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THURSDAY. OCTOBER 26. 2023 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 5B
Letters r*
totk Editor
To the Editor:
In 2016 a friend sent me
an email which blew my
mind. Simply, it listed 85 Is
lamic mosques in (only)
Florida. Considering the war
in Israel and Islamic terrorists
activities all over the world -
putting that together with the
autocrat in Turkey wanting to
resurrect the Ottoman Em
pire, are we in trouble? Yes
and no.
Yes, because the flood
gate at the border has resulted
in ‘‘unknown,” unvetted sub
versives entering the US and
going where? We got caught
with our “pants down” when
9/11 Islamic terrorists at
tacked. The press is consis
tently saying “intelligence
failure” regarding Israel’s
war. Well, I guess that was
true for us. And, it could be
the same again.
No, because America is
armed. Thanks to the NRA
our right to bear arms allows
us to do so, and this is a de
terrent to our adversaries.
And, we have some great al
lies. Nonetheless we must be
vigilant. Don’t be paranoid;
be smart.
Being smart requires all of
us to see what’s going on and
if something isn’t right, out
of place, anti-American or
just plain appears to be a
threat. Call the FBI. 800-225-
5324.
Another thought or two:
WWII we saturation-bombed
many German cities just as
the Israelis are bombing
Hamas strongholds. We
dropped the atomic and hy
drogen bombs on Japan. In
the Israeli and American ex
perience, it was necessary to
end the war - and it did, and
maybe will. Finally, let Israel
fight the war as they see fit.
They don’t need our guid
ance and there is no negotia
tion. Help, yes. Politics, no.
Robert Reitz
To the Editor:
Think back to a couple
weeks ago when you read
this, then get a load of this
quote from the late 15th cen
tury:
“While I was in the boat, I
captured a very beautiful
Carib woman, whom the said
Lord Admiral gave to me.
When I had taken her to my
cabin she [Here this guy de
scribes how he...’’took his
pleasure” as he puts it, with
this woman, AGAINST her
will.]”
And this quote from that
“Lord Admiral”:
“They [the native Arawak
people] would make fine ser
vants.... With fifty men we
could subjugate them all and
make them do whatever we
want.”
From History.com:
“As governor and viceroy
of the Indies, Columbus
[“Lord Admiral!”] imposed
iron discipline on what is
now the Caribbean country
of the Dominican Republic,
according to documents dis
covered by Spanish histori
ans in 2005. In response to
native unrest and revolt,
Columbus ordered a brutal
crackdown in which many
natives were killed; in an at
tempt to deter further rebel
lion, Columbus ordered their
dismembered bodies to be
paraded through the streets.”
So this guy, Columbus, a
homicidal, sex-trafficking,
human trafficking, thieving
tyrant...
How would your kids
react if you presented a per
son doing these things to
them as a good role model,
some kind of hero?
If you’re going to name a
day, or put up a statue, IN
HONOR of someone,
shouldn’t that person have
done something good?
“Good” means good-for-
everyone, not good-for-me-
but-not-you.
This guy, the “Lord Admi
ral” and father of a continen
tal holocaust, Christopher
Columbus, what good thing
did he ever do? What kind of
person are you if you think
this kind of guy is a hero?
Just early this month
everyone celebrated this guy
with a federal holiday. Yuck.
Let’s Xnay Columbus Day,
everywhere and in our
schools, before it comes
again. Call it something else,
after some, oh I don’t know,
GOOD person.
Andy Kippenhan
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(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: 981
Weapons Found: 5
Courts Held: 6
Arrests Made in
the Courthouse: 1
Civil Papers Received: 48
Civil Papers Served: 40
In the Adult Detention
Center:
Total Jail population: 88
Total male inmates: 69
Total female inmates: 19
Sex Offenders:
There are currently 67 sex of
fenders registered with the
Pickens Sheriff’s Office.
Psq
REP
The Pickens Sheriff’s
Office responds to many
calls for service every day.
The following incidents are
a few deputies respond to
each day.
Took custody of an
individual with an
outstanding warrant
A deputy observed a vehi
cle pull into a store. He knew
that a subject with an out
standing warrant sometimes
used this vehicle. The deputy
was able to run the tag
through GCIC. The deputy
then spoke to both subjects
and asked for them to step
outside and if they had iden
tification. One suspect stated
that he did not have any iden
tification. When asked if they
had a driver's license, they
both initially stated no. One
suspect provided their name
and DOB. Suspect #2, was
also asked for identification
and stated that he also did not
have any with him. E-911 in
formed the deputy that Pick
ens County Radio Dispatch
advised that suspect #1 was
unlicensed and did not have
any valid driver's license
from any state. Dispatch also
advised that suspect #2 had
outstanding warrants from
Pickens County, GA.
A traffic stop led to 5.2
grams of marijuana being
confiscated
Deputies performed a traf
fic stop on a vehicle for an
equipment violation. During
the traffic stop, deputies were
alerted to the smell of mari
juana emitting from the vehi
cle. Deputies conducted a
search of the vehicle. During
the search, a small amount of
marijuana was located. The
marijuana was placed into
evidence for destruction and
the driver was released with
a verbal warning.
