Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, March 16, 2017
Jasper, Georgia
Volume 129 Number 47
www.pickensprogress.com
75 cents
Weather expert
wins prestigious
science award
Page 5A
Suspect
arrested for
bomb threat
Page 11A
Review of
the new
Ford F-150
Page 2B
PHS student
dies in single
car accident
Photo courtesy of family
Jordan Simonds knew how to touch everyone’s
heart. “He was amazing, ” says longtime friend. “He
knew what life was about. ”
Simonds was the
type of person
“everyone
wanted to know”
By Christie Pool
Staff writer
christie@pickensprogress.com
Sixteen-year-old Jordan
Matthew Simonds died Sat
urday, March 11 when the
2004 Jeep Liberty he was
driving careened off an em
bankment on Salem Church
Road.
Simonds, a PHS sopho
more, was transported to
Piedmont Mountainside Hos
pital and his 15-year-old pas
senger, Jed Groover, was
taken by helicopter to Kenne-
stone Hospital where he re
mains in intensive care.
According to Georgia
State Patrol Commander Tim
Nichols, around 3:40 p.m. on
Saturday Simonds was trav
elling westbound on Salem
Church Road about 1.5 miles
from the intersection with
Highway 515 when he ven
tured into the eastbound lane.
He overcorrected to return to
the westbound lane and went
off a steep embankment.
“It looks like he tried to
steer back real hard to the
right and it caused the vehicle
to start sliding,” Nichols said.
Nichols said the young
driver lost control “once he
tried to steer it back into the
westbound lane.”
“The driver’s side is the
one that struck the embank
ment,” Nichols said. “He was
belted in but the impact was
just too strong.”
He was just 1.5 miles
from his home, Nichols said.
Contrary to online reports,
passenger Jed Groover was
not thrown from the vehicle.
He was not wearing a seat
belt, according to the GSP re
port, but was found inside the
vehicle by first responders.
The speed limit on Salem
Church Road is 35 miles per
hour. Nichols said, “It’s my
opinion he was in excess of
that.”
The GSP report lists
See Simonds on 18A
Roper Park trailer move swamped
Damon Howell / Photo
TRAILER TRASH - Debris scattered around the trailer at Roper Park. The
county had hoped the trailer would have found a new home at the airport, but
the move may never happen.
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
It appears the trailer at
Roper Park may be heading
for the dump instead of the
airport.
The triple-wide trailer
had served as the previous
Boys & Girls Club building
and earlier this year ap
peared destined to become a
base at the airport. But slow
work and rain may have
doomed the project.
The ramshackle mess
now sitting between the
baseball fields looks like
something hit by a tornado
with piles of wood, plenty
of exposed nails, sheets of
tin and other debris piled
around it.
A Progress reporter and
photographer accompanied
Airport Manager Randy
Thomason on an inspection
of the partially disassem
bled trailer Tuesday and the
prospect of it being salvage
able looked slim with water
soaking interior carpets,
ceilings and exposed seams
in the trailer.
Thomason said origi
nally the plan had been for a
contractor to build support
walls inside, so when the
sections were pulled apart,
they could haul them to the
airport, but that hadn’t been
done and at this point, the
trailer may no longer suit
able for use.
Thomason, who has
work experience in the mo
bile home industry, took
some photos to send to au
thority members, but his as
sessment was that the
opportunity for relocation
had passed.
Commission Chair Rob
Jones said he would ask a
county building inspector
to check it out and he will
discuss the options Thurs
day with the other commis
sioners.
In an Airport Authority
meeting Monday, Thoma
son and Jones said the
county will not have lost
See Trailer on 18A
Ghost hunter finds spirits
in Cherokee removal fort
Ghost hunter and au
thor Jeanne Wells at
Fort Newnan in Blaine.
By Jeanne Wells
Author of forthcoming
book on Georgia ghosts
The third smallest town
in Georgia -Talking Rock -
was originally part of the
Cherokee Nation. Its name
may have derived from a
rock formation that echoed,
or from the sound of water
running over the rocks in
the creek.
