Newspaper Page Text
WEEKEND
EDITION
250
Perry & Houston County's
official Legal Organ
SATURDAY, JUNE 26,1993
morning, Perry
HOME JOURNAL
HIGHLIGHTS
In sympathy
The community's sympathy is
extended to the families of
those who recently died. They
include: Ollie Melvin Yaughn
Jr., Wallace Scott, Johny
Sylvester Sheffield, Mary Ann
Riley Hunt, please see com
plete details on page 3A
Church notes
First Baptist Church will wel
come Dr. Kie Bowman as a
guest speaker for their June
30th evening service. The
church is having a series of
special guest speakers each
Wednesday nightthrougout the
summer, with ministers such
as Bowman leading special
services, please see page 2A
Illegal parking
If you have happened to park in
the handicapped parking space
in front of the Houston County
Courthouse this past week or
so, odds are good that yourtag
number is in Brenda
Thompson's column this week,
please see page 4A
Arthur inks ABAC pact
Perry High graduate Jason
Arthur has signed a letter of
intent to attend Abraham
Baldwin Agricultural College
next year and participate on
the school's nationally ranked
golf team, please see page 1B
Ochlahatchee All-Stars
The Ochlahatchee Pee-Wee
baseball and softball leagues
heldtheirall-stargames Friday
night. Take a look at the local
all-stars on pagelß
Perry bear drops by
A black bear seems to make a
pilgrammage to Perry every
year about this time. For a de
scription of recent close en
counters with this visitor to
Perry, read Bobby Tuggle's
column on page2B
INDEX
BRIAN LAWSON IB
CALENDAR 3A
CLASSIFIED 6A
DEATH NOTICES 3A
EDITORIALS 4A
PERRY SCRAPBOOK 4A
POLICE REPORT 2A
JIM SHIPLEY 4A
Lauren beat the odds
to celebrate 1 st year
By ROBIN BOOKER
Staff Writer
Little Lauren Dill celebrated her
first birthday on June 20, a year
after being bom premature and be
ing given only a 50-50 chance to
live.
Lauren made her entrance into
this world a great deal earlier than
expected. Weighing in at less than
two pounds, Lauren was bom three
months premature, only 28 weeks
into her mother's pregnancy.
Kaye and Rodney Dill were com
pletely unprepared for Lauren's un
expected arrival, having had no
indication that there were any prob
lems with Kaye's pregnancy.
However, on June 20,1992, Lauren
was bom and given only a 50/50
chance of survival during those first
72 hours.
"When they’re bom that early,
the doctors don't really give you
much hope because so many things
factor into the situation," Kaye
PERRY, GEORGIA'S HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER SINCE 1870-FQR COVERAGE OF YOUR EVENTS, CALL 987-1823
ff The Houston Home!
Journal
Base news ends uncertainty
By ROBIN BOOKER
Staff Writer
The billboard on Houston Lake
Road said it all: BRAC-7, Clinton
0.
The announcement that Robins
Air Force Base had dodged the
bullet of closure when the Base
Realignment and Closure
Commission voted 7-0 to leave
RAFB open signaled an end to the
first round of battles the base may
have to fight concerning its future.
■ 4 £.• ®r jISH
HP ' - ' V „V’ v[| *v - ■">'
m ' f *W ( a* Br3L>
i 9 i|j|
I\ I H
M %P **** <, /£ 7 L k
* jpH|g| jgfc %
(HHJ photo by Eric Zellars)
Christian beiis are ringing!
Little Thomas Williamson (left) and Jason Roberts (right) take time out from their busy
Vacation Bible School schedule at Perry United Methodist Church to get a closer look at the
commemorative bell which graces the front line of the church. Perry UMC, which held its Va
cation Bible School June 21-June 25, Is among many churches in the area that are hosting
fun and educational summer programs. Watch the paper for details.
said. "She spent 74 days in the neo
natal intensive care unit before we
could bring her home."
