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VOLUME 136, NUMBER 135 v*Trm (P> 15- Wednesday july. 2006 The Home Journal’s FRONT PORCH INSIDE vnM I > M : *,p. - 3Pi Li Reid preparing for NFL, Steelers ■ Former Warner Robins and Florida State standout Willie Reid, who always believed he would get as much out of football as what he put into it, has a chance to fill a role for the standard-bearers of the NFL. Perfect peaches ■ Georgia peaches is a great starting ooint for delightful dishes. - Page 1B IN BRIEF State schools Improving ■ ATLANTA (AP) - The percent age of Georgia’s schools meeting the standards of the federal No Child Left Behind Law dropped this year compared to last year, state education officials reported Tuesday. About 79 percent of Georgia schools made “adequate yearly progress," in the 2005-2006 academic year, according to the Georgia Department of Education. That’s down from about 82 percent last year. Nearly 450 of Georgia’s 2,072 schools tested this year did not meet the law’s goals on tests, attendance minimums and other standards. INDEX LOCAL 2 A WEATHER 3 A OPINION 4 A FOOD 1 B SPORTS 7 A COMICS 8 B CLASSIFIEDS .... 9 B PERIODICAL 500 iiiiiwi 8 ”55108 00001™ 4 Award-Winning Newspaper 2004 Better Newspaper Contest com * GEORGIA NEWSPAPER PROJECT Man Library tJNfV OF GEORGIA GA 30502 -QCC2 3-OfGIT 306 July 12, 2006 Su^.HorsrosCor.nSnamo Perry P&Z reschedules public hearng HB - «fa HDJ/ Charlotte Perkins Among those at the public hearing which will have to be held a second time were, from left, Dee Allison (seated on back row), Scott Free, Skip McDannald and Jack Smith. Allison and McDannald are residents of Langston Road. Free is a realtor and Smith a developer with plans to build up to 700 homes in two subdivisions on the rural road. h ' ■• ; JHHk iL > w ; y^M^ jm mßm^mßßßlßhß| !^il. ■ •"' s ’ ' v " 'WF*- wife- ■;. ■BBi&mm&M - Page 7A HDJ/Kristy Warren Marlene Gray makes a ballot for Harry W. Miller as his grandson Camron Miller looks on. Election workers prepare for V-Day By KRISTY WARREN HDJ Staff Writer A lot of time of tedious efforts go into the prepara tion for election day. Poll workers must be trained, voters registered, equipment maintained, and supplies packaged. Taking care of these requirements are the staff of the Houston County Board of Elections. A group of well organized, thoughtful and experienced women work long hours behind the scenes year around to make sure each election is run as smoothly as possible. Keeping up with new r I Ibl HH.J/Ray Lightner EMTs Jeremiah Price and Ned Dixon wheel “patient” and EMS supervisor Lee Quinones, out of one of the new and slightly bigger ambulances recently added to the Houston Healthcare fleet. The two new ambulances bring to 12 the number of ambulances in service in the county. LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY, city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville laws and regulations requires that forms, docu ments, programs and sup plies be constantly updated. Poll workers must attend a state mandated training class prior to working each election, as state and fed eral laws are changing up until the last days before an election. Under the instruction of Joann Shipes, Registration and Election Supervisor at the Houston County Board of Elections, all poll manag ers, assistants and clerks from each of Houston County’s 28 precincts are trained and tested on pro cedures and the computer www.hhjnews.com Wrong date on sign leads to complications By KRISTY WARREN and CHARLOTTE PERKINS HDJ staff writers Citizens living along Langston Road have plenty of questions about the major housing developments being planned for their neighbor hood, but the question posed by Dee Allison 20 minutes into Monday night’s Perry Planning Commission meet ing just about stopped the show. Allison, a Langston Road resident, who is speaking out frequently at meetings relat ed to the county’s growth, had a simple question. Why ized equipment. The Saturday before an election, each manager picks up supplies consisting of a large blue Tupperware box, and three smaller card board boxes to take to their precinct’s voting location. The large box contains supplies such as the famil iar peach sticker advertis ing a Georgia voter and all directional and regulatory signs. The smaller boxes con tain cords and consolida tion and provisional voter paperwork. Each box has been prepared, updated, and re-updated as state See VOTE, page 6A Two more ambulances now in service in Houston By RAY LIGHTNER HDJ Staff Writer Houston County has two more ambulances in service, bringing the fleet from 10 to 12. The two new ambulanc es purchased by Houston Healthcare at a cost of SBO,OOO each from Peach State Ambulance, were deliv ered about two weeks ago, according to Dave Borghelli, Emergency Medical Services manager for Houston Healthcare. The ambulances are sta tioned at the Houston Lake did the public notice sign say the public hearing would be held on Aug. 1, when it was actually being held on July 11? Although the public hear ings, discussion and voting continued, Steve Howard, Building Official, immedi ately began to explain to the public and the P&Z board members that the pub lic hearing, under the law, would have to be resched uled if the signs were in fact wrong. Tuesday morning, Howard confirmed that the signs were wrong. The times and dates y *i ■iiiiirffimMlT gggEgHsfe;, rarafflHpPgpT | .®r -.JBf i& BH Bl / jjjiKpPy 9 Special to the HDJ Perry firefighters are putting on their “hero” gear and battling more than flames this summer. Perry firefighters to battle MDA Special to the HDJ Local firefighters will be at Wal-Mart and Kroger rais ing money this weekend and Aug. 4-6, for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) and the fight against neuromuscular disease. They will be hitting the streets from 2-6 p.m. on Fridays and 9 a.m. to noon and 2-6 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. . “We’re hoping to raise over Med-Stop on Ga. 127 and Moody Road in Perry and at Houston County Fire Station No. 1 on Carl Vinson Parkway in Warner Robins, in a collaborative effort with the Houston County Fire Department, Borghelli said. “They’re similar to what we have now, the Type-3 ambulance, but more mod ern, with more space inside,” Borghelli said. The new ambulances are slightly bigger, as the new Ford E-350 chassis is bigger The decision to add the ambulances and the per- A N/A INS / LV///J Ni;\\ spapkr TWO SECTIONS • 16 PAGES were correct as announced in the Houston Daily Journal, which is the legal organ for Houston County, but one neighborhood sign had the date wrong. Steve Howard said the rezoning and annexation issue listed on the sign and another concerning 153.661 acres on Langston Road would have to have new public hearings because we “don’t want to create any technical loopholes.” The new hearing will be held on July 24. At stake on Langston Road, now essentially rural in character, are both annex ation and development issues. LeClay, Inc. and Buckeye Holdings, both represented See PERRY, page 6 A $3,000 this year,” said Frank Fennell, Berry’s interim fire chief. “But, we can’t do it without the support of the community.” For over 50 years, fire fighters across the nation have teamed up with MDA to fight muscle disease. MDA commends these national heroes, including Governor Perdue, who has proclaimed the month of August as See MDA, page 6A sonnel to operate them was based on a demand analy sis and will ensure quicker response time, Borghelli said. The analysis also includes re-evaluation of where the ambulances would be deployed, during different days of the week, times of the day and even seasons of the year. “I’m very happy with the support from the public, public safety, the hospital and the authority to move the EMS system forward,” See NEW, page 6 A