Newspaper Page Text
Mcmsiuu Daily 3jmmtal
LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY,
city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville
VOLUME 136, NUMBER 136
THURSDAY
July 13, 2006
The Daily Journal’s
FRONT
PORCH
INSIDE
Moving forward
■ A former Northside football stand
out is ready to take his game to the
next collegiate level.
- Page 1B
IN BRIEF
BOE to meet on Tuesday
■ The Houston County Board of
Education regular monthly meeting
will be held on Tuesday, July 18,2006
beginning at 1 p.m. The work session
scheduled for Monday evening, July
17th has been cancelled.
Instead a work session will be held
on Tuesday morning beginning at 10
a.m. to be held at the Houston County
Board of Education offices located at
1100 Main Street in Perry.
DHR warns of jury duty scam
■ The Georgia Department of Human
Resources Division of Aging Services
(DAS) is warning the public about a
scam involving jury duty. Most citizens
take the summonses for jury duty
seriously and as a result a new scam
has surfaced.
These criminals enter your home
through the telephone. They call pre
tending to be some type of court
official such as a clerk at the court,
a jury coordinator, or a secretary to a
judge. The caller claims a warrant has
been issued for your arrest because
you didn’t show up for jury duty and
the scammer asks for your Social
Security number and date of birth
so he or she can verify the informa
tion and cancel the arrest warrant.
Sometimes they even ask for credit
card numbers.
Do not give out any personal informa
tion over the phone. If you have given
out your personal information in this
way in the past, contact the three
credit bureaus to put a fraud alert on
your account and file a complaint with
the Federal Trade Commission www.
ftc.gov and let your local court know
that you received this call.
“As a resource to families, we want to
alert our older adults and vulnerable
at-risk adults of this scam so they
will be on guard against becoming
a victim,” said DAS Director Maria
Greene.
The FBI and the federal court system
have issued nationwide alerts on their
Web sites, warning consumers about
the fraud. If someone calls you claim
ing you have missed your summons
to serve as a juror, you should state
that you will follow up with the court
directly.
INDEX
LOCAL 2 A
WEATHER 3 A
OPINION 4 A
LEGALS 3 B
SPORTS 1 B
COMICS 7 A
CLASSIFIEDS 8 A
PERIODICAL 500
BHi 1! 101 l 4
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ATHENS GA 30602-0002
3-DIGIT 306
July 13, 2006
Serving Houston County Since 1870
DNA helps send rapist to prison
By RAY LIGHTNER
HDJ Staff Writer
Willie Henry Neal was
sentenced Tuesday to life
without parole for the 2003
rape of at Warner Robins
High School student.
Neal, 41, was convicted
of rape Tuesday after
noon by a Houston County
Jury and Superior Judge
George Nunn Jr. sentenced
the defendant to life with
out parole for his crime.
Katherine K. Lumsden,
Chief Assistant District
Attorney represented the
State. William Peterson
represented the defendant
Willie Neal.
Members of the Warner
Robins Police and the Middle
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The new facility at 450 Larry Walker Parkway offers a wide variety of driver’s services.
Driver’s license office returns
to Perry with Tuesday opening
Special to the HDJ
The Georgia Department
of Driver Services announced
that Perry will once again
be home to a driver’s license
office
The new facility opened
its doors on Tuesday and is
located at 450 Larry Walker
Parkway. The center will be
open Tuesday thru Saturday
each week from 9 a.m. until
Large crowd expected for Christ
Sanctified Holy Church gathering
’ - Ri11... mi
File photo
The entrance to the permanent Houston County home of
Christ Sanctified Holy Church.
WWW.HHAIEWS.COM
Georgia
Fugitive
Task Force
arrested
Neal, 510
Peachtree
St., Fort
Valley, at
work at
Blue Bird
plant on
Dec. 21,
2005, for
i
NEAL
the Sept. 4, 2003, sexual
assault of a 17-year-old out
side Warner Robins High
School. The girl had been
waiting for a ride following
a football game and was
assaulted about 11:15 p.m.,
police said.
The suspect was described
5 p.m. and offer a full range
of driver’s license services.
This new customer ser
vice center will make driv
er’s license services more
accessible and convenient
for the citizens of Perry and
surrounding communities
in Houston County.
“We are very excited to
be returning to Perry and
offering another location to
as a black male, about 5’6”,
145 to 200 pounds and about
30 years old was last seen
leaving riding a dark col
ored bicycle north of Davis
Drive. Neal is about 5’ 10”,
183 pounds, with scars
on his forearms, accord
ing to the Department of
Corrections.
