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THURSDAY. MAY 26. 2022 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 5A
Letters
tot/iA Editor
To the Editor:
Do I have a deal for you.
If you’11 give my company
land, put in the roads and
water and sewage lines, we’ll
replicate our success at our
other high tech factory up
north. OH, how much invest
ment do we need from you?
A mere $200 - $300 mil
lion should do it. What’s our
current business record up
north you say? In the first
quarter of this year we made
2,553 units, $95 million in
sales and only lost $1.6 bil
lion dollars. Trust me, it’s a
great deal. I promise that
someday we’ll employ 7,500
workers if everything goes
OK.
Would you make this in
vestment? You already did.
The state of Georgia bet our
$200 - $300 million in tax
dollars on a high risk startup
losing MEGA money. OH,
the name of the company is
Rivian. I don’t believe the
government should be bet
ting our money on a high risk
development. The facts for
this letter came from an AJC
article, May 14, 2022.
Dan Ciomek
To the Editor
Is It Our War Now?
The Speaker of the House
went to the Ukraine. She
took only Democrats with
her. Jill Biden went there too.
The USA is apparently send
ing major arms in the form of
modem 155 mm ar-tillery to
Ukraine. We are training her
soldiers. Biden talks of stop
ping Putin before the domi
nos fall across Europe. We
are spending billions on this
war.
This all sounds familiar. I
heard the same story when I
was young and in the army
and Vietnam was the focal
point. It has been repeated
with the Kuwait war and with
the Iraqi war and with the
Afghanistan war. Not one of
those was declared a war by
Congress.
They sure seemed like
war. We have exhausted the
treasury fighting around the
world. Mostly losing.
Not only have we ex
hausted the treasury fighting
around the world we have de
pleted some key ammunition
stocks. The Defense depart
ment has yet to order replen
ishments and we are half way
down the barrel in some crit
ical items.
Our political leaders may
make this war our war. Be
fore it is over your sons and
daughters may have to go
fight. If things turn really bad
the nukes will come out.
They may come here to our
cities.
NATO has pushed right
up against Russia and contin
ues to add members and the
next may be Finland and
Sweden. The Russian people
seem to support Putin in his
belief that Russia is being
squeezed and squeezed.
They may think they are
being pushed into a really big
fight.
No one knows how this
will turn out. I certainly don't.
I think we are taking a very
very big risk for a place far
far away.
Meanwhile things here in
the USA continue to worsen.
Inflation, energy supply, food
supply, open borders, violent
crime, and too many old
codgers like me running the
government when they need
to be rocking in a chair on the
porch.
Gary Pichon
To the Editor:
May is Mental Health
Awareness Month. As a vol
unteer and advocate with the
American Foundation for
Suicide Prevention, this
month I am asking everyone
to join us and demand
#MoreForMentalHealth.
I am doing more by call
ing on my legislators at the
federal and state levels to
support legislation that will
fund the implementation of
988 and the suicide and men
tal health crisis system across
our nation, particularly for
those in underserved commu
nities.
Currently, the National
Suicide Prevention Lifeline is
available at 1-800-273-8255
and de-escalates the crises of
tens of thousands of callers
each day. On July 16, those in
distress and those that sup
port them will be able to
reach the Lifeline through a
simple 3-digit number: 988.
By making the Lifeline more
accessible through this
shorter number, calls, texts,
and chats to the Lifeline's
network of crisis call centers
are expected to increase. It is
vital that the federal govern
ment work with states to en
sure callers in distress will
have: 1) someone to call, 2)
someone to come help, and
3) somewhere safe to go. We
must act NOW to secure
funding to equip call centers
and community crisis re
sponse services throughout
the country with the staff and
resources to respond to
everyone in crisis.
Join me this month in urg
ing our federal and state pub
lic officials to do
#MoreForMentalHealth. You
can start by visiting morefor-
mentalhealth.org.
Together, we can help
#StopSuicide.
Sincerely,
Bryan Gomez
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.
