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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At long last, Chick-fil-A
