Newspaper Page Text
WEEKEND
EDITION
25$
Perry & Houston County's
official Legal Organ
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1993
911 committee
discusses party
line problems
By ANISSA CLEMONS
Staff Writer
For the past year and a half the
Houston County 911 Committee
has battled the controversy concem
ing party lines and the
unavailability of the Enhanced 911
service for the party line users.
Once again the issue was dis
cussed at Thursday’s 911 committee
meeting. Currently 911 can’t access
a party line user’s address and phone
number on the computer when they
call 911 . Despite not receiving the
County approves solid
waste management plan
By ROBIN BOOKER
Staff Writer
Following two public hearings
and a great deal of hard work, the
Houston County Commission
voted Tuesday to approve a solid
waste management plan that will
unite the governments of Perry,
Warner Robins, Centerville and
Houston County.
The Joint Solid Waste Plan de
tails steps that will be taken for the
county to attain a 25 percent reduc
Health board changes
cooking rules for beef
By ANISSA CLEMONS
Staff Writer
The Houston County Board qfr
Health voted to change the cooking
requirements of beef patties by
restaurants and businesses in Hous
ton County.
The new stipulations are in re
sponse to the recent outbreak of
foodbome E. Coli infection in the
western part of the United States
caused by consumption of infected
ground beef patties. This type of E.
Coli usually leads to hemorrhagic
colitis, according to Environmental
Health Specialist Bert M. Tilton.
He said recent studies of ground
beef lots show a three percent con
tamination rate. “It can kill and
cause a lot of serious problems,” he
said.
Tilton said after inspecting sev
eral restaurants in Houston County,
“Most restaurants already cook their
beef patties at a high enough de
gree.”
He said, “I’d like to see a change
BOE chairman meets with
parents to discuss concerns
By ROBIN BOOKER
Staff Writer
More than 50 concerned parents,
educators and citizens gathered at
Leisure World Clubhouse in Warner
Robins Thursday night to discuss
the whole-language approach cur
rently being used in the Houston
County School System.
The group, which has been
meeting since September, has con
cerns about the new way of teach
ing language arts in kindergarten
through third grade. The new lan
guage arts curriculum, which has
been in place since last year, em
phasizes teaching reading and writ
ing skills in an integrated method.
The parents’ concern comes over
what they term a “lack of system
atic phonetic instruction.”
“There are a variety of reasons
why we are all here tonight, but we
are very focused in what our objec
tives are,” said Kim Sadler,
aspokesperson for the group, “Our
concern is that while there are many
good things in the whole-language
curriculum, there appears to be a
de-emphasis in systematically
teaching phonics.”
The group has appealed to the
Enhanced 911 service, party line
users have to pay the $1.50 fee for
the service on their phone bill.
Party line user Olin Taylor said,
“If we can't get the enhanced ser
vice, I don’t think we should have
to pay the $1.50.
“Maybe a $1.50 doesn’t mean
much to you, but I’m retired and on
a fixed income.”
GTE party line customers have
been offered the option to switch to
Please see 911, page 6A
tion in the amount of solid waste
going into the county landfill. The
plan is in response to the state set
ting a goal of a 25 percent reduction
of solid waste intake by 1996 for
all Georgia landfills.
Upon approval by other local
governments, the plan will be sent
to the Middle Georgia Regional
Development Center in Macon. The
plan will be reviewed to ensure
Please see WASTE, page 6A
in our own rules.”
The former rules stipulate beef
pattTeT'Be" coolceH’To fW degrees
Fahrenheit. After Tilton suggested
beef patties be cooked to 155 de
grees Fahrenheit to kill the bacteria,
the board agreed to do so.
Tilton and other board members
also stressed concern for institu
tions that aren’t inspected by the
county such as private clubs and
social picnics.
Tilton said ii is essential beef
patties be cooked to 155 degrees
Fahrenheit whether they’re cooked
at home or in a restaurant. He said
it’s not safe to eat “pink” hamburg
ers, and people need to make sure
the beef is fully cooked.
The Thursday night meeting was
the first for new member Betty
Bynum. Bynum, an assistant prin
cipal at Miller Elementary, was ap
pointed by the Houston County
Commissioners to represent the
Please see RULES, page 6A
school board and various members
of the school system administration
but is unsatisfied with the results
they have received from those enti
ties. Sadler said the group has con
tinually requested statistical data to
support the use of a whole-language
curriculum to no avail.
“The reason our focus is the sys
tematic instruction of phonics is
that we have enough statistical
support to prove to us that it is
necessary to have a correlation be
tween letters and the sounds they
Group not satisfied with language arts program
By ROBIN BOOKER
Staff Writer
Since school began last fall, a
group of Houston County parents
has been questioning the adoption
of anew language arts curriculum
in the Houston County School
System.
In order to better address and ex
press their concerns, the group has
been meeting monthly to examine
ways to challenge the school
board’s adoption of a whole-lan
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Westfield senior Danny Perfect prepares for his ninth annual Houston County Market Hog Show to be held
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auction to be held around 4:30 p.m.
