Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

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 SPORTS FOOTBALL RECOGNIZED Resource 706.3S3.2016 &iwa Pftdz B Noiih Mdnimh $i Bbc-ncw 7W78360® «ERT HOOPER, DP/ID Landscape Materials DANIELSVILLE, GA 706-788-0559 706-795-2145 COLBERT lGREAT WORK! SAFE & SOUND storage, llc 706-7134662 CLEVELAND AUTO PARTS Moon’s Grove B #MC P ™5 h - m - m m :: mum SOPHIA GRIER ® Jayia hail ,1 KERIGAN PITTMAN " FMMAPRAT2 *1 IAIIA STREETMAN 70 CORA BETH STRICKLAND JH VARSITY COACH: ABBYGOMR ™ siubpie , J KRStl GRESHAM * t n ;5 ULY hitman mJ iordyn HAU. KARSYN DANIELS HEAD COACH: Momy McClure ASSISTANT COACHES: JESSICA LONON BRIAN HA WARE 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