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Thursday, December 29,2016 Jasper, Georgia Volume 129 Number 36 www.pickensprogress.com 75 cents
Troglin
retires after
30 years
in tax office
Page12A
Marines help
Santa
during
Christmas
Page 3A
Buzzed
driving is
drunk
driving
Page 7A
Robber fires shot in Waffle House
Staff reports
At this point investigators
have zero leads regarding a
robbery at Waffle House
near Highway 108 that hap
pened in the early morning
hours of Christmas Eve, but
they hope the public can pro
vide assistance when sur
veillance video is released.
The robbery occurred at
3:30 a.m. December 24th by
a lone masked man who
stole $400 in cash from the
restaurant and fired a hand
gun inside before fleeing the
scene.
Neither the man’s race
nor age could be determined
because he was wearing a
mask and gloves. The mask
was the type worn in the
movie V for Vendetta and by
the activist group Anony
mous.
Jasper Police Chief Greg
Lovell said the individual
fired one round into the
kitchen equipment but did
not hit anyone. Lovell said at
one point the robber said, “I
am as scared as you are.”
There were three Waffle
House employees in the
restaurant at the time of the
robbery but no customers.
“It appears he was wait
ing for all the customers to
leave,” said Sgt. Matt
Dawkins.
Employees reported that
the man was well spoken.
Dawkins said investiga
tors have very little to go on.
The suspect left on foot and
apparently had a vehicle
parked somewhere close by
but it has not been identified.
“We’re hoping once we
can release the video and get
it to the public someone
might recognize body lan
guage or the way he moves,”
Dawkins said.
When it is released the
video will be posted on the
City of Jasper Police Depart
ment’s Facebook page as
well as the Progress' Face-
book page. Anyone with any
information is asked to call
Sgt. Matt Dawkins at 706-
253-9110.
No immediate plans for grading on Hwy. 515
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
Motorists on Highway 515
may have noticed significant
grading near the Highway 108
intersection on the southbound
side, but the site is not being
prepped for any immediate proj
ect, according to city officials.
“They are just getting the
property graded for possible
commercial development in the
future, but there have been no
plans submitted or permits is
sued from my office,” said city
of Jasper’s Planning and Devel
opment Director Sonny Under
wood.
Back in 2013 local developer
Craig Meffert made a presenta
tion to Jasper’s city council
about a possible assisted living
and mixed-use project for the
site called “Gateway to the
Mountains,” which would in
clude an assisted living facility,
medical facilities, an 81-room
Ui'.t IT.fti.
Pickens County Tax Assessor’s Q-Public site / Image
The Gateway to the Mountains is doing some preliminary work but does not have any
concrete plans for the property on Highway 515, at the Highway 108 intersection.
hotel, restaurants, a clubhouse,
offices and a 32-acre park and
lake. At the time Meffert and de
velopment partner J.R.
McLaughlin of Onyx Invest
ment Services, LLC said the
project could start in 2014 and
would take four to five years to
complete. Cost estimate was be
tween $50 million and $100
million.
The 100-acre property is cur
rently owned by Gateway to the
Mountains, LLC.
Underwood also said, like
many people in the community,
he has heard rumors about a
Publix grocery store, “but not at
that site,” he said. “Rumors are
at a different site closer to the
traffic light, but again those are
rumors and no plans have been
submitted or permits issued and
Publix has not purchased any
property.”
All About The Money Gang strikes third Pickens store
Burglars tore through the metal exterior of this convenience store on South
Main Street in Jasper.
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
An experienced gang of burglars robbed
the convenience store on South Main Street
(Refuge Road) in the early morning hours
December 21, marking what investigators
say is the third such burglary in Pickens
County by the same group.
Investigators believe the burglary of the
closed store, a Chevron with the generic
name Food Mart, is the latest in at least 20
similar break-ins attributed to the “All About
The Money Gang.”
Detective Chris Webb said the same
“M.O.” [operating method] is consistent in
burglaries stretching across north Georgia
and that it is highly efficient, practiced, and
hard to stop.
Webb said the group is in and out of the
stores in 3-4 minutes, carrying off cash and,
in some cases, safes. In this case they broke
open the video gambling machines to re
move the money inside. At the store (com
monly called Don Pharr’s after its original
owner), they “were out of luck” with loot as
the store owner made a deposit that day and
there was very little money there, according
to Det. Webb.
The group entered the store by pulling
back a section of the sheet metal exterior
around 2:30 a.m. Investigators speculate
they dropped a lookout outside and then a
group entered after one person squeezed
See Burglary on 6A
Extremely
high bail
set for
Miller
Technical motions make
marathon day in court
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
After a day in court lasting more than 10
hours, Jasper attorney Mark Miller, who is
accused of numerous counts of financial
fraud and theft was given a bond, but one so
high his counsel said, “it is functionally no
bond.”
Miller is facing six different sets of indict
ments for financial misconduct involving his
former clients. Thursday, Senior Judge
Richard Winegarden set bond and heard
other motions. Miller has been in jail since
June with no bond. The trial could open as
soon as March.
After running from 9 a.m. until after 7
p.m. with no lunch, the judge declared the
high-profile attorney would be given bond on
each case individually. When all was said and
done, Miller would need to come up with
more than $1.6 million in property and
$235,000 in cash to get out of jail on bail. A
sheriff official confirmed that a cash bond
means the money has to be put into a dedi
cated escrow account, whereas a property
bond will allow someone to show title to the
property.
Following the marathon day on December
22, Defense Counsel Scott Poole said there
is no way his client could arrange the cash
bond.
“It’s so high it’s the functional equivalent
of no bond,” he said.
Miller appeared in court in an orange jail
jumpsuit. He was engaged through the
lengthy day, nodding at certain points,
closely watching all the arguments and con
ferring occasionally with counsel.
As part of the bond hearing, the defense
presented three witnesses on Miller’s behalf.
See Miller on 6A
Over 50 percent of Pickens students on free or reduced lunch
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
For the 2016-2017 school year, reports
show 52.49 percent of students in the Pickens
County School District qualified for free or
reduced lunch.
Of the 4,325 students enrolled in grades
K-12 there are 2,311 eligible for the program.
Of those who qualified, 1,894 receive free
lunch and 366 receive a reduced price lunch.
See Lunch on 6A
Percentage of Pickens students on Free and Reduced Lunch
FY2013
FY2014
FY2015
FY2016
2017
Harmony Elementary
63.2
58.16
58.55
61.92
61.03
Hill City Elementary
55.58
59.74
56.91
58.44
55.63
Tate Elementary
64.68
64.01
57.45
53.99
53.7
Jasper Elementary
59.39
61.96
61.02
62.15
58.95
Jasper Middle
57.27
53.3
51.71
50.97
50.82
Pickens County Middle
54.92
55.04
54.67
57.14
57.95
Pickens County High
48.09
49.73
48.4
44.44
43.72
OBITS
PAGE 10A
• Arline Hamrick • Inez Cox • Norman Mulkey
• Chloe Garrison • Lawrence White • Paul Gaddis
• Gwendolyn Young
& [Q OO
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