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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