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HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
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Perry Office
1210 Washington St.
P.O. Box 1910
Perry, GA 31069
(478) 987-1823
See us online at
www.hhjnews.com
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POSTMASTEFS: Send address
changes to: P.O Box 1910, Perry.
GA 31069
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 Tidwel l 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
Many summonses
unanswered
ATLANTA (AP) - The
upcoming trial of courthouse
shooting suspect Brian
Nichols is showing another
example of the difficulties
Fulton County has finding
people to serve jury duty.
As of Tuesday, more than
2,200 of the 3,500 jury
summonses sent out either
went unanswered or were
returned as undeliverable.
And another 269 people have
already been excused.
The summonses, which
were mailed Dec. 1, did not
specify they were for the
Nichols trial and did not say
the jury might be seques
tered.
But if the pattern con
tinues until the first group
of prospective jurors report
next Thursday, the response
rate will be even worse than
what the county usually sees.
Fulton County records show
that, routinely, 47 percent
of those summoned for jury
duty do not report. And the
county usually does noth
ing about it. Court records
show only 1,017 prospective
jurors called for the Nichols
case had confirmed they will
appear - 31 percent of those
remaining once the 269
already excused are removed
from the pool.
“That surely is a poor
indication of how serious
ly people take it,” Emory
University law professor
Paul Zwier said. “It’s like
they are completely blowing
it off, saying ‘nobody will do
anything about it.’ That’s
anarchy.”
Since the Nichols case has
received a high level of media
coverage, a larger number of
prospective jurors have been
called to offset the effect of
pretrial publicity.
Judge Hilton Fuller, who
is presiding over the death
penalty case, is reviewing all
requests to skip jury duty.
Georgia law specifically
YOUR WEATHER TEAM!
M6T
Today's Weather
Local 5-Day Forecast
Sun
72/50
Showers, maybe a
rumble of thunder.
Sunrise Sunset
7:38 AM 5:45 PM
Mon
61/38
Occasional showers
possible. Highs in
the low 60s and lows
in the upper 30s.
Sunrise Sunset
7:38 AM 5:46 PM
lrnmm* r -7 I
\ I
Georgia At A Glance
\ Atlanta r \
\ 62/43 Augusta
\ / «\ 75/55
\ r x.
V Warner Robins l \
\ 71/50 [ •
\ \ \ \ Savannah
? V Perry 78/58
J i 72/51 "X. S
\ Valdosta <n
- 5 '
Area Cities
EEZZZHSSZ3
Albany 73 52 rain
Athens 64 46 rain
Atlanta 62 43 rain
Augusta 75 55 rain
Bainbridge 79 56 t-storm
Brunswick 70 60 t-storm
Cartersville 62 42 rain
Chattanooga.TN 52 33 rain
Columbus 71 50 rain
Cordele 74 55 rain
National Cities
Atlanta 62 43 rain
Boston 49 40 cloudy
Chicago 42 27 pt sunny
Dallas 58 33 sunny
Denver 36 23 mst sunny
©2005 American Profile Hometown Content Service
exempts people over 70, full
time students, the primary
caregiver of a child younger
than 6 or anyone who home
schools a child from jury ser
vice. Fuller also has said he
will require Fulton County
officials to verify addresses of
all the summonses returned
as undeliverable.
Atlanta area gets
mixed review
WASHINGTON (AP) -
Emergency agencies across
the Atlanta area showed
they can talk to each other
in a disaster during a recent
exercise, but local gov
ernments could do a bet
ter job coordinating fund
ing decisions and operating
procedures, according to a
Homeland Security score
card.
Despite using 26 radio
systems over nine counties,
local fire, police and emer
gency agencies have devel
oped technologies allow
ing them to communicate
in a crisis, said the report,
released this week.
But the region got an
“intermediate” score for the
governance structure it has
set up to oversee the com
munications network.
The report graded 75 urban
areas across the country on
“interoperable” emergency
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Tue
„> >
64/36
Mainly sunny. Highs
in the mid 60s and
lows in the mid 30s.
Sunrise Sunset
738 AM 5:47 PM
We deleft rate Hometown Life
vT,v'X
laky HI Lo Cond.
Dalton 59 38 rain
Dillard 61 38 rain
Dublin 74 52 rain
Duluth 61 42 rain
Gainesville 59 45 rain
Helen 63 43 rain
Lagrange 68 44 rain
Macon 70 49 rain
Marietta 62 41 rain
Milledgeville 70 51 rain
Houston 60 42 mst sunny
Los Angeles 75 50 sunny
Miami 82 71 pt sunny
Minneapolis 33 23 sn shower
New York 53 45 cloudy
communications. Generally,
it found that cities, counties
and states have stronger pol
icies in place after the Sept.
11 terrorist attacks and
Hurricane Katrina revealed
weaknesses in communica
tions systems.
Federal officials cautioned,
however, that regular test
ing and exercises are needed
“to effectively link disparate
systems” and that “formal
ized governance (leadership
and planning) across regions
has lagged.”
The Atlanta-area portion
of the study includes the city
of Atlanta as well as Cobb,
Fulton and DeKalb counties.
It also includes some state
agencies, while Douglas,
Henry, Gwinnett, Clayton,
Fayette, and Rockdale coun
ties are slated to be added
to the regional planning
group.
Atlanta airport is
nation's busiest
ATLANTA (AP) - For
the second year in a row,
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta
International Airport has
retained its title as the
nation’s busiest in terms
of flights, according to
government data released
Thursday.