Georgia Mountain Dermatology
Now hiring medical assistants
Previous training is a plus but
on the job training is available
Send resumes to
gamtndermjobs@gmail.com
The Sheriff’s Beat
From the Pickens Sheriff’s Office
In addition to the above ac
tivity from the Uniform Pa
trol Division, Court Service
Deputies reported the fol
lowing statistics for the past
week:
Persons Scanned at
Front Door: 1,002
Weapons Found: 13
Courts Held: 6
Arrests Made in
the Courthouse: 2
Civil Papers Received: 46
Civil Papers Served: 36
In the Adult Detention
Center:
Total Jail population:73
Total male inmates: 61
Total female inmates: 12
Sex Offenders:
There are currently 65 sex
offenders registered with the
Pickens Sheriff’s Office.
psq
REP
The Pickens Sheriff’s Office
responds to many calls for
service every day. The fol
lowing incidents are a few
deputies respond to each day.
Missing wedding ring and
cash
A deputy was called to a
home by a man due to a
missing wedding ring and a
large amount of cash. The
man told the deputy that he
had met two men at a gas sta
tion while playing the “ding
ding” machines.
The man told the deputy
that he and the two men dis
cussed the men helping the
man move.
The man asked the two
men to come over to his
house so they could give him
a rough estimate on moving.
While visiting the man at his
house, one of the men asked
to use the restroom while the
other one stayed and talked
to the man.
When the one came back
out, the two men left and
promised to come back with
an estimate later on that
evening. The two men never
returned. After the two men
left, the man realized a wed
ding ring and a large sum of
cash were missing from his
bedroom.
Unwanted woman on prop
erty
A deputy was called to a
home by the homeowner be
cause there was an unidenti
fied, distraught woman on
his property. When the
deputy got to the house, he
asked the woman why she
was there, but the woman
could not give the deputy a
direct answer.
The woman was very
fidgety, could not keep eye
contact with the deputy, and
she was talking very fast.
The woman kept making
strange gestures with her
hands and she would talk to
people and objects that were
not there.
The deputy conducted a
field sobriety test on the
woman and she did show
signs of being impaired.
Car pulled over and the
passenger had a medical
emergency
A deputy was on patrol
when he ran a license plate
that came back to another ve
hicle. The deputy pulled the
car over and when he got to
the window the deputy told
the woman driving why he
pulled her over.
The woman immediately
said her boyfriend, the pas
senger, was having seizures.
The deputy asked the
boyfriend if he was ok, and
the boyfriend told the deputy
he was fine. The deputy
asked the boyfriend if he
needed an ambulance and the
boyfriend responded no and
that he was fine.
After the deputy ran a
check on both the woman
and the boyfriend he found
out the boyfriend had a war
rant out of another county. It
turned out that the license
plate just needed to be trans
ferred to the new vehicle.
The boyfriend was arrested
and picked up by the other
county.
Stolen generator
A deputy was called to a
home construction site be
cause a generator had been
stolen. The man that called
the deputy told the deputy
that the portable generator
had been attached to a tree by
a cable.
The cable had been cut
and the generator was gone.
The man did not know who
could have stolen the gener
ator.
Neighbor hears gun shots
A deputy was called due
to what sounded like possi
ble gunshots. The deputy
found a man that said he had
fired a shot toward a dog that
was attacking his chickens.
The man said he was try
ing to protect his chickens
and shot at the dog, but he
did not know if he had hit the
dog or not. There was no
blood or evidence the dog
was actually shot.
Truck rolls down embank
ment
A deputy was called out
to do a report on a truck that
had rolled down an embank
ment. The truck owner told
the deputy that he had parked
the truck and went inside the
building. The truck owner
said when he came out, his
truck had apparently come
out of gear and rolled
through the lot and down an
embankment.
The deputy had a wrecker
come and help get the truck
back up.
Suspicious woman appears
on homeowner’s security
cam
A homeowner called for a
deputy because she had seen
a woman on her front porch
through her Ring camera.
