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PAGE 8B PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. April 6. 2023
Letters
tat/a Editor
To the Editor
For more than six weeks I
have been very quiet, mostly
working to clear the unbe
lievable roadblocks, requests
by “Pickens County offi
cials” that I lie and make
fraudulent statements, re
questing through false state
ments that Refuge in Jesus,
Inc. spend $30,000 to
$40,000 that is absolutely not
necessary and illegally lock
ing us out of a legally lease
building at 735 Martin Road.
On January 9, 2023 after
signing our lease agreement
on 735 Martin Road I met
with Wes Frye (Pickens
County Planning and Zoning)
and requested applications
for a business permit and all
permits necessary to obtain
that permit for a “Homeless
Shelter.” Mr. Frye told me
that Pickens County does not
define what is a “Homeless
Shelter” and has no ordi
nances governing “Homeless
Shelters.”
At this point Mr. Frye said
that if we would apply as a
“Boarding House” they
might be able to work with
us. Seems to me he is asking
me to lie and commit fraud,
since our lease states we are
a “Homeless Shelter.” No ap
plications were given to me.
Upon request I did fill out
a “Land Use Determination
Form” and returned it to the
planning and zoning office
with other informational let
ters and papers on Refuge in
Jesus, Inc. At a later date I
did apply for approval of the
septic system for occupancy
(this application has been
tabled by health department,
illegally). This is exactly the
same septic system that was
approved for the two previ
ous tenants of the building
and each of these tenants
were approved for a capacity
of 250 people. We would
house a maximum of 16.
We have not applied for a
business permit (remember
we were turned down by the
county because of who we
were), we have not applied
for a occupancy permit, yet
Shane Callahan, Pickens
County fire marshal, has seen
fit to lock us out of our own
building, which we have
legally leased.
Refuge in Jesus, Inc. did
not request an inspection, in
fact, Mr. Callahan requested
to meet me at the shelter (no
reason given). Fire Marshal
Shane Callahan shows up
with his posse of witnesses,
inspects the building and is
sues a stop work order on our
property (3/3/2023). The
building has been locked and
vacant (no work) for over a
month, mean while the city
of Jasper, the property owner
of 28 South East Street and
the Pickens County Sheriffs
Department are putting de
fenseless people (children,
elderly, people confined to
wheelchairs) out in the pour
ing rain and throwing their
belongings on the street.
Where are you people of
Pickens County? This sounds
a lot like the Jews in Ger
many in the 1930s, like the
Blacks in this country in the
1950s. I am a firm believer in
our democracy and our laws
but when evil abounds I
choose my God and His laws.
Do not walk with evil.
Sincerely,
Stephen M Lovell
To the Editor:
I found the article written
by Eli Gallican to be ex
tremely well written and
from a generation we seldom
hear from. I grew up in a
rural area but if you had a car
could be near many things to
do within 15 minutes. I’ve
written to our commissioners
the past few years about em
ulating the beautiful parks in
Canton. Same old refrain, not
enough money, people don’t
want it, people only want low
taxes. I call B.S.! I’m a re
tiree who moved here to
enjoy the beautiful moun
tains but we should be will
ing to support our schools
and children and grandkids.
From what I’ve seen the
commissioners received mil
lions in Covid money and
still won’t invest it in parks. I
asked about these millions
and there was murmuring
about increased salaries and
some bonus payments etc..I
can’t believe there’s not
enough money to put up a
climbing wall.
Dan Ciomek
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.
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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: 1,229
Weapons Found: 11
Courts Held: 9
Arrests Made in
the Courthouse: 4
Civil Papers Received: 37
Civil Papers Served: 34
In the Adult Detention
Center:
Total Jail population: 78
Total male inmates: 58
Total female inmates: 20
Sex Offenders:
There are currently 75 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.
Assisted City Police
Deputies were called to
assist the city police with a
woman that was being disor
derly. The deputies were told
the woman had a knife. The
woman took off running and
began throwing things on the
ground as she ran. One of the
things she threw was the
knife. She tried to run
through some underbrush
and weeds, but tripped and
fell. Deputies were able to
get the woman under control
and she was arrested and
brought to jail.
