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PAGE 6A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. AUGUST 18. 2022 National news unites Pickens GOP despite local squabbles over ballots By Larry Cavender Contributing Writer In what was expected to be a family squabble among members of the Pickens Re publican Party at the group's Tuesday, August 9 meeting, instead evolved into a unity rally. There has been some dis sension among the rank and file of the local GOP regard ing Chairman Chris Mora's decision to file suit against the Pickens County Elec tions Board, as well as a con troversial comment purportedly made at the group's June meeting by State Rep. Rick Jasperse. However, despite their differences, two breaking news stories which occurred in the two days prior to the meeting seemed to galvanize the local GOP. The featured speaker was Congressman Barry Louder- milk, who in his address to the party faithful, touched on those two events: the un precedented FBI raid upon former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-lago home on August 8, and the passage of the "Inflation Reduction Act" by the US Senate on August 7. Loudermilk, a long-time congressman who serves Georgia's 11th Congres sional District, will represent Pickens County in Congress beginning next January if he is reelected. Because of re districting, Pickens has been moved to the 11th District which in the past has in cluded portions of Cobb and Cherokee Counties. The Mar-a-Lago raid was foremost in the minds of the GOP members and of that raid Loudermilk asked, "Why send 30 armed FBI agents to seize boxes of doc uments intended to be placed in a museum? The National Archives is not the place where classified material is stored." The congressman said the raid was a "travesty" and noted, "I don't recognize what happened at Mar-a- Lago," and added that the raid reminded him of what might happen in a third- world country or even in Nazi Germany. He also said that fortunately the FBI raid While speaking to the local GOP, 11th District Congressman Barry Loudermilk called the FBI’s raid on Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home a "travesty." If reelected, Loudermilk will become Pickens County’s representative in Congress because of the redistricting that now places Pickens in the 11th District. occurred when the former President was out of town, and that may have averted an armed confrontation be tween FBI agents and the Secret Service who are sworn to protect the former President. Loudermilk further stated, "We need to see the warrant," and said the De partment of Justice is "either lying or they abused their power. I'm not afraid of what they might have found, but what they might plant." A little-known provision of the "Inflation Reduction Act" also raised the ire of many of the Republicans. The provision would author ize funding to hire an addi tional 87,000 IRS agents which, including current agents, would double the total number of agents to ap proximately 165,000. Loud ermilk noted that this number would be more than the State Department, the FBI, and the Border Patrol employees, combined. The Congressman warned, "The IRS won't be knocking on Trump's door; they'll be knocking on your door!" Pickens County resident Bill Cagle interjected that he had heard reports that the Knights of Columbus help widow with move Georgia sets new records for investment, j ob growth By Dave Williams Bureau Chief Capitol Beat News Service ATLANTA - New invest ment in Georgia topped $21.2 billion during the last fiscal year, with 358 projects creating 51,132 jobs, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Wednesday. The investment and jobs figures surpassed the state’s previous records by 94% and 53%, respectively. “We are proud companies continue to recognize the ad vantages of Georgia’s busi ness-friendly environment, superior logistics network, [and] top-ranked workforce training program,” Kemp said during a ceremony in side the Georgia Capitol. The two biggest economic development projects in Georgia history played a big role in the success of fiscal 2022. Electric-vehicle manu facturer Rivian, Hyundai Motor Group and 10 other automotive projects were re sponsible for nearly 16,000 of the new jobs. With neither Rivian nor Hyundai located in the 10- county Atlanta region, 85% of the investments in the last fiscal year occurred in other parts of the Peach State. Other sectors besides auto manufacturing that saw big investment and job gains were advanced manufactur ing - including EV industry suppliers - bioscience and fi nancial technology. Foreign direct investment accounted for more than $8 billion. The top five sources were South Korea, Germany, Japan, France, and the Netherlands. “No matter where your business is headquartered, when you decide to grow in Georgia, you become a Geor gia company,” state Commis sioner of Economic Development Pat Wilson said. “Georgia’s record- breaking numbers are the re sult of years of dedication to prioritizing the creation of high-quality jobs in every comer of the state.” This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Serv ice, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Founda tion. o Good Samaritan HEALTH & WELLNESS CENTER Restoring Health. Saving Lives. All kinds of care for all ages. All types of payments. All under one roof. Medical • Dental Behavorial Health • Pharmacy Open Monday - Friday. Call 706-253-4673 for appointments. 75 Samaritan Drive • Jasper GA 30143 goodsamhwc.org We accept a wide variety of insurance: Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, United Healthcare, plus Medicare, Medicaid & Veterans Choice. Plus, we have a low-cost sliding fee scale for individuals without insurance. A widow who served the public for over 27 years was recently assisted in a move by the Knights of Columbus. Having no funds and no transportation, it was appropriate that the Knights of Columbus ( Council 14348, Our Lady of the Mountains) reward her service by relocating her possessions to a new en vironment. The Knights of Columbus, some of whom are shown here during the move, are based on charity, unity, fraternity and patriotism. The Knights are al ways seeking ways to become more involved in Pickens County based on these fundamentals. Consigning Women^jf “!A Unique Consignment Shop" 50% OH Summit &teanaace Sate fan t&e eatine auMtA rfuyuat Browse our racks Women’s Clothing, Plus Sizes, Formal Wear, Purses, Shoes, and Jewelry 706-253-6905 • 540 N. Main Street • Jasper Hours: Wed 11-5, Thurs 11-4, Fri & Sat 11-5 IRS was stockpiling a large stash of weapons and ammu nition, and Loudermilk said he had heard that, too, and that he could see absolutely no reason for a tax collection agency to be doing that. Another unifying theme was the group's dislike of the liberal policies of gubernato rial hopeful Stacy Adams and Senator Raphael Warnock. All of those pres ent were encouraged to dou ble-down on their efforts to re-elect Governor Brian Kemp and to elect Herschel Walker to the Senate. As for the local squab bles, Mora explained that he only wanted to open the records of the local May pri mary elections for reasons of transparency and that he was only following the advice of the county attorney in filing the suit. He further stated that the suit was not meant as an attack on the local elec tion board or Pickens Elec tions Coordinator Stacey Godfrey. In fact, he encour aged the local GOP members to attend the next Pickens Elections Board meeting to show their support. Concerning his alleged controversial statement, Representative Rick Jasperse said his comment was taken out of context, that he had never been en couraged by the Governor or Secretary of State "to put his foot on the hand recount of the Pickens County Ballot." Jasperse distributed a printed statement to those present to clarify what had been said which included the complete quote: "I kind of thought of, you know, 'cause we could see the two parties we're going to look at: the Gover nor's race and Secretary of State's race: both of them calling me and saying, 'Hey, you need to put your foot on this.' [pause...] Absolutely not." It appeared that most all of those in the standing- room-only crowd were satis fied with the explanations given by the local GOP lead ers. Mullen Paving Residential & Commercial Complete Paving Service 470-330-5021 Bele Estimates