Newspaper Page Text
The
www.MadisonJournalTODAY.com
DECEMBER 17, 2009
Merged with The Comer News and The Danielsville Monitor, 2006
Vol. 24 No. 51 • Publication No. 1074-987 • Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. • 28 Pages, 2 Sections Plus Supplements
STATE GOV’T
Legislative
battles ahead
Lawmakers discuss finances, water, transportation
at annual Chamber Eggs and Issues breakfast
By Margie Richards
margie@mainstreetnews.com
State leadership fiascos,
water and transportation
issues and, of course, the
budget were the main topics
on the minds of lawmak
ers and chamber members
last week during the annual
Eggs and Issues Breakfast
held at the Ila Restaurant.
State representative Alan
Powell said Georgia citi
zens need to open their eyes
to what's really going on in
the state house. He said the
state budget was not bal
anced, but instead shored
up by stimulus funds that
will be gone in 12 to 18
months.
“Then our problems will
be back,” Powell said.
Powell added that projec
tions are that state revenues
may be down by another 15
percent next year.
“We’re in a heck of a
shape folks,” Powell. “Any
financial stability that we
once had is just not there.”
He acknowledged that
though it’s always popular
to cut taxes, “when you cut
taxes, you must also cut
— See “Chamber” on 2A
State representative Alan Powell (at the podium)
addresses the audience at the Madison County
Chamber of Commerce Eggs and Issues break
fast, sponsored by Georgia Power and Jackson
EMC. Also pictured (L-R) are state senator Ralph
Hudgens, Chamber president Marvin White, and
chairman of government affairs Phil Munro.
Margie Richards/staff
EDUCATION
A winter break?
Furloughs could create a weeklong
break for Madison Co. schools
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
If the state mandates three
more teacher furlough days
next semester, it could cre
ate a weeklong break for
Madison County Schools.
A proposed calendar
amendment would close
schools Feb. 17-19 should
Gov. Sonny Perdue reduce
funding for teacher pay by
three days like he did this
semester. The first two days
of that week, Feb. 15 and
Feb. 16, are paid holidays for
teachers.
“We’re going to be get
ting information in January
of what’s likely to happen
but probably won’t official
ly know until mid-to-late
February,” Madison County
Schools Superintendent
Mitch McGhee said. “But
— See “Furloughs” on 2A
GIVING
Madison County Probate Judge Cody Cross (L) and father Glenn Cross
(R), longtime mayor of Danielsville, will undergo simultaneous surger
ies Dec. 22 to remove a healthy kidney from Cody and place that kidney
into the abdomen of his dad. Margie Richards/staff
CHRISTMAS
Booger Hill
nativity,
luminaries
set for Sat.
A Madison County
Christmas tradition will
continue Saturday.
The annual nativity and
luminaries tour will be
held from 6 to 9:30 p.m.
Saturday on Booger Hill
Road and Moon’s Grove
Road, south of Danielsville
off U.S. Hwy. 29 in
Madison County.
The event features a live
nativity scene with live
camels, sheep and don
keys, and people dressed
as angels, shepherds and
the wise men. The nativ
ity is hosted by the Tripp
Strickland family. People
along the route place lumi
naries along the road, and
many homes are decorated
with lights for Christmas.
WEATHER
Rains taking
toll on Madison
Co. school roofs
A gift for dad
Son to give father a kidney at Christmas
By Margie Richards
margie@mainstreetnews.com
A s they always do, Glenn Cross
and his son, Cody Cross, will
spend Christmas together
this year, but under somewhat different
circumstances than they usually do.
Instead of sitting around the Christmas
tree opening presents with other family
members, father and son will be across
the hall from each other at Piedmont
Hospital in Atlanta on Christmas Day.
And Glenn will be experiencing the first
days of learning to live with a unique
and precious gift from his son — a new
kidney.
On Dec. 22, the pair will undergo
simultaneous surgeries to remove a
healthy kidney from Cody, 40, and
place that kidney into the abdomen of
his dad, 61.
“There are no second thoughts,” Cody
said this week of the upcoming surgery.
“After all, if any of us needed a heart,
“After all, if any of us
needed a heart,
he’d give us his own,
without hesitation.”
— Cody Cross
talking about his father
he’d give us his own, without hesita
tion.”
Cody, who’s finishing up his first year
as the county’s new probate judge, sat
comfortably in his office this week next
to his dad, who is ending a long-time
stint as mayor of Danielsville.
Since March, Glenn has been travel
ing to Athens three times a week for
dialysis, with each session lasting about
five hours. Though he is grateful for
the sessions, which have allowed him
to keep working and living his life, he
— See “Giving” on 2A
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
Due to abnormally high
levels of rain over the past
few months, leaky roofs
have become the Madison
County School System’s
most immediate facility
repair issue.
“We went a couple of
years without hardly any
rain,” superintendent
Mitch McGhee told the
Madison County Board
of Education (BOE) last
week. “Now, every week,
we’re getting inches of
rain, and it’s taking its toll
on our roofs.”
Roofs at Ila Elementary
and Madison County High
School present the big
gest problem areas, and
the school system doesn’t
have the funds to replace
roofs at those two spots,
McGhee said.
“But we have been work
ing diligently to figure out
what we can do to reduce
— See “Rain” on 2A
INSIDE
Index:
News —1-3A
Opinions — 4-5A
Crime —6A
Schools — 7-8A
Socials —9-1OA
Churches —11A
Obituaries —12-13A
Classifieds —14-15A
Sports — 1-3B
Legals — 4-12B
Contact:
Phone: 706-795-2567
Fax: 706-795-2765
Mail: PO. Box 658,
Danielsville, GA, 30633
Web:
MadisonJoumalTODAY
com
The Madison County
varsity boys’ basketball
team improved to 8-2
Tuesday by clobbering
Loganville.
— See Page 1B
Raiders
flying high
SOCIAL SERVICES
The shrinking
Safety Net
Advantage works to help those in
need as state funding dwindles
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
W hen his 22-year-old brother had a violent fit,
7-year-old Andrew would sit in his room wear
ing a motorcycle helmet.
“It’s really pitiful,” said Deana Parten of her younger son’s
fear of his sibling.
Parten, of Comer, had a daughter in late August and she
feared that her oldest child, Matthew, might accidentally hurt
the baby.
Matthew is severely mentally disabled and unable to com
municate, save a few words. Parten said her son is often very
sweet natured, but he also has violent tantrums.
“He’ll hit and kick and bite, throw furniture and then 10
“It feels like the safety net has big,
gaping holes now and we don’t have
any more thread to sew them up.”
— Cindy Darden, CEO of Advantage Behavioral
Health Services in Athens
minutes later he’s hugging you,” she said.
Parten said a doctor told her when she was young that she
would eventually send her son away. She was angered by the
suggestion. But the tantrums got worse. Her son can physi-
— See “Social services” on 2A
