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MIDWEEK EDITION 25( Perry & Houston County's official Legal Organ WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 1993 City seeks meeting with BOE on annex BY BRENDA THOMPSON Staff Writer After discussing the future of the Perry Annex in closed session, Perry Mayor Jim Worrall and members of Perry City Council heard the pleas of three local residents to do whatever they could to save the building from de struction during a regularly sched uled council meeting Tuesday evening Concerns over the possible de ♦::- MET _ j|il if j£* p> W &Ut a i*? J Br dl: w <£ Sk *■ k n H (HHJ photo by Eric Zellars) Pink Ladies recognized Pink Ladies volunteers bring hours of joy and comfort to the hospital environment and goodwill to the community. A group of these volunteers were honored at an appreciation banquet held Monday night for their many hours of service. Pictured are Joan Christensen (5,500 hours), seated left; Lorraine Funk (4,500 hours), Ruth Richards (1,000 hours), standing left; Aileene Chapman (2,000 hours), Dot Green (1,500 hours), Freida Greene (500 hours), Roselle Davidson (2,500 hours), Pansy Gordon and Ethel Edwards (3,500 hours). Not pictured are Joyce Griffin (500 hours) and Molly Ragan (1,000 hours). Perry Hospital employees honored Service pins presented ' Tyson recognized By ROBIN BOOKER Staff Writer Perry Hospital department heads and administrators honored their employees last night with a banquet and service pins in recognition of dedicated service to the hospital. Welcomed by Chairman of the Hospital Authority Hal Cotton, the employees were told how much their hard work and dedication to Perry Hospital is appreciated. Cotton stressed the improvements that have been made at the hospital in recent years, but pointed out that without the dedication of the work ers, the hospital would not be a success. "These facilities came about by the blood, sweat and tears of a lot Exchange Club will collect donations By ROBIN BOOKER Staff Writer Anyone traveling through Perry Saturday morning will more than likely find themselves involved in a road block, but since it's for a good cause, the Perry Exchange Club hopes the road block will not be a problem for anyone. For the past several years the club has held a road block to collect donations that will go toward the prevention of child abuse. This is the club's main project for the year, and club members will be out in teams from 8:30 a.m until 2:30 p.m. at the intersection of Highway struction of the building by the Houston County Board of Educa tion came to light recently when board chairman Zell Blackmonconfirmed rumors that making the annex property a part of the Perry Elementary campus and consequently tearing down the building was indeed an option. At the time of that confirma tion, Blackmon also added that he and the board realize that the Perry of people. Each of you who have played a part in the continued im provement and success of Perry Hospital deserve to be honored, and I am honored to commend you for your dedication," said Cotton. Prior to the meal, the group was entertained by part of the cast of the Perry Players’ production of "Fiorello!" The castmembers sang "A Little Tin Box” for the crowd's enjoyment. Employees were recognized for five, 10,15 and 20 years of service at the hospital. Three employees were also honored as retirees who have dedicated 48 years of total ser vice to the hospital. The 23 employees honored last 41 and Houston Lake Road in front of Stanley's Discount Furniture. In addition to accepting donations, the club will be handing out flyers with information concerning the preven tion of child abuse. "We have a very bold goal this year of $2,000, but this is such a worthwhile project that we really hope we can reach our goal. If just one case of child abuse can be pre vented, the whole project is worth while," said Coordinator of Child Abuse Prevention Projects Earl Chamblee. In addition to asking people for PERRY. GEORGIA'S HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER SINCE 1870--FOR COVERAGE OF YOUR EVENTS, CALL 987-1823 j • . ■; 1 . -■ - I- M HIM., Ml ■!■■■>• mil ■ ii| . ' mi ■——— ■ The Houston Homef Journal 2 SECTIONS—IB PAGES, PLUS SALES CIRCULARS Annex, formerly Perry High School and Perry Middle School, is a his torical landmark, but also that pre serving the building “must be cost effective”. Among the citizens voicing con cerns during Tuesday’s meeting was Joanne Ogletree, a former graduate of the school. Saying that the building is very dear to her, Ogle tree said that she is currently con tacting everyone in her 1946 gradu night have given more than 200 to tal years of service to the hospital. Jim Peak, hospital administrator, spoke highly of the way the staff works together and makes the hos pital run smoothly. "You are all like a family here. You pull together when you need to and you make this hospital what it is,” said Peak. "Your hard work and ability to work amongst all the changes and adjustments you have in recent years have helped make Perry Hospital one of the best facil ities in the state, and I thank you for your dedication." Retiree Barbara Tyson was also honored last night for 23 years ser- Please sea HONORED, page 12A donations Saturday, the Exchange Club is also asking local busi nesses to make donations. The club gives most of the funds raised to the Rainbow House here in Houston County, but may also support two other child abuse cen ters in the state with some of the money. "We traditionally try to keep the funds in the local area to support our efforts to fight child abuse, but there are other good programs that we may support as well," said Chamblee. ating class to help back efforts to save the building. “A great many people in this city are close to this building and we would like it to stay with us and not bulldozed,” Ogletree said. Another concerned resident, Billy Barrett, echoed Ogletree’s senti ments. “We don’t have an old court house, because in 1940 someone decided we needed something differ Good morning. Perry Deaths William Jesse Baker Sr. .Perry; Clyde Lewis Andrew, Perry; Lucy Mae Bickford, Perry. For details, please see page SA. HHJ adds columns In an effort to improve commu nity coverage, three new col umnists have joined the staff. Look for a brief introduction of Dr. Gerald