The Cherokee who lived
in the surrounding area
were eventually taken and
held at an “Indigenous Peo
ples” removal fort called
Fort Newnan. Fort Newnan
is located in a community
near Talking Rock called
Blaine. The Fort’s location
itself is believed to have
been near the town’s Ma
sonic Lodge. Established in
1838, the fortification was
set up as a detainment camp
and was used to round up
the Cherokee before their
long walk on the Trail of
Tears.
The conditions were
harsh for them, and many
died there before ever even
making the trip. The fort it
self is no longer, but there
lies a memorial and grave
yard at the location where
those who succumbed to
their treatment had breathed
their last and were buried. It
is said that people that die
in tragic situations some
times cannot cross over and
their spirit gets trapped
here. Therefore, I made the
decision to do a paranormal
investigation of this area.
I decided to do my in
vestigation earlier this year
on a night that gave us the
full (Snow Moon), comet
and eclipse all in one
evening. The energy levels
in the spirit realm would be
extremely high during this
time. It is said that during
an eclipse the energy in
creases tremendously.
Ghosts use the energy
around us to manifest so
this is a perfect time for a
ghost hunt. Energy levels
also increase during a full
moon, so this was the night.
See Spirit on 19A
Applicants lining
up to be Pickens
superintendent
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
The field of candidates for
the schools superintendent
position is much more
crowded than expected, with
49 applications received by
the school board before the
February 28th deadline.
Currently, Dr. Charles
Webb is serving as interim
superintendent. He was hired
on a six-month contract after
Dr. Lula Mae Perry resigned
on January 1st. Dr. Perry was
initially hired as interim su
perintendent in 2013 to re
place Dr. Ben Desper. A few
weeks after taking office as
interim, the school board at
that time asked her to extend
her initial contract.
Of the applicants for the
position, 10 are female and
39 are male; 11 are experi
enced superintendents and
the remainder have experi
ence as principals, assistant
superintendents or other lead
ership roles in education, ac
cording to a press release
from the Pickens County
School System. Most appli
cants are from Georgia, in
cluding some from Pickens
County, but there are eight
states represented in the ap
plicant pool.
“This is the highest num
ber of applications we have
had for a Georgia superin
tendent vacancy in recent
years - it’s also the highest
survey response we have
ever experienced,” said Dr.
Sandy Addis of King-Cooper
& Associates, the firm hired
to facilitate the superintend
ent search. “We attribute this
See Supt. on 18A
FFA plans Alumni Equipment Auction
Members and the officer team of the Pickens County FFA Chapter. These members, along with those from Jasper
and Pickens Middle Schools, will receive the benefits from the Alumni Equipment Auction.
By Pickens County FFA Reporter
The Pickens County FFA Alumni
Chapter will host their first annual
Equipment Auction on Saturday,
March 25th at 10 a.m. at the Old
Lawson Chevrolet lot just north of
Quick Trip off of 515. Alumni mem
bers have been working on the devel
opment of the idea over the past year
to generate funds to help support the
100’s of FFA members in the three
chapters in the county. One hundred
percent of the proceeds generated by
the auction will go towards this effort.
Any type of equipment is accept
able including tractors, agricultural
equipment, construction equipment,
golf carts, trailers, landscaping equip
ment, chainsaws, and even automo
biles.
“If it runs, then it is acceptable for
the auction.”
Here is where you come in. The
alumni needs consignments for the
auction. Check around behind the
bam or look in the basement or garage
and see what has been sitting around
collecting dust that you would like to
get out of the way. Your items can be
consigned and auctioned with the pro
ceeds, excluding seller’s fees, going
directly to the consigner. You can also
choose to donate your equipment di
rectly to the FFA alumni, in which
case, all of the sales proceeds go to the
alumni. The second way that you can
help is to attend the auction and see
how many items you need to purchase
to carry back home with you. Either
way, the goal is to have a great auction
that will help support FFA members.
Auctions of this type have been
held in other north Georgia communi
ties for years and have become very
successful. The FFA members in Pick
ens County hope this one can turn out
the same way.
FFA Alumni will begin accepting
consignment item delivery at the auc
tion site on See FFA on 19A
OBITS
PAGE 19A
• Diane McAlister * Larree Johnston
• Dick Brown * Larry Sutton
• Jordan Simonds * Marvin Padgett
t/BD CIO
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