About Pickens County progress. (Jasper, Ga.) 1899-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 28, 2023)
THURSDAY. DECEMBER 28. 2023 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 3A In July, two tornadoes and straight line winds did wide spread damage across Pickens County. Across north Geor gia more than 26,000 lost power with the very brief storm leaving damage that took days to restore power and months to remove all roadside debris. October 5 — Groundbreaking for $13.6 million expansion held at local hospital Piedmont Mountainside Hospital broke ground on a $13.6 million expansion project in October that is increasing its total bed number and expanding intensive care and med ical surgical capacity. The 11,000 sq.ft, expansion will increase the local hospital’s bed capacity by 14 beds. When complete, Piedmont Mountainside will have a license for 76 inpatient beds. Con struction has begun, with the project expected to be completed by mid- to late 2024. p.m. and was gone in about a half an hour, causing signifi cant damage to trees, power lines and structures. The Georgia Environmental Man agement Agency confirmed an E-0 tornado in the Hinton community in west Pickens and an E-l tornado in the Fitts Road area in east Pick ens. Straight line winds were also reported and power out ages impacted thousands of residents, some without elec tricity for several days. Areas that sustained the most severe damage were in the Hinton/Jerusalem/Hen derson Mountain/Salacoa area in west Pickens, and the Fitts Road/Grandview/Mar ble Hill/Four Mile Church area in east Pickens. Around 100 roads were impacted with either downed powerlines or trees. Power outages rivaled numbers during tropical storms Power outages caused by the storm reached nearly 26,000, with nearly half of Amicalola EMC’s members without power at the peak. Numbers show that this storm was nearly as damag ing to the power infrastruc ture as recent tropical storms. September 7 Man sentenced to 100 years for attempted kidnapping of two girls from Jasper park A man who attempted to kidnap two girls from the Jasper City Park in 2022 was sentenced in Pickens courts to 100 years. Dallas Kenneth Bailey, 63, of Jasper, was found guilty on 35 charges. The attempted kidnapping incident occurred August 14 2022 in the early evening. Bailey tried to lure two girls under the age of 14 into his vehicle at the park, known lo cally as “The Duck Pond.” Bailey offered the friends $100 and drugs and intended to molest them. Bailey, a reg istered sex offender, had KY Jelly, a teddy bear and Matchbox car in his Nissan Pathfinder. The girls locked themselves in the park rest room and he attempted to get in repeatedly. At some point the victims contacted 911 and a Be On the Lookout (BOLO) was put out for Bailey’s car. Law en forcement located the vehicle and a dangerous and destruc tive chase ensued around 10 p.m. as the man attempted to elude officers. Numerous properties and vehicles in Jasper were damaged, includ ing patrol vehicles. The chase ended when a pit maneuver was performed and the man, who told officers he was on speed, was taken into cus tody. According to court offi cials surveillance video from different areas of the park was played during the trial that showed Bailey stalking the two girls. He drove around the area several times and got out of his car repeat edly. One of those times his belt was loosened and his pants were undone. His behavior in court was unsettling at points to some in attendance, including when he would laugh or smile at a victim after they spoke, or nod in agreement to their statements. September 14 Cornhole stabber stabs again at North Carolina tiki bar Suspect had eluded police since 2021 stabbing in Jasper restaurant A man who stabbed a per son at a Jasper restaurant over a game of cornhole in 2021 was arrested in North Carolina for stabbing a per son at a tiki bar. According to Lake Lure Police reports, on September 2, Leslie Darnell Mulkey fled the scene of a Geneva River side Hotel & Tiki Bar, a pop ular Lake Lure restaurant, after he stabbed Joshua Hartzfeld. The report stated that around 9 p.m. the victim was helping escort Mulkey, 42, out of the bar after the manager asked him to leave due to erratic behavior. Mulkey “turned and slashed Mr. Hartzfeld” who “stated he never saw the knife and it happened so quickly he didn’t have time to react.” When arrested in North Carolina, Mulkey had been eluding law enforcement since the incident on Novem ber 7 of 2021 at I Love NY Pizza in downtown Jasper. September 21 Bodacious Foods Fire The Bodacious Food Company’s Gennett Drive facility went up in flames on September 14, likely from an electrical malfunction. The business, owned by Cathy Cunningham, manufactured the popular Mama Geral dine’s Cheese Straws. Cun ningham built