news

          Two young book lovers donating their used books at Community Bank of Pickens County.

Got books to share?

By Paula Adams,

Friends of Pickens Library

Each year, we have had many generous donations of books brought to the Pickens County Library. This year, however, we have been unable to take in books due to COVID and because our library is now in the process of being renovated. To remedy this, Community Bank of Pickens County will be accepting all books in good condition throughout the entire month of August, Monday - Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at their Cove Road location. Chattahoochee Technical College will also be accepting books on Wednesday, August 11th from 2-7:30 p.m. and Wednesday, August 18th from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. in the Cherokee Hall room. 

        A spokesperson for the development company explains the plans for the huge residential project on Philadelphia Road between Highway 515 and Talking Rock Highway. 

        A planned residential complex of 270 townhomes cleared three hurdles within six days last week on its way to becoming a possible reality. 

A request to rezone more than 49 acres of land off Philadelphia Road was recommended by the Jasper Planning & Zoning Board at a meeting on Tuesday, July 27th, and two days later, on July 29th, at a called meeting and work session of the full city council, the council endorsed the recommendation.

The final hurdle was cleared Monday night, August 2nd, when council officially approved the rezoning from R-A Residential to R-3 Residential opening the way for construction.

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

        Mike Lowe (left) and Drew Tutton make the deal official for Jasper Jeep to change hands.

        On Monday, Drew Tutton, who wrapped up a  deal to acquire Jasper Jeep last week, was scrambling around his new “store”, dealing mainly with the IT side of running one of the most well-known Jeep dealerships in the world.

Now known as Tutton Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, the new owner said oddly enough this latest investment - which joins two RV service/sales locations, part-ownership of another dealership, and his work as the general manager of three dealerships, and his work as the general manager of three dealerships in Cobb County - is partially about his “roots.”

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

By Dave Williams

Bureau Chief

Capitol Beat News Service

ATLANTA - Georgia House Speaker David Ralston will ask House budget writers this winter to earmark $75 million for additional law enforcement and mental health services.

Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, made the announcement Wednesday during a speech at the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council Summer Training Conference on Jekyll Island.

“We owe it to our communities to bolster law enforcement and mental health services in a time when some areas of our state are seeing a dramatic increase in crime and the number of individuals in need of mental health care,” he said. “This proposal is one I am proud to offer and the House of Representatives will stand firmly behind when we consider it as part of our 2022 budget process.”