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Warner Robins American Little Leaguers earn Southeast Region’s top seed - Sports
LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON CoJBtY,
city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville
VOLUME 137, NUMBER 154
BELOW THE FOLD: 116th earns National Guard award ■WR accepting resumes for post ■ City adds gaming machine ordinance
Wednesday
August 8,2007
The Home Journal’s
FRONT
PORCH
WHERE^GHBQKSmET
IN BRIEF
School system seeks
community input
The Houston County School
System, according to a release,
invites parents and community
members to attend a forum to give
guidance and feedback on the 2007-
2008 Houston County Schools’
Instructional Goals.
A meeting will be held Monday
from 5:45 until 6:30 p.m. at the
Houston County Career and
Technology Center. Members of the
Teaching and Learning Department
will present the current goals and
offer an opportunity for guests to
give input for board consideration.
Dr. Mike Mattingly, assistant super
intendent for teaching and learning,
will lead the discussion.
The HCCTC is located at 1311
Corder Road in Warner Robins. For
more information, contact Mattingly
at 478-988-6100, Ext. 10100.
First Baptist to host
Red Cross blood drive
An American Red Cross Blood
Drive will be held Aug. 15, from 3-8
p.m. at First Baptist, Perry, which is
located at 1105 Main Street. Call the
church office at 987-2002 for more
information.
Miller ES to hold
council election
Miller Elementary School, accord
ing to a release, will hold a School
Council election for business part
ners Aug. 14 at 6 p.m. in the media
center. Miller Elementary Is located
at 101 Pine Valley Drive in Warner
Robins. Principal Gwendolyn
Pearson-Kilgore may be contact
ed either by phone at 478-929-
7814, Ext. 55275, or by e-mail at
GKilgore@hcbe.net.
BIRTHDAYS
Today
■ D.C. Childs
■ Bailey Woods (Happy fifth!)
ANNIVERSARY
Today
■ Kay and Ray Jackson
News tip hotline
6 a m.-4 p m:
987-1823 Ext 231
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GEORGIA NEWSPAPER PROJECT
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ATHENS GA 30602-0002
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Aug. 8, 2007
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Today
Weather Isolated thunderstorms
High: 102 Low: 77
hhjnews.com
Attempt to rescue
puppies fails
Web
Perry, Elko teens arrested in safe thefts
By RAY LIGHTNER
Journal Staff Writer
Two Houston County 19-
year-olds are in jail and a
third from Nashville is want
ed on charges related to the
thefts of safes from homes in
Elko and in Berrien County.
The Houston County
Sheriffs Office, Criminal
Investigation Division, is
investigating a residential
burglary that occurred on
fi : ■P A
■
WR adds new ordinance to
regulate gaming machines
By RAY LIGHTNER
Journal Staff Writer
Warner Robins is regulating coin oper
ated gaming machines.
A new ordinance, similar to the one
enacted in Perry, puts more requirements
and regulations on all coin-operated amuse
ment machines. Operators of any of the
machines have 30 days to come into com
pliance said City Attorney Jim Elliott.
Mayor Donald Walker said, “in my opin
ion, there is a direct correlation between
the increase in arined robberies and these
machines because some are making large
cash payouts. Over SBO,OOO in cash was
found in 14 machines” recently seized in
a raid.
Lt. Lance Watson of the city police depart
ment’s Narcotics Intelligence Unit agreed.
“A lot of the stores have been robbed but
don’t report it,” he said.
Walker said the stores with the machines
have three cigar boxes under the counter
- one for them, one for the machine owner
and one to pay out.”
Councilman Dean Cowart said of the
'1 don't like them. I've seen
young couples become
destitute because of them."
- Councilman Dean Cowart, on gaming machines
SCHOOL-New
beginning a
color
-1 5A
Felton Road in June.
The suspects, according
to the investigation divi
sion, entered the residence
through a window in the
daytime hours and stole a
security safe and two fire
arms.
In July investigators recov
ered another safe in the area
of the burglary.
