Madison County residents asking for sheriff’s deputies to enforce speed restrictions in the Malvern community have themselves hit a speed bump.
Officials say a public hearing is necessary before a final decision can be made. The Madison County Board of Supervisors scheduled one on the subject for the 7:30 p.m. session of its regular Tuesday, Feb. 9 meeting.

Old Shotwell Hollow Road (the eastern end of Route 611) remains a road and has the support of the majority of the Madison County Board of Supervisors.
Supervisors voted against proceeding with abandoning a portion of the road at their regular joint Jan. 6 meeting with the Madison County Planning Commission. They scheduled the vote for that meeting because if they had further postponed it, there would not have been time to advertise the public hearing, which was the next stage before their regular Tuesday, Feb. 9 meeting.

Eddie Dean has retained his chairmanship of the Madison County Board of Supervisors.

Nov. 24-Dec. 18, 2009

In an effort to partly counteract likely substantial upcoming budget cuts, Madison County Public Schools are seeking grant money to boost funding for literacy, college preparation and career readiness programs. Madison could receive $153,000 from the federal program.

It’s a cliffhanger rivaling an Oscars movie awards ceremony or Miss America beauty pageant: Whom will the Madison County Board of Supervisors – which includes a majority of new members — pick as its chairman? The chairman vote is expected to take center stage right at the start of the supervisors’ next regular meeting, which is set for 3 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 12 in the Madison County Administrative Center’s auditorium.

Madison County Sheriff’s Dep. Drew Eanes, the school resource officer at Madison County High School, received confidential information that two MCHS students were about to participate in an illegal drug transaction on school grounds Dec. 15, according to a Madison County Sheriff’s Office news release.

Richmond-based home décor manufacturer-distributor Evergreen Enterprises Inc. is purchasing Madison County-based home, yard and garden retailer Plow and Hearth for $17 million from P and H parent company 1-800-Flowers.com, it was announced this month. The reported deal concludes several months of deliberations and is scheduled to become final in January 2010.

Writing the new school budget is no longer the only issue occupying the Madison County School Board — it has to find a new superintendent. Current superintendent Brenda Tanner announced last week that she would retire effective June 30, 2010.

Madison County received about a foot and and a half to just over two feet of snow starting Friday evening and ending Saturday afternoon, depending on the exact location. With temperatures staying below freezing overnight and just topping freezing during the day, roads in the county are expected to remain treacherous much of this week.

Rochelle resident Brenda Canosa — the estranged wife of an investigator with the Orange County Sherifff’s Office — was arrested Dec. 11, charged with shooting him multiple times at his home in Unionville.

Madison County Board of Supervisors Vice Chairman James Arrington said he wants to freeze some types of non-essential county spending, but his fellow supervisors seem reluctant to go along with his idea. Citing the slumping economy, Arrington proposed that the board of supervisors should stop spending money on projects like the Hoover Ridge athletic complex, or at least keep a closer watch on the money the county does spend. However, none of the three other supervisors present at the regular Dec. 8 meeting where Arrington made the proposal seconded his idea, so his proposal died.

The Madison County Department of Social Services has stretched its budget to cover the increasing number of Madison County residents requiring financial help. In 2008, the department spent $831,000 helping struggling families through its food stamp program, now called SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), while through the end of October this year, it had already spent just less than $1.3 million.

Nov. 14-27

The Madison Chamber of Commerce-Town of Madison Christmas celebration set for Saturday, Dec. 5 has been canceled, due to wintry conditions.

The Madison County Board of Supervisors has run into some challenges while attempting to redefine Madison’s “kennel” ordinance. The issue of what constitutes a kennel started in the board’s regular October meeting when a letter by Criglersville resident Bonnie Dixon raised the subject, according to County Attorney V.R Shackelford. The board decided at that time that the current definition was not adequate for protecting the rights of neighbors to kennels or potential kennels and the issue was sent to the Madison County Planning Commission in hopes of creating a new, more enforceable definition of kennel, according to Shackelford. People running kennels have to apply for a county special use permit. 

A case involving convicted Madison County sex offender Robert Lightburn, 52, is due to head to court this month after authorities say he failed to re-register. A hearing in the case involving the Shelby resident is set for 1 p.m. Dec. 22 in Madison District Court.

Virginia officials are asking Madison County to pay a larger amount of the Madison County Public Schools budget. The new financial burden has Madison County Superintendent Brenda Tanner looking at next year’s school budget and possible layoffs. The superintendent is concerned about the impact on services and staff with the potential drop in funding from the rise in the “composite index” coupled with the possibility of more budget cuts from the state.

Oct. 13-Nov. 13, 2009

A tipster can now receive a $200 reward for giving information that leads to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for destroying a patriotic display in Uno off South Blue Ridge Turnpike (Route 231) on the night before Halloween, the Madison County Sheriff’s Office announced last week.

“The reward for a job well done is a harder job.” It is a saying Madison County resident Steve Grayson exemplifies. Drawing on his experience with the Madison County Rescue Squad he was elected president of the Virginia Rescue Squad Association at the end of September.

Drivers now have only one direct single-road link between the Madison County communities of Syria and Etlan. But they may get a second one. The Madison County Board of Supervisors is considering whether to resume maintaining the eastern half of Shotwell Hollow Road (Route 611) that connects Syria and Etlan.

The only thing missing for Madison County’s football squad was a black cat running across a soggy Eddie Dean Field on Friday night. What was running up and down the field was the twin combination of Sam and Zach Shiley, as Clarke County captured the Bull Run District championship with a 47-7 win over the Mountaineers in a battle of previously unbeaten teams.

The Madison County E911 Operations Center was awarded a $165,000 grant though the commonwealth to give Madison and its surrounding area better emergency radio coverage. The announcement came at the Oct. 29 board of supervisors’ workshop.

Madison County Public Schools is still working to offer H1N1 vaccinations to all of its students, but is experiencing a hiccup or two along the way.
Although an initial plan called for students to have had at least one dose of the “swine flu” vaccine by Oct. 29, shortages have prevented this. So far, only students at Madison Primary School have received the vaccination.

When the Manassas Park Cougars lined up for Nov. 6 football action vs. Madison County, they stared right into the eyes of a senior running back with something to prove. After sitting out last week against Strasburg, Logan Terrell was both an unstoppable force and an unmovable object as the Mountaineers rolled to a 41-0 win.

Authorities are seeking information on vandals who destroyed a lighted patriotic display on South Blue Ridge Turnpike (Route 231) in Uno Oct. 30 or 31. The display featured an American flag and a military flag.

Sept. 29-Oct. 5

The Madison County Board of Supervisors voted last week to approve a purchase of nine vehicles for the Madison County Sheriff’s Office. The unanimous vote came at the supervisors regular Oct. 29 workshop meeting (supervisors Bob Miller and Clark Powers were absent).