Newspaper Page Text
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LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY,
city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville
VOLUME 136, NUMBER 143 WWW.HHJNEWS.COM THREE SECTIONS • 22 PAGES
Weekend
July 22, 2006
The Home Journal’s
FRONT
PORCH
w^rnr^WTrTrTnCmS^vTrrr
INSIDE
■ "I think
that I shall
never see
a poem as
lovely as a
tree.’’ But
what’s that
got to do
with this
one?
- See 6A
mmjt iIbI jfer.- 4wHh ' f
■ Donated land has been used
for education for more than 135
years.
- See Lifestyle 1C
■ Warner Robins National
League's girls softball team are
preparing to contend in the Dixie
League World Series.
Also, local Perry Horseshoe
Pitching Club member bring
home firsts and results/pictures
from Thursday’s Middle Summer
Cross Country Series.
-See 1B
■ NASCAR news and notes.
- See 3B
IN BRIEF
Byron yard sale
Byron Better Hometown is sponsor
ing a community wide yard sale Aug.
5 from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. According to
a release from the organization, there
is no charge to set up.
Locations available include Byron
United Methodist Church parking lot
and the parking lots at the old school
on the corner of Main Street and
Moseley Road. Call 478-956-5555 for
more information.
BIRTHDAYS
E-mail your birthdays to:
hhj@evansnewspapers.com or
donm@evansnewspapers.com or
send them to: 1210 Washington
St., Perry 31069; attn: Don
Moncrief.
DEATHS
■ Brian Patrick Drennan
■ Larry R. Evans
■ Mary Ellen Gibbs Ballinger
■ Tommy Ray Williams
INDEX
LOCAL 2 A
WEATHER 3 A
OPINION 4 A
SPORTS 1 B
COMICS 4 B
CLASSIFIEDS .... 5 B
PERIODICAL 500
8 MU 1 ill 1 4
Award-Winning
Newspaper
2004
Better Newspaper
Contest
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GEORGIA NEWSPAPER PROJECT
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3-DIGIT 306
July 19, 2006
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‘I can remember myself being on fire, and I
stopped, dropped and rolled ... It really didn’t hit
me until the ambulance got there and I laid down
and I passed out.’
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Journal Matthew Brown
Jarrod Johnson talks to a fellow International City Warriors football player during a
practice recently. He was burned badly in a stove explosion Friday the 13th.
Fop Johnson, the fire still
burns, but now it's inside
By MATTHEW BROWN
Journal Sports Writer
Jarrod Johnson didn’t
have his football hel
met and shoulder
pads available when he faced
perhaps his most dangerous
adversary in his own Warner
Robins home on Jan. 13.
Instead of a hulking line
man bull-rushing towards
him on a gridiron, what
Johnson encountered on this
evening did something more
deadly than beating him off
the football. It didn’t just
try to take away his play
ing career. It endangered his
home and his very life.
The fire that exploded out
of a stove in Johnson’s kitch
en did manage to take away
more than a month away
from the former Middle
Georgia Stallion defensive
stalwart. But, to the aston
ishment of several medical
professionals, Johnson beat
the prognosis of when he
County signs off on more annexations
By RAY LIGHTNER
Journal Staff Writer
Centerville and Perry once
again are growing thanks to
annexations.
The latest annexation
requests for 7.14 acres and
44.14 acres respectively,
were given the OK from
the County Commissioners,
who had no objections to the
requests as neither created
islands.
Centerville plans to
annex 7.14 acres current
ly zoned R-l (single family
would get back on his feet
and back on with his life by
a wide margin.
While the burns and the
scars don’t allow him to
suit up for a football team,
Johnson isn’t leaving the
game entirely. He’s brought
all he’s learned in the game
- not to mention some
immeasurable inspiration
- as the defensive coordina
tor of the Southern Football
League’s latest addition, the
International City Warriors.
“He’s a big inspiration not
only to myself, but to the
team,” said International
City head coach Darrell
McNeil. “The situation that
he went through, to see him
back out here, it’s a bless
ing. The team feeds off his
energy, his will to be out
here.”
THE FIRE, THE COMA
“I can remember a lot
of stuff, but the one thing
residential) to Planned Use
Development. The tract aka
“the tree farm property” is
adjacent to and will be part
of a mixed use PUD already
in the city.
The Maplecrest devel
opment is located north
of Dunbar Road, west of
Houston Lake Blvd. It will
be zoned R-2 (10,000 square
foot lot minimum) and 25
lots are planned. Centerville
will hold a public hearing on
July 27 at 6:30 p.m. on the
rezoning.
that particularly comes to
my mind was a big flame
that came towards me,” said
Johnson, recalling the Jan.
13 incident. “I can remem
ber myself being on fire,
and I stopped, dropped and
rolled. Once I got up, I felt
like nothing had happened
to me at first. It really didn’t
hit me until the ambulance
got there and I laid down
and I passed out.”
This “wall of fire” came
from a stove that had caught
on fire due to defective wires.
