Newspaper Page Text
o
O
The
JANUARY 2, 2020
Merged with The Comer News and The Danielsville Monitor, 2006
MadisonJoumaITODAY.com
$1.00
Vol. 36 No. 46 • Publication No. 1074-987 • Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. # 20 Pages, 2 Section Plus Supplements
PUBLIC SAFETY
Phone
issues
continue
for 911
Madison County 911
Director Brenan Baird has
been working for weeks
with phone companies to
try and clear up problems
with poor reception on
landline calls to the county
911 center.
The problems remain,
but Baird said there is a
temporary fix with cellular
routers.
“In summation here’s
where we are: Our 911
lines are routed through
our backup cellular router
numbers.” wrote Baird in
an email explaining the sit
uation. “The 911 calls are
See 911, page 3A
TAXES
County
receives GRP
tax check
Madison County has
received its 2019 property
tax payment from Georgia
Renewable Power (GRP),
which opened a plant in
Colbert in 2019.
“They paid in full,” said
tax commissioner Lamar
Dalton. “We were closed
Tuesday, so it didn't get
processed until Thurs
day.”
The tax bill was for
$1,658,709. That money
will be divided between
the county government,
school system and indus
trial authority for use in
their 2020 budgets.
INSIDE:
Index:
News: 1-3A
Opinions: 4-5A
Crime: 6A
Socials: 7A
Schools: 8A
Sports: 9A
Churches: 10A
Obituaries: 12-13A
Classifieds: 11A
Legals: 14-15A
Contact:
Phone: 800-795-2581
Mail: P.O. Box 658,
Danielsville, Ga. 30633
Web: MadisonJoumalTODAY.com
MAILING LABEL
Red Raiders, coach
receive MainStreet
All-Area honors
— Page 8A
Two arrested
on drug charges
on Clements Rd.
— Page 6A
REVIEW
in the rearview
MADISON BIOMASS
POWER PLANT
MAIN ENTRANCE
A large supply of railroad ties at the Georgia Renewable Power
plant is visible from HV Chandler Road in Colbert. The burning
of those crossties as a fuel source is a major cause for concern of
many neighbors of the plant.
A look back at the year in Madison County news
The first day of school in 2019 was also the opening of Madison County’s new Early Learning Center for
pre-schoolers. Pictured (L-R) are Cora Rhinehart, Mari Lynn Appling, ELC director Michele Barrett, Khloe
Conley and Sarah Speir.
Jubilee Partners co-founder Don Mosley stands next
to a sign showing where the nearly 4,000 refugees
taken in by Jubilee, including those from Cuba, Asia,
Central America and Burma. Jubilee Partners cele
brated its 40th anniversary in 2019.
There was no shortage of
news in Madison County
over the final 12 months of
the decade.
Here’s a look back at some
of the local stories in 2019:
JANUARY
•The Journal featured Toni
Goodson, Comer, whose
personal mission is to send a
stuffed animal to every child
in the foster care system
from Madison, Elbert and
Oglethorpe counties.
•The Journal featured
Jennifer “Jenni” Barwell, a
Madison County mom, who
has experienced many days
in the Neonatal Intensive
Care Unit with her children
and now offers support to
NICU moms.
•A body was discovered
Jan. 8 in a wooded area near
Jot Em Down Road and
Bishop Carey Road, not far
from the house of William
“Kris” Avera, 39, who had
been missing since Dec. 11.
•Patricia Mahoney was
picked to replace Derek
Doster on the Madison
County Industrial Develop
ment and Building Author
ity.
•County commissioners
approved pay increases for
28 employees. This action
was included in the 2019
budget — with $120,000
set aside to address salary
improvements. The group
heard later from other em
ployees who wondered why
more workers weren’t af
forded a bump in pay.
•A 20-year old Logan-
ville man was transported to
Piedmont Athens Regional
after his 2005 green Ford
Mustang failed to negotiate
the roundabout at Madison
County’s historic court
house in Danielsville and
jumped the curbing striking
a tree and barely missing
the Crawford W. Long stat
ue, while destroying a stone
bench and damaging the
grass and roadway.
