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NOVEMBER 24, 2022
Madison County Journal
Merged with The Comer News and The Danielsville Monitor, 2006
MadisonJoumaITODAY.com
Vol. 39 No. 42 • Publication No. 1074-987 • Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. • 16 Pages, 2 Sections Plus Supplements
$1.00
CRIME
Man on work
crew shot at
Hull home
A 37-year-old man is
being treated for a gunshot
wound, and a 29-year-old
man is in custody on an
aggravated assault charge
after a shooting in Hull
Monday afternoon.
According to Madison
County Sheriff's Office
Captain Jimmy Patton, 911
received a call from a man
who had been on a work
crew at a home on Woodale
Street in Hull.
“Evidently there had been
some kind of confrontation
with a homeowner there,”
said Patton. "He stated he
had been shot.”
Patton didn't have the
names for release as of press
time Monday (The Journal
was completed early this
week due to Thanksgiving),
but the names will be updat
ed online when available.
The offender has been
charged with aggravated
assault and more charges
may be added, Patton said.
The victim was shot by a
handgun in the upper back
area, with an exit wound
in the front. Patton said the
victim was seriously injured
but alert and talking.
“We went to the house
and made contact with the
reported offender and took
him into custody,” said Pat
ton.
FESTIVITIES
City of Ila
Christmas
festival set
for Sunday
The City of Ila will hold
its fourth-annual “Home
town Christmas” from 3
to 7 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 27
in downtown Ila. The tree
lighting will be at 6 p.m.
Index:
News — 1-3A
Opinions — 4-5A
Social — 5A
Crime — 6A
School — 7A
Church — 8A
Sports — 1-2B
Classifieds — 3B
Obituaries — 4-5B
Legals — 6-7B
Contact:
Phone: 706-367-5233
Web: MadisonJournal
TODAY.com
News submissions:
zach@
mainstreetnews.com
Giving thanks
Anderson Beri and Victoria Smith, third graders at Colbert Elementary
School, show off their “thankful” lists at school Nov. 18. See more photos on
8B. Photo courtesy of Sara Bird
INSIDE
Red
Raiders
off to
hot start
— Page IB
CITY NEWS
‘Mayor
no more
Hull council members file
suit against Walton, say he’s
no longer legally mayor
IN REMEMBRANCE
By Zach Mitcham
In loving memory
Buddy Christian’s family seeks to help
families of other fallen officers
By Zach Mitcham
zach @ mainstreetnews. com
The turkey and dressing
fills stomachs on Thanks
giving, but the holiday cal
endar is a hole in the heart
for so many who have
suffered a profound loss.
Madison County’s Melis
sa Christian-Griffeth feels
that pain.
Her late husband,
Buddy Christian, an Ath-
ens-Clarke County Police
Officer, was killed in the
line of duty March 22,
2011. The calendar has its
hard days, including the
holidays, birthdays for their
kids, Callie and Wyatt, the
wedding anniversary and
the date of his passing.
“Pretty much every
month from the end of
October to March has
got something in it,” said
Melissa.
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Melissa Christian-Griffeth is pictured with her
children, Callie and Wyatt, in Washington D.C.
this year at the National Police Memorial Wall in
front of Buddy Christian’s name.
Her children were very
young when their dad was
taken from them.
“Wyatt just turned 14,”
she said. “He’s now had 12
birthdays without his dad.
He doesn't have a whole
lot of memories, just few
things here and there. He
knows what people have
See ‘Buddy’ on 5A
zach @ mainstreetnews.com
Attorney Dale Perry says it's quite simple: Paul Walton
hasn't been mayor of Hull since he qualified to run for
U.S. Congress earlier this year.
Perry has been hired to represent the City of Hull’s two
remaining council members, John Barber and Mike McEl-
roy, in a lawsuit filed Nov. 18 against Walton, which seeks
a declaratory judgment from a judge to clarify that Walton
is no longer legally the mayor of Madison County’s small
est town and hasn't been mayor since he qualified to run
for U.S. Congress in May of this year.
