About The Madison County journal. (Hull, Ga.) 1989-current | View Entire Issue (March 26, 2025)
MARCH 26, 2025 Madison County Journal Merged with The Corner News and The Danielsville Monitor, 2006 • U MadisonJournalTODAY.com Merged with Vol. 42 No. 12’ Publication No. 1074-987* Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. ’12 Pages, 1 Section Plus Supplements $1.00 Comer speaks up: no liquor Da’s Samantha Ray to appear on “American Idol” season 23 Locals voice opposition to liquor sales at Comer City Council meeting; Mayor s quashes rumor of potential liquor store location By Caleb Rollins caleb@mainstreetnews.com Over 10 citizens ex pressed their opposition to the City of Comer amend ing its code of ordinances to allow for liquor sales within the city limits at a crowded March 24 city council meeting. BACKGROUND At its Feb. 24 meeting, the council received a re quest from the owner of the Valero Gas Station at 25 GA-72, Comer, to be allowed to sell liquor at his store. The store is already li censed to sell beer and wine; however, Comer’s current city ordinances do not allow for the sale of li quor anywhere within the city limits. Comer has previously made amendments to its code to allow for the sale of beer and wine, as well as the distillation of spir its, within the city limits. At the February meet ing, Mayor Yarbrough asked the council to con sider amending the city code to legalize liquor sales and seek public opinion from constituents. The discussion was tabled until March. In a Facebook post on March 18, the City of Comer announced that they were seeking public opinion on the request at the March 24 meeting. The post also emphasized that, “There is no specific location attached to this request.” PUBLIC COMMENT Several citizens who spoke at the March 24 meeting had heard a ru mor that the city intended to allow a liquor store to be placed on a property at the intersection of GA-72 and Spring Circle. Those who spoke op posed the idea citing con cerns over the property being across the street from Springfield Baptist Church, as well as the Comer Housing Authori ty- Mayor Yarbrough in sisted that the council was not considering that property for a liquor store, and that he and the coun cil agreed that location would not be suitable for a liquor store. He also stated that it would be illegal for a li quor store to go on that property, due to state laws prohibiting the sale of al cohol within 100 yards of churches or housing au thorities. “It definitely does not qualify with the state,” said Yarbrough about sell ing liquor on the property in question. “It’s some thing that the city is not going to pursue or listen to, to possibly accept. That’s not going to hap pen.” The mayor, seeking to clear up the confusion, explained that the request being discussed would permit the sale of liquor within the city limits in general, but still in com pliance with state laws pertaining to distance re strictions. While some, including the pastor of Springfield Baptist Church and a rep resentative of the housing authority, just wished to express their opposition to a liquor store on the ru mored property, others ex pressed they were against permitting liquor sales in the city as a whole. One resident cited con cerns over a “negative im pact on the community” he saw in nearby Elberton after it permitted the sale of liquor. He also alluded to El berton potentially having higher crime rates as a re sult of selling liquor. Another resident spoke on behalf of Comer Karen Christian Family Baptist Church, saying that “the congregation as a whole would prefer not to have any liquor store in the City of Comer.” Someone else stood up to speak out against alco hol use, citing concerns over the effects permit ting liquor sales in the city could have on local chil dren. “One out of ten people See Comer, page 2A Ila singer Samantha Ray is one of two Georgians set to appear on an upcoming episode of “American Idol” season 23. Ray, along with Wood- stock native Ethan Senger, will be featured on the Sun day, March 30, episode of the show, airing on ABC. Ray is a 23-year-old self- taught singer and songwriter. “She loves to sing and taught herself to play gui tar and keyboard, as well as writing her own material,” her uncle said in a recent Facebook post. “American Idol” airs on ABC on Sunday nights, with episodes available to stream on Hulu the next day. Viewers can also watch the show live on the ABC app or website, or on live-streaming sites that allow viewers to watch in real time. sine @. a 3 yerig 4.0.8. + 7.1 2. :1 Samantha Ray. Kites soar over 1 1 um Is home tie >.amf Photos by Michael Lafountain Locals fly kites at the Comer Annual Kite Flying Party on March 22. The event, hosted by Bruce and Betsy Gandy, drew community members to Comer for a chance to fly kites, enjoy desserts and take in the spring atmo sphere. A kite soars. 2. & Index News — 1A-2A, 5A Opinions — 4A Crime — 6A Socials — 3A Schools — 5A, 8A Churches — 7A Obituaries — 9A Sports — 12A Classifieds — 7A Legals — 10A-11A Unemployment up across region, state MAILING LABEL The Georgia De partment of Labor an nounced Thursday that most of Georgia’s Re gional Commissions saw an increase in Jan uary unemployment rates. gia’s workers find and keep meaningful em ployment in every cor ner of our state.” Highlights from the Northeast Georgia Re gional Commission in clude: 4879 14144 “Georgia’s success is driven by its people, and we remain com mitted to supporting them every step of the way,” said GDOL In terim Commissioner Louis DeBroux. While job growth has faced challenges this month, key industries across the state continue to offer opportunities for hardworking Geor gians. Even with the rise in unemployment, our mission remains clear—helping Geor- • The unemployment rate was up two-tenths to 3.3% over-the-month, the rate was 3.3% one year ago. •The labor force was up 705 over-the-month and up 3,050 over-the- year, to 349,785. • The number of em ployed was down 177 over-the-month and up 2,787 over-the-year, to 338,182. •Initial claims were down 215 over-the- month and up 11 over- the-year, to 1,407. Locals fly kites at the Comer Annual Ki Flying Party. #Erh. is. Photos by Caleb Locals fly kites at Comer Kite Party. . 73 Locals (left) fly kites at the Comer Annual Kite Flying Party. A kite (right) flies at Comer Kite Party.
