Newspaper Page Text
Mrotshm ©aily 3|mm wl
VOLUME 136 , NUMBER 187
Below the Fold: WR-ALC commander focuses on partnership between base, community ■ Perry Police Department welcomes new officer
Tuesday
September 26,2006
The Home Journal’s
FRONT
PORCH
IN SPORTS
■ In softball, Warner Robins and
Houston County both took turns
routing Valdosta Saturday.
Also, the Lady Bears volleyball
team finished third at the Raider
Rally. Professionally, look for
Braves and Georgia Tech news.
- See 1B
IN BRIEF
Church to offer
blessings for animals
Pets will be blessed at St.
Christopher’s Episcopal Church,
which is located at 1209 Macon
Road in Perry, Oct. 3, starting at
6:30 p.m. The annual Blessing of
the Animals is in observance of the
Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. Fr.
William Anderson says that all ani
mals are welcome at this service.
Sacred Heart readies
for Fall Festival
Sacred Heart's Fall Festival will
be Oct. 21 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. at
250 South Davis Drive, Warner
Robins. The festival will include
live Radio Disney broadcast and
prizes for children, entertainment
including country music star T.
Graham Brown, hot air balloon
rides, Bingo, Granny’s Attic flea
market, paint ball, 50 and more
arts and crafts vendors, silent auc
tion, premium raffle to win money,
vacations and other major pack
ages, carnival games, sports chal
lenges, lots of food from lots of
vendors and much, much more.
Marching band invite
to be held at stadium
The Heart of Georgia Marching
Band Invitational will be held Oct. 7
from 9 a.m.-10 p.m. in McConnell-
Talbert Stadium. The cost is $5 per
adult, $3 per child. The event will be
hosted by the Warner Robins High
School Band Boosters, Inc., and will
feature bands from all over the south
eastern part of the United States
competing against one another.
BIRTHDAYS
Sept. 24
■ Marvin Powell
Sept. 25
■ Garlinda Thom
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
■ Dorothy Jean Newman
Dotson, 64
■ Alice E. Harrell, 93
■ Evelyn Dasher Bracewell,
88
PERIODICAL 500
lllilllllllllll
8"55108 00003?" 4
Award-Winning
Newspaper
2004
Better Newspaper
Contest
COOI *
GEORGIA NEWSPAPER PROJECT
Main Library
UNIV OF GEORGIA
ATHENS GA 30602-0002
3-DIGIT 306
September 26, 2006
IServim; Holst()\ Col M Y Sixn: IS7O
Suspect shoots former girlfriend
Presumably turns gun on himself later
By RAYLIGHTNER
Journal Staff Writer
The suspect in a Sunday shooting
was found dead less than nine hours
later of an apparent self-inflicted
gunshot wound.
The suspect, Douglas Deshaun
Price had been in the county jail
and bonded out last week.
Alzheipier awareness takes off
a ♦
• • •
w •/
. .•*
0
ENI/Gary Harmon
Attendees of the Memory Walk release balloons to lift off the event held Friday at the Georgia National
Fairgrounds in Perry. The premise was to honor Alzheimer victims as well as bring attention for the need to find
a cure for the disease. According to one attendee, more than 200 people turned out. For more pictures of the
event, see 2A.
WR-ALC commander speaks regarding
partnership between base, community
By JOE SERSEY
Journal Correspondent
Maj. Gen. Tom Owen was the
guest speaker at the 21st Century
Partnership fall meeting.
The commander of Warner Robins-
Air Logistic Center focused his
remarks on the importance of part
nership within the military and in
the community, comparing the recent
talks between General Motors and
Ford.
“People work together towards com
mon goals,” Owen said. “(It’s) not a
new thing here.”
He extolled the efforts of the com
munity to make the military welcome,
citing the efforts of local businesses to
help and support servicemen.
“Nowhere do you have the kind of
support you have here,” Owen told
his audience. “These people are our
most important asset ... the alliances
we have are absolutely key.”
Owen also discussed the importance
of community togetherness to the mil
itary’s war on terror. He pointed to
the academic side of the area.
“We have the most innovative work
force right here in Robins,” Owen
said. “We’re developing and training a
work force that’s really our future.”
Owen said he was seeking co-op pro
grams to work with the seven techni
cal schools and 13 colleges in the area,
saying that these schools can provide
the base with trained people.
“Initiatives I’ll be working on ... a
tighter alliance rather than isolated
universities,” he said. “It’s no acci
dent we’ve earned a reputation for
outstanding war fighter support.”
