Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL Houafem flatly -Iminuii Perry Office 1210 Washington St. P.O. Box 1910 Parry, GA 31069 (478)987-1823 See us online at www.hhjnews.com Reader OKF© Classified Advertising: Call (478) 987-1823 between the hours of 8 a.m and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. You can fax an ad 24 hours a day to (478) 988-9194. Display Advertising: Call Nicole Crofutt at ext. 224 Delivery by mail: Delivery by mail is available for $62 in-county and SB2 elsewhere per year paid in advance. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: P.O. Box 1910, Perry, GA31069 The Houston Home Journal, A peri odical. mailed (ISSN 1526-7393) at Perry, Ga., is published Tuesday through Saturday for $62 per year by Evans Newspapers Inc., 1210 Washington St., Perry, GA31069; (478) 987-1823 Fax (478) 988-1181. Not published Thanksgiving and Christmas. Office Hours: The office in Perry is open from 8 a m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. NEWS TIPS: Call (478) 987-1823 ext. 231 Newsroom Fax: (478) 988-1181 Presentation editor: Contact James Tidwell at jtidwell @ evansnewspapers.com Corrections: The HDJ strives for fairness and accuracy, and will print a correction or clarification when one is in order. Call ext. 231. Advertising errors and omissions: The advertiser agrees that the pub lisher shall not be liable for damages arising from errors in advertisements beyond the amount paid for the space actually occupied by that portion of the advertisement in which the error occurred. There shall be no liability for non-insertion of any advertisement beyond the amount paid for such advertisement. This newspaper is a member of The Georgia Press Association, The National Newspaper Association and The Associated Press State Briefs Prison population over capacity ATLANTA! AP)-Georgia’s prison population, which had been near capacity for the past few years, is now 7 percent over capacity. The state prison popula tion, which had been just under 50,000, has climbed to more than 53,000, offi cials with the Georgia Department of Corrections told members of the correc tions board Thursday. About 23,000 new inmates enter the prison system each year, while only about 18,000 are released. That causes a net gain of 5,000 inmates a year, according to Department of Corrections data. Several factors have contributed to the growth, including a tough two strikes law for violent felons approved by Georgia vot ers in a 1994 constitutional amendment and tougher parole board policies. But two more recent fac tors have also helped fuel this year’s increase. Methamphetamine use, and the accompanying crime, have helped pack pris ons. Corrections’. Assistant Commissioner Brian Owens noted that 250 to 300 people are going to prison every month on methamphet amine-related charges. In addition to charges of pos sessing, manufacturing and distributing meth, many peo ple are burglarizing homes and businesses, shoplifting and stealing to support their drug habit, he said. Five years ago, only about 50 people a month were entering the prison system on meth charges, Owens said. In addition the meth use, the Department of Corrections also aggressive ly moved this year to move inmates already convicted from county jails into the state prison system. Local YOUR WEATHER TEAM! .TODAY'S II Today's Weather Local 5-Day Forecast Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu 12/10 12/11 12/12 12/13 12/14 63/35 68/43 67/54 70/42 66/38 Mix of sun and Sunny Highs in the Partly cloudy. Highs Chance of showers. Partly cloudy Highs clouds. Highs in the upper 60s and lows in the upper 60s and Highs in the low 70s in the mid 60s and low 60s and lows in in the low 40s. lows in the mid 50s. and lows in the low lows in the upper the mid 30s. 40s. 30s. Sunrise Sunset Sunrise Sunset Sunrise Sunset Sunrise Sunset Sunrise Sunset 7:26 AM 5:30 PM 7:27 AM 5:30 PM 7:28 AM S:3IPM 7:29 AM S:3IPM 7:29 AM S:3IPM Georgia At A Glance \ Atlanta \ \ 57/32 0-j. —aLI. Augusta I 7 -/ -C-X 61/36 \</~ - l Warner Robins \ \ 62/35 V k V * Savannah •—r 3^ ) t Perry 66/41 I **- ) 63/36 ( Valdosta \ ' —StaL , 68/45 /’’sJ*' Area Cities | City II LoW | Albany 65 42 pt sunny Athens 60 31 pt sunny Atlanta 