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OCTOBER 14, 2021
Madison County Journal
Merged with The Comer News and The Danielsville Monitor, 2006
MadisonJoumaITODAY.com
Vol. 38 No. 37 • Publication No. 1074-987 • Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. • 16 Pages, 2 Section Plus Supplements
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October 27
— See form on Page 2A
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30549.
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The offer is good for new
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The Mainstreet office in
Jefferson will be open begin
ning in October on Monday,
Wednesday and Thursday
from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
For more information, call
706-367-5233.
Clarification
A story in last week's
Journal about a proposed
community center said a
landowner has agreed to
donate land for a commu
nity center. That has not
been finalized and is still in
negotiations.
INSIDE
Index:
News — 1-3A
Opinions — 4-5A
Crime — 6A
Church — 7 A
Social — 7-8A, 8B
Sports — 1-2B
Schools — 3B
Classifieds — 4B
Legals — 5B
Obituaries — 6-7B
Contact:
Phone: 706-367-5233
Web: MadisonJournal
TODAY.com
News submissions:
zach@
mainstreetnews.com
Red Raiders easily
advance to second
round of state
Meet the Madison
County BOC
District 3 candidates
— Page IB
— Page 3A
EDUCATION
Tenth in the state
County school system ranked high by online service
Madison County Schools are ranked
tenth in Georgia, according to an online
ranking system.
Niche.com uses a variety of factors
to rank schools, including academics,
teachers, clubs and activities, diversity,
college prep opportunities, administra
tion, food, sports, facilities and health
and safety.
The county school system received
an overall A rating and was ranked
tenth out of 179 systems in the state.
“Were very proud of that recog
nition,” said Superintendent Michael
Williams. ‘Tenth in the state is pretty
impressive.”
To find out more about the rank
ing, visit https://www.niche.eom/kl2/d/
madison-county-schools-ga/
MOMENT OF SILENCE
The county school board held a
moment of silence to open its meet
ing Tuesday in remembrance of high
school teacher Susanna Arnold, who
passed away after an extended illness.
School board chairman Robert Hooper
said Arnold was a tremendous person.
RADIOS FOR EMERGENCY
COMMUNICATION
Madison County schools now have
radios to improve communications
with emergency personnel and between
administrators during tornadoes, lock-
downs and other emergencies. Wil
liams noted that cell reception with
school buildings can be bad and that
when something is happening, and the
radios provide more reliable communi
cation. He thanked the sheriff’s office
for helping with the radios.
WATCH OUT FOR PHISHING
If it’s fishy, don’t open it. That’s the
word from Williams on spam emails
to school employees. He reported that
the school system will soon hold train-
See “BOE’ on 2A
ELECTION
Early voting for Nov. 2 election under way
By Zach Mitcham
zach @ mainstreetnews. com
Early voting for the Nov.
2 elections in Madison
County began Tuesday.
All early voting will take
place at the county board of
elections office at 20 Albany
Avenue in Danielsville. For
more information, call 706-
795-6335.
The November ballot
includes several contested
local elections.
Melanie Dove, Frank
May and Marilyn Walton
are running to fill the
unexpired term of Theresa
Bettis, who resigned from
the position earlier this year.
In Carlton, Roy Fomash
Madison County covid
cases continue to decline,
but the Georgia Department
of Public Health reported
four more covid deaths in
the county over the past
week.
The number of confirmed
county covid deaths report
ed in Madison County rose
will face June Hawkins for
the post three seat, while
incumbents Ken Parthun
and Pete Wagenaar will run
unopposed.
In Colbert, Cynthia
Fortson is slated to face
incumbent Ray H. Thomas
for one council seat, and
Gregory S. Magrum, Josh
Tiller and Ellyn Trinmd
will run to fill the seat held
by Evelyn Power.
In Comer, Joey Wilbon
and Jimmy Yarbrough will
seek the mayor’s post.
Michael Bradley Free and
Sherman George Mattox
will run for the District 1
council seat, while Michael
Braxton Wilder will chal
lenge District 4 incumbent
Eddie West.
In Danielsville, Steve
Russum and Dona Miller
qualified unopposed for
seats three and four. In Ha,
Wanda F. Lanphear quali-
from 56 to 60 this past week.
But the overall covid test
positivity rate has declined
over the past month from
28.8 percent in early Sep
tember to 11.6 percent on
Tuesday of this week. The
county positive case rate per
100,000 people was 1,422
on Sept. 8. That had dropped
fled unopposed for a coun
cil seat. And in Hull, three
candidates were unopposed
in posts 1-3: Rufus Michael
McElroy. Brian Douglas
Koepnick and John L.
