Judge Wigington arrested

        One page from a year’s worth of Rob Jones’ credit card bills obtained by David Shouse and posted on his commission chair campaign website.

        A release of Commission Chair Rob Jones’ credit card statements for the past year by a rival candidate on Facebook show the county’s top elected official dined often at taxpayer’s expense.

While there were a few other items on the card, including car washes, the vast majority were at restaurants.

         See this week's print or online editions for the story which includes comments from both David Shouse and Commissioner Rob Jones. 

Progress File Photo

GBI agents processing the crime scene at the home on Carver Mill Road after 2015 standoff and shooting.

     A case from 2015 in which Pickens deputies shot and killed a Carver Mill Road man has been heard in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. The court found that officers entered the man’s property unconstitutionally and seized him unlawfully, violating his Fourth Amendment rights. 

The defense has now petitioned the case be heard in the U.S. Supreme Court.

        See this week's print or online editions for full story, which includes comments from both plaintiffs and defense attorneys. 

Pickens High STAR Student Nathan Hamilton. He selected Keith Petty as the STAR Teacher.

Submitted by Pickens Optimist Club

Pickens High School senior Nathan Hamilton has been named the school’s 2020 PAGE STAR Student. The Optimist Club of Jasper, the local STAR program sponsor, announced the honor. Hamilton selected Mr. Keith Petty as his STAR Teacher. Petty has taught for 25 years and currently teaches Literature and Composition at PHS.

Nathan is the son of Greg and Kim Hamilton of Jasper, earned the recognition as the STAR Student for academic achievement and performance on the SAT.  

By Tommy Gartrell

Sports Columnist

The Georgia High School Association adjusts regional alignments every two years. With school enrollments fluctuating, this process is designed to maintain fairness in scholastic athletics across the state, so during the 2020-21 school year, Pickens High School moves into a considerably different and geographically broader region.

Several notable changes are in store for the Dragons in 2020. Most notably, Gilmer County and Pickens County are not in the same region or sub-region for the first time since 1972, and for the first time in history, the two schools find themselves in different classifications. Gilmer dropped to triple A.