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THURSDAY. DECEMBER 31.2020 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 9A
Top stories from the Progress in 2020
Purchases and Other Debits
07/09 07/06 6974 N AMERICA RESCUE PRODU 864-6759800 SC $528.28
07/10 07/09 8435 CBI'PARALLELS 800-799-9570IL $49.99
07/11 07/10 7743 SQ *MARY ANN'S JASPER GA $65.00
07/12 07/11 1331 SQ ‘MARY ANN'S JASPER GA $78.90
07/12 07/12 1222 CALLINGPOST COMMUNICAT 706-860-0909 GA $54.99
07/13 07/11 5001 OFFICEMAX/DEPOT 6769 CANTON GA $46.63
07/13 07/12 2359 AMAZON MKTPLACE PMTS W WWW.AMAZON.CO WA $85.64
07/16 07/13 6336 THE HOME DEPOT #8413 JASPER GA $71.76
07/16 07/14 6425 HARBOR FREIGHT TOOLS 8 CANTON GA $168.61
07/16 07/14 4236 MICROSOFT 'OFFICE 36 MSBILL.INFO WA $99,99
07/16 07/14 7981 MICROSOFT 'OFFICE 36 MSBILL.INFO WA $99.99
07/16 07/14 4408 BESTBUY 00011866 CANTON GA $26.49
07/16 07/13 8695 HILTON HOTELS 404-6592000 GA $283.85
07/16 07/14 1967 RACETRAC 2331 00023317 CANTON GA $67.00
07/16 07/15 8930 AMAZON MKTPLACE PMTS W WWW.AMAZON.CO WA $187.83
07/16 07/15 4506 Amazon.com AMZN.COM/BILLWA $13.54
07/16 07/16 9848 AMAZONMKTPLACEPMTSAMZN.COM/BILLWA $31.84
07/16 07/16 1689 AMAZONMKTPLACEPMTSAMZN.COM/BILLWA $99.29
07/16 07/13 5852 AMAZON MKTPLACE PMTS W WWW.AMAZON.CO WA $60.85
07/18 07/17 3524 AAMCO CANTON GA $1,000.00
07/18 07/17 7216 AMAZON MKTPLACE PMTS W WWW.AMAZON.CO WA $13.99
07/18 07/17 4993 AMAZON MKTPLACE PMTS W WWW.AMAZON.CO WA $117.59
07/18 07/17 8641 AMAZONMKTPLACEPMTSAMZN.COM/BILLWA $20.36
07/23 07/20 5410 PRINTGLOBE AUSTIN TX $365.18
07/23 07/22 0910 AMAZON MKTPLACE PMTS AMZN.COM/BILLWA $8.49
07/23 07/22 5903 AMAZON MKTPLACE PMTS W WWW.AMAZON.CO WA $12.99
07/23 07/22 9144 AMAZON MKTPLACE PMTS W WWW.AMAZON.CO WA $258.11
07/24 07/23 4134 N AMERICA RESCUE PRODU 864-6759800 SC $22.92
07/25 07/24 5285 SQ 'MARY ANN'S Jasper GA $70.00
People were shocked to see the well respected Magistrate Judge Allen Wigington ar
rested for financial fraud involving the county credit card in a case that is still ongoing.
Above, one page of his monthly bills, from a Progress open records request, show some of
the hotel and other questionable purchases.
Landrum is a native of Pick
ens County and an attorney.
Landrum has been very in
volved in the community and
also serves on the Board of
Trustees for Reinhardt Uni
versity. Power Solutions Un
limited was named the 2019
Business of the Year. PSU
began in 2007 with three em
ployees and 100 service con
tracts. They now have three
office employees, two sales
men, three install crewmen,
four technicians and have
gone from 100 to 2,500 serv
ice contracts and install close
to 100 generators per year
from residential to industrial.
January 30- Jones work
ing lunches draw fire
February 6 - Chief mag
istrate arrested. Twenty-five-
year employee of county
government, Allen Wiging
ton was initially charged in
late January with improperly
using the county-issued
credit card for hotel night
stays and with writing checks
from the magistrate’s account
to reimburse the Blaine
Lodge for money he had im
properly taken from them as
their treasurer.
February 6 - The historic
Woodbridge Inn sold in Feb
ruary, 2020. The restaurant
and inn had been run by the
Rueffert family since the
1970s until ownership trans
ferred to a Pennsylvania in
vestor in 2018, at which time
another local family ran the
restaurant. The Woodbridge
Inn was one of the original
fine-dining destinations in
the north Georgia region.
Originally known as the
Lenning Hotel, the inn first
started hosting guests in the
1880s.
March 12 - Coronavirus
causes event cancellations;
schools and senior facilities
limiting visitors - In what
would become a running
theme for 2020, the first
headline about coronavirus
ran on March 12. While
health officials said the over
all risk to the general public
was low and no cases were
yet reported in Pickens, there
were 17 potential cases of
COVID-19 in Georgia and
area schools and nursing
homes began limiting visitors
and event planners cancelling
events in an effort to stave off
potential cases. Just two
weeks later, the county or
dered an emergency shut
down for businesses
throughout the county for 14
days from March 24-April 7
and ordered residents to
“shelter in place” and main
tain social distancing of at
least six feet.
