Poison ivy prevention & treatment tips

Captain Trevor Beavers, Fire Chief Steven Atkins, Firefighter Asia Payne of the Bent Tree Volunteer Department.

From Bent Tree Public Safety

The Bent Tree Volunteer Fire Department has received the Insurance Services Office (ISO) Public Protection Classification (PPC) rating of Class 2. This is an improvement over the former rating of Class 4. This rating has been achieved by only 1,597 of the 50,000 fire departments nationwide that are rated by ISO. This puts Bent Tree in the top four percent of fire departments in the United States and makes them the top-rated department in Pickens County. The new rating will become effective October 1 for Bent Tree residents who should see lower insurance bills.

       Featured vendor Michael White has a variety of hand-made items for sale - some that are perfect for the Fourth of July.

        Hang on to your hats! A lot of info in this report. It was a great market day with good weather, lots of customers, and lots of veggies, crafts, baked goods, and information available. 

First up is the PAR, Pickens Animal Rescue, tent with plants, art, magnets, butterfly houses, and even a bat house for sale - 100 percent of proceeds go to PAR. And they really need it. (See below)

The PAR volunteers brought two great dogs, Pumpkin and Kendra, hoping to find them a forever home. Pumpkin has been featured before in the Progress. Pumpkin has been with PAR for a long time and is really very ready for a permanent home. 

Angela Reinhardt/photo

Muralist John Christian at work on the prominent Coca-Cola mural in downtown Jasper. 

Mid-afternoon Saturday, June 29, motorists in downtown Jasper may have noticed the Coca-Cola mural at the prominent Main Street/Highway 53 intersection was getting a much-needed revamp, which includes the addition of the iconic Sprite Boy and a classic Coke bottle. 

Professional muralist John Christian, owner of John W. Christian Studios, was commissioned for the job by the Coke company, which he said has taken a more active role in freshening up their murals that appear on the sides of buildings across the nation. Christian has done several Coke murals recently, and estimated that the original mural on

Lee  Heisman shows a group from Talking Rock where the proposed range would be.

By Ralph O. Dennis

Contributing writer

In an unusual example of open government/business, a company seeking to locate an executive firearms training facility in Talking Rock invited local residents and government officials out for a sound test Thursday.

And, when complete, the spokesman for Executive Firearms said they could tell noise from their range would be too loud at several residences and withdrew their application.

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