Newspaper Page Text
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The
NOVEMBER 28,2019
Merged with The Comer News and The Danielsville Monitor, 2006
MadisonJoumaITODAY.com
$1.00
Vol. 36 No. 41 • Publication No. 1074-987 • Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. • 20 Pages, 2 Section Plus Supplements
ACCIDENT
Driver
in fatal
wreck faces
charges
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
Warrants have been is
sued for a Madison County
woman who pulled into the
path of a track last week
on Hwy. 98 in a wreck that
killed her infant son and
seriously injured her other
two children, ages 5 and 8.
The 5-year-old is be
ing treated at Scottish Rite
Hospital in Atlanta with
life-threatening injuries.
Arrest warrants were filed
last week in the Madison
County Magistrate Judge’s
office for Tela Wood, 34,
Hull. Wood, who was also
injured in the accident,
faces a charge of homicide
by vehicle in the first de
gree for the death of her
5-month-old son, Charles
M. Wood Jr. She will also
be charged with two felo
ny counts of serious injury
by vehicle, misdemeanor
driving under the influence
(DUI)/drags and failure to
yield the right of way.
Captain Jimmy Patton
with the Madison County
Sheriffs Office said Wood
has been released from the
hospital and is in Atlanta
with her injured child.
“”We are working to set
up a time to turn herself in,”
he said.
The accident occurred
shortly after 3 p.m. Nov.
19 when Wood turned her
1998 Toyota 4Runner in
front of a 1998 Peterbilt
track driven by a Carlton
man, who was not injured
in the accident.
INSIDE:
Index:
News: 1-3A
Opinions: 4A
Crime: 6A
Socials: 7A
Churches: 10A
Obituaries: 14-15A
Sports: 8-9A
Classifieds: 11A
Legals: 12-13A
Contact:
Phone: 800-795-2581
Mail: P.O. Box 658,
Danielsville, Ga. 30633
Web: MadisonJoumalTODAY.com
MAILING LABEL
MADISON COUNTY JOBS
Lt. Jason Ring begins his shift Nov. 14 for the Madison County Sheriff’s
Office.
Day in the life
Strapping in and riding along
on patrol in Madison County
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetne ws. com
We sit at a long flat stretch off Hwy. 72
and look at the west-bound traffic com
ing our way toward Athens. It’s cold
but not cold enough for snow, though it
sure feels like flakes could drop at any
moment, the way the gray blankets the
sky on Georgia/Auburn week, around
that time when winter seems to break
in its teeth. The radar on the left cor
ner of Jason Ring’s dash is showing the
speed of the oncoming traffic. Georgia
law requires him to give motorists 500
feet of sight distance.
‘‘The state patrol, they can hide, but
not us.” said Ring, a lieutenant with the
Madison County Sheriff’s Office, who
has been with the department since
2001. Ring is waiting on a speeder, but
the numbers popping up on the radar so
far aren’t warranting a stop. He’s got
Copenhagen between his gum and lip
and spits into one of two empty Mon
ster Energy drink cans in the cup hold
ers.
“I wish I could quit this,” says Ring
of the dipping. “But then deer season
comes along.”
Ring enjoys hunting and fishing and
just being outdoors. He said his 8-year-
old son also enjoys hunting. And he’s
proud of the fact that his son isn’t into
video games and enjoys being outdoors
instead.
“It’s all about getting him one (a
deer),” he said.
We talk about speeding. Ring stopped
at the county farm when we first got in
the car and he showed me the 40-mph
and 25-mph tuning forks he must ping
before and after his shift to make sure
the radar calibration is right. If the ra
dar is off, all tickets must be thrown
out and the radar must be taken out of
commission. In case you’re wondering,
if you pass a patrol car going the oppo
site direction, yes, they can read your
speed. I ask him what people are like
when he pulls them over for speeding.
“They’re usually honest about it,”
said Ring. “They know what they did.
