Newspaper Page Text
The
www.MadisonJournalTODAY.com
OCTOBER 15, 2009
Merged with The Comer News and The Danielsville Monitor, 2006
Vol. 24 No. 42 • Publication No. 1074-987 • Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. • 28 Pages, 2 Sections Plus Supplements
FATALITY
Pedestrian
killed Mon.
A Colbert man walking on
McCarty Dodd Road died
after being hit by a truck
Monday night.
Gregory Harris, 38, was
struck and killed by a Ford
F-250 around 7:30 p.m. as
he walked north on McCarty
Dodd Road.
According to the Georgia
State Patrol, Harris was walk
ing in the dark in a heavy rain
when the truck struck him.
No information on the driver
of the truck was available.
ACTIVITIES
Annual D’ville
Fall Festival set
for Saturday
The fair is gone, but not
the party.
The ninth-annual
Danielsville Fall Festival
will be held Saturday, from
9 a.m. to 5 p.m., at Madison
County Memorial Park in
downtown Danielsville.
There will be live enter
tainment all day long, with
performances by the Holman
Autry Band, the Crossroad
Singers, Southern Stompers
and the Madison School of
Dance.
Approximately 70 vendors
had signed up for the festival
as of Tuesday.
There will be “fun for the
— See ‘Testival” on 2A
Floyd
remembered
Howard Floyd, a
Madison County
historian, poet,
musician, died at his
home Sunday.
— Page 5A
Index:
News — 1-3A5A7A
Opinions — 4-5A
Crime — 6A
Obituaries — 10-11A
Churches — 12A
Classifieds —13-15A
Schools — 16A
Sports— 1-3B
Legals— 4-9B
Sodals — 10-11B
Contact:
Phone: 706-795-2567
Fax: 706-795-2765
Mail: PO. Box 658,
Danielsville, GA, 30633
Web:
MadisonJoumalTODAY.
com
Raging River
High waters pass beneath the Broad River bridge at the Madison/Elbert County line on
Hwy. 172 Monday. Photos by Zach Mitcham/staff
Soaked again
Heavy rains drench north Georgia
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
The Broad River is raging. The backyard
ponds are filled to the brim. The rain gauges
are emptied, filled and emptied again.
The drought, well, it’s a distant memory
— at least for now. Madison County was
hit with another round of soakers this past
week, with heavy rains dousing the area
Monday and then again Wednesday.
Mark Jenkins, the cooperative weather
observer for Madison County, said Monday’s
deluge was significant.
“My total rain on Monday was 4.26,”
which came within about a quarter inch
of the 24-hour record for October,” said
Jenkins. “Some parts of the county reported
nearly five inches. I would not be surprised
if we get another three to five inches before
the week is done. If this occurs, we will
likely see water in places not seen since the
late 90’s.”
Jenkins said that as of Tuesday, Madison
County was five inches above normal for
the year.
“This pattern reminds me a lot of the fall
of 1976 when we had numerous strong rain
systems giving way to a gradually colder and
colder pattern by Christmas,” said Jenkins.
While the rains are a welcome change
from long-time drought conditions, the pre-
Roy Brantly of the Harrison District takes
a rainy day stroll at Madison Memorial
Park Monday with his dog, Hobo.
cipitation has taken a toll on local roads.
Board of commission chairman Anthony
Dove said the county road crew worked
Tuesday to clear debris that could block
water flow through drainage pipes beneath
roadways. He noted that about eight roads
were closed Monday evening.
“We’re just hoping to clean it out as much
as we can before it hits again,” said Dove.
The chairman said the rains have also put
a damper on scheduled roadwork.
— See “Rain” on 2A
COUNTY GOVT
The trickle...
of pennies
A look at sales tax figures a year
after the economic collapse
INSIDE: County,
SCHOOL TAX RATES WILL
BE APPROVED THIS WEEK,
Page 3A
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
The stock market and the
economy took a screaming
nosedive in Sept. 2008.
That same month,
Madison County began col
lecting pennies for a six-year
sales tax, with funds tagged
for various city and county
improvement projects.
So, a year later, how are
those collections? And is
Madison County in position
to tackle its sales tax proj
ects, such as expanding the
county jail to add capacity
for female inmates?
Well, collections are
indeed down, but perhaps
not as bad as some might
have thought. According to
the county finance office,
the county government took
in nearly $2.2 million in
special purpose local option
sales tax (SPLOST) funds
over the past 13 months. At
that pace, the county will
collect $12.14 million over
six years. The county ini
tially projected $12.6 mil
lion for the six-year period,
but then the economy went
south.
“I think it (the collections)
is about as good as we could
have expected now,” said
BOC chairman Anthony
Dove. “But we want to let
that build up before we act.
We don’t want to incur any
— See “SPLOST” on 2A‘
ROADS
DOT says opinions
split on Hwy 29
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
Opinion is gener
ally divided in half in
the county over wheth
er Hwy. 29 traffic war
rants a bypass around
Danielsville, according to
the State Department of
Transportation.
The DOT has released
data from its July 30
open house regarding the
bypass of Danielsville,
revealing a 50-50 split
between those who
approve and disapprove
of the project.
“This is an overview,”
DOT spokesperson Teri
Pope said in an email.
“No route has been elimi
nated or selected yet. We
are continuing to work
— See “Hwy. 29” on 2A
Inside the numbers
Here’s a breakdown of the
comments given to the DOT
at a July 30 open house
regarding a proposed widen
ing of Hwy. 29 and bypass of
Danielsville:
47 — Oppose the project,
regardless of which route is
chosen
26 — Support project
21 — Support the project
with conditions (such as, just
supporting one route)
9 — Uncommitted
103 — Number of com
ments submitted
67 — Those requesting an
additional open house
269 — Citizens attending
open house
Source: Georgia
Department of
Transportation
SERVICES
Erin Helinly, 3, learns to associate sign lan
guage with sounds to help her overcome
“apraxia,” a common form of language devel
opmental delay in young children, during a
daily speech therapy session at Head Start.
Erin’s need was identified during a preschool
screening. Photo by Beth Anfinson.
Program helps parents
identify developmental delays
Free screening set for Tuesday
A free developmental screening will be offered for Madison County
children Tuesday, Oct. 20, at Danielsville Elementary School.
The screening is for children ages 6 months to 5 years and will test
motor, speech and language, vision and hearing.
Those whose last names begin with A-l should come between 4
and 5 p.m. Those with last names beginning with J-R should come
between 5 and 6 p.m. and those with last names beginning with S-Z
should visit between 6 and 7 p.m. However, you may come at an
other time between 4-7 p.m. if your assigned time is not convenient.
Refreshments will be provided. There will be activities for siblings.
For more information, contact Laura Standard, Preschool Special
Needs Coordinator for Madison County schools, at 706-795-0120
ext. 1462
By Margie Richards
margie@mainstreetnews.com
T hree-year old Erin Helmly
didn’t “babble” as a baby
like her twin, Amber, did.
As Amber began communicating
with her parents, Erin remained
largely silent.
“I remember wondering if she was
hearing us,” mom Trudy Helmly
said. The girls’ pediatrician could
find nothing physically wrong with
Erin and time after time, Helmly
was told she was just a “late bloom
er.”
Helmly, who is a business ed
teacher in the ninth grade acad
emy, mentioned her concerns to
pre-school special ed coordinator
Laura Standard, who encouraged
her to bring Erin for a pre-school
screening to check for developmen
tal delays or problems.
“The screening process was awe
some,” Helmly said. “It was very
detailed, informative and very indi
vidually focused.” She was also
— See “Screening” on 2A