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Houston limy jjonrnal
VOLUME 136 , NUMBER 137
—
FRIDAY
July 14, 2006
The Home Journal’s
FRONT
PORCH
IN BRIEF
Judge David Pierce dies
■ David M. Pierce, well-known
Perryan and Chief Magistrate of the
Magistrate Court of Houston County,
died Wednesday at the Perry
Hospital. The family will receive
visitors at Watson Hunt Funeral
Home from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. tonight.
Funeral services will be held at
11 a.m. Saturday at Perry United
Methodist Church. For a complete
story see Saturday’s Houston Daily
Journal.
Betting it straight
■ln the July 12 edition of the Houston
Daily Journal, the number of homes
being proposed for subdivisions along
Langston Road was given incorrectly.
The correct combined total number of
homes which Jack Smith, developer,
is proposing to build is 460 homes on
two separate sites totaling 203 acres.
This is fewer homes than the pro
posed rezoning would allow.
Operation Back to School
starts Monday
■ Monday through July 29, Robins
Federal Credit Union along with 13
WMAZ-Television, and Wal-Mart are
sponsoring Operation Back to School,
a campaign to collect school sup
plies for underprivileged students in
Central Georgia.
If you would like to help provide
school supplies to those children who
could otherwise not afford them, the
collection sites for school supplies are
at all Central Georgia Robins Federal
Credit Union and Wal-Mart locations.
The donated school supplies
will help hundreds of Central
Georgia students who are in need.
Last year, Robins Federal Credit
Union assisted with the collection of
more than 5,000 pounds of school
supplies to help the campaign.
For more information or to find a
Robins Federal Credit Union donation
location near you, please visit www.
robinsfcu.org.
DEATHS
■ Carl Buckles
■ David Pierce
■ Doris H. Stokes
INDEX
LOCAL 2 A
WEATHER 3 A
OPINION 4 A
RELIGION 6 A
SPORTS 1 B
COMICS 4 B
CLASSIFIEDS .... 5 B
PERIODICAL 500
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GEORGIA NEWSPAPER PROJECT
Main Library
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ATHENS GA 30602-0002
3-DIGIT 306
July 14, 2006
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LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY,
city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville
Collings upholds death sentence
ByRAYUGHTNER
HDJ Staff Writer
Major Gen. Mike Collings
signed off Tuesday on the
death penalty of Senior
Airman Andrew Paul Witt.
Collings, the Warner
Robins Air Logistics Center
commander, signed papers
Tuesday approving a mili
tary panel’s findings of guilty
and sentencing of Witt to
the death penalty. Since the
trial resulted in a convic
tion, Collings as the con
vening authority, carefully
reviewed all trial documents
and request for clemency.
Witt was found guilty of
two specifications of pre
meditated murder and one
specification of attempted
premeditated murder for
the July 5, 2004 murders
of Senior Airman Andy
WRPD
chase
down
man
ByRAYUGHTNER
HDJ Staff Writer
Kelcey Tremaine
Clarington reportedly
took the money and ran,
Wednesday.
Clarington, 28, is charged
with robbery by sudden
snatching, obstruction of an
officer and escape for report
edly taking the deposit bag
from the Murphy Oil station
at the new Wal-Mart on Booth
Road. At 12:49 p.m., offi
cers with the Warner Robins
Police
Department
responded
in reference
to a robbery
by sudden
snatching.
The sus
pect did not
threaten
the clerk
or display a
weapon and
H- .
shBS
Hi
CLARINGTON
no one was injured.
“He came in the store n
the middle of a shift change,”
explained Det. Karen Stokes
the Warner Robins Police
Department Criminal
Investigations Division.
“They were swapping the
drawers out and left the
deposit bag on the counter.
He grabbed the bag and ran
out,” Stokes said. “We had
him on videotape, but didn’t
know who it was.”
Stokes said the canine
unit tracked the suspect to
Smith Court. “The dog went
almost to the dead end,”
Stokes said. “Neighbors
told us where he was hid
ing - 116 Smith Court. The
Claringtons, who own the
home, said we could search
their home and let us in.”
“When we went in he went
out a window and ran,”
Stokes said, “which led to a
short chase.”
He was apprehended
by Warner Robins Police
Officers and Cpl. Angel
Nunez with the Houston
County Sheriff Department.
After being transported to
the police station, he report
edly tried to escape when
they opened to door to take
him out. “,
“He tried to snatch away
and run, while in handcuffs
and leg irons,” Stokes said.
