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VOLUME 137, NUMBER 146 BELOW THE FOLD: Houston Healthcare issues bonds to cover expansion INSIDE: Houston Healthcare’s Family Fair coming soon 1259 Friday July 27,2007 The Home Journal’s FRONT PORCH IN BRIEF Perry HS to hold Class of ‘67 reunion The Perry High School Class of 1967 will hold its 40th reunion Oct. 19-20. For more information or to help with planning, e-mail PHS67Reunion@msn.com or call 987-5430. Langston Road closed for construction Langston Road, according to a release, will be closed to through traffic between Ga. 127/Houston Lake Road and Lake Joy Road due to utility construction on Monday and Tuesday. The road will reopen to through traffic on Wednesday. Foundation to hand out school supplies The Nece Hopson Memorial Foundation, Incorporated will, according to a release, distribute school supplies Saturday from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at Tabor Academy Cafeteria at Northside High School. Tabor Academy is located at 926 Green Street in Warner Robins. Ag Expo Authority sets next meeting The next meeting of the Georgia Agricultural Exposition Authority will be held Aug. 8 in Perry, at 1 p.m. in the Board Room of Reaves Ar@n3 WRHS to hold drop-in orientation, more Warner Robins High School, according to a release, will hold a drop-in orientation and two open houses. Students and their par ents are encouraged to attend, the release reads. The drop-in orientation will be held Aug. 2 from 4-6 p.m. The open houses will be held Aug. 21 at the main campus at 6 p.m. and Aug. 23 at the Rumble Academy at 6 p.m. Warner Robins High is located at 401 South Davis Drive in Warner Robins. Principal Steve Monday may be contacted either by phone at 478-929-7877 or by e-mail at smonday@hcbe.net. BIRTHDAYS Today ■ James M. Rich (Happy 60th!) PERIODICAL 500 8 mis 11 4 Award-Winning Newspaper 2004 Better Newspaper Contest iitllilliMillailtittitlallliiillmlluiiJilliMll COOI * GEORGIA NEWSPAPER PROJECT Man Library UNIV OF GEORGIA ATHENS GA 30652-OGG2 3-DIGIT 306 July 27, 2007 SiJtViW, J:H>i sfo \ Vi>C\n Si\< i IS7O Today Weather Partly cloudy High: 92 Low: 71 hhjnews.com tjUgh Stress test ends in budget cut for sheriff State denies parole for convicted murderer By RAY LIGHTNER Journal Staff Writer The State Board of Pardons and Paroles recently denied parole for Edward Paul Vollmer for the second time since his 1993 murder convic tion. Vollmer, 37, was convicted in Houston County Superior Court in 1993, for the murder of U.S. Navy Sailor Conway Utterback, 20. TEE I AMERICAN! 1 UTH I Txl JSr * u B BP*’ 'Vi'""’Em For more information about Shelton’s novel, visit www.AmTruth.com. The book will also be available at the Perry Book Store. Perry authop wpites 9-11 novel By Charlotte Perkins Journal Staff Writer When he was just out of Westfield High School, Nick Shelton pub lished a book of devotion als. Last year, as a student at Mercer University, he created an online Christian community on the website called The Body of Christ. Org. Now he has published a novel, The American Truth, that combines history, con spiracy and suspense, in a thriller about the events of Sept. 11, 2001. Shelton is the son of Lisa LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY, city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville Journal/Charlotte IVrkin* Nick Shelton of Perry has published his second book and first novel, a fictional treatment of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S. Shelton and the late Jeff Shelton, and the grandson RELIGION: Harvest Church hold graffiti walk. Also, Mt. Zion CME holds QA VBS. More. OH Vollmer was given a life sentence for the April 4, 1992 murder. This is the second time he has been denied parole, according to the state parole board. “Some crimes are so dark and gruesome that the community should not have to be reminded of the details,” said Parole Board Chairman Garland R. Hunt. See PAROLE, page jA www.hhj news.eom 1 jt ¥ ' ■* . v , 'v. of Frank Shelton, all of Perry. He has focused his studies at Mercer on litera ture, religions economics and politics. In the coming school term, he will be completing his undergraduate degree at Oxford University in England. At Oxford, he will be studying the literature, with an emphasis on the works of his favorite author C.S. Lewis. After completing his undergraduate degree, Shelton plans to study for his masters in globalization from Oxford. The American Truth is a See NOVEL, page lA SPORTS: Eagles roll in playoff opener. Also, Music, WRAII, lHH*esehoes,golf 7# and more. f fl "Some crimes are so dark and gruesome that the community should not have to be reminded of the details. But the Parole Board for the sake of the community and the victims must revisit these heinous crimes." - Parole Board Chairman Garland R. Hunt Grants could help fund siren system By RAY LIGHTNER Journal Staff Writer Houston County may get grants to pay for a county wide early warning siren system. County Fire Chief Jimmy Williams told the members of Vision 2020 there are some grants available through the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the county has pre-qualified thanks to its pre-disaster mitigation plan approved in 2003. Williams said that the plan included improvements to the county emergency radio system and the out door warning sirens. The 800 MHz radio system is in place, Williams said, but the sirens have not been added due to the cost. The county has pre-applied for a S6OO-some thousand 75/25 grant, which requires 25 percent local participa tion, Williams said. He said he expected to be notified to submit the full grant package in October through December of this year. “It will give us some time to budget the local participa tion portion in next year’s budget,” he said. The project is estimated at about $1.6 million for a "We have started a path towards a siren system, and are methodically going down that path." - County Commission Chairman Ned Sanders HHC issues bonds to cover expansion By RAYLIGHTNER Journal Staff Writer Houston County Hospital Authority will be issuing up to $75 million in bonds to fund the current expansion project. The seven-page resolution approved by the authority contains about 20 “whereas” statements and another 21 sections spelling out the pro cess for issuing up to $75 million in revenue anticipa tion certificates. The inter est rate will not exceed 6 percent and the total inter est paid by the authority shall not exceed $5.75 mil lion. One section *lO pages f t - vendor to plot out site loca tions and get the system in place. Williams admitted the .system has been under con sideration since the ’9os. Williams said he has also applied for a SIOO,OOO grant to piggyback on the Board of Education’s phone alert system. “It is different than reverse 911,” he said, “in that there’s an individual contract with a vendor with the phone lines.” Both Williams and 911 Director Capt. Ricky Harlowe said the reverse 911 would likely tie-up the 911 phone lines and did not recommend it. “It’s a double-edged sword,” Harlowe said. “We have 28 lines coming in, but if we put out a bulletin and it gets to the 28th line with incoming calls from people calling back, callers will get a busy signal.” With any sort of system, Harlowe said, “we have to make sure we can incorpo rate it into the MOSCAD system. The current system can do more that what we do with it now. It can operate the sirens, it has additional capacity.” Williams also said it See SIREN, page lA The resolution also rolled in the existing $lO million 2002 bonds, which will be recalled and reissued at the new rate, explained bond consultant Jim Pannell. He also explained the need for the “not to exceeds” which are “higher than you actu ally will have to do.” The bonds will be issued through Wachovia Bank beginning Aug. 23 and mature not later than Oct. 1, 2042. The 2002 bonds with a variable rate will be recalled on Aug. 23 and reissued the next day, Panned explained. Other language in the See BONDS, page jA an Evans Family Newspaper