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THURSDAY. SEPTEMBER 14. 2023 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 3A
History talk features investigator John
Cagle discussing hiker murder Sept.
28
Submitted By
Pickens Historical Society
A Pickens native and re
tired GBI agent John Cagle
will discuss one of his last,
most gruesome and most fa
mous cases September 28 as
part of the Pickens Historical
Society’s Drinking and His
tory series at Pendley Creek
brewing at 7 p.m. The talk is
free.
Cagle, now serves as the
commander of the Pickens
Sheriff’s office criminal in
vestigation division.
He lead the investigation
into the murder of a hiker on
a north Georgia trail before
his GBI retirement and later
wrote a book on it, entitled,
Those Days in January: The
Abduction and Murder of
Meredith Hope Emerson.
A press release for the true
crime book described it as,
“More than 10 years after the
murder of Meredith Emer
son, lead investigator John
Cagle reveals his take on the
case and the lasting impact it
has had on his life in his
transparent true crime debut,
Those Days in January: The
Abduction and Murder of
Meredith Hope Emerson.”
“Meredith Emerson
seemed to be the all-Ameri
can girl with a wonderful
family and group of friends
who loved and supported
her,” says Cagle. “For her life
to end this way at the hands
of such an evil person was
such a tragedy.”
In Those Days in January,
Cagle takes readers through
the investigation from start to
finish in a day-by-day ac
count. Readers witness first
hand the struggle to seek
justice for Meredith, all while
law enforcement does their
best to protect her memory
from the opportunists, sensa
tionalist reporters, and un
scrupulous practices that
threatened to deny her the
dignity she deserves. Chapter
by chapter, Cagle reveals not
only the facts of her murder,
but the impact on the per
sonal lives of those who
worked tirelessly to find
Meredith.
Cagle wrote Those Days
in January to give those in
terested in the case a more in
timate look into what
happened in the investigation
than what TV stations could
provide. He also hopes it can
be therapeutic for himself
and others who were close to
the case.
“For years I have strug
gled with this case, as some
other agents have,” says
Cagle. “I broke a rule that
every investigator must fol
low. I let this case become
personal. I simply got too
close to it. I’m hopeful telling
this story will help me move
on.”
Those Days in January is
available now on
Amazon.com and
Shop.BookLogix.com.
The talk is free and is part
of a series designed to edu
cate about local history in an
informal setting.
Oct. Speaker
Following on the true
crime history, the Histori
cal Society will host Stoney
Birt speaking on The True
Story of Georgia's Dixie
Mafia October 26. Birt is
famous as the subject of the
podcast In the Red Clay.
Lonesome City:
The Forgotten Hamlet of Tate
By Chris Feldt
Contributing Writer
Pickens Historical Society
Board Member
According to Dr. Kathleen
Thompson, in her October
5th, 2011, Pickens Progress
article about Black Commu
nities in Tate and Jasper:
“Lonesome City was located
off Highway 53, across the
road from the Tate House,
and deep in the woods. Fam
ilies living here predomi
nately carried the last name
Patrick. Reverend Bill
Patrick was raised here. In
the 1910s into the 1930s this
was a Black settlement. By
the 1950s this had become a
White farming area. Due to
job losses in the marble in
dustry, Black families had
moved away.”
An earlier Progress article
written in the 1970s by for
mer teacher Carl Darnell had
placed Lonesome City near
Darnell Creek, south of Cove
Road, in the vicinity of Mar
ble Hill, not Tate. Darnell
spoke of a story that spawned
from reports of the deaths of
several Cagle family mem
bers in the tornado outbreak
of February 1884. However,
newspaper reports from the
Atlanta Constitution in 1884,
indicated the deaths took
place in Cagletown (near
modern-day Hwy 108) in
West Pickens County. Dar
nell recalled that someone
found the bodies of the Cagle
family the day after the storm
and from that moment on the
area was known as Lonesome
City.
I suppose it’s possible
there were two such loca
tions. However, neither of
them can be found on any
map.
After reading the descrip
tion given by Dr. Thompson,
I reviewed all the available
aerial photography of the
area as well as the topo
graphic maps of 1926 and
1928. The topographic maps
showed a small number of
houses clustered in a row be
side a road. The aerial
footage from 1955 showed
even fewer houses remain
ing. From the 1970s forward,
the area was reclaimed by the
surrounding forest.
Lonesome City was aptly
named.
[Editor s Note: there may
be some remains of the old
structures left, however, they
are on private property and
not accessible from any
road.]
Approximate location of Lonesome City as shown on a
1926 topographic map of the Tate-Nelson quadrangle.
Bryan Lawrence
Email: Bryan@faithturf.com
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Renovations planned for
Pickens High School
Submitted by Pickens
School District
The current Pickens High
School facility opened in the
1997-98 school year. This
school is now in need of
many updates and upgrades
throughout.
The Pickens County
Board of Education, Superin
tendent Travis Thomas and
Chief Operations Officer
Chris Wallace are in the
process of planning the large
renovation project. This proj
ect will be separated into
three phases with the first
phase scheduled to begin in
2024. Phase one includes the
kitchen, the roof and the
HVAC system. Through the
GaDOE Capital Outlay Pro
gram, school districts earn
funding over time to assist in
renovating and modifying K-
12 educational facilities.
