Newspaper Page Text
THURSDAY. MAY 13. 2021 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 13A
The Pickens Teacher of
the Year nominees are pic
tured here with their respec
tive school principals, from
left to right: Pickens High
Principal Chris Wallace and
the system's Teacher of the
Year, Carrie Stephens;
Stephanie Grisham of Har
mony Elementary and Prin
cipal Marla Callahan;
Pickens Junior High Princi
pal Dr. Chad Flatt and Lau
rie Guelcher; from Tate
Elementary, Jessica Bryan
and Principal Stephanie
Hall; Jasper Middle
School’s Eileen Steinhauer
and Principal Corey Thomp
son; and Abby Tippetts of
Hill City Elementary with
Principal Jennifer Halko.
Continued From 1A
Revamp
In 2006, a rendering of a
different county park plan
was drawn up by W.K. Dick
son, but it was for a “ficti
tious” property of 100 acres
that was “flat, not inside a
flood plane, and is readily
available.”
“As y’all know we just
don’t have that kind of prop
erty,” Jones said. “What we
wanted to do instead of
working on a fictious site is
to look at the existing 40
acres and see what we could
possibly do and go from
there.. ..[Lose] has some
ideas they’re not going to
share yet until we sign on the
dotted lines, but they have
some ideas about how to bet
ter rearrange Roper Park to
serve what we’re currently
doing down there. It’s excit
ing. It’s the first time we’re
talking to someone who is
going to focus on the prop
erty we’re on currently.”
Jones said the Lose De
sign concept will include
phases, so if the county is
eventually able to purchase
adjacent properties there will
be plans for those potential
future phases.
Cost for architectural ren
derings will be around
$29,000, which Stancil said
was “shockingly reasonable.”
The county has not yet en
tered into an agreement with
the firm.
In a later interview, Stan
cil clarified that Parks &
Recreation will receive 10-
percent of the six-year
SPLOST collections, which
is predicted to bring in $3.5
million for parks projects.
“Once we know the cost
for revamping Roper Park we
can look at other options, but
we want to make sure it is
looked after first. If we have
the ability and necessary
funds, we can then look at
other options,” said Stancil,
who also touched on a time
line for the master plan. “We
are at the very beginning
stages of working to get a
master plan designed. We
will discuss the approval of a
contract with the architects
during our board meeting
later this month. From that
date, the process should take
around six months to final
ize.”
At the meeting, both Stan
cil and Jones credited the
county’s new arrangement
with the city of Jasper and
sheriff’s office for use of
their lighted baseball/football
fields in exchange for main
tenance and upkeep for mak
ing renovations possible. The
county now uses the football
field at the law enforcement
training facility on Church
Street, as well as ball fields at
Jasper City Park.
“If we have any construc
tion at Roper Park once we
get to that phase, [and] if we
have to tear a field out to start
working there we’ve got
fields to continue where soc
cer and baseball and softball
and t-ball can continue and
we won’t have to shut down
services,” Stancil said.
Jones added, “The fact
that we got the city ball fields
and the fact that they’re lit
and the fact that we got the
whole football field and its
lit, that’s made the availabil
ity of us to be able to do a
major renovation at Roper
Park feasible now.”
Continued From 1A
Suarez
son, Miguel Suarez, and
Hank Wilson Jr. are accused
of “driving to the Tractor
Supply Company, buying the
lighter fluid used in the
arson, supplying said lighter
fluid to Hank Wilson” Jr. and
dropping Wilson off at Bee’s
restaurant to commit the act.
Among other details, the
indictments accuse Suarez of
hiring Cannady to set Mary
Ann’s Restaurant on fire and
indicts Cannady, Miguel
Suarez, and Charles Wilson
with arson in the first degree
in the same incident.
Tyler Suarez was indicted
on two counts of arson in the
first degree, criminal damage
to property in the second de
gree, burglary in the second
degree, and possession of
tools for the commission of
crime for the October 6 inci
dent at Mary Ann’s Country
Cooking.
For the November 5 fire at
Bee’s restaurant, Suarez was
indicted on two counts of
arson in the first degree, bur
glary in the second degree,
conspiracy to commit arson
in the first degree, criminal
damage to property in the
second degree, possession of
tools for the commission of a
crime, two counts of criminal
attempt to commit a felony,
and criminal solicitation.
Suarez is being repre
sented by Barry W. Bishop of
Bishop & Bishop Attorneys
in Canton.
Continued From 1A
Scam
to his address after the vic
tims were conned by callers
from Jamaica.
For no apparent reason,
Bramblette had kept all the
envelopes, letters and any
other correspondence from
the victims giving a massive
amount of evidence of the
misdeed dating back years,
according to Cagle. They
have already identified and
contacted 10-15 victims and
know there are many more.
“Victims from all over the
United States, California,
Kansas and Michigan, you
name it,” said Cagle.
Working with postal in
spectors, they have access to
Bramblette’s Post Office box
ROSE PARADE & LOS ANGELES TOUR
5 days, departs December 29, 2021
Los Angeles • Pasadena — Immerse yourself in the pomp
and circumstance of the 133rd Rose Parade with pre
parade viewing of the floats, dinner with the Tournament
of Roses Committee, and grandstand seating to see the
parade up close. You’ll enjoy 5 days in Los Angeles, and
enjoy one of the world’s most memorable New Year’s
celebrations.
promo code N7017
1-866-721-2490
■ mwmm
vacations
*Freedatecbangesanytimeupto45dayspriortodepaitureforlandtoiirs.DepositsandfinalpaynientsreminnoiHefimdable.Pricesareperpembasedondouble
Othertemhonditionsmyapply.MyourTmelConsultantfordetails.
