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SEPTEMBER 28, 2023 Merged with The Corner News and The Daniclsvillc Monitor, 2006 4 MadisonJoumalTODAY.com Vol. 40 No. 34* Publication No. 1074-987* Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. *16 Pages, 2 Sections Plus Supplements $1.00 BOC BOG commits $1M for fire training facility By Hannah Barron hannah@mainstreetnews. com Madison County is moving for ward on a fire training facility after action Monday. The Board of Commissioners approved the appropriation of $1 million for the fire training facili ty project, which county chairman Todd Higdon said is “perfect” for ARPA funds. The project is ex pected to total $1.18 million, but each volunteer fire department has agreed to commit $15,000 for the remaining $180,000 portion. Other action approved for the project included the allocation of at least 2.5 acres of county property; direction of staff to work with the firefighters’ association on appro priating items needed to facilitate construction; and the direction of staff to work with the association to construct a water line for the facil ity The facility has been included in the county’s future projects list. Danielsville fire chief Marc Perry and Shiloh fire chief Butch McDuf fie presented the project, expressing the urgent need for the facility. Perry said the need to get volun teer firefighters trained is crucial with the nature of fire calls always See Fire, page 2A INTERNET Spectrum looks to expand broadband Photo submitted Ally Taylor has been named the winner of the Atlanta Ronald McDonald House Charities’ inaugural mural competition. She is pictured with her mural design and her brother, Rylee, who received the heart transplant. Student’s mural featured on McDonald’s billboards By Hannah Barron hannah@mainstreetnews. com PUBLIC SAFETY Car accident leaves two fatalities On Sept. 23, Georgia State Patrol troopers re sponded to a crash on Hwy. 8 near Archer Rd. in Madi son County. The crash hap pened around 7:34 a.m. According to the troop ers’ preliminary report, a 2022 Alfa Romeo Giulia was traveling south at an extremely high rate of speed. The driver lost con trol, causing the vehicle to travel off of the west shoul der of the roadway and strike numerous trees. The crash caused the vehicle to be cut into two major parts. The vehicle then caught on fire and burned. See Fatalities, page 2A PUBLIC SAFETY GSP to have new post at Gov. Mansion By Dave Williams Capitol Beat News Service The Georgia State Patrol is planning to build a new post on the grounds of the Governor’s Mansion in the Buckhead area of Atlan ta, Gov. Brian Kemp an nounced Friday. The 1,750-square-foot facility and garage bay will house 12 troopers di rectly assigned to the post and accommodate up to 30 troopers while maintaining the historic integrity of the See GSP, page 2A Index News — 1-3A Opinions — 4A Crime — 6A Socials — 3A, 5A, 8A, 8B Schools — 7A Churches — 5A Obituaries — 4-5B Sports — 1-2B Classifieds — 3B Legals — 6-7B Contact Phone: 706-367-5233 Email: hannah@mainstreet news.com Web: MadisonJoumalTODAYcom MAILING LABEL Madison County High School student Ally Tay lor’s artwork is featured on McDonald’s billboards across metro Atlanta. The 16-year-old was re cently named the winner of the Atlanta Ronald Mc Donald House Charities’ (RMHC) inaugural mural competition and the orga nization holds a special place in her and her fami ly’s lives. Rylee Dowdy, Taylor’s 11-year-old brother, was admitted to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) in March of 2023 and his family was told that he had complete heart failure and his organs were shutting down. He needed a heart transplant to survive. CHOA implemented a de vice called a left ventricu lar assist device (LVAD), which kept his heart pump ing, and he later received a heart transplant in April. While he was in the hos pital, his family was able to stay at the RMHC’s Trans plant Suite. He was also able to stay with his family at the suite to recover once he was released from the hospital. Besides housing, RMHC provided food, transporta tion to and from CHOA and other necessities. “The RMHC is a great place with an amazing staff,” mother Erica Dowdy said. “I’m a single mother with four children on dis ability. I’m on a fixed in come, so there was no way I would have been able to af ford staying in motels while my son was in the hospital. I honestly don’t know what I would have done without them. They help you with any and everything. We are extremely blessed to have been able to stay there. The RMHC’s mural com petition, open to those who stayed in the organization’s housing, was supposed to be about the experience there, so Taylor let Rylee and their family’s story shine through. Her mural depicts