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THURSDAY. JANUARY 19. 2017 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 11A
Congratulations to the following students who recently competed in the Creative Writ
ing Contest sponsored by the Sassafras Literary Exchange. Pictured (l to r): Spencer
Halko - Honorable Mention, Poetry; Megan Owens - 3rd Place, Poetry; Triston Wescott
- 2nd Place, Fiction; Lilly Ryal - 2nd Place, Nonfiction. Not pictured: Paola Aguilar - 3rd
Place, Nonfiction; Nora Finney - Honorable Mention, Fiction; Macy Gallagher - Hon
orable Mention, Nonfiction; Grace Hutson - Honorable Mention; Allison Johnson - 2nd
Place, Poetry; Trey Lunn - 3rd Place, Fiction; Charlene Rauch - Honorable Mention,
Nonfiction; Sierrah Rice - Honorable Mention, Fiction; Amber Scott -1st Place, Nonfic
tion; Claire Seabolt - 1st Place, Poetry.
Nick DiPuma's original play, “Wliy'd Ya Do It?” has been chosen as the state
finalist and will be reviewed by playwright Daniel Guyton at the February; state
conference. His play may also be performed at next year's conference. Here
DiPuma, center, is pictured (l to r) with school board members Daniel Bell, Kather
ine White, Bryon Long, Delane Lends, Sue Finley and interim superintendent Dr.
Charles Webb.
Pickens County 4-H’ers travelled to Union County Middle School to compete at CloverleafDistrict Project Achievement
for 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. Pictured (l to r): Kinsley Hamilton (Sports), Nathan Johnson (Beef, 1st Place), Shaelyn White
(Communications, 1st Place), Lane Walker (Environmental Science, 1st Place), Jaycee Hawkins (Dog Care and Training,
3rd Place), Yoselinn Martinez (Workforce Preparation, 2nd Place), Conner Watson (Poultry and Egg Science, 2nd Place),
Jordyn Blankenship (Companion Animals, 1st Place), Isabella Lowe (Horse, 1st). Not pictured are: Place), Dylan Eaton
(Wildlife, 1st Place), Meghan Stobaugh (Veterinary Science, 3rd Place), Julee Carter (Rabbits, 1st Place), Crystal Bucking
ham (AmeriCorps Service Member), Rachel Wigington (County Extension Agent); Laney Bledsoe, Teen Leader.
Continued from 1A
School
eluding vetting applicants for
references and guiding inter
view questions.
Bell said he is concerned
the public might feel like the
board has been dragging their
feet since the firm was hired
at the December meeting. He
emphasized the urgency they
feel about choosing the dis
trict’s top leader.
“I want the community to
know this is a top priority for
us,” he said. “I want the com
munity to be involved and
know that we’re not just sit
ting here.”
Bell asked if there was a
way to expedite the hiring
process, acknowledging that
once the board gets deeper in
the process he might realize
the proposed draft is the best
approach.
Addis said the board is in
perfect position for a smooth
search, and should not be
concerned about time. He
cautioned against getting in a
Continued from 1A
Business
579 renewals. In 2014, there
were 73 new licenses issued
and 575 renewals. In 2013
the county issued 94 new li
censes and 580 renewals; and
in 2012 there were 117 new
licenses issued and 605 re
newals. Note that renewals
hurry and making a decision
that’s rushed.
“You’re not in a terrible
rush,” Addis said. “You’ve
got a great interim superin
tendent. You’re in business
there. You’ve taken a lot of
pressure off the system hav
ing an interim.”
held aroimd the same number
for the last four years.
“Generally, business ac
tivity continues to increase
year-over-year from the bot
toming out of 2010 and
2011,” said Richard Osborne,
the county’s planning and de
velopment director. “How
ever, activity has not yet
returned to the pre-recession
Board member Byron
Long said he was also appre
hensive about moving too
quickly through the process.
Addis anticipates between
25 and 35 applicants, mostly
from in-state but some from
out of state.
activity in 2006 and 2007.
We expect that activity in
2017 will continue to be pos
itive, although slower in
growth than adjacent coun
ties such as Cherokee and
Dawson.”
In the city of Jasper, there
were 51 new licenses issued
in 2016. There were also 51
new licenses issued in 2015.
In other school news:
•Collections for the new
SPLOST V began on January
1, 2017. This is a five-year,
voter-approved SPLOST that
will fund, in part, a new mid
dle school. SPLOST IV
The total number of current
business licenses in the city is
560. The city does not keep
records of business licenses
issued in previous years so
data was not available for
comparison.
