Newspaper Page Text
The Houston Home Journal
i Published Every Thursday At Perry Georgia’s Real Welcome Center
J VOL. 105 NO. 11 PERRY. HOUSTON COUNTY. GEORGIA, THURSDAY, MARCH 13. 1975 24 PAGES
f For 55 Public Housing Units
i Housing Authority
Jo Buy 11 Acre Site
I The Perry Housing
Authority has chosen an 11.147
acre site for the construction
of 55 public housing units in
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W. A. Whitehurst
Burglars
Hit Home
jji Perry
Perry police reported a
burglary at the home of Mr.
and Mrs. Yates Green at the
Quality Inn Motel Tuesday
night.
The Greens' home is located
in the gardens behind the
motel and several “ex
pensive” items were reported
stolen including a diamond
ring and some other jewelry.
Perry Detective Eddie
Findley is investigating the
case.
Trio Charged In Incident
Kidnapped, Robbed
In Perry Tuesday Night
A Hawkinsville insurance
agent was kidnapped and
robbed here about 8 P.M.
Tuesday night as he worked
his collection debit on Oliver
Street.
Perry Police Chief B.E.
Dennard said the man was
Wed. Nights
Library Continues
Series On America
r The film series “America” continues next
Wednesday night at the Perry Library at 7:30
P.M. with part five entitled “Gone West”. The
fifty-two minute film delves into the days of the
great Louisiana Purchase in 1803 when Rogers
and Clark were sent on a reconaissance mission to
the Pacific.
The time-spanning film continues through the
era when land-hungry expansionist whites forced
entire nations- the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek,
and Cherokee- of Indians west of the Mississippi
River, and subsequently red versus white wars
became common. Then the Gold Rush hits and
49ers by the thousand poured into the lands of
California. British historian Alistair Cooke is
narrator of the series.
Perry, according to an an
nouncement this week by
authority chairman W.A.
(Pete) Whitehurst.
Good Time To Buy Home
Interest Rates
Drop In Perry
The Perry Board of Realtors
announced earlier this week
that VA and FHA home loan
interest rates have dropped to
8.0 percent. The board pointed
out that the home mortgage
rates were as high as 9M>
percent in the fall and winter
of 1974.
The board added that the
Holy Week
Services Set
The Perry Ministerial Association has finalized
plans for Holy Week and Easter Services to be
held in Perry from March 24 through March 30.-
Services will be held Monday through Thursday at
the Perry United Methodist Church from 12:05
P.M. till 12:35 P.M.
Luncheon will be served following the service
each day at a cost of SI.OO per plate. The order of
service each day will be; Organ Prelude, Hymn,
Welcome and Announcements, Prayer, Special
Music, Message, Hymn, and Benediction.
Scheduled speakers during the series include:
Rev. Elick Bullington, Father Hugh Marshall,
Rev. James Teresi, Rev. Dan Ariail, and on
Easter Sunday Sunrise- Dr. Leonard Cochran.
Details of the services will appear in subsequent
Home Journals.
taken at gunpoint from an
area on Oliver Street several
blocks down a railroad track
on foot. Dennard said three
black men robbed him of the
money he was carrying but
police officers were able to cut
off the robbers before they
Whitehurst said the long
awaited decision from
Federal housing officials on
approval of the site came this
point and half drop in interest
rates means a monthly
payment of $37.50 less on a
$30,000 home than would have
been required in late 1974.
They added, “This is further
proof that this is the best time
to purchase a home.” In three
months the rates have im
proved one and a half percent.
could get away. The agent,
Ronald Wade, Jr., received
minor injuries in the incident
and was reportedly “shaken”
by the experience.
Arrested by Perry police
officers and charged with
kidnapping and armed rob
bery are Willie Bass, Jr.,
Ricky Dinkins and Humphrey
Smith, all of Perry.
