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PAGE 6A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. DECEMBER 29. 2022
Top stories continued from Page 1A
Building demolished at Perrow Park (March 3rd edition)
One of the white buildings in Perrow Park being taken
down by city of Jasper crews on Tuesday, March 1st. An
other building was also demolished as part of the transfor
mation of the area at the corner of South Main and Spring
streets into a park and amphitheater.
The historic Perrow Cabin at the same site was demol
ished later despite local historians asking for it to be saved.
bank drive through on North
Main Street, Jasper Council
eventually voted to demolish
the current structure and start
from scratch.
At year end, no construc
tion or demolition has begun.
March 10
Tim Prather, who worked
for over four decades in fire
services including 10 years
as Cherokee County Fire
Chief, took over as Pickens
County’s Fire & Rescue
Chief in April. “I’m happy
to be coming home,” Chief
Prather said.
April 14
Quick Burger closes
after weekend fire
The charred smell that
hung inside Quick Burger
mid-day Monday, April 11
was thick. A layer of soot
covered what appeared to be
every square inch of the
restaurant - counters, styro
foam to-go containers,
barstools.
A cooler caught on fire
and Quickburger owner Don
Hoy and his wife Joan dis
covered it when they arrived
the morning of Saturday,
April 9.
The Hoys purchased the
restaurant around five years
ago. Joan said the fan in the
cooler was faulty and caught
fire. The soda machine is di
rectly next to the cooler, and
fortunately water from
busted hoses from that ma
chine helped extinguish the
blaze.
Mrs. Hoy told the
Progress they hope to reopen
by the end of February.
“We had extensive dam
age,” she said. “Everything
has had to be cleaned and re
placed. We are looking for
ward to reopening, and the
support from the community
has been amazing.”
April 28
Waterfall robbery
conspirator sentenced
Young woman banned from
Pickens County
The teenage female who
organized an armed robbery
at a waterfall in Pickens
County was sentenced in
court in April.
Tiffany Nicole Keown,
19, was indicted along with
three other co-defendants and
faced charges of armed rob
bery, entering an automobile,
and theft by taking for an in
cident that occurred on Au
gust 15, 2021. Keown
arranged to meet a male
friend at Wendy’s in Jasper to
pay back money she bor
rowed from him at one point.
When they arrived at the
restaurant, Keown asked the
male to meet her and a fe
male friend at a waterfall off
Upper Salem Church Road.
At the waterfall, two masked
men she had arranged to be
there robbed her male friend
at gun point. The young men,
19 and 20 years old at the
time, pretended to rob
Keown and her female friend
and “stole” their car.
The plot was foiled after
detectives utilized a network
of cameras and surveillance
to track the suspects to an
abandoned home in Conyers.
All four were in custody two
days after the incident.
Keown’s armed robbery
charge was reduced to a rob
bery charge and she was sen
tenced to 10 years of
probation for that charge and
five years of probation for
entering an automobile (to
run concurrently with the 10
years of probation for the
robbery charge). Conditions
of Keown’s probation are
that she is banned from Pick
ens County, and must pay
$3,500 in restitution.
May 5th
Sonia Chapman named
Teacher of the Year
A teacher of 24 years,
Sonia Chapman was named
the 2021-22 Pickens County
Teacher of the Year. "It was
amazing,” Chapman said.
"I'm honored and just
proud. I’m am so excited
about it."
Chapman teaches at Hill
City Elementary School.
June 2
May 24 Primary Election
Eight votes decide east end
commission race
Board of Commissioners
In the May 24 primary
election, Josh Tatum received
1,962 votes (50.1 percent) to
Dave Gamer’s 1,954 (49.9
percent), a difference of just
eight votes to win the District
2 (east end) commissioner
seat, a seat previously held
by Becky Denney who re
tired in 2021.
The primary resulted in a
runoff between Josh Tippens
and David Shouse for Dis
trict 1 (west end) commis
sioner’s post to succeed
long-time commissioner
Jerry Bames. Tippens would
go on to beat Shouse in the
runoff, gamering 1,092 votes
to Shouse’s 440. Tippens
took office earlier this year
after Mr. Bames resigned due
to health issues. Mr. Bames
would pass away on August
27th, 2022.
School Board
Steve Lowe won out over
Suzanne Neville Fowler
3,923 to 3,050 votes in the
Pickens Board of Education
Post 2 race. Amy Gibson and
Joe Wigington ran unop
posed for Post 3 and Post 5,
respectively. All three new
board of education members
will take office January 1,
2023.
