Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, June 17, 2021
Volume 134 Number 9
Jasper, Georgia
20 pages in two sections
Published Weekly
Dispute between business
partners leads to fatal shots
Angela Reinhardt / Photo
A large area of the Home Depot parking lot was roped off immediately following the shooting until GBI agents
completed work at the scene Friday afternoon.
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
A verbal altercation be
tween business partners
turned deadly last week in
the Jasper Home Depot park
ing lot. The incident resulted
in one man’s death and an
other being transported to a
hospital for his injuries.
The shooting occurred at
approximately 3 p.m. on Fri
day, June 11. According to
Jasper officials, what began
as a verbal altercation be
came physical and ended in
gunfire. Reports state that
Damon Jamie Williams, 42,
was shot by Jeffery Scott
Carden, 49. It is unknown
who initiated the altercation
at this time. Williams died
later as a result of his
wounds. Carden was trans
ported to the hospital for
medical treatment, and no
details on how Carden was
injured have been released.
As of Tuesday Carden
had not been booked into the
Pickens jail and no informa
tion on any warrants was
available.
“Gunfire had been ex
changed among the individ
uals; however, the scene is
under investigation and the
department has requested the
assistance of the GBI,” ac
cording to a public statement
from Jasper Police. “This ap
pears to be an isolated inci
dent between the two
individuals with no further
incident to report and the de
partment has contained the
matter at this time. Further
information will be forth
coming upon the involve
ment of the GBI.”
The Progress later con
firmed that Williams was a
longtime employee of Am-
icalola EMC and that
Williams and Carden were
business partners at Blue
Ridge Helicopter Tours. The
business made a post on their
Facebookpage June 12th an
nouncing they would close
temporarily due to Williams’
death.
“Due to an unexpected
tragedy resulting in the death
of our lead pilot, Blue Ridge
Helicopter Tours will be
closed for the immediate fu
ture; however, we will con
tinue our operations in the
near future with the goal of
providing exceptional tours
to our valued customers. We
sincerely appreciate your
support, and we ask that you
say an unspoken prayer for
See Shooting on 10A
nant. Ongoing projects
can’t move forward due to
lack of communication
amongst council. It appears
more conversations about
city business happens out
side of official meetings
creating transparency is
sues, ultimately affecting
decision-making. The city
officials can not move the
See Nelson on 10A
Nelson mayor issues
statement following failure
of park project vote
County begins laying plans
for $6.33M in expected
COVID relief
Current conditions at Pickens Street park, which
Mayor Green says is in disrepair and in desperate need
of quality upgrading.
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
Following the city of
Nelson’s regular city coun
cil meeting Monday, June
7, Mayor Sylvia Green is
sued a statement about
problems she has with
some council members and
their vote against funding
improvements to a park on
Pickens Street.
The Pickens Street park
is located on the same prop
erty as an old water tower,
and straddles the Pickens
and Cherokee county line.
There is an aging basketball
court at that location. At the
meeting, council was pre
sented with artist render
ings and voted on
construction drawing esti
mates for the park project.
Council members Nate
Hamby, Dustin Hamby, and
Martha Tipton voted
against moving ahead with
the proposal. Council mem
bers Susan Johnston and
James Queen were in favor
of the project.
Green feels those three
council members are not
utilizing SPLOST monies
as they should to improve
the city’s facilities, and cre
ating a “backlog” of col
lected sales tax funds.
The following is Mayor
Sylvia Green’s prepared
statement:
“SPLOST and capital
improvement remains stag-
Commissioners Becky Denney, Jerry Barnes, CFO Faye Harvey, County Clerk Lesa
Thomason and Chair Kris Stancil ponder how to best use the coming federal funds.
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
Members of the board of
commissioners and county
staff met briefly Monday for
a preliminary discussion of
what to do with $6,330,420
in American Rescue Plan
Act funds they will receive
over the next two years.
Items discussed ranged
both big ($1.5 million for
new water lines/tank) and
small (free swimming at the
county pool) but nothing will
be finalized until commis
sioners vote at a Thursday
meeting and even then, there
is flexibility - at least some.
As County CFO Faye
Harvey reminded the com
missioners, this is like any
budget, changes can be
made.
According to after-meet
ing comments from Com
mission Chair Kris Stancil,
See County on 10A
As Big Canoe approaches 50, a quick
look at the development’s history
Photo courtesy of Big Canoe Historical Society
An aerial view of Lake Petit, the darn and a neighborhood in Big Canoe’s early years.
By Melissa Lowrie
Contributing Writer
The mountain commu
nity of Big Canoe is about to
celebrate a milestone birth
day. It was in the early 70s
when real estate magnate
Tom Cousins developed a
second home community
encompassing parts of Pick
ens and Dawson counties.
Cousins and his father, I.W.
Cousins, purchased the
property from the Tate fam
ily. Originally, it was to be
come a place for Cousins
Properties’ corporate re
treats, but quickly became a
hamlet many others would
come to enjoy.
An employee of Cousins
hired a New England plan
ning group to come up with
a fitting name for the fledg-
See Big Canoe on 10A
Inside:
The Old Pickens
County Jail:
Curating the past,
present, and
future Page 2A
Church News
Jason Forster is
new pastor at
Tate Methodist
Page 2B
Editorial
What happens
when the
sidewalk ends
Page 4A
Sports
Legion of
Character
students named
Page 1B
Obituaries - 9A
• Annie Fouts
• Charles Lawton Sr.
• Christine Ingram
• Mary Ann Bracegirdle
• Nancy Bennett
• Nancy Jarrard
• Shawn Terrell
Contact Us
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Jasper, Ga. 30143
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