Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, June 24, 2021
Volume 134 Number 10
Jasper, Georgia
20 pages in two sections
Published Weekly
Fallen police officer had ties
to local church, community
By Larry Cavender
Contributing Writer
It is a tragic story that has
lately become all too famil
iar - "Police officer is killed
after making a routine traffic
stop." That story, unfortu
nately, has now struck close
to home.
On Wednesday evening,
June 16th, while patrolling
on Hickory Road in Chero
kee County east of Holly
Springs, officer Joe Burson
pulled over a speeder. In the
ensuing moments the of
fender attempted to escape
in his vehicle and dragged
Burson several hundred feet
along the roadway. The
young 24-year-old police
man lost his life as a result of
the injuries he sustained.
His position with the
Holly Springs Police Depart
ment (HSPD) was Burson's
first law enforcement job.
He was still considered a
"rookie" because he had
only worked with the depart
ment since January of 2020.
He was a graduate of Kell
High School just south of
Woodstock in northern Cobb
County, and was also just re
cently married. In the past
year, he and his wife
Marykate had chosen to
make their residence in Ball
Ground. They attended Rev
olution Church and had
many friends and acquain
tances in this area.
Last Thursday afternoon,
Revolution Church released
this statement on their Face-
book page: "We are heart-
Firearm drawn in
Ingles parking lot
broken to learn Holly
Springs police officer Joe
Burson, who was a part of
our Revolution Family, was
killed in the line of duty this
morning." The statement
also said Burson served on
the church's worship team at
both the Canton and Jasper
Revolution Church cam
puses, and that he played
drums for the church's praise
band.
At the request of the
HSPD, the Georgia Bureau
of Investigation was called
in to investigate the incident
which made national news
headlines. According to GBI
spokesperson Nelly Miles,
Burson was killed shortly
after 11 p.m. when he
stopped 29-year-old Ansy
Dolce for speeding on Hick
ory Road at Harmony Lake
Drive. Miles added, "Burson
was dragged down the road,
but managed to fire shots at
the suspect." Dolce was
struck by some of those
shots and as a result, he
crashed his vehicle into a
ditch.
Officers at the scene ren
dered aid to both, unsuccess
fully. Later, both Burson and
Dolce were pronounced
dead, Burson at Wellstar
Kennestone Hospital and
Dolce at Wellstar North Ful
ton Hospital. The GBI said
of their investigation, "It is
believed Burson died as a re
sult of being dragged al
though the official
determination of the cause of
death has not yet been
made."
During a Thursday, June
17th, press conference,
Holly Springs Police Chief
Tommy Keheley said, "It
was a simple stop. The bot
tom line is that every bit of
this could have been
avoided."
In what he described as
"the worst day in any police
chiefs job," Keheley said
See Officer on 11A
tfSk ^ i N
^ A
Holly Springs Police Of
ficer Joe Burson, 24, lost
his life after making a rou
tine traffic stop on Wednes
day evening, June 16th. He
was dragged several hun
dredfeet when the offender,
Ansy Dolce, 29, attempted
to make an escape in his ve
hicle. Police Chief Tommy
Keheley described Burson
as a "model officer."
(Photo courtesy of the
Holly Springs Police De
partment.)
Wife injured in
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
A verbal altercation be
tween a married couple
and a man in the Ingles
parking lot last week re
sulted in a drawn firearm,
and the husband acciden
tally injuring his wife with
a brass fitting he threw at
the armed man.
The incident occurred
the afternoon of Friday,
June 18, just seven days
after a deadly shooting in
the Home Depot parking
lot, which is nearly in sight
of Jasper Ingles.
According to Jasper po
lice, the couple and the
male, have a connection
involving a family member
confrontation
of the husband’s who stole
from the man sometime in
the past.
Officers say the man
and the Ellijay couple
(who are not named here as
they face no charges) ran
into each other near Renas-
ant Bank beside Ingles.
The man instigated a ver
bal altercation and made
obscene gestures, and the
three moved to the parking
lot.
“There is some kind of
vendetta that goes back a
while,” said Jasper Sgt.
Nathan Henderson, who
referenced a police report
out of Gilmer earlier this
year where the unidentified
man spit on the couple’s
car in an ACE Hardware
See Firearm on 11A
New elections
board members
appointed
Pickens County Board
of Elections Chair Josh
Tippetts.
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
At their June meeting,
Pickens County commis
sioners appointed five
members to the Pickens
Board of Elections, with
those positions to go into
effect July 1.
