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Hcmsfam ItaUulmmial 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 "■'"IWI 1.111...11...11 U1...H GEORGIA NEWSPAPER PROJECT Main Library UN IV OF GEORGIA ATHENS GA 30602-0002 3-DIGIT 306 July 19, 2006 \smmMMwmm <CmMvsmv IW) ‘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.’ £j£ |§ v - p||g|| || , t s -Jr v r ||f s' pjWßpjr wr wßSmm WmtSP' JMK will Wf? . ..5.. .V . '% N W m..iR. 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.