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THURSDAY. JUNE 30. 2022 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 7A
Tippens wins wild west runoff
Josh Tippens defeats David Shouse with
low turnout day at the polls
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
Josh Tippens won the
runoff for the west end (dis
trict 1) commission seat over
David Shouse 1,092 to 440 in
last week’s vote. No one
qualified as a Democrat for
this race, so the winner in last
week’s Republican primary
runoff will take the seat with
out a general election chal
lenge.
Tippens will assume the
seat in January, replacing
Jerry Barnes who has served
as the west end commis
sioner since the county
moved to multi-member gov
ernment in 2012. Barnes
chose not to seek re-election
this year. Barnes’ decision
followed District 2 commis
sioner Becky Denney’s deci
sion to resign last year,
meaning that two of the
three-person board will have
new faces. Denney had also
won office when the county
transitioned in 2012 and had
served since then. In the spe
cial election to fill her post,
Josh Tatum won and has
since taken the seat to begin
a two-year term.
Josh Tippens thanked sup
porters who turned out in
both the original primary
Josh Tippens will repre
sent the west portion of tin
county as the district 1 com
missioner beginning in Jan
uary.
when he captured slightly
more than 49 percent of the
overall vote in the five per
son field and those who
showed up again at the
runoff, where every vote
counted in the low turnout
race.
Between now and January
1, Tippens said, “There is
some training required by the
state that I can go ahead and
take. I anticipate having that
wrapped up before I am
sworn into office. I will also
be meeting with commission
members, department heads
and other county employees.
I will be ready to hit the
ground running when I am
sworn in on January 1.”
Last Tuesday only 1,532
people cast cards in the dis
trict 1 portion of Pickens
County, out of the 11,542
registered west end voters,
giving a 13.27 percent
turnout on that side of the
county.
There were no other con
tested GOP races, so east
Pickens Republicans had the
day off.
There were a handful of
state Democrat races bring
ing fewer than 200 local De
mocrats to the polls. Overall,
the county saw a seven per
cent turnout with 1,126 peo
ple voting on Election Day;
493 voting early in person;
and 85 voting absentee ballot
by mail.
The election office said
the day ran very smoothly
with such a light turnout. Fol
lowing the closing of polls on
Tuesday, Elections Supervi
sor Stacey Godfrey said that
they kept in regular contact
with the polling locations but
it had been quiet all day with
almost no calls from poll
workers with any questions
or problems.
Delivery robots get ready
to roll out for Georgia
By Dave Williams
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA - Georgia is
about to embark on a new
form of transportation tech
nology that fits the needs of
the era of e-commerce.
Legislation the General
Assembly passed this year
that takes effect on Friday
will authorize “personal de
livery devices” better known
as delivery robots to ply the
state’s highways and side
walks.
House Bill 1009, which
cleared the Georgia House of
Representatives and state
Senate overwhelmingly, sets
out regulations governing
delivery robots, including
where and when they can op
erate and at what speeds,
weight limits, and penalties
for violators.
“If we’re letting robots on
the streets, we need to have
requirements for them,” said
state Rep. Todd Jones, R-
South Forsyth, the bill’s
sponsor.
Without rides in place for
delivery robots, the technol
ogy has seen limited use in
Georgia. But that may be
about to change.
Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A
announced plans late last
month to test delivery robots
at a limited number of
restaurants in Florida, Texas,
and California.
“Two-thirds of my busi
ness is delivery,” said Luke
Steigmeyer, operator of a
Chick-fil-A in Austin, Texas,
that already is deploying de
livery robots in partnership
with an Austin-based au
tonomous delivery company.
“The autonomous vehi
cles have been instrumental
in growing awareness of de
livery at my restaurant, al
lowing us to reach even
more customers in the area.”
Delivery robots are
equipped with artificial intel
ligence systems and ad
vanced depth-perception
cameras that allow them to
navigate traffic patterns,
avoid pedestrians and ma
neuver through car and bicy
cle lanes as well as
sidewalks.
Insulated to keep food at
the right temperature, the ro
bots keep customers updated
on their progress via text
messages as they navigate to
the designated drop-off spot.
Under the new Georgia
law, delivery robots will be
permitted to operate on non
limited access highways
with speed limits of 45 miles
an hour or less, and at no
more than 20 miles an hour
when on sidewalks with at
least a four-foot path for per
sons with disabilities.
They can weigh no more
than 500 pounds when
empty and 600 pounds when
carrying cargo and emit a
sound when they come
within six feet of another ve
hicle, a person on foot or
someone in a wheelchair.
Local governments will
be allowed to set hours of
operation for delivery robots
and prohibit them operating
on the grounds of schools,
hospitals, or sidewalks adja
cent to stadiums, coliseums,
or government buildings.
Cities and counties also
will be permitted to restrict
the robots to certain geo
graphical areas of their com
munities.
While violations will not
be treated as criminal of
fenses, they will be subject
to a civil penalty of up to
$500.
Pickens Star Lodge presents awards
(L-R) Ray Knittle with Teresa Scroggs, Worthy Matron of Jasper Chapter No. 479
Order of the Eastern Star, and WM Gary Boyles of Pickens Star lodge.
Pickens Star Lodge No.
122 F&AM held their open
awards night on Tuesday,
May 10 at 6:30 p.m. at the
lodge hall in Jasper with a
meal and the program held
afterwards.
The evening included
Worshipful Master Gary
Boyles recognizing The
Order of the Eastern Star, a
fraternal order of dedicated
women and men making a
difference in the world with
charitable works, for all they
do for the masons and local
community.
An interesting program
on DeMolay was presented
by Stephen Ward, Past Mas
ter Counselor for the DeMo
lay. DeMolay is the premier
youth leadership organiza
tion building young men of
character and dedicated to
making young men better
people and leaders.
WM Boyles had Past
Grand Master Ray Knittle to
assist with the awards. Cur
rent members of Pickens Star
Lodge that have been ma
sons for 25 years were recog
nized and awarded a
certificate and Grand Master
of Georgia’s pin. Those re
ceiving the 25 year award
were Brothers Greg Crowe
and Norman Dawson. The
55 year masons recognized
were Brothers Earl Gaskins
and Paul Crowe. They were
each awarded with a certifi
cate, a 55 year apron, and
Grand Masters pin.
Another highlight was the
awarding of two $1,000
scholarships for high school
seniors to assist in their con- Scholarship and Kevin West
tinued education. Recipients was awarded the Bobby
were Collin Kellogg Massey Scholarship,
awarded the Grady Bozeman
Fifty-five Year Awards were given to (l-r) Earl Gaskins
and Paul Crowe.
(L-R) Collin Kellogg and Kevin West received scholar
ships in continuing their education.
Twenty-five Year Awards were given to (l-r) Greg Crowe and Norman Dawson by PGM
Ray Knittelpictured in the middle.
o
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