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HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL ftnufeu ffniltT Hfmituxf Perry Office 1210 Washington St. P.O. Box 1910 Parry, QA 31069 (478) 987-1823 See us online at www.hhjnews.com Reader iNlfasa Classified Advertising: Call (478) 987-1823 between the hours of 8 a m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. You can fax an ad 24 hours a day to (478) 988-9194. Display Advertising: Call Nicole Crofutt at ext. 224. Delivery by mail: Delivery by mail is available for $62 in-county and SB2 elsewhere per year paid in advance. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: P.O. Box 1910, Perry, GA 31069 The Houston Home Journal, A peri odical, mailed (ISSN 1526-7393) at Perry, Ga., is published Tuesday through Saturday for $62 per year by Evans Newspapers Inc., 1210 Washington St., Perry, GA31069; (478) 987-1823 Fax (478) 988-1181. Not published Thanksgiving and Christmas. Office Hours: The office in Perry is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. NEWS TIPS: Call (478) 987-1823 ext. 231 Newsroom Fax: (478) 988-1181 Presentation editor: Contact James Tidwell at jtidwell@evansnewspapers.com Corrections: The HDJ strives for fairness and accuracy, and will print a correction or clarification when one is in order. Call ext. 231. Advertising errors and omissions: The advertiser agrees that the pub lisher shall not be liable for damages arising from errors in advertisements beyond the amount paid for the space actually occupied by that portion of the advertisement in which the error occurred. There shall be no liability for non-insertion of any advertisement beyond the amount paid for such advertisement. This newspaper is a member of The Georgia Press Association, The National Newspaper Association and The Associated Press STATE BRIEFS Florida man shot by anthopltles dies SAVANNAH (AP) - A Florida man who was shot after trying to run over a deputy has died at a hospi tal. Steven J. Ervin, 53, of Fort White, Fla., led law enforce ment officers on a chase that started in northern Bryan County and ended Monday morning on Interstate 16 in Bulloch County. The chase began around 2 a.m. Monday, when two Bryan County deputies and a Pembroke police officer responded to a report of a suspicious car in a neigh borhood. The officers spot ted and tried to pull over a car matching the vehicle’s description. But the car did not stop and a chase ensued through northern Bryan County into Bulloch County. At one point, Ervin’s car hit a Bryan County cruiser, said John Edwards, special agent in charge of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Statesboro office. In Bulloch County, Ervin’s car spun to a stop. When a deputy got out of a cruiser and tried to make an arrest, Ervin turned car toward the deputy, Edwards said. That’s when lawmen fired on the car, Edwards said. Ervin was transported to Memorial Health University Medical Center, where he died Tuesday. An autopsy will be con ducted, Edwards said. New polling system gets high marks ATLANTA (AP) - Only nine of the state’s 3,000 vot ing precincts experienced problems serious enough Tuesday to prompt election officials to keep the polls open beyond the closing time. All the problems were blamed on poll workers, said YOUR WEATHER TEAM! TODAY’S ik Today's Weather Local 5-Day Forecast Ffl 7/21 / H , 97/73 Partly cloudy, chance of a thunder storm. Sunrise Sunset 6:43 AM 8:40 PM Georgia At A Glance \ Atlanta 'V \ 93/72 Augusta \ / 95/74 \ r *4? V Warner Robins l \ V \ *’} Savannah > / \pX v, 93^5 | J I 97/72' ( / Valdosta <n \J a 91/71 Area Cities \Biy ULo Cond. | Albany 94 72 t-storm Athens 98 72 t-storm Atlanta 93 72 t-storm Augusta 95 74 t-storm Bainbridge 95 74 t-storm Brunswick 88 77 t-storm Cartersville 95 72 t-storm Chattanooga,TN 92 71 t-storm Columbus 97 73 t-storm Cordele 97 73 t-storm National Cities Atlanta 93 72 t-storm Boston 80 69 t-storm Chicago 78 63 pt sunny Dallas 102 80 sunny Denver 81 59 t-storm ©2005 American Profile Hometown Content Service Kara Sinkule, spokeswoman for the Secretary of State’s office, which oversees the state’s elections. Four precincts in Fulton County, four in Gwinnett and one in Hall County stayed open past the 7 p.m. voting deadline _ some for only a few minutes. “On a typical election day, you have poll-worker malfunctions that hap pen throughout the state,” Sinkule said. “Overall, we’ve had a good election day, though.” Meanwhile, Georgia elec tion officials gave high marks to a new electronic system used for the