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Perry To Get Two New Doctors
Perry will be getting board-certified general
two new physicians, one and vascular surgeon,
immediately, and the will join the family
other this summer, ac- practice of Dr. Charlie
cording to an an- Dean beginning next
nouncement made this week. Dr. Row will
week by Perry-Houston practice general
County Hospital Ad- medicine and specialize
ministrator Max Poole, in surgery.
Poole told The Home Dr. Luther Vance Jr., a
Journal this week that Perry native, will begin
Dr. James H. Row, 56, a the practice of general
VOL 108 NO. 12
Perryan Charged
With Murder In
Sunday Shooting
A Perry black man was
shot down at around noon
Sunday in the parking lot
of a local motel. The dead
man, Willie Frank
Harris, 47, was shot by
Alfred Jones in what
appears to have been a
domestic problem which
also involved Jone's wife,
Betty Mae Jones.
According to a report
filed by Houston County
Coroner Lewis Scaggs,
Harris was shot in the
right knee, left arm, neck
and chest. Scaggs said
the victim died instantly
as a result of the wounds.
Harris had been shot
five times in the head last
November, by the same
man and survived the
shooting. It was alleged
at that time that the
Hit And Run!
Willie Bass Jr. of 1323
Spring St. has been
charged with "hit and run
driving” involving an
accident last Saturday on
Elko Road in which Bass
is accused of hitting
Daniel Ziegler, 18, with
his car and leaving the
scene.
After an investigation,
* ■ ■■ - \1
f J y ‘ ■■■/
iVctc Miss Panther
Jackie Hodges, Perry High School senior, is being congratulated by
well-wishers moments after she was announced the winner in last
Thursday night’s “Miss Panther Pageant.’’ Miss Hodges took the honor
before a packed house in the Perry High gym. The Miss Panther pageant
has become one of the biggest annual events at the high school.
(Photo by Frank Russo)
The Houston Home Journal
shooting was also over a
domestic matter.
When questioned by
investigating officers
Cpl. Pat Padgett of the
Perry Police Dept, and
Sheriff's Investigator
Larry Rooks, Jones made
the following statement;
"He tried to cut my head
off. I went to the motel to
get my wife. About 12:30
Willie came walking up.
He asked me what I was
doing here and did I have
a room. I told him yes.
Willie told me that I had
shot him and messed him
up for life. Then Willie
told me that if Betty Mae
tells me what you just
said one of us is going to
die today. Willie went and
got Betty Mae and
brought her back. When
Bass was arrested near
the scene by Cpi. Jim
West and Officer Willie
Lee Jackson of the Perry
Police Dept.
According to police
reports, Ziegler's sister
was a witness to the
accident. The victim was
taken to the Perry
Hospital for treatment.
Hospital Administrator Max Poole Announces
medicine here around
July, according to Poole.
Dr. Vance, the son of Mr.
and Mrs. Luther Vance
Sr. of Perry, will
probably locate in
temporary offices on the
hospital grounds until he
finds permanent quar
ters. Vance will be the
first black physician to
set up practice in Houston
Georgia 3 s Number One Weekly Newspaper
PERRY, HOUSTON COUNTY, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 1978
they came back Willie
asked her was she going
to leave with me and she
said yes, he's my
husband, you're not.
Willie then said lets do it
now. I said no, let's wait
til Betty Mae' leaves.
Willie then said she ain't
going with you. I told
Willie it was her dicision
and she said she was.
Willie got his knife out
and swung it at me. I just
shot him."
Officer Padget said a
knife was found near the
dead man's body in the
parking lot. Padgett also
said Jones was standing
about 10 feet from the
body when he arrived on
the scene and that he did
not resist arrest.
Police records show
that the suspected
murder weapon, a 38
calibre pistol, was found
on the ground near the
body. Records further
show there were no
witnesses on the scene
when the police arrived.
Jones, 56, has been
charged with murder. His
address is 518 Betty
Street, Perry. His oc
cupation is listed as
laborer. The case is still
under investigation by
Perry and County police
officers.
County. Additional in
formation on Dr. Vance
will be announced in a
future edition.
Dr. Row is presently
practicing surgery in
Pittsfield, Mass. He is
married and has three
children. He is a graduate
of Temple University
School of Medicine in
Philadelphia, Penn. He
lll^^
Looking For Violators!
Joe Baxley, city maintenance department, inspects one of three piles of
garbage dumped along Perimeter Road last Thursday. City officials are
now checking illegally dumped garbage to see if they can find something
in the pile that contains the offender’s name and address. If the in
formation is discovered, offenders are summoned to appear in city court
for violating a city ordinance prohibiting illegal dumping of garbage.
$771,772 In February
Construction
Takes Off!!!
Building permits issued
by Houston County
Building Inspector Fred
Beard in February 1978,
reflected a sharp in
crease over the same
period last year.
According to Beard's
report, 34 building per
mits for construction
costs amounting to
$771,772 were issued last
month.
