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Special
Christmas
Services
See Church Page
Thursday, December 21,2023 | Volume 136 Number 36 | Jasper, Georgia | 24 pages, 2 sections | Published Weekly | $1-00
GDOT makes case for roundabout
Santa’s Secret
Some school board members remain opposed to Dragon Drive plans
“Our number one priority is
safety, ” says GDOT of high
school roundabout, see
separate article, Page 11A
By Larry Cavender
Contributing Writer
In their second work session in as many
weeks, the Pickens County Board of Education
members found themselves, once again, dealing
with the proposed roundabout at the Highway 53
and Dragon Drive intersection - which is not
proving popular with the public nor with board
members.
At this meeting the board did handle other
business including discussion of how to address
unpaid school lunch bills by students.
At this session, a design team from the Geor
gia Department of Transportation was present to
give their reasoning for the project. The engi
neers, noting the frequency of accidents and the
Saying he was "adamantly opposed" to the
new roundabout, board member Steve Lowe
points out what he feels is a flaw in the proposed
plan to one of the design engineers.
high traffic volume entering Dragon Drive each
school day, stated that "safety is our main prior
ity." Adding that in the past 10 years, 67 percent
of the mishaps were "rear end" accidents at that
intersection, GDOT said, "A roundabout is the
safest alternative we can deliver."
Some board members were quick to express
their disapproval, with Sue Finley saying, "Vari
ables have changed....I am totally opposed."
Steve Lowe said, "Contrary to what you say, I
prefer a traffic light."
One point of contention was that the current
proposal has been modified from an earlier plan
which included a bypass lane exiting onto Dragon
Drive. The latest plan eliminates that bypass lane.
Lowe said he was "adamantly opposed" to the
new design. Even Amy Gibson, who professed to
be "a fan of roundabouts," said of the new plan,
"My concern is traffic backups." Lowe then ques
tioned the design team if the bypass lane had been
"cut because of costs" to which they replied that
cost was a "contributing factor." When pressed by
Lowe as to how much money was saved in costs
by eliminating the bypass, the GDOT spokesman
replied "about a million dollars." Astonished,
Lowe then exclaimed, "A million dollars, for just
one lane."
Superintendent Travis Thomas asked if the
board could "lobby for a redesign," and Chris
Wallace, the See School Board on11A
It’s official:
Publix
is
coming
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress
After rumors had circulated for
months about which “large grocery
chain” would locate in a develop
ment off Hwy. 515, Jasper, now in
the planning and permitting stage,
officials announced last week that
Publix will be the official anchor for
the shopping center.
“Will Cobb, developer of the
Gateway Crossings Shopping Center
project, and the City of Jasper City
Council are pleased to announce that
Publix is signed as the anchor store
within the shopping center project at
the northeast comer of Camp Road
and Highway 515 in Jasper,” accord
ing to a press release dated Thursday,
Dec. 14.
Just a few weeks prior to the offi
cial announcement, it was made pub
lic that Chick-fil-A would locate in
one of the development’s outparcels.
“This is a great market for Publix
to locate in, and we are excited to be
in Jasper,” Cobb said Thursday
morning when he contacted city of
ficials to advise that Publix gave ap
proval to release their name. He
added that, “the city of Jasper has
been fantastic to work with through
out the entire process.”
According to the press release,
Mayor Steve Lawrence, said it was
difficult not to be able to share the
news earlier, but that he respected
the developer’s request to keep the
name private until Publix was ready
to release the information.
“We are excited to have Publix as
the anchor store in this development,
and Chick-fil-A as one of the outpar-
cel restaurants,” said Lawrence.
“This represents a lot of hard work
by our staff and by our elected coun
cil
See Publix on11A
From all of us
here at the
Pickens
Progress
MeWm
CkniAm/tA!
Exercising Christmas cheer
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111
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Photos/Angela Reinhardt
Jasper Fitness owner Kristina Jenkins, smiling at center, has organized a nursing home holiday gift
drive for three years. Here, Jenkins, Jasper Fitness employee Shali King, left, and other employees and
members of the gym get ready to dole out gifts at Pruitt Health.