Specializing In:
Mold Remediation
Crawlspace Encapsulation
Indoor Air Quality Testing
Free Inspections
706-525-4834
01-877-699-1659
AmeriGlide
Don't let the stairs
limit your mobility.
The AmeriGlide Rave 2 stair lift is
the ideal solution for anyone:
@ Who struggles with using the stairs
& That is worried about risking a fall
0 Who wants to access all of their home
Call now to save on a Rave 2 stair lift!
and have recovered some
cash that he had on hand and
more as it arrives from other
victims. Once they obtain
banking records from all the
accounts, Cagle said they
will see additional details, but
can already tell this has been
going on for several years
and involved numerous vic
tims.
“There is just no telling
[how much it will add up
to],” he said. “Hundreds of
thousands went through the
accounts.”
Cagle said Bramblette
was a low-level part of an in
ternational criminal plan and
most of the money had been
sent on to Jamaica. Local in
vestigators are working with
the FBI, but it’s unclear how
far an investigation can go in
Jamaica. These crimes are
common with most of the
perpetrators in countries that
don’t pursue charges.
“These crimes are not rare
but it is rare that we arrested
someone, even though we
know he was only a low level
part,” Cagle said.
Bramblette is charged
with grand larceny and will
face additional charges. He
remained in jail on Monday
morning with no bail set.
The basic scheme was that
a caller in Jamaica would tell
victims they had won a
sweepstakes or possibly
some other con and get them
to send either money or some
of type of cash cards to
Bramblette in Jasper. Cagle
said there are likely other
low-level people elsewhere
also being sent cash and
cards.
Bramblette is suspected of
first putting the money into a
bank account in Jasper, then
getting cashier’s checks and
depositing them into ac
counts at two different banks
in Canton where someone in
Jamaica had ATM cards and
could withdraw the money
there and then put it into a Ja
maican bank.
Cagle said, moving it
around to different banks,
“washed the money a little,”
and allowed the money to be
withdrawn from multiple ac
counts to get around daily
limits on ATM card use at a
single bank.
Cagle said speaking to
some of the victims was
“pitiful.” He said the victims
were often elderly and had
lost substantial amounts and,
in at least one case, was very
embarrassed they had fallen
for it as their son worked in
law enforcement.
The veteran investigator
cautioned this wasn’t some
elaborate cyber crime. It was
a plain call on a phone and
tricking someone into send
ing money.
He strongly cautioned
people to not send money to
anyone who contacts you by
phone.
Cagle further emphasized
the danger of these scams in
a written statement: “Any in
dividuals who are contacted
by someone stating they have
won a sweepstakes or any
other prize, and in order to
collect winnings they must
send fees somewhere, IT IS A
SCAM. If anyone instructs
you to obtain gift cards and
provide the card numbers and
expiration date to someone,
do not do it. “IT’S A
SCAM.”
In recent years, the
Progress has reported other
similar call scams including
some where the caller claims
to be with the courts or police
and someone needs to imme
diately pay a ticket to avoid
jail; some where they claim a
relative has been injured in a
wreck and needs immediate
money at an emergency
room; and others with the
promise of high-paying at-
home jobs, but they need
money from the victim to get
them started.
No virtual learning option at Pickens
schools next year
In a message to parents
from Pickens Superintendent
Tony Young, emailed Tues
day, May 11, he announced
the system will not offer a
virtual option for the 2021-
2022 school year.
“To all Pickens County
School District families, vir
tual learning has presented a
host of challenges for stu
dents and families in our sys
tem and across Georgia. The
district has continually mon
itored data and engaged in
conversations with students,
parents, and administrators.
Many of our students have
struggled to satisfactorily
complete the assignments of
fered through the Pearson
platform. We want to pro
vide our students quality
learning opportunities and
we are not able to do that vir
tually.
“Because of the chal
lenges and concerns for our
students and families, Pick
ens County School District
will not offer full-time virtual
instruction for the 2021-2022
school year. Families who
prefer a virtual option for
their children will have ac
cess to home school pro
grams, state virtual schools,
and online state charter
schools. These virtual op
tions are not connected to
Pickens County School Dis
trict, so it will be important to
apply and enroll as soon as
possible. Additional infor
mation is available on the
Georgia Department of edu
cation website at this link:
www.gadoe.org/Curriculum-
Instruction-and-Assess-
ment/Pages/Home-Schools.a
Traditional
Business
Cards
• Printed per thousand
• Fast turn-around
• Supports local businesses
spx.
“We look forward to wel
coming all students back for
a traditional, in-person
schedule for the 2021-2022
school year. Our first day of
classes will be Monday, Au
gust 2, 2021. The district
will continue to focus on the
health and safety of our stu
dents along with having pre
ventative protocols in place
that follow the guidelines
outlined by local and state
healthcare partners.”
PHS Graduation
Friday, May 21
at 7 p.m.
Dragon Stadium
Parking Details:
• No parking allowed along Dragon Drive.
• Each graduate gets three parking permits, which will
allow three cars per graduate.
Shuttle Info:
(Guests will have the option of using a shuttle - the fol
lowing locations will offer a parking area and air-condi
tioned school bus shuttle).
• Pickens Junior High: Shuttles will load on side of the
gym and leave at 5:15 and 6 p.m.
• Chattahoochee Technical College: Shuttles will load
at the front entry of school and will
leave at 5:15 and 6 p.m.
• Royston, LLC: Shuttles will load at main parking lot
where a tent will be set up. Shuttles will leave at 5:15
and 6 p.m.