The new appointments
came after state legislators
made changes to the way
board members are se
lected. Earlier this year, in
coming Commission Chair
Kris Stancil requested
House Rep. Rick Jasperse
review the county’s boards
that operate under state
statute. Jasperse and the
General Assembly Legisla
tive Counsel found issue
with the elections board
procedures and introduced
legislation to change the
appointment process. That
legislation was eventually
signed by the governor.
Under the old system,
the local Democratic and
Republican parties selected
two members each to serve
on the elections board.
Those four members
would then select and ap
point a board chair. Under
the new system, those two
parties submit a list of four
candidates each to the
board of commissioners
who appoint two from each
list. The board of commis
sioners also appoints a
non-partisan chair.
The new board of elec
tions will meet soon to
begin discussions to hire a
new elections supervisor.
Former Elections Supervi
sor Julianne Roberts quit
abruptly in April over is
sues she saw with the new
appointment process. She
felt like efforts to reorgan
ize the board were mostly
political, and had problems
with the fact that the new
legislation would remove
her from her position and
require her to reapply.
Roberts also felt she was
being blamed for problems
with the November 2020
elections that relate to the
condition of the elections
office on Pioneer Road.
Last week commission
ers appointed Josh Tippens
as board chair. Mike
Carver and Tracey Wright
were appointed as two rep
resentatives from the local
Republican party; Rebecca
See Elections on 11A
County finance officer,
EMA director retire
Commissioners recognized CFO Faye Harvey and EMA Director Johnny Nicholson.
Both are retiring at the end of the month. (L-R) Pickens Commission Chair Kris Stancil,
Commissioner Jerry Barnes, Faye Harvey, Johnny Nicholson, and Commissioner Becky
Denney.
New CFO will take
the helm next month
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
The June Pickens County commissioners’
meeting was the last time Faye Harvey
would present her monthly finance report, as
the outgoing CFO will retire in a few weeks.
Commissioners recognized both Harvey and
EMA Director Johnny Nicholson, who is
also retiring this month.
Harvey has worked with Pickens County
government for 10 years. She was hired at a
point when the county’s finances were un
stable and has been credited with cleaning
up the books during her decade-long tenure,
reducing the county’s reliance on short-term
loans called Tax Anticipated Notes (TANs),
and increasing the fund balance.
Commissioner Becky Denney spoke
about what she sees as Harvey’s positive im
pact as CFO, and made comments about the
quality of her upstanding character and in
telligence.
“You are a champ and this county owes
you a debt of gratitude,” Denney said.
Harvey later told the Progress, “I have
certainly enjoyed my time with Pickens
County and will miss the friends and
coworkers that See Retirements on 11A
Recycling Center wins
KPB’s Green Ribbon Award
Recycling Center employees (l-r) Linda Rich, Charlyn
Osmer and Director Kenny Woodard.
Keep Pickens Beautiful
awards the Green Ribbon
Award to local individuals,
groups, clubs, or businesses
in recognition of outstanding
examples of programs, proj
ects, or activities that en
hance our community. The
most recent recipient is the
Pickens Recycling Center.
The Pickens Recycling
Center and their state-of-the-
art recycling facility is mak
ing a significant impact in
our community. Through
their efficiency and dedi
cated staff, Pickens County
is able to reduce the waste
headed to the landfill. Under
the guidance of Director
Kenny Woodard, the center
is making noteworthy strides
to establishing Pickens
County as a recycling hub in
our region.
In addition to the recy
cling services the center pro
vides, the staff has done an
amazing job of making the
facility an attractive place to
visit. The stacked stone wall,
plants such as daisies and
butterfly bushes, and the
other efforts made to beau
tify are welcoming as you
drive through to drop off
your recyclable materials.
Thank you to the Pickens
Recycling Center. Keep
Pickens Beautiful is happy to
award you the Green Ribbon
Award for June/July 2021.
If you have a nominee for
a future Green Ribbon
Award, please let us know.
To learn more about Keep
Pickens Beautiful, the Green
Ribbon Award, and recy
cling in Pickens County,
visit KeepPickensBeauti-
ful.org.
Inside:
School News
Supt. Young,
schools agree on
no-buyout clause
Page 9A
Charity
Amicalola EMC
and Jasper
Rotary distribute
205,435 meals
Page 2A
Optimist Club
Flapjack Run
results
Page 5B
Sports
PHS Wrestling
has good show
in tournament
Page 1B
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Obituaries - 6A
• Donald Givens
• Donna Callahan
• Joe Weaver
• Judy Garner
• Kojack Davis
• Mary Norton
• Raymond Roth
• Ronnie Davis
• Stacy Williams
Contact Us
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