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The
www.MadisonJournalTODAY.com
DECEMBER 3, 2009
Merged with The Comer News and The Danielsville Monitor, 2006
Vol. 24 No. 49 • Publication No. 1074-987 • Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. • 24 Pages, 2 Sections Plus Supplements
SPECIAL SECTION
Deadline extended to
submit your child’s photo
Picture published,for free in The Journal. Christmas section
— See ad on Page
8A for more details
The Madison County Journal
will once again print a Children's
Christmas section in our Dec. 24
issue.
The deadline for accepting
photos for the Madison County
Journal’s annual children's
Christmas section has been
extended to Friday. Dec. 11. at
noon. (See Page 8A for details).
COUNTY GOV’T
BOC keeps money
in cupboard to
weather state cuts
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
The word from the state
is bleak.
Expect more cuts.
County commission
ers from various northeast
Georgia counties met with
local legislators recent
ly to discuss finances at a
regional Association County
Commissioners of Georgia
gathering.
Legislators told commis
sioners to expect a heavier
load when it comes to pay
ing for paying for roads and
other local services.
As the economy has gone
south, Madison County
commissioners have slashed
Up next:
•BOC 2010 budget
hearing, 6:30 p.m.,
Thursday, Dec. 10,
county gov’t complex
•BOC 2010 budget
approval, 6:30 p.m.,
Thursday, Dec. 17,
county gov’t complex
their budget nearly 10 per
cent over the past two years
— from $15 million in 2008
to a budget of approximately
$13.6 million in 2010.
In recent months, Madison
County commissioners
have repeatedly thumbed
— See “Budget” on 2A
CITY NEWS
Wyatt wins Colbert runoff
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews. com
After yet another runoff,
Colbert has another new coun
cilman.
Tim Wyatt defeated Ellyn
Trinrud 42-36 Tuesday to win
the open seat at Colbert’s city
council table.
“They were both very good
candidates,” Colbert mayor
John Waggoner said. “I feel
bad that we couldn't have both
— See “Wyatt” on 3A
Tim Wyatt
FESTIVITIES
Comer on parade
Retiring city clerk to
serve as grand marshal
The annual Comer Chrismas Parade will be held
Saturday at 2 p.m.
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
Partially inspired by
Comer's recent downtown
upgrades, the theme for
the city’s holiday parade
Saturday is ‘Christmas
in Comer, the Old Made
New.”
The annual parade starts at
2 p.m. Saturday.
“We hope that the interest
will pick up on the theme
and (people will) do things
with that,” Comer city clerk
and finance officer Steve
Sorrells said. “We’ll sort of
let the town speak for itself,
I think. We’ll hope that peo
ple see the changes in the
downtown.”
Comer has sought to
revamp its historic down
town in recent years. In
What: Comer
Christmas Parade
When: 2 p.m.,
Saturday
Where: downtown
Comer
Theme: The Old
Made New’
2009, the city used over
$700,000 worth of grant
money to upgrade its storm
water control system and
add of 3.000 feet of side
walks along with curbing
and guttering. Comer also
applied SPLOST funds to
overhaul outdated water-
lines throughout the busi
ness district.
What’s more, the city
plans to unveil a museum
in 2010 to honor Comer’s
history with the automobile.
The city will use $344,000
in grant funds renovate a
century old building once
used to conceal the new year
Ford models.
“The upgrades are fin
ished, and hopefully, the
travel museum will be as
successful as we get into it
a little bit more,” Sorrells
said.
All this helped organiz
ers arrive upon this year’s
parade theme.
“I think it has something
to do with that fact ... I
think we’ve tried to do as
good of a job as we can
trying to combine the down
town with the old and the
new,” Sorrells said.
This parade will be a little
different for Sorrells.
Sorrells, who had a hand
— See “Comer” on 2A
BUSINESS
Ceremony held for new feed mill
County and Columbia Farms officials participated in an official ribbon-cut-
ting ceremony Tuesday for the company’s new feed mill just east of Comer.
