Newspaper Page Text
MIDWEEK
EDITION
250
Perry & Houston County's
official Legal Organ
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 5, 1994
Good
morning, Perry
If In Sympathy
The community's sympathy is ex
tended to the families of those who
recently died. They include: Edwin
Tracy Coffee, Perry; Helen L.
Davis, Byron; Seabron Ellis
Busbee Sr., Perry; Berta D.
Goodrum, Ft. Valley; and Earl Jo
seph Phillips, Montezuma. For
more information please see Page
SA.
||§JJ Inside
JOYCE COMPTON 4A
PEQGYJIEPSOE IB
BEAIH-NQTICES 5A
C-LA3SIHEP 6B
fPiIQBIAIS 4A
LESALMQTICES 4B
LQ.CAI.CALENPAR 8A
PIM, QVERTQN 6A
NOTICE OF RECORD 3A
MISS YOUR PAPER?
We hope not,
but if so call early
987-1823
On the
blotter
Barrett in critical
condition due to
weekend shooting
By BRIGETTE LOUDERMILK
Managing Editor
Perry resident Emest C. Barrett
remained in critical but stable con
dition Tuesday, Jan. 3 due to a gun
shot wound he received during an
argument with Tommie Strowder,
also of Perry, who is free on bond
according to Perry Police Detective
Steve Heaton.
According to Heaton, Strowder,
60, was arrested Monday afternoon
and charged with aggravated assault
Please see SHOOTING, page 8A
Two arrested in
connection with
local burglary
By BRIGETTE LOUDERMILK
Managing Editor
Perry police have arrested and
charged Willie B. Carswell, 29, of
810 Elko Road, with the Jan. 1
burglary of Dairy Queen on
Courtney Hodges Boulevard.
According to Perry Police
Captain Steve Heaton, Carswell en-'
tered the building through the drive
Please see BURGLARY, page 8A
EduCare classes focus on wellness
By VETO F. ROLEY
Staff Writer
Looking for information on
stress management, prenatal care,
healthy living, CPR and first aid or
other offerings in health and well
ness? Perry Hospital provides such
information for you with its Edu
care program.
"We feel like a hospital is more
than four walls," said Marti Tolle
son, director of public relations for
Perry Hospital. She said the goal of
the program was educate health care
consumers about health and well
ness.
"With health care reforms, there
comes an emphasis on wellness,
which can cut health care costs,"
said Tolleson.
"This new service is important
because it is going to provide an
education for all of the commu
nity," said Beth Jones, community
educator for Perry Hospital.
# The Houston Home#
Journal
A plea
for help!
April Thompson's
Christmas ruined
by cruel theft
BY BRENDA THOMPSON
Staff Writer
Yes, April, there is a Santa
Claus.
Unfortunately, there seems to be
a Grinch, too.
How else could one explain why
that beautiful pink bike that Santa
left on your doorstep Christmas
morning was taken from that same
doorstep just a few days later?
How else can one explain why
someone has taken it upon them
selves to make you so very sad
espccially when so many other
people from organizations such as
PAL and the Hawkinsville Civitan
Club worked so hard to make you
happy on a Christmas that may
otherwise have been quite bleak?
How else could one respond to
the touching letter which you wrote
to the Houston Home Journal this
week and the heartfelt feelings this
writer got when she paid you a visit
and heard your story while looking
into your tear-filled eyes?
“Anybody who would steal a lit
tle girl’s first new bicycle must be
cruel,” April Thompson’s grand
mother and guardian, Joyce Mus
sclwhitc, said during a Monday
evening interview. “I’ve been sick
and out of work since September
and I’m not really sure who helped
Santa get her that bike. When we
woke up Christmas morning, there
it was silting on the front doorstep
along with a basket of fruit. You
should have seen how happy it
made her. When she visited Santa at
the mall, that bike and for me to
get well is all she told him she
wanted this year. Despite all our
troubles, she has remained a very
sweet little girl.”
And troubles they have definitely
had.
Residents of Hayneville, seven
year-old April and her grandmother
have lived together for the majority
of the little girl’s life. And, up un
til last September when the onset
of a mysterious illness forced Mus
sclwhitc to quit her waitressing job
in Hawkinsville, they were doing
fine.
Today, however, with Mus
sclwhitc imminently facing what is
expected to be a lengthy stay and
much testing at Atlanta’s Emory
University Hospital and mounting
medical bills, they’re just barely
getting by.
In fact, according to
Mussclwhite, if it weren’t for the
good people that she worked with,
the local PAL program and civic
clubs and other good Samaritans
who have remained anonymous, her
beloved granddaughter probably
would have never found a baby doll,
a bicycle, a play phone and a box
full of clothes and shoes under her
Christmas tree this year.
“People have been so good to
For a complete description of classes EduCare
offers and aj'egistration form, see page 5A
"We don't want to be in the
business of caring just for people
going to the hospital," said Jones,
adding that Educare gives the hospi
tal a entry into preventative
medicine.
"Wellness is becoming more and
more important in our society,"
said Jones.
Jones said the Educare program
offers courses in first aid, stress
management, diabetes, heart, prena
tal care and other health-related pro
grams. "The courses will change
each month," she said. Addition
ally, Educare will run a medical ex
plorers group with the Boy Scouts
and assist with infection control in
PERRY. GEORGIA’S HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER SINCE 1870-FQR COVERAGE OF YOUR EVENTS CAt L 987-1823
2 SECTIONS—I 4 PAGES, PLUS SALES CIRCULARS
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(HHJ photo by Brenda Thompson)
Seven-year-old April Thompson Is feeling sad these days. The
new bike she got for Christmas was stolen last week.
