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VOLUME 136, NUMBER 151 Thursday August 3, 2006 The Home Journal’s FRONT PORCH INSIDE ■ A late start date for football sea son, coupled with Friday's start of school, has taken away the chance for Georgia High School Association teams to participate in their annual camps. That’s espe cially true in the case of Warner Robins, which has been going away for football camp since around 1960. Also, the Lightning, a travel baseball team mainly made up of Houston County play ers, gained three wins and some respect at the IBC World Series. -See 1B IN BRIEF Breakfast is not served The Saturday GOP breakfast has been cancelled to make it, according to a release, “convenient for everyone to attend the governor’s annual fish fry." And, speaking of the fish fry, it is slated for 2 p.m. at the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter in Perry. The cost is $lO and you must RSVP. To do so, call (770) 220-0210. Lake Joy school sets meeting dates The Lake Joy Elementary School Council meetings will be on the follow ing dates: Aug. 16, Oct. 25, Jan. 17, 2007, March 14, 2007 and May 16, 2007. All meetings will be held at 7:30 a.m. in the conference room. Also, parent elections will be held May 15, 2007 at 5:45 p.m., prior to the PTO general session. Perry HS to open its doors to public The ribbon cutting/open house for Perry High School will be Aug. 13 at 2 p.m., school officials announced this week. BIRTHDAYS Aug. 2 ■ Gwen Ross ■ Jolandery Raines Today ■ Teresa Benedict 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. DEARLY DEPARTED ■ Jennie Mae Roberts (Knot) ■ Joan M. Eubanks INDEX LOCAL 2 A WEATHER 3 A OPINION 4 A SPORTS. . . .' 1 B COMICS 6 B CLASSIFIEDS .... 7 B PERIODICAL 500 s KJi i IK! Jill 114 Award-Winning Newspaper 2004 Better Newspaper Contest COOI * GEORGIA NEWSPAPER PROJECT Man Library UNIV OF GEORGIA ATHENS GA 30&2-00Q2 3-OIGIT 306 July 19, 2006 Serving Houston Col \ty Singe 1870 ■ - - -- LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY, city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville The one that got away? State’s plan for fishing area has cracks in it ■yPF . The Flat Creek Public Fishing Area just south of Perry - due to a lack of rain - is currently high and dry. By CHARLOTTE PERKINS Journal Staff Writer If you’ve been planning to go fishing at the new Flat Creek Public Fishing Area just south of Perry, don’t bait your hook yet. A state official is expecting that it will be at least the summer of 2008 before the 106-acre man-made lake bed is filled with water. At this point, $2.9 million has long been allocated for a state park with a man-made lake at that site, thanks to the efforts of former State Rep. Larry Walker. The ground was broken last sum PY Council approves annexations, developments Mayor breaks tie on billboard vote By CHARLOTTE PERKINS Journal Staff Writer On Tuesday night, The Perry City Council approved the annexation and rezon ing requests necessary for the building of a 43.78 acre single family develop ment on Langston Road by the Knight Group, Inc. This will be a Planned Unit Development with approxi mately 43 percent of the land left undeveloped. Councilman James Moore voted against the rezoning, saying it was not “the best land use” for the area. Also approved was a pro posal by Wooden Nickel Plantation, LLC, for rezon ing and annexation of land in the Ga. 41 and Todd Road area. Exactly 5.76 acres of this land is already in the City of Perry and 40.30 acres is in Houston County. A subdivision will be built on the land. The Council also held a public hearing on the rezoning and annexation request for the proposed Walker Farm Subdivision which would have an entry from Ga. 341 between I WWW.HHJNEWS.COM if we get a hurricane/ - Georgia Department of Natural Resources fisheries biologist Steve Schleiger, on what it would take in the near-term to fill up a man-made lake just south of Perry designated the Flat Creek Public Fishing Area mer for a public fishing area. Gov. Sonny Perdue came to town for the celebration. An earthen dam has been construct ed. There are winding gravel roads around the lake bed, and a cement boat ramp. There’s just no water. Well, there was a puddle in the sun cracked ground Tuesday, about the size of a dining room table, but given the heat, it could be evaporated by this weekend. What are we waiting for? Rain. Lots of rain. Tons of rain to be more specific. 75 and Wayne Morris Ford. About 54 acres of those are already in the City of Perry, and 73.25 acres would be annexed from the county. Larry Walker spoke on behalf of the Walker fam- ‘*9jfek Tuesday night’s Perry City Council meeting was so packed that many were standing. Among those in attendance were a large group from New Hope Church, the Perry Recreation Department’s 11-12-year old boys baseball team, which recently won a county championship and a number of developers and citizens who had come to see the outcome of rezoning and annexation votes. ily, explaining that the land had been purchased by his grandfather and father, had been farmed and was now planted in mature timber. He said that he and his brothers and sister felt that the Knight Group, which has plans to build a hous ing development there, had According to Steve Schleiger, a fisheries biologist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, there are plans to begin stocking the lake with bream, bluegill, channel catfish and large mouth bass, as soon as there’s been sufficient rain to get it at least 20 to 30 percent full. Scheiger said that the lake was expected to be filled by an unnamed intermittent tributary of Flat Creek, but the drought has held things up. He said that the fish stocking sched ule could be moved up but only: “if we get a hurricane.” the right plan for Perry’s growth. Wayne Morris also spoke in support of the project saying that it would spur growth on that side of 1-75. Mayor Jim Worrall broke a tie vote which took place at the last meeting, See COUNCIL, page 5A Journal/Charlotte Perkins TWO SECTIONS • 16 PAGES ENI/Gary Hannon Good satins’ for Elementary students -5-7 A Below the fold ■ Perry City Council approves annexations, developments ■ Back to school Part II: International Newcomers Welcome Center ■ County OKs cell towers; denies daycare request Perry Police oioke 2 large erack arrests By RAY UGHTNER Journal Staff Writer Perry Police made two large crack arrests in the past two days, taking about 120 grams of crack cocaine off the street. In both instances the sus pects tried to run and were quickly subdued, police said, and both were charged with trafficking. On Monday at about 3 a.m., Officer James Balli stopped a 2001 Chevy Malibu on Perry Parkway for an equipment violation. The driver, James Bernard Carson, 25, of Oglethorpe, reportedly jumped out and ran, despite repeatedly being told to stop, explained Capt. Heath Dykes. After repeatedly telling the suspect to stop, Balli deployed his Tazer, Dykes said, and shot Carson. “He was handcuffed after that,” See CRACK, page 5 A Schools home to international welcome center By KRISTY WARREN Journal Staff Writer Morningside and Perdue Elementary are homes to the International Newcomers Welcome cen ters. A t Morningside Elementary, B3Ck to school - Part 2 there are two specialists waiting to assist families that do not share English as their first language. Kimberly Breyer, English to Speakers of Other Languages Coach for Houston County, is on hand to test students to see if they qualify for ESOL classes. See SCHOOLS, page 2A County OKs cell towers; denies daycare request By RAY LIGHTNER Journal Staff Writer “Neighborhood outcry weighs heavy in these issues, ” explained Commissioner Larry Thomson. He was talking - during the County Commissioners’ meeting Tuesday - about special exceptions, be it for a home daycare or a cell phone tower. That said, the com missioners approved three requests on the table Tuesday. The one that was denied - Joan Hurst’s request for a home occupation daycare See COUNTY, page 2A