The homeowner told the
deputy she did not know the
woman and the woman had
her pants down around her
knees and looked like she
was trying to hide.
The deputy got to the
house and discovered the
woman had urinated on the
porch. The deputy found the
woman and she admitted to
drinking but did not remem
ber going on to two different
porches that night.
Wanted woman shoplifts
while deputy checking on
warrants
A deputy was flagged
down by a store worker
about a woman inside the
store. The worker told the
deputy that she knew the
woman had a warrant. The
deputy went inside the store
to speak to the woman, and
he asked if she had a warrant.
The woman told the
deputy that she did have a
warrant from another county
but they were not interested
in picking her up.
The deputy explained he
would have to check. The
deputy told the woman to
leave any items that she had
not paid for inside the store,
and for her to come outside
with him while he conducted
a warrant search.
While the deputy was
waiting on the information
about the warrant, he saw the
woman had several grocery
items in her large purse. The
deputy asked the woman if
she had paid for the items
and she said she had not, that
she had stolen them.
The store manager did
want to prosecute for the
shoplifting. There was a war
rant out of another county, it
was also for shoplifting.
Suspect takes several items
from a home
A homeowner made a re
port to a deputy about a
woman and her children he
had allowed to stay at his
home for about two months.
The man told the deputy that
he had received a text mes
sage from the woman telling
him she could not stay there
anymore.
When the man got back
home he realized that the
woman had taken several
items from the house. The
man spoke to the woman by
phone and she agreed to re
turn the items, that she would
meet him at the sheriff’s of
fice.
Later the woman said she
could not meet up with him
because she had other obli
gations at that time. The man
told the deputy the woman
did not have permission to
take any of the items.
During this past week, the Pickens Sheriff’s Office responded
to or initiated 1,795 calls for service.
These numbers are taken
from the report provided directly from the 911 Center where all
calls are logged as they are perfonned. Below is a breakdown
of all dispatched calls by the call type for each incident.
Accidents
18
Suicide Threats / Attempts
1
Domestics
8
Theft / Burglary Related
19
Forgery / Fraud
3
Traffic Stops
66
Citations Issued
8
Animal Investigations
9
Suspicious Persons/Activity
22
Alarm Calls
15
Stranded Motorists
10
Street Hazards
2
Vandalism
4
Abandoned Vehicles
1
Extra Patrol - neighborhoods, businesses, residences 1,371.
In addition to these, other calls include search warrants, civil
service, 911 hang-up calls, assaults, disorderly persons, missing
persons, assistance with medical calls, natural death investiga-
tions, demented persons, funeral escorts, harassment, trespass-
ing, and many more.
Breakdown of Charges for those Arrested:
22 individuals were booked into the Adult Detention Center on charges
from the Pickens Sheriff’s Office. Out of these, the following charges
were taken by PSO deputies (note: some individuals have multiple
charges):
Bond Violation
1
Theft by Shoplifting
1
Probation Violation
2
Drug Court Violation
1
Assault/Battery and Terroristic threats
1
Disorderly Conduct
3
DUI
3
Driving W/O Valid License
2
Theft By Deception
1
Theft By Taking Felony
2
Theft By Taking Misdemeanor
2
Battery - Family Violence
1
Violation Family Protection Order
1
Fugitive from Justice
1
Obstruction of Law Enforcement
1
Lailure to Appear in Court
1
Hold for Another County
1
Serve Court Ordered 24 hours
1
Lauuson Self Storage
Al Lawson 1188 Talking Rock Rd
Office 706-253-1188 Jasper, GA 30143
Cell 770-893-7221 allawson3@gmail.com
GRISHAM, POOLE
& CARLILE, PC
Criminal Defense I Family Law
"You can't go back and change the beginning,
but you can start where you are and change
the ending." ~ C.S. Lewis
21 COURT STREET
JASPER, GEORGIA
678.880.9360
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