July 7
Two bodies found in
Burnt Mountain home had
been there well over a year
Two bodies believed to
have been decaying in a
house for at least a year-and-
a-half, and possibly more,
were discovered inside a
Georgia Highlands subdivi
sion home in July.
Pickens Sheriff’s Crimi
nal Investigation Division
Capt. John Cagle described
the macabre scene that un
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fate, at
Photo/qPublic
The remains of Keith Neerman and Deborah Neerman
were found in this home. They were discovered by a bank
employee there to get photographs for foreclosure proceed
ings. The home went up for sale in December and is listed
for $701,000.
folded after a bank employee
came to the house at 1823
Highland Parkway, which
was being foreclosed on.
Keith Neerman, 67, was
discovered on a mattress on
the floor in the master bed
room, which had no bedroom
furniture in it. There was an
open laptop on the mattress.
Remains of Deborah
Neerman, 72, were found in
the master bathroom jacuzzi
tub and investigators believe
her body had been in the
home longer than the male’s
because of the differing states
of deteriorization.
The Neermans had no
children and were estranged
from family on both sides.
The Georgia Highlands
neighborhood is a gated com
munity off Highway 136 just
before the overlook. It has se
cluded homes on lots that are
no smaller than 10 acres. The
Neerman’s home was located
down a long drive behind a
gate.
According to county tax
records, the Neermans pur
chased the home and 10.04
acres in 2005 for $536,000.
The home is now for sale for
$701,000.
July 28
Teen in high speed chase
assaults detention officers
A teen involved in a high
speed chase assaulted two
Pickens County detention of
ficers while incarcerated.
James Garret Ritchie, 17,
led officers on a high-speed
chase on July 11 after he
struck a pedestrian then
drove to the home of a for
mer friend on Refuge Valley
Road where he assaulted one
of the residents.
Screenshot/Sheriff’s Office
Surveillance footage of
an inmate assaulting two
deputies at the Pickens
County Adult Detention
Center.
Ritchie hitched a ride
from a passing motorist on
Highway 108 and was
dropped off at Marco’s Pizza
in Jasper where he stole a
white Ford work truck. A
woman inside the truck was
able to exit before Ritchie
drove away. He was appre
hended at the four-way stop
in Tate.
Ritchie was charged with
three counts of battery, hi
jacking by motor vehicle,
theft by taking, fleeing, at
tempting to elude an officer,
speeding, serious injury by
vehicle, reckless driving,
among others.
Then on July 16, five days
after the original incident,
Ritchie assaulted two deten
tion officers at the Pickens
County Adult Detention Cen
ter, which resulted in one
being sent to the hospital for
treatment.
Ritchie assaulted one ser
geant to escape his cell. He
removed the deputy’s baton
and taser from his belt, then
punched him in the face mul
tiple times with a closed fist
and baton. He suffered a con
cussion, short-term memory
loss, and hearing loss.
August 4
Empty mailboxes prompt
Marble Hill residents to
seek congressional help
Seeing empty mailboxes,
packages left on the ground,
wrong mail delivered and no
one to offer a solution, some
residents of Marble Hill
sought help from Rep. An
drew Clyde (9th District).
The mail problem first
arose in the spring when a
new contractor arrived to
handle a portion of Marble
Hill’s mail delivery. As sev
eral residents explained to the
Progress in different inter
views, mail for Marble Hill is
delivered out of the Jasper
Post Office, not the Marble
Hill Post Office (that is only
for P.O. Box holders).
But the Marble Hill mail
is not delivered by Jasper
postal employees. It is deliv
ered through an independent
contractor, based in Philadel
phia, who has used people
from out of state to come
here for some of the work.
And on other days, no one
showed up to attempt to de
liver the mail.
[Editor’s Note: as of
year’s end, this situation
was resolved by the Post
Office taking back over the
route, at least temporarily,
from the contractor with
mail resuming regular de
livery again. Publicity and
congressional pressure ap
pears to have remedied the
situation from what the
newspaper has been told by
residents in the area. Postal
officials were not allowed to
comment on the internal
workings.]
August 24
Two school bus drivers
arrested for DUI within
a week
“All I could hear was
panicked children and kids
screaming and crying, ” par
ent said.
Two Pickens County
school bus drivers were ar
rested and charged with
DUIs within four days of
each other in separate in
stances.
The first incident occurred
on Friday, Aug. 19. Deputies
were dispatched to a school
bus crash on Fortner Road.
Driver Jeffery Tucker was
taking students home from
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