There were 1,258 licensed
businesses in 2016 through
out Pickens County and
Jasper, not including Nelson.
ended on December 31. Total
collections were just over
$20 million. There is approx
imately $5 million remaining
in the SPLOST IV account,
which, like any SPLOST col
lections can only be spent on
items or projects included in
ballot language approved by
voters. Dr. Webb said he has
strategies that will allow the
board to use the $5 million
from SPLOST IV to support
the new SPLOST. “I think we
can show you some things
that will give you some flex
ibility in how you can use
that money,” he said.
•Operations Director
Stacy Gilleland has met with
four architects regarding the
middle school construction
project and will have ballpark
estimates at next month’s
regular board meeting. The
school board has made no de
cisions on the middle school
project and/or design.
•The school resource offi
cer reported the following
calls during December; four
juvenile complaints; two for
theft by taking; one disor
derly conduct (assault); one
possession of marijuana (less
than loz. For truancy issues:
three citations were issued
for Parent Responsibility; 1
subpoena was served.
•Tate Elementary had the
highest staff attendance for
December, with a 97.95 per
centage rate.
•Jasper Elementary
School had the highest stu
dent attendance rate for De
cember, with a 96.51
percentage rate.
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Continued from 1A
Trees
Street/Hwy. 53 intersection
this week and had previously
swapped evergreens out one
block north of the intersec
tion. The entire downtown
changeover should be
wrapped up by mid-February.
Weaver said the crepe
myrtles used so far were
under his spending limit as
city manager, costing about
$4,000. For the whole proj
ect, he will need about
$7,000-$8,000. Weaver said
he had notified most council
members of his intentions
prior to starting and they
were supportive of the arbor
swap. No one expressed any
attachment to the evergreens.
“The general consensus
was they just didn’t work
out,” Weaver said of coun
cil’s reaction to the old trees.
The city will work with
Hemlocks, a local landscape
company, to maintain the
crepe myrtles and work on
the overall design. They will
not use crepe myrtles in
every planting spot on Main
Street, mixing in other plants
to compliment the look fol
lowing the landscape profes
sional’s suggestions.
Weaver anticipates using
similar night lights on the
crepe myrtles as they have
used for years in downtown.
As to the old trees,
Weaver said they are planting
them without irrigation on
city property and may use
them elsewhere one day. Sev
eral people have asked for the
old trees, but Weaver said he
couldn’t legally give them
away. He added that moving
them is no easy feat without
a crew and heavy equipment.
Continued from 1A
Cowboys
day with Cowboy Church
leaders to drive to the na
tion’s capitol in a van pro
vided by Sutallee Baptist
Church in White, Ga.
Cowboy Church in
Jerusalem founder Rebecca
Hampton said she is excited
to see what Trump does as
president, believing he was
the best fit for our country.
Hampton was thankful the
opportunity came up to take
the kids in her program to the
national event.
“Cowboy people are prob
ably the most patriotic people
in the world,” she said. “We
are always the ones with
flags at parades.”
Sunday, while the group
was making plans, they were
also making a video. Sky
News from England sent a
crew based in Los Angeles to
film them getting ready to
leave for the inauguration.
Greg Milam, a U.S. corre
spondent for Sky News, said
they wanted to show “real
Americans” and get their
thoughts on the inauguration.
Milam said they found the
Henderson Mountain Road
group after doing some
Google searches on the inau
guration and then seeing
Congressman Loudermilk’s
page where they had been
provided tickets.
Continued from 1A
Suit
quested the case be trans
ferred to federal court. Curry
objected at the time to trans
ferring the case, saying that
the case mainly involved
Georgia’s anti-bullying law,
not a federal issue. He further
said the school system
wanted to move the case out
side the area so the local
community wouldn’t be able
to follow the proceedings.
Curry’s original suit lists
five plaintiffs including his
son and two other former
players, himself and another
parent. [The parent of one of
the other players listed said
later that he was unaware his
son had been included but
didn’t disagree with what the
suit said happened.]
Following the announce
ment that the suit will return
to the local courts, Curry said
he looks forward to taking
depositions and moving
ahead in the case, where he is
acting as his own attorney.
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Pickens County Head Start/Pre-K
We currently have openings in our j
Head Start and Pre-K programs.
Children must be 3 or 4 years of age
on or before September 1, 2016.
Call today to schedule an appointment.
Office Hours
Monday thru Friday 7:00 AM - 3:30 PM
Call 770-735-3434 for more information.
Free Early Childhood Education Program
Hiring Substitutes
High School Diploma or GED Required
CO
Foothills Community Church
Invites you to enjoy
“ This Hope”
Sunday morning, January 22, 2017
10:30 am Service
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Church located at
13724 Highway 53E in Marble Hill.
For more information call: 770-893-2501 or go to:
www.foothillscommunitychurch.org