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Jtaxi&imr Ibilg 3Humtal VOLUME 136, NUMBER 170 Wednesday August 30, 2006 The Home Journal’s FRONT TORCH IN SPORTS ■ Houston County's volleyball team picked up its first loss of the year, but on the other hand, added four more wins to its total. Westfield's softball team notched a walk-off win, Perry won as did the International City Warriors football team. Also, look for a fea ture and column on the Braves. -See 1B IN BRIEF HCBOE sets new millage rate The Alzheimer's Association will present an educational program April 4 on how to plan ahead. Topics include: Understanding Alzheimer's disease, taking care of yourself financially, how changes to Medicaid law may impact you and your par ents, coming changes to long-term care insurance and estate planning and estate recovery. It will be presented by Tracy Ford, LMSW, Director of Programs and Services for the Alzheimer’s Association and Sherri Goss, MEd, BCE, Financial Advisor with Rosenberg Financial Group, Inc. It is slated to run from 7-8 p.m. at Summer's Landing in Warner Robins. Call 478-746-7050 for directions and to register. According to a release, there is no charge for attendance. More school meetings announced Perry Primary School has set its School Council meeting dates. They are: Oct. 24, Jan. 23, 2007, March 20, 2007 and May 22, 2007. All, according to a release are to take place at 6 p.m. in the cafeteria. Also, Kings Chapel Elementary School has set its meeting dates. They are: Sept. 28, Jan-. 25, 2007, March 29,2007 and May 3,2007. Its are slated to take place at 4 p.m. and in Room 178. In addition, Shirley Hills Elementary School's dates are: Thursday, Oct. 26, Jan. 25, 2007 and April 26. No times or meeting places were provided, so check with school officials. And finally (for this Journal pub lishing date - others are to follow), Eagle Springs Elementary School’s council meeting dates are: Thursday, Oct. 19, Jan. 11, 2007, March 29 and May 24. All except the May 24 date, according to a release, will take place at 7:15 a.m. and in the school media center. The May 24 meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. at a location to be determined. DEARLY DEPARTED ■ Nancy Evelyn Edwards, 62 ■ D. K. “Dot" Roughton, 86 INDEX LOCAL 2 A WEATHER 3 A OPINION 4 A FOOD 1 B 3 llli 4 Award-Winning Newspaper 2004 Better Newspaper Contest coot * GEORGIA NEWSPAPER PROJECT Main Library UN IV OF GEORGIA ATHENS GA 30602-0002 3-DIGIT 306 August 30, 2006 ' 1 ... ~ ~ . 0 Si:rv!.\c, Houston County Since 1870; LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY, city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville I-;lA Uhl 1 |%|] ImJL f— ffMfori if in K W\Jt \ * -- Mi Twx •/ " % ” I. ■? ®‘ - ’■ C if j.... .> A § sBgSBT }?J'' NHEl.ti t .v ‘iMm -I Wood goes from American Chopper to eyepopper By JOE SERSEY Journal Correspondent Latisha Wood has an artist’s ' eye. It’s her right one and with it, she has used her talent to propel herself to the top of her field. Wood was born with a birth defect that cost her vision in her left eye, but now she is one of the top motorcycle customizing art ists in the United States, and one of the few women doing the work. “I started drawing when I was about 2 or 3 years old,” Wood said. “My father (Gerald Wood) did a lot of religious paintings. I inher ited that natural ability.” What Wood didn’t know was that her father also painted motorcycle helmets, doing pinstripes and gold leaf on helmets. He rode a 1980 Honda Gold Wing. Duo plans for Farm/City Days Parade By CHARLOTTE PERKINS HHJ Li fet.style Editor They’re first cousins. They went to law school together. They work for the same law firm and they’re both Kiwanians. They also both have a lot of experience with writ ing numbers on the street with colored chalk, round ing up beauty queens and horses, tractors and clowns, and getting the annual Farm/City Days Parade into order for the long march from Washington Street into downtown Perry, and own Courtney Hodges Blvd. all the way to the north gate to celebrate the opening of the Georgia National Fair. John Gray Walker and John Hulbert are in their third year of coordinating the Georgia National Fair See PARADE, page iA WWW.HHJNEWS.COM Latisha Wood and her brother Joe stand next to a pair of her artful creations. It wasn’t until after she started working with bikes that she learned of his involvement. He was killed by a drunk driver when she was about 2 months old. “If my father were still alive, I’d have started paint ing motorcycles a lot soon er,” she said. “He’s always been an inspiration to me.” As the Grateful Dead used to sing, “What a long, strange trip it’s been.” Wood made her own unusual jour ney to national recognition. ; w Journal/Charlotte Perkins Dynamic duo John Hulbert and John Gray Walker are rounding up the entries for the Farm/City Days Parade, which celebrates the opening of the Georgia National Fair. -}«B9hl ■ JBB ■ E~z~s n j(pr J) 1 . fIK jf ENI/Gary Harmon She was born in California and raised in Connecticut as part of an extended family that includes four brothers and two sisters. She lived in Hartford, Conn., when she graduated from high school and attend ed Hartford Art School. Such was her talent in high school, a portrait she did for a high school com petition was disqualified for being too good. “It was too realistic for a high school student,” her brother Joe Moore said of TWO SECTIONS • 16 PAGES the incident. “I majored as an illustra tor (at Hartford Art School),” Wood said. “I did water col ors, ink and dyes.” The Hartford Art School is part of the University of Hartford, but after her graduation, Wood took the starving artist route, but that lasted only a short while. “I had just been laid off at Cosco’s after Christmas,” she said. “It wasn’t even a month, and I was working a freelance job designing a See WOOD, page lA mmmtmmMinr Newspaper Below the fold ■ Organizations team up for blood drive to honor the life of Christian Quon ■ Duo begins planning for annual Farm/City Days Parade "(They) threw the train Into emergency stop when the light hit him, but there is no friction to stop a train, IPs steel on steel.” - Houston County Sherriffs Traffic Supervisor Lt. Mike Stokes Man MM by train Was riding mower on railroad tracks By RAYLIGHTNER Journal Staff Writer A Kathleen man was killed around 1 a.m. Saturday while riding his lawnmower on the railroad tracks near his home. Anthony Todd Potts, 38, of 809 South Highway 247 - A, was pronounced dead on the scene after being hit by the train. The train attempted to stop but was unable to, said Houston County Sherriff’s Traffic Supervisor Lt. Mike Stokes. “It takes about a mile to stop a train,” Stokes said. Stokes added the train’s conductor and engineer “threw the train into emergency stop when the light hit him, (Potts) but there is almost no friction to stop the train, it’s steel on steel.” See TRAIN, page iA Red Cross sets blood drive in memory of Quon Special to the Journal The Houston-Middle Georgia Chapter of the American Red Cross and Feagin Mill Middle School are teaming up for a blood drive to honor the life of Christian Quon. The drive, which is open to the public, will take place Sept. 7 from 2-7 p.m. at Feagin Mill Middle School. Quon, who passed away during a fatal tree acci dent only hours after the last day of school, May 26, would have begun the seventh grade last Friday at Feagin Mill. His mother, Lancie Quon, See DRIVE, page zA At A Glance What: Blood drive to honor the memory of Christian Quon When: Sept. 7, 2-7 p.m Where: Feagin Mill Middle School