Newspaper Page Text
THURSDAY. JUNE 30. 2022 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 5A
To the Editor:
Many thanks to Angela
Reinhardt, who wrote about
our fire in Pickens County.
Great photo by Mary Kay El
liott.
The fire is being called
'Pickens Living Water Way
Fire'. I live in The Preserve.
The fire is directly in the
back yard of my friend, who
lives on Mosswood Lane in
The Preserve. She is terrified
that her home will bum
down. The helicopter was
right above her home drop
ping water yesterday. Many
thanks to the hard-working
firefighters and forestry fire
fighters.
The fire is not out yet. It
continues to haunt us each
day with an eruption of
smoke. On trails in back of
my friends home, we can see
the smoke billowing about.
We have not had rain
lately, nor do we have any
confidence it will rain soon.
Sharp Mountain seems to
keep storms back and they
dissipate when they near the
mountain, unless we get
lucky.
I spoke with Matt Rymer
from Murray County and rain
is what we need. I would ap
preciate your keeping the
story alive until it's out. The
helicopter has been ordered
for tomorrow again.
Donna Hronyetz
To The Editor:
The article by Greg
Moore on June 23, was of
great interest to me, espe
cially his interest in White-
stone history.
My brothers, Bob and
Tony Payne, and I were all
bom in the house beside the
Whitestone Baptist Church
and grew up in Whitestone in
the 1940s and ‘50s and grad
uated from Pickens County
High. After college, Bob was
away from Jasper for about
11 years before returning;
Tony returned immediately
and made Jasper his home. I
finally returned 61 years later
in July 2017.
Over the years, when vis
iting our parents, I noticed
that the Whitestone I knew
was gradually disappearing.
I didn’t realize how much
until moving here.
One day standing beside
the Whitestone Baptist
Church taking a picture
across the field of an aban
doned mine, my cell indi
cated that I was in Talking
Rock. That blew my mind. I
set out trying to compile what
had been written about
Whitestone and finding old
photos.
This turned into a commu
nity project. Many people
submitted pictures and infor
mation. Bob said one day.
”Sis, Why are you wasting so
much time on this. No more
than 25 people will be inter
ested in Whitestone History.”
I collected information
from mag tapes for over three
years from the Pickens
County Progress, Pastor
Charles Walker’s articles in
the Progress about the Indi
ans in Whitestone, the Ellijay
Times Courier, and anybody
who would talk to me. Fi
nally, in early 2022, I pub
lished WHITESTONE,
GEORGIA, History and
KMiifedane,, Geon^ia
History and Momorie
Plant 1, Willingham-Little Stone Company
Division of Georgia Marble Company
Memories. The cover of the
book shows Plant 1 which
was tom down in the late
1960s.
The book has many pic
tures of Whitestone, from
early 1900s and later, includ
ing the 1938 flood which
killed 13 people. Gradually
most of its physical history
has been destroyed or aban
doned—plants, depot, restau
rant/general store/post office,
community club house,
school house, park, ball field,
over 32 homes, etc. All gone,
as well as Whitestone’s iden
tity.
If anyone has old pictures
or stories of Whitestone, or
people who lived there, and
would share, I, like Mr.
Moore, would love to see
them. You can contact me at
whitestone@thorsdoghouse.c
om.
Patsy Payne Benson
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 pub
lished, and contact info.
(Email Address or Phone Number),
which will not be published.
833-360-1280
BOGO 40% OFF
ENDS 8/31
RENEWAL
byANDERSEN
FULL-SERVICE WINDOW & DOOR REPLACEMENT
Town of Talking Rock
seeking town clerk
Town of Talking Rock is taking applications
for the position of part time clerk. This po
sition will be for 12 hours per week and will
pay $800.00 per month.
Please submit resume to
townclerk@talkingrock.com
Or you may place in drop-box at town hall
at 4675 Hwy 136 W, Talking Rock, GA
30175. A list of duties is posted on our web
site www.taIkingrockga.com and our
Facebook page. Office # is 706-253-5515.
Deadline is July 15, 2022
The Sheriff’s Beat
From the Pickens Sheriff’s Office
In addition to the activity
from the Uniform Patrol Di
vision, Court Service
Deputies reported the fol
lowing statistics for the past
week:
Persons Scanned at
Front Door: 1,183
Weapons Found: 9
Courts Held: 12
Arrests Made in
the Courthouse: 0
Civil Papers Received: 41
Civil Papers Served: 38
In the Adult Detention
Center:
Total Jail population: 75
Total male inmates: 65
Total female inmates: 10
Sex Offenders:
There are currently 66 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.
Dumpster diving leads to
warrant violation arrest
A deputy was on patrol
when he saw a rolling dump
ster on the side of a business.
The deputy saw a black PT
Cruiser backed up to the
trash can and a woman on a
ladder looking into the
dumpster.
There was a man in the
driver’s seat of the PT
Cruiser. When the deputy ran
the tag on the car it came
back as belonging to a Ford
truck.
The man driving the PT
Cruiser admitted to taking
the tag off the truck and then
told the deputy he did not
have his license on him. The
deputy ran both the man and
the woman’s names and
found out both had sus
pended licenses, however,
the man had a warrant out of
another county. The man was
arrested on his outstanding
warrant.
Traffic violations led to
marijuana
A deputy stopped a car for
having a headlight out. When
the deputy got to the window
of the car, he could smell
marijuana, this gave the
deputy probable cause to
search the vehicle. The
deputy found 6.2 grams of
suspected marijuana. The
driver consented to a field
sobriety test, resulting in the
driver being arrested for
D.U.I.
The car was turned over
to a licensed driver.