Kaye is quick to acknowledge
that those early days were rough and
that the Dill family could not have
endured the strain of the situation
without the love, support and
prayers of their family, friends and
church. Even now, with Lauren
still on oxygen and a heart monitor,
the Dills appreciate the support of
the community.
"Taking care of Lauren takes a
lot of time and energy because she
has special needs," Kaye said.
"Lauren's older sister, Amanda, is a
big help, though, and she under
stands the special attention her little
sister requires."
Kaye said doctors are working to
get Lauren off the oxygen but a
bout with pneumonia in January
caused a setback in Lauren's im
provements. The prognosis is good,
though, and Kaye said the family
2 SECTIONS—IO PAGES, PLUS SALES CIRCULARS
The BRAC voted at 10:30
Friday morning to keep Robins
open, a decision Central Georgia
anxiously awaited since the RAFB
21st Century Partnership
Committee made its presentation to
BRAC in Atlanta on June 9.
Although most area residents and
leaders felt confident the base had
proven its role and necessity to the
military, no one could predict the
outcome of the BRAC vote.
"The high standard of work per
g|
Lauren Dili
hopes for the best in the future.
"It's a difficult situation because
we have to keep her environment
safe and she can't do most of the
things other children her age do,"
she said. "It's all worth it, though,
and we just hope and pray she'll
continue to get stronger and health
ier in the days ahead."
Lauren's grandparents are Mr.
and Mrs. Bill Grubbs of Senoia;
Mr. and Mrs. Jay Thomas of
Stockbridge; and Mr. and Mrs.
Roger Dill of Lake Arrowhead.
formed at Robins Air Force Base,
coupled with its first rate facilities
and solid community backing, pre
sented a strong and persuasive ar
gument to keep Robins open, said
Sen. Sam Nunn.
"Robins Air Force Base con
tributes significantly to our nation's
military readiness and to our na
tional security. The entire middle
Georgia Community did an excel
lent job in highlighting to the
commission the many strengths of
Rezoning may spur new growth
BY BRENDA THOMPSON
Staff Writer
The Perry Planning and Zoning
Commission £nd Perry City Coun
cil paved the way this week for ad
ditional business growth around the
Georgia National Fairgrounds and
Agricenter.
Hearing no opposition from citi
zens or landowners during a public
hearing held Tuesday evening at
Perry City Hall, the two govern
mental agencies re-zoned approxi
mately 20 acres of land bordering
the Agricenter from a light
industrial classification to zones
conducive to a more commercial
atmosphere.
The property, which
encompasses four individually
owned tracts, is located on the
southwest comer of Larry Walker
Parkway and General Courtney
Hodges Boulevard. Propery owners
are Ed and Billy Beckham, both of
Perry, Johnny Nall of Fort Valley
and Dick Roughton of Perry.
“Primarily, we're making this
PERRY, GA.
Ia Park Community Newspaper—©l993 1
■ 306 "*" ———Mi
GEORGIA
I U. GA MAIN LIBRARY
lATHENSGA 30602
the Base, and I commend the many
state and local leaders for their ef
forts on behalf of Robins," he said.
Chairman of the Perry Military
Affairs Committee Arthur Loewen
was encouraged and "delighted" by
the news concerning Robins and
said he felt Perry played a strong
role in supporting the base in recent
weeks.
"While we are very happy and
excited about this recent announce
ment, we are looking ahead to the
Northrop lays off
51 workers; offers
aid with new jobs
BY BRENDA THOMPSON
Staff Writer
Northrop Corporation officials
are busy setting up a redeployment
center at the Perry plant this week
to assist 51 local employees who
have been officially notified of
pending layoffs.
The layoffs are to be staggered,
with some coming effective as early
as August 21 and the remaining oc
curring between August 21 and the
end of October.
According to Mike Greywitt, a
spokesman for Northrop Corpora
tion in Los Angeles, CA, the local
layoffs are a direct result of a
slowed production of Boeing 747
jetliner subassemblies and represent
approximately 12 percent of the
Perry plant’s 407 work force.
The Boeing Corp. had made the
announcement of their planned cut
back from five to three shipments
per month back in January.
