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Thursday, October 28, 2021 | Volume 134 Number 11 | Jasper, Georgia | 22 pages, 2 sections | Published Weekly | $1.00
Voters go to polls Tuesday
in Jasper, Talking Rock, Nelson
Staff Reports
Voters in Talking Rock,
Nelson and Jasper have until
Friday at 5 p.m. to vote early
at the community center in
Roper Park. On Tuesday,
November 2, all voting is at
the town voting locations.
There is no early voting on
Monday.
In Talking Rock and Nel
son voting will be at the
town halls. Jasper voters
should note that their
precinct is now at the police
station/courts office on Dixie
Street. Voting runs 7 a.m.
until 7 p.m. on Election Day.
A valid photo ID is required.
Thus far, voting has been
pretty slow with only 84
total votes cast as of Tuesday
morning. This includes
seven out of the 56 regis
tered voters in Talking Rock;
three out of Nelson’s 854;
and 74 out of Jasper’s 2,615.
Elections Supervisor
Stacy Godfrey said this is
shaping up to be a very low
turnout.
“Talking Rock has picked
up, but I don’t know about
Jasper or Nelson,” she said.
“In the last municipal elec
tion, around 900 voted in
Jasper but I’m not sure we’ll
make that.”
Voters who do not live in
side any city limits will get
Election Day off, as there is
no voting at all in the unin
corporated areas of the
county.
To vote in a city election
you must live inside the city
limits of that town. This cre
ates some confusion, partic
ularly in Talking Rock where
the mailing address for Talk
ing Rock and the polling
precinct called Talking Rock
extend far outside the city
limits. You can easily check
your voting status by
Googling My Voter’s Page at
the Ga. Secretary of State or
calling the elections office at
706-253-8781. In early vot
ing there were a couple of
cases where people mistak
enly came to vote, assuming
that if they had a mailing ad
dress in one of the towns,
they would be eligible.
On the ballot are the fol
lowing contested races:
• Jasper City Council Post
1 - Ryan O’Dea versus
Sonny Proctor (incumbent)
• Nelson (all candidates
run at large with top two
vote getters winning seats)
Michael Brown, Terry John
son, James Queen (incum
bent) and William Taylor
• Talking Rock Post 1
Steven Lewis versus Andrea
Watson (incumbent); Post 2
Anthony Hawf (incumbent)
versus Cheryl Sams; Post 4
James Bryant, Jr. (incum
bent) versus Daryl Cain.
Times for Jasper
county-wide, and
other happenings
Area groups invite chil
dren to come out for Trick-
or-Treating Halloween
weekend.
The Jasper Merchants
Association will host down
town Jasper Trick or Treat
ing on Sunday, Oct. 31st
from 4-6 p.m. for the annual
trick-or-treating.
City-wide trick-or-treat-
ing will be from 5-7 p.m.
and county-wide the time is
5-8 p.m. on Halloween, Sun
day, Oct. 31st.
Tate merchants welcome
kids to their downtown Sat
urday, Oct. 30, from 5 p.m.
until 7:30 p.m. for trick-or-
treating.
Trinity Church will host a
fall festival event on Sunday,
Oct. 31st at the JeepFest
field in Marble Hill from 2-
5 p.m.
On October 31, the
church will fill that field
with inflatables, carnival
games, balloon animals,
See Halloween on 10A
Raurtted Legacy
The Chastain-Brawley House
By Dwayne Keith Petty
Rife with paranormal his
tory, the north Georgia
Mountains offer tales of
omens, curses, visions, and
spectres. A majority of fam
ilies here harbor personal
stories of the supernatural,
either experienced firsthand
or retold from previous gen
erations. Many regale listen
ers freely with such stories.
Others, fearing public skep
ticism and ridicule, speak of
their connections to the un
explained in hushed tones
and only to those most
trusted, almost as if guarding
a buried treasure.
One motherlode of para
normal activity stirs within
the walls of the Chastain-
Brawley House of Fannin
County. Standing promi
nently alongside the asphalt
of Dial Road, near the Toe-
See Haunted on 10A
Keith Petty / Photo
The Chastain-Brawley House looms with satisfaction
over its lonely stretch of Dial Road as a monument of the
unexplained and a liaison between the living and the de
parted. A young girl, long dead, may be one of the spectral
residents; and an occasional mournful scream from inside
the house’s walls reminds those on this side that we may
never uncover absolute answers about what lies beyond
this life until we ourselves make that journey to another
realm.
Wild vehicle, foot chase
leads to two arrests
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
A dramatic vehicle pur
suit and foot chase near the
Pickens and Cherokee line
led to the arrest of one Ball
Ground man and one Jasper
juvenile last week, Wednes
day, Oct. 20.