Owen intends to accelerate the
partnership between the surrounding
LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY,
city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville
www.hhjnews.com
He was arrested on warrants taken
out by Warner Robins Police Sept.
19 and bonded out of jail the next
day on charges of battery, criminal
trespass/entry, stalking and harass
ing phone calls, as well as a pre
existing theft by taking charge from
the county according to the Houston
County Sheriffs Office.
Warner Robins Police are investi-
"Nowhere do you have
the kind of support you
have here. These people
are our most important
asset... the alliances we
have are absolutely key''
- WR-ALC commander Maj. Gen.
Tom Owen
communities and the base.
“I want us to be good citizens to
your community,” Owen said.
He encourages Air Force personnel
assigned to the base to become active
in their communities, to volunteer
and take leadership roles.
Owen envisions partnerships where
WR-ALC works with the Defense
Logistic Agency and with other ALCs
and private partnerships with com
mercial industry to take, “advantage
of shared strengths.”
He wants the community and the
base to share goals, risks, interests,
decision making and rewards and list
ed five priorities for 2007.
First, he wants his military person
nel to embrace the Air Force Culture.
Second, develop a work force.
Third, enhance communication
between the Air Force community on
Robins Air Force Base, and also with
the community outside the gate.
Fourth, plan for the future to 2015,
2020 and beyond.
And fifth, increase the partner
ships.
See SPEAKS, page $A
gating the death of
Price as a suicide,
according to Det.
Scott McSwain of
the Warner Robins
Police Department
Criminal
Investigations
Division.
Price was found
about 9 a.m. Sunday
in a wooded area off Calhoun Drive
with a single, apparently self-inflict-
i —ran
MM -gp!
IB wjff' *
Perry police
add officer
From staff reports
Steve Cox, a Houston County
native, is the newest addition to the
Perry police force. Cox was sworn
in earlier this week after graduat
ing from the Police Academy in
Macon.
He was introduced on Tuesday
night to the Perry City Council.
A 1997 graduate of Northside
High school, he served in the U.S.
Navy for five years, and then
earned his B.S. in psychology from
Georgia Southwestern University.
He is now working on his masters
in criminal justice through Kaplan
University. Jenny Cox, his wife of
three years, is a nurse.
Serving as a police officer has
been a lifelong goal of his.
“I’ve always wanted to help the
community,” he said.
Two sections • 12 pages
ed gunshot wound, McSwain said.
An autopsy was performed Monday
morning - results were not avail
able as of presstime - to determine a
cause of death.
Price, 19, was identified by his
former girlfriend - the shooting vic
tim - and others at the house as the
suspect in the 18-year-old female’s
shooting, McSwain said.
The incident occurred around
midnight Sunday morning.
See SHOOTS, page $A
an
PRICE
cox
"If Perry McGuire
thinks that's a
campaign issue,
he's right.’’
- Houston County District
Attorney Kelly Burke
WR murder
case taking
front stage
in campaign
Special to the Journal
A Warner Robins murder
case has or will apparently
become the focal point in the
political race for attorney
general.
According to an Atlanta
Journal-Constitution article
by Carlos Campos published
Monday, a television ad that
began running that day will
contend Attorney General
Thurbert Baker so badly
botched the appeal of a 1984
Middle Georgia murder case
that it resulted in the rever
sal of a confessed killer’s
conviction.
According to the AJC arti
cle, Republican challenger
Perry McGuire is using the
handling of the appeal in
his underdog bid to unseat
Baker, who has held the
state’s top legal office since
1997. McGuire was able to
enlist the aid of the victim’s
widower, who appears in the
ad, the AJC article stated.
Per the AJC article: “Baker
says the case was mishan
dled at the trial level, not
during the appeal handled
by his office.”
The case itself revolves
around Taressa Stanley who
was fatally shot during a
robbery while working at a
convenience store in Warner
Robins.
Timothy Johnson, 22,
at the time, pleaded guilty
and was sentenced to life
in prison. From his cell in
Reidsville, however, he filed
numerous handwritten
appeals over the years and
acted as his own attorney.
Before his conviction on
murder charges, he was,
according the AJC article,
also already a convicted
felon who had served prison
time for aggravated assault
on a peace officer.
But, on Feb. 13, the Georgia
Supreme Court ruled that
Johnson was not properly
informed of three crucial
rights before entering his
guilty plea: the right to a
jury trial, the right to con
front one’s accusers, and the
right to avoid self-incrimina
tion. The Supreme Court,
relying on a transcript of
Johnson’s plea in court that
included an exchange with
the judge, overturned his
conviction.
And that is where the TV
See CASE,page