Newspaper Page Text
OUR 108TH YEAR • NO. 33
Perry Library Will Double In Size
City, County Approve
Expansion Os Library
Perry city council and
Houston County com
missioners Tuesday
approved motions that
will about double the size
of Perry City Library.
Mrs. Anna Pritchett, a
member of the City
Library Board, an
nounced during the city
council meeting that
county commissioners
committed $93,000 to the
project from revenue
sharing funds the county
will receive during Oct. of
1979.
Acting on a motion by
Councilman Al Baggarly,
after more amplifying
remarks by Mrs. Con
nette Gayle, another
member of the library
board, and Mrs. Judy
Golden, county librarian,
council voted to pay
$60,000 for a house and lof
behind the library and to
commit $29,000 for
construction costs.
Mrs Golden explained
that county and city funds
will be matched by the
state, and said their
deadline for submitting
the application is Sept. 1.
All member of council
voted in favor of the
measure except Mayor
Pro-Tern Barbara
Calhoun, who stated that
she was strongly opposed
to the terms of the con
tract. She said she ob
jected to paying a person
$60,000 for a house and lot
and then letting the
person live in the house
rent free and collect
interest on the money for
six months.
"I think the taxpayers
want us to spend their
money the way they
would spend their own
money, and I'm sure
Stolen Car Wrecked
Police were still searching at presstime Wed.
for the 12 year old Perry boy that stole, then
wrecked this car on Sam Nunn Blvd. Tuesday
afternoon. The youth reportedly stole the car in
downtown Fort Valley and when police in Fort
Valley gave chase, the youth headed down high
way 341 toward Perry at speeds up to 100 miles
The Houston Home Journal
One Os Georgia’s Leading Community Newspapers
there's not a citizen who
would agree to terms like
this if they were buying
the property with their
own personal funds."
Mrs. Calhoun then
made a motion to ask City
Attorney Larry Walker to
draw up a contract of
fering $60,000 for the
property with the
stipulation that the
closing date be not later
Seeking Gun Permit
j Suspect Nabbed i
I At Courthouse i
Detective Larry Rooks
of the Houston County
Sheriff's Department
Tuesday arrested a man
at Perry courthouse and
charged him with
burglary, carrying a
concealed weapon and
giving false information
to obtain a pistol permit.
Rooks said he arrested
Melvin Lemley, 24, of
Clinchfield, and confined
him at county jail after
apprehending him in the
sheriff's office at the
courthouse.
According to Rooks,
Lemley was charged with
burglary in connection
with the removal of a
$l,lOO microscope and
drugs valued at about
SIOO from the office of Dr.
Felix Smith, a Perry
veterinarian, whose
office is located on High
way 341 North.
Lt. James Cawthon,
who is in charge of the
, PERRY, HOUSTON COUNTY, GEORGIA THURSDAY AUGUST 17, 1978
than Dec. 1, and with the
provision that the city is
willing to disburse a
minimum of $5,000 as
down payment.
The motion, which also
includes a provision that
will give the owner 30
days to move after
closing papers are
signed, passed by
unanimous vote.
Architect Jackson R.
sheriff's courthouse of
fice, said Lemley was
arrested after he walked
into their office with an
application for a gun
permit that he had ob
tained at the office of
Probate Judge Clint K.
Watson.
In reviewing the ap
plication, the officers
noted that Lemley stated
he had never been con
victed of a felony or
misdemeanor, a
statement the officers
knew to be false.
When he entered the
sheriff's office, Cawthon
said Lemley was armed
with two weapons, a .22
magnum revolver and a
.32 caliber automatic
pistol.
After the officers ad
vised Lemley of his
rights, the suspect ad
mitted that he had
burglarized Dr. Smith's
office, and had taken the
microscope and drugs.
per hour. When Perry police began chasing the
car at the city limits, the youth lost control and
flipped the car. He then jumped out and ran into
a wooded area near Smith Drive. Fort Valley
Police Dept. Investigator Jimmy Jones is shown
here looking over the stolen vehicle.
(Photo By Frank Russo)
i Holliday appeared before
; council to explain why he
i favored expanding the
i library from the rear
ralher than from the side
) of the library next to city
i hall.
! By expanding from the
rear of the library,
; Holliday said the building
' becomes almost square
with the control desk
centrally located for
better control.
He said the square
shape also makes a more
compact building with
less perimeter walls and
therefore a more energy
efficient building.
"If we expanded in the
For Attempted Escape
Prisoners
Indicted
The Houston County
Grand Jury last week
indicted four inmates of
the county jail on charges
of attacking a guard with
a razor blade while trying
to escape three weeks
ago.
In ending a two-day
session last Tuesday the
grand jury also issued
indictments against a
woman for threatening
police and a man for
forcing another county
jail inmate to perform
sodomy.
Prisoners indicted on
charges of conspiracy to
commit escape and
aggravated assault were
Jessie Lee Robinson, 17,
direction of the parking
lot (toward city hall) the
library will be shaped
like a long cigar,"
Holliday said.
By expanding from the
rear, and utilizing a
square shape, Holliday
said parking spaces could
be doubled with a two
way access to city hall.
In summarizing the
situation, Holliday said
the square-shaped ex
pansion plan would be
about $50,000 cheaper to
build, that it would be
easier and cheaper to
heat and cool, and that it
would save the parking
lot.
of Warner Robins;
Barney Jester, 24, of
Abbeville; Johnny
Mathis, 18 of Perry, and
David Sanders, 19.
