toys For Tots event page 9A
GO
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