Newspaper Page Text
OUR 108TH YEAR NO. 14
Move Underway To Halt Closing
Emergency Room
To Close Friday
Unless county com
missioners can reach
some kind of agreement
with local doctors and the
hospital authority by 6
p.m. Friday, there will no
Dr. Ross Freeman Speaker
Methodist Set
Big Day Sunday
Dr. Ross Freeman of
Atlanta, executive
secretary of Southeastern
Jurisdictional Council on
Ministries of the United
Methodist Church, will be
the main speaker at the
Perry United Methodist
Church next Sunday,
April 9, at both morning
worship services. The
occasion will be the ob
servance of the 150th
anniversary of the Perry
Methodist Sunday School.
Prior to his present
position, Dr. Freeman
served as superintendent
of the Macon District and
as pastor of Firsf
Methodist Church of
Statesboro, of Darien
Church, and of Baxley
circuit churches.
For several years, Dr.
Freeman was ad
ministrative assistant to
the Dean of the Candler
School of Theology and
director of Field
Education for this school
of Emory University. He
has been a delegate to
general and jurisdiction
conferences since 1960
and at the present he is
the leader of his con
ference delegation.
Duties in his present
position include
responsibility for
leadership training at the
Junaluska Methodist
Center. A dynamic
speaker. Dr. Freeman is
the co-author of two
books.
Dr. Freeman will be
introduced by Rev.
Thomas Johnson, pastor
I
For Publishing Literacy Test
HHJ Gets Nation- Wide Publicity
The Home Journal made the front pages of
major daily newspapers all over the Nation
last week and “shook up” Florida Board of
Education officials, as a result of the literacy
tests the paper ran for a four week period
ending last week.
The tests published by The HHJ were a
facsimile of the official Florida State Func
tional Literacy Test which is given to all high
school seniors in Fla. The students must pass
the literacy test in order to qualify for a high
school diploma. The official test is a highly
guarded secretin Fla. and when Fla. officials
thought The HHJ had somehow obtained a
copy of the secret test and published it, Fla.
officials rang The HHJ phone off the hook.
The test published by The HHJ was prepared
The Houston Home Journal
longer be on-call
physician service
available at Perry
Houston County Hospital
emergency room.
An announcement that
of the Perry church.
Other speakers will be
Allen Tabor, superin
tendent of the Sunday
School, and Jim Geiger,
chairman of work area on
Education. In his
remarks, Mr. Tabor will
recognize long-time
Sunday School workers.
Mr. Geiger will give a
sketch on Howell Cobb,
organizer and first
superintendent of the
Sunday School.
At noon, dinner will be
served in the Fellowship
Hall of the Church. Every
family in the church has
been requested to bring a
basket or picnic lunch.
All church families are
urged to be a part of this
historical observance
next Sunday, April 9, to
hear inspirational talk
and enjoy wonderful
fellowship.
Dr. Freeman
Georgia S s Number One Weekly Newspaper
PERRY, HOUSTON COUNTY, GEORGIA, THURSDAY APRIL 6, 1978
the service would be
discontinued was made
on March 27 by Dr. Ed
ward Strickland, chief of
the medical staff of the
local hospital.
Commissioners pro
mised a delegation of
area clfizens led by
Mayor James McKinley
during their regular
session Tuesday they
would meet with the
hospital authority
Wednesday night to see if
anything could be done
about the emergency
room situation.
"Our request is sim
ple," Mayor McKinley
told commissioners.
"We're here to ask the
county's highest
governing body to give us
your assurance that the
Perry emergency room
will remain open. We
want to ask you to give us
your commitment that
you will not close our
emergency room."
Joe Poole told com
missioners his life was
saved at the Perry
emergency room when he
suffered a heart attack.
"How much value can
you place on a human
life?" Poole asked. "I
don't normally beg and
plead for anything, but i
want to beg and plead
with you today. I want to
beg and plead with you to
keep the emergency
room open for the people
in Perry and the south
end of the county, and tor
the thousands of tourists
who pass through here
every day on 1-75."
Chamber of Commerce
president Bobby Branch
said he had received a lot
of response since the
closing was announced
last week.
"Most people I've
talked to said they felt
like it was downgrading
our hospital facilities,"
Branch said. "We're here
to seek your guidance,
help and advice."
Councilman Al
Baggarly said the county
made a wise decision to
by a group of Dade County, Fla., School
teachers patterned after the official test.
Here is how the saga all began: At a
meeting of the Hillsborough County School
Board (Tampa, Fla.) last Tuesday night, the
board was discussing why they were not
allowed to see a copy of the Fla. literacy test,
when Ron Allen, an assistant principal at
Chamberlain High School in Tampa,
presented the board with a copy of The
Houston Home Journal which contained The
HHJ test. He told the board he thought it was
the official Fla. test and they puzzled as to
how the paper got hold of the test.
After the meeting, a reporter with The
Tampa Tribune called The HHJ office and
spoke with Sports Editor and Production
Director Phil Byrd about the test. Byrd told
hire a man to seek new
industry in the county,
but he predicted that
closing the emergency
room in Perry would be
detrimental to attracting
new industry.
Executives from the
manufacturing firms of
Briggs and Stratton and
Kellwood said they were
very concerned that the
emergency room would
not be open to treat
employees who are in
jured or become
seriously ill.
