Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, August 27, 2020
Volume 133 Number 19
Jasper, Georgia
18 pages in two sections
Published Weekly
No decision yet on Shouse
signatures for commissioner
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@piekensprogress.com
At press time Tuesday, Aug. 25,
Pickens Elections Supervisor Ju-
lianne Roberts said there were still
around 100 petition signatures that
had to be verified before Independ
ent commission chair candidate
David Shouse could be placed on
the November ballot.
Roberts said they had verified
518 signatures by lunchtime Tues
day, but still needed 102 more be
fore he would qualify. Roberts did
not know how many more had
been submitted but not checked at
that point.
‘‘It’s going to be close,” she
said.
Roberts wasn’t sure of the total
signatures submitted by the candi
date on Thursday, Aug. 13, but that
“it definitely wasn’t double” the
required 620 signatures that he
said he had turned in.
Roberts hoped to have verification
- which requires a visual compar
ison of signatures on the voter reg
istration card and the petition sheet
- completed that evening of Tues
day, Aug. 25. She said they have
had to throw out some signatures
because they didn’t match or in
one case was a duplicate, but she
didn’t have the specific number of
those judged invalid.
Verifying the petition has taken
longer than Roberts anticipated,
with her original completion goal
of Friday, Aug. 21. There has been
one person in the elections office
verifying signatures. Roberts said
their office does not have room to
accommodate more than one per
son to do that job.
Look for an announcement
about Shouse’s qualification on the
Pickens Progress website and
Facebookpage.
First week of
school saw no
major issues
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@piekensprogress.com
Pickens Board of Education
Chair Tucker Green said despite a
few expected bumps, the first
week of what is arguably the most
unusual start of school in history
was successful.
“It went very well overall,”
Green said. “We had a few hic
cups but no major issues. I know
we are in uncharted territory and
there might be some angst and
worry.. .but overall I think people
are excited and happy to be back.
I think people have missed the in
teractions, working, playing ball
and coaching, and students are
glad to be back with peers. I think
we’re happy to say we made it
through the first week.”
Green visited some elementary
campuses the first day and was
“pleasantly surprised” to see many
of the students wearing masks to
prevent the spread of COVID-19.
He said he has heard from some
students they want to be safe so
they can continue to stay in
school.
In terms of COVID cases and
tracking, as of press time there
were four cases being reported in
the system. When there is a posi
tive case - or symptomatic parties
who have not tested positive -
contract tracing is conducted to
see who has been possibly ex
posed/in direct contact, and who
may need to be quarantined. At
this point there have been no
widespread cases or need to per
form widespread quarantines.
When asked what would trigger a
campus closure, Green said there
are no specific number of cases
but that it is a matter of what is
“practical” and what is recom
mended by the Georgia Depart
ment of Public Health. It is
ultimately a decision of the super
intendent and his staff. Green said,
for example, the superintendent
delayed the school start because so
many members of the Hill City El
ementary staff were exposed it
would have been impossible to
open that campus.
“Of course we want no cases,
but what we are trying to do is
minimize exposure and spread
through things like social distanc
ing and mask-wearing,” Green
said. “But with closures, it’s about
what’s practical. If we have two to
three teachers out we probably
wouldn’t need to quarantine and
close, but if we have 20 or 30
teachers out that could be an issue.
See School on 9A
“Selling smiles” at Get Inspired Flight
Angela Reinhardt / Photo
Pilots and instructors David and Laura Thorburn-Gundlach with one of their planes at the Pickens County
airport. The couple offers flight lessons through their company Get Inspired Flight.
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
I was a teenager the last time I
was in a small private airplane, but
that didn’t keep David Thorburn-
Gundlach from handing me the
controls of the compact two-seater
Jabiru J250-SP.
David, who along with his wife
Laura gives flying lessons from the
Pickens County Airport, spoke en
thusiastically as we taxied up the
runway. The fiberglass-bodied
Jabiru (aka “Kanga”) is their high-
tech gal, he told me, with her Pri
mary Flight Display, GPS, and
two-axis autopilot. The controls
were fascinating, but nothing about
the array of switches, buttons, or
the multi-colored digital panel was
familiar to this ground dweller. I
listened as he explained altitude
gauges, wing flap toggles, and a
variety of other controls in the
snug cockpit, a grin across his face
the whole time.
