Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, December 1,2022 | Volume 135 Number 33 | Jasper, Georgia | 24 pages, 2 sections | Published Weekly | $1.00
“This isn’t CSI but it’s a lot closer,”
says sheriff of new traffic camera systems
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
Sheriff Donnie Craig and Chief Deputy Jeff
Hall previewed two new high-tech camera sys
tems they say will greatly deter speeding in school
zones and offer a “great tool to solve crimes” dur
ing a presentation Monday.
One camera system, Flock, is already in use on
Pickens roads and the second, RedSpeed, will be
activated in January at school zones where high
speed traffic is a concern.
Both systems will eventually be tied into a
comprehensive technology package with the 911
dispatch office, body cameras on officers and
dash cams - offering new live stream capability.
It already offers command officers the ability to
log into an officer’s live stream off the body cam
and see and exactly what an officer is seeing.
“When I first started in law enforcement, peo
ple at crime scenes would say aren’t you going to
take prints or something and I would say, ‘this
isn’t CSI,”’ Craig said. “And it’s still not but it’s
a lot closer.”
RedSpeed has track record of slowing speeds
in school zones, says sheriff
Sheriff Craig said when they did studies of
speeding in school zones in 2019 and earlier this
year he expected to find speeding in front of Tate
and Hill City campuses as both are on Highway
53 with passing lanes.
Not only did they find that but also that people
were flying in front of Harmony Elementary and
Pickens Junior High, both on quieter roads. “We
had people running 55 in the 25 at Harmony and
60 at the junior high and that’s with a four-way
stop right there. I was surprised they were going
that fast.”
The tests showed that in 2019 1,545 motorists
drove in front of schools on the test day above the
posted speed limit. In 2022 the number of speed
ers on the single day rose to 1,936.
To curb this, the sheriff’s office and schools
will begin using a RedSpeed program where any
one going through the school zones at Tate, Hill
City and Harmony elementary schools, the junior
high and high school will have their speeds mon
itored during a time period starting one hour be
fore school, running through the time students are
on campus and extending one hour after school.
Speeders will be videoed by the system with
speed recorded and identified by their license
plates.
From there it will go to deputies who will
check and confirm it before a ticket is sent by the
mail from the Red- See Cameras on 11A
Speed provider in At-
Local doctor,
auto restorer
give second life
to 1960s-era
Navy
ambulance
Page 3A
Case
sentenced
after child
molestation,
rape trial
Book-in photo/Pickens
Sheriff’s Office
Michael Travis Case has
been found guilty of sexu
ally abusing and raping a
child under 14.
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@piekensprogress.com
A Pickens jury recently
found Michael Travis Case,
39, guilty of 29 counts in
cluding Rape, Aggravated
Child Molestation, False Im
prisonment, Aggravated
Sodomy, and other charges
for sexually abusing a child
under the age of 14. The of
fenses occurred in 2019 and
early 2020 to one female vic
tim.
See Sentencing on 11A
Record turnout on first day
of early voting in Senate runoff
photo/Angela Reinhardt
The line for early voting snaked into the front lobby and back into a gymnasium at the community center on Camp
Road. Poll workers said that by noon on Tuesday, Nov. 29 over 300 people had already voted that morning. More
than 900 voted the day before.
By Alex Goble
Staff Writer
agoble@pickensprogress.com
A record 918 Pickens
County voters cast ballots
Monday in early voting for
the United States Senate
runoff election and more
than 300,000 Georgians cast
ballots across the state. The
ballot features only one race,
between Herschel Walker
and Raphael Warnock.
“That is a record number
for any of the elections we
have conducted,” said
Stacey Godfrey, Pickens
County Elections supervisor.
“Myself and my board are
thrilled with the turnout and
hope to see the voters con
tinue to show up.”
The first day of early vot
ing has historically been the
busiest and this time was no
different. Wait times took
upwards of an hour at
lunchtime Monday, much
longer than times recorded
during the regular election.
Other days of the week and
times of day often offer
shorter wait times, if voters
are looking to get in and out
See Voting on 11A
Students
Sassafras Youth
Writing Contest
winners
announced
Holiday events abound
Night of Lights, Tour of Homes, Holiday
Walk on Main, Antique Christmas
By Angela Reinhart
Staff Writer
The holiday season is upon us, with several local
events to be held over the next few weeks.
The 16th annual Night of Lights Christmas Parade
will be Sunday, Dec. 4, with a new event, Holiday Walk
on Main, Saturday, Dec. 10. There will also be a special
Christmas event at the Old Jail in Jasper, the popular
Tour of Homes, and a parade in Ball Ground.
Night of Lights has historically been on Saturdays,
but event organizers with the Jasper Merchants Associ
ation changed the date because it conflicted with other
local parades and the SEC Championship game, which
was thought to deter many people from attending.
Night of Lights begins at 2 p.m. with the parade at 6
p.m.
Other festivities for the day include Santa Claus at the
courthouse from 4-5:45 p.m., vendors, food, music in
cluding from the PHS choir, and entertainment. There
will be a reading of The Christmas Stoiy before the tree
lighting at 6 p.m., parade to follow directly.
The Tour of Homes is Sunday, Dec. 4 from 1-5 p.m.
Participants will tour decorated homes on South Main
Street, a historic commercial business on North Main,
and a home in Hunters Ridge. See more details on page
2A.
The Thrift Store’s Tis The Season Chili Cook Off, De
cember 3rd, 10 a.m. until 3 p.m., has a variety of events.
See details on page 12B.
The Pickens Historical Society is hosting an “Jasper’s
Antique Christmas” and special open house event at the
Old Jail and Kirby-Quinton Cabin that same day, Sun
day, Dec. 4, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. See details on page
2A.
On Saturday, Dec. 10, enjoy holiday music and
Christmas lights on Main Street in Jasper while you shop
and dine for the first Holiday Walk on Main. Businesses
will be open until 8 p.m. and many will provide refresh
ments.
The Ball Ground parade is Friday, Dec. 2 at 7 p.m.
Giving the gift of memories:
Friends surprise longtime educator
Peggy Andrews with “memory board”
Photos/Angela Reinhardt
Peggy Andrews, who worked for many years at Tate Elementary and served on the
school board, shown with a painting her neighbors made that features important elements
of her life.
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
Peggy Andrews, a retired
and well-known Pickens
County educator, said she
felt like Alice looking
through the looking glass
that morning. A teary-eyed
Andrews recited a portion of
a Lewis Carroll poem as she
surveyed a large painting
her neighbors made for her
and unveiled last week.
“Oh, there’s my red
bird,” she said, pointing to a
little cardinal painted on a
tree branch in the top left
comer.
The real bird visits the
yard of her home in Tate
regularly. The Tate Elemen
tary School building, where
she worked for decades, is
painted in the top left comer,
too, near the tree with the lit
tle red bird.
Other meaningful pieces
of Andrews’ life are in the
painting as well: Her hus
band Jerry’s 2003 Anniver
sary Edition Harley
Davidson they rode on
weekends before he passed ;
the Tate Depot and a wreath
she and other members of
the Amicalola Garden Club
hang on one of its windows
See Andrews on 11A
Page 6A
Basketball
‘Nettes bring
home big win
at ETC
Championship
Page 1B
Obituaries - 10A
Catherine Word
Dorothy Robinson
Jacqueline Miller
Kathryn Turner
Keith Brown
Michael Milko
Richard Coxe
Robert Allen
Sally Long
Shirley Wade
Victoria Ennis
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