first time to check in voters at polling places. A handful of glitches associated with the electron ic poll books _ a comput erized check-in system that replaced paper lists of voters that poll workers used in the past _ also were chalked up as poll-worker error. While some poll workers on Tuesday said the new system made getting voters to the polls quicker and easi er, some reported slowdowns at times. “There were no malfunc tions with the equipment, but different poll workers had different comfort lev els with it,” Sinkule said. “Some counties did better jobs training their poll work ers than others _ that’s why you roll these things out in a kind of light election, so you have a little room for poll workers to gain confi dence.” The new devices allow poll workers to instantly verify that voters are registered and at the correct polling place and immediately tell the workers which ballot the voters should receive. In the past, poll workers had to search for the cor rect ballot for each voter and crosscheck the voter’s address for various state, local and congressional dis tricts. Sat 7/22 /V 90/71 Scattered thunder storms. Highs in the low 90s and lows in the low 70s. Sunrise Sunset 6:44 AM 8:38 PM 93/72 Slight chance of a thunderstorm. Sunrise Sunset 6:44 AM 8:39 PM TRENT WILLMON a little more livin’ AVA«LAfoUK ■yHBBBVBfI >:t K-f :s SOI.i M, Lo Cond- I Dalton * 96 73 t-storm Dillard 89 67 t-storm Dublin 99 72 t-storm Duluth 93 71 t-storm Gainesville 93 74 t-storm Helen 92 69 t-storm Lagrange 94 70 t-storm Macon 97 73 t-storm Marietta 93 73 t-storm Milledgeville 98 75 t-storm Houston 92 74 t-storm Los Angeles 89 71 mst sunny Miami 86 80 t-storm Minneapolis 77 64 rain New York 86 73 rain Ga. Midshipman testimony ending WASHINGTON (AP) - The former star quarterback of the U.S. Naval Academy’s football team offered senior officers graphic details of a sexual encounter he had with a fellow midshipman Tuesday. Midshipman Lamar S. Owens Jr., 22, of Savannah, testified in his own defense at a court-martial that threatens to end his military career. “The sex was very quick and there wasn’t a lot of romance,” testified Owens, who is cnarged with rape, conduct unbecoming an offi cer and failure to obey a law ful order. If convicted, Owens could face a sentence of life in prison. On the seventh day of his trial, Owens told the panel assembled at the Washington Navy Yard that his accuser initiated their Jan. 29 encounter when she sent him a computerized instant message in the pre dawn hours from her room one floor below his in the academy’s Bancroft Hall. “She invited me to her room,” said Owens. He tes tified that when he went to his accuser’s darkened room, she tugged on his sweater and indicated she wanted him to join her on her bed. While there was foreplay, “there was no kissing,” Owens told the court. The encounter ended abruptly after a few minutes when his accuser became still and unresponsive. “It was the most bizarre thing that’s ever happened to me,” said Owens. He testified that realizing that his accus- Best Cooks In Perry! STATE AND REGION Meteorologist Jerry Kathewien Turns Isr Ms***” Mon 7/24 Sun 7/23 / /V 89/72 A few thunderstorms possible. Sunrise Sunset 6:45 AM 8:38 PM ■ W?"* ■m'T'’ dSk Tue 7/25 90/72 Slight chance of a thunderstorm. Sunrise Sunset 6:46 AM 8:37 PM Moon Phases • New Jul 25 Full Aug 9 if Last Jul 17 r First Aug 2 UV Index Fri 7/21 ■ Extreme Sat 7/22 ■ Extreme Sun 7/23 I Very High Mon 7/24 H Very High Tue 7/25 | Very High The UV Index is measured on a 0-11 number scale, with a higher UV Index showing the need for greater skin pro tection. o mr- % mam 11 I'tSity Mi Lo cond. | Peachtree City 94 69 t-storm Perry 97 72 t-storm Rome 102 74 t-storm Savannah 93 75 t-storm St. Simons Islandßß 77 t-storm Statesboro 99 76 t-storm Thomasville 93 73 t-storm Valdosta 91 71 t-storm Warner Robins 98 72 t-storm Waycross 93 71 t-storm Hi Lo Cond. Phoenix 114 93 sunny San Francisco 77 59 mst sunny Seattle 91 67 sunny St. Louis 92 67 t-Storm Washington, DC 90 73 t-stotrri er’s roommate was sleeping about ten feet away “just added to the weirdness of the situation.” During more than 90 min utes of testimony he repeat edly described the incident as “sex gone bad.” The Associated Press is not identifying the woman because she is an alleged vic tim of a sexual assault. She testified last week that she resisted Owens’ advances, and protested that she had a boyfriend. But Owens has insisted the sex was consen sual. Both midshipmen have • testified that they had sever al drinks at