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Thursday, January 5,2017 Jasper, Georgia Volume 129 Number 37 www.pickensprogress.com 75 cents Legion raises $10K for vets - Page ioa Nelson audit presented - Page 16A Ball Ground man charged for killing wife Page 3A PHS ‘Nettes take 2nd in holiday tournament Page 1B Jasper man leaves on bike ride around United States Page 1B Six arrested for burglary Also, see stories on burglaries at Bub-Ba-Q restaurant, Marathon convenience store and Ball Ground restaurants on Page 13 A Staff reports Local law enforcement got a break overnight Sunday in the recent rash of north Georgia burglaries when a patrol spotted suspicious activity at Dunn’s Food Store in Talking Rock, leading to six ar rests of individuals from the metro area. A patrolling deputy saw the vehicle near the Highway 515 convenience store at the Antioch Church Road intersection around midnight. While deputies were speaking with the two individuals from the vehicle, Jasper Police officers confirmed that a break-in had taken place. According to Pickens Sheriff’s Office Capt. Kris Stancil, the first two suspects had cut a hole in the wall of the store with a power tool near the meter box before officers ar rived on the scene. “They do that to avoid triggering the alarm system,” Stancil said. Based on information officers obtained from the first vehicle and first two sus pects, the two agencies continued the in vestigation and four other suspects were spotted later that night in Jasper near Burger King. The six individuals arrested and charged with burglary and additional pend ing charges are: Kendra Nicole Brown, 32, See Arrests on 11A Updates of 2016 stories In the news most of last year, the Dollar General site at the Grandview and Cove roads intersection has moved ahead despite vocal protests from nearby homeowners. Attorney Mark Miller Future east-end park? Missing man Ben Thebaut Interior renovations are chugging along at Tate Depot. Sgt. Rick Hales recovering Pickens Sheriff’s Office / Photo The damaged side of Dunn’s Food Mart in Talking Rock. Six people were arrested for the attempted break-in. As usual, Pickens County had a fair share of interesting and unique stories in 2016. We’ve taken a look back at our archives and are bringing you updates on some of the year’s top stories. From the missing Preserve hiker to the million dollar basketball lawsuit, here’s a look back at 2016 and where things stand now. Dollar General - Hundreds of Pickens residents were up in arms in 2016 about a new Dol lar General store at the intersec tion of Cove and Grandview roads. Nearby residents protested by writing letters, emails, even petitioning county government to stop the bulldoz ing of the Jasper Junction store that formerly sat at the location. Dollar General prevailed and the old building was demolished in November. Work is now un derway at the site of the new store. Parks on track - Proposed parks/playgrounds on the east and west ends of the county are still on track. The issue became public when Pickens County Commissioner Becky Denney and Sheriff Donnie Craig brought it up at a commission ers’ meeting in August. Pro posed sites are an abandoned ball field on Yellow Creek Bap tist Church property and an overgrown playground behind Hinton Methodist Church. Den ney said a recent meeting be tween herself, Yellow Creek Baptist Church leadership and the sheriff was very positive. “I feel like this project is a go,” Denny said. “We are working out legal and lease issues, and agreed to table this until after the holidays because everyone is so busy, but it’s going very well.” Funding for the project will come from the Sheriff’s Foundation and “we hope to get donations on manpower,” Den ney said. The proposed parks will be on the agenda at a Janu ary or February commissioners’ work session. The Depots - Tate Depot. After years of setbacks, relocation and exterior renovation of the his toric Tate Depot is complete but the building is still not being uti lized as a community center/marble history mu seum/welcome center as was planned. Commission Chair Rob Jones said he has secured volunteers to complete interior renovations not funded through a GDOT grant and to repair damages made during the relo cation process, which will hap pen this winter. He said the See Updates on 14A 2017 greeted with fireworks & umbrellas Rain and chill kept most people away, but the party went on Saturday in down town Jasper, where 300-500 people welcomed 2017 with fireworks and umbrellas. Mayor John Weaver said they were disappointed that the rain put a damper on the annual New Year’s Eve cele bration in downtown. His crews, including fire, police and road/public works put in a lot of hours and the city had fairly high expenses for an event that turned out to be cold, rainy and sparsely at tended. “We have a four-year tra dition of celebrating New Year’s in Jasper,” Weaver said. “2017 will be remem bered as the rainy one.” The crowd did pick up after 10:30 p.m. as the rain slackened and a decent crowd huddled under um brellas to see the city-spon sored fireworks and lowering of the big ball. But the crowd More people than you would think braved the cold and rain to celebrate the New Year in See New Years on 11A Jasper Saturday. See more pictures from the downtown celebration on Page 5A. Photo / Dan Pool 70 pounds and counting Blind man resolves to reach goal weight Pickens resident Scott Rumery, who peaked at over 450pounds (at right), has shed 70 but has a long way to go to reach his goal weight of220. By Angela Reinhardt Staff writer areinhardt@pickensprogress.com It’s been just over six months since Scott Rumery underwent bariatric surgery as a last-ditch effort to lose weight, having peaked at over 450 pounds. See Weight on 11A OBITS PAGE 12A Bonnie Haley David Morris Effie Norris ■ Glenn Adams ■ JP Davis Jr. ■Tommy Coleman ■Troy McCracken Subscribe to our Print edition and/or E-edition - Call our office at 706-253-2457 or do it online at www.pickensprogress.com