Brantley, Janice Kerce and Joyce Compton and their columns in the B section of today's edition. INDEX AGRICENTER EVENTS 3A_ GERALD BRANTLEY 2B JOYCE COMPTON IB CLASSIFIED 11A CALENDAR EVENTS 5A^ JANICE KERCE 3B DEATH NOTICES 5A EDITORIALS 4A BRENDA THOMPSON 4A LEGAL NOTICES 4B TIM LEWIS 3B POLICE REPORT 2A REMEMBER WHEN ‘ 4A SPORTS ~BA BRIAN LAWSON 8A PERRY, GA. newspaper since 1870 ent. We can’t afford to lose this landmark, too; we don’t have much of old Perry left as it is,” Barrett said. In response to Ogletree and Bar rett, Mayor Worrall informed those present that council had decided in closed session to arrange a meeting between Perry City Council and the board of education to discuss the future of the Perry Annex as well as some options to achieve that end. State grant will upgrade child and family services By ROBIN BOOKER Staff Writer Thanks to a $500,000 grant, services to severely emotionally disturbed children and adolescents in Houston County will be upgraded and improved in the coming year. Director of Child and Family Counseling Services Cindy Mangum told the Houston County Board of Health last week that the grant will provide a means for establishing a comprehensive pro gram to meet the needs of severely emotionally disturbed children and adolescents. The additional funds for the services will allow at least 25 new staff members to be hired as well as new programs to be imple mented. "We are very excited about get ting these funds. It's like a dream come true to be able to put these kinds of programs in place to meet the needs of these kids," said Mangum. "We are just looking forward to being able to serve these troubled kids more effectively." The funding will provide com munity-based mental health services to help emotionally disturbed chil dren stay in their own communities by providing treatment alternatives to hospitalization and residential placement outside the community. There are a total of six new pro grams that will be established with the grant money, all of which come under the umbrella of the Child and Family Counseling Services. The six new services are outpa tient services to provide diagnostic assessment, counseling, family support and education; intensive in home crisis teams to provide aid to families on the verge of having their child placed out of home or institutionalized; afternoon and day treatment to help adolescents at Conference center to be built at Ga. Agricenter BY BRENDA THOMPSON Staff Writer The Georgia Agricultural Expo sition Authority gave the final go ahead Wednesday for anew confer ence center to be constructed at the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter in Perry. The 7,500 square foot building has been under serious consideration by the authority since last July. It is designed to include individualized areas called “breakout rooms” and is expected to provide the Agricenter with the flexibility it needs to draw additional conferences and conference-like events. “Many conferences and meetings require these breakout rooms for smaller and/or simultaneous Medusa opposition group to hold meeting Citizens for a Safe Georgia, the group spearheading the fight against Medusa Cement Company being permitted to bum hazardous waste, will begin holding public meetings on Thursday nights at the Houston County Library in Perry. The group will meet at 7 p.m. each Thursday to discuss the pro cess by which Medusa is attempt ing to secure a permit from the Environmental Protection Division to burn hazardous waste in its kilns. The concerned citizens arc speaking out in the hope that the EPD will not grant Medusa the |wn 123 RP YEAR—VOLUME 32 “We’ve never actually discussed this matter face to face with the en tire school board,” Mayor Worrall said. “We aren’t sure what our op tions might be at this point.” The mayor encouraged concerned citizens to attend the proposed meeting to express their views. In other business, city council members; •Awarded a total of $1,231,555 Please see SEEKS, page 7A high risk of hospitalization, long term residential placement or transi tion from residential treatment; therapeutic foster care which serves children with severe problems who can be treated in a family environ ment; respite care to provide relief to clients in therapeutic foster care and clients whose family need sup port in keeping them at home; and Please see GRANT, page 12A County Board of Health purchases new insurance By ROBIN BOOKER Staff Writer The Houston County Board of Health approved the purchase of li ability insurance for Phoenix Industries employees at their April 15 meeting. The employees are currently paid an additional 83 cents per hour as part of a government requirement to provide fringe benefits for sheltered workshop employees. Because they have not been getting insurance with that money, the new insurance contract with New York Life will take that additional 83 cents and provide insurance for the employees beginning June 1. The contract will include life insurance and dental in surance. The board also discussed the re cent tuberculosis incident with the Houston County jails and reported that although there were 17 positive skin tests for TB, no inmates or jail employees have the active TB dis ease. The county will provide the inmates and employees who tested Please see NEW, page 12A meetings. Right now, we simpiy don’t have enough room to meet the demands,” said Michele Trcptow, Agricenter Director of Public Affairs. “This new facility should help us attract additional conferences and meetings of all sizes.” Initial design for the new facility calls for four permanent rooms and one larger room equipped with collapsible walls to allow for cus tomized sizing. IPG Architectural Firm of Valdosta, a firm which was involved wilh the initial design and construction of the Agriccnicr, has been hired to design the new siruc ture. Please see CENTER, page 12A permit "We think Medusa is already mishandling the fuels it burns now, so we certainly don't want them to get a permit to bum anything else," said'Jimmy Williamson, a spokesperson for the group. "We want the public to be involved in this process and hope interested par ties will auend the meetings to sec what our group is really all about." Williamson said the group's main thrust is wanting Medusa to operate in a safe manner, no matter what they are burning. per—©l993l