Newspaper Page Text
The
www.MadisonJournalTODAY.com
JULY 2, 2009
Merged with The Comer News and The Danielsville Monitor, 2006
Vol. 24 No. 26 • Publication No. 1074-987 • Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. • 28 Pages, 2 Sections, Plus Supplements
Fourth Of July
Colbert will host its 40th Fourth of July parade Saturday.
Colbert Fourth
Tax Revenue
Inside:
Who are
the top 50
taxpayers
in
Madison
County?
PAGE 3A
IDA gets $500,000
The Madison County
industrial authority has
landed half a million dol
lars in grant money.
PAGE 2A
Taxes:
of July parade
turns 40 Saturday
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
There will be no grand stand
ing or gaudy spectacle Saturday
to mark Colbert’s 40 th Fourth of
July parade.
“No hot-air rides or people para
chuting out
of airplanes
or anything
like that
that I know
of," Mayor
John Wag
goner said
with a
laugh.
When the
40 th Colbert
parade
starts at
9 a.m. on
July 4, on
lookers will line the streets and the
floats will pass, just as they have
for the past 39 years.
As Waggoner puts it, "every
(parade) we do is special.”
The mayor has been around
Colbert long enough to remember
when there was no parade.
Prior to its inception four
decades ago, the city’s Lions Club
hosted a barbeque to celebrate the
Fourth of July.
But in 1970, the city's powers-
that-be felt a processional would
draw more people to Colbert.
"I guess just to help attract a
crowd," said Waggoner, of why
the parade started. “No real reason
stands out that I can remember.”
Suffice it to say, the plan
worked.
The 1970 parade drew 500 or
so spectators, but the event has
grown exponentially since then.
As many as 10,000 to 15,000 have
attended in some years.
‘The parade is the biggest draw
we have," said Waggoner, who’s
been mayor for every parade.
Patrons through the years have
included notable politicians.
Lester Maddox attended twice,
once as governor and later as Lt.
governor. In fact, Maddox enter-
— See ‘Fourth’ on 5A
FOURTH
OF JULY
•What: 40th
Colbert Fourth
of July parade
•When:
Saturday, 9 a.m.
•Where: down
town Colbert
•What else?
Vendors, enter
tainment, music,
BBQ
County Budget
BOC to begin 2010
budget hearings next week
By Margie Richards
margie@mainstreetnews.com
Let the budget talks begin.
Most county government
BUDGET
TALKS
departments
have sent in
their bud
get requests
for 2010,
and budget
hearings
will begin this month, accord
ing to county commission chair
•First meet
ing, July 9, 4
p.m.
Anthony Dove.
The first budget meeting will
be held Thursday, July 9 at 4
p.m. with the sheriff's depart
ment.
Dove told the board of com
missioners Monday night that
most county department heads
have submitted their budget
requests for next year to finance
officer Kathy Clark. Dove has
asked each department head to
— See ‘Budget’ on 8A
Pay with plastic
Madison County taxpayers will soon be able to pay their tax bills with credit
card or online. The payment system could be in place by Aug. 1.
Tax office will
offer more
payment options
By Margie Richards
margie@mainstreetnews.com
Madison County taxpayers
will soon be able to pay their
property taxes by credit card in
the tax office, or online over the
Internet, instead of having to
pay by check or cash.
Tax commissioner Louise
Watson told the board of com
missioners Monday night that
her office
MORE
THAN
ONE WAY
TO PAY
•New prop
erty tax
payment
options for
taxes include
credit, debit
and online
payments.
is “almost
ready” to
accept debit/
credit card
and online
payments
for prop
erty taxes.
In addition,
taxpayers
will be able
to buy their
automobile
tags with debit or credit cards
in the office, though not online
at this time.
Watson said she hopes to
have the payment system in
place by August 1 and has been
working closely with informa
tion technology director Gary
Venable.
Watson said she frequently
has to send taxpayers away
now because they come in to
the office unprepared to write
a check or pay cash for their
tax bills, since many are used
to being able to pay their other
bills by debit or credit cards.
“I think this will be a big
plus for the county and for our
taxpayers,” Watson said. “I’m
mil
Index:
News — 1-3A, 7-8A
Opinions — 4-5A
Crime — 6A
Obituaries — 3B
Churches — 15A
Socials — 9-11A
Sports— 1-2B
Schools — 14A
Legate— 4-9B
Classifieds — 10-12B
Contact:
Phone: 706-795-2567
Fax: 706-795-2765
Mail: PO. Box 658,
Danielsville, GA, 30633
Web:
MadisonJournalTODAYcom
McCain takes
tournament
Former MCHS golfer
Seth McCain won
the Chicopee Woods
Players Champion
ship, shooting 15-un-
der-par— Page 1B
Explosion
No evidence of foul play in fatal Colbert fire
By Margie Richards
margie@mainstreetnews.com
Officials say there is no evidence of foul
play in a flash fire that killed a brother and
sister in a block building in Colbert during
the early hours of Sunday, June 21.
Local mail carrier Lisa Shubert, 42, of
Colbert School Road and her brother, Terry
(TJ.) Cotton, 39, of Madison Street, were
pronounced dead at the scene following
resuscitation efforts, according to Madison
County coroner Michelle Cleveland.
Preliminary autopsy results are in, but
Cleveland said this week that she is awaiting
toxicology reports for a definitive cause of
death, which could take as long as several
months.
A third victim, Jerry Scott Payne, also
of Colbert School Road, was transported
by Emory Life Flight helicopter to Grady
Officials found no evidence of foul
play in a fire that claimed two
lives.
Memorial Hospital’s bum center with severe
bums to 60-70 percent of his body, as well
as smoke inhalation injuries. He remains in
the bum unit this week, undergoing treat
ment for his injuries, according to family
members. A benefit fund has been set up at
Merchants and Fanners Bank to help with
medical expenses.
Cleveland said firefighters found Shubert
and Cotton along the back wall of the small
block building. ‘Their only exit (at the front)
was blocked by fire,” Cleveland said.
According to, Colbert Volunteer Fire
Department chief Tim Wyatt, Colbert, along
with Hull and Neese-Sanford fire depart
ments, responded to the scene on Colbert
School Road just off Hwy. 72 about 1:30
a.m.
They found Payne outside the building
and Wyatt and Cleveland said it was unclear
whether he had escaped the entrance or been
blown out by the force of the explosion.
Wyatt said there was no evidence whatso
ever of any illegal activity, such as rumors of
a methamphetamine lab.
— See ‘Fire’ on 2A