Det. Brad Mules of the
Warner Robins Police
Department Criminal
Investigations Division said
in December the depart
ment received the results
from the GBI Crime Lab
that reportedly matched
Neal’s DNA with DNA from
the rape kit. ‘They had a
hit on CODIS (Combined
DNA Index Service) from
serve Houston County resi
dents,” said Greg Dozier,
DDS Commissioner in a
press release. The Perry
location is approximate
ly 2,000 square feet and
includes four service coun
ters, six computerized test
ing stations, seating for
50 customers, parking for
approximately 30 cars, and
a vehicle and motorcycle
By CHARLOTTE PERKINS
HDJ Lifestyle Editor
Floyd Hagan first came
to Houston County for
camp meeting when he was
six. Back then, in 1939,
the Christ Sanctified Holy
Church members stayed in
tents at their newly-pur
chased 535-acre Houston
County site.
Today, the Rev. Hagan
is a well-known leader of
the church. The Houston
County campsite along
U.S. 41, a few miles north
of Perry, is a fully devel
oped community in its own
right.
There is a 51-bed nursing
home (Church Home for
the Aged) and, in addition
DNA collected from Neal
as he was released from his
previous time in prison,”
Mules said.
“Pursuant to state law
his DNA was entered into
CODIS during his incar
ceration providing the nec
essary evidence for convic
tion,” said Lumsden.
“The information can
only be used as an investiga
tive tool,” Mules explained.
“The suspect was brought
in and was identified by the
victim in a police line-up,”
Mules said.
The victim did not know
her attacker and police were
unable to identify him in
spite of exhaustive efforts.
“This young lady has lived
HDJ/ Kristy Warren
testing pad. The center has
been remodeled to incorpo
rate a new design layout
and process flow which has
proven to maximize effi
ciency.
“I am happy to be back in
Perry,” says Chief Phyllis
Tedders, who has commut
ed to Macon and Dublin
since the Perry office closed
See OPEN, page 6A
to cabins built for visits,
there are many year-round
homes.
Many members of the
church spend their retire
ment years here, and many
are buried here.
The church members,
who are mostly from the
southeastern states, still
get together each year for
their camp meeting, with
worship services, fellow
ship, and a Bible school for
children.
This year’s gathering,
the 67th in a row, will start
on Saturday night with a
homecoming service and
end the following Sunday.
Hagan, who is from
See CROWD, page 6A
WBEMmW'MMW Newspaper
TWO SECTIONS • 20 PAGES
in fear for more than two
years,” Lumsden said.
Neal is no stranger to law
enforcement and the prison
system. He was released
Aug. 12, 2003, from Smith
State Prison after serving
10 years for a 1993 bur
glary in Webster County.
According to the
Department of Corrections,
he has been in and out of
prison since 1977 for con
victions of burglary (1977
Houston County and
1993 Webster County),
simple battery (1981
Peach’ County), theft by
receiving stolen property
(1982 Early County and
1984 Houston County),
See DNA, page 6 A
HHC
moving
forward
By RAY LIGHTNER
HHJ Staff Writer
Dr. Tony Alford was going
to Texas.
“I had even bought a
house,” said Alford, now the
chief executive officer for
Houston Healthcare.
Alford, new chief execu
tive officer and the former
executive director of medi
cal affairs for Houston
Healthcare has signed a
contract was to report at
the end of this month to
Christus Health System
in Beaumont Texas to be
regional chief medical offi
cer and vice president for
the south east Texas region
over a 750-bed, 40-hospital
system
He was interviewed for
the CEO position, June 29
in an unannounced, called
and closed meeting of the
Hospital Authority. “I had to
get cleared of Texas,” Alford
said, before being named
CEO the following day in
another special called meet
ing.
Authority Vice Chairman
Dr. Robert Carter said the
unannounced, called and
closed meeting on June 29
See HHC, page 6A
Alcohol,
taxes in
voters
hands
By KIMBERLY CASSEL
PRITCHETT
HDJ Contributing Writer
Centerville will give the
residents a chance to vote on
Sunday liquor by the drink
and taxing seniors.
In the Tuesday council
meeting, the City Council
voted on the wording of
the drafted referendum on
whether or not to allow the
sale of alcohol by the drink in
restaurants on Sunday and
whether or not to amend an
ordinance that allows total
exemption on property tax
for seniors age 70 and older.
The wording still has to
be approved by the state
attorney general, according
to Centerville Mayor Bubba
Edwards. If approved, it
could be on the ballot a the
next ellection
City Attorney Rebecca
Tydings had already draft
ed the referendums for the
See VOTERS, page 6 A