Historic Moore Furniture building sold

photo/Ga. DNR

If you really care about bears, please make the extra effort to ensure that your home and yard are “unattractive” to bears – to protect yourself, your family and pets, and bears.

Submitted by Ga. DNR

A bear on the back porch, a bear in the trash, or a bear destroying a bird feeder are all relatively minor situations and almost all could be avoided by Becoming BearWise, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division (WRD). 

“Avoiding problems with bears is usually simple, though it may not always be convenient,” says Adam Hammond, WRD’s state bear biologist. “One of the six BearWise Basics is about securing food, garbage, and recycling. When bears have access to human-provided foods, regardless of the source or the intent, they will take advantage of them, and that often leads to further problems.” 

The Pickens County Library will be closed for renovations for the next 10-12 months. 

     The Pickens County Library in Jasper, located at 100 Library Lane, has closed to the public to prepare for upcoming renovations and expansions of its facilities through 2021. While the library is closed, a temporary, limited-service library location called “Pickens Grab & Go” will be available inside the Mountain Education Charter High School building, located at 339 West Church Street. The Grab & Go location is anticipated to open to the public during June 2021.

The library has launched a webpage at www.sequoyahregionallibrary.org/pcl-project detailing the construction project with answers to common questions. Visitors can check the page frequently for updates about the renovations and expansions, as well as the opening date and service hours of the Pickens Grab & Go temporary service location once they are announced.

A Memorial Day tribute to all veterans

      Donnis Fields is pictured here with an M-3 Halftrack. Although not as "glamorous" as a tank, the halftrack was an integral part of any armored division and was often fitted with .30 or .50 caliber machine guns for assault support. The one seen here has been converted to a "self-propelled gun." Halftracks also ferried infantry troops to combat zones and evacuated the wounded from the battlefield.

By Larry Cavender

Progress Contributor  

    Being wounded in battle is by no means ever to be considered a blessing. However, in the long history of conflict, many a soldier has considered one particular type of wound as a true blessing, a wound best described as non-fatal and non-debilitating, but serious enough to result in removal from harm's way and sent home, permanently. This type of injury is known in the parlance of a soldier as "a million dollar wound." This is the story of one man receiving such a wound.

In the spring of 1945, the German Wehrmacht was on its heels. In a few short weeks, Adolf Hitler would commit suicide in his Berlin bunker and the Thousand Year Reich would cease to be after little more than a decade.

Although World War II in Europe was in its final days, the war was still a reality for hundreds of thousands of American servicemen who had fought their way deep into the German Fatherland during the 10 months following the D-Day invasion in Normandy the preceding June.

      See full story in this week's print or online editions. 

Col. Robert Cagle will be the keynote speaker.

       In honor of fallen veterans, the North Ga. Mountains Det. Marine Corps League will hold a Memorial Day ceremony on Monday, May 31. 

The ceremony will be held at Sunrise Memorial Gardens Cemetery, located at 364 East Church Street, Jasper. The public is invited to attend this poignant event, which begins at 10 a.m. 

This year, retired Marine Col. Robert Cagle will be the keynote speaker. 

Colonel Robert Cagle, USMCR (Ret.) grew up on his family’s farm in north Georgia.  He graduated from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture, and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps in 1988 reporting for active duty that year.  Since that time he has served continuously in active and reserve duties.  His assignments are varied within the Marine Corps serving in command and staff positions at every level up to the Division.