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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 PERIODICAL 500 Illillll 8 “*5 510 8 0 0001*4 Award-Winning Newspaper 2004 Better Newspaper Contest ItilliUiiailliilliiiiitillliiillMiilfiiiilillii COOI * GEORGIA NEWSPAPER PROJECT Main Library UNIV OF GEORGIA 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 **■ ESHHKH j . mRSSSH ' r A& ||j H v fig - ; 53S j IBIb ———■*■ 1 ■sss ~ » sg ßM' i ■M a if* e*^hßß unBSSB; m - - |o&l ; vi»V P !a H 4 . B ray— fiSj&fl ■>’j , «\»j. [ Sj i-l Journal t!a> I.ightnrr gg 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, _ '* , 4 v ‘ ' !»■*. „, 'avwfl 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