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Thursday, November 12, 2020 Volume 133 Number 30 Jasper, Georgia 28 pages in two sections Published Weekly
Election 2020 local wrap up
Stancil makes plans as
chair-elect; Shouse
skeptical of vote totals
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
Pickens Elections Supervisor
Julianne Roberts said Monday they
are prepared for a statewide re
count but believes Pickens vote to
tals wouldn’t change much,
certainly not enough to affect any
thing.
The elections office has the
paper ballots and cards from ma
chines stored and backed up, so
they can comply with whatever
will be required from all Georgia
counties.
‘‘It’s too close, you can pretty
well bank on us having a recount,”
she said.
Roberts, who has worked in
elections for years, said there is al
ways a chance that the machines
used for scanning the paper absen
tee let two slide through together
or something else odd happened.
“They are machines so things can
happen,” she said. But she noted
this would be one or two votes at
most.
“I don’t think it would change
anything,” Roberts said. “But this
is my first recount under the new
system so I’m not ruling anything
out. There are a lot more moving
parts in the new [electronic voting
system with paper ballot backups]
than we used four years ago.”
Roberts said she was here when
the very close election between
Billy Newton and Rob Jones for
commission chair occurred and
they had a local recount which
found an identical result.
Roberts said overall she had
confidence in the vote totals here.
She said “absolutely not” when
asked if she saw anything suspi
cious here during the election.
But in the June primary, the
state has since uncovered about
1,000 in Georgia who voted twice
and the Secretary of State has plans
to proceed with action against all
1,000. This included six people
from Pickens County. Roberts said
she couldn’t comment on specifics
as she hasn’t seen the information
yet.
She said she was notified that it
was five people who voted first by
turning in absentee ballots, then by
going to the polls as well as one
person who voted both during
early voting and on Election Day.
“At first I was furious with our
poll workers for letting this get by,
but after thinking about it, I can’t
say that as I’m not sure what the
poll worker saw on Election Day,”
she said.
She noted again, this was the
June primary vote, not the current
November election just completed.
See Results on 12A
Local precinct breakdown on 12A
Tax increase looming for 2021?
Commissioners express budget
concerns after meeting with dept, heads
Police, GSP
seek help
identifying
driver who
killed 515
pedestrian
Authorities looking
for red or maroon
Acura SUV
By Christie Pool
Staff Writer
christie@pickensprogress.com
The Jasper Police Department
and local Georgia State Patrol Post
are asking for help in identifying
the driver of a red or maroon
Acura MDX or RDX SUV that
may have been involved in the in
cident last month that killed a Ma
rietta man walking on Highway
515 after dark.
Michael Shawn Lloyd, 47, was
struck and killed sometime just
after 9 p.m. on October 12 after
being discharged from Piedmont
Mountainside Hospital, according
to Jasper’s Assistant Police Chief
Matt Dawkins.
Lloyd died after he was struck
by three vehicles as he was walk
ing along the right lane of the
southbound lanes of Hwy. 515.
Witnesses saw a small red SUV
strike him first between the hospi
tal and Rocco’s Pub. The vehicle
did not stop. Evidence found at the
scene by the Georgia State Patrol
Specialized Collision Reconstruc
tion Team (SCRT) has now iden
tified that vehicle as a red or
maroon Acura MDX or an Acura
RDX.
At the time of the incident,
GSP Commander Tim Nichols
said the driver of a vehicle behind
the red SUV that initially struck
Lloyd stopped and stayed at the
scene. Lloyd was on the ground
when he was struck by the second
vehicle, Nichols said. A third ve
hicle, a tractor trailer, also struck
Lloyd and continued driving.
See ID on 13A
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
At the end of several days of
budget hearings Monday, Nov. 9,
commissioner Becky Denney said
property taxes may have to be
raised next year.
In total, original budget requests
for 2021 from all departments and
offices were $1.8 million over pro
jected revenues of $28.6 million.
Commissioners have worked
with department heads over the last
few weeks to make cuts, with their
proposal scheduled for presenta
tion at the November 19 meeting
and later to go to a public hearing
on December 7.
Denney said a tough decision
might have to be made next year
because of increases in expendi
tures.
“We were so upside down with
the $1.8 million we might have to
look at a millage rate increase,”
Denney said. “I said I’d never do
Schools partner with
Highland Rivers
Health to provide
students access to
mental health
services
Submitted By Highland
Rivers Health
The child was just seven years
old when the Division of Family
and Children Services placed them
in foster care with a relative in
Pickens County.
it.”
County Finance Director Faye
Harvey said she agreed, to a point,
but noted that “you can’t fund
things if you don’t have the rev
enue for it,” alluding to the imme
diate need to create a balanced
budget for 2021.
One of the largest areas the
CFO and commissioners are cut
ting is not funding unfilled posi
tions, which several
offices/departments hoped to
keep in their budget and fill in
coming months.
