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VOLUME 136 , NUMBER 213
Below the Fold: Woman charged with false report of a crime m Enola Gay navigator (plane that dropped atomic bomb) to visit
Weekend
November 4, 2006
The Home Journal s
FRONT
PORCH
IN BRIEF
Date changes for
local shootouts on TV
Two shootouts that happened in
Perry and that were supposed to air
on Court TV Wednesday will instead
air Nov. 15.
“Something happened at the net
work," said Steve Oliver associate
producer for Nash Entertainment in
regard to the confusion. “Theylip
flopped 'em. They aired episodeisix
last Wednesday (Nov.
Force is episode five."
The program is calls#* M<U
Shocking and airs
p.m. on Court TV. In the ones fram
ing Perry, both shootouts -involve
Chad Payne and Eric Barnett, forfflffl
members of the Houston CouTfiy
Sheriff's Office Interstate Criminal
Enforcement Unit. Payne is now with
the Butts County Sheriff's Office ICE
Unit and Barnett is now with the
Perry Police Department.
One of the shootouts also involved
Perry Police officer now-Sgt. Chris
Sutcliff, who was shot in the arm by
the driver following a chase on April
26, 2004. Payne and Barnett had
initiated the chase after the driver
fled a traffic stop.
That video will close the program.
It is described on the Most Shocking
Web-site as “... desperation in action
when a violent collision marks the
end of a car chase but the beginning
of a furious gun battle."
The program will open with
the “suicide by cop" incident at
Woodlawn Cemetery, which followed
a chase up and down Interstate 75
on April 26, 2005.
- Ray Lightner
Journal aims to
recognize veterans
Hey veterans. We want you ...
to tell us and the readers a little
about yourself. To that end, and in
preparation for your day, Veterans
Day Nov. 11, we're asking you to
do just that. We’re asking you to
submit a little bit about yourself.
You can e-mail your submissions
to Don Moncrief, managing editor,
at donm@evansnewspapers.com
or hhj@evansnewspapers.com (the
latter please if you’ve got photos
attached). Or, you can mail them
to: 1210 Washington Street, Perry
31096.
BIRTHDAYS
Today
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Sunday
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3-DIGIT 306
November 4, 2006
Serving Houston County Since 1870
0 '■■■■ v
LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY,
city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville
Two arrested over fatal wreck
One charged in death, other for running roadblock and striking deputies
By RAT LIGHTNER
Journal Staff Writer
Two men were jailed fol
lowing a fatal wreck and
subsequent roadblock
Wednesday on Ga. 247 at
Russell Parkway.
Sok Tae Yoon, 35, of 205
Kestral Way in Warner
Robins, has been charged in
the death of Ryan Stich, 32,
of Warner Robins, accord
ing to the sheriffs office.
Yoon was charged with
speeding - 54 mph in a^fs&
* *ofc h
MKT IKE CANDIDATES
District 2
Board of
Education members
serve four year
terms. Winners
in this election
will begin serving
in January 2007
Houston County
Board of Education
members are cur
rently paid S3OO per
month with com
pensation for called
meetings. Board
members elect their
own chairperson
each January. The
current chair is
Pamela Greenway.
Candidates
Kathy Brown and
Marianne Melnick
BROWN
If
■L
MELNICK
are the candidates for the District 2
seat, which is currently held by Jim
Boswell, who is retiring at the end
of this term. The District 2 board
member, in addition to voting on mat
ters relating to the entire system,
represents Lake Joy Elementary,
Quail Run Elementary, Shirley Hills
Elementary, Feagin Mill Middle,
Warner Robins Middle and Houston
County Career & Technology Center.
Kathy Brown
Kathy Brown is retired from the
U.S. Air Force, and is completing
class requirements for a degree in
public service from Macon State
College. Married, with two children
in the schools, she has long been an
advocate for giving parents a voice
in school decision making and is a
strong supporter of school councils.
On her website, she writes
“Parents of children in our school
See TWO, page lA
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
By CHARLOTTE PERKINS
Journal Staff Writer
Tuesday, Houston County vot
ers will choose between Jay Walker
and Maurice Braswell for Post Two
on the Houston County Board of
Commissioners.
Walker, an attorney and
Republican, is seeking his seventh
term as a commissioner. Braswell,
who lives in Kathleen, is the
Democratic candidate. An Air Force
veteran who is retired from civil ser
vice, he has been in regular atten
dance at the meetings of the commis-
www.hhjnews.com
mph zone,
following
too closely
- with acci
dent, run
ning a red
light and
homicide
by vehicle
- second
degree.
He bond-
ADCOCK
ed out Thursday by paving
$2,767.
According to incident
reports, Yoon rear-ended
BOARD OF EDUCATION
4 |N
GELDREICH
I *&>• " *
I ■g l '^l
WILSON
John Geldreich
John Geldreich is a Georgia native
who has lived in Houston County
for eight years. He is a magna cum
laude graduate of Northeastern State
University in Oklahoma, and has
taught at Shirley Hills Elementary
School and Northside High school,
where he was named Star Teacher in
2004. He now works in graphics.
He is a strong advocate of the
arts in the schools, and says that
although it has been established that
students who participate in the arts
“surpass their peers on standard
ized tests," funding for the arts is not
adequate.
