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        At Monday’s Jasper City Council meeting, Gerry Nechvatal disputed the authority of the Economic Development Council  to fire him as the joint economic developer for Jasper and Pickens County.

        Former Pickens County Economic Development Director confronted the Jasper mayor and city council at their regular meeting  about the legality of his recent termination.   

The joint Pickens County and Jasper Economic Development Council (EDC) voted Jan. 24 to relieve Nechvatal of his duties – but it was unclear at that time if that council had the authority to take such action. According to Nechvatal, who wrote the council’s bylaws, they were not within their rights to remove him.   

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Jim Looney replaces John Weaver as city manager

In an historic move with a standing-room-only crowd, the Jasper City Council put an end to the longtime unification of the mayor and city manger positions. 

At their Monday, Feb. 5 meeting, in a 3-1 vote, council appointed former council member Jim Looney to temporarily fill the position of city manager, which Jasper Mayor John Weaver has held since 1992. 

Separating these two positions surfaced last year when new council member Sonny Proctor brought up the issue at the January 2017 meeting. He has since argued that it is a conflict of interest that goes against the city’s original charter. 

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Robyn Lively and Shanola Hampton will star in "Through the Glass Darkly." 

     Los Angeles, CA –  Robyn Lively (The Karate Kid Part III, Teen Witch) and Shanola Hampton (Showtime’s Shameless, You Again) will star in Through the Glass Darkly, a psychological thriller written by Lauren Fash and Susan Graham and directed by newcomer Fash. The production is centered locally at the former Weeks Jewelry Store on the corner of Stegall Street and Main Street. The store front now indicates it is a camera shop which one person took to be a real new business, rather than a film set that will be used over the next several weeks.

      Big Canoe POA President Phil Anderson takes questions from homeowners regarding the state of their water system Saturday.

  Residents of the Big Canoe community gathered Saturday with their property owner association (POA) leaders, state     legislators and county officials to hear plans to address their water system – it was not good news.

   During the more than two-hour meeting, reports flowed of poorly maintained infrastructure, widespread outages; a confrontational situation with the private company that owns the system; a $5 million debt and homeowners questioning the quality of their tap water.

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