Newspaper Page Text
legal organ for Houston County,
city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville
VOLUME 136 , NUMBER 190
Below THE Fold: Hospital Authority OKs $59.1 million project □ Flint Energies to hold 69th annual meeting 0 Airman faces 40 years for holdup
Friday
September 29,2006
The Home Journal’s
FRONT
TORCH
IN SPORTS
■ Could they win again? Why
yes the could? Houston County's
volleyball team adds two more.
Also, the third time wasn’t a
charm for members of Perry's
Horseshoe Pitcher’s Club - but
third place was.
- See 1B
IN BRIEF
Houston County PTA
to hold meet, greet
The Houston County High School
PTA would like to invite parents,
students and teachers to attend the
annual HCHS Meet and Greet Club
Night. It will be held in the school’s
cafeteria at 7 p.m.
Per a release; “Come and learn
about exciting opportunities and
gather important information about
HCHS.”
Gator fans to gather
at Olde Time buffet
Gator fans will be gathering at
the Olde Time Country Buffet on
Tuesday at 7 p.m. for dinner and the
reorganizing of the Middle Georgia
Gator Club.
All fans of the Gators are wel
come. For more information call
Linda Horky at 953-8366.
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
Sept. 28
■ Billie H. Greer
Robert Mitchell 111, 15
Today
■ Joe Bundy
■ Frank Bellamy
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.
ANNIVERSARIES
Today
■ Emily and Rick Johnstone
DEARLY DEPARTED
■ Frances Jones Parham, 83
■ Carol Frances Bray, 71
■ Bessie Mae Holmes
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Newspaper
2004
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Contest
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GEORGIA NEWSPAPER PROJECT
Main Library
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ATHENS GA 30602-0002
3-OiGiT 306
September 29, 2006
Swing Houston County Since 1870
['..'*
ENI/Gary Harmon
Danice Edge, employee of The Kitchen Gallery, and Arthur Bitterman of Aardvark Arms stand in an empty parking
lot, both wondering if its partially - or fully - a result of the temporary closing of the Russell Parkway gate on Robins
Air Force.
Some: Base construction hurting business
By RAY LIGHTNER
Journal Staff Writer
The temporary shut down of
Robins Air Force Base’s Gate
14 tips caused a drop off in busi
nessior some Russell Parkway
businesses.
While it may be easier for
cars to get in and out of busi
nesses with the decreased traf
fic, it also means not as many
are going by or stopping in.
“My business has dropped off like you wouldn’t
believe,” said Ferrelle Bagley, owner of Kitchen
Gallery. “We’re missing a lot of traffic.”
Bagley said her lunch-hour business has dropped
off and “there’s none between 4 and 6 p.m.”
She said with the closing of Gate 14, “they can’t
quickly leave for lunchtime shopping on Russell and
come back.”
Bagley said the “thing that really bothers me is
this is our busy time of the year, this won’t be done
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4'/^ v ,‘\K, -*►<'* - B This is an artist’s rendering - from the view from ®j
™ Watson Blvd. - from designers HKS q f Houston
** Medical Center with the northwest bed tower,
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Hospital Authority OKs $59.1 million project
By RAY LIGHTNER
Journal Staff Writer
The new bed tower for
Houston Medical Center will
cost $59.1 million.
The Houston County
Hospital Authority unani
mously approved the expen
diture Wednesday night fol
lowing a presentation on the
plans by HMC Administrator
Skip Philips.
The plans for a four-story
tower with a basement call
for adding 29 beds to the
WWW.HHJNEWS.COM
"My business has
dropped oil Idee you
wouldn't believe. We're
missing a lot ol traffic."
- Kitchen Gallery Owner Ferrelle Bagley
186-bed hospital. The cer
tificate of need application
for the additional beds will
be submitted to the state
in October, with a deci
sion expected by February,
Philips told the authority.
The $59.1 million includes
adding 130,581 square feet
over four stories and a base
ment, the renovation of
21,735 feet of existing space
and frees up another 13,139
square feet for reprogram
ming (another use). Philips
Q, manager Dawn Foskey, said
“it’s not that big a drop. (Before) at 11 o’clock, when
we opened for lunch, it was packed with an hour
waiting list. Now we (just) have a steady flow. Lunch
is not as busy at it was.”
People are still thinkin’ Arby’s, however. Store
manager Temple Harris said there’s not really been
a drop in customers. And they are appreciative. “We
tell them we appreciate them coming in since Gate
14 closed,” Harris said.
Robins Air Force Base’s Gate 14, also known as
See BASE, page 6A
said “the ability to reuse
the existing space will save
the hospital about $1.4 mil
lion.”
Philips said the patient
room size would increase
from 175-square-feet to 275-
square-feet, the size of inten
sive care rooms will almost
double in size and hallways
will be widened from 12 feet
to up to 29 feet.
The additional and reno
vated space provides three
floors of beds, a new main
until December. It’ll kill us.”
Cassandra Crosby, dwner of
the Drip Drop Case has defi
nitely seen a drop in business.
“I’ve definitely seen it in our
sales. Very much so.” —'
She said it’s not just in the
morning, “there is a bigger
drop off in afternoon traffic.”
At Sonny’s Real Pit Bar-B
lobby, a new cafeteria, addi
tional observation/23-hour
beds and 73 new parking
spaces. Philips said with
the new tower, the new and
existing parking areas would
have front door access to the
hospital.
The overall expansion, at
$75 million also includes an
additional $1.2 million for
the Houston Heart Institute
and $14.65 million for a new
energy plant near Briarcliff
See HOSPITAL, page 6A
TWO SECTIONS • 12 PAGES
WMMSslFamily Newspaper
PoKce hunt
robbery
suspects
By RAY LIGHTNER
Journal Staff Writer
Warner Robins Police
are seeking two black
males in the Wednesday
morning robbery of the
Danfair Express.
About 9:14 a.m. offi
cers of the Uniformed
Patrol Division were dis-
patched to
a reported
armed
robbery at
the con
venience
store on
Russell
Parkway
a t
Belmont.
Police
reported
Inside
Two
sentenced
to 15
years each
for gun
crimes
- See 6A
that two black males with
masks, one armed with
a handgun, entered the
store and forced the clerk
behind the counter, took
an undisclosed amount of
cash and fled the store in
an unknown direction.
The clerk was not
injured to the incident.
The suspects are
described as about 5-foot
-10 to 6-feet tall with thin
builds.
Police are reviewing
the surveillance video
from the store and hav
ing probation officers
See SUSPECTS, page 6A
Airman
faces 40
in holdup
By RAY LIGHTNER
Journal Staff Writer
Harry Lamar Dean
Jr. was convicted in
Houston Superior Court
Wednesday, as a party to
the crime of armed rob
bery.
Dean, an airman at
Robins Air Force Base,
participated in the armed
robbery of the UAS Dollar
Store on Moody Road in
Warner Robins on March
7, and again on April 2.
See HOLDUP, page 6A
Flint to hold its
annual meeting
Special to the Journal
Flint Energies will hold
its 69th annual meeting
of members at 10 a.m.
Tuesday in Reaves Arena
at the Georgia National
Fair and Agricenter.
More than 2,000 mem
bers of Flint have already
participated in the annu
al meeting process by
returning their mail Bal
lot.
See MEETING, page 6A
At A Glance
What: Flint Energies 69th
annual meeting
When: Tuesday, 10 a.m.
Where: Reaves Arena,
Georgia National
Fairgrounds and Agricenter
Of note: Prize drawing with
a grand prize of $1,500 and
special entertainment by the
Northside High School Jazz
Band