Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, September 16, 2021 | Volume 134 Number 22 | Jasper, Georgia | 22 pages, 2 sections | Published Weekly | $1-00
Head school nurse urges vaccines;
applauds system for contact tracing
Name of School
Number of Cases
Percentage of School Population
Hill City Elementary
10
1.5 %
Harmony Elementary
8
1.3%
Jasper Middle
16
2.7%
Pickens High
34
2.4%
Pickens Jr. High
17
2.3 %
Tate Elementary
2
.36%
Total Irrfections
(school locations only)
87
1.9%
These figures from pickenscountyschools.org show the active COVID cases among
students at each campus.
After doing a “deep dive'
“What we are doing
in this district is
saving lives and
protecting those
who cannot be vac
cinated,” nurse says
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
At their regular meeting,
Gail Smith, Pickens Schools
director of Health Services,
gave the board an update
about COVID-19 spread in
the school system, which she
said is currently higher than
spread in the community at-
large.
into school data, she found
that between the time staff
returned for the school year
on July 26 through Sept. 2,
the system has had 1,646
cases, which include
COVID-positive, suspected,
or exposures in staff and stu
dents. There have been 316
COVID-positive cases,
which includes those deter
mined through rapid, PCR,
and at-home tests.
“The reason we started
accepting at-home tests was
because our families were
experiencing hardship in
finding places to get COVID
tests,” she said. “Some were
incurring costs, and coupled
with that is that research was
showing at-home tests are
reliable if they are done cor
rectly.”
Out of the 316 positive
cases in schools, 57, or 18
percent, are considered to be
through school transmission.
Smith said they are able to
determine if a case is trans
mitted at the school because
they track the number of stu
dents or staff who test posi
tive while on quarantine.
“If we as a school district
were not doing contact trac
ing or quarantine, we would
have been spreading that
vims,” she said. “Now, 57
out of the population that we
have, some would consider
that small, but when you
See Vaccines on 10
Talking
Rock
doubles
tax rate
100 percent hike
will produce
$4,000 more for
small town
• Heritage Days
set for Oct. 16-17
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
Members of the Talk
ing Rock Town Council
voted to double the tax
rate at a meeting Septem
ber 9. The move is ex
pected to raise the small
town’s total haul of prop
erty taxes from $4,000 to
about $8,000.
“It might go up to
$9,000 if someone builds
a new house,” said Mayor
Randy Banks later in the
meeting.
See Taxes on 10
Antique engine show sees more than 70 vintage machines
Max Caylor / Photo
Mike Hall gives his grandson Rhidyer Pankey a ride on his 1953 Super C McCormick Farmall Tractor as part of
the Peach State Antique Tractor and Engine Club Show last Saturday at Lee Newton Park. Some 70 vintage tractors
and engines were on display.
Fatal
crash near
QuikTrip
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
A Woodstock woman
died in a two-vehicle
crash on Highway 515 at
the Camp Road intersec
tion Monday night, Sept.
13. The incident occurred
at approximately 7:45
p.m.
According to Georgia
State Patrol reports, Lau
ren Black, 40, Jasper, was
travelling northbound on
Hwy. 515 when she at
tempted to make a left-
hand turn onto Camp
Road in her 2020 Chevy
Tahoe. GSP Post #28
Commander Tim Nichols
said she failed to yield and
struck a 2005 Toyota
Camry travelling in the
southbound lane. The
driver of the Camry, Car
olyn Darlene Pawlicki,
62, Woodstock, was pro
nounced dead on the
scene.
There were no passen
gers in either vehicle. Re
ports show Black did not
sustain injuries.
The crash is being in
vestigated by the Special
Collision Reconstruction
Team to determine if
charges will be brought.
Alcohol or drugs are not
suspected to be a con
tributing factor.
Maijorie Taylor-Greene asks for
prayers in these times of crisis
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor-
Greene, when speaking in Jasper on
September 9th, encouraged her sup
porters to "keep on praying," adding
that millions of Americans are "pray
ing the same prayers as you."
By Larry Cavender
Contributing Writer
Although considered a pariah by
much of the Washington establishment,
a large majority of her constituents
think of Marjorie Taylor-Greene as a
true "patriot."
The 14th District Republican Con
gresswoman spoke to a group of ap
proximately 100 supporters on
Thursday evening, Sept. 9th, at the
Robert P. Jones Community Center.
The event was sponsored by the Pick
ens County Republican Party.
Speaking for nearly an hour, Taylor-
Greene addressed a number of issues to
the approving nods and applause of her
gathered supporters.
Taking to the podium at center court
barely two hours after the announce
ment of the Biden administration's new
vaccine mandates, the Congresswoman
disagreed with President Joe Biden
who said about the new mandates,
"This is not about personal choice and
freedom."
Taylor-Greene encouraged gover
nors not to comply with his "unconsti
tutional mandates" and added that she
had received a personal pledge from
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp that he
would resist and not comply.
On the topic of the recent
Afghanistan withdrawal, Taylor-
Greene said, "Joe Biden pledged 'to
leave no American behind,' but he
broke that pledge." Noting the admin
istration had "armed the Taliban with
See Prayers on 11A
“It’s a good day for the ducks,” says rescuer
Damon Howell / Photo
Ducks taking it easy at the Jasper City “Duck
Pond. ”
Jasper partners with
rescue group to save
ducks at city park
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
Domesticated and injured
ducks at Jasper City Park have
a better shot at a longer life
after the city entered into a
partnership with Waddle on
In, a rescue out of Fannin
County dedicated to rehabili
tating and rehoming these an
imals.
“We have had issues for
years about ducks getting in
jured, getting fishing cords
tangled in them, especially the
domesticated ducks,” said
Pickens Development Direc
tor Lonnie Waters, who has
worked in animal control for
years. “As an animal control
person for the city of Jasper I
am begging you, let’s work
with Julie.”
Julie Wootten is the owner
of Waddle on In, which works
with a number of governments
and municipalities in the area.
Waters told council about a re
cent issue with an injured
duck at the city pond.
See Rescue on 10A
Inside this Edition:
Shooting the
Breeze with
Christopher
Mora Page 6A
Government News
Jasper Council
approves rollback
rate, downtown
events Page 9A
In Remembrance
20th Anniversary
of 9/11 marked
Page 12A
Obituaries - 7A
• Daryl Bailey
• Eddie Blankenship
• Edith Davis
• Eunice Johnson
• Jake Robinson
• James Bennett
• Jo Ann Acree
• Lyn Colombarini
• Nathan Jones
• Ronnie Parker
• Tony West
• Wanda Peterson
• William Acree
• William Childers
Contact Us
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