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LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY, leg *'|
city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville
VOLUME 136, NUMBER 232
Thursday
December 7, 2006
The Home Journal's
FRONT
PORCH
WELCOME BACK
More than 60 airmen from the
78th Civil Engineer Group who
are deployed to Iraq are sched
uled to return to Robins Air Force
Base today.
The 78th Civil Engineer Group
is responsible for all civil engineer
ing activities at RAFB including:
Real estate management, utility
provisioning, facility maintenance
and repair, real property installed
equipment, fire protection, readi
ness, environmental manage
ment and Prime Base Engineer
Emergency Force (Prime BEEF)
778th Squadron.
IN SPORTS
Warner Robins hosted Peach
County on the basketball court
Tuesday and come away with
wins. Westfield, on the other
hand, wasn't quite as lucky in its
encounter against Stratford.
Also, the Demons and Panthers
went head-to-head on the wres
tling mats.
-See IB
IN BRIEF
Democrats to host
dinner, meeting
The Houston County Democrats’
dinner meeting will be Dec. 14 at
7 p.m. at Fuddruckers restaurant,
which is located at 133 Margie
Dr., in Warner Robins.
According to a release, during
that time they will introduce their
newly elected officers. The dinner
is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. Call
923-2323 for further information.
Perry Middle School
band to perform
The third annual Perry Middle
School Jazz Band spaghetti din
ner will be Friday. Dinners will
include chicken parmesan, pasta,
bread, salad, dessert and tea
from My Father's Place in Warner
Robins.
Meals will be served in the Perry
Middle School cafeteria or will be
available for pick-up from 4-7
p.m. The Panther Jazz Band and
various small ensembles will pro
vide entertainment from 5 - 7 p.m.
The cost of each ticket is SB. For
tickets call the band room at 988-
6100 or e-mail ahursey@hcbe.net
or chursey@hcbe.net.
BIRTHDAYS
Today
■ Kenny Greene
E-mail your birthdays to:
hhj@evansnewspapers.com
or donm@evansnewspapers.
com or send them to: 1210
Washington St., Perry
31069.
PERIODICAL 500
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8 "55108 OOOOl" 4
Award-Winning
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2004
Better Newspaper
Contest
COOI *
GEORGIA NEWSPAPER PROJECT
Main Library
UNIV OF GEORGIA
ATHENS GA 30602-0002
3-DIGIT 306
December 7, 2006
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BELOW THE FOLD: For toy safety, follow the manufacturer's instructions
"Everyone was issued a square of very dark glass. Just a
squaie. they weren't goggles We were told not to look at the
first blast We didn't but from the deck we watched after the
blast as a large shaft of water came up first then over the
top. The clouds seemed to boil out of the water shaft Then a
second and then a third column rose, all of the columns then
boiled and the shock wave from the first explosion hit us
John C. Smith of Byron, on Operation c u.au
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Journal, Nancy Hawk
Jo/in C. Sm/tfi shows o/f the certificate he received as part of Operation Castle, a Navy test
of a nuclear weapon.
One local man’s personal
encounter with a nuclear weapon
By NANCY HAWK
Journal Staff Writer
John C. Smith of Bonaire lives a quiet life.
His artistic talented wife, Hazel J. Smith, has
been gone nearly four years now. There was
a time, before he had children, before he was
even married, that then-ET 3 Smith has etched
in memory.
He can relive it now as if he’s still standing
on the deck of the seagoing tug - some 52 years
later ...
Born in Frisco City Ala., in 1932, John C.
Smith only attended first grade there. His fam
WWW.HHJNEWS.COM
ily moved to Evergreen, Ala. By then, he said,
he was already tired of school. Sure it was
important, but he added he felt it just seemed
to drag on. Later on he obtained a GED, but in
the meantime, he spent many years falling into
the right place and being caught up in the right
time.
Some years down the road he moved on to
Indianapolis, Ind., where his best friend Melvin
“Bo” Wilkerson had been working in a tele
phone factory. It was two or three weeks before
Smith was hired on at the same factory. He
worked one whole day, an eight-hour shift.
See ENCOUNTER, page 6A
Two SECTIONS • 20 PAGES
Runoff election
Voters pay
about $7.54
per lot cast
By RAY LIGHTNER
Journal Staff Writer
Tuesday’s election cost about $7.54 per
vote.
The county had to pay $12,917 to man
the 28 polling places Tuesday for the sole
item of a run-off race for Public Service
Commission. That money went to pay 140
people or 29 precinct managers, 58 assistant
managers, 38 election clerks, 24 janitors,
three election night helpers, one supply
pickup helper, one technician as well as the
84 touch screen units, 28 pickup/return sup
plies and 28 cell phones.
About 1,712 voters turned out Tuesday to
vote, with 29 of 30 precincts reporting.
There are 58,062 registered voters in
Houston County, so about 2.95 percent
showed up.
Those that did turn out ousted the incum
bent, as did voters statewide. In Houston
County, Republican challenger Chuck Eaton
defeated Democrat David Burgess 1,005 to
707 or 58.07 percent to 41.29 percent.
Statewide, Eaton defeated Burgess 52.4
percent to 47.6 percent of 111,874 to 101,615
for the District 3 PSC seat. Results are not
official until the week of Dec. 11, according
to the Secretary of State’s office.
See VOTERS, page 6A
For toy safety
follow maker’s
instructions
Special to the Journal
More than three billion toys and games
are sold in the United States every year, and
more than half of those are sold during the
holiday season alone. Although the majority
of toys are safe, they can become danger
ous if misused or if they fall into the hands
of children who are too young to play with
them.
Nationwide, approximately 160,000 chil
dren ages 14 and under are treated in
emergency rooms each year for toy-related
injuries and nearly half of these children
are under age five. The biggest category
of toy-related injuries - about 40 percent
- involves riding toys, such as scooters,
inline skates and skateboards.
“If you give a riding toy as a gift to a
child, please remember the gift is not com
plete without a helmet and protective gear,”
See SAFETY, page 6A
Safe Kids of Houston County’s
recommendations for toy selection:
/ Choose toys suitable to your child's age,
abilities and skill level.
✓ Avoid toys with small removable parts.
If the piece fits entirely inside the cardboard
tube from a roll of toilet paper, then it is con
sidered a choking hazard.
/ Look for high-quality design and construc
tion. Make sure eyes, nose and other possible
small parts are tightly secured.
✓ Avoid sharp points or edges on toys for
children under the age of 8.
✓ Avoid electrical toys with heating ele
ments (batteries, electrical plugs) for children
under the age of 8. These toys are a potential
burn hazard.
/ Avoid toys that produce loud noises. Toy
guns and high-volume games can perma
nently damage a child's hearing.
✓ Avoid toys with strings, straps or cords
longer than seven inches, which can
wrap around a child's neck and
accidentally strangle him
or her.
✓ Be sure to read '
the labels on
all toys. Be
aware of age vi
and safety KkJSI
use the
mation as a wJKT
guide. fj
lv Evans Family Newspaper'