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The
JANUARY 23, 2020
Merged with The Comer News and The Danielsville Monitor, 2006
MadisonJoumaITODAY.com
$1.00
Vol. 36 No. 49* Publication No. 1074-987 • Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. • 16 Pages, 2 Section Plus Supplements
ELECTIONS
Elections official Tracy Dean shows the exhibit
models of the new voting equipment that will be de
livered to Madison County Feb. 3.
New election equipment
set to arrive Feb. 3
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews. com
The rush is on to implement a new voting system be
fore the 2020 elections.
The old county election equipment was picked up Jan.
21. The new equipment will be delivered Feb. 3.
Georgia is replacing a paperless voting system with a
new set of machines that will provide a paper trail. That
system includes large bins for holding paper ballots that
take up considerable space — too much to house at the
county elections office.
Madison County commission chairman John Scarbor
ough said the election equipment can be secure at the old
Fine Finish building off Hwy. 98 where the sheriff’s of
fice already has investigative offices. He said he spoke
directly with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger when
he visited the county on his 159-county tour of the state.
He said he asked if the equipment must be stored at the
elections office and was told that this was not a require
ment. He said the roof leaks in places but added that he is
seeking prices on replacing that roof, which must be done
whether or not the equipment is stored there.
“It’s kind of killing two birds with one stone,” he said,
adding that it's much more economical to house the
equipment in the old Fine Finish building than to add on
to the elections office. He said a security camera will be
installed in the storage room to make sure there's no tam
pering.
Madison County Board of Elections and Registration
chairperson Tracy Dean approached county commission
ers in the fall to request the construction of additional
storage space at the county elections office. The board
declined to take action.
Dean said the state only allows non-electronic elec-
See Elections, page 2A
CRIME
Man arrested after firing on trooper
By Margie Richards
margie@mainstreetne ws .com
A Georgia State Patrol trooper
was fired upon after he used a P.I.T.
(pursuit intervention technique) to
stop a vehicle he was pursing on
Hwy. 72 between Hull and Colbert
Tuesday night around 10 p.m.
According to Madison County
Sheriff’s Captain Jimmy Patton, the
trooper used the maneuver to force
the vehicle into a ditch on Hwy. 72
near Meadow Lane. As the trooper
TIMOTHY CARRUTH
exited his patrol car, the suspect got
out with an assault-style long gun
and fired on the officer, then fled
into the woods.
The officer returned fire, Patton
said, but neither he nor the suspect
were injured.
Timothy Demone Carruth, Jr.,
24, of Colbert, was arrested about
1 a.m. Wednesday morning when
K-9 officers from the Department
See Arrest, page 2A
MLK
‘A call for unity 9
Former judge speaks at MLK celebration
Former Madison County Magistrate Court Judge Harry Rice was the
featured speaker at the 2020 Madison County Martin Luther King Jr.
Celebration at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Hull.
— See more photos on
MadisonJournalTODAY.com
By Zach Mitcham
zach@mainstreetnews.com
Retired Madison County Mag
istrate Judge Harry Rice spoke of
the need for unity as a polarized
society remains soaked in partisan
hostilities.
Rice was the featured speaker at
the Madison County Pastors and
Laymen’s Lellowship hosted its
16th-annual Martin Luther King
Jr. celebration Jan. 20 at Mt. Zion
Baptist Church in Hull.
“Today, the division gap between
the political parties grows further
and further apart, like two magnets
pushing against each other, polar
opposites, not just in our country
but across the globe,” he said. “Al
though it may see that it’s the most
divided in our nation’s history,
there are those of you sitting here
See MLK, page 2A
Shelia Collins receives the “Com
munity Service Award” at the MLK
service Jan. 20.
John Hart Reed received the
“Lifetime Achievement Award”
at the MLK service Jan. 20.
INSIDE:
Index:
News: 1-3A
Opinions: 4-5A
Crime: 6A
Socials: 7-8A
Schools: 8A
Churches: 3B
Sports: 1-2B
Obituaries: 4-5B
Classifieds: 6B
Legals: 7B
Contact:
Phone: 800-795-2581
Mail: P.O. Box 658,
Danielsville, Ga. 30633
Web: MadisonJoumalTODAY.com
MAILING LABEL
EDUCATION
BOE hears presentation on the 2020 Census
By Margie Richards
margie@mainstreetnews.com
It’s 2020, so it’s time for the
U.S. Census.
