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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