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PAGE 10A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. AUGUST 18. 2022 State’s CASA Volunteer of the Year comes from local judicial circuit Executive director Melanie Davis (left) with CASA Vol unteer of the Year Becky Nunnally. Becky Nunnally, CASA volunteer with CASA of the Appalachian Judicial Circuit, has been chosen as the 2022 Karen N. Sibley CASA Vol unteer of the Year in Georgia. (The award is named in honor of the late founding board chair of Georgia CASA.) A retired educator, Becky Nunnally became a CASA in 2014, bringing with her a heart for children and a pas sion to help them succeed. A Blue Ridge resident, Becky has been assigned 13 cases and advocated for 23 children and their families during her tenure. Her exten sive background working with youth that have been identified as having learning and emotional disabilities has been invaluable to our organ ization. Given her involve ment in advocating for intellectually and develop- mentally disabled children, Becky was instrumental in recommending that Geor gia’s Independent Living Plan (ILP) develop a more focused transition program for medically fragile and dis abled foster children. In addition to her CASA vol unteer service, Becky is also involved in other community organizations including Snack in a Backpack and Toys for Tots. In all that she does, Becky is diligent, com passionate, and dedicated to serving children and families. Letters totM Editor To the Editor: August 15 was the one- year anniversary of the col lapse of the government of Afghanistan and the begin ning of the final U.S. exit from there, and Republicans in Congress are furiously rewriting history. For them, the history of the U.S. in Afghanistan began with the Joe Biden administration (January 20, 2021). The pre ceding 20 years—especially the four years of the Trump administration—had ceased to exist in their minds. Oops, they forgot the Doha Agreement, signed by Trump's administration and the Taliban on February 29, 2020. (Reminder: Trump was defeated in the Presidential election on November 3, 2020, and he remained in power until January 20, 2021. ) The government of Afghanistan that we had been supporting for 20 years was excluded from the Doha ne gotiations and the "deal" made by then-President Trump. Trump's "deal" committed the U.S. to draw down all U.S. and other NATO troops and be out of Afghanistan by May 1, 2021—handing the country over to the Taliban and leaving the ignored Afghan government to deal with them as best it could. The "deal" was that we would not attack the Taliban and they would not attack U.S. troops. But the Taliban were free to attack Afghan government troops—left to fend for themselves—and they did. By January 2021, when Biden became President, just 2,500 US troops had been left in the country, and NATO forces would fully evacuate by the end of that summer. President Biden extended the exit date to August, since no arrangements had been made by the outgoing Trump ad ministration to actually carry out the final withdrawal. The US completed its full evacuation on August 30, 2021. Chaos? You bet. The Afghan National Army had previously collapsed and dis appeared, presumably realiz ing that, under the "deal," U.S. and NATO air support, troops, supplies, and equip ment were no longer there to back them up. So the Taliban, protected under the "deal," had taken full military con trol of the country while we evacuated whoever we could. Air Force transports were flown in from other countries to evacuate them. Republicans prefer to ig nore that Trump had left Biden with no resources to support anything but evacua tion of the few U.S. forces left by Trump, as well as Afghans who had supported us and the abandoned Afghan government. But "helpful" forgetting is a signature of the defeated Trump's more revenge-obsessed disciples. G. David Robinson 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. 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: 908 Weapons Found: 9 Courts Held: 11 Arrests Made in the Courthouse: 1 Civil Papers Received: 36 Civil Papers Served: 24 In the Adult Detention Center: Total Jail population: 63 Total male inmates: 51 Total female inmates: 12 Sex Offenders: There are currently 72 sex of fenders registered with the Pickens Sheriff’s Office. PS( REPORT 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. Aggressive Dogs A woman called deputies because one of her dogs had been attacked by a neighbor’s dog. The woman keeps her dogs inside a chain link ken nel and the neighbor’s dog came and started fighting through the chain link ken nel. The neighbor’s dog tried to pull the woman’s dog through the fencing. The woman’s dog suffered some injuries to it’s nose and ear. The neighbor did not have his dogs contained, and al lowed them to roam around freely. The deputy and animal control went to speak to the neighbor and one of the dogs aggressively ran toward the deputy and animal control person, the neighbor did call the dog back and put it inside his house. The neighbor was not able to produce any proof of ra bies vaccinations. Stolen Purse A woman called to report her purse had been stolen, in the middle of July, by some one she met on Facebook. The woman said she met the man through Facebook Mes senger but did not really know him. The woman said the man showed up in a van and asked her if she wanted a ride. She got in the van and the man drove out a way and tried to get the woman to have a sexual relationship with him. She told him no, and her persisted so she jumped out of the van. She carried all of her stuff in a cooler with a strap. The man grabbed the strap and took all of her items. The deputy