Newspaper Page Text
SEPTEMBER 7, 2023
Merged with The Corner News and The Daniclsvillc Monitor, 2006 4 MadisonJoumalTODAY.com
Vol. 40 No. 31* Publication No. 1074-987* Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. *16 Pages, 2 Sections Plus Supplements $1.00
EMC
CRIME
Local
EMC
GBI: Danielsville man among 26 arrested
statewide for sexual exploitation of children
assists
with
Idalia
cleanup
Jackson EMC recently
assisted with power resto
ration efforts at Colquitt
EMC in Moultrie where
heavy rain and strong
winds from Hurricane Ida-
lia resulted in widespread
power outages.
As of Thursday (Aug.
31), more than 45,000
members were without
power in that area.
Forty Jackson EMC
crew members left in the
early morning hours Thurs
day, taking several tracks
and equipment to join line
workers from across the
state working alongside
Colquitt EMC line crews
to safely restore power to
service areas.
Jackson EMC also re
leased construction and
right-of-way contract
crews to assist with res
toration efforts resulting
from Hurricane Idalia.
Jackson EMC linemen and
other support personnel
stood ready to respond to
EMC members if needed.
Cooperation among co
operatives is one of the
principles all co-ops share.
Jackson EMC provides fel
low co-ops assistance with
See Idalia, page 2A
Index
News — 1-3A, 5A
Opinions — 4A
Crime — 6A
Socials — 5A, 3B
Schools — 7-8A
Churches — 3B
Obituaries — 4-5B
Sports — 1-2B
Classifieds — 8B
Legals — 6-7B
Contact
Phone: 706-367-5233
Email: hannah@mainstreet
news.com
Web: MadisonJoumalTODAYcom
MAILING LABEL
Twenty-six individuals were ar
rested over an eleven-day period in
a statewide child exploitation op
eration named “Operation Sneaky
Peach.”
One person arrested was Paul
Angel, age 70, of Danielsville,
who was charged with five counts
of sexual exploitation of children.
The Georgia Bureau of Inves
tigation Child Exploitation and
Computer Crimes Unit along with
24 participating agencies that are
all part of the Georgia Internet
Crimes Against Children (ICAC)
Task Force participated in the op
eration.
The statewide, multi-jurisdic
tional coordinated effort identified
and arrested individuals involved
in technology facilitated crimes
against children. Operation Sneaky
Peach involved three months of
planning and included both proac
tive and reactive cases investigated
by the GBI and affiliate agencies
with the Georgia ICAC Task Force.
Proactive investigations consisted
of targeting peer-to-peer network
users sharing Child Sexual Abuse
Material (CSAM), commonly
known as child pornography, and
undercover chat investigations
targeting those that communicate
with and arrange to meet what is
believed to be a child for the pur
pose of engaging in sexual acts.
Reactive investigations consisted of
working CyberTips received from
the National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children that involved
the possession, distribution, and/or
manufacturing of CSAM.
During Operation Sneaky Peach,
law enforcement agencies with the
Georgia ICAC Task Force executed
34 residential search warrants and
three additional enforcement ac
tions in 28 counties across the state
of Georgia. These search warrants
and other enforcement actions re
sulted in the arrest of 26 individu
als. One offender was a minor and
was served with a juvenile com
plaint. Four of those arrested during
Operation Sneaky Peach admitted
to current or prior hands-on sexu
al offenses against a child. Digital
forensic investigators previewed
296 electronic devices on scene
and seized 281 electronic devices
to include cellular phones, tablets,
computers, hard drives and various
electronic data storage devices. Op
eration Sneaky Peach also identi
fied 30 children that were residing
in households where online child
sexual exploitation was occurring.
More arrests may be forthcoming
in this investigation once complete
forensic processing of the seized
electronic devices has occurred.
The following Georgia ICAC
Task Force affiliate agencies partic
ipated in Operation Sneaky Peach:
Athens-Clarke County Police De
partment, Barrow County Sheriff’s
Office, Bartow County Sheriff’s
Office, Bryan County Sheriff’s
Office, Candler County Sheriff’s
Office, Camden County Sheriff’s
Office, Cherokee County Sheriff’s
See GBI, page 2A
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ASSISTANT COACHES:
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Photo submitted
The varsity football team’s offense is pictured after being named the “Offensive Line of the
Week” by the Georgia High School Football Daily for the team’s 55-35 victory over Elbert
County on Aug. 25. The offensive line received the plaque during a pep rally at Madison
County High School last week. Head coach Chris Smith was also named the “Coach of the
Week” across all of Georgia for the same game.
