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ilfl)tsio]ff Jrtttytia I Volume 138, Number 93 Below the fold: hcda to'seH/donate land Inside: HC Fire Dept, sets Boston Butt fundraiser Front Porch Where neighbor', meet On our web • Technofiles - There is no dumb question • Columnist Glynn Moore: “Some of us are rotten eggs at science projects” • Columnist Matt Towery: “The debt we owe Laura Bush” HHJ history 50 years ago: Savings bond sales amount to $2,729,069. The state of Georgia as a whole attains 84.9 perfcent of its $56 million goal. 30 years ago: A large group of farmers load up on charter buses and head to Washington D.C. to be part of a mas sive raly at the capitol. 10 years ago: Two Perry architect com panies are named among the finalists for designing the county’s new court house. Also, the Board of Education announces that Charles Allen Holloway from Texas has been elected as the new super intendent of schools. Sources: The Daily Sun and Houston Home Journal - Compiled by Krystal Riner Birthdays Dec. 11 Lynett Woodruff Dec. 13 Dale Waite Kathy Crenshaw Kenny Roberts Dec. 14 Emily Christine Seeger (Happy No. 5!) Dec. 15 . Leon Walker Rick Davis Johnny Webb Noeida Walker Dec. 16 Randy Mullis Rhonda Duggan Aniyah Parrish E-mail birthdays to: hhj@evansnewspapers.com or donm@evansnewspapers. com. Mail to: 1210 Washington St., Perry 31069 attn: Don Moncrief. Or, call 987-1823, Ext. 231. Anniversary Dec. 15 Sylvia and Clifford Grimer (Happy No. 51!) Award-Winning Newspaper Better Newspaper Contest PERIODICAL 500 Hilllll 8 55108 00001 4 « liiflilfiiiilliilliiiiili 111, ~11 mllim>l l HM»R COOI Georgia ftewspaper Project Man Library University of Georgia ATHENS GA 306C2-00Q2 ALL FOR ADC 301 Si R\l\(| IjuusiuN County SiNC'i- 1870 LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNIT, CITY OF PERRY CITY OF WARNER ROBINS AND CITY OF CENTERVILLE Law agencies break up chop shop Special to the Journal According to a release, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Houston County Sheriff’s Office culminated a yearlong investigation Tuesday by serving search warrants and arrest warrants at a Macon County truck ..;.yajfeu-4 . E Hf wmrfmltatiußtttM fgSH w&Bw-f . SI&tP&KZSmMSMw*' me # jSBBB£L 4®*- tjM- . H BMMk JtßP* m W \ f . *•-* %" ’V’fe’l- HH| "^/ r c t lJ|| T \ jmf " f> ' •- *>l|i w ( f Aiy \ WBBHHmBHBMHbBe • . jWhBHWK Leaders upbeat on county's future By CHARLOTTE PERKINS Journal Staff Writer The economy may be floundering nationwide, but three Houston County lead ers took an upbeat attitude Thursday as they briefed Perry Area Chamber of Commerce members on “the state of the community.” Houston County Commission Chairman Ned Sanders, Perry Mayor Jim Worrall and Supt. of Schools David Carpenter spoke to the group, with Chamber chair man-elect Kim Sheridan making the introductions and adding some commen tary of her own, especially in regard to the importance of shopping locally this Christmas to keep sales tax revenues at home. Sanders began his remarks by thanking those present for supporting the 2001 and 2006 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax referenda and the Nov. 4 vote on the Severe Weather Warning System proposal that will increase property taxes by 1/2 mill for one year. “We hope to have a draft plan ready by March,” Sanders said, noting that he expected to see the county wide warning system in place a year from now. He also talked about the recent purchase of 667.32 acres near 1-75 and Thomson Road in Perry, pointing. See FUTURE, page 6A Lifestyle Carols, candlelight at the Crossroads. Cub Scouts treating troops to popcorn. More. ■ ****m*,.io)r RB ■ Pterry Area Chamber of Commie || jßw tin.: Sg I State of the Community Luncheon 1 § SPONSOR Kr> HY: Iff Win'Ltroitm 1 ? City „f Pnrry Cl*** l '" * 1 >«.’•«"' ll *> 1 ■ »)MA Archil ENI/Gary Harmon Houston County Commission Chairman Ned Sanders speaks during the State of the Community Luncheon held Thursday at Rozar Park. Saturday, December 13, 2008 MRS ing company. The trucking compa ny is located at 2524 Drayton Road, Montezuma. According to the release, while also running a trucking business, the group stole tractor trailer trucks and took them to the business where employees would disassemble the Braun and Barbecue Ditto LMpBB BOWB trucks and sell the parts to different venders. Some of the stolen parts were sold in Bibb, Jones and Houston County. A truck was recently stolen from Nebraska and was recovered by the Ft. Valley Police Department during a traffic stop after* it left the www.hhjnews.com Sports Westfield earns wres tling wins. Perry open region basketball with win; Hornets undefeated. Freeman property. Other trucks were stolen from Houston County, Dooly County, Quitman and Montezuma. To that end, Fletcher Freeman Sr., Fletcher Freeman Jr., Sean Benard Freeman and Timothy Tookes were See LA W, page jA HCDA approves land sale/donation By DON MONCRIEF Journal Managing Editor The bottom line for the City of Perry is it will get its land. Not its land but land, just a hair over two acres, that belongs to the Houston County Development Authority and is to be donated. The only question is whether or not Perry will get the land out right from the Development Authority or via the Airport Authority. By way of explanation, the Houston County Development Authority is currently staffing a package for the Airport Authority. It’s in the amount 11.2 acres and at a cost of $248,550. The question, with the answer to be determined, is if Perry’s land is included in that sale. To cover both possibilities, the Development Authority approved the sale of the land to the Airport Authority and added the caveat that if Perry’s land wasn’t part of the package, they would donate it separately. Either way, Perry will get its land. The acre age in both cases - the land for the City of Perry and the Airport Authority - is part of the airport’s expansion efforts. It is part of a Georgia One grant, explained Perry City Manager Lee Gilmore, with money com ing from the 2006 SPLOST. Perry’s main involvement, Gilmore said, was for Airport Road. At one point it makes a “severe turn, then comes back in,” he said. The goal then is to straighten it. “The City of Perry is tak ing the lead because once it’s finished, it will be a Perry street, maintained by the city,” Gilmore said. To accomplish the overall task means going through four property owners. One of those is the Development Authority - hence the request for donated land. The “other property owners,” Gilmore said. “We have talked to them, and I guess See LAND, page SA an Evans Family Nhwspapeir - Perry’s David Braun along with his Dad John Braun receive the Reserve Grand Champion from GBA President Lonnie Smith, right, and Rick Godfrey, left. Reserve Grand Champion is awarded to the team with the highest combined score dur ing the Pigs and Wings Georgia Barbecue Sanctioned Event held this past weekend at the Houston County Airport in Perry. For more, see BA. ENI/Audrey Evans