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
Mid-afternoon December 15, members of Jasper
Fitness’ Silver Sneakers and Sassy Seniors fitness
classes played Santa for a day, delivering holiday gift
bags to every resident of the three nursing homes in
Pickens County. Many donned Santa caps, holiday
sweaters and outfits, and made nursing home resi
dents’ Christmas a little brighter.
At around 11 a.m. on delivery day, carts that served
as Santa’s sleigh were loaded with gift bags and
wheeled down the halls of Pruitt Health. A few chil
dren associated with the gym helped with deliveries,
with the very first of those going to the nursing home’s
oldest resident, an 102-year-old lady who gave one lit
tle girl a big, affectionate hug.
This is the third year the local gym has hosted the
nursing home drive, and according to owner Kristina
Jenkins it was the biggest one yet. The drive - along
with the Adopt-A-Senior initiative at the Pickens Sen
ior Center - was promoted in a recent Pickens
Progress article and Jenkins said do-gooders came out
of the woodwork.
“I couldn’t believe it,” she said tearing up. “We
started having boxes shipped from Amazon; people
would come in who See Rt Gjfts on 11A
Man in stolen car crashes during 515 chase
FLOCK cameras
alerted deputies to
stolen car entering
Pickens County
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
An Atlanta man was arrested
after attempting to elude officers on
Highway 515 when the vehicle he
was driving was identified as stolen.
The high-speed chase resulted in the
25-year-old, later found to be under
the influence, crashing near Old
Philadelphia Road.
According to Pickens Sheriff’s
reports, Solomon Aurae Thompson,
of Atlanta, was driving a white Ford
Edge at 8:18 p.m. on Sunday, Dec.
17 when FLOCK cameras notified
deputies the vehicle was stolen. The
Atlanta Police Department reported
the vehicle theft on December 11,
2023.
FLOCK cameras scan license
plates and check them against a
database to see if they are associated
with a crime. They also capture ve
hicle year, make, and model. The
cameras are strategically placed
around Pickens County and have
gained popularity among law en
forcement agencies nationwide.
A sheriff’s deputy awaited
backup before attempting to make
the traffic stop on Highway 515 near
Melissa Parkway. After the deputy
turned on his blue lights Thompson
initially slowed down, but quickly
accelerated and attempted to elude
officers.
The pursuit continued up Hwy.
515. When the suspect reached Old
Philadelphia Road he crossed the
white center line, failing to maintain
his lane. Speeds reached 112 miles
per hour in the 65 miles per hour
zone.
The suspect lost control of the
vehicle after attempting to change
lanes, slid into the median, made an
180-degree turn, bounced off the
guardrail, then rolled backwards
into the highway median, the report
states.
After the stolen car came to a
stop the deputy exited his patrol ve
hicle and pointed his firearm at
Thompson. He gave the suspect ver
bal commands to raise his hands and
exit the car. Thompson complied
and was taken into custody.
When the deputy approached the
suspect he could smell marijuana
and saw his eyes were red and
glossy, with pinpoint pupils.
Thompson consented to blood being
drawn to test for substances.
-photo/Pickens Sheriff’s Office
Solomon Aurae Thompson was
arrested after attempting to elude
officers in a stolen vehicle.
The suspect was transported to
Piedmont Mountainside Hospital for
medical evaluation and was cleared.
He was then transported to Pickens
Adult Detention Center.
No contraband was found in the
vehicle and there were no passen
gers with Thompson.
The suspect was charged with
Fleeing and Attempting to Elude,
Theft by Receiving Stolen Property,
DUI - Drugs, Reckless Driving, Ex
pired License, and other traffic of
fenses.
In addition to the Pickens County
Sheriff’s Office, Jasper City Police
and Georgia State Patrol provided
backup.
Harmony
2nd graders
offer theories
about Santa
getting down
chimney
Page 7A
Youth
paintball
league
forming
Page 12B
Features
Sheriff’s Beat
Page 6B
People Page
Page 7B
Obituaries 10A
• John Arrendale
• Greg Bryant
• Myra Collett
• Wanda Earnest
• Ceburn Godfrey
• Martha Godfrey
• Sylvia Holbert
• Brenda Smith
• Caitlyn Wingfield
• Elizabeth Wright
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