Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, April 29, 2021
Volume 134 Number 2
Jasper, Georgia
20 pages in two sections
Published Weekly
Charges
against
Wigington’s
wife dropped
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@piekensprogress.com
All charges have been dropped
against Rosemary Wigington, wife
of former Pickens Magistrate
Judge Allen Wigington who re
cently pled guilty to dozens of
counts related to theft of taxpayer
money.
In an order filed in Pickens
County on April 23, visiting Judge
Tambra P. Colston dropped six
counts against Rosemary after the
court “read and considered the
state of Georgia’s motion” that
charges no longer be pursued.
Those six charges stem from three
incidents.
The attorney general’s office,
not the district attorney, is han
dling this case.
The grand jury brought charges
against Rosemary last November,
not law enforcement. Those
charges and her indictment came
several months after Allen was ar
rested in January of 2020.
Dismissed charges include four
counts of Unauthorized Use of Fi
nancial Transaction Card. One
was related to the purchase of a
computer at Best Buy; two to pur
chases at K&G clothing stores;
and one to a plane ticket to
Naples, Fla. where an out-of-state
work conference was held.
Other charges dropped were: a
Theft by Taking charge related to
money taken from a local attorney
to purchase a suit for a mock trial
student; and another Theft by Tak
ing charge that involved money
reimbursed from the Pickens
County Board of Education for a
training conference. Rosemary is
a teacher with the Pickens County
school system.
See Dropped on 10A
Trials resume
after 13 months
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@piekensprogress.com
Last week was the first time in
over a year a jury trial was held at
the Pickens County Courthouse.
The case involved a rash of enter
ing autos at three local businesses
last November. Defendant Alex
Durley pled guilty on Tuesday,
April 20. He was sentenced to four
years to serve and 10 years of pro
bation.
The long halt in jury trails was
a result of the COVID-19 pan
demic and orders from the Geor
gia Supreme Court. That pause,
which has contributed to an in
creased backlog in cases in this
circuit and across the state, ended
on March 9 when Georgia
Supreme Court Chief Justice
Harold Melton issued an order al
lowing trials to resume.
Appalachian Judicial Circuit
District Attorney Alison Sosebee
said the backlog “does exist” here,
and added that cases with top pri-
See Trials on 10A
“The Queen is Not Happy ”
Board chair's texts show plot
to oust former superintendent,
says Impact Pickens group
He has no idea the under
ground network we have,
Please tell them to praise
him to the skies. He will
mink they are wonderful, It
will ensure a good evalua
tion for them, and it won't
change our thoughts about
them or him. We know how
things are. We're working
as fast as we can to
correct the sltuatl
d) VIEW all >
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
A trove of text messages from
School Board Chair Sue Finley ob
tained by a group seeking to recall
other school board members shows
plans existed to oust former Super
intendent Rick Townsend months
before he was terminated.
The more-than 350 printed pages
of texts, some only fragments, from
Finley’s phone were presented by
Impact Pickens Saturday at a town
hall meeting. They included dozens
between Finley and former Assistant
Superintendent Tony Young detail
ing plans to have Townsend termi
nated and then bring back his
predecessor Dr. Carlton Wilson in a
two-part scheme.
However, according to the pres
entation, after the public uproar over
the termination of Townsend the
board stopped short of bringing Wil
son back and made Young the super
intendent.
In a later interview Young em
phatically stated he was on the re
ceiving end of texts, not originating
them, and was performing a role of
board liaison assigned by and
known by Townsend. [See Young’s
full response in accompanying arti
cle.]
Young and Board Attorney Phil
Landrum said Tuesday that the
school district is preparing a full,
point-by-point rebuttal, that ran 13
or 14 pages, but it was not ready as
of presstime. It will be released
when final on the school’s website,
pickenscountyschools.org.
Board Chair Finley said Monday
that she was aware of the Impact
Pickens presentation but was going
to let the school district rebuttal
serve as her comments as well. She
declined to comment directly, say
ing she was going to play her role
and proceed with due diligence.
Leaders of Impact Pickens, Steve
Lowe, Christopher Pence, and Brian
Rittenberry told the 50 members of
the community present that the mere
discussion of future board votes and
the plotting and undermining of
Townsend are clear violations of
ethics codes. They plan to hand over
all their documents to the state’s at
torney general as well as the Profes
sional Standards Commission,
which licenses educators, and the
group that conducts SACS accredi
tation for school systems.
“The superintendent and the
board chair have openly deceived,
lied, and See Texts on 9A
Supt Young responds:
“A great smear campaign”
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
Pickens School Superintendent
Tony Young and School Board At
torney Phil Landrum were in the
final stages of preparing a 13 or 14-
page point-by-point, response to the
Impact Pickens presentation Tues
day. However, it wouldn’t be ready
by presstime with final reviews ex
pected to take a good bit of time.
In the meantime, Young agreed
to an interview with the Progress
with Landrum attending to clarify
any legal points.
Young began by saying that Im
pact Pickens had put together a
“great smear campaign” against
him by linking disjointed texts to
gether to make them form a narra
tive that they wanted it to form.
“The narrative is completely
wrong,” he said. “It is built on two
false premises.” First, that the sys
tem was running well at the time of
Townsend’s removal and second,
that we were all involved in a plot
to bring back former superintendent
Carlton Wilson, Young said.
“The texts show about 10 per
cent of the conversation [between
me and Finley] and they are dis
jointed, fragments of me coaching a
very frustrated board member,” he
said.
Young empathically denied he
had worked behind the back of for
mer Superintendent Rick Townsend
and that he was involved in any
“plot” to bring back Carlton Wilson.
Young said that as a former
school board member himself, and
as far as back as Supt. Wilson’s
tenure, he had been assigned as the
board liaison for the superintend
ent’s office. Townsend not only was
aware See Response on 9A
Impact Pickens Presi
dent Steve Lowe ex
pressed “disgust” with behav
ior of top school officials
during a town hall meeting
Saturday. Their presentation
featured numerous text mes
sages the group obtained
through open records re
quests.
Five sought in
Gilmer murder
Page 8A
Crime
Entertainment
Amelie the Musical
opens Thursday at
PHS
Page 6A
Sports
Track team shines
at region Page 1B
Obituaries - 5A
• John Ogburn
• Robert Millsap Jr.
Contact Us
IT’S A BIRD, IT’S A PLANE, NO, IT’S A SOFTBALL! Henry Prince launches a softball into the heavens and has the crowd amazed at his throw.
Prince was one of 55 Special Olympics athletes last Friday who gathered to compete at Dragon Stadium. Special Olympics Georgia provides year-
round sports training for children and adults with intellectual disabilities giving them opportunities to develop physical fitness and demonstrate
courage. Every Pickens County school sent teams to compete and were assisted by PHS students and staff. Coach Sam Wigington coordinated the
games. Max Caylor / Photo
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