•State Representative Tom
McCall was sworn into of
fice from a hospital room
following open heart sur
gery.
•The Madison County
Library hosted a “Georgia
Artists With DisAbilities”
exhibit.
•Danielsivlle Mayor Todd
Higdon announced that
the Georgia Department of
Transportation (GDOT) has
agreed to revise its proposed
bridge replacement on Hwy.
29 South at the South Fork
of the Broad River to in
clude a temporary bridge/
onsite detour that will allow
traffic to continue to flow
through Danielsville during
construction.
•Amy Duncan, who has
served as a Madison Coun
ty 9-1-1 dispatcher for 15
years, took a wrong number
at her house, but she recog
nized the woman was in dis
tress and got her the help she
needed.
•Pastor Terry Willoughby
talked to a crowded Tabors
Chapel sanctuary during
the annual Madison County
Pastors and Layman’s Fel
lowship celebration of the
life of Martin Luther King
Jr.
•Harlan Page Brown was
sentenced by Judge Chris
Phelps in Madison County
Superior Court to serve 30
years, with the first 15 years
to be served in confine
ment, for trafficking meth-
amphetamine.
•Madison County Assis
tant Superintendent Bonnie
Knight announced that she
would leave her position
June 30 to work with Foot
hills Education Charter High
School
•The school board agreed
to house all Pre-K classes to
gether in a new Early Learn
ing Center in 2019-2020 in
Danielsville.
•Michael Baker was unan
imously approved by coun
ty commissioners as a new
member of the county board
of assessors.
FEBRUARY
Neese-Sanford Volunteer
Fire Department told the
BOC about plans for a new
fire station that they would
pay for themselves, but they
asked the county govern
ment to guarantee the loan
for the facility so that banks
would be on board with the
project.
•Journal founder Frank
Gillispie passed away at
78. In 1986, he pushed for
a traffic light at the precar
ious spot in southern Mad
ison County, embarking on
a journalistic trek that would
affect many lives.
•County commissioner
Lee Allen again proposed
that county voters get an
opportunity to decide if they
want Sunday alcohol sales in
Madison County.
•The Madison County
Board of Education held a
day-long planning session
with other local leaders.
•Ila Elementary School
held a night “Under the
Stars” pageant Feb. 12 for its
special education students to
show off their skills.
•It was standing room
only at the board of educa
tion meeting as parents gath
ered for an informational
meeting on the school sys
tem’s new Early Learning
Center (ELC) for preschool
students slated to open with
the new school term in Au
gust.
•Joseph Christopher
Cofer, 28, Hoschton, died
in a single-vehicle accident
in Madison County south of
Danielsville.
•County commissioners
voted 3-2 to put a Sunday
sales referendum on a No
vember ballot.
•Michael Paul Estes, 42,
Hull, was charged with five
counts of aggravated child
molestation, four counts of
aggravated sodomy, three
counts of incest, one count
of rape and one count of ag
gravated sexual battery.
MARCH
•Retiring Madison County
9-1-1 center pioneers Da
vid Camp and Ricky Hix
were honored with plaques
at a county commission
ers’ meeting for leading the
county’s emergency com
munications for over two
decades.
•Renee Bonner tried to kill
her elderly mother by pump
ing her full of morphine and
other painkillers in June
2017. That’s what Judge Jeff
Malcom ruled, finding the
65-year-old Madison Coun
ty resident Bonner guilty
of attempted murder and
neglect to a disabled person.
•Madison County High
School senior Madison Car
ey Lovelace and her English
teacher, Dallas Cowne, were
recognized as the school’s
“Star Student” and “Star
Teacher.”
•Danielsville officials
dealt with multiple com
plaints from Sherwood Sub
division residents about road
issues within the develop
ment due to heavy rains.
•Madison County sopho
more Kayla McPherson was
named the Gatorade “Geor
gia Basketball Player of the
Year” for 2018-19.
•Madison County govern
ment officials assessed their
own cyber security after the
Jackson County government
See 2019, page 2A
14 14 4
