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g | Volume 137, Number 204 IMCinCi ® Local: Police take a ‘byte’ out of crime - bust 3 in burglary ■ Sports: Bear Brawl Day 1 belongs to INvIUEi the ladies ■ Lifestyle: ‘Rebuilding Together’ ■ School: HCBOE to offer free adult computer classes Joined at the ‘lip’ Special bond between Houston County HS coaches, student was love at first bite' ... He laughs. Joiner laughs. In fact the whole morning can be summed up with a jab, a laugh, a counter-attack and another laugh. Or "laughs" as Joiner is seldom not the center of attention and always thriving in it - same as for the coaches on his behalf... By DON MONCRIEF Journal Managing Editor It's a daily celebrity roast. That best describes the relationship Ryan Joiner has with the coaches of Houston County. When you strip it down to its simplest form, when you can get them to be serious about each other long enough - to stop picking on each other for just one second (and that's all the reprieve you'll get) - it is in reality nothing short of pure love. They are nothing less than a'second father and/or mother to him and he their son. "They're just really a great bunch of guys... role (at birth) has him confined. He describes him and wouldn't go away," he says." They kind of A "If it wasn't for them (however), he adds, A IT IwlrlT ilWllinMrTyf' ' ' IHiwTUmI ! \ ■ - ‘ ,$ s ’■?■ i V' : &:r '& Ryan Joiner sits in one of his most favorite spots - almost dead cen- M ter of the room in the ™ Houston County High School coaches’ office. The 21-year-old who j has cerebral palsy has I become the favorite ] son of not only the coaches but the entire school - not to mention many in the community. Journal/Don Moncrief PERIODICAL 500 mnni 8 “’55108 00001 1 4 Georaia Newspaper Project Man Library University of Georgia ATHENS GA 30602 ALL FOR ADC 301 Dec. 22, 2007 Si r\ i.\(, Houston Cot x n Sinci- , IS7O LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY, CITY OF PERRY, CITY OF WARNER ROBINS AND CITY OF CENTERVILLE HP&f rasl\ SgL ]&& |§Li BgaEp | papO-A Mm fcaSß a BIRTHDAYS • Dec. 20 s Cody Randles (Happy third birthday!) Dec. 21 r Robert Minter ■' Bobby Tuggle Dec. 22 Sarah Hawk ■ Danielle Ray Dec. 23 ■ Leslie Searcy fßill Mitchell Dec. 24 Travis Capps ■ Mike Ross Brenda Froehlich Stacey Frazier Dec. 26 * Alvyn Pope ■I terry Mobley Saturday, December 22, 2007 models," Joiner, at age 21, says from the wheelchair cerebral palsy self as being like a stray cat."l just sort of showed up one day took me in." « And if you watch and listen for just a short period of time you'll see the feelings are more than mutual. "He's a person that every morning when we ■ get here he's who we're looking for," says girls basketball and soccer coach Sid Baxley ."If he's not here somebody will mention it:'Ryan's not here today' or 'Ryan's going to be late.' "Sometimes I feel like if I don't come in nobody's going to miss me. But he’s one that's always missed when he's not here." Adds girls head volleyball coach and assistant boys soccer coach Tony Jones: "I look forward to seeing him in here. If I'm having a bad This week in HHJ history: 60 years ago: Like sweet potatoes? Well, you definitely would have liked them in 1947. Apparently'a lot of farmers did too as the money reportedly coming from the crop in the state of Georgia that year, accord ng to marketing specialists of the Agricultural Extension Service, was in excess of $15,000,000. Remember-when the world wasn’t so politically correct? Do you think this ad from the Junior Chamber of Commerce would fly today 7 Merry Christmas and have a “gay holiday season.” 30 years ago: According to a survey, Houston County made “sizeable” gains during a five-year period beginning with 1972. According to the Standard Rate and Data Service, the “volume of retail business in the local area, a principle indi cator of business vitality, was relatively strong.” The total rise during the five-year period was 62 percent. The U.S. rise was 41 percent and the state of Georgia rise was 50 percent. In other news, two sites were reportedly offered in the Warner Robins area to Miller Brewery for their consideration in locating an industrial piant in the local area. 10 years ago: Democrats, among them two from Houston County - Larry Walker and Sonny Perdue - pledge to pass and sign into law