In Feb., 1977, 31 per
mits were Issued for
construction costs
totaling $489,123.
Cost of the permits
issued last month was
$2,004, as compared to
permit costs of $1,306 tor
Feb 1977.
Total plumbing permits
issued last month
numbered 25, and the cost
served his surgical
residencies in Albany,
New York.
Poole said he has been
seeking a surgeon and
general practicioner to
locate in Perry for the
past few months. He said
he located Dr. Row
initially through an ad
vertisement in The New
England Journal of
for these permits was
$237.
Plumbing permits for
the same period last year
numbered 17, and the
permit fees amounted to
$157.
Electrical permits
numbered 42 last month,
and the cost of the per
mits was $384.
Electrical permits
issued in Feb., 1977,
amounted to 29, and
permit fees totaled $222.
According to Beard, his
office issued 76 permits
for the first two months of'
1978, representing con
struction costs of $1.6
million. Records for the
same period last year,
indicate Beard issued 54
permits, reflecting
Medicine.
"I had a number of
replies from many
qualified physicians in
the New England area,
"Poole said, "but Dr.
Row really met all the
criteria for the type of
surgeon we were seeking
to locate in Perry."
When asked why Dr.
Row selected Perry,
construction costs of
$878,927.
During the first two
months of 1978, Beard
said he conducted 63 final
inspections, 56 foundation
inspections, 50 rough
framing inspections and
423 electrical inspections.
In the first two months
of 1977, according to
county records, Beard
conducted 12 final in
spections, 34 foundation
inspections, 12 rough
framing inspections and
one electrical inspection.
During the first two
months of 1978, the
building inspector issued
247 mobile home decals,
as compared to 240 issued
during the same period
last year.
Poole stated, "He was
impressed with our
facilities here at the
hospital, with the com
munity in general, with
the people he met here,
with Dr. Dean and he has
wanted for sometime to
move south away from
the harsh winters of New
England."
Poole said Dr. Row will
2 SECTIONS 32 PAGES 15°
Easter
Sunrise
Services
The Easter Sunrise
Service will be held this
Sunday morning March
26 at the Perry High
School Gymnasium. The
service will begin at 7:00
a.m.
Rev. Hank Schum,
assistant pastor of the
First Presbyterian
Church in Macon will be
the guest preacher. Rev.
Schum, a native of
Altoona, Pennsylvania,
has pastored churches in
Pennsylvania, Kentucky,
North Carolina and
Tennessee.
Flees On Foot!
Armed Robber Hits
Perry Liquor Store
A young black man
walked into the Squire
Package Store here
Monday night, pulled a
pistol on store owner
Bobby Bembry, and
robbed him of about S9OO.
After ordering Bembry to
"lie on the floor”, the
robber fled on toot into a
wooded area behind the
store.
Perry Police Detective
Major Giles Webb, said
officers chased what they
believe to be the trail of
suspect for about four
hours with the aid of
bloodhounds from the
Houston Correctional
Institute. However, the
robber made an escape.
Webb described the
robber as probably in his
The Cat Burglar
Nabbed By Police
The mysterious
"downtown cat burglar"
was nabbed by Perry
police over the weekend
after he made a daring
rooftop entry into three
downtown stores last
Wednesday night.
Charged with six
counts of burglary is
Dexter Hill, age 20. Hill is
presently being held at
the Houston County jail.
Hill allegedly entered
the Swank Shop, the City
Barber Shop and Russo's
Photographic Services,
all stores in the same
block downtown, by going
up on the roof and
be leaving Pittsfield this
week and will probably
begin practicing here late
next week. 1 i
In addition to further
information being
published later about Dr.
Vance, The Home
Journal will also publish
more details about Dr.
Row when he arrives
here.
Rev. Schum has served
as a full time evangelist
and is founder of she
Uncle Hank Association
which has a children's
program being televised
on more than thirty
stations across the
country. He is the author
of Exploring the Bible
Way with Uncle Hank and
A Practical Guide for
Family Worship.
The service is being co
sponsored by the Perry
Jaycees and the Perry
Ministerial Association.
The public is invited.
mid-twenties, weighing
180 to 200 pounds,
wearing a green-bill cap
and 5 feet 11 inches tall.
Bembry said he was
entering the main store
from a storage room
when he spotted the
robber coming into the
store quickly. He said he
saw the gun immediately
and the robber told him,
"open the cash register
and hit the floor.”
It was only the second
armed robbery of a liquor
store in Perry since the
county voted in liquor
sales in 1970.
Webb said several
possible leads in the case
are being followed up and
that the matter remains
under investigation.
breaking into a second
store window. According
to police reports, Hill
stole about S2OO from a
moneybox in The Swank
Shop. Nothing was taken
from the other places of
business.
Helping lead to the
arrest of Dexter, ac
cording to Perry Police
Detective Major Giles
Webb, was a clear
photograph of the
suspects tennis shoe
track left on the rooftop of
one of the downtown
buildings. Perry com
mercial photographer
Frank Russo took the
photo for the police.