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mms^mism^sss^mismsgm TK *~ 1 K- ■v Ifc ie. RK» H| VOLUME 136 , NUMBER 172 Friday September 1,2006 The Home Journal’s FRONT TORCH IN SPORTS ■ A preview of Perry’s football matchup with Hawkinsville and one for today’s battle between Houston County and Northside. Also look for Braves, Georgia and Georgia Tech notebooks. - See 1B IN BRIEF Kingston to speak at luncheon Congressman Jack Kingston will speak at a luncheon hosted by the Houston County Republican Committee on Sept. 5 at the Wellston Room of American's Best Value Inn, 1440 Watson Blvd., Warner Robins. The lunch will be catered by Sonny’s Barbecue. Tickets are sl2 per person payable at the door. Reservations should be made on or before Sept. 3 by contacting one of the following: judygddrd@aol.com or 971-3254; utgrads@cox.net or 328-6435; shirleylenhart@cox.net or 923-7111, HC landfill to be closed for holiday The Houston County Landfill will be closed Monday for Labor Day, according to an official from the orga nization. Northside sets its meeting dates Northside High School has set its School Council meeting dates. They are: Sept. 6, Nov. 14, Jan. 16, 2007 and March 15, 2007. All, according to a release, are slated to begin at 7 a.m. BIRTHDAYS Today ■ Patty Rainey ■ Austin Martin ■ Amber Lethco ■ Alan Haynes 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 ■ Sarah P. Neal, 70 ■ “Sissy” Morath, 23 INDEX LOCAL 2 A WEATHER 3 A OPINION 4 A COMICS 4 B CLASSIFIED 5 B SPORTS 1 B PERIODICAL 500 S M[li 4 Award-Winning Newspaper 2004 Better Newspaper Contest COOI * GEORGIA NEWSPAPER PROJECT Main Library UN IV OF GEORGIA ATHENS GA 30602-0002 3-DIGIT 306 September 1, 2006 Simrm houstov ( »r\n srm: /S7O LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY, city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville spRS ™ *» * m .... PP» WI -***2*&\: r ||j|| ■■■*s& | j • g" * j ft- M M I'dmjdßWSjL mm.* i Hf p| Jft fill pjh| pp* %T 1 O’Neal Water shoots straight up about 40 feet from the service line connecting Bill O’Neal’s office with the water main under Meeting Street. Workers can! get a break... then again By CHARLOTTE PERKINS Journal Staff Writer If you couldn’t afford a trip to Yellowstone this summer, just hang out at O’Neal Insurance for a day or two. You won’t see any bears, but the landscape is rugged in places and view of the geysers is great. Yes, they did it again. On Wednesday morning, workers on the big downtown street project broke through the ser vice line running from a city water main to Bill O’Neal’s office across from the Perry United Methodist Church. Joann Fast looked up from her desk just in time to see the water shoot straight up into the sky one more time as workers got soaked or scrambled out of the way. They got the geyser stopped for a few minutes, and then it blew again, straight up under one workers shirt. Then it was just a fine spray, then another blast and the hard-working, thoroughly soaked and muddy men, got the repairs done. For the insurance office however, it meant another afternoon without running water. This was the third time in August that pipes have been broken in the process of rearranging downtown streets and park spaces. The first break, on Aug. 4, was the biggest by far. That was when about 2 million gallons of water burst out of an old capped-off water main after workers removed the old city fountain for relocation. The second was a few days later when a service line run ning from the water main was broken by the road crew. A big part of the problem, as noted earlier by City Manager Lee Gilmore, is that the water pipes in the area under construction were built during the early 1940 s and there are no maps showing where cut-off valves are located. Unemployment Warner Robins Area Compared to Georgia '—"" " “““ Tvr/. f OWimer floWn* Aroel-iOAI j Warner Robins Area; 4.8% l -■ L M-(1-1 j222!S» *«»*. i~L . IJi 1. ly. -1. n. i. 1 j 1-J-lp-1 -i .. ip. 1. Jp. 1 j 1.1. tyL .1.11 y/. Jut Aug Sap Oct Nov Dec Jan Mar Apr May Jun Jut 20M Not*: Wotmt RoMoo Atm wtcfud** Mouoton County Botnet a+orgu OoptrUmirrt of Litter ■ Hich+n L Thurmond, CommMonor www.hhjnews.com 20M iJL - 1 jf w IS / yak J* *T Hk. w*W®n Jft JL-. ft jv. ft. • W '4 ENI/ Gary Harmon Workers attempt to repair the break. County uiemptayment rate UecSnes for July By RAYLIGHTNER Journal Staff Writer Unemployment was down in July from the previous month in Houston County, even though initial claims were up. The unemployment rate in the metro Warner Robins area declined to 4.8 percent in July, down two-lOths of one percent from 5 percent in June, according to the Georgia Department of Labor. The area’s jobless rate was 5.1 percent in July of 2005. The Warner Robins metro service area includes all of Houston County. The local unemployment rate is also below the state and national rates, See RA TE, page 6A Two sections • 12 pages Below the fold ■ County unemploy ment rate declined for July ■ Centerville City Council approves com pactor, other requests Meth maker get 30 years Acquitted of murder charges By RATLIGHTNER Journal Staff Writer Jonathan Allen Collins is going to prison for 15 years on charges stem ming from the Aug. 9, 2004, explosion that killed Robert Shane Gilbert. Assistant District Attorney George Hartwig said the jury deliberated about three hours before returning a guilty ver dict on separate counts of manufacturing metham phetamine and criminal attempt to manufacture methamphetamine. The jury acquitted Collins on two counts of felony mur der that were connected to the drug counts. “This case should get the word out - meth labs are deadly,” said Hartwig. “If you’re cooking meth and somebody gets killed, you will be prosecuted for felony murder.” “This was a difficult case to prosecute because of the family relation ships,” Hartwig said. “I think the jury took the See METH, page 6L4 Centerville approves agenda items By JOE SERSEY Journal Correspondent Tuesday, Centerville council members, during their monthly open coun cil work session, demon strated their ability to deal with rising costs in a fiscally responsible way,. The council approved the purchase of a recy cling center compactor for $6,500, $1,500 below the authorized budget. Fifteen hundred dollars may seem a paltry sum to folks used to govern mental budgetary excess es, but as city manager Patrick Eidson pointed out, “We have a responsi bility to our citizens.” Such savings can mean a lot considering the council also had to deal with increased health care costs. “This year, the health insurance company (Blue Cross and Blue Shield) (made a) 10 percent increase over our bud get,” Eidson said. “It could have been worse. The region average was (an) 18 percent increase.” Eidson explained that part of the discount came courtesy of lower claims and other discounts. Still the total new expenditure was $18,353.62. That makes the actions of municipal leaders See APPROVES, page 6A