Shown (L-R) during the ceremony are Industrial Authority executive director
Marvin White, commissioner Stanley Thomas, board of commission chairman
Anthony Dove, CEO and owner of House of Raeford Bob Johnson, Don Taber,
president of Colonial Farms and House of Raeford and IDA board chairman
Bruce Azevedo. Margie Richards/staff
By Margie Richards
margie@mainstreetnews.com
Columbia Farms’ new
Comer chicken feed plant
held an official ribbon
cutting and open house for
county officials, commu
nity members and growers
Tuesday, welcoming folks
in to see their new state-of-
the-art facility. Tours of the
facility, and a lunch, were
also provided.
The plant began opera
tions in September and
stepped up to full produc
tion on Monday, Oct. 19,
officials said.
The company, a division
of House of Raeford, relo
cated its Lavonia feed mill
to the 107-acre tract east of
Comer. The plant currently
employs about 30 people.
At peak production, the mill
should be able to produce
about 6,500 tons of chicken
feed per week, or more.
Madison County officials
have named the plant site
and the surrounding area
Cooper Road Industrial Park
and hope that Columbia
Farms is just the first of a
number of businesses who
want to locate here, along
the CSX railroad.
“The industrial park’s the
thing,” board of commis
sioner chairman Anthony
Dove said. “The (industrial)
zoning is the main thing and
we hope it’ll attract other
businesses.”
Dove said the county just
received approval Tuesday
morning for LARP (Local
Assistance Road Paving)
funds from the state to pave
Cooper Road. He said the
county also plans to widen
Sims Kidd Road to Russell
Road near the plant two
feet on each side and add
a base.
In addition, the IDA
applied for a $300,000 ARC
(Appalachian Regional
Commission) grant for road
paving in Cooper Industrial
Park earlier this year.
“Eventually, we’ll have
the whole area paved,” Dove
said.
“The key is that this is
‘production’ - these folks
are working and produc
ing a product here - this
— See ‘Teed mill” on 2A
INSIDE
Index:
News —1-3A
Opinions — 4-5A
Crime — 6A
Schools — 7-9A
Socials —10-12A
Sports — 1-3B
Obituaries —6-7B
Churches —8B
Legals — 9B
Classifieds —10-12B
Contact:
Phone: 706-795-2567
Fax: 706-795-2765
Mail: PO. Box 658,
Danielsville, GA, 30633
Web:
MadisonJoumalTODAY
com
Raiders off to
quick start
The Madison County
boys’ basketball
team is off to a 4-0
start.
— See Page 1B
TECHNOLOGY
Facebooking... what’s appropriate?
Social networking provides plenty of gray area for school policy makers
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
A s controversy
brews in a nearby
county over a for
mer teacher and the con
tents of her Facebook page,
Madison County Schools
don’t currently have a pol
icy that regulates teachers’
social networking sites or
personal Internet activity.
Madison County Schools
Superintendent Mitch
McGhee said there’s simply
too much gray area to put
such a policy in place.
“Where are you going to
say what you can put on
and what you can’t put on a
website like that?”’ McGhee
said. “Right now, we’re offi
cially staying out of that. If
we have to deal with it, we
will. But, boy, there’s a lot
of clarification that needs to
be put out there.”
Ashley Payne, a former
Apalachee High School
teacher, claims she was
forced by administrators
to resign in August after a
parent discovered Payne’s
Facebook page.
The page contained a pro-
Mitch McGhee
fane word and pictures of
the 24-year-old posing with
alcoholic beverages. The
controversy has since gar
nered national attention and
set off debate regarding pri
nt’s kind of what
your football coach
says, ‘I don’t have
a whole lot rules,
just one — do
right.’”
— Supt. Mitch McGhee
vacy issues.
Payne filed a lawsuit
against the Barrow County
School District a few weeks
ago.
— See “Networking” on 2A
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