an income tax cut and abolish parole during the upcoming Georgia General Assembly. Walker also said he was particularly pleased with proposed legislation to create the Children’s Health Insurance Program, designed, according to the newspaper report, to provide uninsured Georgia youths with healthcare coverage. In Sports, the Perry basketball team increases its record to 8-0 while winning the annual Bank of Gray Holiday Classic held at Jones County High School. - Compiled by Don Moncrief morning Ryan will always pick me up." Like the time a couple jj of years ago when ■V you dressed up as Spongebob Squarepants for Spirit Day? "He's never let me live it down," Jones laughs,"That's how he greeted me every day for about a year." The love is there. You can't help but see it. If you listen between the barbs, you can't help but feel it. But this mushy stuff, well it's just not them. To heap praise (and after all, Jones does equate Joiner to a tape recorder ...a"warped"tape recorder) on the other is like giving your playbook to the other coach. It just doesn't happen. To go back to the beginning, this all started when Joiner was in middle school at Feagin Mill Middle School. "He just kind of showed up," - the original stray cat visit, says J.D. Sessums, who was the school’s athletic director at the time and now works at Houston County HS."And we kind of included him in everything as one of us. He'd attend all the athletic events. He was a big motivator for us. "The strange thing is," he adds, "and we've talked about this, is we kind of came in together, and (with Joiner being in his senior year and Sessums getting ready to retire 'for real,' this time, he kids, as he's done it once before), See BOND, page 8A Perry PD to receive S6IK By CHARLOTTE PERKINS Journal Staff Writer Perry Director of Public Safety George Potter had good news earlier this week, when the U.S. Congress passed a budget that includ ed a little present for the Perry Police Department just in time for the holidays. The budget has now been signed by President George W. Bush, and the $61,000 for the Perry Police Department is be used, Potter said, to fit nine more police vehicles with mobile data terminals, Perry center grants Christmas wishes By DON MONCRIEF Journal Managing Editor It could be a toss up as to who made who’s Christmas a better experience. Three needy children in the local community or the employ ees of the McEver Probation Detention Center in Perry. On one hand, these chil dren, said Warden Belinda PVO helps needy pi' ■ * ' i isbß : Wsk « $ Ip. * '< ‘*' K - . * . ISpl'S'' R: • I; Wg % i dm WJr a-' |; ■ I.M <S HW * v i JUf "'A 111 m Joumal C harlotte Perkins Perry Volunteer Outreach volunteers get ready to dis tribute boxes of food to 400 needy families in the South Houston area. The boxes included canned goods and cooking staples, with extra goodies for families with children. The team worked all day Friday handing out the boxes along with packages of frozen chicken. From left, Perry City Councilman Riley Hunt, Boy Scout Aaron Hankins, Victoria Hankins, Carrie Honican and Shaun Hankins. “Where neigh hors meet an Evans Family Newspaper) www.hhjnews.com thanks to the efforts of U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall. “Rep. Marshall called our office two years ago and asked if there was anything we needed in the way of communications,” Potter explained. “These funds come under Homeland Security.” What’s a mobile data ter minal? Something that will help protect the innocent, help nab the guilty or even save a person in danger. * An MDT, as the small See RECEIVE, page jA Davis, “weren’t expecting to receive anything without assistance.” On the other, the 67 employees, 67 employees who work 12-hour shifts - and for $2 an hour (not really - that was Davis’ obvi ous sense of humor com ing to the forefront) - don’t See WISHES, page $A 1 l\ A) Know someone or an agency that could use a pat on the back? Send your “Kudos" to hhj@evansnewspapers. com. Quote me on that ... “A 10 percent reduction trans lates to 230 million gallons a day. Well, I'm here to report that not only did we meet that goal - we exceed ed it. We have reduced water use by nearly 350 million gallons a day. This is enough water to supply 1.7 million Georgia households every day.” - Gov. Sonny Perdue, on water conservation goals