Newspaper Page Text
The
www.MadisonJournalTODAY.com
OCTOBER 29, 2009
Merged with The Comer News and The Danielsville Monitor, 2006
Vol. 24 No. 44 • Publication No. 1074-987 • Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. • 34 Pages, 3 Sections Plus Supplements
Set your
clocks back
At last, you’re going
to get back that hour of
sleep you lost last March.
Daylight Saving Time,
which started March 11,
ends Sunday morning at
2.
Stay up until 2 a.m. to
change your clock if you
want, but it’s easier to set
it back one hour before
you retire Saturday night.
The practical result will
be the sun will go down
an hour earlier on Sunday
than it did on Saturday.
Instead of driving to work
in the dark, you’ll drive
home from work in the
dark.
Daylight Saving Time
will return on March 14,
2010.
INSIDE
Raiders
to take on
Apalachee
The Madison
County football
team will host
Class AAAA’s
seventh-ranked
squad Apalachee,
8-0, Friday.
—Page1B
Meet the
candidates
The Madison
County Journal
takes a look at
candidates on
municipal ballots
Tuesday.
—Page 3A
Index:
News — 1-3A 7A
Opinions — 4-5A
Crime — 6A
Schools — 8-11A 1C
Sports— 1-3B
Socials — 4-5B
Churches — 9B, 11B
Obituaries — 10B
Classifieds — 8-10C
Legate— 8-10C
Contact:
Phone: 706-795-2567
Fax: 706-795-2765
Mail: P.O. Box 658,
Danielsville, GA, 30633
Web:
MadisonJoumalTODAY.
com
COMMUNITY SERVICES
Food Bank director Bobbie Rooker (center) works with mother/daughter volun
teers Tracy (L) and Stefanie Morgan to sort items brought in for distribution to
needy Madison County residents. Margie Richards/staff
‘A growing need’
Food Bank sees increased need
for food, other items as winter
and the holidays approach
By Margie Richards
margie@mainstreetnews.com
S ome economic forecasters may say
things are looking up, but you can't
tell it by a visit to the Madison County
Food Bank.
The food bank, located in the local ACTION
office in Danielsville, has given out 87,906
pounds of food to over 400 families in the last
12 months and provided $18,536 in emergency
shelter funding, director Bobbie Rooker said
last week. The emergency funding was gone in
four months and Rooker says they could have
spent that amount four times over.
And just this month, 28 more referrals for
food assistance have come in - more than twice
the average number the agency receives during
a “normal’' month.
But then, there hasn’t been a “normal” month
in quite a while.
— See “Food Bank” on 2A
Want to Help?
The Madison County Food Bank
accepts donations of food and other
staples Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-1
pm, but director Bobbie Rooker
urges those wishing to donate to call
the office at 706-795-2180 before
they come to make sure someone
is there.
Both non-perishable and perish
able food can be donated to the
agency, including processed deer
meat.
The only foodstuffs that can’t be
accepted are home-processed veg
etables and meats, Rooker said.
Monetary donations for the food
bank, the Christmas program, or
emergency assistance can also be
mailed to: The Madison County Food
Bank, P.O. Box 101, Danielsville,
GA 30633 (deadline for Christmas
program donations is Dec. 10). If
you are donating to a particular pro
gram, please note that (example:
Christmas) on your check, Rooker
said.
CRIME
Spence
sentenced
... testifies Fortson was accomplice;
Fortson vehemently denies allegation
By Margie Richards
margie@mainstreetnews.com
F ormer deputy
county clerk
Melinda Spence
was sentenced in Madison
County Superior Court
Tuesday to two years in
prison and 18 years pro
bation for two counts of
felony theft by taking.
But during a hearing
prior to the sentencing,
Spence testified that she
was not the only one
involved in the thefts,
but had been instructed
to alter deposit slips by
her boss, former county
clerk and finance direc
tor, Morris Fortson.
“I was instructed to
do this,” she told the
court. “...Morris Fortson
showed me how to do
this.”
Fortson also took the
stand Tuesday and vehe
mently denied the allega
tion, saying that he had
“absolutely not” had any
part in the crime.
“You deny this and you
are under oath?” Spence’s
attorney Alan Alexander
asked Fortson.
“Yes sir,” Fortson
replied.
Spence testified that
she knew what she did
was wrong and that she
should have known better
— See “Spence” on 7A
ANIMAL CONTROL
Ordinance change
considered to protect
citizens from dangerous dogs
See Monday’s BOC agenda inside, Page 2A
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
A Hull 5-year-old boy
mauled by a neighbor’s
dog in his own home
earlier this month could
have returned home the
following day to find
the dog still at its resi
dence.
Dogs are considered
property of owners.
And county officials
must get a court order
to apprehend a dog that
has attacked someone if
the animal is back on its
owner’s property and is
up to date on its shots.
County commission
chairman Anthony
Dove said Monday that
the BOC needs to take
action to ensure that any
dog that harms a per
son can be apprehended
immediately.
“I can’t imagine the
kid coming home on
Saturday and the dog
is in exactly the same
place as it was before,”
— See “Dogs” on 2A
CHILDREN
COUNTY GOV’T
Madison Co. DFCS
wants more pictures
of foster care kids
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
The Madison County Department of Family
and Children’s services wants to make sure
those made-for-camera moments of a foster
child’s life don’t go undocumented for the bio
logical parents.
The local DFCS office, which was granted
permission last week to buy a new digital cam
era, is making a push to take more pictures —
whether of a first day of school, the beginning
of tae kwon do lessons or the start of football or
soccer practice — of children while in DFCS
custody.
“Sometimes parents aren’t able to have those
pictures,” Madison County DFCS director Lisa
Plank said to the DFCS board last Friday.
It’s all part of a state DFCS effort to better
know the family.
Under an old policy, the state previously
required just one visit a quarter from the local
DFCS office if a child was placed in a foster
facility.
Now, there’s more face-to-face time involved.
“I think the state has come to the realization
— and I agree with it — (that) we can’t make
good decisions for these kids if we don’t know
— See “DFACS” on 2A
Commissioners approve display of Ten
Commandments, other historical documents
Suzanne Hudgens presents a framed copy of the national
motto “In God We Trust” to commissioners Monday. Zach
Mitcham/staff
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
N ine framed histori
cal documents will
soon be placed on
county courthouse walls.
Suzanne Hudgens, wife
of state senator and Georgia
insurance commissioner can
didate Ralph Hudgens, pre
sented county commissioners
with the documents Monday.
“I would just appreci
ate if we could hang them;
it’s already been hung in 12
other counties and we’re try
ing to get them hung in all
the counties in Georgia,” said
Hudgens. “... They all have
to be framed exactly the same.
They’re beautiful. And they’re
the foundations of American
law.”
The documents include
the Ten Commandments,
the Mayflower Compact, the
Declaration of Independence,
the Magna Carta, the Star
Spangled Banner, the National
— See “Documents” on 2A