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New liar’s Greetings WEEKEND EDITION 250 Perry & Houston County's official Legal Organ SATURDAY, JANUARY 1, 1994 Leaders share predictions for 1994 By BRIG'ETTE LOUDERMILK Managing Editor With the end of yet another year, officials in the city, county and public service agencies took time this week to reflect on 1993 and shared their hopes for the coming year. City Council: "Consolidation may end up being the most important thing that comes up in the next year" for the City of Perry according to Perry Mayor Jim Worrall. , Council is already planning to study how consolidation of services will affect Perry. "We've got to have a positive alti tude towards consolidation. We need to gather some facts and find out what we can do, what we will bene Looking back at events in 1993 The Year in Review: The last six months July: •Just one week after the Georgia Lottery debuted with several scratch-off games, Sheila Dugger of Perry claimed one of the first big prizes-a check for $2,500. She had purchased the ticket at Suwanee Swiftee. •The Houston County Commis sion voted to okay a 1993-1994 fis cal year budget of $17.6 million. The new budget represented an in crease of 2.23 percent over last year’s $17.2 budget. •Although not happy about it, Perry City Council voted 5-1 to pay an additional $38,682 as pay ment to Houston County for local use of the county-wide 911 system for the fiscal year which ended June 30. The city had only budgeted $33,991 for the service as that was the amount initially requested by the county. The difference in the budgeted and actual costs was said to have come from a mid-year tally of 911 calls and their areas of ori gin. •Preliminary investigations by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation showed no evidence of foul play in the July 14 hanging death of a in mate in the Perry jail. Charles Davis of Perry, who had been ar rested on a warrant for drug viola tions, is said to have hung himself from the top bunk with his own trousers within 10 minutes after be ing placed in the jail cell. •University College, a division of Mercer University that offers de gree programs designed for working professionals and other non-tradi lional students, announced that it would be closing its Perry center at the end of the summer quarter. •An accident that occurred on Highway 341 less than one mile south of Perry on the morning of June 20 claimed the life of 21-year old Stephanie Pearce of Hawkinsville. Pearce was employed at Perry Chiropractic Center. •After receiving the green light from his medical team at Emory University Hospital in mid-July, Perry Mayor Jim Worrall an nounced that he would seek a third term in the November city elec tions. A cancer patient who has been through five major surgeries and a host of other treatments since the discovery of his illness fast year, Mayor Worrall indicated that his doctors had determined that he was recovering nicely and ready for four more years in office. fit from," Councilman Hervia Ingram said recently. "It's coming, and we've got to be prepared," Councilman Ralph Gentry said. Worrall urged that "people in the community need to tell members of council how they feel about consol idation and the direction they see Perry headed in for the future." Besides continuing the road and home improvement projects funded through various grants, other projects the city will become involved with during 1994 include: •The North Perry Bypass should open in February. The city has al ready instructed die power company to turn on the traffic signals. •Beginning the West Perry •Timothy Nall of Perry was lapped to head the troubled Houston County 911 system. Nall was cho sen from among 20 candidates who interviewed for the position vacated by the June resignation of former director Lee Stripling. •GTE announced that in just a few months the Alltel Corporation would become the local telephone servicing agent. The change was to be brought about by what both companies termed a swap of cus tomers. In the deal, Alltel was to get all of GTE’s Georgia cus tomers, which includes Perry, and GTE was to get Alllel’s Indiana, Illinois and Michigan customers. August: •Two adults and a child were taken to the hospital after a vicious dog attacked all three at the Perry Kmart on Sam Nunn Boulevard Tuesday, August 3. Two of those attacked were identified as Logan Nelson, the three-year-old daughter of Wayne and Pam Nelson of Perry, and Richard Lewis of Jackson. Both reportedly underwent surgery for their injuries. The dog, a part pit bull belonging to two travelers, eluded officers after being hit with one tranquilizer dart and not caught until Wednesday, August 18. •Members of the Houston County Development Authority began the search for anew execu tive director following the August 3 resignation of Dick Ulm. Ulm had headed the authority for five years prior to his resignation. •The Houston County Board of Education tried diligently to solve growing traffic problems caused by the opening of two new schools lo cated on Highway 96. The solution board members came up with was to stagger school times for the two schools. •The Houston County Board of Education finally voted 6-1 to sell their Washington Street offices and property to the City of Perry for $900,000, under certain conditions, and to use that money to refurbish their new proposed central office lo cation at the Perry Annex on Main Street. The vote came after several months of deliberations between the city and the board in an effort to best utilize the Annex. The board’s initial asking price for their present facility was $1.2 million. •Perry City Councilman Buddy Roper announced that the state had awarded a $400,000 grant to assist in the construction of the proposed Please see 1993 review, page 8A PERRY, GEORGIA'S HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER SINCE 1870--FQR COVERAGE OF YOUR EVENTS, CALL 987-1823 f The Houston Home! Journal 1 SECTION—B PAGES, PLUS SALES CIRCULAR Bypass. •Completion road work and traffic lights on Sam Nunn Boulevard is scheduled for early summer. •Complete construction and open the Rozar Park Community Center. Fund raising for the project will also continue