separate clubs in Annapolis and Baltimore in the hours before returning to their dormitory. Owens first met his accuser during the summer following his freshman year as she pre pared to enter the academy as a plebe. Total Cancer Care Now Available in Hawkinsville Board-certified physicians offering: Medical oncology * Hematology • Radiation oncology * CT scanning/iniaging Genetic counseling * Wellness and nutritional services MR mmmm mmrnrn. # m GEORGIA CENTER FOR TOTAL CANCER CARE The Ckin S. Moddock Cower freotmeftt Center Located on the campus of Taylor Regional Hospital 760 341 Boulevard • Hawkinsville GA, 31036 • (478) 783*4022 DOROTHY NELL EGGLER : EGGLER - Dorothy Nell Eggler, 78, of Orange Park passed away suddenly July 2. She was pieceded in death by her husband, Fred L. Eggler. She had been an active mem ber of the Women of the Moose in Warner Robins for over 30 years and had retired from Civil Service as a military court reporter at Robins Air Force Base. She was also a member of O.P United Methodist Church. She was a loving mother and grandmother who cared deeply for her friends. She was a talented, witty, caring lady who enjoyed cooking, playing piano, traveling, and meeting people. She is sur vived by her son and his wife, Freddie and Sherry Eggler of Las Vegas, Nev.; granddaughters, Capt. Lindsay Eggler of Little Rock, Ark., and Jerrica Allen and her husband, Lamar of Perry; sisters, Renee Atkinson of O.P and Millie Taylor of Carthage, Mo., and numerous nieces and neph ews. A memorial service in celebration of her life was held Monday at Jacksonville Memory Gardens Funeral Home, 111 Blanding Blvd., Orange Park, Fla. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Orange Park United Methodist Church, 2063 Park Ave., Orange Park, FL 32073. Doctors: Seniors will suffer if Medicare spending is slowed By PHIL DAVIS Associated Press Writer TAMPA, .Fla. - A fed eral mandate to trim Medicare payments will force more doctors to stop seeing elderly and military patients, the American Medical Association warned Tuesday. AMA Vice Speaker Jeremy Lazarus said 45 percent of the group’s physicians plan to decrease or stop taking new Medicare and military Tricare patients if Congress allows a planned 5 percent decrease in Medicare pay ments to physicians to go into effect as planned in 2007. “Over the next nine years, Medicare will cut physi cian payments 37 percent unless Congress acts before January 1, 2007,” he said at a news conference at a Tampa hospital. “At the same time, the cost of car ing for those patients will increase 22 percent _ and that math just doesn’t add up.” Since 1999, the AMA has made the rounds to 160 cities to rally support against decreases in the Social Security Act’s physi cian fee schedule. Federal law requires the schedule be updated annually. Medicare trustees have said the program’s finan cial future is dire if spend ing continues at the current rate. Health care costs are sky rocketing and the program is facing the looming retire ment of 78 million baby « | <; % 4 j , Jif * when I close my eyes >1 piom, please register me for dance classes this yearlV Hdhsianre Academy of Dance • Warner Robins JULY 22,12-6 pm or JULY 24-27,4-6 pm UJ\ Call: 922-6220 THURSDAY, JULY2O, 2006 boomers. Congress delayed a last year’s planned decrease for a year. On Monday, 80 mem bers of Congress, including Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., sent a let ter encouraging Senate leadership to again take up the issue before Congress adjourns in October. “These projected cuts will destabilize the Medicare program and put at risk all patients’ access to health care,” the letter said. The Medicare debate has created deep divides in Washington. President Bush has called on Congress to trim Medicare spending by $35.9 billion over five years. Under that scenario, Medicare spending would grow at a rate of 7.7 percent - instead of 8.1 percent, as currently projected. The plan generated bipar tisan backlash. “People call it a cut in Medicare. It’s not a cut,” Bush said of the plan in February. “It’s slowing down the rate of growth.” Some analysts say the debate is too polarized and it is unlikely serious discus sion will occur until after the 2008 presidential elec tion. Dr. David Becker, a gastroenterologist from Clearwater, said a lack of action could be devastating to practices like his where more than half the patients are on Medicare. i can still hear the people clapping... i wore my mom’s make-up and my dad gave me flowers! I i loved dancing in my recital. 3A