An application was made
for Pickens High School, and
a Capital Outlay grant was
secured. The school system
Planning the Renovations (l-r) - Chief Operations Of
ficer Chris Wallace, School Board Chair Tommy Gartrell,
Superintendent Travis Thomas and Pickens High School
Principal Matt Combs in front of the campus entrance.
will be receiving over half
the estimated expense for
these renovations through the
Capital Outlay grant. The re
mainder of the renovation
cost will be paid from
SPLOST hinds. Superintend
ent Thomas and members of
the Pickens County Board of
Education are very excited to
begin this much needed ren
ovation.
Child advocates move to consolidated campus
Pickens community invited to open house Sept. 13
Submitted by Advocates
for Children
After a 40-year legacy of
focusing on families and chil
dren in crisis, Advocates for
Children is opening a new
center in Cartersville serving
all North Georgia to better
tackle the escalating issue of
child abuse head-on.
While our Prevention and
Advocacy Center is located
in Cartersville, we currently
serve children and families in
11 Northwest Georgia coun
ties and the children of Pick
ens County through three of
our programs.
Our Flowering Branch
Children’s Shelter, Runaway
and Homeless Youth Pro
gram, and Safe Place Pro
gram all serve foster children
or runaway and homeless
youth who live in Pickens
County. Through our partner
ship with Quik Trip, we are
able to offer our Safe Place
program so children in crisis
may be connected with our
services and get the help they
need. Our Flowering Branch
Children’s Shelter and Run
away and Homeless Youth
Programs also are available
to runaway and homeless
youth from the county or
children who need foster care
placement.
“Georgia records about
127,000 cases of child abuse
a year and land at the bottom
of all the states in child well
being. We felt compelled to
take powerful action and cre
ate a facility that serves our
rising numbers while increas
ing effectiveness,” according
to Advocates’ Pres, and CEO
Rachel Castillo. “Our sepa
rate campuses are coming to
gether in one place as we
continue to be the leading
service provider for the pre
vention of child abuse in the
northwest part of the state, in
cluding Pickens County.”
She explained that fami
lies will gain convenient ac
cess to services and have
their needs met at one
trauma-reducing location.
Now serving 11 counties,
with a population base of 1.8
million people, the daunting
task of fighting child abuse
has challenged Advocates to
be a strong community
leader in offering help and
hope to thousands of fami
lies.
The organization is giving
the public a rare opportunity
to learn more about the criti
cal work being done to pro
tect children by hosting an
open house at the new facil
ity at 827 Joe Frank Harris
Parkway on Wednesday,
Sept. 13,2-6 p.m. The com
munity is invited to tour the
building, meet the staff.
Visitors who want to
bring something to help the
children and their families
are encouraged to donate toi
letries at the open house.
“The need for soap, sham
poo, feminine hygiene prod
ucts, toothbrushes and
toothpaste is extensive when
you help more than 15,000
people a year,” she said. Fi
nancial gifts are always ap
preciated, she continued,
“because the needs are grow
ing and we work hard to pro
vide a long list of resources.”
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NOTICE
The Jasper City Council does hereby announce that the millage rate will be set at the Regular Council Meeting to be held at Jasper
City Hall, Council Chambers located at 200 Burnt Mountain Road, Jasper, Georgia 30143 on Monday, October 2, 2023 at 6:00 PM
and pursuant to the requirements of O.C.G.A. Section 48-5-32 do hereby publish the following presentation of the current year's tax
digest and levy, along with the history of the tax digest and levy for the past five years.
CURRENT 2023 TAX DIGEST AND 5 YEAR HISTORY OF LEVY
Jasper City
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
Real & Personal
244,651,166
251,734,957
264,689,466
279,140,712
322,879,320
389,530,922
Motor Vehicles
1,885,650
1,631,220
1,359,700
1,138,270
1,048,370
1,163,290
Mobile Homes
17,686
17,686
17,686
16,404
16,404
28,682
Timber - 100%
0
0
0
0
0
0
Heavy Duty Equipment
0
0
0
0
0
0
Gross Digest
246,554,502
253,383,863
266,066,852
280,295,386
323,944,094
390,722,894
Less M& O Exemptions
8,168,810
6,170,559
6,061,617
6,507,224
7,610,548
11,222,242
Net M & O Diqest
238,385,692
247,213,304
260,005,235
273,788,162
316,333,546
379,500,652
State Forest Land Assistance Grant Value
Adjusted Net M&O Diqest
238,385,692
247,213,304
260,005,235
273,788,162
316,333,546
379,500,652
Gross M&O Millaqe
9.497
9.811
11.049
11.437
11.364
10.948
Less Rollbacks (LOST)
4.842
5.156
5.394
5.879
5.897
5.727
Net M&O Millage
4.655
4.655
5.655
5.558
5.467
5.221
Total City Taxes Levied
$1,109,685
$1,150,778
$1,470,330
$1,521,715
$1,729,395
$1,981,373
Net Taxes $ Increase
82,799
$41,093
$319,552
$51,385
$207,681
$251,977
Net Taxes % Increase
8.06%
3.70%
27.77%
3.49%
13.65%
14.57%