Ronald McDonald’s hand holding out a heart with wings. Ac cording to Taylor, the hand represents the house heal ing the heart; the heart with wings signifies her broth er’s need and revival of a heart; and the open hand is the house letting the heart go after it heals. “I couldn’t believe it,” she said about being named the winner. “I’m very hon ored to have been selected. I was very nervous and out of my depth going into this. I didn’t think I would win, but it’s an amazing feeling seeing my art. It’s been a very hard journey and I’m very proud of my brother.” She has received a $5,000 prize for winning the competition. The mural is featured on six billboards across the metro area with spots along major highways in Clarkston, Marietta, Nor- cross, Forest Park, Atlanta and Smyrna. The mural is on display in 295 McDon ald’s restaurant locations as well, including the Mc Donald’s off of Hwy. 29 in Athens. Spectrum recently an nounced it is bringing gigabit high-speed inter net access to nearly 11,000 unserved homes and small businesses across Banks, Madison and Oglethorpe counties through the $33.8 million Georgia Capital Projects Fund Grant Pro gram. Spectrum has com mitted to invest nearly $42 million on the expansion project, bringing total in vestment to more than $75 million. Spectrum’s construction teams are in the process of walking out the area to make sure all unserved locations are included in its broadband network de sign. Residents may see Spectrum crews in their community examining the terrain and vegetation in order to determine the best possible route for the new network. Once completed, the project team will ob tain appropriate permits to By Alison Smith Colbert City Council held a public hearing for the 2024 budget on Mon day evening. The proposed budget includes six percent raises for the four city em ployees and allots $57,000 for design work in the city park renovation. Those plans are near completion and the park committee will soon begin a push for fundraising and search for grants to finish the nearly $800,000 proj ect. The renovations will attach to utility poles and construct the network. Once construction is com plete, technicians will en sure connectivity is enabled and the right equipment is installed to bring service to residents in their homes and small businesses. “It’s a big day for fami lies and businesses in Dis trict 47,” said state Sen. Frank Ginn. “Spectrum’s high-speed broadband ex pansion to unserved and un derserved parts of Madison County is a timely one that will spur additional eco nomic development in these communities.” “Gov. Kemp, his admin istration and the Georgia Legislature have shown tremendous leadership in embracing public-private partnerships as a vital strat egy for connecting unserved communities,” said Marva Johnson, group vice president of government affairs at Char ter Communications, which See Broadband, page 2A be completed in phases as funds allow. The city estab lished a non-profit earlier this year to allow for flexi bility and alternate options for grant funding. Local cit izens and the city may con tribute toward the project. The first new amenity of the park initiative will most likely be the construction of a dog park. The committee may have sign designs to present for approval as early as next week’s regular meet ing. COLBERT Colbert looks at proposed budget ILA HULL Mayor Mike Coile presents updates at NEGRC meeting City of Hull now ready for business 4879 14144* o By Hannah Barron hamiah@mainstreetnews. com Ila mayor Mike Coile presented updates for the city at the Northeast Geor gia Regional Commission Council’s monthly meeting held last week. Coile said Ila is currently working on getting a grant to fund a new city hall. “We just can’t wait to get it started and see where this goes,” he said about the city hall project. “I think it’d be wonderful once we get boots on the ground and start building.” He also announced that Ila’s fifth annual Christmas tree lighting is scheduled for Nov. 26 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. He invited everyone to the activities planned. In other updates, the NE GRC Council approved a request for the commission to assist Ila with develop ing its complete streets and trails plan. By Alison Smith After several months, the City of Hull has its finan cial records in order and is ready to progress forward with new business. City clerk Sandy Pou told the council at its re scheduled regular meeting Tuesday that she has fin ished posting all financial records from September 2022 and is current with her financial reports. These reports had been largely in complete without a regular clerk for the last quarter of the year and with the law suit to remove former may or Paul Walton. See Hull, page 2A o