57 32 pt sunny Augusta 61 36 mst sunny Bainbridge 68 47 pt sunny Brunswick 64 51 pt sunny Cartersville 57 34 pt sunny Chattanooga.TN 51 33 pt sunny Columbus 60 39 pt sunny Cordele 65 41 pt sunny National Cities Atlanta 57 32 pt sunny Boston 48 34 sunny Chicago 40 35 pt sunny Dallas 59 55 cloudy Denver 49 28 sunny ©2005 American Profile Hometown Content Service sheriffs have long grumbled that the Department of Corrections has been slow to pick up inmates once they are sentenced to prison. Owens estimated the prison system moved about 3,000 inmates from jails into pris ons. Baldwin County Sheriff Bill Massee, a Corrections board member, said the com bination of so many factors is creating a “perfect storm” for a crisis. Prison crowding can cause tempers to flare, sanitary problems and ill nesses to spread more quick ly. The state could also face lawsuits if it does not control the inmate population. In the past few months, the state has had to convert some open rooms in pris ons into dormitories. At one prison, it will begin convert ing single beds into bunk beds. Georgia’s prison system is the fifth largest in the nation and costs slightly more than $1 billion to oper ate. The prison system has asked for about SSO million more in its fiscal year 2008 budget, which begins July 1, according to House budget analysts. Man to pony up for animal cruelty BRUNSWIC (MNS) - A jvA o! SmuMit ™ ini t|a * r4 Peachtree Cafe' Fresh Orange Juice Mail Order % suueezed right here Gourmet Shoppe I oneurfarm. Catering WLJ* INDIAN RIVER CITRUS Just Peachy Gift Shop% ]f Navel OiangCS Corporate Gifts Ruby Red Grapefruit Cj? Nova Tangelos ‘Sp (Shipped fresh from the groves) New Crop of Pecans now in season! - 'l 1 Meteorologist Jerry Methewson a ■Wfw m*mrn osanpm Turn* tm Haws- MUM We Celebrate Hometown Life | Stones for and about hometowns just tike yours, Lot* for us each week »’ |Cfty fit loCond. | Dalton 56 33 pt sunny Dillard 55 27 pt sunny Dublin 63 34 mst sunny Duluth 57 31 pt sunny Gainesville 56 35 pt sunny Helen 58 31 pt sunny Lagrange 59 34 pt sunny Macon 62 34 pt sunny Marietta 57 31 pt sunny Milledgevilie 62 33 pt sunny mm ——— I ■ I ■ l II Houston 70 58 rain Los Angeles 65 47 rain Miami 77 67 rain Minneapolis 37 24 pt sunny New York 50 35 sunny Glynn County man charged with five counts of animal cruelty lost custody of six underfed horses and 17 hogs that were already seized, as well as an unknown number of chickens and ducks that are still running loose on his property. State Court Judge Orion Douglass released Lewis Carroll, of West Fancy Bluff Road, on his own recogni zance Thursday and ordered him to pay about $4,500 in combined bills for veterinary care and transporting, feed ing and boarding the seized animals. He also forbade Carroll from having any ani mals on his property. “You are not to have any animals on your property or in your custody at all. That includes even goldfish,” Douglass said. WARNER ROBINS SUPPLY I WE RENT I Trenchers-generators Rj nail guns-compressors splitters | PERRY WARNER ROBINS m 612 BALL ST 2758 WATSON BLVD. I 987-2334 9534199 CALL: 825-3362 Hwy 96 East, 1-75 exit 142 www.ljnepackins.com STATE AND REGION Moon Phases m Full Dec 5 New Dec 20 UV Index Sun 12/10 Mon 12/11 Tue 12/12 Wed 12/13 Thu 12/14 The UV Index is measured on a 0-11 number scale, with a higher UV Index showing the need for greater skin pro tection o m % mmm 1 1 |My Hi Lo Cond | Peachtree City 59 29 pt sunny Perry 63 36 pt sunny Rome 57 32 pt sunny Savannah 66 41 pt sunny St. Simons Island 64 51 pt sunny Statesboro 66 37 mst sunny Thomasville 68 46 pt sunny Valdosta 68 45 pt sunny Warner Robins 62 35 pt sunny Waycross 68 43 pt sunny I City Hi Lo Cond. mi hi——rrwTwnr—M San Francisco 56 43 rain Seattle 49 45 rain St Louis 48 38 pt sunny Washington, DC 51 32 sunny Please don’t forget. r , I'l his Christmas season please help poor and suffering souls in our community. Your gift today will let someone in desperate | need know they haven’t been forgotten. I Remember to give. | YES, l want to help provide food and shelter ■ for needy people in our community: * U S2O to help feed a hungry person, I U $35 to help provide toys for needy children. IQ SSO to help feed and shelter a hurting family. □ $ to help as much as possible. I sens I adi miss _______ Jfflw J'rmmtrim j • Centerpiece of the text is from John’s Gospel ■ • Other Texts include writing of Charles Wesley & Christina Rosetti, represent five centuries, and a respond to the biblical truths in celebration, wonder and devotion. • The Sanctuary Choir and Brass Ensemble Perry United Methodist Church Choir Pr° v " 1 p or More Information 987-1852 U 1415 IP Last Dec 12 € First Dec 27 3 3 3 3 3 Moderate Moderate Moderate Moderate Moderate [ CUP AND MAIL WITH YOUR GIIT TODAY Aps 2%?S&e a Sunday, Dec. 17 th 9:ooam and 11am Obituaries TOMMIE N. HUNT PERRY - Tommie N. Hunt, 92, died Thursday. Graveside services will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at Evergreen Cemetery. The family will receive friends at 1403 Main Street. Hunt, daughter of the late George A. and Nettie Stephens Nelson, had lived most of her life in Perry and was the widow of the late Tommie S. Hunt. She worked 30 years with the Perry Public Library and served as assistant librarian and acting librarian. She also worked at the Clerk of Superior Court Office for 10 years. A member of the Perry First Baptist Church, she was in the Ruth Sunday School Class. She was also a member of the Delphian Club, the Wednesday Afternoon Book Club and a Sewing Club. Survivors include her children; Nelson Hunt of Smyrna and Abbie Sue Ginn of Perry; grandchildren, Jeff Hunt, Judi Hunt, John Franklin Gibb, Bryan Conner, and David Ginn; great grandchildren, Amelia Rogers, Will Conner and Sam Conner. She was preceded in death by two children; Ann Storey and Navelle Hunt. The family requests contributions to the Perry Houston County Library or the Perry First Baptist Church. Please sign the online register at watson hunt.com. Forecaster calls for busy hurricane season in 2007 FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) - The 2007 Atlantic hur ricane season should have above-average activity, with three major hurricanes and a good chance at least one of them will make landfall, a top hurricane researcher said Friday. Colorado State forecaster William Gray predicted 14 named storms and a total of seven hurricanes next year. He and fellow researcher Philip Klotzbach said there is a 64 percent chance of one of the major hurricanes _ with sustained winds of 111 mph or greater _ coming ashore. The long-term aver age probability is 52 percent, they said. Still, they said fewer hurricanes are likely to make landfall next year than in the devastating 2005 season, which had 28 named storms, including 15 hurri canes, four of which hit the U.S. The worst was Katrina, which leveled parts of the Gulf Coast. The 2006 season had nine named storms and five hur ricanes, two of them major. That was considered a “near normal” season but fell short of predictions by Gray and government scientists. None hit the U.S. Atlantic coast _ only the 11th time that has occurred since 1945. DOING THE MOST GOOD Please stintJ your tax-deductible gift to: The Salvation Army P.O. Box 2408 Warner Robins, GA 31093 To make, a gift bv credit card 1 -800-SAD ARMY SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2006 ♦ Gray and Klotzbach said last month that a surprise late El Nino contribut ed to the calmer June-to- November hurricane season this year. El Nino - a warming in the Pacific Ocean - has far reaching effects that include changing wind patterns in the eastern Atlantic, which can disrupt the formation of hurricanes there, Gray said. Gray’s team said Friday those conditions are likely to dissipate before the next sea son but Klotzbach cautioned, “this is an early prediction.” Gray said he believes the Atlantic basin is in an active hurricane cycle, despite the calm 2006 season. “This active cycle is expect ed to continue for another decade or two at which time we should enter a quieter Atlantic major hurricane period like we experienced during the quarter-century periods of 1970-1994 and 1901-1925,” he said. Tropical Storm Risk, a London-based consortium of weather, insurance and risk-management experts, on Thursday forecast an active 2007 season, with up to 16 tropical storms includ ing nine hurricanes, four of them intense. It * iSfjfsfl - ■ B * ~ WWfc- jfjgjßpjggi' 3A 41626