the facility in 1998 and expanded in the early 2000s. The building was nearly 15,000 sq. feet in total. Firefighters arrived on the scene at 6:33 p.m. and, ac cording to Jasper Fire Chief John Sherrer, the portion of the building where the man ufacturing and shipping/re ceiving were heavily involved in fire. It took emer gency crews until just after midnight to get the fire under control, and until around 5:20 the next morning to get all hot spots managed. (Update: Cunningham said her retail partners, Kroger, Ingles, and Publix, and Food Lion, have agreed to wait for her product and not “bring in a competitor’s cheese straw.” While she works through the insur ance claim for the Jasper building they will bake the popular cheese straws in a Charlotte, NC facility and has plans for her products to be back on shelves in March, 2024.) October 12 First Baptist Church of Jasper celebrated its 175 year anniversary. On October 22, 2023, the First Baptist Church of Jasper celebrated its 175th anniver sary. The event was observed with a special service includ ing lunch on the grounds and memorable music marking historical moments in the life of the church. The original meeting house was a log structure lo cated near the Norton Ceme tery near today’s intersection of Burnt Mountain and Cove roads. It is believed that the church was first called the Norton Creek Baptist Church of Christ. On September 22, 1904, John W. Henley prepared and presented to the church a new “record of membership.” It revealed that in October of 1848 Elizabeth Lindsey Wof ford was received on profes sion of hope and baptism. The record indicated that she was bom on October 25, 1834, making her 14 years old when she joined the church. This document is proof that the church was constituted and well estab lished before 1848. Since church officials have no prior documented record of it’s be ginning, they selected the date of Miss Wofford’s pro fession of faith as the date to honor the church’s birth. October 26 Landrum resignation In what became a tumul tuous situation, Phillip Lan drum III, who had represented the county for years and followed in the footsteps of his father and aunt, was ousted. The county has since hired an out of county firm that specializes in government cases to repre sent them. Landrum’s resig nation was followed very quickly by the resignation of Don Boggus who was serv ing as chair of both the devel opment and airport authorities. Boggus did not make comment about his res ignation. November 16 Incumbents win in Jasper Low turnout in city elections Only 459 of the 3,378 reg istered voters bothered to cast ballots in either early voting or at the polls in the city of Jasper races. Sitting council members Jim Looney and John Foust, Jr. held on to their seats and Kirk Raffield, who was serving on the council, will become Jasper’s next mayor. Brandon Han nah, a political newcomer, ran unopposed and joins the council in January. In Nelson the top three vote-getters won seats on the town council. They are Krissy MacNeill, Nathan Hamby, and John Ahlberg. December 7 Chick-fil-A to locate in Jasper seeks location in Jasper - In early December the Progress reported that Chick-fil-A’s in terest in Jasper was con firmed when the fast-food chain requested a dumpster variance to Jasper’s City Council. The proposed location is at an outparcel of a future de velopment at the comer of Highway 515 and Camp Road, just across Camp Road from QuikTrip. The site is the former location a car dealer ship, which has been vacant for several years. The restaurant will be in an outparcel that abuts High way 515. December 21 It’s official: Publix coming to Jasper After rumors had circu lated for months about which “large grocery chain” had plans to locate in a proposed development off Hwy. 515, Jasper officials announced in mid-December that Publix will be the official anchor for the shopping center. “Will Cobb, developer of the Gateway Crossings Shop ping 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,” ac cording to a press release dated Thursday, Dec. 14. According to the Pickens County Tax Assessor’s web site, the Gateway Crossings Shopping Center develop ment is on an 18.96-acre par cel. The developer purchased the property in February 2023 for $6 million. Photo/City of Jasper Fire Fire crews battle a blaze at Bodacious Food Company in Jasper. The cause of fire was believed to be an electrical malfunction. 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License numbers available at eriemetalroofs. com/erie-licenses/. GA License Number: RBC0006004. MAIN OFFICE: 15 Sammy McGhee Blvd. • Jasper, GA 30143 COVE ROAD OFFICE: 65 Cove Road • Jasper, GA 30143 CANTON LPO: 1353 Riverstone Parkway, Suite 140 • Canton, GA 30114 (706) 253-9600 • www.cbopc.com FDIC Member At long last, Chick-fil-A