asked why it took her so long to report it, the woman said she was trying to give the man time to do the right thing. Hit and Run A woman called for a deputy to report a hit and run. The woman said she was driving through the parking lot at the Valero when a man driving a SUV backed into her. There was minor damage done to her car. She told the man she was going to call 911 and he got in his SUV and left the area. Wanted Person Found Deputies went to a busi ness because they had infor mation that a person with an active warrant was there. When deputies arrived the foreman said the wanted per son was a contractor and he was there and he would take the deputies to him. As the deputies were walking to an- The Sheriff’s Beat From the Pickens Sheriff’s Office other location they saw the wanted person walking. They stopped him and told him there was an active pro bation warrant for him. The wanted man told the deputies there must be a mistake be cause he wasn’t on probation. Deputies called dispatch and had it confirmed that he had an active probation warrant through Marietta. The man was arrested. Man Trespassing on a Farm The farm owner called deputies because there was a person, in a car, on his prop erty that should not be there. The deputy found the car and driver on the property. The deputy asked the driver what he was doing and the driver said he was changing his tire. The tire was shredded and needed changed. The farm owner came to where the deputy was and told him the driver had driven his car by the farm owner’s shop, down the embankment, around the farm owner, and back up the embankment. The driver was cited and told he could not be on the property. Neighbor Dispute Over Mailbox A homeowner called deputies about his mailbox being removed and thrown in his yard. The homeowner told deputies that a few weeks earlier his neighbor told him he did not like where the mailbox was placed. The homeowner checked with the postmaster and was told it was in the correct place. Then the homeowner found his mailbox pulled up and thrown in his yard. The homeowner did not want to press charges against the neighbor, only to document the incident, and have the neighbor pay for damages. The homeowner was advised on how to pursue the civil issue. Stolen Tag in a Vehicle A deputy was on patrol when he saw a car with a tail light out and no visible li cense plate on the car. When the deputy pulled the car over he could see a tag in the back window of the car. The deputy ran the tag and it was stolen out of Cherokee County earlier that day. The driver told the deputy his brother had put the tag in the window and he didn’t know anything about it being stolen. The deputy ran all the information on the driver and the driver’s license had been suspended. Tractor Trailer Wrecked into Roundabout A deputy responded to an accident involving a tractor trailer. The driver told the deputy he was traveling at about 50 miles per hour but did not see the roundabout and drove right through the center of the roundabout damaging some of the things in the center of it. It damaged his truck, but no people were injured in the wreck. Robbery in Progress turns out to be false alarm Deputies were called to a gas station north of town for a burglary in progress. When the deputy got to the gas sta tion there were three people out in the front of the gas sta tion. One of the people told the deputy he had been given permission to be there to use the wireless in order to help set up his new phone. An other one of the people told the deputy they did not real ize the gas station had al ready closed. The deputy was able to determine that there was no burglary and no crime had been committed. Incarcerated Man Re ported Stuff Stolen from his Garage A man that is incarcerated made a report that some peo ple he knows have been stealing things from his home. The man said that when he was arrested he told deputies he wanted everyone trespassed from his house. The man had given per mission to a woman to keep her motorcycle in his garage because he was trying to help a person out, but she and her boyfriend have ben at his property while he is in jail stealing his stuff, however he did not know what things were being stolen. During this past week, the Pickens Sheriff’s Office responded to or initiated 1,665 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 10 Suicide Threats / Attempts 4 Domestics 16 Theft / Burglary Related 13 Forgery / Fraud 1 Traffic Stops 157 Citations Issued 26 Animal Investigations 7 Suspicious Persons/Activity 22 Alarm Calls 5 Stranded Motorists 6 Street Hazards 6 Vandalism 4 Abandoned Vehicles 6 Extra Patrol - neighborhoods, businesses, residences 1,183. 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: 17 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): Probation Violation - 2 Driving with Suspended/Revoked License - 4 Stalking -1 Battery- Family Violence - 1 Disorderly Conduct - 2 DUI-1 Hold For Another County - 2 Robbery -1 Possession of a Controlled Substance - 1 Bond Violation - 2 CRIMSON CANYONS & MESAS NATIONAL PARKS TOUR 10 days, departs April - September 2023 Las Vegas • Grand Canyon • Bryce Canyon • Zion • Capitol Reef • Arches & Canyonlands • and more — Experience the red rocks of these 6 iconic national parks. Travel through deserts, forests, mountains, and to the very edge of the Grand Canyon on this tour. promo code N7017 1-866-721-2490 iflWlH vacations * Prices are per person based on double occupancy plus $199 in taxes <? fees. Single supplement and seasonal surcharges may apply. Add-on airfare available. Offers apply to new bookings only, made by9/30/22. Other terms & conditions may apply. 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