Young girl asks for community's help
Dear Editor:
My name is April Thompson and I am seven years old. I live
with my Grandmother and she has been too sick to work for several
months. A group of really nice people talked to Santa Claus for me
and he brought me a beautiful bicycle with a pink seat and white
handlebars. And, it even had a radio on it. Someone stole my new
bicycle out of my yard Wednesday night.
If whoever stole my bike will please return it, nothing will be
said. / will even let them ride it in my yard. I promise not to even
tell Santa Claus.
Would anyone who might know anything about my bicycle,
please try to get in touch with me or my family? I live at 691
Grovania Road, Hayneville. My Uncle has a phone (987-1119) if
someone needs to call.
Thank you to everyone who will try to help me.
April Thompson
us,” Mussclwhitc said sincerely.
“It’s just too bad that this (the bi
cycle being stolen) had to happen.”
day care centers.
For the month of January, Jones
said the hospital will offer classes
and programs in pre-natal care,
smoking cessation, weight loss,
money management, CPR and first
aid and a 55-Alive driving course.
Jones said that some of the
courses are offered free to the pub
lic, but that others would have a
"minimum" fee. "We try to break
even," she said, saying the hospital
is not trying to make a profit from
Educare. "We charge what it costs
us to do the course."
The courses will be taught by
both hospital and non-hospital per
sonnel, said Jones. "We try to get
According to April, who is a
second grader at Kings Chapel Ele-
Please see THOMPSON, page 8A
the best qualified person to teach
the course," she said. "Each person
who teaches is an expert in the sub
ject."
Jones said people interested in
the program should come by the
hospital and pick up a brochure that
lists course offerings. She added the
courses will also be advertised in
the newspaper, and that previous
participants will be placed on a
mailing list. She also said people
can call the hospital at 987-3600 or
call her office at 988-8291.
"We would love to have sugges
tion and ideas (for offerings)," said
Jones, adding that she would also
like to hear from those who think
they are qualified to teach a course.
"We would love to have the
community to support the pro
gram," concluded Jones. "It is a
service we want to present to Perry
and the surrounding area."
PERRY, GA.
Councilmen,
mayor sworn
in to office
By BRIGETTE LOUDERMILK
Managing Editor
In the first Perry City Council
meeting of the new year, re-elected
Mayor James E. Worrall and
Council members Hervia Ingram
and Buddy Roper were administered
the Oath of Office by City Attorney
David Walker. Councilman Ralph
Gentry, who was also re-elected to
serve another term, was not present
at the meeting due to an illness.
Councilman Charles Lewis was
appointed to serve as Mayor Pro-
Tcm for the year by the council.
During a public hearing, council
approved a re-zoning from R 2 to
C 2 for Heritage Apartments at 98
Ashley Drive. Council denied the
request of Perry's Planning and
Zoning Commission to re-zone
two residential lots adjacent to the
10 acre tract due to requests from
the owners of the properties that the
zoning for their properties remain
R 2.
County exploring ways
to raise funds for 911
By VETO F. ROLEY
Staff Writer
Houston County residents may
soon be making a contribution to
the 911 system each time they pay
a traffic or criminal fine.
Bob Turner, solicitor for the
state court, presented the Houston
County Commission Tuesday a
proposal to add a surcharge to all
traffic and criminal fines. The
money would be used to make im
provements in 911 service or pay
for 911 debts and service.
However, before Houston
County could start collecting
money from traffic fines and crimi
nal cases, the slate legislature must
approve the measure. Turner said
that he wanted the support of the
commission before he approached
the Houston County legislative del
egation about the proposed funding.
Turner told the commission the
surcharges could be charged at a flat
rate fee or based on a percentage of
the fine.
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First baby ushers in 1994!
Kadledra Simone Dickson was the first baby to be born in Perry
this year. The daughter of Latrice Dickson and Gerald Harris,
both of Fort Valley, Kadiedra made her debut at 10:50 a.m. Sun
day, January 2. She weighed seven pounds and 11.4 ounces. Being
the first baby to be born here, Kadledra received a SSO savings
bond and special bib from the Perry Hospital, a sls gift cer
tificate from the Sugar Plum Tree, a sls gift certificate from
Jones Jewelers and a free portrait from C and C Photography.
124TH YEAR-VOLUME 2
In other business:
•Council adopted a resolution
drafted by the Georgia Municipal
Association to oppose any local
option sales or income taxes or
other revenue sources as funding for
school finances.
•Perry City Manager Marion
Hay was instructed by council to
proceed with a project to pave the
parking lot located adjacent to Perry
City Hall. The project is not to
exceed $13,499 and the funds will
be allotted in the city's 1995
budget.
•Council approved a
recommendation to borrow
$400,000 to extend the city's high
pressure natural gas transmission
line from Houston Lake Road to
U.S. 341 North.
•Council awarded a contract of
$8,900 to bore a cathodic protection
rectifier well in Woodland Park.
Please see CITY, page 8A
A report on the proposed funding
by Tim Nall, director of the Hous
ton County 911 system, showed a
similar law in Florida. He reported
the Pinellas County, FI., had a sur
charge of $12.50 on each ticket and
fine, using the money to install an
$7.1 million 850 megahertz trunked
radio system.
In the report, Nall estimated that
the county could raise over
$200,000 with a $12.50 surcharge
on traffic fines and criminal cases.
Nall's estimate was based on
14,000 traffic fines and 2,150 crim
inal fines recorded in 1993.
Noting that the county already
had a surcharge on tickets for the
county jail, Mike Long, county at
torney, wanted to know if there was
a connection needed between traffic
tickets and the 911 system before
the surcharge could be imposed.
Turner said the county also
culled a surcharge for the law li-
Please see COUNTY, page 8A