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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 illlllllllll 8 "*5 510 B*o 0 0 01“ 4 Award-Winning Newspaper 2004 Better Newspaper Contest iii!filliiiilltt!li ll | l |i!I{ >l ,||||||| 11ll i[ l !| IM j| COOI * GEORGiA NEWSPAPER PROJECT Mam Library 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 W * Iv« 5» llSlM*!*** W 1 . JhlphP' ■ liitfain A. 'vX k&SEUmKB 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. '*B “ _. ' _ r‘n TMnB ----- gWsa 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.