Dennard said the incident
unfolded this way: A woman
called police at 8:07 to report
that the agent was being
abducted at gunpoint by the
three men. Perry officer Roy
Lee Mathis was the first on the
scene and he called for a
backup officer, patrolman
Charles Lewis, Mathis pur
sued the men down a railroad
track and Lewis came on them
from the other direction The
men broke and ran but all
three were later captured and
arrested.
Also working the case
Tuesday night were officers
Arthur Buckles, Don Chestnut
and Detective Eddie Findley.
The three charged men are
now in the Perry city jail
awaiting a hearing.
Chief Dennard said a por
tion of the stolen money had
been recovered but he did not
specify an amount.
week. He said the site is
located between the Perry
Trailer Park and Fanny
Gresham Creek on Perimeter
Road. The site at present is a
wooded area and the authority
is beginning negotiations this
week for the purchase of the
site from the Williams and
Young Estate. Whitehurst
said the authority is hopeful of
purchasing the site without
entering a condemnation suit.
Whitehurst said the public
housing units will be con
structed in an Early American
architectural decor and not
resemble the familiar
governmental housing of the
past. He said the initial 55
units will be one, two, three
and four bedroom housing and
that some units will be
designed for elderly persons.
Whitehurst further said he
hopes the authority will be
ready to accept bids on the
project by early summer and
construction will be completed
in 18 months from the time a
bid is accepted.
The Perry Housing
Authority was established in
August of 1969 by an act of the
Perry City Council. Lewis
Meeks was the first chairman.
Other members of the
authority besides Whitehurst,
are Billy Beckham, Lewis
Meeks, W.G. Mullins and
Larry Miller. Tom Daniel of
the Aultman, Hulbert, Cowart
and Daniel law firm is the
authority’s legal counsel.
County Has
Landfill
Blues Again
Two Middle Georgia Area
Planning and Development
Commission (MGAPDC)
planners Tuesday night
declined to offer proposed rate
scales for the County Com
mission to utilize in charging
the city of Warner Robins to
dump trash in the county
landfill. As a result the board
decided to instruct Acting
Clerk Lamar Brown to seek a
joint meeting with the Robins
City Council to discuss the fee
structure,
MGAPDC representatives
Vernon Ryle and John Tracey,
along with County Sanitation
Chief Joe Harrell were at the
Commission meeting Tuesday
night in Perry to relate their
problems in attempting to
come up with an equitable fee
structure, and Ryle and
Tracey said they would need
six months of operational data
to set up a fee structure that
would work.
Commissioner Alton Tucker
pressed the two men to offer a
suggested interim charge, but
they declined, saying that too
many variables prevented
them from making a
judgement. Ryle said they
would leave a list of data for
the landfill to measure on
garbage transported in and
dumped
Sanitation Chief Harrell
reminded the board that they
in effect already had approval
from the city of Warner
Robins to set up an "x”
number of dollars per ton
basis. He said the grant ap
plication made months ago
contained this clause. He
Cont. on 2-A
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9 l3£ " iHH
Board Ponders Decisions
4*
The Houston County Board of Education pon
ders Tuesday morning two bids received on repair
of an exploded heat boiler at Southside School on
Elko Road several miles from Perry. The
students were forced to be without school for three
days, but the board then set up school at the
For Southside Students
Houston High School
Pressed Into Service
On the night of February 28
a no-doubt loud explosion
careened through the coun
tryside around Southside
School on Elko Road several
miles from Perry. The
combustion chamber in the
school's heating system had
exploded, leaving the
elementary school without
heat. The school’s doors have
been unopened to students
ever since.
But the students at the
school missed only three days
of school. The Thursday after
the explosion the Houston
County school officials
finished preparations that
made the former Houston
High buildings on Houston
Lake Road available for use
by the school. The students
have been there ever since,
and will most likely see at
least a few more weeks at the
site.