Geldreich says that the Board of
education “has done an admirable
job” in dealing with the rapid growth
of the student population, but that he
would like to see new schools built
in the central city area of Warner
Robins,"not all to the south and
See FOUR, page lA
d I ■
WALKER
have to give up the turf war,” he says.
“They work for the people.”
He would like to see a
W
n ***
YOON
low to red. Yoon report
edly changed to the outside
northbound lane with his
2006 Toyota 4Runnner,
District 4
The Boaid mem
ber from District
4 represents
Northside Middle,
Lindsey Elementary,
Linwood Elementary,
Pearl Stephens
Elementary, Bert
Rumble Middle,
Crossroads Center
and Warner Robins
High, as well as
voting on issues of
concern to the whole
system.
Candidates
The candidates
are John Geldreich
and Fred Wilson,
both of Warner
Robins
sioners, and often
speaks in response
to rezoning positions
taken at their meet
ings.
Braswell says he
supports consolidat
ing planning and
zoning for the county
and its three cities.
“The politicians
striking the motorcycle.
At impact, Stich’s hel
met came off. He was also
thrown into the windshield
support post and then
rolled off the Toyota and
into the highway. He was
pronounced dead on scene.
The fatal crash remains
under investigation.
Joseph Ronald Adcock,
44, of 109 Chisom Drive,
Bonaire, is jailed on numer
ous charges after he report
edly ran the roadblock
See WRECK, page
Stic h ’ s
19 8 2
Ya m a h a
xj6 5 0
motorcy
cle as Stich
was stop
ping for
the traf
fic light
changing
from yel-
District 6
CLEMENTS
j \ •$,-. 0 Wi}^
j\ • a
SWECKER
He,
YASIN
“I think our progress
is better than anybody else’s in the
area.”
Regarding continuing growth,
Clements points out that the student
population is increasing at a rate of
about 600 students a year - which
is equivalent to a school a year, he
considers this the most urgent issue
facing the system, notes that three
new schools will open in time for the
2007-06 school year, with more on
the drawing board for 2010-1011.
See SIX, page lA
,aM
BRASWELL
On the subject of
Planned Unit Developments, he says
“I could see it close to. a city limits,
but not around areas like
See POST, page lA
Three pages
DismcrfflS “at
large” and is voted
on county-wide.
Candidates
The three can
didates are Griff
Clements of
Kathleen, Bob
Swecker of Warner
Robins and Jehad
Yasin of Perry.
Griff Clements
Griff Clements,
the incumbent, is
seeking a second
term on the Board.
He was educated at
Mercer University,
Southern Tech
and Georgia Tech,
and works for the
City of Warner
Robins in the Utility
Engineering Dept.
He and his wife
Linda have three
children, two of
whom were edu
cated in Houston
County schools.
Clements says of
the school system,
freeze on property
tax evaluation, so
that once a home
is assessed for a
certain value, it will
continue to be taxed
at that level regard
less of future assess
ments until it is sold
to a new owner.
an Evans Family Newspaper
UTS
AF lieutenant
pleads guilty
Solicited child for
sex, transmitted
obscene materials
By RAY LIGHTNER
Journal Staff Writer
An active-duty Air Force offi
cer pled guilty late Thursday to
soliciting a child for sex.
The person
Lt. Morgan
Douglas
Williamson,
24, believed to
be a 14-year old
girl was actu
ally Houston
County
Sheriffs Office
Sgt. Darrin
Meadows of
WILLIAMSON
the Juvenile Division.
Williamson of 1900 Wesleyan
Drive, Apt 406, Macon pled
guilty Thursday to one count
of sexual exploitation of a child
and two counts of furnishing
obscene material to minors
for incidents that happened in
August of 2005.^
Superior Court Judge L.A.
“Buster” McConnell sentenced
Williamson to 10 years proba
tion to serve 12-14 months in
a detention center with sex
offender conditions. “This case
was a real tragedy because a
very promising career in the
Air Force is ruined,” said Senior
Assistant District Attorney
Jason Ashford. “But the bigger
tragedy would’ve been if a real
child had been on the other end
of these conversations.”
Williamson contacted
Meadows, who was posing as
a child in an on-line chat room
and made sexual advances.
Soon after, Ashford said,
his conversation includ
ed detailed graphic sexual
content. Subsequently he
See GUILTY, page fA
Grew member on
Enola Gay to visit
By NANCY HAWK
Journal Staff Writer
Wednesday and Thursday,
CONUS/Majestic Frames will
be hosting a book luncheon for
Theodore “Dutch” Van Kirk,
the navigator of the Enola Gay,
B-29 Superfortress.
The 509th Remembered by
Robert and Emily Krauss will
also be available for purchase
with Van Kirk being there to
autograph the book from 3-5:30
pm, Wednesday and from 4 to 5
p.m. Thursday at the store,
which is located at 2507 Suite
C on Moody Road in Warner
Robins.
The crew of the Enola Gay,
Aug. 6, 1945, were given a
mission, which began on
Tinian Island in the North
Marianas at 2:45 a.m. and
continued 13 hours until they
See VISIT, page $A
Woman charged with
false report of a crime
By RAY LIGHTNER
Journal Staff Writer
In three days, Alicia Gabrielle
Ferguson claimed to have been
sexually assaulted, admitted
she had not and turned herself
into police for false report of a
crime.
It all began Halloween,
at 1:49 a.m. Ferguson, 19,
of 4007 North Highway 41,
arrived at Houston Medical
Center stating she had been
See REPORT, page 6A