Driving on a
suspended license
A deputy was on patrol
when he saw a car that had an
expired registration. The
deputy pulled the car over
and ran the information on
the driver and found out the
driver had a suspended li
cense. The driver also had his
children in the car. The
deputy had the driver contact
a family member to pick up
the children and the car.
Domestic dispute due to
burping
Deputies were called to a
home for a domestic dispute.
The homeowner met the
deputies outside and said he
was angry because his step
sons were burping and his
wife didn’t say anything to
them about it, but if he burps
she becomes angry. Deputies
then spoke to his wife she
said they were eating dinner
and her husband became
angry and started throwing
food. Deputies spoke to the
step-sons and they told the
deputies the entire family
was at the dinner table and
the boys started burping and
it made the homeowner mad
and he began yelling and
throwing food. The home-
owner said he wanted the
step-sons to move out, and
the deputies explained the
civil eviction process.
Stolen items from a
work vehicle
A business called to report
an ex-employee had stolen
items from the work truck.
The ex-employees’s father
called the business to let
them know about the stolen
items. When the business
checked the truck they dis
covered several tools and a
gas card had been stolen. The
ex-employee admitted to his
father he had taken the items.
The Sheriff’s Beat
From the Pickens Sheriff’s Office
Stolen gun
A man called to report his
gun being stolen. The man
said he had bought a gun safe
about eight months ago and
thought his gun was inside.
The man had issues with the
lock on the safe and was just
able to get into it. When the
man opened the safe his gun
was not inside. The man said
it may have been stolen out
of his truck.
Missing phone
A woman called to have a
report made because her
phone is missing. The
woman said she left her
phone in the living room the
night before so it could be
used as a remote control for
the television. When the
woman got up the next morn
ing her phone was gone. She
did not think anyone stole her
phone, but maybe her grand
mother threw the phone away
by accident. She needed a re
port for insurance purposes.
Real estate agent showed
up to buy a home
A homeowner called for a
deputy because a real estate
agent showed up at her house
and wanted to buy her home.
The homeowner told her the
house was not for sale. The
real estate agent showed the
homeowner an add on Buy-
owner.com that listed the
home for sale by owner. The
homeowner wanted a report
to document the incident and
in case someone else came to
the house to attempt to buy it.
Dead farm animals
A woman called to report
her goats and a chicken had
been killed. The woman said
there is a problem with stray
dogs in the area and she
thinks that is what killed her
farm animals. The woman
said she plans to call animal
control later in the week.
Four people arrested for
warrants and drugs
Deputies went to a home
looking for two men with ac
tive warrants. One man had
warrants out of a couple of
counties and the other had a
warrant for cutting off his
ankle monitor. When the
deputies got to the home, the
woman that answered the
door told them she did not
know where the men were.
The deputies had been to this
home many times and knew
people stayed in the campers
on the property. When the
deputies got to one of the
campers they found not only
the two men with warrants
but also two women with
warrants and all of them had
methamphetamines on them.
All four were arrested.
Argument between
husband and wife
Deputies were called to a
home for a domestic dispute.
The woman told the deputies
she and her husband were ar
guing and he told her he
wished she were dead. The
woman said her husband did
not make a threat towards
her. The woman said she
wanted her husband to move
out. Deputies explained the
eviction process to the
woman.
During this past week, the Pickens Sheriff’s Office
responded to or initiated 1,521 calls for service.
These numbers are taken from the report provided di
rectly 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 12
Suicide Threats / Attempts 1
Domestics 16
Theft / Burglary Related 24
Forgery / Fraud 4
Traffic Stops 94
Citations Issued 36
Animal Investigations 10
Suspicious Persons/Activities 26
Alarm Calls 10
Stranded Motorists 3
Street Hazards 8
Vandalism 5
Abandoned Vehicles 3
Extra Patrol - neighborhoods, businesses, resi
dences 1,097. In addition to these, other calls include
search warrants, civil service, 911 hang-up calls, as
saults, disorderly persons, missing persons, assistance
with medical calls, natural death investigations, de
mented persons, funeral escorts, harassment, trespass
ing, and many more.
14 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):
Drug Court Violation - 2
Obstruction of LEO - 1
Hold for another county - 2
Driving w/ suspended license - 4
Failure to Appear - 2
Probation Violation -1
Disorderly Conduct -1
Simple assault - Family Violence - 2
Felony False Statements - 2
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