Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, March 5, 2020
Volume 132 Number 46
Jasper, Georgia
Local News Published Weekly
Jasper moves on several
projects following retreat
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
arienhardt@pickensprogress.com
After their regular meeting ad
journed on Monday, March 2, Jasper
Council Member Kirk Raffield said
“this is a council in action.”
Raffield’s comment referred to
the Jasper City Council’s two-day re
treat the previous weekend, in which
Jasper Mayor Steve Lawrence, coun
cil, department heads, city employ
ees, and others were in attendance.
As a result of the retreat, council di
rected the city manager to either im
mediately begin work on or to
collect quotes for numerous projects.
Mayor Lawrence, along with
other members of council, felt the re
treat was productive and positive
move for the city.
“I think that probably turned out
to be one of the best things we have
done,” Lawrence said. “We were
able to get all this together and move
us forward in a certain direction. We
know it’s going to be a slow process,
but we are going to show progress as
we can.”
Council member Anne Sneve
noted that it was a good opportunity
to work with city staff and develop a
good working rapport moving for
ward.
All council members serve on
two of five committees, each of
which gave updates about these proj
ects from the retreat.
City park upgrades
Per request of streets & parks
committee, council directed city staff
to get quotes for up to $50,000 to re
place playground equipment at the
SET FOR DEMOLITION:
Jasper Council sprang into action
for replacement of the playground
equipment at the Jasper City Park
as soon as possible, and will begin
work on their downtown property,
formerly the Entegra Bank drive-
thru, as well.
Jasper City Park.
Mayor Lawrence requested the
motion to solicit those quotes also
include direction to immediately
begin demolition on the Jasper City
Park wooden playground equipment.
In a later interview, city manager
Brandon Douglas said he will have
city crews begin the demolition
process as soon as weather permits.
See City on 3A
ra bank
Voters looking for local races
still have weeks to wait
Coronavirus
has come to
Georgia
Governor, local
schools, doctors
address coronavirus
Gov. Kemp confirms
two cases of COVID-19
Gov. Brian Kemp and state health
officials confirmed the first cases of
coronavirus in Georgia late Monday
night. Two people in Fulton County
contracted the virus after one of
them traveled to Italy.
The virus was contracted by a
man traveling from Milan, Italy, re
turning via Hartsfield-Jackson At
lanta International Airport. Both
individuals with the virus are quar
antined with relatives in their shared
home.
See Virus on 3A
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
Elections supervisor Julianne
Roberts likes enthusiastic voters,
but for the presidential primary
race, where early voting began
Monday, some are a little too eager.
“We had 79 early voters the first
day,” Roberts said. “But many
were here looking to vote for
county commissioner or sheriff.”
Unfortunately, those local races
won’t be up for decision until the
May primary, with early voting
starting April 27th.
The only thing to appear on the
ballots now active are presidential
choices. On the GOP, which nor
mally is chosen by 90 percent of
local voters or more, literally the
only selection is Donald Trump as
the GOP nominee.
The Democrats have a crowded
field of selections. See sample bal
lot on page 3A.
For now, it is just Donald Trump
on the Republican and the Democ
rat candidates on the Democrat bal
lot and that’s it, Roberts said.
One poll worker at the early vot
ing location in the elections office
on Pioneer Road said she has had
several people comment that they
turned out expecting to cast a local
ballot because of all the yard signs
recently sprouted here. It makes
sense, she said, with there being
more signs already out for the May
primary than there are for the pres
idential preference vote.
Roberts said on day one of
using of the new double-machine -
digital voting with paper trail sys
tem - it had performed flawlessly.
She said they had experienced no
problems with the first 79 people
who had come through at the time
of this interview.
“Voters seem to be taking to it.
The only complaint is the local
races aren’t on the ballot and that is
out of my control,” she said refer
ring to the May primary.
The secretary of state gave a
similarly hearty endorsement of the
new machines statewide.
“We faced a Herculean task in
providing a secure and reliable vot
ing system for the state of Georgia
in just a short time period but early
results indicate that the new system
is a success,” said Secretary of
State Brad Raffensperger in a Tues
day statement. “We are confident
that the machines will take us
through statewide elections not just
in March, but long into Georgia’s
future.”
Early voting for the presidential
See Voting on 3A
Local Made: From decorative washers to firearms:
After 40 years, machine shop goes big with new tech
[Part of an occasional By Angela Reinhardt
series on local businesses Staff writer
and craftsmen.] areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
These parts are for knee replacement surgery and are
manufactured at the local shop. After they are machined,
they must be shipped to Atlanta for heat treatment and
later to New England to be electropolished. Medical parts
require extremely precise measurements and dimensions,
with all items are checked numerous times during produc
tion.
Some companies sell
clothes. Others sell gro
ceries, power tools, or home
decor - all familiar and rec
ognizable commodities.
Then there are those
under-the-radar businesses
that manufacture and sell
items most people don’t con
sider, businesses like Smith
Tool & Design in west Pick
ens, which recently relocated
and has innovative plans for
the future.
Owner Brian Smith, who
took the company over after
his father retired in 2010,
showcases some of their
work at the front desk. Dis
played inside the clear-
topped counter, customers
can see an arrangement of
small - sometimes tiny -
metal pieces in a variety of
shapes and dimensions.
See Smith on 4A
Smith Tactical & Defense, owned by Smith and his wife
Shannon, custom builds firearms. Here, Smith shows the
different barrel sizes they offer.
Inside:
David Lindsey
announces bid
for re-election
Page 5B
Becky Denney
announces bid
for re-election
Page 9A
The unique
history of Bent
Tree: this week
starts a 3-part
series Page ha
Response:
Chick-Fil-A
problem solver
Page 2B
Obituaries - 10A
• Donald Gravitt
• Elmer Rose
• James Bannister
• Joan Holden
• Patricia Jarrett
• Philip O'Bryant
• Roy Jordan
Follow Us Online
CtHl
J You Hj@
Contact Us
94 North Main Street
Jasper, Ga. 30143
706-253-2457
www.pickensprogress.com
Open for business during
these hours: Mon-Thurs,
9-5, and Fri, 9-4:30
