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THURSDAY. APRIL 28. 2022 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 5A
Letters to t/ie. Editor
Letters welcomed - No letter more than 450 words; Send
to news@pickensprogress.com or Pickens Progress 94 N.
Main, Jasper, Ga. 30143; All letters must have a full name
that will be published, and contact info. (Email Address or
Phone Number), which will not be published.
No Lithium Mining
Allowed
The other day I listened to
a radio discussion about min
erals needed for the new elec
tric age batteries made with
lithium. Lithium is needed
and there is a big deposit of
the stuff out west. A permit to
mine was granted under the
last administration and now
there is a huge push back
from the Indian community
and the environmental com
munity.
Those groups are now
against mining that is needed
and they are suing to stop the
mine to save the planet from
the other extractive industry
of oil, gas, and coal. All ex
tractive industry is bad in
their eyes.
The discussion went on
and on about the damage hu
mans are doing to the planet.
One of the participants got
down to the heart of the mat
ter and said that people were
going to have to get by with
a lot less. So according to the
"planetisdying" folks the real
problem is too many people
using too much stuff.
Their solution is to eat
simple grains. Eat no meat,
ever. Use only poo to fertil
ize crops. No ammonium ni
trate fertilizer. Plow with
horses because you cannot
have a diesel tractor. Walk
everywhere you go because
batteries are bad and so is
gasoline. Wind and solar are
all that is allowed. No,wait,
not wind because wind mills
kill birds. Sweat in the sum
mer and freeze in the winter
is one of their solutions.
Their logic, taken to its
natural end, is that there must
be fewer people around the
world. And we need to go
back to the bare subsistence
living of small hunter gath
erer tribes. It seems that the
"planetisdying" people want
most of us gone.
Maybe that is why they
want abortions all the time.
In their eyes people are the
problem. They must think
earth is their garden and they
do not want the rest of us
around because we are not
like them. They are pure of
heart, not tainted with the un-
forgiveable sin of wanting to
mine that Lithium.
Gary Pichon
To the Editor:
And secure the blessings
of liberty to ourselves and
our posterity. US Constitu
tion. Elected and appointed
officials are all betraying
their vows to defend our
Constitution and our poster-
ity-the children. They are
killing the children-our pos
terity—with abortion and al
cohol and addicting them to
alcohol, marijuana, homo
sexuality, gender change, and
alien creeds. We need to unite
the nation and bring it back
under the Constitution and to
the duty to defend each life.
If they will order the death of
children, they can order any
of us to die.
Billy Joe Parker
Georgia Prohibition
From the commissioners meeting
New fire chief sworn in
Rezonings, new P&D board member
Tim Prather was sworn in as Pickens County’s new fire chief. Prather recently retired
from a long and distinguished career in the Cherokee County Fire Department.
Commissioners recognized the Pickens ‘Nettes for their season, which culminated in
the team competing in the Final Four tournament. Team members are: Bella Hopkins,
Amanda Nelson, Adrienne Plumley, Madison Powell, Brylee Deering, Emery Steinhauer,
Ashaela Buchanan, Abby Plumley, Carmyn Mullins, Caroline Mullins, Emery Bryant,
Emma Gleason, Emmie Moore, Jazmine Chastain, as well as manager Addison Lewis.
The team is coached by head coach Brandon Thomas, as well as Jordan Shaw and Cana
Lutz. Some members are not pictured.
On Workers’ Memorial Day, remember
Georgia workers who lost their lives on the job
By Kurt A. Petermeyer
Dept, of Labor
In January 2021, six
workers headed to a
Gainesville poultry process
ing facility like they did
many times before. Just after
their shift began, one of the
plant’s freezers malfunc
tioned causing odorless and
colorless nitrogen gas to fill
the room, displacing the oxy
gen in the air; a deadly expo
sure that ultimately claimed
the lives of all six.
An investigation later
found that, had their em
ployer ensured required
safety precautions were in
place, the six would have re
turned home at the end of
their workday.
Each year, thousands of
workers die needlessly -
leaving families, friends and
communities to grieve -
when required safety and
health standards are ignored.
In 2020, about 5,000 workers
died in the U.S. in work-re
lated deaths, including many
who fell victim to workplace
exposure to COVID-19. Tens
of thousands more die of
work-related diseases.
On average, 13 workers
die each day in the U.S. In
Georgia alone, 193 workers
lost their lives in 2020.
The wounds suffered by
those left behind are deep
ened by the reality that most,
if not all, of these workplace
deaths were avoidable - if
only employers had estab
lished and ensured that ap
propriate safety precautions
are followed.
Each year, on April 28 on
Workers Memorial Day, the
U.S. Department of Labor’s
Occupational Safety and
Health Administration and
workplace safety advocates
across the nation remember
those whose lives ended be
cause of the work they did.
The COVID-19 pandemic
made going to work riskier
than ever before, particularly
in industries where people -
often low-wage workers,
many of whom are women
and people of color - per
formed essential work to pro
tect us and ensure our
well-being. Those in indus
tries such as healthcare,
meatpacking, public trans
portation, retail, and food
service risked - and many
lost - their lives to provide
critical services to others and
to support themselves and
their families.
This day allows us to
mourn the loss of these work
ers and how their absence af
fects those who shared their
lives. They were our family
members, our friends, our co
workers, and our neighbors.
We are diminished by their
deaths.
Workers Memorial Day
reminds us that, like life,
workplace safety and health
must never be taken for
granted. These tragedies and
the causes should inspire us
all to demand that workplace
safety be a fact of life and
never an afterthought.