You get some you pull over who will
argue with you all day long. I’m like,
look, this is what court is for, just show
* tBIHT
□ □ ■
The test kit is positive for metham-
phetamine.
up.”
I’m thinking about what he’s saying
but also remembering what’s in his pa
trol-car trunk — a bullet-proof vest for
me if I need it. He showed it to me be
fore we got in the car. I think about that.
What could happen? What will I see?
Will I actually need that vest? Unlikely,
sure. But not out of the question, right?
That’s a daily risk assessment for any
one getting in a patrol car — probably
not today, but maybe. I realize as we
ride that this fact is abstract until you’re
in the car. Then, it becomes objectively
real.
Ring has never been shot, but a few
years ago in a call in the northern part
of the county, that seemed like a real
possibility. In retrospect, Ring said the
man was attempting suicide by cop.
But no shots were fired. Ring ended up
Tasing the man and cuffing him.
“You see a guy walking out carrying
three firearms walking down the road at
you, not listening,” he said. “It puts you
on edge. You got to take care of you.
number one. You get behind cover and
all that stuff, but you also got to get out
there, too. You can’t go hide behind a
big tree and not be seen. You got to get
out there and deal with him. But you
got to be smart about it. You can’t let
him get away and hurt somebody else.”
See Day, page 2A
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Lt. Jason Ring and Cpl. Josh Smith type in their reports at the Madison Coun
ty Sheriff’s Office.
Historic win!
Madison Co. trounces Mary Persons
to advance to state quarterfinals
— See Page 8A
BOC
Singleton named
to assessor board
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetne ws. com
Madison County commissioners named Steven
Singleton to the board of assessors Monday evening.
He will replace Lynn Hix. who is stepping down from
the board at the end of the year.
Commissioner Lee Allen thanked Singleton for his
willingness to serve on the assessor board. He said he
spoke with three people who said they weren’t inter
ested in the position. Commissioner Brian Kirk said
he spoke with two people who were recommended to
him. but who also weren’t interested.
“Somebody who wants to be there is a good sign,”
said Kirk.
Singleton runs the Madison County meat process
ing plant started by his late father. Greg.
QUALIFYING FEES
County commissioners approved qualifying fees
See BOC, page 2A
ENVIRONMENT
Clean Power Coalition
to meet December 5
The Madison County Clean Power Coalition has
announced plans for a public informational meeting
on the possible risks of burning used railroad ties by
Georgia Renewable Power’s biomass power plant in
Colbert.
The meeting will be held Dec. 5 at the Madison
County High School from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
The Clean Power Coalition was recently formed
by local residents who are upset by the change in
fuel being burned at the power plant to include used
railroad ties. According to Colbert resident Cheryl
Adams, “The smell and smoke seeps into my house,
See Power, page 2A
FESTIVITIES
Strickland named grand marshal
of Comer Christmas Parade
The 2019 Comer Christ
mas Parade Grand Marshal is
Michelle Strickland.
Strickland recently retired
after serving the citizens of
Madison County for over 34
years as the Clerk of Superior
Court. She was hired inl979
by the former Clerk of Supe
rior Court, Syble E. Sheets,
and when Sheets retired in
1984, Michelle ran for the of
fice and was elected.
The responsibilities of the
Clerk of Superior Court are
varied and wide ranging.
While most citizens associate
the office with maintaining
court records for criminal and
civil court cases, few realize
that the office also maintains
records for juvenile court. In
addition the responsibility of
the office to properly admin
ister a jury pool is critical to
the system of jurisprudence.
Other responsibilities of
the office include citizen
applications for passports
as well as maintaining and
indexing records of deeds,
property plats, trade names,
divorces and military dis
charge documents.
‘Through her leadership
and the leadership of those
who have served in this ca
pacity over the years, attor
neys, businesses, and citi
zens can easily access these
records that date back to the
very beginning of Madison
County,” Comer officials
said.
Strickland stated that
Sheets “instilled in me the
importance of the records in
the office and the need for
See Strickland,
page 2A
14 14 4