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Mmtshm Hm% 3jo imta I VOLUME 136, NUMBER 139 Tuesday July 18, 2006 The Home Journal's FRONT PORCH Gate update ■ Construction on Gate 1, also Known as the Green Street gate on Robins Air Force Base, is scheduled to be completed Aug. 1. The original date of July 14 has been pushed back to due to reasons such as the excessive thickness of the existing asphalt pavement that had to be demolished and modifications that were made to the structure, according to the 778th Civil Engineer Squadron. The money to complete the project arrived this week and installation is scheduled to start this week. To accommodate the alter nate traffic routes, Gate 15 (the Air National Guard main gate) will be open during nor mal duty hours. Only people traveling northbound on GA -247 will be able to enter the base through Gate 15. Gates 5 and 14 will con tinue normal operation with additional manning from Gate 1. When Gate 1 is “substan tially completed,” the contrac tor will begin construction on Gate 14. The canopies, which are about 118 feet long and 60 feet wide, will cover inbound and outbound traffic lanes aid will nouse air curtain heaters which will blow warm air on [he guards during the winter and cool air during the summer. Just a reminder ■ Go to the polls and vote regardless of party affiliation today. DEATHS ■ Barbara Franks ■ Clyde Shankle ■ James Robert ‘J.R.’ ■ Lowell Benson ‘Benny’ Beasley Jr. INDEX LOCAL 2 A WEATHER 3 A OPINION 4 A SPORTS 1 B COMICS 4 B CLASSIFIEDS .... 5 B PERIODICAL 500 mill! S ”55108 00001™ 4 Award-Winning Newspaper 2004 Better Newspaper Contest Hi t«i!Ski«S!iliii SilfiiiS! COOI * GEORGIA NEWSPAPER PROJECT Man Library UNIV OF GEORGIA ATHENS GA 30602-0002 3-DIGIT 306 July 18, 2006 SmmttrnmmmSmsmm LpGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY, city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville Unemployment down for June ByRAYUGHTNER Journal Staff Writer Unemployment claims are down again in Houston County. In the Warner Robins Metro Service Area, initial unemployment insurance claims were down 59, or 15.9 percent, from 371 in May to jBjF? r ' /.Iltty** TT a rw-irjiT T-i BATTLE/ JL/V/ I Campers show off skills learned in robotics class By KRISTY WARREN Journal Staff Writer Friday, stu dents of the Beginners Flight Camp and the Robotics II class cele brated their last day of camp by showing off their new skills. The Robotics II class held a competition in which the students - in pairs of two - participated in a timed, scored competition with robots built and pro grammed by the teams. The week’s theme was “Ocean Odyssey” with the participants learning how to research and test robots for ocean application. Friday’s final competition, Ocean Odyssey Obstacle, consisted of nine missions held in the Century Flight Hangar in the Fabulous Flight Science Center. Andrew Dennis, a class instructor explained the curriculum of the class. “We tried to show how robotics relate to real world situations and impact soci- WWW.HHJNEWS.COM 312. Initial claims were also down 10.1 percent or 35 from the 347 in June 2005. The Warner Robins Metro Service Area includes all of Houston County. In Macon, claims were also down, 133, or 11.1 percent, from 1,200 in May to 1,067. Initial claims were also down ■jmm V jJ! ENI/Gary Harmon TOP: Luke saunders and Nicholas Szakil watch and are hopeful they have pro grammed their Lego Mindstorm Robot correctly at the Robotics II competition at the Museum of Aviation Friday. ABOVE: Connor Wainwright and Brandon Reid watch as their robot goes through the course. ety,” he said, “The program connects science, math, technology, problem solv ing, and how all this can be fun.” “We did really good, we were really surprised.” 6.1 percent or 69, from 1,136 in June 2005. The Macon Metro Service area includes Bibb, Crawford, Monroe, Jones and Twiggs counties. Statewide there were 34,275 laid-off workers filing first-time claims for unem ployment ihsurance benefits in June, down 3.2 percent Luke Saunders, a 12-year old student of the Westfield Schools, said. Saunders and his friend Nicholas Szakal signed up for the class together and were partners for the week. from May. Initial claims were also down from 34,450 filed in June 2005 for an over-the year decrease of one-half of one percent. Metro Atlanta accounted for almost half of the initial claims in June with 15,297. Hinesville had the fewest with 202. Only Hinesville “We learned how to make sensors, gears and to make (the robots) faster,” said Szakal, also 12 and also a student at the Westfield See ROBOTS, page 5A TWO SECTIONS • 12 PAQES and Brunswick (284) were below Warner Robins in ini tial claims for June. According to Department of - Labor officials, initial claims are considered to be a leading economic indicator, because they measure newly laid-off workers, and the claims were See DOWN, page 6 A Students ace state CRCT Complete CRTC Spring 2006 results chart, page 5 A Special to the Journal Criterion-Referenced Competency Test system scores have been released by the Georgia Department of Education for the state test given at the end of April. Houston County students scored higher than the state average in every subject for every grade. Students in grades 18 were tested in the areas of reading, mathematics and English/language arts; stu dents in grades 3 8 were also tested in social studies and science. The CRCT measures what knowledge and skills stu dents are expected to have mastered by the end of the school year. Based on stan dards set by Georgia, stu dent scores are categorized as either: does not meet standard, meets standard, or exceeds standard. This is the seventh year this test has been administered. CRCT scores are used to give Georgia schools a report card and as gates for cer tain grades. This year for the first time, eighth-graders were required to pass the reading and math portions of the test for promotion to the ninth grade. A third grade reading gate went into effect in 2004, and a fifth grade reading and math gate became effective in 2005. Of the 37 different CRCT tests given, 19 were aligned to the new Georgia Performance Standards: the reading test in grades 1-8; the English/language arts exams in grades 1-8; science exams in grades 6 and 7 and the math exam in grade 6. Since this year s tests were based on the new curricu lum, these 2006 scores are not comparable to previous years. The new GPS curriculum is more rigorous and focuses on mastering the material. The new tests require stu dents to demonstrate higher thinking skills and deeper subject knowledge. In addition, students were required to answer more questions correctly to pass the test. Mike Mattingly, Assistant Supt of Teaching and Learning, commented, It is apparent that our work this past year has paid off when reviewing the CRCT results. In many areas, students were taught with the newly revamped curriculum called the Georgia Performance Standards. These standards demand more from our chil dren and in the end will See CRTC, page 5A Inside