The incident occurred at
approximately 2:20 p.m.
when Cherokee County
Sheriff’s Deputy Cameron
Cox was patrolling Ball
Ground near Kennesaw Av
enue and noticed a 1991
Dodge Caravan weaving er
ratically. The van then ac
celerated into the oncoming
lane over double solid lines
to pass an SUV, according
to the Cherokee County
Sheriff’s incident report.
When Dept. Cox at
tempted to pull the driver
over he could see him on
his cell phone, and also
yelling at the passenger.
The driver, Chandler Lee
Humphries, 20, Ball
Ground, held his hand out
the window and signaled
that he was going to pull
over, but he accelerated and
continued to drive instead.
Chandler then slowed down
drastically and turned onto
Worley Crossroads, failing
to maintain his lane, and
came to a stop. When the
deputy began to exit his ve
hicle the van fled the scene
and the officer got back into
his car and attempted a PIT
maneuver on the driver
side. The PIT maneuver
was unsuccessful, and the
deputy then tried to guide
the van off the road.
“The driver slammed on
the brakes, causing me to
get slightly in front of him,”
Cox stated in the report.
“The driver then rolled the
van into the passenger side
of my patrol car, causing
both vehicles to stop just
past the intersection of Blue
Bird Trail.”
The driver then fled on
foot, using the deputy’s car
“as a prop to jump over the
hood of his vehicle.” The
passenger fled on foot as
well. The officer yelled for
them to stop but they did
not comply.
“I approached the fence
continuing to yell for him to
show me his hands and he
did not,” according to Cox,
who pulled his firearm and
aimed it at the suspect’s
chest. After the firearm was
pulled, Chandler showed
his hands then grabbed his
ankle “yelling in pain.” Cox
put the firearm back in its
holster and climbed the
fence, rolled Chandler on
his stomach and attempted
to handcuff him. The report
states Chandler was not co
operating, but the deputy
was eventually able to place
him under arrest.
Backup law enforcement
from Pickens and Cherokee
counties began to arrive and
Cox directed them to the
See Arrests on 10A
Theme emerges in county
departments’ budget proposals
Mark Millican / Photo
The Pickens County Board of Commissioners heard budget presentations from de
partment heads last week. From left are county Finance Director Charlene Bunch,
Sheriffs Office Finance Director Miranda McDowell, Sheriff Donnie Craig, Com
missioners Becky Denney and (hidden) Kris Stancil and Jerry Barnes.
By Mark Millican
Progress Contributor
When the Pickens
When the Pickens County
Board of Commissioners
held a day-long FY22
budget request meeting
with elected officials and
judicial officers last week,
recurring themes included
the costs of technology, re
placing aging equipment
and paying for required
training for employees.
The board is also look
ing at a potential 5% pay
raise for county employees,
based on the accumulated
budget requests. Chairman
Kris Stancil and Commis
sioners Becky Denney and
Jerry Barnes heard the re
spective department heads'
requests, some of which
were covered by the Pick
ens Progress.
Tax Assessor
County Finance Director
Charlene Bunch gave the
tax assessor's report in the
absence of Chief Appraiser
Roy Dobbs, and noted the
proposed budget has in
creases in the salary line
and technical services,
along with communica
tions, AutoCart (retailing
technology) and books.
Denney noted salary in
creases were around
$31,000, and asked Bunch,
“I wonder if you could find
out if that's like adding
someone, or increases, or
what?”
Stancil said he spoke
with Dobbs beforehand and
knew he had “a couple of
market adjustment in
creases” he wanted to put in
the budget for next year on
two of his positions.
“Because he didn't do a
breakdown, I don't know
what percentage of that was
increases versus if he's al
ready factored in a cost of
living (increase) ... a por
tion of that $30,000 was to
go to market adjustments,
but then we'll find out,” said
Stancil. Bunch
said she would meet with
Dobbs for clarification.
Stancil continued, “I do
believe the technical serv-
See Proposals on 11A
Inside this Edition:
PHS Varsity
Volleyball
goes to Elite 8
Page 1B
Veterans of all
branches wanted
to participate in
Veterans Day
parade Page 7A
Politics
Bryant seeks
re-election for
Talking Rock
Council Page 11A
Entertainment
Progress Coloring
Contest this week
Page 4B
Obituaries - 9A
• Dave Moore
• Deborah Hewatt
• Dolores Clyma
• Judy Howell
• Nancy Thawley
• Orville Johnson
• Randy Mathews
• Truett Thompson
Contact Us
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Jasper, Ga. 30143
706-253-2457
www.pickensprogress.com
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