Tuesday morning the
Houston County Board of
Education heard School
Superintendent David Perdue
tell them details of the boiler
explosion. He said the ex
ploded firebox was discovered
by Principal Claude Easley
the morning after the mishap
No damage was done to the
rest of the building
The old building was con
structed under the old Georgia
School Building Authority.
The insurance company
covering the site advised
Perdue to get estimates Two
of three sent invitt.ions to bid
actually returned letters of
bid.
Perdue related, Both made
strong recommendations to
replace the boiler at the
school, rather than repairing
it. The two bids were: Sydney
Pyles of Macon- $5,689; and
Hays of Macon- $5,820 Both
companies estimated six
weeks to install once a con
tract is awarded.
The school superintendent
said he would forward the bids
to the insurance company. He
suggested keeping the
Southside Elementary
students at their temporary
Houston High site until the
new boiler is installed, or until
weather warms.
In other developments, the
school superintendent told the
board that a “comprehensive
Alcohol Use Rising
Drug Use In Schools
On Decline, Perdue Says
The use of drugs by Houston
County high school student
appears to be on the decline,
according to School Superin
tendent David Perdue. Perdue
told the county Board of
Education at their Tuesday
meeting in Perry that there
had been "a considerable
decrease in reported
marijuana and drugs used on
the school level. There have
been no reports of any being
found for the past several
weeks.”
Board member Glenn Heck
dryly inquired, “Does that
mean use is decreasing, or are
they just ahead of us?”
Perdue indicated usage
appeared to be declining but
added, “What is increasing at
an alarming rate is con
sumption of alcohol by
students, This is very
frightening." He said alcohol
is easier to obtain and socially
"accepted”, but is the most
abused “drug” in the nation.
In relation to use of
marijuana there have been
developments in the Georgia
General Assembly. State
Senator Ed Barker of Warner
Robins Tuesday saw the
Senate pass his bill toughening
penalties for repeat con
victions of marijuana
possession. However, the |
former Houston High building in Perry. Left to
right are: Finance Chief Seabie Hickson, board
member Bill George (partially obscured), Vice-
Chairman L.A. McConnell, Superintendent David
Perdue, and board members Glenn Heck and
Hugh Brazell.
survey of the school system’’
by the State Department of
Education will begin shortly.
The survey is to insure that
the system is in compliance
with state standards. A survey
must be made at least every
five years, and this one must
be completed by December of
Senate lowered penalties on
first-time possession of less
than an ounce of the drug.
In other happenings at
Tuesday’s Board of Education
meeting, the board discussed
sick leave taken by county
public school teachers. The
teachers have 19 days of sick
leave per year and can carry
forward 5 days a year to a
maximum of 45 days of ac
cumulated sick leave.
Financial Assistant
Superintendent Seabie
Hickson estimated that one of
every 20 teacher working days
is taken in sick leave.'
. 1 '... .i. 1 i.i. 1 . ii
Bloodmobile
Here Next Wed.
The bloodmobile will be in Perry next Wed
nesday, March 19, at the County Agriculture
Building on Carroll Street. Chairman of the Perry
drive is Riley Hunt.
Donations of pints of blood will be accepted
from 10:30 to 3:30. The quota for Perry is 100 pints.
As long as Perry maintains its quota, Perryans
will be assured of blood when needed.
this year.
Perdue said that college
professor A1 Jones had been
replaced on the survey
committee by Wiley Simpson.
Jones ran against Perdue in
the 1971 Superintendent
election.
Superintendent Perdue told
the boarcj that most teachers
roll forward the five days then
figure out ways of taking the
12 remaining days.
As a result the problem of
substitute teachers is ap
parently a perplexing one.
Board member Glenn Heck
suggested finding ways of
certifying substitute teachers.
The average sick leave cost
per teacher is $l3O per year, of
which $50.00 is funded by the
state, The remainder is ab
sorbed by the local system.
Perdue suggested, “I think
Cont. on 2-A