Perfect prepares for county hog show
By ANISSA CLEMONS
Staff Writer
Most high school seniors spend
their time thinking about the col
lege they're going to attend or their
plans for the weekend, but for
Westfield senior Danny Perfect
these thoughts aren’t the only ones
on his mind.
For the last three months Perfect
has come home from football
practice to spend time getting his
hogs ready for the Annual Houston
County Market Hog Show. Along
with feeding and watering his three
hogs, he said, "I have to walk them
every day to build up their
muscles."
On show day Perfect said he'll
make. This is what should be
taught to our children in the early
grades,” she said. “With the inte
grated approach currently being
used, there does not seem to be any
available data to back up the deci
sion to use this approach.”
Board of Education Chairman
Zell Blackmon attended the meeting
and expressed to the group the
board’s standing on this issue.
“The credibility for what we are
doing lies in our teachers, and I am
Please see CONCERNS, page 6A
guage approach to teaching reading
and writing. Led by Kim Sadler, a
parent with two children in Hous
ton County schools, the group is
primarily voicing concern that their
children are not being taught phon
ics in a systematic approach.
Rather, with the whole-language
approach, phonics are taught as an
integrated part of the entire curricu
lum.
Please see GROUP, page BA
trim the hogs’ bellies, ears and
neck. He'll wash, powder and oil
them before he shows them.
He said his hogs will be judged
on showmanship and how they
look. ”1 think they're the best hogs
I've ever had. They have a lot more
muscle than my other hogs in past
years,” Perfect said.
The Feb. 20 show will be
Perfect’s ninth and last as a 4-H par
ticipant. Houston County 4-H
Coordinator Durham Bell said,
"He's been with the program a long
time. He's been a real leader in the
program. We're going to miss him
and his involvement."
Although Perfect will be at
Good
morning, Perry
Deaths
Margaret Ellen Glose, Perry;
Charles William Lollis 111, Perry;
Orena Covnor Hull, Perry; Clara
Mae Waddell, Perry; James
Leroy Boswell, Perry. For de
tails, please see page 3A.
INDEX •
AGRICENTER EVENTS SA
ROBIN BOOKER 4A
CALENDAR 5A
CLASSIFIED 4B_
DEATH NOTICES 3A
EDITORIALS 4A
PERRY SCRAPBOOK 4A
POLICE REPORT 2A
SPORTS IB
JIM SHIPLEY 4A
STREET TALK 4A
JOHN TRUSSELL 2B
BOBBY TUGGLE 2B
BRIAN LAWSON IB
WOODS ’N WATER 2B
PERRY, GA.
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural
College next year, he said he
intends to help his younger cousin
raise hogs for next year's show.
He's won several awards over the
last nine years, and he thinks he has
a good chance of winning a ribbon
this year in the county.
The hog show is open to
Houston County residents between
the ages of nine and 18 and
involves participants from 4-H and
Future Farmers of America (FFA).
Bell said, "Raising hogs and
showing them helps teach (the par
ticipants) about animal husbandry."
He said they learn about the dif
ferent types of feed and its protein
Houston state reps, are liaisons
to the public on specific topics
Members of the General Assem
bly representing Houston County
have agreed to appoint liaisons to
be contacted when someone is in
need of information.
The delegation does not want to
limit anyone’s access to any mem
ber of the General Assembly, but
liaisons will provide people with an
Houston County
Commissioners
Houston County
Board of Education
City of
Warner Robins
City of
Perry
City of
Centerville
Houston County
Hospital Authority
Warner Robins
Air Logistics Center
123RD YEAR—VOLUME 15
value. "It also teaches them about
the demeanor of other animals and
the differences in personalities of
each animal."
Raising hogs teaches them re
sponsibility and discipline because
it takes a lot of time and effort ac
cording to Houston County Young
Farmer Coordinator Tim Lewis. He
said the students must record feed
ing and exercising notes as part of
their hog raising.
About 35 young hog raisers will
compete in the show. Students are
allowed to pick one of their hogs to
be sold at an auction held after the
show.
initial contact if they need informa
tion. If the liaison person contacted
cannot provide the necessary infor
mation, the delegation requests that
citizens feel free to contact any
other members of the delegation.
The following legislators are ap
pointed as liaisons for the listed
group:
Representative
Sonny Watson
Senator
Sonny Perdue
Representative
Sonny Watson
Representative
Larry Walker
Representative
Robert Ray
Representative
Larry Walker
Representative
Johnny Floyd
(404) 656-5115
(912) 923-0044
(404) 656-9217
(912) 922-9065
(404) 656-5115
(912) 923-0044
(404) 656-5024
(912) 987-1415
(404) 656-5024
(912) 825-7202
(404) 656-5024
(912) 987-1415
(404) 656-0152
(912) 273-1760