The Atlanta airport logged
976,307 flights in 2006, down
STATE AND REGION
Wad
1/10
x
61/36
Sunny. Highs in the
low 60s and lows in
the mid 30s.
Sunrise Sunset
7:38 AM 5:48 PM
Moon Phases
#> m
Full Last
Jan 3 Jan 11
• <
New First
Jan 19 Jan 25 __
UV Index
Sun 1/7 2 Low
Mon 1/8 3 Moderate
Tue 1/9 3 Moderate
Wed 1/10 3 Moderate
Thu 1/11 3 Moderate
The UV Index is measured on a 0-11
number scale, with a higher UV Index
showing the need for greater skin pro
tection 0 W*- *Wm n
| City Ul Lo Cond. |
Peachtree City 66 41 rain
Perry 72 51 rain
Rome 63 39 rain
Savannah 78 58 t-storm
St. Simons Island7o 60 t-storm
Statesboro 79 57 rain
Thomasville 78 58 t-storm
Valdosta 77 59 t-storm
Warner Robins 71 50 rain
Waycross 79 57 t-storm
Cond. |
Phoenix 67 43 sunny
San Francisco 62 41 mst sunny
Seattle 48 45 rain
St. Louis 50 30 pt sunny
Washington, DC 55 48 rain
0.4 percent from its 980,386
flights in 2005, the Federal
Aviation Administration
said. Flights include takeoffs
and landings.
Its rival, Chicago O’Hare
International Airport, was
listed second busiest, with
958,643 flights in 2006.
That number was down 1.4
percent from the 972,246
flights it had in 2005, the
FAA said.
Atlanta and Chicago have
run neck-and-neck in recent
years to claim the title of
the nation’s - and therefore,
the world’s - busiest airport.
Atlanta already claimed to
be the world’s busiest air
port in terms of passengers.
The FAA does not maintain
passenger statistics.
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Thu
1/11
62/41
Partly cloudy. Highs
in the low 60s and
lows in the low 40s
Sunrise Sunset
7:38 AM 5:49 PM
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Obituaries
Joshua R. “Josh” Williams, 32, passed away on Jan. 2,
2007. Graveside Services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday,
Jan. 6, 2007 at Evergreen Cemetery with Rev. Parker Agnew
officiating. The Westfield Schools Class of 1993 will serve as
honorary pallbearers. He was a lifelong resident of Perry,
1993 graduate of Westfield Schools, and a 1997 graduate of
Georgia College where he was a member of Pi Kappa Phi
Fraternity. Joshua was a member of the Perry Presbyterian
Church.
Survivors include his mother, Lynda Williams of Perry;
brother, Heath Williams (Jennifer) of Atlanta, grandpar
ents; Leonard and Doris Williams of Mexico Beach, Fla.
He is preceded in death by his father, Charles L. “Butch”
Williams and Grandfather, R.A. Bobby Holtzclaw. Please
sign the online register at watsonhunt.com.
Report: Trauma care system
in 'crisis/ needs support
By GREG BLUESTEIN
Associated Press Writer
ATLANTA - Georgia’s
trauma care system is in
a “crisis” and needs a new
set of fees and incentives
to encourage more hospitals
to provide money-losing care
for life-threatening injuries,
according to a legislative
report released Thursday.
The report suggests add
ing a $5 surcharge to the
state’s motor vehicle tag tax
or tacking a fee of about $1
onto monthly cell phone bills
to make up for some SBS
million in uncompensated
trauma care that Georgia’s
hospitals and physicians
provide.
But plugging that funding
gap would only be the first
step, warned Rep. Larry
O’Neal, the co-chair of a
joint study committee on the
issue.
“This is going to take a
lot of money,” he said. “I’ve
heard the number SBS mil
lion. And I’ve heard that’s
just the beginning.”
Trauma centers provide
immediate care in the after
math of life-threatening
injuries, which doctors say
can make a critical differ
ence for patients.
But the cost of providing
such care can be stagger
ing, and some hospitals have
dropped the voluntary “trau
ma” designation because of
the expense.
Now only 15 of the state’s
152 hospitals are certified
trauma centers, leaving
some rural regions danger
ously exposed.
Archbold Memorial
Hospital in southwest
Georgia’s Thomasville is a
telling example.
As the only trauma care
center south of Macon,
Columbus and Savannah, the
264-bed hospital’s resources
are constantly stressed, said
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Rick Ivey, the hospital’s vice
president of public affairs.
“It’s not that trauma cen
ter care isn’t being provided
elsewhere,” Ivey said. “But
the guarantee that the spe
cialists are on call, that these
facilities and equipment are
sitting at the ready, is not
assured.”
In the report, emergency
responders testified that the
282 licensed ambulances
and six ambulance helicop
ters are not nearly enough
to serve the state’s needs.
Trauma surgeons warned
that high malpractice insur
ance rates and demanding
schedules are driving more
talented physicians out of
the trauma business.
And hospital administra
tors said that some 700 lives
would be saved each year if
Georgia’s trauma death rate
reaches the national aver
age.
Health care workers have
urged lawmakers for more
than a decade to create and
fund a statewide trauma net
work, but efforts have been
tied up by lawmakers reluc
tant to levy more taxes.
This year, though, the
Legislature’s Republican
leaders have talked of the
need to raise more revenue
to make up for transpor
tation shortfalls and gaps
in retiree health care costs.
O’Neal, who chairs the
House’s tax-writing commit
tee, said funding a trauma
system should be added to
that list.
“If we don’t act, people are
going to die that don’t need
to die,” said O’Neal. “I want
everyone in the General
Assembly to get that realiza
tion before they start shoot
ing at this.”
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