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LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY, city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville VOLUME 137, NUMBER 142 BELOW THE FOLD: Warner Robins track coach Mark Taylor sentenced Violent fugative captured Weather Partly cloudy High: 92 Low: 68 oHggs|ES!jpß hhjnews.com ■k lAjph Political progress -l-gyM ■■CII slow in Iraq SATURDAY July 21,2007 The Home Journal’s FRONT PORCH IN BRIEF Benefit barbecue changed to Aug. 18 A benefit barbecue for an injured Warner Robins Police officer has been rescheduled to Aug. 18. Initially planned for today, the benefit barbecue, now on Aug. 18, will help defray some of the costs incurred by Warner Robins Police officer Jeff Herb, who was injured in while on duty in a fight with a suspect about five weeks ago. Advance tickets are available now by calling the Evans’ at 218-0495, 954-2466 or 542- 8225. Houston County sets millage hearings The Houston County Commissioners have announced their intention of increasing the countywide taxes it will levy this year by 1.61 percentage over the rollback rate. The proposed county tax rate is 9.45 mills, up from 9.32 mills, but still below the county tax cap of 10.3 mills. The increase will be about $6 for the owner of a SIOO,OOO home or about sl3 for the owner of a $200,000 home. The County Commissioners millage rate will be the sub ject of three public hearings, the first two Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. and 6 p.m., and the final hearing and vote the following Tuesday, July 31, at 4 p.m. All hearings will be held in the County Annex Building, 200 Car Vinson Parkway in Warner Robins. BIRTHDAYS Saturday ■ Betty Dawkins ■ Gary McCoy Sunday ■ Shawn Michael ■ ■ Latasha Lowe Monday ■ Heather Myers News tip hotline: 6 a.m.-4 p.m: 987-1823 Ext. 231 4 p m.-until: 397-8811 PERIODICAL 500 HMH 4 Award-Winning Newspaper 2004 Better Newspaper Contest COOI * GEORGIA NEWSPAPER PROJECT Man Library UNIV OF GEORGIA ATHENS GA 3G6Q2-00G2 3-DIGIT 306 Sfiftvi\(, Horsros (jmmi Sim*; 1870 Suspect faces additional charges By RAYLIGHTNER Journal Staff Writer David Alan Counts was charged with four burglaries in Perry Monday. Counts, 18, of Americus confessed to investigators to four burglaries along U.S. 41 in Perry including Hamby Chevrolet, The Westfield Schools, a Texaco under con struction and was reportedly found inside New Life of Perry Church by a Houston County Sheriffs Patrol dep uty doing a business check. Counts has also been charged with six more church j —— - '■ f JH MMito i s. / I m f-. Ar- B If * I | It 4 M mHI , m M mm- fUi " m r '* ■ 1 .-.■»*’* '■2-’e? » ’ t'** jp’* 11 | 5 I % "v' -fW ' ’ $ ! “ '•«' • . '■RB ll JHKS3K3HRLJ Journal/Ray Lightner Perry Police kept traffic moving along Sam Nunn Boulevard at the Interstate 75 intersection Thursday evening after weather knocked out power to traffic lights and businesses along Sam Nunn Blvd. and Washington Street. Lightning knocks power out in Perry By RAY LIGHTNER Journal Staff Writer - Thursday night’s storm knocked out power to many of the businesses and traf Violent fugitive captured By RAY LIGHTNER Journal Staff Writer A fugitive rape suspect was arrested Wednesday in Warner Robins. Darryl Finnelle was arrest ed in the Pilot truck stop in Byron Wednesday by a team of law enforcement officers led by the U.S. Marshals Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force. While west of Interstate 75 and with a Byron mailing address, the truck stop is within Warner Robins city limits. Finnelle, 28, of Bloomfield Road, in Macon was being sought on a warrant issued in Macon charging him with the rape and kidnapping of a Macon woman on June 5. According to the Task Force, Finnelle allegedly grabbed SPORTS: Taylor taking fenc ing to the masses in Waner Robins ID burglaries in Americus and Sumter County and a church arson in Americus. Counts reportedly had help in those incidents from two juveniles, a 15-year-old male and a 13-year-old female, both of whom are in custody in Sumter County. Counts and the 15-year-old are each charged by Sumter County Sheriffs Office with two counts of burglary for break-ins at Central Baptist Church and Cornerstone Church, according to Major Brett Murray of the Criminal Investigation Division. “We recovered most of the fie lights along Sam Nunn Boulevard and Washington Street in Perry. Perry Public Safety Director George Potter said lightning knocked out the victim by the throat and forced her into her residence, where he allegedly raped her for several hours. Will Hawkins from the Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force said a Macon Police investigator with the task force learned through the process of his