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Thursday, June 18, 2020 Volume 133 Number 9 Jasper, Georgia
Local News Published Weekly
It’s official,
JeepFest
has been
cancelled
Staff reports
A statement released Fri
day, made it official. Sher
iff’s JeepFest 2020 is not
going to roll.
On their website, the
Sheriff’s Foundation stated
people are distanced in the
Jeeps on trails, “but at home-
base, downtown, restaurants
and camping areas are not
possible to separate a crowd
that doubles our commu
nity’s population from all
over the country. We will
work hard to find other,
smaller ways to support the
kids throughout the year. We
also wanted to announce as
early as possible to not affect
travel plans. “
The announcement said
they would offer some mer
chandise like decals and
shirts to raise funds to sup
port the many non-profits
that they usually help.
The response to the an
nouncement on social media
was mostly negative. But
Sheriff Donnie Craig said
they had to err on the side of
caution and in the interest of
public safety.
“With so many people
who come from all over the
country, we are not willing
to take the risk,” he said.
“Thus far Pickens has not
been affected like other
areas and we don’t want to
expose it.”
JeepFest follows the
Jasper Lions who previously
announced their cancellation
of the traditional Independ
ence Day celebration.
Organizers of the Marble
Festival, Talking Rock Her
itage Days and Tate Days
Festival have all said previ
ously they expect to make
announcements later this
summer.
See our editorial on the
JeepFest decision on 4A.
Jasper Police
believe two
incidents of
racial graffiti
are isolated
Authorities believe racial
graffiti found in the parking
lot of Prestige Medical
Group and another location
are likely related to the re
cent protest in Jasper.
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
Two incidents of racial
graffiti found in Jasper busi
ness parking lots June 8 are
thought be isolated inci
dents, and are likely a reac
tion to the earlier Black
Lives Matter rally here,
Jasper Police believe.
The day after the Black
Lives Rally on Main Street,
employees at Prestige Med
ical Group found a swastika
painted in their parking lot
in some type of white pow
dery spray paint. A short dis-
See Graffiti on 11A
Kris Stancil, Donnie
Craig win in primary
Although Kris Stancil won the
GOP primary, he willface Independ
ent David Shouse in November.
Sheriff Donnie Craig will serve
another term after beating Chris
Tucker by a wide margin.
Runoffs ahead for
tax commissioner,
school board post 1
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
When the dust settled after a vote
count that ran for several days, chal
lenger Kris Stancil had knocked off
Commission Chair Rob Jones in the
GOP Primary, taking 59 percent of the
votes cast.
Stancil will face David Shouse,
who has announced he will run as an
Independent, in the November Gen
eral Election.
Stancil won across all precincts in
the county taking 4,600 votes to
Jones’ 3,203. Abreakdown of the vote
totals in this race from the secretary of
state website shows that Stancil drew
equal support from all areas of the
county and in early, election day, and
absentee voting (See breakdown on
vote count for this race on Page
11A).
In a statement released on his cam
paign Facebook site, Stancil said, “I
cannot say thank you enough. With
only a handful of ballots to be
counted, it looks like we have been
able to secure the Republican nomina
tion for the November General Elec
tion. I also want to say thank you to
Chairman Jones for a great campaign.
I had the privilege to speak with him
earlier today and he was extremely
gracious in wishing us luck moving
forward. We still have a long way to
go and a lot of work to do, but this has
been an unforgettable day.”
Rob Jones is the longest sitting top
officer in Pickens County’s last cen
tury. He had won re-election three
times, after winning his first election
to sole commissioner in 2004. He won
election twice as sole commissioner,
oversaw the transition of the county’s
form of government and then won
election as commission chair twice
before last week’s defeat.
In a statement released after the re
sults, Jones said, “I want to thank you
all for giving me the opportunity to
serve our community the past 16
years. It is truly the honor of my life.
Reflecting on my time in office, I am
See Primary on 11A
Lions, First Baptist to host drive-
thru with 960 boxes of free food
IJSDA
Farmers to Families Food Box
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non profit ur^anirulion* lu enmre liial all American* have accna In die firth and wludrtoine food
they need during the CQVID-19 national emergency,
Farmers
aril food ptevlmady detttnrd for
rotaunmU and hulk purchaser* to
dUlrilmtorm. preventing waatc
Distributors
(partner with USDA to pubm’ family-tired lu>xni
with fretli produce, dairy mid meat product*, dim
trarnpoit them !u 11011 profits surra* America
Families
pick up food boxes from local achocda.
food tank*. fnllh-baacd orgatiljulkuit
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USDA is partnering with farmers, ranchers, specialty crop producers,
food processors and distributors, and non-profit organizations to ensure
that all Americans have access to the fresh and wholesome food they need
during the COVID-19 national emergency.