According to the Georgia Constitution, any elected
official who runs for another office no longer holds their
current seat if the term of office sought “begins more than
30 days prior to the expiration of such official’s present
term of office.” The suit says Walton's term as mayor was
scheduled to end on Dec. 31,2023. Had he been elected to
Congress, his term would have started Jan. 1, 2023.
“I feel the law on this matter is overwhelmingly clear
and I hope the court moves quickly on the case,” said
Perry. “Council members Barber and McElroy want to
get this over with so they can begin to undue the damage
former Mayor Walton has done to the city.”
Walton, who has still been conducting city business, was
asked to comment on the suit but declined Monday on the
advice of his attorney.
No date for a hearing has been set. A hearing can't be
held until at least 20 days after the defendant is served,
Perry said.
The City of Hull currently lacks a quorum and can take
no actions, including setting a budget for next year. Two
council members have resigned this year, including Brian
Koepnick who left office after Walton fired long-time city
clerk Sandra Pou. Walton said he fired Pou because she
refused to get training he said was necessary. Pou ada-
See ‘Hull’ on 6A
HELPING HANDS
Booth, Carithers honored at TJ 8c Friends car show
By Zach Mitcham
zach @ mainstreetnews.com
Sue Carithers sat at the TJ & Friends
Foundation fundraiser car show Saturday and
remembered a car ride with her late friend,
Ramona Booth, who passed away in May of
this year.
Booth was driving and the two headed up to
M & J Home Cooking in Toccoa.
“We were just blabbing away and she wasn’t
paying any attention to where she was turning
or anything.” said Carithers. “I looked up and
said, ‘Ramona, where are we?’ And she said,
‘I don't know.’”
Carithers said the two proceeded to drive all
over the place, laughing with each other.
“She (Booth) said she had a full tank of gas,
so let’s ride it out,” said Carithers. “So we did.
It was fun. We had a good time,”
The two eventually found their way.
Booth and Carithers went on another kind
of ride in recent years, working together to
spearhead efforts to get money into the hands
of local cancer victims.
Carithers, who was diagnosed with cancer
in 2012 when she worked for the district attor
ney’s office, was personally helped by the TJ
& Friends, which is a non-profit cancer foun
dation in Northeast Georgia that focuses on
Sue Carithers (seated) gets a hug from
Ramona’s Booth’s son, Jason, as Booth’s
daughter, Melody, stands by.
helping patients and their families to cope with
their financial needs.
“They (TJ & Friends) came to me and asked
me did I want to make an application,” said
Carithers. “And I didn’t know anything about
it. So I made an application. And I gathered up
the papers from the doctor saying I was being
treated. I ended up getting a check, and that
was my first knowledge of TJ & Friends.”
Carithers said she asked Booth, the former
assistant principal of Madison County High
School, if she was aware of TJ & Friends.
“She said she’d heard something about it,”
said Carithers. “Well, the next thing I know,
she had it going full blast. And she and I joined
forces and we got it going here in the county.
And it just grew and grew. And then this group
that’s here now started working with it.”
Saturday's car show at Memorial Park in
Danielsville was one of many fundraisers held
over the years to help local cancer victims.
The organization was founded in 2008 by
Darren Scarborough, Steve Higginbotham, and
Mike Webb, after their longtime friend, TJ
Johnson, was stricken with cancer. The three
raised money for their friend and that effort
grew into a quest to get money into the hands
of cancer patients in seven counties: Elbert.
Hart, Franklin, Madison, Oglethorpe, Lincoln
and Wilkes.
Since the formation of TJ & Friends,
2,292 cancer patients have been assisted
with $1,145,500 in donations. That includes
429 patients in Madison County, receiving
$200,000.
Carithers said she was blessed to receive help
from the organization, but she said the true gift
was being able to deliver the checks to other
recipients.
See ‘TJ & Friends” on 2A
