Newspaper Page Text
Houston
VOLUME 136, NUMBER 146
Thursday
July 27,2006
The Home Journal’s
FRONT
PORCH
INSIDE
■ Lacey Fears of Bonaire came
up just short in her bid to win
the 13-and-under division of the
GSGA Junior Sectional Match in
Calhoun, but she did win the long
drive and putting contests.
Also, Warner Robins golfer Ben
Kishigian of Warner Robins and
Jon Kennedy of Hawkinsville both
made the cut for the second round
of the U.S. Amateur Sectional
Qualifying in Atlanta.
-See IB
IN BRIEF
Two school crossings
eliminated
The Warner Robins Police
Department will discontinue the
school crossings at South Davis Drive
and Beatrice Drive and at Green
Street and Houston Road.
Beginning Aug. 4,theTransportation
Department of the Houston County
School System will be providing
buses for students that would have
to cross at these locations in order for
them to arrive at school safely.
All bus routes, bus stops and times
are located on the Houston County
Board of Education Web site at www.
hcbe.net. For assistance with prob
lems accessing the site, call 322-3297
for assistance. For questions con
cerning bus routes call 322-3302.
- Ray Lightner
Perdue to hold
annual fish fry
Gov. Sonny Perdue’s third annual
fish fry will be held Aug. 5. from noon
to 2 p.m. at the Georgia National
Fairgrounds and Agricenter in Perry.
U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson and a
number of
other office (
holders will
be special
guests. To
RSVP for the
fish fry on line,
•2ft
visit www.votes
onny.com or call (770) 220-0210. The
cost is $lO per adult. Children are
admitted free.
BIRTHDAYS
Today
■ James Rich
E-mail your birthdays to:
hhj@evansnewspapers.com or
donm@evansnewspapers.com or
send them to: 1210 Washington
St., Perry 31069; attn: Don
Moncrief. You can also call him at
987-1823, Ext. 231.
INDEX
LOCAL 2 A
WEATHER 3 A
OPINION 4 A
SPORTS 1 B
COMICS :... 4 B
CLASSIFIEDS .... 5 B
PERIODICAL 500
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UNIV OF GEORGIA
ATHENS GA 30602-0002
3-DIGIT 306
July 19, 2006
Servixg Houston County Since 1870
LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY,
city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville
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By CHARLOTTE PERKINS
Journal Lifestyle Editor
If you couldn’t beat
“Humble” Bob Shoudt last
year at the Krystal Square
Off at the Georgia National
Fair, here’s another chance
to show off your capacity for
pigging out on burgers.
Last year in the qualifying
tournament at the Georgia
National Fair, Shoudt stuffed
down 29 Krystal burgers in
eight minutes, soaking each
one in iced tea before swal
lowing it.
That’s a lot of burgers,
but it doesn’t come close to
professional food competi
tor Joey “Jaws” Chestnut’s
American record of eating
62 Krystals in eight min
utes.
Chestnut also holds the
world record of eating 28
Judge denies injunction on statute
ByRAYUGHTNER
Journal Staff Writer
What is a school bus stop?
“In Houston County it
was defined as where the
school bus stops and picks
up or drops off students,”
explained Houston County
Sheriffs Sgt. Charlene
Giles.
Giles oversees sex offend
er compliance in Houston
County.
School boards across the
state will now have to desig
nate school bus stops before
local law enforcement offi
cers can legally enforce the
school bus stop provision in
the revised state sex offender
registry restrictions passed
by the General Assembly
and signed by Gov. Sonny
Perdue in April.
United States District
Judge for the Northern
District of Georgia Clarence
Cooper denied the request
for a preliminary injunction
on the revisions on Tuesday.
Cooper denied the plain
tiffs’ motion as “premature
because the court finds
no evidence in the record
to indicate that any local
school board of education
has designated school bus
WWW.HHJNEWS.COM
What: Krystal Square Off
111
Where: Georgia National
Fairgrounds and
Agricenter
When: Oct. 5, 6-10 p.m.;
Oct. 6, 6-10 p.m.; Oct 7,
noon-10 p.m.; Oct. B,local
finals 3-3:30 p.m.
Other: For more, visit www.
KrystalSquareOff.com.
Krystals in two minutes.
If you think you could do
better (or if you just want to
eat a lot of Krystal burgers
for free) it’s time to start
getting into practice for the
competition at the Georgia
National Fair in early
'Once the school board tells us where
the stops are, we are ready and will
start enforcing the restrictions/
- Houston County District Attorney Kelly Burke
stops pursuant to the Act.”