We must strive to ensure
safety and health standards
are in place and that they are
understood and followed by
employers and workers alike.
Workers have the right to
safe and healthful work
places, and employers have
the legal obligation to ensure
that they provide them.
OSHA professionals work
every day to assist employers
across the nation in their ef
forts to provide a safe and
healthful workplace. Our
compliance assistance out
reach helps businesses em
ploying more than 1.3
million U.S. workers nation
wide to prevent workplace
injuries and illnesses.
Through strategic alliances
with large employers, trade
associations, organized labor,
and our Voluntary Protection
Programs, we help to em
power businesses to employ
customized safety and health
approaches and make mean
ingful and substantial im
provements.
As of March 22, 2022,
there were 42 Voluntary Pro
tection Programs’ partici
pants in Georgia. Injury and
illness data collected at VPP
sites shows that - on average
- injury and illness rates at
these locations are about 50
percent or lower than the na
tional averages for their in
dustries.
At the national level,
OSHA maintains federal
standards for workplace
safety, including specific reg
ulations based upon common
industry risks and workplace
hazards. In response to the
pandemic, the agency imple
mented temporary standards
to protect the most vulnerable
workers and worked with
specific industries to combat
the spread of the virus.
Currently, OSHA is devel
oping an infectious disease
standard that will protect
workers from airborne infec
tious diseases, as well other
viruses that exist today and
those we may face.
Workers are the backbone
of our national economy. In
the last two years, we learned
how America’s society and
culture depend on people
who go to work and how we
should never take for granted
those willing to work at diffi
cult and, sometimes danger
ous, jobs. We at OSHA know
we must do more to ensure
we help protect every worker
and listen to their concerns
for safety, regardless of skin
color, language spoken, citi
zenship status, gender, or
age.
We must do more to com
pel our nation’s employers to
commit themselves to protect
their workers’ safety and
health, no matter the cost.
And we must hold those em
ployers who choose profit
over people’s safety account
able for their inactions to the
fullest extent the law allows.
As we mark another
Workers Memorial Day, re
member that no worker
should ever have to risk
their life in exchange for their
paycheck. Also remember
that each of us has a role to
play in making the workplace
safe. We owe the Gainesville
workers, and the tens of thou
sands of others we honor
today, at least that much.
Kurt A. Petermeyer is the Re
gional Administrator for the
Southeast Region of the U.S. De
partment of Labor’s Occupa-
tional Safety and Health
Administration. He has been
supporting the advancement of
worker safety and health and
worker rights in OSHA since
1996.
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By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@piekensprogress.com
The Thursday, April 21
commissioners’ ‘work ses
sion and regular meeting
were dominated by 10 rezon
ing requests. Pickens
County’s new fire chief Tim
Prather was also sworn in,
and Kevin Moss was ap
pointed to the Pickens
County Planning & Develop
ment Board.
Pickens Planning & De
velopment Director Wes Frye
gave a brief presentation of
each rezoning request and re
capped recommendations of
the planning and develop
ment staff as well as recom
mendations of the planning
and zoning board. All re
quests were approved by
commissioners. Rezonings
approved were:
•1.02 acres on Partain
Road from Rural Residential
to Highway Business. Re
quest made by Tony Nguyen,
who would like to add addi
tional storage units to the
storage unit business that has
been in operation there for
many years. There was an
issue with the way the prop
erty had been zoned, which is
what spurred Nguyen’s re
quest.
•30.05 acres at 1460
Camp Dobbs Road from
Agricultural to Small Agri
cultural. Request made by
Estate of Douglas Gay c/o
Clint Weatherby. The intent
is to develop six, five-plus
acre parcels for single-family
dwellings.
•0.5 acres on 427 Cross
bow Lane from Agricultural
to Highway Business. Re
quest made by Crossbow
Farms, LLC. Owners plan to
combine the parcel to an ad
jacent HB-zoned property
and develop storage units.
•55.39 acres on Big Ridge
Road from Agricultural to
Small Agricultural. Request
made by 1893 LLC. Owners
would like to develop a
minor subdivision with seven
homes, with tracts five acres
and above.
•5.01 acres on Dry Pond
Road from Agricultural to
Small Agricultural. Request
made by David Hicks.
•1.01 acres at 4101
Waleska Highway from
Rural Residential to Agricul
tural. Request made by Lee
Riddle.
•24.57 acres on 300 Shady
Grove Church Road from
Rural Agricultural to Agricul
tural. Request made by
Nicholas Riggin.
•3.3 acres at 331 Soquili
Trail was rezoned from Es
tate Residential to Agricul
tural. The request was made
by Margaret F. Lonsdale and
Hanne Skattebol.
•24.903 acres on 631 So
quili Trail rezoned from
Rural Residential to Agricul
tural. Request made by Jena
B. Finley and Valerie Jacob
son.
•16.54 acres on 112 Plum
Lane rezoned from Neigh
borhood Commercial to
Rural Residential. Request
made by Tim Prather.
★ ELECT ★
A proven Leader you can Trust
EZT Student Focused
Our school system exists to serve our students. When
considering decisions we make as a board, foremost in our
minds should be, “what is best for our students”. It is my firm
belief that this has not been the focus of some of our board
members over the past few years. This guiding principle must
be returned to our board. We will deal with complex and
difficult issues, but many of these are made much simpler if we
have this as a guiding principle. I am not naive enough to believe
we can please everyone, but we need to have good reasons for
the decisions we make focused on what is best for our students.
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