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ITlgfil |iiiih mill ■■Minn rtwfct p«ii(hw of un city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of,Centerville VOLUME 136, NUMBER 182 Below THE Fold: Warner Robins selling Tasers to Centerville Weekend September 16,2006 The Home Journal’s FRONT PORCH IN SPORTS ■ Football and lots of it. Also, Thursday was a great day for softball in Houston County as Warner Robins, Houston County, Perry and Westfield all won. - See 1B IN BRIEF WRPD, Wal-Mart to hold community event The Warner Robins Police Department and Wal-Mart on Booth Road are planning a community event today from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Booths will be set up for VIN etching, Child Car Safety Seat Check and Child Fingerprinting. The Community Adult Resources Extension Service will have a booth offering informative literature addressing specific issues con cerning seniors such as personal safety, older drivers, crime preven tion and Alzheimer’s disease. Service Center to hold ribbon cutting The Community Outreach Service Center will host a ribbon cutting and open house Sept. 21 from 11:30 a.m.-12:45 p.m. During that time, the organization, accord ing to a release will be: “Celebrating the opening of our new women and children's shelter.” Everyone, according to the release, is welcome to stop by for food, refreshments and some ‘spiritual’ renewal. To get to the center, take Davis Drive in Warner Robins north to Duke Ave. Take a right and the center is one mile on the left. Call Bill Goggin at 923-5222, Ext. 4, or e mail him at Bill@goggingolf.com for more information. BIRTHDAYS Today ■ Kacie Wilkes ■ Shay Jones ■ Shirley Minter ■ Donnie McKim ■ Rosalyn Zander Sunday ■ Ashley Buck ■ Jean Buck ■ Eddie Shropshire ■ Stacy Beard DEARLY DEPARTED ■ Steven G. Taylor, 51 ■ Burland Keith Fortson, 65 INDEX LOCAL 2 A WEATHER 3 A OPINION 4 A SPORTS 1 B PERIODICAL 500 b jiii! m 4 Award-Winning Newspaper 2004 Better Newspaper Contest SiilliHiiiiMiilf.uiiMlliiilhiiHtii.iliiliiiff COOI * GEORGIA NEWSPAPER PROJECT Main Library UN IV OF GEORGIA ATHENS GA 30602-0002 3-DIGIT 306 September 16, 2006 Tsmm Tennessee rabies incident drills home need locally to stay smart E Ut I m Km « Hr ■' ■v4Bb aft BS By CHARLOTTE PERKINS Journal Staff Writer Few diseases are more feared than rabies, which is virtually always fatal and can be transmitted to human beings by bites frpm animals, such as raccoons, bats, dogs and cats. While rabies vaccinations are required by Georgia law for dogs, cats and ferrets, it is not required for horses. See RAj/HES, page 8B ENiyGary Harmon Dadier Rosareo, from Fantasy Paso Fino Farms in Florida, examines “JLM’s , Javanero” after he takes him out of the trailer Friday. This horse was the 12001 champion. ' County to take up rezoning of tract By RAYLIGHTNER Journal Staff Writer The Houston County Commission is going to dis cuss the proposed rezoning of a 48-acre tract at the north end of Lake Joy at Tuesday night’s meeting. The 48.854-acre tract across from Rehoboth Baptist Church prop erty was rezoned from Mother charged with child abuse By RAY LIGHTNER Journal Staff Writer A fight between the par ents earlier this month led to child abuse charges against the mother. Yolanda Shuntez Austin, 22, is currently being held in the Houston County Jail www.hhjnewß.com Residential Agricultural to R-3 when it was annexed into the city in March. A request to rezone the tract from R-3 (7,000- square-foot lot minimum) to R-4, which permits multi-family residential, was tabled and deferred last Tuesday by the Warner Robins Planning and See TRACT, page 8B on charges of felony and misdemeanor cruelty to children from the Sept. 2 fight with her husband. The child was reportedly injured during the par ents’ fight that stemmed from “an argument about See ABUSE, page 8B □ County to address rezoning of Lake Joy Rd. tract E Jflflß '^sSt^^' ENI Gary Harmon Houston County’s Roddy Nixon arrives a split-second too late to stop Berkmar’s quar terback from releasing a pass in their game Friday in McConnell-Talbert Stadium. For more, see page 18. HoCo student a finalist in Discovery challenge By KRISTY WARREN Journal Staff Writer Jason Lloyd, now a ninth grader at Houston County High, was chosen as a finalist from 400 stu dents across the nation to compete for in the Eighth Annual Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge. According to a press release, finalists were chosen based on written essays about science fair projects they presented at local fairs across the country. Lloyd’s project dealt with ways to improve the current mosquito trap by adding a motor and wheels. During the finals, Lloyd, who was one of nine semi finalists from Georgia - three of which were from Houston County - and other finalists will present their research to judges and the pub lic, competing for more than SIOO,OOO worth of scholarships and special prizes, as well as the title of “America’s Top Young Scientist of the Year.” Just a tase they were going throughl Warner Robins selling equipment to Centerville By RAY LIGHTNER Journal Staff Writer The Warner Robins Police Department does not use Tasers. For whatever reason, however, the city pur chased eight of them three years ago at a cost of $499 each. “We don’t use them,” echoed Mayor Donald Walker during a meeting recently.” That said, criminals won’t have to worry about that phase of law enforce ment in Warner Robins. Others, yes, that one, no. But, they better watch out in Centerville. Why? Because the Rowdy Roddy Two SECTidN^pf&dages □ Mother charged with abuse Lloyd will travel to Washington D.C. Oct. 21- 25, where he will take part in the DCYSC finalist com petition at the National Institute of Health cam pus in Bethesda, Md. “I haven’t been any where other than Georgia,” he said lead ing up to the semifinal ist competition. “So I’m looking forward to that.” He will compete in team based, interactive chal lenges designed around the theme of “Disease Detectives.” “This year’s theme is poignantly relevant,” said the press release. See FINALIST, page SB city is selling them to the Centerville Police Department. The city council declared the Tasers as surplus, but instead of auctioning or having to advertise for bids, the city will be sell ing them down the road. In a memo, Police Chief Brett Evans explained Centerville Police Chief Ernie Pardo contacted him about the Tasers. Evans proposed transferring the Tasers to Centerville for $250 each. Centerville will pay for them with part of $4,000 it is getting for involvement in a recent criminal case, according to the memo. Lloyd