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4 Bmlm VOLUME 137, NUMBER 133 BELOW THE FOLD: Police catch burglar after attempted repeat performance ■ Absconder back in jail Tuesday July 10,2007 The Home Journal’s FRONT PORCH IN BRIEF New Hope Baptist to host health fair A free blood pressure and diabe tes screening for $1 will be offered July 28 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at a health fair sponsored by the Missionary Society of New Hope Baptist Church, W.F. Ragin Drive, Perry. Specialists will be on hand to share vital information on health issues such as diabetes, heart dis ease, cancer, AIDS and hyperten sion. Healthy snacks will be served. This event is open to the public. WR Little Theatre to present Fences Warner Robins Little Theatre will present the play Fences at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and July 19-21, as well as July 26-28. There will also be a special Sunday matinee this Sunday and July 22 at 2:30 p.m. The play, according to a release is the winner of every major award, including Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, New York Drama Critics, Tony and Pulitzer Prizes. This, according to the release, “sensational drama” starred James Earl Jones as Troy Maxson, a former star of the Negro baseball leagues who is working as a garbage man in 1957. Maxson sees the world as composed mostly of fences, which enclose him. He is very bitter that he was excluded from major league baseball during his prime and was too old to play when the sport finally was integrat ed. Maxson’s son wants a chance at professional sports, but Maxson refuses to let him try his luck. Warner Robins Little Theatre is located at 502 South Pleasant Hill Road. To make reservations, call 929-4579. Reservation lines are open each Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets are sls adults, seniors $lO (Sundays only), students $lO. BIRTHDAYS July 9 ■ Pat Burch E-mail your birthdays to: hhj@evansnewspapers.com or donm@evansnewspapers. com or send them to: 1210 Washington St., Perry 31069 attn: Don Moncrief. You can also call him at 987-1823, Ext. 231. PERIODICAL 500 1111111111 8 *55108 0000l 1 4 Award-Winning Newspaper 2004 Belter Newspaper Contest COOI * GEORGIA NEWSPAPER PROJECT Man Library UNIV OF GEORGIA ATHENS GA 306C2-OGG2 3-DIGIT 306 July 10, 2007 tow; tov Cor.vnMO Today Weather Chance of thunderstorms High: 92 Low: 74 hhjnews.com iHfph Fuel economy in ethanol ” cu vehicles A literal ‘brush’ with the law Suspect caught in break-in By RAY LIGHTNER Journal Staff Writer Clifford Stewart has been charged in the early Thursday break-in at Houston Hardware in Bonaire. Stewart, 36, of 1000 Arrowhead Trail, Apt. D, in Warner Robins, was arrested without incident after being found by a deputy in a wooded area near the story. He was hiding in the brush at the time. About 2:20 a.m. Deputy Michael Zimmerman was conducting a routine busi ness security check at Houston Hardware SllpillplS Joumal/T)on Moncrief Dane Clark of the Perry Horseshoe Pitcher’s Club lets loose a horseshoe during the Perry Peach Pits tournament held Saturday at Rozar Park in Perry. For results of the tournament, as well as additional pictures, check out Wednesday’s Houston Daily Journal. Police catch burglar alter attempted repeat performance By RAY LIGHTNER Journal Staff Writer Christopher Heith Johnson was caught returning to the scene of the crime - trying to do it again. Johnson, the suspect in two convenience store bur glaries was found early Sunday morning following a second burglary at one of the stores. The arrest was made in the parking lot of the other store. LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY, city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville Students attend MGTC* Supporting Technical and Academic OA Rigor camp. £fl in Bonaire when he report edly observed a white male inside the gated area in front of the business. The suspect ran as the deputy exited his patrol car and Zimmerman called for additional units. Sgt. Tommy Spires responded to the scene, heard movement in the wooded area north of the store and advised responding units to secure the perimeter. See BR USH, page 6A Great Dane jo” 'PPm Johnson, 28, of 109 Williams Drive, in Bonaire, is currently in the Houston County Detention Center charged with two JOHNSON counts of burglary, three counts of possession of bur glary tools and one count of www.hhjnews.com r iii mmmrn n criminal attempt to commit burglary. Saturday about 11 p.m., Houston County Sheriffs Office patrol units were dispatched to an alarm at Andy’s Food Store, 355 Highway 247 in Bonaire. Deputies arrived on scene and were given a description by a witness. They also viewed the surveillance video and were able to confirm the See BURGLAR, page 6A SPORTS: Gayton picks up lons' of awards; Music, WRAII squads win dis- "7 A trict. More. # ft STEWART One section • 10 pages County makes gains on AYR State grad rate increases to 71.1 percent By CHARLOTTE PERKINS Journal Staff Writer More than 81 percent of Georgia’s public schools in 2006-2007 made Adequate Yearly Progress under the No Child Left Behind Act, and in Houston County almost all schools were listed as making distinguished progress. Only Northside High School as listed is not making AYP Supt. of Schools David Carpenter was at a professional conference on Monday and not available for comment on the system’s improved overall scores, which have just been released by the Georgia Department of Education. See A YP, page 6A Making progress ■ The following schools had a Distinguished school improvement status: Bonaire Elementary; Bonaire Middle, Centerville Elementary, David A. Perdue Primary, Eagle Springs Elementary, Feagin Mill Middle, Houston County High, Huntington Middle, Kings Chapel Elementary, Lake Joy Elementary, Lindsey Elementary, Linwood Elementary, Matt Arthur Elementary, Miller Elementary, Morningside Elementary, Parkwood Elementary, Pearl Stephens Elementary, Perdue Elementary, Perry Primary, Quail Run Elementary, Russell Elementary, Shirley Hills Elementary, Tucker Elementary, Warner Robins Middle School, Westside Elementary. ■ The following schools met Adequate Yearly Progress requirement and were rated adequate: Northside Elementary School, Perry Middle School, Thomson Middle School, Warner Robins High School. ■ Northside Middle School and Perry High School met AYP but were listed as needing improvement. ■ Northside High School did not achieve AYP stan dards and was listed as needing improvement. NCLB, AYP What does it all mean? The No Child Left Behind Act is a federal law aimed at strengthening schools and ensuring steady improve ments in student performance. Under NCLB school progress is measured each year by testing students. States must establish plans to reach the goal of having every child performing at grade level by 2014, The plan requires that schools make good use of technology in the curriculum, that students with dis abilities be accommodated and that schools provide special help for non-English speaking children. A key term for educators is Adequate Yearly Progress, commonly called AYP. Schools must show progress in their test scores. If a school is listed as needing improvement, there is no consequence the first year, but if it is classified the following year as not having made AYP, parents have the option of placing their children in a higher performing school. When the school has not made AYP for three years, the parent may request supplemental educational ser vices such as free tutoring. The fact that a school is listed as needing improve ment does not mean that the school is a “failing” school. The school may have scored well in a number of testing areas, with a poor passing rate in another area, or may have a substantial group of disadvan taged or disabled students that did not meet all testing goals. There are specific requirements for test scores for all students in minority groups, with economic disadvantages, with English language learning needs and with disabilities. Source: A Houston County Parent's Guide to Understanding the No Child Left Behind Act. Absconder back in jail By RAY LIGHTNER Journal Staff Writer On a day where Americans celebrate freedom, Jay Dennis Aultman lost his after spending the past 11 months as an absconder. He had been listed as an absconder on the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Sex Offender Registry since last September. Aultman, 39, is a convicted child molester, an Evans Family Newspaper and was wanted for violation of proba tion from Superior Court and registra tion of sex offenders. The war rant for AULTMAN See ABSCONDER, page 6A