Commission Chairman
Steve Byrd asked
Commissioner Dr. V.W.
McEver to comment on
the situation. McEver
said he had to consider
the problem from the
standpoint of a doctor,
and from the standpoint
of a commissioner.
It's a touchy situation,"
McEver said. "As a
doctor, I believe the
physicians are respon
sible for providing
emergency coverage for
this community, but I
don't know of another 40-
bed hospital in the state
that has a full-time
emergency room.
''These doctors have
never said they won't be
open for business they
have contracted for," Dr.
McEver said. In response
to concern voiced by the
industrial executives.
McEver explained that
Perry doctors will still
respond to a patient's call
to meet them at the
emergency room, and
that company physicians
would still respond to
meet employees of
Briggs and Stratton and
Kellwood at the
emergency room when
the employees are in
jured or become
seriously ill.
"As a county com
missioner, however, I
have to assume that the
hospital authority gives a
great deal of thought to
any decision they make,"
Contd Page 2
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A np Jp
Perry Mayor James McKinley, standing
center, appeared before the County Com
missioners Tuesday at the courthouse here to
ask their assistance in helping keep the
emergency room at the Perry Hospital open. The
E.R. is scheduled to cease on-call physician
service this Friday. About 40 Perry business and
industrial leaders also appeared at the meeting
It All Begins On August 8
Dates Told For
County Elections
Hugh Beatty, chairman
of the Houston County
Board of Elections,
Tuesday released in
tormation voters and
politicians have been
waiting for.
Beatty said this year's
general primary will be
held Aug. 8, followed by
the general primary
runoff on Aug. 29. He said
the general election will
be conducted on Nov. 7,
and that the general
election runoff will be
held Nov. 28.
County incumbents up
for re-election this year
include Commissioners
Steve Byrd and Charles
Carter, and school board
members L.A. Mc-
Connell, Hugh Brazell,
and Bill George.
Voters will also cast
ballots for State Court
the reporter, “One of our staff members was
in Fla. on vacation last year and saw the test
and just picked it up.”
The story hit the paper on the front page
the next morning. Associated Press then
picked up the story and it went nationwide.
The AP, along with many newspapers began
calling HHJ publisher Bobby Branch for
more details. Branch told them the test was
not the official test and that cleared the
matter up somewhat. But the publicity was
on and The Home Journal was flashed all
over the Nation and the world.
Branch stated concerning the episode, “I
think it is great. Look, the paper and the
community got all this publicity and it was
good publicity. By publishing the test in the
Mayor Seeks County’s Help
jobs currently held by
Judge Paul Armitage,
Solicitor Jack Kemp and
State Court Clerk Ray
Bliss.
Voters will also cast
ballots for State Court
jobs currently held by
Judge Armitage,
Solicitor Jack Kemp and
State Court Clerk Ray
Bliss.
State officials up for re
election are Represen
tatives Larry Walker,
Roy H. "Sonny" Watson,
Ted Waddle and Sen. Ed
Barker.
On the national scene.
Perry's U.S. Sen. Sam
Nunn and third district
congressman Jack
Brinkley of Columbus are
expected to seek re
election.
County citizens will
also vote on a referendum
to determine if the county
2 SECTIONS 26 PAGES
in support of keeping the E.R. in full operation.
From left, seated, around the Mayor, are Putney
Goodwin, assistant county clerk and purchasing
agent; Riley Hunt, partner in Watson-Hunt
Funeral Home ; Joe Poole, owner of Kwik Stop
Foods; L. Gardner Watson, prominent Perry
businessman; D.K. Roughton, former city
councilman and owner of The Swan Motel;
Walker Burke, county attorney.
needs a board of ar
bitration to resolve
budget and salary
disputes between com
missioners and con
stitutional officers.
Election Board
Chairman Beatty said
Jan. 13 was the earliest
day this year for in
dependent or political
body candidates to cir
culate nomination
petitions to have their
names placed on the
general election ballot.
He said May 9 will be
the last day a political
body could hold a con
vention to nominate
candidates for the
general election.
According to Beatty,
May 24 at 9 a.m. is the
earliest dayfora primary
candidate tor any
federal, state, or county
office to qualify with the
first place I was trying to get across the
message to our state legislators that we
ought to have some sort of literacy test in
Georgia, and I not only got my message
across in Ga. but I got it nationwide. You
can’t ask for any better than that.”
As a result of the publicity, The HHJ has
been “flooded” with requests from all over
the country for copies of the test and sub
scriptions to the paper.
Branch further stated, “Local response to
the test has been very good. We know of a lot
of people that took the test and also gave it to
their kids. In fact, response has been so good
that we are considering printing a special
section of the test all in one part for
distribution to schools or to anyone interested
in taking the test.”
Democratic or
Republican party to run
in the general primary.
Beatty said June 14 at
noon will be the last day
for independent or
political body candidates
to file notice of candidacy
and an affidavit to have
their names placed on the
general election ballot.
June 10 will be the last
day to register to vote in
the general primary and
general primary runoff,
according to Beatty.
He said Oct. 10 will be
the last day for
registering to vote in the
general election and in
the general election
runoff.
Beatty said Oct. 17 has
been established as the
last day for a write-in
candidate to file and
publish notice of intent to
be a write-in candidate.
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