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Thursday, October 15, 2020 Volume 133 Number 26 Jasper, Georgia 22 pages in two sections Published Weekly
Harmony
Elementary
closed due
to COVID-19
The Harmony campus will be
closed to students until Oct. 26.
By Christie Pool
Staff Writer
christie@pickensprogress.com
Harmony Elementary School
closed its doors Monday after
noon, October 12th as one teacher
and one student tested positive for
COVID-19 and 18.5 percent of the
school’s staff was in quarantine,
according to Superintendent Dr.
Rick Townsend.
The school will re-open to stu
dents on Monday, October 26th.
All of the school system’s other
five campuses remain open.
Townsend said the biggest con
cern in the decision to close the
See Harmony on 11A
Rural living
may be more
attractive to
virus-wary
Georgians
Chris Clark, president and
CEO, Georgia Chamber of Com
merce.
By Dave Williams
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
The coronavirus pandemic rep
resents an economic development
opportunity for rural Georgia,
local business and government
leaders said October 7th during a
conference sponsored by the
Georgia Chamber of Commerce.
The highly contagious invisible
virus has made Americans wary of
living in close proximity to each
other in urban settings, Larry Han
son, executive director of the
Georgia Municipal Association,
told in-person and online audi
ences at the chamber’s fourth an
nual Rural Prosperity Summit in
Tifton.
“Density is what the coron
avirus loves,” Hanson said.
“People are wanting to leave
metro areas,” added Bill Gross,
owner and president of W.H.
Gross Construction Co. in Kings-
land. “Rural Georgia is in a phe
nomenal spot right now.”
But rural communities won’t
be able to take advantage of their
coronavirus-driven attractiveness
unless policy makers address sys
temic challenges that have long
See Commerce on 11A
Early voting starts
with massive lines
Greg Moore / Photo
The voting line started to form before the Pickens Elections Office opened at 8 a.m. Tuesday and reached
through the parking lot and down the street for most of the day.
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
Early voting opened Tuesday
with a line stretching from the Pi
oneer Road elections office down
the hill and wrapping around the
parking lot. One person who voted
mid-moming said it took almost an
hour and 45 minutes to cast his bal
lot.
Early in the afternoon, more
than 145 people had already cast
ballots with the line still reaching
past the lower end of the election
office parking lot.
This marked the first day of
early voting and the line surprised
local politicians and election work
ers. [Monday was a holiday, so
voting in Pickens started Tuesday.]
“I have never seen it like this,”
said Julianne Roberts, the supervi
sor of the county Elections and
Registration Office.
Another local politician said he
was amazed people were waiting
in the line since early voting runs
through October 30, including a
Saturday vote on Oct. 24th.
A person watching the line
Tuesday said they felt the crowd
was waiting on day one for the
same reasons people want to go on
opening night of a big movie - the
excitement and crowd just adds to
the experience.
But Roberts doubted that expla
nation. “I think people just want to
get it over with. There are probably
very few undecided voters so peo
ple know who they want to vote for
and are just ready to vote.”
If you are still studying ballots
and race, see sample ballots on
page 5B.
In counties where early voting
did start on Monday, the secretary
of state reported huge lines with
more than 128,000 votes cast in the
state. “Voter turnout in Georgia is
expected to top 5 million next
month with a presidential contest,
double the usual number of U.S.
Senate seats and a fierce push by
Democrats to flip the balance of
power in the Georgia House of
See Voting on 11A
If you are still
studying ballots
and races, see
sample ballots
on page 5B.
Pedestrian killed on Highway 515
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
A Marietta man walking on Highway 515 after
dark, Monday, Oct. 12, was struck by at least three ve
hicles and died as a result of the impacts.
According to Georgia State Patrol Post #28 Com
mander Tim Nichols, Michael Shawn Lloyd, 47, had
been a patient at Piedmont Mountainside and left on
foot just after 9 p.m.
“We were able to identify him because he had a hos
pital bracelet on,” Nichols said.
Information concerning the circumstances of his de
parture were not available in the GSP reports at press
time.
See Pedestrian on 11A
Some of the paint markings documenting evidence
where a pedestrian was struck and killed on 515.
Holland appointed to school board
Aaron Holland
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
The Pickens School Board
unanimously appointed Aaron
Holland to fill the unexpired term
of Joeta Youngblood, who resigned
due to a change in her residence.
Holland was hired in 2018 as
Instructional Technology Coordi
nator at Mountain Education Char
ter High School. Prior to that he
worked for 13 years in the Pickens
school system; first as technology
specialist at the high school and
later as a computer science teacher.
Pickens Superintendent Dr.
Rick Townsend said he is “excited
[Aaron] is coming on board.”
Board chair Tucker Green said “I
look forward to working with him
and think he’ll bring a great per
spective.”
Three candidates submitted let
ters of interest to fill the position.
One of those did not qualify be
cause they lived outside of District
2. The unexpired term ends De
cember 31, 2022.
When asked why he wanted to
serve, Holland told the Progress, “I
wanted to put my money where my
mouth is” after he left employment
with the Pickens school system and
became qualified to run.
“Being a part of the system so
See Holland on 11A
Inside:
Deer season
opens Oct. 17th
Page 1B
Latest COVID-19
numbers
As of Oct. 13, 661
confirmed COVID-
19 cases in Pick
ens County with 9
deaths and 60
hospitalizations,
according to Ga.
Department of
Public Health
Award
Jasper woman
makes finals for
Pet Sitter of the
Year Award
Page 4B
Government News
School board
meeting on
SPLOST windfall,
grant for College
& Career
Academy
Page 3A
Obituaries - 7A
• Dick Lawson
• Louise McReynolds
• Michael Davidson
• Randy Casey Jr.
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