through the year and it estimated the Recreation Department should be moved into the facility by Christmas. •The city will begin renovating the current Board of Education of fice on Washington Street as a City Hall Annex in November. •The old Mark Powell car lot will become a small shopping area. •A fringe area study, the progres sive growth strategy plan for Perry, should be completed. IB FAFm m + ~ ‘mm Happy New Year! (HHJ photo by Brenda Thompson) Dylan Patel, the soon to be one-year-old son of Rashmi Patel and Shirley Lord, both of Perry, helps usher In his first New Year. Dylan will celebrate his Ist birthday on January 25. Background materials compliments of Daisy Patch Florist & Gift Shop. Celebrate holiday safely BY BRENDA THOMPSON Staff Writer It’s fine to ring in the New Year with a little bubbly, but to do so and get behind the wheel is a gam ble no one should take. The odds are terrible, say local law enforcement personnel. •Interstate 75 will be widened to three lanes southbound from S.R. 26 to S.R. 7. County Commission: According to Houston County Commission Chairman Sherrill Stafford the commission has a full plate in 1994 with their number one priority being'the continuing work with Robins Air Force Base officials and the Middle Georgia community to prepare for the BRAC '95 review. Other projects include: •Continue discussions on consoli dation of governmental services with near-term goal of combining planning and zoning and related “It’s no secret that we find alco hol involved in many of the acci dents we work this time of the year,” Perry Police Chief Frank Simons said Monday morning. “This is always one of the highest periods for drinking and driving vio- Plaase see Celebrate, page 8A WMiii Ii- j i,s sines 1870 I support functions. •Continue efforts to resolve issue of problems relating to jail space. •Complete security provisions for county courthouse and complete the space utilization/condition review of the courthouse. •Continue emphasis on 25 percent reduction of solid waste going into county landfill by July 1996. •Install traffic signai at intersec tion Houston Lake Road and Highway 96. •Begin construction of new tech nical school. •Construct four lane street con necting Houston Lake Road and Highway 96 by way of new techni cal school site. •Begin construction of Peachbelt Chamber gears up for annual meeting IY BRENDA THOMPSON Jtaff Writer More than 500 invitations to the Perry Area Chamber of Com merce’s 38th Annual Membership Meeting to be held January 25 at the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter will go out the first week of the new year, Chamber Ex ecutive Director Peggie Williams said this week. The deadline for making reserva tions has been set for January 18. Cost will be $17.50 per person. According to Williams, the meeting will begin at 7 p.m. and will include a business agenda, an awards presentation, a barbecue din ner and entertainment by the 82nd Airborne Chorus from Robins Air Force Base. Scheduled for the business por tion of the meeting is a year-end re port from outgoing chamber presi dent, Jimmy Faircloth, as well as a special ceremony officially induct ing new president, John Sundquist, human resources manager for Perry’s Northrop plant Also scheduled is the presenta tion of two annual awards-the Seabie Hickson Community Ser- Plans for Perry television station are still on track By VETO F. ROLEY Staff Writer Plans are continuing for Perry to have its own television station, perhaps as early as April 1, 1994. Lowell Register, president and general manager of WPGA-TV, said' that construction should soon begin on a 900 foot transmitter tower in Twiggs County near the intersec tion of Highway 129 and Highway 23. The WPGA tower will be near similar towers operated by two other stations. Register added that the transmit ter would send a "city grade" signal back to Perry despite being located 20-25 miles from town. A "city grade" signal is equal to the strength of a signal if the tower was located in town. The proposed station was first announced early last year. Register said the delay in going on the air was caused by the Federal Aeronau tics Administration's desire for large towers to be located in the same area. He added the FAA had ap proved the site location for the WPGA tower. While the tower site is set, a site for the studio is still in the works. Register said that he was reviewing several options for the studio site, but he has "not made a final deal on Please see TV, page 8A 124 TH. YEAR—VOLUME 1 Mental Health building at Highway 96 site to house children and ado lescence programs. •Continue efforts to ultimately ex tend Russell Parkway to Interstate 75. •Complete construction of the Golden Isles Parkway through Houston County. •Obtain acceleration of plan to widen Houston Lake Road. •Finalize the additional county voting precincts in time for 1994 elections. Perry Chamber of Commerce: "I'm looking forward to being president in 1994 and am honored Please see 1994, page 8A vice Award and the President’s Vol unteer of the Year Award. Nominations for the Seabie Hickson Award, which last year went posthumously to Bobby Ar cos, are being solicited from the general public as well as the cham ber membership and will be re viewed and voted on by the local chamber’s annual meeting commit tee. “If you know someone who has gone above and beyond the call of duty for our community, we encourage you to call us with their nomination,” Williams said. “Nominations should be in by Jan uary 10 and can be made by calling either the chamber office at 987- 1234 or our annual meeting chairperson, Pat Buice.” Buice can be reached at 987- 5058. Good morning, Perry Home Journal HIGHLIGHTS in Sympathy The community's sympathy is extended to the families of those who recently died. They include Martha Nottingham Lake, Atlanta; Glein Askew Sr., Perry; Bertha D. Goodrum, Fort Valley; Olen Monroe Chamlee, Perry. For more information, please see page 2A INDEX BILL OVERTON 5A CLASSIFIED 7A DEATHS 2A EDITORIALS 4A PERRY SCRAPBOOK 4A JIM SHIPLEY 4A BRIGETTE LOUDERMILK 4A CHURCH NEWS 2A WOODS ‘N WATER 6A NEWS OF RECORD 3A MISS YOUR PAPER? We hope not, but if your carrier should err, please call early. 328-7063