As we traveled along the run
way in preparation for takeoff,
David invited me to press the rud
der pedals, which turned the nose
of the plane left, then right. He had
me click a toggle switch a few
times to adjust the wing flaps, we
picked up speed, and the ground
began to fall away. Buildings grad
ually became smaller as we as
cended into the sky, and the new
and expansive view of the place I
was so familiar with from below
turned my world on its head. You
couldn’t help but grin.
“I like to think that we sell
smiles,” David said through our in
flight headsets as we glided over
the green hills and foliage that
dominate the landscape, the rural
ness of Pickens County becoming
apparent when you view it from
above. “I love seeing people when
they get up here, when they get a
new perspective of the world. I
mean, look at the view. I love my
office.”
As we steadied to a cruising po
sition a few thousand feet in the
air, it was time for me to take the
proverbial wheel (it’s not actually
a wheel, but a control stick posi
tioned between the two seats.) His
hand ready to take over if need be,
David instructed me to push for
ward and alternately pull back and
the nose would move up and
down. I was nervous (would I push
too hard and plunge us into those
pretty green hills?), and I was
See Airplane on 9A
Fleeing driver hits stopped trailer
at busy 515 intersection
Jasper fire crews extinguish flames from a car that crashed near the
Hwy515/53 intersection Monday, after the driver fled from a Ga. State
Trooper. The driver was charged with DUI among other offenses.
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
A Ga. State Patrol chase of a
Canton man driving wildly on a
crowded portion of Highway 515
Monday ended with the fleeing
driver crashing into a stopped
trailer at the Highway 53 intersec
tion.
According to Ga. State Patrol
reports, a trooper spotted the driver
in a Ford Focus travelling at a high
rate of speed and changing lanes
recklessly with no signals.
Ga. State Patrol Post Com
mander Tim Nichols said they
began a pursuit northbound near
See Crash on 9A
Jasper planning for projected $556,000 shortfall
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
At a meeting held last week,
Jasper officials discussed an antic
ipated $556,000 shortfall to the
2021 budget unless steps are taken
to increase revenue and/or reduce
expenses.
City manager Brandon Douglas
called the meeting with council
members ahead of regular budget
meetings and millage rate approval
in September/October to not
“spring it on them,” and have a
successful budget season. He said
it would be “unacceptable” to pres
ent council with an unbalanced
budget.
“It would be very irresponsible
of me as your city manager to paint
a photo that we are in tip top shape
of breaking even next year,” Dou
glas said. “With the 2020 budget
we were having to utilize fund bal
ance even without some one-time
costs.”
A millage rate increase, work
force spending reduction, and in
creases to the minimum water bill
fees were discussed as potential
ways to balance the budget.
In discussion, Douglas first
mentioned this past July when the
city approved a budget amendment
that ate up 29 percent of their fund
balance, or $250,000. Douglas said
much of that 29 percent was used
for one-time costs, such as soft
ware/hardware, police bullet-proof
vests, turnout gear for the fire de
partment, playground, zoning ordi
nance, not costs that have to be
budgeted next fiscal year.
He said he is skeptical about
sales tax revenues holding steady
for 2021, and noted that in 2021
they are looking at an additional
$280,000 in additional expenses
for employee benefits costs.
“Not taking into account depart
ment requests, if we just hold
steady with revenues we have this
year, take out the one-time costs...
add $280,000 I’m projecting is
going to be additional, we are
looking at about $556,000 deficit
for 2021. Even if the [Local Option
Sales Tax] were to go up $100,000
we’re still $450,000 in the hole.”
He noted that CARES grant
money related to COVID-19 will
help as they can charge off some
public safety employee costs, and
others.
The city’s expenditures have in-
See Deficit on 5A
COVID-19
in Georgia
According to the Georgia
Department of Public Health,
there have been 256,253
confirmed cases of COVID-
19 in the state of Georgia with
5,156 deaths, 23,425 hospi
talizations and 4,272 ICU ad
missions, as of Tuesday,
August 25th.
In Pickens, there have
been 477 confirmed cases,
six deaths and 46 hospital
izations, according to the
GDPH.
The North Georgia Health
Department offers free
COVID-19 drive-thru testing.
In Jasper, drive-thru testing
will be held from 9 a.m. until
noon on Thursday, Aug. 27th.
Call 1-888-881-1474 for an
appointment. The appoint
ment time and test site loca
tion will be provided at the
time of registration.
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Obituaries - 5A
• Bill Bozeman
• Connie Wehunt
• Elaine Logan
• Evelyn Thomason
• Joyce Fowler
• June Jenkins
• Kenneth Padgett
• Robert Boling
• Ronald Pope
• Sarah Gravley
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