Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, April 23, 2020
Volume 133 Number 1
Jasper, Georgia
Local News Published Weekly
City, county plan reopening
Concern expressed as higher case numbers still expected
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
With Governor Brian
Kemp re-opening some busi
ness categories and relaxing
restrictions this week, local
officials were scrambling
Monday and Tuesday to see
how that would apply here.
During a Monday Zoom
conference of area public
safety officials, Jasper
Mayor Steve Lawrence,
Commission Chair Rob
Jones and Sheriff Donnie
Craig all commented how
they would need to watch
what came out of Atlanta and
be ready to react.
The city and county is
sued a joint statement Tues
day, which re-hashed much
of the governor’s statement
and applied some aspects of
it to the local situation. That
statement can be found in its
entirety on Page 3A.
On Monday Commis
sioner Jones expressed con
cern that the governor’s
opening later this week ap
pears to coincide with previ
ous information showing
that is also when the surge is
expected in north Georgia.
‘‘Hopefully they will let
us know more [out of At
lanta],” Jones said. “We
don’t know what these num
bers will do. I believe when
we start testing, the numbers
will go up. It’s putting us in
a catch 22 — danged if you
do, danged if you don’t [in
regards to re-opening].”
In a Q & A with Piedmont
Mountainside Denise Ray
(see article on continued
page), she noted, “Our cur
rent modeling shows the re
gional COVID peak to be
between the end of April and
early May. This model can
change quickly if individuals
do not follow recommenda
tions surrounding shelter in
place or forego social dis
tancing precautions.”
Lawrence, during the
meeting, expressed that he
was concerned at that point
in seeing that whatever is
See Plans on 1A
School
ends
May 8
Graduation,
Chromebook
returns, other
end-of-year
issues discussed
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
The Pickens County
School Board voted to end
the 2019-2020 school year
on May 8 this year, instead
of the original end date of
May 22.
The decision, made at
their April 16 regular meet
ing, came after presentations
and updates about student
online learning and partici
pation. Since that meeting,
the school system has also
announced that no student’s
grade will be below what it
was on March 13, the last
day school was in session at
school campuses before to
shutting down over pan
demic concerns. The mid-se
mester grade currently
shown on Infinite Campus is
the grade students had
earned at the beginning of
distance learning.
Prior to voting, interim
superintendent Dr. Charles
Webb said many of the dis
tricts in the North Georgia
Regional Educational Serv
ice Agency, of which the
Pickens system is part of,
decided to end the year
around May 8th or 15th. Dr.
Webb noted the Pickens
school system had already
hammered out plans for a
variety of options and was
ready to proceed with what
ever the board’s decision
See School on 11A
Jasper Fire’s Rolling Clown
Show brightens the day
Jasper Fire Facebook / Photo
Kids and other residents in Jasper neighborhoods welcomed the North
Georgia Fire Safety Clowns on Wednesday, April 15.
“We had children with signs for us media post. “It is our sincere hope that
and young people as well as the eld- everyone enjoyed it as much as we did
erly in their yards cheering the clowns and that it may have brought a mo-
and waving,” Roper said in a social ment’s peace See Clowns on 11A
Jasper Fire Facebook / Photo
Times are stressful, but there was
no shortage of clowing around with
this group from the Jasper Fire De
partment.
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
Last week, the Jasper Fire Depart
ment and North Georgia Fire Safety
Clowns took their annual show on the
road to spread some joy during these
stressful shelter-in-place times.
Each year the North Georgia Fire
Safety Clowns visit schools in the
community, but were not able to in
2020 with campuses being closed
since March 13. Instead, “Stumbles,”
“Sparkles,” “Hot Pockets,” &
“Stewie” hopped in the JFD Fire
Truck for a “Rolling Clown Show,”
which travelled around Jasper and
through neighborhoods.
Jasper Fire Chief Steve Roper said
the show-on-wheels was successful,
and thanked the clowns for making
the event happen.
Sparks fly in race
for tax commissioner
30 acres, vehicle burn
in Marble Hill
Inside:
Victory
Gardens are
not a thing
of the past
anymore
Page 6A
A look back
at the 1918
Spanish Flu
Page 4B
Obituaries - 5A
• Emogene Darnell
• Gregory Montgomery
• Marjorie Leverett
• Tammy Champion
• Ruby Ray
• Wayne Myk
Index
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
In an election season that
has been the most contentious
the county has seen in years,
with social media becoming a
forum for heated back-and-
forth in some races, the race for
tax commissioner also fire up
last week following an open
records request by one candi
date.
In a Facebook post dated
April 16th, candidate Daniel
Reeves - who is currently em
ployed in the tax commis
sioner’s office and oversees
delinquent taxes - said he ful
filled an open records request
from an unnamed opponent
“pertaining to the outgoing tax
commissioner and the payment
of his taxes.”
Besides Reeves, there are
only two other candidates in the
race and one, Tracy Chester,
also works in the tax commis
sioner’s office. Candidate Amy
Gibson later the same same day
identified herself as the one fil
ing the request.
The open records request re
vealed that Pickens Tax Com
missioner Darrin Satterfield
was late paying his personal
property taxes in recent years,
but Reeves defended Satterfield
- who is not seeking reelection
- and said he was afforded the
same opportunities as every
Pickens County resident when
it comes to delinquency.
“It has been the priority of
my office to work with every
taxpayer as often as possible to
pay their taxes,” Reeves’ post
stated. “In this case, the current
tax commissioner needed the
very same assistance given to
over a hundred or more citizens
every year to pay their taxes as
well. Every citizen has different
circumstances in life where
they may need extra time to pay
and I have always felt the need
to help any time I am able to do
so lawfully. Every person - in-
See Race on 11A
photo/ David Knight
Smoke from a fire that burned 30
acres near the Huber plant and Masonic
Lodge in Marble Hill. David Knight,
who took this photo, works out of a busi
ness directly across from this lodge and
spotted the smoke.
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
County fire officials and the state
fire marshal’s office are investigating
a Friday, April 17th fire in Marble
Hill that destroyed a vehicle and 30
acres of woodland.
Emergency crews responded to a
brush fire call at 8:30 a.m. in the area
behind the J.M. Huber plant. Pickens
Fire & EMS Director Sloan Elrod
said after crews arrived they traced
the fire to a parked vehicle, which
appears to be the origin of the blaze.
Elrod said by the time crews ar
rived the vehicle had burnt almost
completely, and had set surrounding
woods on fire. “The fire was running
up the hills,” Elrod said.
County crews called in the Geor
gia Forestry Service to assist in fire
suppression efforts, which were com
pleted by 5 p.m. that afternoon.
The vehicle was burned so badly
it has not been identified at this point,
but the fire chief said the investiga
tion is still in the early stages.
No structures were damaged.
Editorial 4A
Letters to the editor . ,5A
Church 6B
Kids 3B
People 5B
Classifieds 8-9B
Legals 7B
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