Barber.
The Nov. 2 ballot will
also include a county
wide referendum for a
Transportation Special
Purpose Local Option Sales
Tax (T-SPLOST) for a one-
cent tax on every dollar
spent in Madison County
that will fund transportation
improvements, such as road
paving, in Madison County
and its municipalities.
to 371 as of Oct. 12.
Meanwhile, Madison
County School System num
bers continue to improve,
with nine overall cases in the
system as of Tuesday, one at
the middle school and eight
at the high school, according
to Superintendent Michael
Williams.
FATALITY
Hull man
killed in Hwy.
72 accident
A Hull man was killed
in a single-vehicle accident
Thursday, Oct. 7 on Hwy.
72.
Christopher Lee Stewart,
40, died in a wreck on Hwy.
72 near Brickyard Road at
7:50 p.m.
According to a report from
the Georgia State Patrol,
Stewart was traveling west
in a 2006 Ford Focus in
the outside lane. The vehi
cle traveled off the north
shoulder of the roadway and
struck two mailboxes, then
rotated and traveled up an
embankment off the north
shoulder of Hwy. 72. The
vehicle overturned and came
to rest on its top, facing
north, off the north shoulder
of Hwy. 72. Stewart was
ejected and pronounced
dead at the scene.
CRIME
Man arrested
after pipe
bomb incident
A Carlton man was
arrested last week after
someone on Dogwood
Hills Drive in Carlton
reported that he had placed
a pipe bomb inside a
neighboring mailbox.
Edward Herschel Nunn,
Jr., 46, was charged with
battery family violence,
first degree criminal dam
age to property, criminal
trespass family violence,
manufacture, distribute,
possess with intent to dis
tribute, offer to distribute,
possess/transport/receive/
explosives/destructive
devices with intent to kill,
possession and use of
drug-related objects, pos-
See ‘Bomb’ on 2A
HEALTH
Covid cases decline; four deaths reported
STATE
Lawmakers set to renew debate over legalized gambling
By Dave Williams
Capitol Beat News Service
While the General Assembly
gears up for next month’s once-
a-decade redrawing of Georgia’s
legislative and congressional dis
trict maps, lawmakers also will
soon renew a much more frequent
debate over legalized gambling.
Bills that could lead to casinos,
pari-mutuel betting on horse racing
and/or sports betting in the Peach
State will be on the table when the
2022 legislative session convenes
in January for the second year of a
two-year term.
Proposals to legalize gambling
in Georgia in some form have
come up virtually every year for
the last decade, with most of the
bills dedicating part of the pro
ceeds to the hugely popular HOPE
Scholarships and pre-kindergarten
programs. But after years of failing
to gain traction, the effort gained
momentum during the 2021 ses
sion.
The state Senate passed a con
stitutional amendment last March
calling for a statewide referendum
to legalize sports betting. While
Senate Resolution 135 failed to
reach the floor of the Georgia
House of Representatives, it
marked the first time a gambling
bill had made it through either leg
islative chamber.
“It looks more encouraging
than ever,” said state Rep. Ron
Stephens, R-Savannah. a longtime
supporter of legalizing gambling
in Georgia.
Sports betting is a relatively
recent player in the debate over
legalizing gambling. States other
than Nevada weren’t allowed to
legalize sports betting until a 2018
U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a
New Jersey case.
Since that decision opened up the
country, 26 states have launched
sports betting, according to the
American Gaming Association.
Another five states have passed
sports betting legislation that has
yet to take effect.
Georgia’s sports betting legis
lation is modeled after a law in
Tennessee, which permits online
betting only.
A coalition of Atlanta’s pro sports
teams - including the Braves,
Falcons, Hawks and Atlanta United
- is backing the idea. They want
to use sports betting to gin up
fan engagement, said Rep. Alan
Powell, R-Hartwell, another sup
porter of legalized gambling.
“They want folks sitting in sta
diums betting on their phones,”
he said.
But Powell is not a fan of legaliz
ing sports betting in isolation. App-
based betting on sports wouldn’t
raise nearly the revenue the state
could bring in from bricks-and-
mortar casinos, he said.
“There are no jobs created,”
Powell said. “There’s a right way
and a wrong way to do this.”
Stephens agrees. While he intro
duced a standalone sports betting
bill during this year’s legislative
session, he now favors combining
sports betting, casinos and horse
racing into a single constitutional
amendment to put before Georgia
voters.
“Let the people decide: Do we
See ‘Gambling’ on 2A