IDEA
Authority approves agreement
for first Waffle House in county
By Hannah Barron
hannah@mainstreetnews. com
Waffle House recently
made headway to opening
its first restaurant in the
county.
The company has been
looking at acquiring the
old Traist Bank property
off Hwy. 29 in Hull for a
new restaurant.
With a move by the In
dustrial Development and
Building Authority last
Wednesday, that restaurant
is closer to becoming a re
ality.
At its meeting, the IDBA
approved the execution of
a sewer availability agree
ment that confirms sewer
service for Waffle House
with a connection to the au
thority’s Hull sewer system.
The agreement includes
an $80,000 commitment
from Waffle House, as well
as the company’s responsi
bilities of constructing im
provements for sewer infra
structure and clearing trees
for easement access. The
agreement indicates that the
authority’s responsibilities
will include the installation
of a municipal capacity lift
station to access Waffle
House via a gravity sewer
manhole; connection of the
lift station to the manhole;
ownership and maintenance
of sewer infrastructure; and
the securing of easements,
permits and approvals.
Ken Williams, representa
tive for Waffle House, said
the company would like to
close on the property no
later than Nov. 15, but pref
erably by Oct. 15. The clos
ing date is contingent upon
receiving easement access
from Ingles. The IDBA
and Waffle House have not
received official documen
tation of easement access
from Ingles, but county at
torney Mike Pruett said he
has not received any objec
tion from the grocery store
so far. Next steps will be to
follow up with Ingles on
the documentation.
Williams said that if all
goes according to plan,
Waffle House expects to
start construction in May
See IDBA, page 2A
COLBERT
TAXES: Colbert
approves mill rate
By Alison Smith
Postponed due to in
clement weather on Aug.
7, the City of Colbert ap
proved its millage rate at
a meeting on Aug. 24. The
millage rate will remain the
same for the next year. It is
set at 2.69 for all property
owners in city limits.
According to a city
spokesperson, the millage
rate will result in an in
crease in revenue for the
city’s budget but the coun
cil and mayor have not had
conversations about how
those additional funds will
be spent.
The city council meetings
required a change of venue
for the canceled Aug. 17
meeting and rescheduled
regular meeting on Aug. 7
due to air conditioning is
sues in the city hall audito
rium. Those meetings took
place in the train depot. That
issue has been repaired and
further meetings will return
to the auditorium.
CARLTON
Carlton revises
fluoride question
By Alison Smith
The City of Carlton
conducted a special called
meeting last Tuesday to
revise a proposed referen
dum to cease the addition
of fluoride into its mu
nicipal water supply. The
council had approved the
submission to the Madison
County Board of Elections
and Registration (BOER),
but the proposed measure
was sent back to the city
for correction.
According to the county
attorney and elections of
fice, the city is required to
supply a petition with at
least 10% of current regis
tered voters who had also
voted in the last General
Election in order to include
the referendum on the bal
lot.
The total number of reg
istered voters meeting that
criteria was 132, so the
measure required at least
14 voter signatures. A city
official obtained 22 voter
signatures and the coun
cil voted at the meeting to
submit that petition with
revised verbiage for the
referendum for the BOER
to approve for the Novem
ber elections.
Mayor Cynthia Hobbs
said Tuesday the referen
dum is a result of informa
tion provided by council-
woman Amanda Willis, who
works for the Georgia Rural
Water Association. Along
with the mayor, Willis ex
plained that the city’s water
system has been adding flu
oride since the 1950s or 60s.
At that time, the federal
government required the
addition of fluoride to mu
nicipal systems. However,
neither the state nor federal
government have that qual
ification and many cities
are leaving the decision to
continue that addition to its
citizens.
Willis added that the City
of Carlton has naturally oc
curring fluoride in its supply
and the addition of more has
been difficult to stabilize.
With approval from the
BOER, the measure will
be placed on the November
ballot.
During the work session
following the special called
meeting, the council made
no approvals but did discuss
the need to pursue a fifth
well within the city during
the next year.
A concerned audience
member had asked the rea
sons behind applying for
emergency funds for the
storm water runoff issues
and the council explained
that water will become an
See Carlton, page 2A
o