May 7 - Pickens High
plans virtual graduation
“This pandemic has inter
rupted your year, but it has
not overshadowed your ac
complishments,” PHS princi
pal tells seniors.
The Pickens High School
Class of 2020 held a virtual
graduation ceremony that
was broadcast on Friday,
May 29th, a week after the
originally-scheduled gradua
tion. There were approxi
mately 300 graduating
seniors who signed up for
time slots to go to Dragon
Stadium and be filmed while
receiving their diplomas. El-
lijay Telephone Company
filmed the graduates and ed
ited and produced a film that
was broadcast. The 2020
prom was also cancelled due
to COVID.
May 21 - Will 2020 be the
year with no big events here?
(Apparently yes). Events left
and right were cancelled due
to COVID-19. From Memo
rial Day events to Fourth of
July celebrations, JeepFest to
the Marble Festival, Heritage
Days and Tate Days were all
cancelled in 2020. The only
event not cancelled in 2020
was the Jasper Merchants’
Association annual Night of
Lights Christmas parade. Or
ganizers held a drive-thru pa
rade where the floats were
stationary and the onlookers
drove their cars along Stegall
Drive to view them. Organiz
ers estimated between 800-
1,000 cars filled with people
came out for the reverse pa
rade.
September 10 - Football
season opens at Dragon Sta
dium - After months of
school closures, lockdowns,
quarantines, and general iso
lation created by the pan
demic, the excitement at
Dragon Stadium was palpa
ble for the season opener
against Gilmer on Friday,
Sept. 4. After the Pride of
Pickens Band kicked off the
night with the national an
them, the Dragons busted
onto the field where they
would overtake the Bobcats
17-8.
November 26 - Grand
Jury indicts Wigington on 57
counts, wife on 2 counts - On
Thursday, November 19th a
Grand Jury indicated former
Pickens Chief Magistrate
Judge Allen Wigington on 57
counts related to financial
fraud and theft. Wigington’s
wife Rosemary Wigington, a
Pickens High School teacher,
was arrested after the Grand
Jury indicted her on two
counts of Theft by Taking in
the same case.
The financial crimes case
against Wigington, a 25-year
employee of county govern
ment, began when he was
originally arrested in January,
2020. At that time he was
charged with improper use of
a county credit card and for
writing checks from the mag
istrate court to cover money
investigators say he stole as
treasurer of Blaine Lodge.
The case continued over the
next several months. The
Georgia Bureau of Investiga
tion executed a search war
rant at the home of the former
judge in May and seized nu
merous items they say were
illegally purchased with the
county card. So far, Wiging
ton has been indicted on 11
counts of Theft by Taking; 3
counts of Forgery in the
Fourth Degree; 42 counts of
Unauthorized Use of a Finan
cial Transaction Card; and 1
county of Violation of Oath
by a Public Officer. Among
the 42 financial transaction
fraud counts, all of which in
volved improper use of a
Pickens County government
credit card, five were related
to goods and services pur
chased at Hilton or Hampton
Inn hotels spanning from
2017 to 2019. The other
counts, also involving the
county credit card, are related
to a wide variety of allegedly
illegally purchased items be
tween 2017 and 2020. Items
include an Apple iWatch,
household items such as
faucets, a chandelier, a mat
tress, clothing, kitchen and
bathroom items, toys, sub
scriptions to various services
such as HBO and Kindle, and
others.
June 18 - Kris Stancil,
Donnie Craig win in primary.
When the dust settled after a
vote count that ran for several
days, challenger Kris Stancil
had knocked off Commission
Chair Rob Jones in the GOP
Primary, taking 59 percent of
the votes cast with a final
tally of 4,600 votes to Jones’
3,203. Jones was the longest
sitting top officer in Pickens
County’s modem history. He
had won re-election three
times, after winning his first
election to sole commis
sioner in 2004. He won elec
tion twice as sole
commissioner, oversaw the
transition of the county’s
form of government and then
won election as commission
chair twice before the June
defeat.
Stancil would go on to
beat independent candidate
David Shouse in the Novem
ber 3rd General Election by
more than 7,400 votes. Stan
cil secured 11,930 votes to
Shouse’s 4,505.
Incumbent Sheriff Donnie
Craig easily beat challenger
Chris Tucker, a combat vet
eran and former sheriff’s
deputy, taking 77 percent of
the vote. Craig received
6,055 votes to Tucker’s
1,840. Craig has served as
sheriff for the past 12 years.
August 17 - Students re
turn to school in what has
since been described as the
most unusual school start in
modem history. The start date
was two weeks later than the
original start date of August
3. A delayed start was an
nounced due to a spike in ex
posure to COVID-19 at Hill
City Elementary and commu
nity-wide. On August 17,
some students returned to in-
person school, but due to the
pandemic there was also the
option to return as a virtual
student in the Pickens Virtual
Academy and work from
home. First week enrollment
numbers saw 3,161 students
in the traditional, in-school
setting, and 1,172 in the Pick
ens Virtual Academy, a sepa
rate platform ran by Pearson.
