Newspaper Page Text
The
www.MadisonJournalTODAY.com
JANUARY 15, 2009
Merged with The Comer News and The Danielsville Monitor, 2006
50<
Vol. 24 No. 3 • Publication No. 1074-987 • Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. • 26 Pages, 2 Sections Plus Supplements
SPECIAL TRIP
COUNTY GOV’T
Madison Co. student
will see inauguration
first-hand Tuesday
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
Much of the world will watch
the inauguration of Barack
Obama on television Tuesday.
But Madison County Ninth
Grade Academy student J.S.
Fielding will see it in person.
Fielding will have a bleacher
section seat to see Obama sworn
in. Later that night, he will attend
a black-tie inaugural ball.
‘Til be pretty close,” said
Fielding. “I don’t know the row
number, but I’ll probably be able
to hear his speech."
As a Madison County Middle
School student, Fielding was
nominated by teacher Sabrina
Howard to attend the National
Youth Congressional Leadership
J.S. Fielding
Council in Atlanta. Once he
completed that program, he was
put on a list for a potential trip
to the 2008 inauguration. He
was informed in March that he
was chosen to attend the five-
day Presidential Youth Inaugural
Conference in Washington
— See ‘Fielding* on 9A
ZONING
Sunrise owner John Byram will try again this
month to convert his course into a retirement
community with a predominately par-3 setup.
Golf course
to close?
Byram says he’ll shut down course
immediately without rezoning
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
The days of golf in Madison
County might be numbered.
Sunrise Golf Course owner
John Byram says he’ll close the
county’s only course if his appli
cation for a rezone is denied this
month.
Byram once again will present
plans to county leaders to trans
form the financially troubled
Colbert course into an active
retirement development with a
mostly par-3 set up. Byram's
proposal is on the agenda for
the planning and zoning com
mission’s Jan. 20 meeting. He’ll
present the project to the board
of commissioners Jan. 26.
These plans are identical to the
ones the county board of com
missioners rejected in February
of last year.
"The golf course is something
I want to keep," Byram said.
"The only way to keep the golf
course is allowing an active
retirement community be built
around it. There’s no way I can
keep throwing money at it. I’m
miming out.”
Byram’s plans call for 158
single-family homes and 60
townhouses. Alterations to the
golf course would leave Sunrise
with three par-four's and 15 par
— See ‘Golf* on 9A
INSIDE
Index:
News— 1-3A5A.9A
Opinions— 4A
Crime— 6A
Churches—4B
Obituaries— 10-11A
Sports— 1-3B
Socials — 7-8A
Legate—5-9B
Schools— 10-12B
Contact:
Phone: 706-795-2567
Fax: 706-795-2765
Mail: PO. Box 658,
Danielsville, GA, 30633
Web:
MadisonJoumalTODAY.com
8 ,, 0 4879 14144* 0
Lady
Raiders
rebound
The Madison County
Lady Raider basketball
team rebounded from
a loss to Cedar Shoals
Friday with a win at
Winder Tuesday.
— Page IB
Commissioners to return
power to BOC chairman
Inside: Meeting room improvements planned;
BOC asked for decision on MLK Day, Page 2A
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
Madison County commis
sioners plan to give new county
chairman Anthony Dove person
nel powers that they stripped
from Wesley Nash.
“I think the people soundly
spoke for a leader in this county
when they went to the polls,” said
Commissioner Stanley Thomas,
who proposed restoring hiring
and firing powers to the chair
man’s position.
Madison County voters
favored Dove by a 72-19 margin
over Nash in the July Republican
primary.
County commissioners took
hiring and firing power away
from Nash after he said he rep
rimanded county clerk Morris
Fortson for a budgeting error,
then Fortson said that Nash had
not reprimanded him.
Thomas said the past frictions
between Nash and the commis
sioners were unfortunate, but
that there was no other course of
action than to strip the chairman
of his personnel powers, since
the BOC felt Nash was not will
ing to carry out his duties.
“I felt I had no other choice,”
said Thomas.
But the commissioner said the
new commission chairman has
already shown a strong work
ethic, as well as a willingness to
— See ‘BOC’ on 9A
PROFILE
New Madison County Probate Judge Cody Cross is pictured in his office
last week, along with his staff (L-R): Gina Allen, Linda Huffstedler, Tiffany
Treadway and Sandi Stillwell. Margie Richards/Staff
‘Crossover’
Former investigator settles
in as new probate judge
By Margie Richards
margie@mainstreetnews.com
New Madison County probate judge Cody
Cross performed his first wedding ceremony
last week.
“It was great - it was such an honor to do
it,” Cross said later that day, though he admits
to being a little nervous.
“I told them when they called that they’d
be my first, but if they didn’t mind, I didn’t,"
he said.
They were there first thing that morning
and he, with his office staff in attendance,
performed the ceremony and Cross signed the
license, making it official.
Marrying folks who want a simple civil cer
emony is just one of the myriad of duties per
formed by the office of probate judge — and
Cross is the first to admit that he still has some
learning to do. The probate office handles not
only marriage certificates, but also birth and
death certificates, wills, guardianships, cita
tions, game and fish licenses, administration
of estates and more.
Cross said he thinks one of the most difficult
of his duties will be handling the guardianship
cases of incapacitated adults. “That means
taking away their liberties and rights - that’s
hard,” Cross said.
It’s a daunting job and after all, he’s the
first new probate judge in Madison County in
more than 30 years. Cross won the position
handily against his opponent, Joley Barber,
— See ‘Cross’ on 9A
LITIGATION
Settlement
reached
in Epps,
Watson case
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
A settlement has been reached
in the case of a former tax com
missioner employee suing her
boss for wrongful termination,
but the details of that settlement
have been sealed.
Donna Epps claimed that tax
commissioner Louise Watson
fired her for her support of
Watson’s opponent in the 2004
election. Watson said she had
just cause for her termination of
Epps’ employment.
A trial was scheduled for
Jan. 20 in U.S. District Court in
Athens before Judge Clay Land
But the two sides agreed to settle
the case out of court earlier this
month.
Madison County attorney
Mike Pruett said the settlement
includes a confidentiality clause
that prohibits him firm disclos
ing the terms of the agreement,
such as the settlement’s dollar
figure.
‘This is being handled entirely
by the county’s insurer and the
attorney the insurer retained,"
wrote Pruett in an emailed
response to The Journal's inqui
ry about the settlement. “The
county is expending no funds
and has had no input into the
settlement terms."
TAXES
Property tax bills
expected to hit
mail next week
Madison County 2008 prop
erty tax bills will likely show
up in mailboxes toward the end
of next week. Tax commissioner
Louise Watson said Tuesday that
she expects tax bills to be deliv
ered by mail sometime around
Jan. 22.
HAB defends
county’s honor
Song off new CD responds to snide
remarks regarding Madison Co.
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
Over a year ago when a
Morgan County Citizen col
umnist lampooned Madison
County in a comparison to the
city of Madison, he affronted
many.
It was even suggested that
Comer was somewhere a
zombie movie might take
place.
“That hit me kind of hard
— See ‘HAB’ on 9A
LOCAL MUSIC
Madison County’s Holman Autry Band performs before
a packed house at the Georgia Theatre. Photo from the
band’s website: www.holmanautryband.com/
