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Thursday, July 14, 2022 | Volume 135 Number 13 | Jasper, Georgia | 44 pages, 3 sections | Published Weekly | $1-00
Residential rezoning moratorium extended
Body cams, trash service, new specialty alcohol license discussed by council
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
At their most recent meeting,
Monday, July 11, Jasper council
voted unanimously to extend their
temporary moratorium on residential
rezonings, and also to add a tempo
rary moratorium on residential an
nexations.
Prior to the vote to extend the res
idential rezoning moratorium,
Jasper’s City Manager Sonia
Jammes said, “As a result of the
complexity of drafting the modified
zoning ordinance and the current ef
forts at master planning for the util
ities system in the development
department, city council has re
quested to adopt a 90-day exten
sion...”
The moratorium will be extended
until October 15, 2022, “to give staff
additional time to put processes in
place and make sure that changes to
our zoning ordinances have been en
acted.”
The moratorium was originally
enacted in August of 2021, to expire
in March of2022. In February, coun
cil voted to extend it to June 2022.
The moratorium applies to residen
tial rezonings, not commercial or in
dustrial rezonings.
Council member Kirk Raffield
thanked the council’s committee for
their ongoing work on the revised
zoning ordinance, and said, “I under
stand some frustration on some pub
lic individual’s behalf. This is simply
not an easy, or simple, task. It’s very
complex. We appreciate your pa
tience.”
Council also voted to impose a
yearlong moratorium on residential
annexations. Prior to council taking
a vote, Jammes said the moratorium
is “an effort to preserve a healthy
community growth and to protect the
city’s natural resources..”
The moratorium is for residential
annexations and annexation applica
tions set to expire July 15, 2023. No
comments were made by council.
The vote passed unanimously.
Police get new body cams,
new computers, new patch
Council approved purchase of
new body and vehicle cameras for
See Jasper Council on 11A
Suspect steals
work truck
in high speed
chase
By Alex Goble
Staff Writer
agoble@piekensprogress.com
On Monday, July 11, a
17-year-old male suspect
led officers on a high speed
chase after striking a pedes
trian with an automobile in
an area near Noah Drive,
according to the Jasper Po
lice Department.
The suspect was driving
a white Mercury Grand
Marquis when he struck the
pedestrian and fled the
scene. He then entered the
county’s jurisdiction where
he assaulted a resident at a
property on Refuge Valley
Road.
The suspect then hitched
a ride from a passerby in the
Highway 108 area and was
dropped off near Marco’s
Pizza. While there, the sus
pect stole a white Ford
work truck that was occu
pied by a female. The fe
male was able to exit the
truck before the suspect fled
the scene in the stolen vehi
cle.
Witnesses at the scene
informed Pickens County
911 that the suspect had
mentioned going to the
Pickens County Recreation
Department off Camp Road
prior to the vehicle theft and
the city of Jasper Police De
partment’s Criminal Inves
tigations Division (CID)
responded there.
Upon arrival the stolen
truck was seen circling the
facility and the CID at
tempted to initiate a traffic
stop, but the suspect imme
diately drove away heading
towards Highway 53 East.
The suspect fled towards
Tate and Georgia State Pa
trol took over the pursuit,
ending it with a pit maneu
ver just north of the Tate
four-way.
The suspect was appre
hended without further
harm to citizens or law en
forcement.
The struck pedestrian
was transported to Kenne-
stone Hospital for injuries.
Want a diecast car? Or 41,000?
Photo/Angela Reinhardt
Stephen Lovell started collecting diecast cars in 1997, and it now takes up several rooms in his Pickens County
home. He is selling the entire kit and caboodle (minus a few extra-special pieces) to benefit Refuge in Jesus homeless
shelter. The sale date was not confirmed at press time, but is expected to be in August at Mt. Zion Baptist Church.
By Angela Reinhardt basement wall. Inside the collection produced between sive,” but it isn’t even a
Staff Writer boxes, also neatly and 1990 and 2022,” owner quarter of Lovell’s stash,
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com chronologically arranged, Stephen Lovell told me. which he says is around
The boxes are numbered are around 8,000 diecast Eight thousand sounded 41,000 total. Stacked up
1-86, neatly and chronologi- cars. like more than enough to
cally arranged along the “This is one Hot Wheels qualify a collection as “mas- See Diecast on 11A
Lions, Hollifield respond to parade uproar
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
Many members of the
Pickens community were
sent into an uproar last week
because of a float in the
Fourth of July parade that
advocated for women’s re
productive and abortion
rights.
Critics argue that the float
was vulgar and inappropriate
for a family-friendly parade,
with graphic posters and a
topless woman who had un
dergone a double mastec
tomy at the center of the
firestorm. After the parade,
social media was flooded
with negative comments
from the public.
On the main portion of
the float’s trailer were vin
tage images of women
protesting for their rights
with phrase like “Women
Strike for Peace and Equal
ity” and other similar im
ages/phrases that Lions Club
members said they did not
have a problem with. Posters
held by some of the walkers
were at issue, they said. One
had the image of a woman’s
uterus with the fallopian
tubes giving the middle fin
ger; another said “He who
hath not a uterus should shut
the f***eth up,” some in
cluded coat hangers. The
topless woman had “My
Body My Choice” painted
on her chest.
Event organizers with the
Jasper Lions Club said they
would not have approved the
See Parade on 11A
Photo/Robin Dunn
A float organized by state house candidate Kayla Hol
lifield through the group Appalachian Indivisible sent
shock waves across Pickens County. Parade organizers
have received backlash because of portions of the float,
which included profanity on signs and a topless woman
who has undergone a double mastectomy, as seen above.
The Good Vibes
+
Escaping boredom in the virtual world
By Luke Soulimiotis
Video games are something I’ve been fa
miliar with since I was four years old. It was
always a joy to sit down and venture into
whatever virtual world I felt like experienc
ing next. With an almost endless possibility
to be found somewhere, it’s no wonder I
have been drawn to play games in my free
time.
My first game system was the Wii, which
introduced me to Mario, a very well-known
video game character. As a kid, I was very
fond of Nintendo games, including many
Mario games. I guess they just gave off a
certain sense of charm I liked. Even today, I
have a Nintendo Switch and occasionally
play games on it. A neat part of playing
games is being able to talk with other people
about them, especially when I was young. It
was lovely for me to make friends by talking
about things we had in common or went
through. I know by now that games make for
a great bonding experience, either by play
ing with friends or talking about them.
Games have had a genuine impact on
See Good Vibes on 11A
Garner Luke Soulimiotis is a Pickens High School sen
ior and a member of the school’s E-sports team. Soulimi
otis is playing one his favorite games, Mario Kart, on his
Nintendo Switch console. He usually plays either the
Switch or computer games.
Special
section filled
with car
and driver
information
Section C
People
Column - The
importance of
family reunions
Page 8B
Sports
Bent Tree Golf
Challenge
report
Page 1B
Obituaries - 8A
• Charles Thawley
• Cynthia
VanDeGeJuchte
• Dale Bingham
• Eddie Puckett
• Joel Parris
• John Desiderio
• Joseph Halasz
• Mary Ratcliff
• Natasha Watkins
• Sandra Gober
• Thomas Kimber
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