Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

The www.MadisonJournalTODAY.com SEPTEMBER 10, 2009 Merged with The Comer News and The Danielsville Monitor, 2006 Vol. 24 No. 37 • Publication No. 1074-987 • Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. • 24 Pages, 2 Sections Plus Supplements INSIDE: Commissioners deny Broad River concession stand. PAGE 3A Commissioners BOC says ‘no’ to sheriff’s budget increase By Margie Richards margie@mainstreetnews.com Madison County commissioners are getting good at saying “no,” and they said it again last week to Sheriff Kip Thomas. Commissioners said they couldn't see granting any of the budgetary increases requested by the sheriff, and asked him to work with the budget he had for 2009. Nearing the end of county budget hearings, commissioners are still looking at a possible $1.8 million shortfall for next year. Sheriff Thomas turned in reworked 2010 budgets for his office, the jail and the CHAMPS program (formerly DARE) to the county commissioners last week. The proposed budget includes requests for four new deputies, six new jailers and 12 patrol cars to replace high-mileage vehicles. Sheriff Thomas placed the new jail positions, at least four of the requested six, at the top of his wish list. But commissioners were hard- pressed to agree to additional employees for the sheriff, since they have recently enacted a coun ty-wide hiring freeze. “I’d like to see you go back to the 2009 budget, take five per cent off, and work with it,” Commissioner John Pethel told the sheriff. “We’re in some critical, critical times and we’re trying to save jobs.” Pethel added he just doesn't see how the board can grant any increase in anyone’s budget at this time. “I know you're trying to do what’s best for the county,” Pethel said. — See Sheriff on page 2A ‘ THOMAS Ginni Edwards prepares fresh flower arrangements for sale at an organic farmers’ market. This is the Edwards’ first year to grow and market organic flowers from land on a farm along the Broad River which they jointly own with neighbor Carlo King. Thirty acres of adjacent land have been reclaimed to expand the farm. Photo by Charles Richards Local Farm Local Elections Municipal elections ahead in November There will be several munic ipal elections this fall, includ ing two mayoral races. Incumbent Danielsville mayor Glenn Cross will face councilman Philip Croya for his seat, while incumbent Comer mayor Billy Burroughs will face challenger David McMickle for his post. Election day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Other elections to be held are as follows: Colbert Councilman Chris Peck was the sole qualifier for the mayor's position. Peck will replace long-time mayor John Waggoner, who is retiring. Council incumbent Roger Fortson was also the lone qualifier for his council posi tion. However, there were three candidates who qualified for the council position vacated by Chris Peck. They are Ellyn Trinrud, Timothy Wyatt and Reginald A. Hunter. Hull Incumbent Mayor Paul Elkins was the only one to qualify for — See Municipal elections on 3A Stewards of the land Scottie Edwards and Carlo King reclaim polluted land, make it part of their ‘Fertile Crescent’ By Margie Richards margie@mainstreetnews.com C osmos, zinnias, snap dragons, sunflowers, gladi- olas and Rudbeckia hirta (Black-eyed Susans) are just a few of the cut flowers grown organi cally on a Madison County back road these days. Scottie Edwards may have been a contract carpenter by trade, but his new vocation as an organic flower farmer is his passion. Edwards believes in being a good steward - and for him that doesn’t just mean being a responsible caretaker of the land. It also means being a good husband, father, neighbor, friend and community member. “That’s something we all need to work on,” Edwards said. “I once heard that wealth is not determined by how much you have, but how much you have to give away.” And Edwards has given back to the community in many ways, one of those being to serve on the board of the local Habitat for Humanity for a number of years. His wife Ginni Edwards is a media specialist at Madison County High School and formerly served as branch manager of the Madison County Library. The two are childhood sweethearts (they’ve been together since the eighth grade) and were married in 1987, shortly after they purchased land on Roy Woods Road to build a home on. They are the proud parents of 13-year-old Isabelle. Both Scott and Ginni have always enjoyed gardening and growing their own vegetables and herbs. Edwards met his good friend Carlo King (aka Carl Dietrich) back in 1987 when both of them were on a job building playgrounds for schools. “We’ve been friends ever since,” Edwards said. “In fact, he's like family.” The two went in together on 40 acres of land for a farm near the Edwards’ home on the Broad River a dozen years ago. King dubbed the farm “Fertile Crescent” after the bibli cal Mesopotamia (land between two rivers). More recently, the pair purchased 30 adjacent acres that had been used for years as a dumping ground for house hold garbage. — See Edwards on page 2A‘ INSIDE Index: News — 1-3A 5A Opinions — 4A Schools — 11-12A Crime — 6A Churches — 9A Socials — 7-8A Sports— 1-2B Legate— 3-9B Obituaries — 10A Classifieds — 11-12B Contact: Phone: 706-795-2567 Fax: 706-795-2765 Mail: P.O. Box 658, Danielsville, GA, 30633 Web: MadisonJoumalTODAY. com Raiders, in a thriller Madison County took down Winder- Barrow 35-29 last week for its first win of the season. The Raiders now turn their attention to this week’s opponent, Monroe Area. 1B Schools Rash of illness subsiding at Madison Co. Middle School But other schools starting to see more absences By Ben Munro ben@mainstreetnews.com Though he had no official numbers, Madison County Schools Superintendent Mitch McGhee said middle school attendance is finally stabilizing after recent illness produced absentee rates above normal for this time of year, “It looks like our middle school has leveled off,” McGhee said at Tuesday night’s school board meeting. He noted that the middle school seemed to be hit the hardest with recent sickness, while Freshmen Academy experienced similar absentee rates. Though there aren’t confirmed cases, some of the sickness is believed to be H1N1. “If you test positive for type A influ enza, they’re assuming it’s H1N1 because it’s so rampant right now,” McGhee said. McGhee said H1N1 is probably a little less severe than seasonal flu. But like the seasonal flu, if someone has other health issues, H1N1 can be deadly. The virus is contagious because school age children haven’t built up antibodies to battle it. Though the middle school and Freshman Academy seem to over the worst of it, Madison County’s elementary schools are now seeing more kids out — See Absences on page 3A‘ MCGHEE