Newspaper Page Text
The
www.MadisonJournalTODAY.com
FEBRUARY 18, 2010
Merged with The Comer News and The Danielsville Monitor, 2006
Vol. 25 No. 7 • Publication No. 1074-987 • Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. • 28 Pages, 2 Sections Plus Supplements
EDUCATION
School
layoffs not
expected
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
Though next year's budget
is expected to be lean, the
good news is that Madison
County school leaders — so
far — don't foresee layoffs
in 2010-2011.
“It really appears unlikely
that we’ll have to implement
our reduction in force pol
icy,” superintendent Mitch
McGhee told the Madison
County Board of Education
(BOE) last week during
budget talks.
The system will have six
to seven fewer teaching posi
tions next year but should be
able to save jobs through
natural attrition. Ten teach
ers have already said they're
not returning.
“We do not believe that
we’ll have to put in place the
reduction in force,” McGhee
said. “In fact, most likely,
we’re going to have to hire a
— See “Schools” on 2A
STATE BOUND!
TJ. McGuire drives to the hoop Tuesday night against Monroe Area In the region tourna
ment. Madison County beat the Purple Hurricanes 67-55 to clinch a spot in the state
tournament, ending a 13-year drought. See Page IB for more coverage. Ben Munro/Staff
CRIME
Theft charge
Former county lieutenant arrested for
allegedly stealing drugs from evidence room
Former long-time Madison
County deputy Donald
Glenn Carr, 45, was arrested
Monday morning on theft
and other charges by officer
Trent Hillsman of the Georgia
Bureau of Investigation.
Carr was charged with theft
by taking, a misdemeanor,
and two felonies; tampering
with evidence and violation of
oath of office, according to a
press release from the sheriff’s
office.
Carr turned himself in to
the GBI at the sheriff’s office
Monday morning and was
booked into the Madison
County jail, according to sheriff
Kip Thomas. Carr was released
on a $10,000 bond later that
day, according to Georgia
Bureau of Investigation agent
Jim Fullington.
The investigation that led to
the arrest stemmed from miss
ing prescription narcotics in a
case that was handled by Lt.
Carr when he was employed
by Madison County, accord
ing to the press release. When
the missing evidence was
discovered recently by a sher
iff’s investigator, the GBI was
called in to handle the investi
gation and the arrest was made,
Thomas said.
Fullington declined to say
exactly what type of narcotics
were missing, but said there
were two different types. The
investigation is continuing, but
Fullington said that no one else
is implicated in the crime. It is
unclear at this time if more than
one case Carr handled may be
affected by missing evidence.
Carr was a 17-year veter
an with the Madison County
Sheriff’s Office until his resig
nation on Sept. 30,2009.
A snowstorm, a snowball
Sarah Lawson, 12; Alex Simms, 12; and Seth Silvey, 13; throw snowballs on Adams Clarke Road during the
snowstorm Friday afternoon. See Page 16B for snow photos submitted by Journal readers. Zach Mitcham/
staff
Snow blankets county
Snowstorm drops over four inches
on Madison County Friday
COUNTY GOVT
Search for
EMS director
continues
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
Madison County’s search
for a new EMS director con
tinues.
County commission chair
man Anthony Dove said he
has received “20 to 30” appli
cations for the director’s post,
adding that he will probably
interview “10 to 11” people,
beginning this week.
“We’ve got some good
applicants,” said Dove.
The chairman said he has
a detailed questionnaire that
each person considered must
complete.
“This is going to be a criti
cal hire, so it’s not going to
be a simple little interview,”
he said.
— See “EMS” on 2A
INSIDE
Index:
News —1-3A
Opinions — 4-5A
Crime —6A
Socials —7A
Schools — 8-9A, 16A
Obituaries —10-11A
Classifieds —14-15A
Sports — 1-3B
Churches —4B
Legals — 5-11B
Contact:
Phone: 706-795-2567
Fax: 706-795-2765
Mail: P.O. Box 658,
Danielsville, GA, 30633
Web:
MadisonJournalTODAY
com
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
By Margie Richards
margie@mainstreetnews.com
The snow that blanketed
Madison County Friday was
not a repeat of last March,
when a blizzard left thou
sands of county residents
without power for days.
Instead, many were able
to build a snowman, then go
inside and warm up in their
heated homes, washing off
with water that still ran
from the faucet — unlike
the 2009 debacle, when
pumps went dead with the
power outage.
Mark Jenkins, Madison
County’s cooperative weath
er observer in Danielsville,
reported the official snowfall
total Friday at 4.5 inches,
with a spread of two to five
inches across the county.
“This was a very wide
spread snowfall that extend
ed unusually far south,” he
said. “Two inches were
reported in the northwest
Florida panhandle, with
seven inches in Columbia,
S.C., three inches in
Charleston and an inch in
Savannah. On Saturday
morning all 50 states report
ed measureable snow on the
ground.”
Jenkins said the snowfall
was approximately double
what was originally predict
ed by the weather service.
“For a while Friday it
looked as though we would
get less than an inch, but
the system strengthened in
the afternoon,” said Jenkins.
“It was a very picturesque/
postcard type of snow while
it lasted. We may not be
done with winter, either. All
indications are that the rest
of February and into March
will bring more storminess
and bouts of cold air. At
least we are on the downhill
side! C’mon Spring!”
Jackson EMC reported
approximately 450 custom
ers of out of power Friday
night, most in Madison,
Jackson and Barrow coun
ties.
“As the snow started to
melt on Saturday, a number
of new outages popped up,
mostly due to limbs that had
been weighted with snow
popping back into place
and making contact with
our lines in the process,”
said Mark Owen of Jackson
EMC. “We had a total of
20 crews working Saturday
morning as our total number
of customers out hit 500.
— See “Snow” on 2A
HEALTH
H1N1 virus
on decline
in area
By Margie Richards
margie@mainstreetnews.com
Madison County Health
Department board mem
bers heard last week that
the H1N1 flu virus, or
“swine flu” seems to be
“pretty well gone” in this
area, according to health
department officials.
Northeast Health District
director Dr. Claude Burnett
told the group that virus
cases peaked in the fall and
have dropped significantly
since December, though
there has been a slight
increase again in recent
weeks in those under 25.
In addition, regular season
al flu, which Burnett said
usually peaks in January
and February, has not been
prevalent this year.
“It seems flu (season)
came early and most of it
seems to have been HINI,”
Burnett said. Ninety per
cent of those hospitalized
with flu-like symptoms
last fall tested positive for
H1N1, Burnett noted.
All Northeast Health
District departments,
including Madison
County’s health depart
ment, have plentiful sup
plies of HINI vaccine left.
TEEN PREGNANCY
In other matters last
Thursday, the board of
health announced that
approximately 84 percent
of sexually active teens are
receiving services, includ
ing counseling and birth
control at the health depart
ment’s “Teen Matters”
office in Danielsville,
according to health depart
ment officials.
— See“HlNl”on2A