The safe was tracked to
Berrien County from items
left in the safe. That safe
machines, “I don’t like them. I’ve seen
young couples become destitute because of
them.”
State law prohibits cash payouts and
requires any winning payouts to be in cou
pons or vouchers for merchandise. Walker
said a couple of the locations in the city
have very little merchandise for sale, but
have a large amount of the machines.
Elliott said state law requires no more
than 50 percent of a businesses revenue
can be derived from the machines.
“The 50 percent is hard to enforce,” said
Watson. “It’s pretty hard to determine
where it comes from.”
With this ordinance, Elliott said, “we
are trying to address the part of state law
not being enforced by the Department
of Revenue. I worked with the Perry city
attorney to draw this up.”
Because of the way state law is written,
the ordinance applies to all coin oper
ated amusement machines, including video
gaming machines, but also pinball and
arcade machines as well as skeeball, foos
ball, air hockey. Unlike the Perry ordi
nance, the Warner Robins ordinance does
not restrict the number of machines at any
location where gaming is not the primary
purpose of the business.
Warner Robins requires a city license for
a gaming room and determines where the
machines can be located.
See ORDINANCE, page 6A
www.hhjnews.com
irW^l
was also reported taken dur
ing daytime hours during a
residential burglary.
Sgt. James Williams of the
Houston County Sheriffs
Office said investigators
began working with their
counterparts in Berrien
County, which led to a search
warrant being issued and
served by both agencies on
July 24 at an Elko residence
on Whitworth Road.
Coty Benefield, 19, of Elko,
Reach breach
FOOD: Bundt mania;
cookies for kids;
homemade k»
cream and 1Q
more. ID
was arrested at the time by
Berrien County Sheriffs
Office on burglary charges.
Williams said stolen prop
erty was recovered inside
the residence that was taken
during various burglaries
within several different area
counties.
A large security safe, bur
ied in the back yard was
also recovered from the resi
dence. A second safe was
recovered from a creek in
1160 i wins Guard award
Special to the Journal
According to a Robins Air Force Base news release,
the 116th Communications Squadron has been named
Outstanding Communications Unit and received the
Mission Support Trophy for the National Guard for 2007,
July 26.
The 64 members of the 116th CS provide operations,
maintenance and technical support of all computer net
works, information assurance, ground radio, telephone
systems and visual information services supporting 3,000
personnel of the 116th Air Control Wing and five geo
graphically separated units. ,
According to the release, the squadron’s attitude
and professionalism enabled the White House commu
nication agency to provide critical communications to
See AWARD, page 6A
City taking resumes for council post
By RAT LIGHTNER
Journal Staff Writer
Wafner Robins will be
accepting applications for
the Post 4 City Council seat
until 5 p.m. Friday.
The position was vacat
ed by Steve Smith at last
month’s meeting, and the
city posted the job and has
been accepting resumes
since then.
The requirements for the
job are someone who lives
in the Post 4 area and would
otherwise be able to qualify
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Two sections • 12 pages
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the area of the home.
Sgt. Ronnie Harlowe of the
Houston County Sheriffs
Office Criminal Investigation
Division interviewed
Benefield and Christopher
Stidham, 19, of Nashville, in
Berrien County.
The investigation led to
arrest warrants here for
Benefield, Stidham and a
third suspect, Josh Tucker,
19, of Perry for burglary,
See THEFTS, page 6A
to run for the post.
The regular election for
the Post 4 seat is scheduled
for November, and quali
fying is scheduled for the
end of this month. But in
the interim, Mayor Donald
Walker said, “the appoint
ment to council is a manda
tory thing we must do.”
Walker said the city has
advertised for resumes/appli
cations, but “so far only one
person is interested. Only
one person has talked to me
about it,” he said.
See POST, page 6A
Westfield’s
Darylann
Thompson
is called out
at second
while trying
to steal dur
ing the Lady
Hornets’
Freedom
Park
Invitational
game
against First
Presbyterian
Day School
Monday in
Macon. For
more, see
68.
ENI/Gary Harmon