Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, March 26, 2020
Volume 132 Number 49
Jasper, Georgia
Local News Published Weekly
County orders shutdown
Piedmont Mountainside
CEO says it is urgent
“to flatten the curve”
Staff Reports
The Pickens board of commissioners put into
place an emergency shutdown order for busi
nesses throughout the county for 14 days after
hearing the CEO of the local hospital say it was
urgent that something is done to slow the spread
of COVID-19 or they wouldn’t have the rooms to
handle the projected cases during a surge.
In an ordinance for the declaration of a local
state of emergency, enacted March 24 and to end
April 7, Pickens County Commissioners ordered
residents in unincorporated Pickens County to
“shelter in place” and maintain social distancing
of at least six feet. The order also requires all
businesses that are not considered “essential” to
cease all activities except for “minimum basic op
erations.” Travel is also prohibited unless it is to
perform essential activities, operate essential
businesses, maintain minimum basic operations,
or for essential governmental functions.
“This is an item I do not wish to sign,” said
commission chair Rob Jones at an emergency
called meeting Tuesday, when the ordinance was
adopted. “Hopefully soon this will pass and we
will come out better for it.”
The 11-page ordinance is lengthy, and includes a
list of over 20 categories of “essential busi
nesses,” from grocery stores and stores that sell
household goods, to manufacturers/distribution
centers “provided that employees comply with
social distancing requirement, to daycare facili
ties. The commissioners’ office will provide guid
ance to businesses as to whether or not they are
considered an essential business. The ordinance
can be found at the Pickens County Government
website at www.pickenscountyga.gov.
Per the emergency declaration, public and pri
vate gatherings of any number of people are pro
hibited outside of a household, except to perform
tasks essential to their health and safety or to the
health and safety of family/household members;
to obtain necessary services or supplies for them
selves or family/house- See Shutdown on 11A
“We have literally gone from 100 miles an hour to pull the
emergency brake, dead, dead stop,” says business owner
Business owners and
employees across county
describe economic
chaos from the
coronavirus pandemic
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@piekensprogress.com
It has been nearly two weeks
since President Donald Trump de
clared a National Emergency to
combat COVID-19. The social and
economic landscape of the country
has changed drastically since then,
with nationwide school closures,
“shelter in-place” orders, and man
dates that certain businesses like
restaurants close their lobbies. The
full extent of the economic impact to
businesses and families will not be
known for sometime, but they are al
ready feeling the strains from an
economy that has been forced to stop
on a dime.
Below are some snapshots from
some local families and establish
ments about how COVID-19 is af
fecting them. See Impact on 10A
Wwij
Photo/Jodi Stancil Deetlefs
Bill Merrick a CARES Food Pantry volunteer, prepares to send food packages to homebound clients. The
county, and Georgia governor, have asked anyone medically fragile to remain in quarantine.
Suffering in isolation — Families
describe coronavirus ordeal
Firsthand accounts
of COVID-19
battles
By Christie Pool
Staff writer
christie@pickensprogress.com
The last time Linda Setser was
able to speak to her husband Mike,
who is in isolation in an ICU unit at
Northside Hospital, she told him to
fight and not give up.
Both Mike, age 70, and Linda
tested positive for COVID-19. Linda
said during an interview Tuesday af
ternoon that they were likely ex
posed to the virus at Liberty Square
Church in Cartersville on March 1st.
“We went to a service over there
and about three days later he started
feeling bad,” Mrs. Setser said. “He
was fatigued and hurting all over. He
said he felt like his body was being
poisoned.”
Linda said other symptoms in
cluded an increased need for sleep
and lack of appetite.
“He was trying to drink lots of
fluids and it’s not like him to stay in
bed. He was actually staying in bed
every day and taking Tylenol. At that
point we didn’t know what was
going on,” Linda said.
Mike went to urgent care in
Cherokee County and was given a
flu test. It was negative and doctors
thought his symptoms could be from
medicine he was taking so they told
him to discontinue it.
“We came home and a couple of
days later he still wasn’t feeling well
so he went to a primary care doctor
and was given antibiotics,” Linda
said. “He came back home and was
still hurting. He said it was the worst
pain he’s ever felt.”
Following the multiple-day an
tibiotic course, Mike still wasn’t
feeling better.
“During that time he continued to
drink as much fluids as he could and
he could only eat Jell-O,” Linda
said.
Mike developed a dry cough and,
Linda said, “just felt even more
weak and ex- See patient on 10A
Tate man arrested on child pom charges
Pickens Sheriff office / Photo
Pickens deputies and GBI agents arrest Jeremey Errol Mansion at
his home in Tate.
GBI Press Release
On Saturday, March 21, agents
with the Georgia Bureau of Investi
gation’s Child Exploitation and
Computer Crimes Unit (CEACC),
investigators with Homeland Secu
rity Investigations (HSI), and the
Pickens County Sheriff’s Office ex
ecuted a search warrant at the resi
dence of Jeremey Errol Mansion,
age 30, in Tate, Pickens County,
Georgia. The search warrant was re
lated to a joint investigation pertain
ing to the online sexual exploitation
of children.
As a result of the investigation,
Mansion, of Tate, GA, was arrested
and charged with Possession of
Child Pornography, Creating/Dis
tributing Child Pornography, Child
Molestation, Possession of a Firearm
During the Commission of a Crime,
and two (2) counts of Possession of
a Controlled Substance.
This investigation is active and
ongoing. No further information
will be released at this time.
Jasper
native, retired
GBI agent
discusses his
book on 2008
murder of
hiker
Jasper native and retired
GBI agent John Cagle
John Cagle led the Georgia
Bureau of Investigation’s search
for missing hiker Meredith
Emerson in the north Georgia
mountains. Hiking alone on
Blood Mountain on New Year’s
Day 2008, Meredith was ab
ducted and killed by Gary
Michael Hilton, who was cap
tured six days later. Hilton then
led Cagle and his investigators
to her body in Dawson Forest.
Books & Writers Editor
David R. Altman spoke with
Cagle about that investigation
and his new book, Those Days
in January’: The Abduction and
Murder of Meredith Hope
Emerson (BOOKLOGIX,
2020).
What follows is a portion of
that interview. See book review
on page 11 A.
Progress: Most of the book’s
chapters See Cagle on 11A
Inside:
Shelter sends
pets to foster
homes during
shutdown Page 3A
Other
coronavirus
news
Mobile unit at the
hospital — 5A
Volunteer for
COVTD-19 response
— 7A
Kemp orders vulner
able to stay home,
closes bars and night
clubs — 7A
Reducing and
handling stress — 4A
Stock food and water
supplies — 9A
School system — 12B
State Rep. Rick
Jasperse self-quaran
tines — 12B
IS social distancing
tips— 8A
Obituaries - 6A
• Betty Jones
• Bud Mills
• Dorothy Townsend
• Gerald Redmond
• Ruby Taylor
• Sonny Garlin
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