Submitted by Jasper Lions
Volunteers from the Jasper Lions
Club and First Baptist Church of
Jasper will distribute a truck filled
with 960 boxes of fresh produce on
Friday, June 19 at First Baptist Church
of Jasper, located at 198 East Church
Street. This hunger and diabetes
awareness and prevention relief effort
will aid the general public as commu
nities are re-opening following the
COVID-19 crisis.
Lions Clubs in Georgia have part
nered with Collins Brothers Produce
of Forest Park, Ga. in this USDA
Farmers to Families Food Box Pro
gram. Boxes going out currently are
assorted with carrots, Idaho potatoes,
sweet potatoes, onions, green cab
bage, lettuce, lemons, yellow squash,
apples, and oranges. There will be no
dairy or meat products at this time.
As part of the Coronavirus Farm As
sistance Program U.S. Secretary of
Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced
on April 17 that USDA is exercising
authority under the Families First
Coronavirus Response Act to pur
chase and distribute agricultural prod
ucts to those in need. Through this
program, USDA’s Agricultural Mar
keting Service (AMS) is partnering
with national, regional and local sup
pliers, whose workforce has been sig
nificantly impacted by the closure of
restaurants, hotels and other food
service businesses, to purchase up to
$3 billion in fresh produce, dairy and
meat products. The program will pur
chase $461 million in fresh fruits and
vegetables, $317 million in a variety
of dairy products, $258 million in
meat products and $175 million in a
combination box of fresh produce,
dairy or meat products. Suppliers will
package these products totaling $1.2
billion into family-sized boxes, then
transport them to food banks, commu
nity and faith-based organizations,
See Food on 11A
Hail storm hits parts of west Pickens
Angela Reinhardt / Photo
A storm dumped large amounts of hail in parts of
west Pickens, like this area off Jerusalem Church Rd.
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
A violent hailstorm hit
portions of west Pickens
early Sunday evening, June
14, with reports of downed
trees and limbs and exten
sive damage to gardens and
landscaping.
At 5:30 p.m. a severe
thunderstorm warning was
issued for Pickens County,
with warnings of winds up to
60 m.p.h. and hail up to an
inch in diameter. At 5:45
p.m., 11 Alive reported ping
-pong sized hail between
Ludville and Talking Rock.
Just after the storm passed, a
drive down Jerusalem
Church Road - an area that
was hit hard - looked like a
war zone where vegetation
was the clear loser. A thick
layer of leaves knocked from
trees and shredded by hail
and wind covered the road
and yards, and was splattered
against the sides of homes.
A dense, low-lying fog
hung close to the ground
after the storm, clearly visi
ble in pictures. Hail that was
piled on the sides of the
roadway made it look like it
snowed. At least two vehi
cles had slid off the road, one
knocking out part of a fence.
There were reports of nu
merous vegetable gardens
and other foliage and land
scaping that was decimated,
and looked like “it had been
hit by a weed whacker,” ac
cording to one person.
The temperature dropped
significantly after the front
moved through.
Jerusalem Church Road
resident Trisha Payne was
home when it happened.
“The hail was falling so
hard and so fast that it was
hard to carry on a conversa
tion because of how loud it
was,” she said. “We thought
the windows would start
cracking at any moment.
Scott and I went out on the
See Hail on 11A
Inside:
coviD-19
among Rec.
staff forces
closures
at park
Page 1B
Hinton Dollar
General
swindled in
phone scam
Page 2A
Read what the
population
was in 1920 in
Turning Back
the Pages
Page 8A
Obituaries - 10A
• Sandra Ahern
• Harold Colley
• Teri Gibson
• Jerry Andrews
• Johnny Rich
• Patricia Allen
• Donald Fountain
• David Whitaker
Index
Editorial 4A
Letters to the Editor . ,9A
Church 2B
Kids 3B
People 8B
Classifieds 6-7B
Legals 4B
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