Clint Maxwell, 18, of
Macon, was charged with
two counts of aggravated
sodomy for allegedly
forcing another inmate at
the county jail to perform
two acts of sodomy on
July 11.
The victim, who was in
jail on a peace warrant
taken out by his wife, was
allegedly threatened by
Maxwell with a razor
blade in an attempt to
force she victim to
commit sodomy.
Eva R. Thompson, 38,
of Warner Robins was
indicfed by the grand
jury on three counts of
terroristic threats and
acts and three counts of
aggravated assault. She
allegedly threatened to
murder three Warner
Robins police officers on
April 11.
The three officers she
allegedly threatened to
murder on April 11 were
Sgf. Jim Britt, Officer
Jack Parsons and Capt.
Edward Smith.
She was also accused of
threatening the three
officers with a .38 caliber
pistol.
In other action taken as
a consequence of the two
day sessions which ended
Aug. 8, the grand jury
also indicted;
+ Eddie D. Riley, 18,
and Eddie N. Riley, an
Atlanta father and son,
charged with forging
prescriptions for
Paregoric and Tuinol and
presenting them to
druggists at the Manor
Pharmacy in Warner
Robins.
+ Keith Ray Kinsley,
23, of Warner Robins, for
violation of the Georgia
Controlled Substance Act
by possessing mescaline
and MDA.
■f James A. Nelson,
27, of Dublin, and William
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Oh Happy Days
Perry youngsters filled the Perry Public Library last Wednesday af
ternoon for the final session of the library’s vacation reading club. These
three youngsters, who might have been thinking more about fishing or
baseball, than reading, were among the 160 Perryans who participated in
the reading club. Blowing that bubble in the center is Bill Gottschalk;
Craig Moore is on the right and Clint Talton is at the left. See the story on
this event on page 13-A. (Photo by Terry Wood).
Says Perryan Donald Peck
False Arrest
Case Unsettled
Contrary to reports
issued by other sources,
former Perryan Donald
S. Peck, 36, told The
Home Journal Tuesday
that his false arresf suif
against Houston and
Peach Counties has not
been settled.
"I hSve not signed
anything, nor have I
received any
renumeration in any
respect,” Peck said. "I
had agreed on $7,000 with
my attorney, but no
action has been taken by
the counties.”
Peck, who now lives in
Warner Robins, said It
was his understanding
that he would be paid
$1,500 by Houston County,
SSOO by Peach County,
with the insurance
providing the remainder
of the $7,000.
Peck said about four
weeks has elapsed since
he agreed so the out of
court settlement of $7,000.
"I have instructed my
attorney to tell all parties
involved if they do not
resolve the matter within
the next few days we'll go
back into court,” Peck
said.
Peck said his attorney
was Ben Garland of
Macon.
The case involves
Peck's wrongful arrest
and confinement when he
was living in Perry last
year. Peck, a purchasing
agent for Blue Bird Body
Co. of Ft. Valley, was
wrongfully identified as a
participant in illicit drug
sales in the Perry area,
arrested, taken to jail for
45 minutes, and released
on bond on May 19, 1977.
"I hope this kind of
thing never happens to
you or your family,”
2 SECTIONS 30 PAGES
Peck told a Home Journal
reporter Tuesday night.
Peck subsequently field
a $200,000 law suit against
Houston County Sheriff
Cullen Talfon, Peach
County Sheriff Reg
Mullis, Houston-Peach
Drug Squad agent Casey
Windham, the USF&G
Bonding Co., and the
Hartford Insurance Co.
"Nothing would sur
prise me about this
casts," Peck said
Tuesday.
In a decision released
last March Superior
Couri Judge Wiliis B.
Hunt Jr. released the two
sheriffs, the bonding
company and the in
surance company as
defendants in the case.
A week after Peck's
arrest, the charges
against him were
dropped completely. On
May 31, 1977, Peck ap
peared at a news con
ference with District
Attorney Investigator
Gary Trawick to disclose
the facts and sequence of
events in the case.
City Opens New
Parking Facility
The new city parking
lot at the corner of Ball
and Commerce Streets
is open for business,
according to an an
nouncement during
Tuesday night's council
meeting by Coun
cilwoman Barbara
Calhoun.
Mrs. Calhoun also
Trawick said if ap
peared that a man 18-20
years old, slender and
blond haired, sold an
agent marijuana and
gave Peck's name and
address.
DA agent Trawick said
that someone else used
Peck's name and address
in making the sale to an
undercover agent.
"It was a mistake,"
Trawick said. "Mr. Peck
was able to document his
whereabouts at the time
of the sale. The
description of the seller is
nowhere close to that of
Mr. Peck. There is
nothing I can say, and
really I don't know how to
rectify something like
this from happening In
the future."
Peck said he was not
read his rights when he
was arrested, and that he
was taken to the county
jail and was behind bars
for 45 minutes while a
next door neighbor tried
to explain that Peck could
be released without
posting bond because he
was a property owner.
stated that lights would
be installed in the
parking lot Wednesday.
The city governing body
voted to buy and pave
the new facility to
provide more parking
space for citizens who
shop and conduct
business in downtown
Perry.