Newspaper Page Text
MIDWEEK
EDITION
250
Perry & Houston County's
, official Legal Organ
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17, 1993
Hi
HJF Good
morning, Perry
Deaths
Leo White, Perry; Helen Mar
guerite Archer, Perry; O.L.
Dennard, Abbeville; Othel
Murray, Macon. For details,
please see page 6A.
INDEX
AGRICENTER EVENTS 12A
PEGGY BLEDSOE 1B
CLASSIFIED 13A
CALENDAR EVENTS 11A
JACKIE COOPER 2B
DEATH NOTICES ~ 6A
EDITORIALS 4A
BRIGETTE HAMILTON 4A
LEGAL NOTICES 2B
TIM LEWIS IB
POLICE REPORT 3A
REMEMBER WHEN 4A
SPORTS 9A
BRIAN LAWSON 9A
TO SUBSCRIBE, CALL:
987-1823, OR 987-5203
READ IT, THEN RECYCLE!
Malone honored
by Realtors for
thirteenth year
Charles Malone of Home Place
Realty in Perry was recently ap
plauded by the Perry Board of Real
tors as a 13-time winner of the or
ganization’s “Million Dollar Club”
Award.
To be inducted into the Board of
Realtor’s “Million Dollar Club”,
realtors must sell $1 million or
more in real estate during a one year
period.
Malone was inadvertently omit
ted from a Saturday Houston Home
Journal story regarding Perry Board
of Realtors’ award winners. The
Home Journal regrets any inconve
nience this omission may have
caused.
Limited number
of detectors to
be given away
BY BRENDA THOMPSON
Staff Writer
The Perry Fire Department has
joined forces with the Houston
County Chapter of Safe Kids of
Georgia and the Georgia State Fire
fighters Association in an upcom
ing smoke detector give-away pro
motion.
According to Perry Fire Chief
Gary Hamlin, 150 smoke detectors
will be given away to Houston
County residents on a first-come,
first-serve basis from 10 a.m. until
noon Saturday, March 24. A num
ber of detectors will be available at
all fire departments in the county,
including the Perry Fire Depart
ment.
Hamlin added that the program is
part of a state-wide effort to get
smoke detectors in homes and of
fices. Although smoke detectors are
more prevalent than ever before,
there is still a need to spread the
word, Hamlin says.
“ A smoke detector is the cheap
est life insurance policy you can
buy,” Chief Hamlin said this week.
“On the average, the majority of
house fires occur between the hours
of 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. when most
people are sleeping and are most
vulnerable. Smoke detectors help
decrease that vulnerability.”
Additionally, homeowners with
smoke detectors receive a break on
fire insurance, said Chief Hamlin.
For more information, call Gary
Hamlin at the Perry Fire Depart
ment, 987-6524, or Bob Smith and
Jimmy Williams at the Houston
County Fire Department, 542-
2026.
■ The Houston Home*
Journal
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Frances Whitten and Randa Parker hug a really "cool" snowman named Uncle Fred
on the lawn of CB&T.
Winter storm blows through
town bringing snow, damage
BY BRENDA THOMPSON
Staff Writer
The snow has melted, the winds
have subsided, but the aftermath of
last weekend’s surprise winter
storm long lingers.
Touted as the worst storm of the
century, the late winter blizzard
crippled most of the East Coast and
had governors of nearly every state
from Florida to Maine declaring
states of emergency.
Locally, snow and fierce winds
gusting up to 50 miles per hour
were the source of most problems.
Perry postal workers had their
routes canceled, meetings and other
events were postponed and thou
sands of pine trees and branches
wreaked havoc on a number of area
roofs and power lines, leaving
many people in the cold as late as
Tuesday. Local grocery stores were
bombarded with shoppers and local
motels were hanging out “no va
cancy” signs as travelers discovered
interstates running north were im
passable and/or closed.
“Ve literally had no room at the
inn,”(a spokesman at the local Hol
iday Inn said Monday. “Usually this
time of year we are running a 40 to
50 percent occupancy rate, but we
were having to turn people down
this weekend.”
\ linemen for both Flint Electric
Membership Corp. and Georgia
Power Cos. have worked around the
clock since Saturday morning in
restoring power throughout Hous
ton County.
According to Glenn Heck, a
spokesman for Flint Electric,
15,000 of the company’s 49,000
area customer base lost power over
the weekend. As of Monday morn
ing, all but approximately 600
homes in the county and 550 in
local rural areas were back on line,
Heck said. All were expected to be
restored by Tuesday.
While power lines tumbled
throughout the county, phone lines
pretty much remained in tact as evi
denced by the avalanche of calls re-
Please see STORM, page 5A
2 SECTIONS—IB PAGES, PLUS SALES CIRCUL/j
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(HHJ photo by Eric Zellars)
Ice and patches of snow lingered Monday as evidence
of the winter storm that blew through town Saturday.
PERRYGA.
County denies
allegations made
in filed jail lawsuit
By ROBIN BOOKER
Staff Writer
The Houston County Board of
Commissioners and Sheriff H.
Cullen Talton filed a response on
March 12 to a lawsuit filed against
the parties on Feb. 11 concerning
conditions at the Houston County
Jail.