“He left it open,” explained
Houston District Attorney
Kelly Burke. “Once the
schools bus stops are set,
they can then appeal saying
there is no place for them to
live.”
Cooper in his ruling said,
“the plaintiffs’ central argu
ment in support of their pre
liminary injunction motion
is that the school bus stop
provision is an unconsti
tutional ex post facto law
because the provision is
punitive in effect.”
Cooper noted both sides
agree that “designate”
means to point out, to indi
cate, to mark.
“The plain meaning of the
statute requires, at a mini
mum, some action by local
school boards of education
to identify school bus stops,”
said Cooper.
“While the court will not
add words to the statute
October.
Billed as Krystal Square
Off 111, the three-month
long qualifying circuit and
championship hamburger
eating event will officially
get under way on Aug. 24
in Chattanooga, Tenn., with
the first of eight circuit
qualifiers.
The road to the 2006
championship will then
pass through Chattanooga,
Tenn., Jacksonville, Fla.,
Nashville, Tenn., Atlanta,
Memphis, Tenn., Jackson,
Miss., and Perry, winding
up in Chattanooga again
with the nationally televised
finals on ESPN.
Prizes for the final event
will total $30,000 this year,
with a SIO,OOO grand prize
and $7,500 for the runner
up.
requiring official resolution
or other official action by
the school board to desig
nate school bus stops, nei
ther will the court ignore
the plain language provid
ing that local school boards
of education, as opposed to
their employees or agents,
name or point out school bus
stops.”
Cooper said in his deci
sion Tuesday that “the court
need not determine what
exactly a local school board
of education must do to des
ignate school bus stops.
“Plaintiffs have intro
duced no evidence that any
local school board has in fact
designated any school bus
stops, and defendants assert
that they do not know if any
school bus stops have been
so designated.”
Burke said “once the
school board tells us where
the stops are, we are
See STATUE, page 6A
Below the fold
■ Downtown beauty of Perry becomes a joint
effort
■ Judge denies injunction on sex offender statue
lealiig with the details,
planning for the future
Perry renews its downtown vision
Editor’s Note: This is
the first in a two-part series
on downtown development
of Perry. Friday, get the
whole picture including
design plans by a native
son.
By CHARLOTTE PERKINS
Journal Staff Writer
It’s been happening for
decades, all over the coun
try. Downtown shopping
areas are struggling to stay
alive and vital.
Once the bustling com
mercial centers, southern
small towns were built up
around stagecoach roads,
river landings and rail
roads, and given character
by courthouses, churches
and towering shade trees.
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Journal file photo
Gaynil Croteau of Crossroads Landscape Design
hands a basket of flowers to city of Perry worker J.B.
Good. The landscaping firm, owned by Steve Gray of
Perry, was hired by the Uptown Perry Partnership as
part of a contract with the City of Perry, maintains the
hanging baskets, street urns and flower beds down
town, while the city’s public works department is in
charge of such basics as shrubbery, bushes and grass
cutting.
Downtown beauty becomes a joint ettort
By CHARLOTTE PERKINS
Journal Staff Writer
Questions have been
raised recently about who’s
really in charge of Perry’s
downtown landscaping.
Here’s the story.
Back in March, lead
ers of the Perry Uptown
Partnership, with the goal
of beautifying the down
town area, submitted a
proposal to the Perry City
Council for planning and
maintaining the hang
ing baskets, decorative
pots and seasonal “color
beds.”
The city council agreed to
pay the UPP $28,000 annu
ally, and the UPP hired
Crossroads Landscaping to
do the work.
F ! ‘ 4 ■ \V*'
18 PAGES
They offered just about
anything, from hardware
and farm equipment to
party dresses and grocer
ies, until new consumer
patterns and new high
ways began to change
everything.
In some towns, leaders
have just given up on then
downtowns.
But not Perry.
“We’re never going to give
up,” Kim Mullins explained
after the monthly meet
ing of the Perry Downtown
Development Authority on
Tuesday night, and Larry
Walker 111 nodded in agree
ment.
In fact, there’s a whole
lot going on downtown,
See FUTURE, page 6 A
The city provides the
water, and employees
from the Public Works
Department remain in
charge of the shrubbery
and some other basic main
tenance work, according to
Jeff West, Public Works
Superintendent.
So, you’re likely to
see Gaynil Croteau, who
works for Crossroads
Landscaping, downtown in
the cool of the morning,
watering flower baskets,
but also doesn’t mean that
city workers, like Jeffery
“Cowboy” Bloom, who’s
been a familiar part of the
downtown scene for years,
won’t be part of the effort
to keep the downtown area
looking good.