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Vol. 24 No. 35 • Publication No. 1074-987 • Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. • 28 Pages, 2 Sections Plus Supplements
Down, set, hut
CITY NEWS
Football is here!
Waggoner stepping down
Colbert mayor served city for 40 years
Inside: Qualifying for municipal
ELECTIONS AHEAD, PAGE 3A
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
F or the first time since
man walked on the
moon, Colbert will
have a new mayor.
John Waggoner, who's served
as the city's chief elected offi
cial since 1969, won’t seek a
bid for re-election this year.
“I’m not going to be qualify
ing for mayor next go-round,”
Waggoner said Tuesday.
His term expires at the end
of the year.
Waggoner, 73, was never
opposed in any election in his
40 years as mayor and called
the decision not to run again
difficult.
“It was,” he said. “I thought
about it long and hard and I
prayed about it. It just felt like
the thing to do now, because
I'm almost 74 and we need to
be getting somebody else in the
harness.”
That doesn't necessarily mean
that his run of serving the city is
over, however. He said he'd like
to stay on in some capacity as
an assistant.
“But that’s up to the new
mayor and council,” he said.
Qualifying dates for Colbert’s
mayoral election are Aug. 31
and Sept. 1-2. Waggoner said
Colbert councilman Chris Peck,
whose term is expiring, plans to
qualify for the mayor’s race.
The fee to qualify for that post
is $111.20.
Councilman Roger Fortson is
also up for re-election.
The fee to qualify for council
races is $45.20.
Asked what he’d miss most
about being mayor, Waggoner
laughed and said, “complaints,
I guess.”
But he reiterated that he still
wants to be of service to the
city he’s presided over for 40
John Waggoner
years.
“Like I said. I’ll be around to
help if they want me to assist
them in any way,” Waggoner
said.
MONEY
BOC to meet
with sheriff
Wed. on budget
Inside: see the agenda for the BOC’s
MONDAY NIGHT MEETING, PAGE 2A
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
Madison County commis
sioners have met for weeks
on the 2010 county budget,
but the most significant dis
cussion is still ahead.
County commissioners
are scheduled to meet with
Sheriff Kip Thomas to dis
cuss sheriff's department
and jail funding at 4 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 2.
Thomas submitted a budget
request for roughly $1 mil
lion in additional funds for
2010 for the sheriff’s depart
ment ($726,969) and jail
($328,590), which represent
increases of 46 percent and
25.9 percent.
But the sheriff has post
poned the budget meeting
with the BOC twice in recent
weeks, asking for more time
to work on his budget.
Thomas wrote a piece for
this paper in July, explaining
that he knew he wouldn't get
everything he presented in
his budget request.
“I turned in a budget for
next year and I know that
anyone who saw it probably
thought I was crazy,” wrote
Thomas. “Well, I promise
that I am not crazy and that I
don't expect to get everything
that I asked for on that budget
... Budgets are turned in and
then worked and reworked
numerous times before they
are approved for the next
year. I know that what I
turned in will be done the
same way.”
County commissioners
were also scheduled to meet
Wednesday, Aug. 26, with
several department heads,
including the senior center,
buildings and grounds, road
department/vehicle repair and
maintenance, tax assessor’s
office and Madison County
— See ‘Budget’ on 2A
ANIMALS
HEALTH
H1N1
suspected
at county
schools
Inside: Seasonal
FLU VACCINE
AVAILABLE AUG.
31, Page 2 A
(L-R) Noelle, an 11-year-old black lab mix; Foxy Gretchen, a 7-year-old
retriever; and Lizze, a 6-year-old cattle dog are available for adoption at
a reduced price at the Madison Oglethorpe Animal Shelter. Zach Mitcham/
Staff
In need of a home
No takers yet for pets of deceased Oglethorpe couple;
adoptions down at Madison Oglethorpe Animal Shelter
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
The pets of an Oglethorpe County
couple that officials believe were mauled
by a pack of dogs still need a home.
Former University of Georgia professor
Lothar Karl Schweder, 77, and his wife
Sherry Schweder, 65, a librarian, were
found mauled to death earlier this month
along Howard Thaxton Road off Hwy.
77 about two miles north of Lexington
in Oglethorpe County.
The dogs that officials believe attacked
them were put to sleep last week at
the Madison Oglethorpe Animal Shelter.
And the couple's seven dogs were taken
to the shelter with the hope that they
would find new homes.
There’s Jojo, a male 5-year-old spaniel
mix; Heidi, a female 9-year-old boxer
mix; Santa, a male 4-year-old lab mix;
Eliana, a female 11-year-old lab/shep-
herd mix; Noelle, a female 11-year-
— See ‘Adoption’ on 2A
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
County schools — the mid
dle school and high school in
particular — have had a high
absentee rate recently and
H1N1 is suspected to be part
of the cause, though no cases
have been confirmed.
School system officials
heard from six-to-eight par
ents last week countywide
who say doctors have told
them their children probably
have H1N1, and the number
has since grown.
The calls prompted the cen
tral office to send a letter to
parents addressing concerns.
“We didn’t have a hard
number, but we were starting
to get a fairly consistent run
— See ’Flu’ on 11A
INSIDE
Butldtngs and grounds
Index:
News — 1-3A 5A
Opinions —4A
Crime — 6A
Schools — 7A11A
Obituaries — 10A
Socials — 12A
Sports— 1-2B
Churches — 3B
Legate— 4-9B
Classifieds — 10-12B
Contact:
Phone: 706-795-2567
Fax: 706-795-2765
Mail: P.O. Box 658,
Danielsville, GA, 30633
Web:
MadisonJoumalTODAY.
com
2009 tax bills
expected this year
Madison County taxpayers
can expect to get their 2009
tax bills this year, with offi
cials hoping to have tax bills
out by early November.
— Page 3A
Man faces
arson charge
A Danielsville man was arrest
ed for first-degree arson last
week after allegedly setting
fire to a home he shared with
his girlfriend.
— Page 6A
Wanted: Batman
County seeks to rid buildings of flying critters
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
T here won’t be any capes
or comic book villains.
But Madison County
needs a batman.
Two county buildings — the
historic county courthouse and
the old Strickland House off
Hwy. 98 — have a problem with
the real-life nocturnal flying crit
ters that can carry rabies and
leave droppings — or guano —
that can make folks sick.
The county government placed
an advertisement in this week’s
Journal seeking proposals for
“bat removal, bat exclusion,
clean-up and decontamination”
of the Strickland House and old
county courthouse.
The removal of bats can
include a lot of legal red tape.
For instance, Madison County
buildings and ground director
Alan Lapczynski said the county
considered addressing the prob
lem back in May, but had to wait
until after Aug. 15 to avoid spe
cial permitting related to dealing
with young bats.
“Bats have their young dur
ing the summer, so we had to
— See ‘Bats’ on 2A
The historic Strickland House off Hwy. 98 is
infested with bats.
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