Newspaper Page Text
' 7 LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY,
city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville
VOLUME 137, NUMBER 43
BELOW THE FOLD: Expansion to cost hospital parking Watson named chairman INSIDE: 6 killed, 29 injured in bus crash
Today
Weather Partly cloudy
"mim* High: 70 Low: 40
V-- •
Weekend
March 3, 2007
The Home journal's
FRONT
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IN BRIEF
Leverette Road
closed today
Leverette Road will be closed
today from 7 a.m.-2 p.m. to
through traffic between Corder
Road and Carl Vinson Parkway.
The closure, according to a
release, is required for construc
tions crews to install two storm
drains.
Motorists are asked to avoid
the construction area if at all pos
sible to alleviate traffic congestion
and delays. Westbound traffic on
Leverette from Carl Vinson should
not be a problem.
Lake Drive and Rolling Wood
Circle residents will have access
to their homes during the road clo
sure, and businesses on Leverette
Road will also have access to
their property from Corder Road,
according to Warner Robins
Police Maj. Harry Dennard.
You can call Dennard with any
questions about the road closure
at 929-6924.
Informed Citizens
United to meet
Informed Citizens United will
meet Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the
Legacy Case on Watson Blvd. in
Warner Robins.
Their guest speaker will be
Tommy Stalnaker, Director of
Houston County Public Works
Department, who will, according
to a release, provide information
regarding current Houston County
projects.
The public is invited to attend.
Contact dkw46o@yahoo.com for
additional information.
BIRTHDAYS
March 1
■ Matthew Lawrence Seger
March 2
■ Nancy Hill
Sunday
■ Robbie Minter
■ Morris Patton
Monday
■ David Jones
ANNIVERSARY
Monday
■ Terri and Todd Story
PERIODICAL 500
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GEORGIA NEWSPAPER PROJECT
Main Library
UNIV OF GEORGIA
ATHENS GA 30602-00 02
3-DIGIT 306
March 3, 2007
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Local firefighters
'storm' into action
Some assist other parts of the state
By RAYLIGHTNER
Journal Staff Writer
Local firefighters were real
busy overnight Thursday as
the storms made their way
through.
Some remained busy
Friday morning as sev
eral Houston County
crews responded to assist
in Americus, where torna
dos and severe weather hit
hard. The Houston County
based Georgia Search and
W*- iSplla
—
Journal Nancy Hawk
Between 11:45 p.m. and midnight Thursday Charles Walsh and some neighbors were
tucked inside as the storm intensified. Luckily for North Davis in Perry there was only
one major tree down. Unfortunately for Walsh, it landed on his 1994 Silverado.
888 urges caution
in wake ot storms
Special to the Journal
In the aftermath of
Thursday’s storms, the 888
urges the public to exercise
caution when hiring a contrac
tor to repair damages, or when
responding to charity appeals
to assist those stricken by the
disaster.
“Property owners will want
to make repairs to their home
or business as quickly as pos
sible,” said Kelvin Collins,
President/CEO of the Better
Business Bureau of Central
Georgia and the CSRA.
“Unfortunately, unscrupu
lous contractors or scam art
ists may take advantage of the
post-disaster chaos to scam
unsuspecting property owners
out of money, or provide shod
dy materials or sub-standard
work.”
The 888 offers these tips for
selecting a contractor to repair
any damages:
0 Check with your insurance
company about policy coverage
and any specific filing require
ments the company may have.
0 Don’t act in haste. Don’t
be pressured into signing a
long-term contract. Make tem
porary repairs if necessary.
0 For major permanent
repairs, take time to shop
around for contractors,
See CAUTION,page jA
www.hhjnews.com
Belgian Brass
Quintet to perform
"After 10 p.m., when the last cell went
through we got real busy. It kept us
busy until about 4 (a.m.) this morning."
- Perry Deputy Fire Chief Joel Gray
Rescue team comprised of
county and Warner Robins
firefighters was sent. Perry
Fire Department sent a lad
der truck and a crew of four
according to Deputy Fire
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Chief Joel Gray,
The GSAR team includ
ed both the city and coun
ty firefighters and chiefs
and at least 15 Warner
See ACTION, page yA
lor Elite 8 berth
Georgia voters
speak out via poll
Bush's approval rating at 40 percent;
Perdue gets endorsement of 55 percent
Special to the Journal
Attached are the results
of a three-day poll of 800
likely Georgia voters con
ducted by Strategic Vision,
LLC Feb. 23-25.
The poll has a margin
of error of ±3 percentage
points.
In the poll, 368 (46 per
cent) Republican voters
were surveyed; with 328
(41 percent) Democratic
voters surveyed; and 104
(13 percent) Independents
and other party affiliation
polled.
By the numbers
How 800 Georgia voters feel about current issues:
% Agree % Disagree
Allow Sunday alcohol sales 53 33
Withdraw from Iraq 42 48
in six months
U S. doing everything in 24 55
its power to win war in Iraq
Do Democrats have a better 29 58
plan for Iraq
Deny funding for additional 38 53
troops in Iraq
Expansion to cost medical
center by way of parking
By RAY LIGHTNER
Journal Staff Writer
Beginning in April,
Houston Medical Center
will lose the front right
corner of its campus for the
next two years.
Hospital Administrator
Skip Philips updated the
Houston County Hospital
Authority on the $75 mil
lion expansion project,
telling the board the cer
tificate of need for the five
story bed tower has been
approved. He also showed
them plans for the campus.
“We will lose some park
ing,” Philips said.
Authority member Glynn
Greenway said the plans,
HC Hospital Authority
names Watson chairman
By RAY LIGHTNER
Journal Staff Writer
Sonny Watson has been
named chairman, this time
for the Houston County
Hospital Authority.
Watson succeeds Ed
Dyson, who served as chair
man for the past two years
on the authority. Dyson will
remain on the authority as
a member. Dyson pledged
Watson, “the same support
you’ve given to me, I’ll
give to you.” Dick Bexton
thanked Dyson for his ser
vice. “It’s been a good two
years,” Dyson said. “We’ll
continue to be a successful
authority.”
Last week Watson was
elected vice chairman of the
State Ethics Commission.
an Evans Family Newspaper]
i
Two sections • 20 pages
When Republicans were
polled on whom they would
support in 2008 for the
Republican Presidential
nomination, former New
York Mayor Rudy Giuliani
received 28 percent; Sen.
John McCain received 21
percent; former House
Speaker Newt Gingrich
14 percent; Massachusetts
Gov. Mitt Romney received
8 percent; Congressman
Tom Tancredo 4 per
cent; former Arkansas
Gov. Mike Huckabee
received 3 percent; Kansas
See POLL, page yA
“killed a bunch of park
ing.”
Philips explained about
150 spaces will be lost up
front, but 132 would be
added in the back with the
destruction of two houses at
228 and 230 Sunset Drive.
About half of the park lost
its employee parking.
Philips said the front lot
at the hospital would be
maintained for patient and
visitor parking. All employ
ee parking will be moved to
the back, he said.
Philips said he is work
ing on provisions for shut
tle service for the back lots,
in answer to Greenway’s
concerns about patients
See PARKING, page yA
He was
appoint
ed to the
commis
sion two
years ago
by then
Speaker of
the House
Terry
Coleman.
New offi
cers were elected at the
commission’s most recent
meeting as new mem
bers took office, Watson
explained.
He serves on the com
mission with Chairman
William H. Jordan, who
was appointed by the state
Senate in 2006; Emmett
W. Bowers, who was
See WATSON,page 7A
WATSON