"We’ve put together an answer
that responds to each allegation on
the suit and will now await the
judge's instructions on the matter,”
said Commission Chairman
Sherrill Stafford. "We anticipate
having a hearing where we’ll have
to respond to these issues, but we
have not heard anything from the
judge as yet."
The lawsuit against the county
sited the jail for not meeting safety
standards and failing to provide
proper medical care for inmates.
Additionally, the suit alleged that
Sheriff Talton failed to comply
with code regulations concerning
the transporting and maintenance of
the prisoners. The suit also con
tends conditions at the jail are be
low required standards.
In filing the suit, Attorney
Kenneth Lucas said the plaintiffs,
Willie Marshall, Dan Gunn 111,
Jody M. Johnson, Bobby Bozeman
and any and all other persons simi
larly situated, are seeking attorney
fees and the remedy of the situation
as compensation.
"They are treating those inmates
like animals down there, and they
shouldn't be allowed to do that,"
said Lucas, following the filing of
the.Juit.
The response, filed by County
Attorney Michael Long, denies
many of the allegations made
against the county and the sheriff,
stating as its first defense that the
plaintiffs failed to make any provi
sion for how relief was to be
City finalizes package
for Rozar Park grant
BY BRENDA THOMPSON
Staff Writer
Perry city councilmen moved
into the last stage of an application
for a $400,000 grant to help fund
the proposed community center and
recreation building at Rozar Park in
Perry during a regularly scheduled
city council meeting Tuesday
evening.*.
Councilman Hervia Ingram made
a motion to approve an architectural
and engineering report prepared by
the architectural firm of Peidmont,
Olsen and Hensley. The report, the
last component needed for die grant
application, was unanimously ap
proved by the council.
In other business, council mem
bers:
•Voted to purchase anew tele
phone system for Perry City Hall.
Folk festival coming to
Agricenter this weekend
BY BRENDA THOMPSON
Staff Writer
Area residents will have a chance
to get a glimpse into the past this
weekend at the Eighth Annual Ge
orgia Folk Festival.
Scheduled this Saturday and
Sunday, March 20-21, at the Geor
gia National Fairgrounds and Agri
center in Perry, the festival is ex
pected to draw more than 5,000
people. Festival hours are from 10
a.m. until 6 p.m. Saturday and
from noon until 6 p.m. on Sunday.
Designated by the 1992 General
Assembly as Georgia’s “Official
Folk Festival”, the Georgia Folk
Festival is a non-profit event which
offers Georgians an opportunity to
celebrate, explore and enjoy the
state’s unique and rich heritage
through the eyes and talents of a
123RD YEAR—VOLUME 22
granted in the jail situation. A
number of the allegations were de
nied due to the term "jail" being
used in the original lawsuit without
reference to which facility was be
ing named.
The defendants' response to the
suit requested the "plaintiffs prayers
for relief be denied, all costs be
assessed to the plaintiffs, the plain
tiffs' request for injunctive relief be
denied, the plaintiffs' request for cer
tification as a class action be denied
and that the defendants have such
other relief as the court deems just
and proper."
Stafford said his office has still
Please see JAIL, page 14A
County will pay
for employees'
vaccinations
By ROBIN BOOKER
Staff Writer
In order to comply with Georgia
law, the Houston County Board of
Cotjimissioners voted Tuesday
night to approve providing
Hepatitis-B vaccinations to public
safety employees requesting the
inoculation. The state law requires
that public safety employees who
could be exposed to bodily fluids
in emergency situations be given
the shots if requested.
The board voted 3-1, with Larry
Snellgrove in opposition, to ap
prove the funding for the mandated
vaccination program. Each series of
vaccinations, which includes three
shots, costs S9B. The price-tag on
the entire project could reach
$30,000 if everyone eligible for the
vaccination requests it. However,
commissioners are hoping only
those public safety workers at risk
Please see PAY, page 11A
The new system, which carries a
price tag of approximately $18,500,
maintenance contract included, will
replace the City’s current antiquated
system and offers many additional
cost and labor saving devices.
•Waived the SIOO Parade and
Processions fee for the Fifth An
nual Dogwood Festival 5K
Run/Walk Race as requested by
sponsors, Perry Hospital and PPG
Industries.
•Awarded a contract to Hammock
Machine Shop of Perry to install
protective hand/guard rails at the
Perry Water Treatment Plant. Cost
of the project, which is a safety
precaution and insurance require
ment, is $15,255.
•Approved an expenditure of
Please see CITY, page 14A
host of working craftsmen and
artists.
Craftsmen and artists to be fea
tured include spinners spinning
Romni wool and Angora rabbit fur,
quilters, basket makers, bobbin and
lace makers, wood carvers, sculp
tors, pottery makers, blacksmithers,
painters and doll makers.
There will also be lots of hand
crafted clothing, puppets and bread
dough, leather and recycled bottle
cap jewelry. Other arts and crafts
featured will include Plains Indian
beadwork, denim-rag jackets, wood
lathe, wood furniture and pie safes,
leather belt buckles, chain stitch
embroidery, cookbooks and paper
making.
Special demonstrations planned
Please see l-ESTIVAL, page 14A