Fake name given for DUI
doesn’t hold up after fin
gerprints taken
A deputy saw a car swerv
ing on the highway, the
deputy believed the driver
was under the influence.
When the deputy stopped the
car, he found out the driver
did not have a license. The
driver was arrested and trans
ported to the Pickens County
Sheriffs Office Adult Deten
tion Center.
The car was turned over
to a licensed friend. While at
the jail, the driver was fin
gerprinted and his informa
tion came back as someone
else. The driver gave the
wrong name because he
knew he had an active war
rant. Now the driver has
more charges.
front of the neighbor’s
house. This started an argu
ment between the two. Then
the neighbor punched the
man in the face with a closed
fist. Then the neighbor tried
to tackle the man. The man
was able to push the neigh
bor off of him, and then the
neighbor took off running.
The man was able to get
up and run to another neigh
bor’s house to call 911.
Deputies searched and were
unable to locate the neighbor
that punched the man.
Driver eludes deputies on
foot but leaves wallet with
ID in car
Gordon County contacted
Pickens County deputies be
cause they were chasing a
truck out of their county into
Pickens. The truck entered
Pickens at a very high rate of
speed and drove erratically.
The truck ended up driv
ing behind a house and onto
a dirt trail and stopped in a
field near the woodline. The
driver jumped out and ran on
foot. However, the driver left
his wallet in the truck so
deputies were able to get all
of his information.
The K-9 unit was called
out to search the area and
sniff around the car. The K-
9 did find a glass pipe that
had methamphetamine
residue inside of it. Warrants
were applied for the driver.
Stolen chainsaws and PVC
pipe
A man called deputies to
his home because he said the
first thing he noticed was his
mailbox had been pulled up
and placed inside his fenced-
in front yard. The man told
the deputies he also had a
non-working chainsaw miss
ing and three pieces of PVC
pipe were missing from his
front yard.
The mail lady told the
man that she had seen a dif
ferent vehicle in the area, but
never saw the driver mess
with anything.
A woman scammed over a
washer and dryer
A woman called to make
a report about being
scammed. The woman said
she bought a washer and
dryer off of Facebook Mar
ketplace for $450. The
woman said the man she
bought the washer and dryer
from said he would deliver
the washer and dryer at a cer
tain time.
The man never showed up
with the washer and dryer
and has since then blocked
the woman from contacting
him on Facebook.
The woman was able to
give the deputy screenshots
of all her contact with the
seller.
Suspicious bag found near
a water meter
A call came to deputies
about a suspicious bag near
an open water meter in front
of a house. Deputies got to
the residence and found the
suspicious package. Unsure
of the contents, deputies
called in a bomb K-9 to sniff
the area to make sure the
package wasn’t a bomb. The
K-9 searched all around the
area and did not alert on any
thing.
Finally, the homeowner
came outside and told the
deputies the bag was full of
dog poop that his neighbor
had left for him to throw
away.
A traffic stop that led to an
active warrant
A deputy saw a truck
braking heavily as it was
driving on the highway. The
truck also had a significant
crack in the windshield.
The deputy pulled the
truck over, the truck had
three people inside. One of
the passengers in the truck
had an active warrant out of
another county. The deputy
arrested that passenger and
took him to the county line to
meet up with the county that
issued the warrant.
Unknown long-haired man
spotted in homeowner’s
car
A homeowner called for a
deputy to come to his house
because he saw a man with
long hair sitting in the pas
senger seat of the home
owner’s car. The homeowner
told the deputy the man was
just sitting in his car and the
homeowner yelled at him to
get out, but the man ignored
him.
The homeowner told the
man he was calling 911.
When the deputy got to the
house, the man with the long
hair was gone. The home-
owner told the deputy he typ
ically leaves his car doors
unlocked. The homeowner
checked inside the car but
did not find anything miss
ing. The only description of
the man sitting in the car was
he had long hair.
During this past week, the Pickens Sheriff’s Office responded
to or initiated 1,859 calls for service.
These numbers are taken
from the report provided directly from the 911 Center where all
calls are logged as they are performed. Below is a breakdown
of all dispatched calls by the call type for each incident.
Accidents
8
Suicide Threats / Attempts
4
Domestics
17
Theft / Burglary Related
8
Forgery / Fraud
3
Traffic Stops
79
Citations Issued
N/A
Animal Investigations
7
Suspicious Persons/Activity
33
Alarm Calls
9
Stranded Motorists
7
Street Hazards
10
Vandalism
2
Abandoned Vehicles
0
Extra Patrol - neighborhoods, businesses, residences 1,464.
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:
13 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):
Housed for another county
2
Bond violations
2
Surety came off bond
1
Probation Violation
1
DUI
2
Using phone while driving
1
Interference with government property
1
Obstruction of law enforcement officer
1
Possession of controlled substance
2
DUI Drugs
1
Fleeing/attempting to elude
1
Use of tag to conceal Identity of Vehicle
1
Driving without License suspended/revoked
2
Possession/ distributing/
manufacturing marijuana
1
Aggravated Assault
1
Battery
1
Driving through safety gore
1
Reckless driving
1
Public drunk
1
Counseling
Individual, Couples and Family Therapy
with Adults, Teens and Children
Robin W. Dunn M.S.
Licensed Professional Counselor
Over 30 years experience helping people live better
770-548-1966 • 505 Cove Rd. • Suite 3 • Jasper
www.robinwdunnlpc.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
Man punched while out for
stroll
A man called a deputy to
his house because he said he
was assaulted. The man told
the deputy he was just walk
ing through his neighbor
hood when a neighbor ran up
to him and was screaming at
him that he better not walk in
678.880.9360
Experienced. Established. Effective.