investiga tion that Finnelle was at the Pilot truck stop. Finnelle is an over the road truck driver and was in the 18-wheeler, Hawkins said, when he was located, surrounded and arrested without incident. Finnelle is being held at the Bibb County Jail on the Macon charges. The Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force is a team comprised of law enforce ment officers from 25 local, See CAPTURE, page 6A www.hhjnews.com property taken in our two incidents,” Murray said. “I COUNTS accomplices were in custody and they are charged along with Counts for the arson of St. Mary’s Catholic Church power for about 15 min utes to the Public Safety Building, home of the city police and fire departments. “We got back online pretty quickly.” Taylor out of jail, out of the county By RAY LIGHTNER Journal Staff Writer Mark Stephen Taylor is out of jail and out of the county. Taylor, a seventh grade science teacher at Northside Middle School and Warner Robins High School track coach, was arrested and charged with stalking, simple battery, harassing phone calls and influencing a witness on June 6 after the Warner Robins Police Department received a complaint from a school administrator at Northside Middle School, who told police Taylor was stalking, threatening and making unwanted contact with a co-worker. He was later indicted on those charges and pleaded LOCAL: Museum of Aviation holds Oris of America mystery camp 7A and four other church build ings burglaries in the city. Americus Police Chief James Green said Counts and the two juveniles are charged with burglaries at First United Methodist Church, Calvary Episcopal Church, St. Mary’s Catholic Church and the former building of Central Baptist Church which is the temporary site of the Department of Family and Children’s Services since the tornado on March 1. Counts and the juveniles are each charged with four counts of burglary and one count of first-degree arson feel com fort ab 1 e some from the city was found when he (the 15- year-old) was arrest ed.” Americus Police con firmed the two juvenile Potter said the traffic lights were out for about two hours. He explained the computers for the traf fic signals are smaller See POWER, page ioA TAYLOR to the Houston County Detention Center Taylor was released July 5 on his own recognizance for aggra vated stalking charge. According to the indict ment, he used intimida tion and threats against a witness, his co-worker, threatening to publish a visual depiction of her if she reported his crimes to police. That is what he Two sections • 20 pages by the Americus Police. Green said the male remains in custody and female juve nile was taken into custody, but he was unsure of her current status. Green said most of the stolen items were recovered from the 15-year-old’s home and from Counts’ residence. The items included musi cal and electronic gear as well as some candles and religious items from the churches. The only things not recov ered were two cell phones taken from DFACS, which See SUSPECT,page ioA Work begins on Perry signal By CHARLOTTE PERKINS Journal Staff Writer As of Thursday, the signal heads were in place at the intersection of U.S. 41 and Perimeter Road, and while you won’t be seeing red, green and yellow lights for a while yet, the countdown has begun. Perry Mayor Jim Worrall, who made the first request for the signal in November, 1999, said that he had sent a memo to the members of city council about the good news, and closed it with the words, “Praise the Lord!” According to Houston County Public Works Director Tommy Stalnaker, the goal now is to have the system fully operational by the time school starts, or, by Aug. 6 at the latest. Stalnaker said that a good deal of work remains to be done. The computerized sig nal cabinet must be put in place and sensors have to be installed on the roads. “There will be a pretty sophisticated computer in the box,” Stalnaker said. He pointed out that once the See SIGNAL, page ioA pleaded guilty to. He sentenced also includ ed $250 in fines, no contact with the victim and banish ment from Houston County. According to court records, Taylor also agreed to drop contesting his employment with the Houston County Board of Education. Taylor had been asked to relinquish all school keys and possessions belong ing to the Houston County Board of Education and was given a date for the person nel hearing of July 30 at 2 p.m. Witnesses at that hear ing, according to the letter include former Superintendent Danny Carpenter, the victim, the students with whom he See TAYLOR,page xA guilty July 5 to influenc ing a wit ness. He was sentenced to 60 days, given cred it for time served and released that day. According iv Evans Family Nkiyspapi-r \y fL