County board of education
members heard a presentation
from Census representative Jes
sie Clayton at the group’s Janu
ary business meeting about the
importance of making sure that
every person is counted.
Clayton said Census taking
will officially begin April 1, but
workers are already getting the
word out to local governments,
school systems and other loca
tions about the upcoming pro
cess.
“It’s very important to get our
schools involved since children
are one of the hardest groups
to count because many parents
won’t fill out the forms to make
sure they are counted,” Clayton
said. “And schools need the in
formation in order to be eligible
to receive federal grant funding.”
Clayton said the 10-question
Census forms will be mailed to
all addresses on March 12. Clay
ton said school officials play an
important part in getting parents
and community members to par
ticipate in the Census because
they are familiar, trusted mem
bers of the community.
She said governments lose
about $2,500 per year, per person
for those not counted.
“It is so important that every
person is counted once and only
once and in the right place,”
"It is so important that
every person is counted
once and only once and in
the right place."
— Jessie Clayton,
Census representative
Clayton said.
Clayton said the greatest deter
rent to Census participation are
confidentiality concerns and dis
trust of the government.
In other business, the board
was presented with the proposed
2020-2021 school calendar. The
calendar, which lists the first
day of school as Lriday, Aug.
7. received the most votes from
parents, students and school ad
ministrators, who were presented
with three choices from a calen
dar committee.
Assistant principal Jody Go-
odroe said the least popular cal
endar was one that had school
beginning at the end of July.
The BOE is expected to vote
on the proposed calendar at its
Lebruary business meeting.
Goodroe told the board that
Georgia Power presented the
Broad River College and Career
Academy (CCA) with a $10,000
donation for new equipment.
He added that eighth graders
would be touring the CCA the
last week of January.
Goodroe also told the board
that 200 staff members at the
middle and high school partic
ipated in “Ending the Silence”
training on Jan. 6. The training
was focused on recognizing men
tal health issues in students and
suicide prevention.
He also said 25 elementary
school staff members participat
ed in a Trauma 101 course on
Jan. 9 to learn more about the ef
fects of trauma on children.
Superintendent Michael Wil
liams told the board that an “el
derly exemption” on property
taxes coming up for a vote in
May, if approved, will cause a
reduction of about $220,000 in
yearly tax revenue for the school
system, if passed.
Williams said school represen
tatives will visit the state capitol
next month during the legislative
session and added that Governor
Brian Kemp has called for four
percent cuts in the state budget,
but has not mentioned education
in those cuts.
Assistant Superintendent
Amanda Wommack said Special
Purpose Local Option Sales Tax
(SPLOST) funds were up for
December after being down over
previous months. She said the
total for December was the third
highest the system has received.
Wommack said work on staff
ing for next year has begun and
letters of intent for teachers were
going out Jan. 13 and are due
back by Jan. 24.
She said Charles Black
See BOE, page 2A
AREA NEWS
Franklin County
hires company,
buys equipment
to keep eye on
emissions, noise
By Shane Scoggins
Publisher
CARNESVILLE - Franklin
County Commissioners will pay
more than $16,000 - and possi
bly near $30,000 - to monitor
noise and air quality around a
power plant near Carnesville.
Commissioners announced re
cently that Franklin County has
contracted with environmental
testing company GeoHydra to
study noise levels and air quality
around the Georgia Renewable
Power (GRP) plant on Hwy. 198
near Carnesville.
The GRP plant burns chipped-
up waste wood, “clean” con
struction waste and railroad ties
to generate electricity.
Neighbors of the GRP plant
have complained for months
about noise, smoke and soot and
other environmental concerns
caused by the plant.
The county will pay $16,625
for a noise study and air quality
monitoring.
The noise study will set up
equipment in five locations on
one day for 10 hours, county
manager Elizabeth Thomas said.
If the county wants to do a
See Franklin, page 2A
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