Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, October 29, 2020 Volume 133 Number 28 Jasper, Georgia 28 pages in two sections Published Weekly
Election Day lines should be
manageable, says supervisor
Long lines,
complaints lead
to second voting
location
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@piekensprogress.com
After two full weeks of long
lines for early voting - with some
residents waiting over four hours
to cast a ballot - there have been
concerns about the remainder of
early voting and voting on Election
Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3. But Pickens
Elections Supervisor Julianne
Roberts believes Election Day
lines will be manageable.
“I really don’t think they are
going to be as long as people think
they will be,” she said. “We’ve got
12 polling locations across the
county.”
Roberts did not know the total
number of voting machines that
will be used Election Day, but the
site with the least number of ma
chines is four, and the site with the
most number of machines is seven,
she said. The number of machines
at each polling place is determined
by the number of registered voters
in that district, but also limited by
the size of the facility.
Those 12 locations are consid
erably more than the single early-
voting location at the elections
office that was used for two weeks.
The second location at the Pickens
Recreation Department was added
on Monday, Oct. 26 following an
emergency called meeting of the
Pickens County Board of Elections
the previous Friday.
In a public statement on Friday,
Oct. 23, the board said, “This de
cision was made to aid voters’ ad
ditional access during this histori
cal election cycle.”
Many members of the public
complained about the location on
Pioneer Road as being inadequate
to handle an election of this mag
nitude, and chided the board for
not anticipating the big turnout and
securing a larger location for early
voting. The steep incline at the
elections office, which makes it
difficult for some people to stand
in line long periods of time, as well
as lack of access to restrooms,
cramped voter space, and the small
number of voting machines at that
See Voting on 12A
John Cagle
named director
of sheriff’s
Criminal
Investigations
Division
John Cagle, right, is wel
comed on board by Sheriff Don
nie Craig.
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
The Pickens Sheriff’s Office
has hired John Cagle, a well-
known and experienced lawman,
to be the captain of their criminal
investigations division.
Sheriff Donnie Craig called the
hiring of Cagle, “huge” for his of
fice and the whole community.
“I have known Mr. Cagle for
my entire career in law enforce
ment,” the sheriff said. “He brings
proven integrity and experience to
our office. I am excited to have
someone like him to lead our de
tectives.”
Cagle, a native of Pickens
County, worked for 30 years with
the Georgia Bureau of Investiga
tions, covering the north Georgia
area, first in drug enforcement for
20 years, then 10 years in violent
crime investigation. He retired in
2008 as the Special Agent in
See Cagle on 12A
COVID-19 cases on the rise
in Pickens County & state
Georgia Public Health Dept. / Photo
Confirmed COVID-19 cases — Percent change from October 3 to
October 16. Pickens is in the increasing above 5 percent category.
Schools closed
for two weeks;
Pickens man on
ventilator is one of 763
confirmed cases here
since outbreak began
By Christie Pool
Staff Writer
ehristie@pickensprogress.com
As COVID-19 cases surge in
Pickens County, the local school
district has closed all schools for
two weeks and a Pickens man
fights for his life against the virus
at Kennestone Hospital.
On October 23rd school offi
cials, citing a rising number of
cases and more than 600 students
and faculty in quarantine, made the
call to close all schools for two
weeks. In-person classes are
scheduled to resume on Monday,
November 9th.
As of October 23rd, there were
three confirmed cases of COVID-
19 at Hill City Elementary; four at
Harmony Elementary; one at
Jasper Middle School; 10 at Pick
ens High School; one at Pickens
Junior High; and seven at Tate El
ementary for a total of 26 infec
tions, or 0.55 percent of the
schools’ population.
And community cases are in
creasing as well, according to the
Georgia Department of Public
Health.
Pickens resident and Bethany -
Salem volunteer firefighter Nick
Pickett is in stable but critical con
dition after he was admitted to the
hospital on October 9th when he
tested positive for COVID-19 and
double pneumonia. His wife,
Casey, who has worked as a Pick
ens County 911 dispatcher for
more than a decade, along with the
couple’s daughter, also tested pos
itive for the vims.
Nick, age 38, is now on a venti
lator and underwent a tracheotomy
last week to relieve pressure on his
vocal chords, according to Kristy
Easterwood, operations chief for
the Pickens 911 Center and the per
son who organized a GoFundMe
fundraiser for the couple.
“Nick is a volunteer firefighter
and assistant chief at Bethany-
Salem Fire Department and works
as a paramedic with Metro Ambu
lance Service in Bartow,” Easter
wood said. “Nick is very sick and
Casey also tested positive for
(COVID). Her symptoms were not
being able to smell or taste and real
fatigue. Their daughter, who is
nine years old, also tested positive
but was asymptomatic.”
See COVID on 12A
Nick Pickett is in stable, but
critical condition. A GoFundMe
account has been establishedfor
his medical expenses.
Paranormal researcher finds spirits at Tate Gym
Submitted by Jeanne Wells
paranormal investigator
Tate, Georgia is a hotspot for paranormal ac
tivity. In this very small southern town there are
several haunted locations: the Tate House, the
old train depot, the cemetery, the Old Tate Gym,
and Tate Elementary School yard to name a few.
It is a very old town and it is rich with history
as well as strong, lingering energies.
The “Old Gym,” built in 1925, is on the Na
tional Registry of Historic Places and sits on
property alongside Tate Elementary School,
formerly Tate High School.
Who would think that a school gym would
actually be haunted? Well, this one is. Over the
years, some of the workers who are responsible
for its upkeep and preservation often hear unex
plained noises, and have had strange things hap
pen. It is believed that the spirit may be a man
who had frequented the gym and had passed
away. When something happens they say, “Oh
that’s (so and so) again” (not mentioning names
to protect the family members of this person).
There is eeriness about the building and peo
ple feel as though they are being watched. Some
claim to have seen a tall figure walking by the
stage area near the bathrooms. Strange noises
and footsteps See Spirits on 12A
Photo from author
Paranormal investigator Jeanne Wells performing a cleansing of the Old Tate Gym, where
she felt the presence of spirits.
Inside:
Whiskey dressed
as a ghost. See
other pets’ cos
tumes with “A
dog-gone good
Halloween.”
Page 8A
Both the city of
Jasper and the Pickens
County Government
have designated trick-
or-treat times for resi
dents to be from 5 p.m.
to 8 p.m. Halloween will
be on a Saturday this
year.
Due to Covid-19
guidelines, the City of
Jasper and the Jasper
Merchants will not
sponsor trick-or-treat on
Main Street.
Politics
Sample ballots
Page 8B
More News
Our editorial and
other news ap
pear in the “B”
section this week
Obituaries - 7B
• Barbara Poole
• Catherine Blaine
• Frances Bramlett
• Grady Hester
• Jacalyn Roper
• Michael Beasley
• Mitchell Nichols
• Randy Wilder
• Shirley Kent
• Venita Cain
Contact Us
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