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THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 2. 2023 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 5A
Letters
tot/iA Editor '
To the Editor:
As I read about the home
less shelter situation and see
diverging viewpoints. I have
a more personal perspective
that should be brought up.
Prior to college, I worked
at a fast food chain in Mari
etta working to run a place
that is located between two
homeless shelters. At this
time the shelters released
folks very early in the morn
ing (around 6 a.m.) and the
cavalcade of individuals con
verged on the restaurant.
Add in a promotion for buy
one get one free coffee and
free razor, the crowds were
significant.
Unfortunately, this also
caused serious concerns re
garding paying customers,
significant loitering issues,
crime and general bad situa
tions. This caused safety con
cerns, lost sales and a general
predicament that could not
easily be managed. The
restaurant was forced to en
gage law enforcement to
clear the area and provide
heavy visibility in which cus
tomers and employees could
be safe.
There are a lot of things
needed to support folks in
these predicaments, including
access to employment, "af
fordable housing" and men
tal/medical treatment
facilities.
These are things
Jasper/Pickens County sim
ply does not have. It's not be
cause of lack of sympathy but
the fact is the community
does not have the ability to
handle this.
The only real suggestion
may be an agreement on a
limited partnership with
MUST Ministries in Canton
and Marietta. But fact is, this
has to be addressed ASAP.
Thank You,
Greg Moore
To the Editor:
Thank You Pickens
County. The Adopt a Senior
2022 with the Pickens Senior
Center was a success.
Pickens County is a very
loving, caring, beautiful, giv
ing community. Our seniors
were so blessed with your
gifts and generosity.
Wow. You showed up big.
Pickens County friends,
neighbors, businesses, stu
dents, clubs, and everyone
who blessed our senior citi
zens with Christmas gifts.
We would like to say a
huge thank you.
Lenise Bruce
Senior Life Services
Pickens Senior Center
To the Editor:
I am writing to thank
Jasper-area residents for
sharing the true meaning of
Christmas with children in
need this past holiday season.
Generosity throughout
contributed to a successful
shoebox gift collection sea
son at drop-off locations for
the Samaritan’s Purse project
Operation Christmas Child.
Across the U.S., the project
collected over 9.3 million
shoebox gifts in 2022. Com
bined with those collected
from partnering countries in
2022, the ministry is now
sending nearly 10.6 million
shoebox gifts to children
worldwide.
Through shoeboxes—
packed with fun toys, school
supplies, and hygiene
items—Jasper-area volun
teers brought joy to children
in need around the world.
Each gift-filled shoebox is a
tangible expression of God’s
love, and it is often the first
gift these children have ever
received.
Through the continued
generosity of donors since
1993, Operation Christmas
Child has collected and deliv
ered more than 209 million
gift-filled shoeboxes to chil
dren in more than 170 coun
tries and territories. This
year, Samaritan’s Purse de
livered its milestone 200 mil
lionth shoebox, which was
packed on a country-wide
tour and then hand-delivered
to a young girl in Ukraine.
Across GA shoebox
packers often shop for deals
on shoebox items throughout
the year, and many serve at a
deeper level by becoming a
year-round volunteer. Infor
mation about ways area par
ticipants can get involved
year-round can also be found
at samaritanspurse.org/occ or
by calling 770-777-9342.
Although local drop-off
locations for gifts are closed
until Nov. 13 - 20, 2023,
anyone can still be a part of
this life-changing project by
conveniently packing a shoe-
box gift online in just a few
simple clicks at samari-
tanspurse.org/buildonline.
These simple gifts, packed
with love, send a message to
children worldwide that they
are loved and not forgotten.
Sincerely,
Lizette Miller
SAMARITAN'S PURSE
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 published, and contact info.
(Email Address or Phone Number), which will not be published.
THRIFT STORE TREASURES
A variety of winter fashion boots...$4 / pair
Oak Glider....$25
Find them at
Leather Gaming / \
Chairs....$50 each R ' S3
^ Community Thrift Store
10 Samaritan Drive, Jasper
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: 956
Weapons Found: 14
Courts Held: 13
Arrests Made in
the Courthouse: 1
Civil Papers Received: 35
Civil Papers Served: 22
In the Adult Detention
Center:
Total Jail population: 69
Total male inmates: 59
Total female inmates: 10
Sex Offenders:
There are currently 74 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 following incidents
are a few deputies respond
to each day.
Flock camera system
located a wanted person
The Flock camera system
hit on a tag that the registered
owner had an outstanding
warrant.
The car pulled into a gas
station and the deputy pulled
in behind it. The deputy
spoke to the driver and it was
the person with a warrant out
of Holly Springs.
The driver made arrange
ments for the car, and was ar
rested for the outstanding
warrant.
Money missing from home
A man called for a deputy
because he had money miss
ing from his home.
The man said he had been
at his girlfriend’s house over
the weekend and when he
came home his bathroom
door was open and $600 was
missing from the pocket of
his bathrobe.
The man believes one of
the people he rents rooms to
may have stolen the money.
Unwanted houseguest
A homeowner said when
he left for work, his cousin
knocked on the front door to
his house, when the home
owner’s girlfriend opened the
door, his cousin came in and
laid down on the couch and
went to sleep.
The homeowner’s girl
friend said she told the cousin
to leave but he ignored her,
she called the cousin’s son to
come get him to leave. The
homeowner said the cousin is
not allowed at his home be
cause of his history of drug
abuse, and normally when
the cousin comes over he
stays in the yard.