August 6 - “Rampant mis
management” in tax office,
say commissioners -The
three members of the Pickens
Board of Commissioners is
sued a statement regarding
political discrimination com
plaints filed by two employ
ees of the tax commissioner’s
office. Commissioners had
reviewed a 500-page report
prepared by an outside attor
ney who specializes in labor
issues. Rob Jones said on be
half of the commissioners: “I
can say that we are extremely
disappointed with the ram
pant mismanagement in the
tax commissioner’s office.
We are deeply concerned
about the employees and we
are deeply concerned about
the office’s ability to serve
the residents of Pickens
County. Unfortunately, given
the tax commissioner’s status
as a duly elected official, the
board of commissioners has
no control over him or his su
pervisors; however, we will
be forwarding the independ
ent attorney’s recommenda
tions to the tax commissioner
in hopes that he and his man
aging staff will take the nec
essary action to bring order,
transparency, and fairness to
that office.” Jones went on to
say that the board intended to
conduct an economic audit of
the tax commissioner’s office
to ensure compliance with
state and federal financial re
quirements and the appropri
ate use of taxpayer funds.
(Update: To date, no audit
has been conducted.)
August 20 - Meadery
joins brewing businesses
here. Joining with two craft
breweries that began calling
Pickens home in 2020 - Talk
ing Rock Brewing in Talking
Rock and Pendley Creek
Brewing on Main Street - a
honey wine meadery called
Waldmet Cellars opened on
August 29th.
September 3 - At long
last, Pickens VA Clinic open
for business. The first day of
business for the long-antici
pated Veterans Administra
tion Clinic in Jasper came on
Monday, August 31st. The
project was first made public
in August of 2017. “The new
Pickens County VA Clinic
will increase access and en
sure that our veterans con
tinue to receive the
high-quality health care that
they have earned and deserve
closer to their homes, Atlanta
VA Health Care System Di
rector Ann Brown said. “We
are always trying to improve
services for our veterans, and
the new Pickens County VA
Clinic helps us do just that.”
Due to COVID-19 restric
tions, the clinic opened with
telehealth visits only, not in-
person appointments.
October 1 - The city of
Jasper in late September
threatened taxpayers with a
56 percent tax increase, say
ing the tax hike was the only
way to keep current services.
The county and school board
both rolled back their millage
rates for the upcoming year.
City Manager Brandon Dou
glas said at the time he pro
jected a 3.5 percent rise in ex
penses with a budget of $4.9
million rising to about $5.1
million. The city wound up
scaling that amount down to
a still high 22 percent in
crease for city taxpayers.
October 15 - Early voting
starts with massive lines -
The voting line started to
form before the Pickens Elec
tions Office opened at 8 a.m.
Tuesday, October 13th for
early voting in the 2020 Gen
eral Election. Lines wrapped
around the parking lot and
voters stood for hours wait
ing to cast their ballots. After
two full weeks of long lines
for early voting - with some
residents waiting over four
hours to cast a ballot - elec
tion officials opened a second
location for early voting at
the Pickens Recreation De
partment on Monday, Oct. 26
following an emergency
called meeting of the Pickens
County Board of Elections.
October 22 - New recy
cling center to open - After
several months of renova
tions and preparations at the
county’s new recycling cen
ter off Hwy. 515, the facility
opened to the public on Fri
day, October 30th. At the new
center at 390 Appalachian
Road, customers are required
to separate their recyclables -
except for glass. In the first
full month at the new facility
12,000 bags of regular
garbage was dropped off; 600
large bags of garbage; 57
mattresses; 127 tires; 25 re
frigerators (both large and
small); 13 big screen televi
sions and 34 other pieces of
furniture. The facility gener
ated $18,000 in garbage
dumping fees and $3,300 off
the recyclables.
November 19 - Armadil
los making themselves at
home here - While not about
to join squirrels or opossums
or even groundhogs popula
tion levels, armadillos appear
to be moving in, and as at
least one homeowner noted,
making a mess of them
selves, by digging.
December 17 — PHS
Graduation rate near the top.
PHS seniors boasted a 94
percent graduation rate in
2020, well ahead of state av
erages and also better than
any other school in our
county’s high school’s com
petition region.
But virtual classes leaving
many students behind
Unfortunately, at the same
meeting where this achieve
ment was announced, offi
cials presented a bleak
picture of virtual learning,
with the majority of kids who
return to the classroom, com
ing back well behind where
they should be. The curricu
lum director told the school
board they were trying a
number of ways to connect
better with students learning
from home but the bottom
line is the lack of time put in
by many of those students.
MyKenzie Weaver passes 2,000 total points. January 23.
Early voting starts with massive lines. October 15.
New recycling center to open. October 22.