All Johnson tried to do was
put out the fire. But after
the flame hit him, and he
passed out, he was in a coma
for a month and a half.
“It happened Friday the
13™ at 12 o’clock midnight,”
said Johnson. “I didn’t wake
up until like Feb. 28 or
almost March. I was at the
burn center in Augusta.
“I can tell everybody
See FIRE, page 2A
Commissioner Jay Walker
abstained for the commis
sion vote, explaining, “my
own property, my personal
residence is within a mile. I
feel I should abstain.”
The voted was otherwise
unanimous.
The 44.14-acre tract Perry
plans to annex is off Kings
Chapel Road between Arena
and Gurr roads. It will be
rezoned R-2A and is adja
cent to R-2 in the city.
The commission also
See COUNTY, page 8A
Below the fold
■ Five-hour standoff ends without incident
■ Perry and Centerville annex land
Pencil hospital spreading
Its limbs closer to HeCe
By RAY LIGHTNER
Journal Staff Writer
Peach Regional Medical
Center is moving closer to
Houston County.
The Peach County
Hospital Authority closed
recently on 20 acres off
the Ga. 247 Connector
and Johnny Sullivan
Road in Byron at a cost of
$475,000.
If approved by the state,
the move would put the
Peach hospital about 7.5
miles from Houston Medical
Center, one mile west of
1-75 and Warner Robins
city limits, 10.5 miles from
Perry Hospital and about
seven miles from its cur
rent location on Blue Bird
Boulevard in Fort Valley.
This is just one of the rea
sons for the objection filed
by the Hospital Authority of
Houston County to Peach’s
request for a 25-bed hospi
tal at that location.
The certificate of need
opposition was filed June 9
with the state Department
of Community Health,
which has to approve the
move, the certificate of
need and the critical access.
hospitalTleSignation.
When asked if Houston
Healthcare would be with
drawing its objections after
the mayor of Byron respect
fully asked them tp, CEO
Dr. Tony Alford said, “the
position of the Authority
remains to object to it.”
Houston Healthcare
is not opposed to Peach
replacing “its antiquated
facilities in order to service
the needs of its patients,”
according to the docu
ments, but to the location,
the cost and financial fea
sibility.
Houston Healthcare even
proposed six sites within a
mile of the current Fort
Valley location, and offered
a letter of support for the
certificate of need request
if the new location was
within three miles of the
5-hour standoff
ends peacably
By RAY LIGHTNER
Journal Staff Writer
A five-hour standoff
ended without incident
around midnight Thursday
in Centerville.
After five hours of negoti
ations, the man was talked
into surrendering to police.
He was taken to Houston
Medical Center for evalu
ation.
According to Sgt. Garrett
Cooley, there will be no
charges.
Cooley said the incident
began about 7:21 p.m.
Thursday when officers
were dispatched for a wel
fare check to 198 Thomson
St. The man was intoxi
cated and armed with a
gun with possible threats
of suicide, Cooley said.
“He was standing in
the doorway with a gun,”
Cooley said, “and when he
saw police arrive he walked
back inside.”
Cooley, as Chiefs’
Emergency Response Team
M Bvmi Wwimr Nimwmm
The new location
Is centrally
located, where
the growth Is
going, midway
where everyone
Is.'
- Peach Regional Medical
Center Hospital Administrator
Nancy Peed
present location.
Four of the sites were
priced at $15,000 an acre
and the others were at
$25,000 an acre. Peach
paid about $23,750 an acre
for the 20 acres off Ga. 247
Connector.
Peach Regional
Medical Center Hospital
Administrator Nancy Peed
noted the hospital will
not completely leave Fort
Valley.
A 24-hour urgent care
facility will be operated
from the current site, to
meet some of the needs of
the Fort Valley residents.
Peed said the mqjor lim
iting factor to sites near
the current hospital was
sewer and water service.
She said the site selection
committee did not con
sider the exact properties
recommended by Houston
County.
The Fort Valley Utility
Commission will provide
sewer service but the sew
age goes to Warner Robins,
“in a joint deal with Warner
Robins, Byron and Fort
Valley,” explained Keith
Spillers from the Fort
Valley Utility Commission.
The south side of the Ga.
247 Connector is in the
Fort Valley service area,
Spillers said, “but the
lines go to Warner Robins.
We’re allowed so many
taps on our side to pump to
See LIMBS, page 8A
leader was notified, Chief
Ernie Pardo was notified
and the CERT team was
deployed. “Our negotiator,
Capt. Roger Hayes, was
called out and began nego
tiations with the subject,”
Cooley said.
“After five hours of nego
tiations,” Cooley said, “the
subject was talked into
coming out and was taken
into custody without inci
dent.”
According to Centerville
City Attorney Rebecca
Tydings, the suspect sur
rendered around midnight
Thursday. She said there
were no hostages. He was
in there by himself.
The Chiefs’ Emergency
Response Team is made of
officers from Centerville
and Byron police depart
ments.
The man’s name has not
been released since he was
not charged and was hos
pitalized for mental evalu
ation.