Car blocking the roadway
led to a DUI
A deputy noticed a white
hatchback car partially
blocking the north and south
bound lanes. While ap
proaching the vehicle, the
deputy noticed that no one
was in the vehicle. The
deputy observed an individ
ual walking toward the car;
the deputy asked if the vehi
cle belonged to him. The guy
stated that the vehicle did be
long to him. While speaking
with the individual the
deputy noticed he continued
to slur his language. At that
time, the deputy could ob
serve alcohol on the individ
ual's breath. The driver of the
vehicle did admit that he had
just taken three shots of alco
hol prior to driving the vehi
cle. The guy did not know
where he was going or where
he was coming from. The
deputy requested backup for
another deputy to come out
and conduct a field sobriety
test. It was clear the driver
was unsteady, had slurred
speech, and could not com
plete the field sobriety test.
The Sheriff’s Beat
From the Pickens Sheriff’s Office
Vehicle pursuit
A deputy recognized a ve
hicle and he knew the subject
had an active warrant for a
parole violation. The vehicle
also had an expired registra
tion and no valid insurance
coverage. The deputy turned
around, got behind the vehi
cle, and activated his emer
gency blue lights and siren to
attempt a traffic stop.
The vehicle pulled to the
right side of the road at West
Church Street and GG Lovell
Street, acting as if they were
going to stop. The vehicle
then quickly accelerated and
continued west on West
Church Street. The vehicle
began driving in an ex
tremely reckless manner,
passing vehicles on the
wrong side of the road. The
vehicle nearly struck several
vehicles while driving on the
wrong side of the road. The
vehicle continued on West
Church Street, then turned
right onto Noah Drive. As the
vehicle turned onto Noah
Drive, it crossed all lanes of
travel and left the opposite
side of the roadway. As the
vehicle reentered the road
way, the deputy made contact
with the vehicle's rear
bumper, using the front
bumper of his patrol vehicle.
The vehicle continued driv
ing at fast speeds on Noah
Drive, striking the curb and
nearly crashing several times.
The vehicle then drove at a
fast speed through the inter
section of Noah Drive and
Melissa Parkway, failing to
stop at the stop sign. The ve
hicle then did the same at the
intersection of Noah Drive
and Old Philadelphia Road.
The vehicle then sideswiped
another vehicle on Highway
515 near Maddox Drive in
Gilmer County. The vehicle
that was struck did not stop
after being hit. As the vehicle
came to the intersection of
Highway 515 North and
Maddox Drive, East Ellijay
Police had blocked the inter
section. The vehicle came to
a stop, and the Pickens Sher
iff’s Office deputy exited his
patrol vehicle while giving
verbal commands to exit the
vehicle. The subject exited
and was taken into custody.
Did not have a
valid license
Deputies conducted a traf
fic stop on a vehicle for the
registered owner having an
active warrant. Deputies dis
covered the registered owner
was not the driver. The driver
did not have a valid driver's
license. The driver was ar
rested and transported to the
adult detention center with
out incident. The vehicle was
removed from the scene by a
licensed driver.
Damage to a mailbox
Criminal Damage to
Property 1st degree
Deputies were dispatched
in reference to a damaged
mailbox. Deputies deter
mined through investigation
the damage was done pur
posefully by an unknown
person. This makes twice, in
one week that the victim’s
mailbox has received dam
age. The incident was docu
mented at the victim's
request.
Shoplifting at a business
A deputy responded to a
business for a report of some
one shoplifting from the
store. A deputy observed all
video evidence and collected
statements from all involved
parties. The business ulti
mately decided not to press
charges for shoplifting but
desired for the subject to be
criminally trespassed from
the business.
During this past week, the Pickens Sheriff’s Office
responded to or initiated 1,793 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
16
Suicide Threats / Attempts
0
Domestics
6
Theft / Burglary Related
9
Forgery / Fraud
5
Traffic Stops
238
Citations Issued
32
Animal Investigations
3
Suspicious Persons/Activities
38
Alarm Calls
5
Stranded Motorists
10
Street Hazards
6
Vandalism
8
Abandoned Vehicles
1
Extra Patrol - neighborhoods, businesses, resi
dences 1,191. 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.
23 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):
Possession of A schedule I controlled substance -
1
Battery-family violence -1
Simple Assault - family violence
Violate family violence order -1
DUI drugs -1
DUI-2
Marijuana-poss less than 1 oz -1
Parole violation -1
Passing in no passing zone -1
Driving W/O license suspended/revoked -1
Driving W/O a valid license - 3
Falsifying child support info -1
Invasion of Privacy: Criminal Trespass -1
Hold for Another agency - 2
Superior Court Bench Warrant - 2
Theft By Deception (FEL) -1
Help Court Violation -1
Simple Assault -1
Simple Battery -1
Sheriff’s Custody Order -1
Accountability court violation -1
Probation Violation -1
Probation Violation (FEL) -1
Bond Violation -1
Obstruction of LEO -1
Theft By Shoplifting -1
GRISHAM, POOLE
& CARLILE, PC
Criminal Defense | 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
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