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city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville VOLUME 136, number 188 www.hhj news.com THREE^CTiONSjJBpages Below THE Fold: Houston-Peach United Way campaign begins ■ Governor awards Matt Arthur Elementary School with silver banner Wednesday September 27,2006 The Home Journal’s FRONT PORCH IN SPORTS ■ They may be young and inexperienced, but Northside's defense is getting the job done and then some. As tor Perry, it may have lost to Jackson, but as the team prepares to travel to Henry County, head coach Andy Scott likes the direction the team is headed. Also, Westfield's softball team clinched at least a tie for first with a win over Sherwood. Look for those stories as well as a column on the Braves and more. - See IB IN BRIEF Houston County Board of Health to meet The Houston County Board of Health will meet at noon Oct. 5 in the conference room of the Houston County Health Department, which is located at 98 Cohen Walker Drive in Warner Robins. Ya done good Local Dr. Titus Taube. He recent ly completed the American Board of Family Medicine Recertification Examination. Board certification, according to a release, “confers a standard of excellence in knowledge and prac tice to physicians who not only certify via the examination process, but who also work diligently on the main tenance of these skills during the seven-year cycle between examina tions.” 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 animals are welcome at this service. 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 southeastern part of the United States competing against one another. BIRTHDAYS Today ■ Sherry Bearden ■ Randall Price ■ Larry Davis PERIODICAL 500 Mill S *"5 510 B*o 0 0 01" 4 Award-Winning Newspaper 2004 Better Newspaper Contest iiiiii!iiMiS!tii{iiiii[iS!!iii!iini!iiiiiii!liu!S COOI * GEORGIA NEWSPAPER PROJECT Main Library UNIV OF GEORGIA ATHENS GA 30602-0002 3-DIGIT 306 September 27, 2006 VstßUisu Mmsws Dealer changes plea; gets 20 years Special to the Journal James Alfred Williams, Jr. was sentenced today to 20 years, to serve 10 years in prison. James Williams, 25, of Warner Robins entered a guilty plea Monday in Houston Superior Court just moments before a jury was to be selected to hear his case. He was immediately sentenced to the 20 years and ordered to serve 10. Williams changed his plea from not guilty to guilty on a charge of Possession of Cocaine with Intent to ‘Some pig’ x /v EaBBMBMaKiBHi 'nuaß:-- IN M.fm ** 1 opHH 1 |J ?T m.v - . . MRHr 4L jJL Ml mmsm / % sB m : ' ■ f.,; '■ / , ... hmM. ' x > 1 A I Sixth grader McKinley Walton cheers for her pig. l||r Governor awards Matt Arthur silver medal Special to the Journal Matthew Arthur Elementary School was one of 269 schools recognized Tuesday by Gov. Sonny Perdue for improving and promoting excellence in student academic achievement. The schools were selected based on their performance in Georgia’s Single Statewide Accountability System. The system was implemented in 2005 by the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement in collaboration with the Governor’s Office and the Georgia Department of Education. Awards include platinum, gold, sil Distribute. “He got caught doing the same thing before and did not get jail time - this time hopefully he will get the message,” said Assistant District Attorney George Hartwig stated. “If you sell drugs in Houston County and get caught, you will be aggres sively prosecuted. “The Warner Robins Police Department did a fine job catching James Williams and getting another drug dealer off the street.” Hartwig added the case couldn’t ver or bronze recognition banners and certificates for two categories - (1) greatest gain in meeting and exceed ing academic standards or (2) highest percentage of students meeting and exceeding academic standards. Matt Arthur was a silver banner award winner. Fifteen of the 269 award winning schools have earned recognition in both categories. “I applaud the accomplishment of these award recipients,” said Perdue. “They have accepted the challenge to serve as models of the academic prep "He got caught doing the same thing before and did not get jail time - this time hopefully he will get the message." - Houston County Assistant District Attorney George Hartwig be tried sooner (the arrest was made Special to the Journal The Westfield Schools recently com pleted a fund-raising campaign that resulted in more than $98,000 in gross sales. Sponsored through Great American Company, the students sold magazines for various incentives and prizes, which included T-shirts, Hummer limo rides and a drawing for an I pod. Students also participated in pig races at a pep rally where winning pigs and their stu dent owners won cash. Top sellers for the school were: Matthew Hart, Mallory Bowen, Daniel Scarborough, Brandon Borah, Bryan Bledsoe, Smyth Sexton, Anna Davis, Gabe Gattis, Leo Aromatorio (received the Ipod) and Lallie Maddox. LEFT: First grader Kevin Bandt was the overall winner of the pig races and excited ly shows off his cash prize. Submitted aration that our students will need to compete in the global marketplace.” “These schools are leading the way in Georgia,” added State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox. “They are lead ing the way in achievement and they are leading the way in improvement. I am proud to recognize these wonderful students, teachers and principals.” “Georgia’s Single Statewide Accountability System encourag es schools and districts to establish aggressive academic goals in their quest to move beyond adequacy See SILVER,page 6B Aug. 7, 2005) because arresting offi cer, Sgt. Don Edwards, just got back from seven months military service in Iraq. Edwards, Hartwig, has not even officially started back to work yet, but was at the courthouse to testify against Williams. “That’s dedication,” Hartwig said. Williams was arrested by sever al Warner Robins police officers, including Sgt. Danny Hicks, Officer Steven Reslie and Edwards. See DEALER, page 6B Jail’s medical costs go down By RAYLIGHTNER Journal Staff Writer While medical costs are up in county government, it’s gone down at the jail - at least for inmate medical care. The County Commissioners recently approved the low bid of $417,338.64 from Southern Health Partners, the cur rent nursing provider at the Houston County Detention Facility. That bid was $2,700 down from the current contract. The contract does not include pharmacy products - budgeted at $191,000 last year. Of the three bids submit ted only one included phar macy, but taking out the $191,000 was still higher than the Southern Health Partners bid, according to a memo from County Director of Administration Steve Engle to Houston County Sheriff Cullen Talton and Jail Commander Maj. Charlie Holt. The bid including pharma cy products was from a South Carolina based company with several contracts with facilities in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. The bid included tier options with the lowest service option at $619,351.13 for the first year. It escalated the second and third year. Minus the $191,000 phar macy costs the bid would be about $428,000. The other bid was from Dr. Shivdat, a local emergency room doctor who proposed starting up a company called Peach Correctional Medical Service to provide nursing services at the jail. His bid of $464,000 was $47,000 more than the low bid. Shivdat had submitted a bid last year, but did pro vide much information on the company, Engle said in the memo. See JAIL, page 6B Submitted Houston-Peach campaign begins By KRISTY WARREN Journal Staff Writer The Houston/Peach County United Way Campaign Kickoff Luncheon was held Monday featuring a performance by the Eakes Sisters. Susan, Sharon, Sandra, Shelly and Bobbie - all grad uates of Warner Robins High School - returned to their hometown from Atlanta, Texas, Virginia, Florida and New York in support of the local United Way. Speakers included See CAMPAIGN, page 6B