In March, Northrop followed
with an annoucement that it would
be reducing its company-wide work
force of 33,000 by 2,400 during
1993. Many of the employees to be
laid off, however, were to come
from the more populous plants in
southern California.
Of the 51 local Northrop em
ployees notified this week, 42 are
assembly line workers, Greywitt
said. The remaining nine are from
various support functions from
within the local facility.
When asked about recent rumors
that 25 additional employees are to
be laid off in the coming months,
Greywitt indicated that he has no
additional information at present.
“These are the figures available
at this time,” he said. “I am not
aware of any additional layoffs at
this point. . .these take us through
October.”
During the 60 or more days al
lowed employees before the layoffs
become effective, Greywitt said
those affected will be allowed to
utilize all services of the corpora
tion’s redeployment center here.
change to for two reasons-to re
move the M-l (light industrial)
zoning which is not compatible
with the adjacent commercial zon
ing of the Agricenter as well as to
create more appropriate commercial
zonings for that property bordering
the two highly-traveled streets,”
said Perry Building Inspector Bill
Chambless.
Specifically, the property is now
zoned C-l and C-2; C-l being pri
marily along the two streets and ca
tering more to the traveling public
with businesses such as service sta
tions souvenir shops and conve
nience stores. The C-2 zoning is
described as general commercial and
allows for almost anything in the
retail arena.
In other planning and zoning
matters, city councilmen:
•Conducted the first reading of
two separate requests from private
citizens for annexation into the
city.
Petitioning the city for annexa
tion are Alice M. Connell and Wal-
123RD YEAR—VOLUME 51
future and realize that we need to be
more involved in the future promo
tion of the base,” Loewen said.
Executive Vice-President of the
Perry Area Chamber of Commerce
Peggie Williams was also happy to
hear the news and indicated the an
nouncement will be good for busi
ness in the area.
"The uncertainty of the situation
has been the hardest part of this all
and we know many people had tc
Please see Base, page SA
Services provided include job
listings, help with resume prepara
tion and interviewing techniques as
well as one-on-one guidance.
“Each notified employee is being
talked to individually and provided
information of redeployment ser
vices,” Greywitt said. “We do as
much as we can to help and relocate
them within the area.”
Greywitt added that notified em
ployees will also be allowed to use
telephones, fax machines and
copiers free of charge over the next
couple of months as a service of the
redeployment center.
911 probe
results in
lower bill
By ROBIN BOOKER
Staff Writer
With change comes the hope of
progress for the Houston County
911 Committee, which has faced a
myriad of problems in the past few
weeks concerning the system's bud
get.
Approximately one month ago
the Houston County Commission
charged Commissioner Larry
Snellgrove with evaluating the
weaknesses in the 911 program and
making recommendations for im
provements. Since that time the
91*1 committee has met twice and
adopted new guidelines for the oper
ation of the program and its ex
penses.
According to original budget re
quirements, the City of Perry was
billed almost $74,000 for its share
of the 911 yearly operating ex
penses. However, that figure was
based on charges per service call and
exceeded the $36,000 the city had
budgeted for 911. Had Perry been
charged according to the population,
their bill would have only been
Please see 911, page 6A
ter W. Gray, Jr. and Betty C. Gray,
all of who have property located
near the intersection of Houston
Lake and Gray roads. Total acreage
to be annexed into the city is
approximately 7.5.
The annexation is expected to
become official following a second
reading of the petition at the July 6
city council meeting.
•Accepted the sole bid of S6OO
from Mildred Jordan of Perry for
the purchase of a portion of a city
owned lot in Perry’s Oakdale
Subdivision. The lot, which is 40’
x 50’ and was purchased by the city
in 1986 using Community Block
Grant Funds, is described as being
of no use to the city.
•Agreed to purchase a tract of
land 100’ x 60’ located off of
Highway 41 South from Julian
Cawthon at a price of $12,500. The
lot is needed for a sewer lift station,
necessary for the extension of sewer
lines in that area of town as
outlined in Perry’s overall water and
sewer improvement master plan.