If those elected officials/depart
ment heads need those positions
later in the year, commissioners in
stead want them to come back to
the board and make a request. If
approved a budget amendment
would be performed.
Sheriff Donnie Craig was the
last of all elected offices and de
partment heads to meet with com
missioners and the CFO on
November 9. The sheriff’s original
request was $656,000 over his FY
The child had been living in an
environment of extreme neglect
that had stunted them developmen-
tally. Besides a stable, loving
home, the youth would need a lot
of individual attention and coun
seling.
“When [name withheld] first
came to live with us, we noticed
right away they were behind aca
demically, socially, emotionally,”
says the foster mother, who legally
adopted the youngster the next
year. “The child was also lacking
in basic self-care skills that you
would expect a seven-year-old to
know.”
Not only did the child not know
2020 budget, according to the
CFO.
Harvey revised this proposal,
which did not fund any of the un
filled positions. At their Monday
public meeting, the sheriff coun
tered Harvey’s revision with a pro
posal that was a $489,000 increase
and did not fund three of those un
filled positions.
The sheriff’s office currently
has 98 positions in total. Of those,
82 are filled and six additional peo
ple are now in the hiring process.
Sheriff Craig said since he has
taken office, they have operated
with the 98 available positions as a
benchmark.
He added that there are some
line items that are out of his control
and some areas that are chronically
underfunded, which make it appear
his budget is over each year. For
example, group insurance is bud
geted by the county finance depart
ment, he said, but ended up being
$127,000 over in 2019; $86,000
See Budget on 12A
how to brush their teeth or bathe
themselves or dress appropriately
for the weather, they also had dif
ficulty regulating emotions and be
havior.
“It was like they kept every
thing inside and then when it
would come to the surface it was
very extreme,” the mother says.
“We wanted to provide a really
loving home environment, but
there were so many things we
needed to teach. We realized the
child needed help.”
But instead of having to search
for the right mental health thera
pist, schedule appointments around
See APEX on 13A
Pickens schools prioritize student
mental health with APEX program
A Veterans Day tribute to those who have served in our armed forces
The sole survivor of Midway's Torpedo Squadron 8
Veterans Day
ceremony Nov.
11 at 10 a.m. at
Veterans Park
By Larry Cavender
Contributing Writer
Condensed from Larry
Cavender's new book, Thank
You for Your Service - A
Tribute: True and Inspiring
Stories of Uncommon Valor
and Sacrifice of Unsung Mil-
itary Heroes.
In a photo taken shortly after the Battle of Midway in June
of1942, Ensign George Gay is seen here on the wing of a
Dauntless Dive Bomber with a fellow aviator, Lt. Wade Mc-
Clusky. It was McClusky, the squadron leader of Dauntless
Squadron 12, who led the initial dive bomb attack which
resulted in the sinking of both the Akagi and Kaga.
Oftentimes, in the fog of
war and in the chaos of com
bat, the tide of victory or de
feat may turn on seemingly
inconsequential actions that
later prove to be momentous
and pivotal events. Some
times, it is only chance that
determines the outcome of a
battle. More often than not,
it is the bravery of the unher
alded heroes of the frontline
that change the course of his
tory. In World War II's Battle
of Midway, such was the
case of George Gay, a
young, inexperienced naval
aviator whose heroic story
was prominently featured in
the classic 1975 motion pic
ture, Midway, as well as the
remake released this past
year.
Originally from Texas,
George Gay moved to Geor
gia following the Second
World War, and in the last
several decades of his life, he
lived within only 50 miles of
Pickens County.
The six months that fol
lowed the attack on Pearl
Harbor were dark days for
the United States. It was as if
all the power and might of
the Japanese Imperial Navies
and Armies were unleashed
after December 7th, 1941.
The Japanese were now ag
gressively expanding
throughout the western Pa
cific Rim invading the terri
tories and colonies of
traditional European powers
like Great Britain, France,
and Holland. United States
Pacific territories were also
not spared. Within three
weeks of Pearl Harbor, the
U.S. possessions of Guam
and Wake Island were con
quered, and, Manila, the cap-
See Veterans on 4B
★ ★
VETERANS DAY
SALUTE!
See special
Veterans Salute
Section
pages 4-7 B.
Award
Pickens 4-H wins
first place at state
Cotton Bowl for
the first time in 20
years Page14B
Health
COVID-19 cases
rise in Pickens
As of Tuesday, Novem
ber 10 there are 874 con
firmed cases of COVID-19
in Pickens County. There
have been 12 confirmed
deaths; two probable
deaths and 73 hospitaliza
tions here so far.
In the state of Georgia
there are 376,054 con
firmed cases, 8,264 con
firmed deaths, 32,631
hospitalizations, and
6,138 ICU admissions, as
of November 10.
Obituaries -11A
• Boody Wehunt
• John Caylor
• John Goodman
• Marilyn McMahan
• Robert McClure
Contact Us
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