See MAN, page 2B
1 ■ 1 ■" 1 111
www.hhjnews.com
Schliepsiek and his wife
Jamie and the attempted
murder of Senior Airman
Jason King.
He was sentenced to death
following a 19-day court
martial hearing in October
of 2005.
Following the trial, the
record was authenticated
the judge, Col. Thomas
Cumbie, and sent to Collings
the Robins Air Force Base
commander, as the conven
ing authority for the court
martial, for “the final act,”
in the court martial, the
approval of the sentence.
Collings could have
reduced the sentence to life
without parole before sign
ing off on the case, Robins
Judge Advocate Col. Jeff
Robb explained in October.
Collings was also permitted
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Storyteller Sherry Norfolk imitates a chicken during one of her tale’s Wednesday at the Perry Public Library. The
story was about a hen who befriends a cockroach.
Industries considering Houston
By BRIAN SHREVE
HDJ Intern
More companies bringing
more jobs are looking to
make a home in Houston
County.
Roughly a dozen compa
nies, nine of them manu
facturing projects, are con
sidering building sites in
Houston, it was explained
during Wednesday’s meet
Commissioners hold alochol permits
By BRIAN SHREVE
HDJ Intern
The Houston County
Commissioners began a new
fiscal year this week, but
with familiar grievances.
Issues ranging from home
daycare to the alcohol per
mits, traffic control and the
elimination of residential
mining activities marked the
agenda and* decisions made
during Tuesday’s Houston
County Commission meet
ing.
In what was the first ses
sion of the 2007 fiscal year,
the first topic up for vote
to consider information not
presented in trial in his deci
sion on the defense request
from clemency
“The findings and sentence
as approved by Gen. Collings
will now go to the Judge
Advocate General of the Air
Force and then forwarded
to the Air Force Court of
Appeals for review,” said
Col. Warner Meadows, WR
ALC Staff Judge Advocate.
“After the Air Force Court of
Appeals review, the Air Force
Judge Advocate General
refers the case to the Court
of Criminal Appeals for the
Armed Forces (CAAF).”
Meadows added that
the Supreme Court of the
United States has discretion
to review cases under the
Uniform Code of Military
See DEATH, page 6B
Chicken tales, chicken dance
ing of the Houston County
Development Authority.
“Studies have shown,
each manufacturing job has
approximately four sup
porting positions out in the
community,” said Executive
Director Morgan Law. “So,
for every one of these,
you’re going to have a ripple
effect of additional jobs, so
these are the real winners
concerned a young woman,
Mandaline Atkins, who had
made a request to operate
a daycare service from her
home, a request that was
denied last April due to traf
fic worries.
Atkins returned Tuesday,
armed with a petition of
16 signatures and autho
rization from the state of
Georgia, stating she was
qualified to care for up to
six children. A new decision,
siding in favor of Atkins,
was passed unanimously.
Two alcohol sales permits
were tabled, amid concern
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Senior Airman Andrew Paul Witt was escorted in hand
cuffs through the Bibb County Courthouse for his court
martial sentencing last October.
for us.”
Though the identities of
the companies were not dis
closed, at least a few are said
to be telecommunications
type projects. Law said it
is not uncommon for these
companies to be attracted
to building in military com
munities.
According to Law, it is
standard practice for pro
of proximity.
An alcohol license applica
tion submitted by Charlie
Gooch, proprietor of Gooch’s
Tavern, stirred concerns
over its closeness to a resi
dential trailer park, despite
Gooch’s meeting minimum
distance requirements to
schools and churches, as
the state requires. Because
Gooch was unavailable
Tuesday, the issue was put
on hold.
A similar decision was
handed to Minaxi Patel,
owner of the newly estab
lished Bob’s Package Store
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TWO SECTIONS ' 12 PAGES
spective companies to keep
their names out of the
public in order to protect
themselves against competi
tors, as well as ensure they
receive a fair market price
on the property.
He said those sites sub
mitted for by the industries
are in close proximity to
restaurants and other retail
See MORE, page 6B
in Bonaire.
McMichael suggested it
was time for the commis
sion to get serious on the
subject of alcohol licensing
requests and distancing reg
ulations. “We need specif
ics, not arbitrary numbers,”
said McMichael, “something
to authenticate informa
tion on how far these places
(alcohol distributors) are to
schools or residences, not
just a general idea.”
Chief Building Inspector
and County Zoning Official
Tim Andrews presented
See PERMITS, page 6B