The deputy was able to
find the cousin and told him
he was being criminally tres
passed from the home and
not to return. The cousin did
say he went inside because it
was cold outside, but the
homeowner’s girlfriend did
not ask him to leave.
Elaborate efforts to avoid
water bill include note to
“The Waterman”
A city worker from the
water department said he had
put a lock on a water meter
due to non-payment back in
December. The worker said
the next time he went to
check the lock had been cut
off. The city worker said he
then took the water meter
out, and continued to check
on it. When the city worker
went to check again, a piece
of garden hose had been
hooked up for the residents to
“steal” water.
The city worker said the
next time he went there was
The Sheriff’s Beat
From the Pickens Sheriff’s Office
a note addressed to “The Wa
terman.” The city worker as
sumed it was written for him.
The note was not threaten
ing in nature, but did say the
waterman should not be
looking in the windows at the
resident’s girlfriend, and that
the waterman was a pervert.
The deputy spoke to the
resident and he said he did
write the note because he said
the city worker looked in the
window at his girlfriend
when she was wearing a
towel.
The deputy questioned the
resident about the lock and
the garden hose, but the resi
dent said he did not do that, it
was another person he knew
that cut the lock and added
the hose.
The homeowner said two of
the dogs are under the porch
and the other is wandering
around the property.
The deputy could see the
two under the porch were
young and very malnour
ished, the other dog was also
malnourished and losing its
hair. Animal control was
contacted about the dogs.
Seatbelt stop leads to drug
arrest
While on patrol a deputy
saw a car pass by and the
driver didn’t have on his seat-
belt. The deputy pulled the
car over and the driver started
apologizing for not wearing a
seatbelt, but when the driver
opened up his wallet to get
his license out, a baggie of
methamphetamine fell out of
the wallet.
The driver tried to hide it
under his foot in the floor
board. The deputy told the
driver to get out of the car,
and the driver tried to argue
at first. The deputy found the
baggie of methamphetamine
on the floor board and asked
if there was any more drugs
in the car, the driver said no.
The deputy found a cap with
a paper towel stuffed in it,
and inside the paper towel
was a piece of methampheta
mine. The deputy also
found an unused syringe in
the console of the car. The
driver was arrested.
Disorderly teenager behav
ior leads parents to call for
help
A man and woman called
for a deputy because they
were having issues with their
teenager. The teenager had
gotten in trouble at school
and when the parents at
tempted to talk to her, she
locked herself in her
mother’s truck and refused to
speak to them.
The deputy went to the
truck and the teenager
opened the door and told the
deputy when she was talking
to her parents her mother
started yelling at her, and
then her dad got into the ar
gument.
The teenager said that is
why she locked herself in the
truck. The deputy had the
teenager speak with her par
ents and he was able to go
back into service.
Gucci ring is stolen while
woman is moving
A woman called for a
deputy to report her ring
being stolen. The woman
said she was in the process of
moving and left the ring in a
box on top of the stove. She
returned to that residence five
days later and the back door
was open and the black
Gucci ring was missing from
the box. The woman said she
did not know of anyone that
would have had a key or who
could have come into the res
idence. The woman said she
was sure she locked the back
door when she left the last
time. The deputy did not find
any forced entry into the res
idence.
Eight dogs running
around on property
A homeowner called for
eight dogs running loose on
his property.
The homeowner said that
the dogs went around back
towards his chicken coop so
he fired a shot in the woods
and scared most of the dogs
away. The homeowner said
three of the dogs stayed be
hind and were not aggressive.
GRISHAM, POOLE
& CARLILE, PC
Criminal Defense I Family Law
"You can't go back and change the beginning,
but you can start where you are and change
the ending." ~ C.S. Lewis
21 COURT STREET
JASPER, GEORGIA
678.880.9360
Experienced. Established. Effective.
During this past week, the Pickens Sheriff’s Office
responded to or initiated 3,450 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 inci
dent.
Accidents 26
Suicide Threats / Attempts 5
Domestics 14
Theft / Burglary Related 14
Forgery / Fraud 8
Traffic Stops 364
Citations Issued N/A
Animal Investigations 20
Suspicious Persons/Activities 36
Alarm Calls 24
Stranded Motorists 9
Street Hazards 16
Vandalism 4
Abandoned Vehicles 1
Extra Patrol - neighborhoods, businesses, resi
dences 2,502. In addition to these, other calls include
search warrants, civil service, 911 hang-up calls, as
saults, disorderly persons, missing persons, assis
tance with medical calls, natural death
investigations, demented persons, funeral escorts,
harassment, trespassing, and many more.
20 Individuals were booked into the Adult Deten
tion 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):
Hit and Run -1
To Be Taken - 1
Bond Violation - 3
Traffic Methamphetamine -1
Accountability Court Violation - 1
Driving with License Suspended - 3
Probation Violation Felony - 1
Hold For Another County - 2
Simple Assault -1
Battery Family Violence - 1
Criminal Trespass - FVA- 1
Probation Violation Felony - 1
Possession of methamphetamine - 1
Drug related object (1st and 2nd offenses) -1
Marijuana less than 1 OZ - 1
DUI/ marijuana or controlled substance - 1
Assault/ Battery: Terrorist
threats/ intimidation -1
Possession of a Scheduled 1 controlled
substance -1
Here for Court Appearance - 2