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Houston Times-Journal Volume 124 No. 34 Elko man charged with child molestation By BRIGETTE LOUDERMILK Editor An Elko resident is being held in the Perry jail without bond after be ing charged with aggravated sodomy and four counts of child molestation Saturday, April 23. According to Perry Police Captain Steve Heaton, witnesses have stated that William Foy, 49, of 2624 Elko Road forced a three year old 2 Sections, 16 Pages Inside Today Calendar 5A Classifieds 8A Editorials 4A Legal Ads 3B Lifestyles IB Sports 7A Qualifying for county elections well under way BY BRENDA THOMPSON Staff Writer Although qualifying is well un der way, final results of who’s run ning for five county offices won’t be available until Friday afternoon when the qualifying session offi cially ends. Both the Democratic and Repub lican parties are expected to post re sults at the Houston County Courthouse about an hour after the noon-time deadline. County races which began seek ing qualifiers Monday at 9 a.m. in clude: •Houston County Commission, Post 1: This is the full-time posi tion of county commission chair man. As of late Tuesday afternoon, incumbent Sherrill Stafford was the only one to have qualified on the Democratic ticket Information from the county’s Republican Party committee on this or any of the open county Please see QUALIFYING, page 5A Post office and other fed offices will close today BY BRENDA THOMPSON Staff Writer By order of U.S. President Bill Clinton, all federal offices— including that of the United States Post Office—will be closed Wednesday, April 27, as people throughout the country mourn the death of former President Richard ,M. Nixon. Nixon, the country’s 37th president, died last Friday, April 22, the victim of a massive stroke. His body was flown to Califor nia earlier this week on a presiden tial jet and was to lie in state at the Nixon Library and Birthplace in Yorba Linda, Calif, for the public to view during a 20 hour period starting at 3 p.m. PDT Tuesday. A private funeral service is scheduled for sometime Wednesday afternoon with burial following at a site near the house where he was bom. He will be buried next to his wife of 53 years, Pat. The Rev. Billy Graham is to officiate. Local city, county and state gov ernmental offices will remain open on Wednesday and federal offices will resume normal operating hours on Thursday. Page 3B female to "commit sodomy". Three other young girls, the oldest being eight years old, witnessed the act and one told her mother. The alleged molestation occurred at an Elkin Street residence between 4:30-4:55 p.m. According to Heaton, the girls were playing out doors when Foy, who visits the area often, approached the girls and fc . I, -'Jf ■■ ’ WHL ~ I®'' , t V' f *■ mgr §Mb mWf jf jrafi Hpw Mm The Pink Ladles, a volunteer group that provides services section at the celebration. Five were honored for 25 years to the patients of the hospital, were seated In a reserved of service at the hospital. Perry Hospital enjoys a 'Happy Birthday!' with community celebration By PAULINE LEWIS Staff Writer The atmosphere around Perry Hospital Saturday, April 23, was one of excitement-music, food and drinks, bright-colored balloons, tents, decorations and music-all lent a festive air. The Pink Ladies sat in reserved seats; five of them, Pat Hutson, Lorraine Funk, Nancy Golder, Pansy Gordon and Nina Harper had served 25 years. Four employees who had also served 25 years were recognized: Susie Hickey, Eloise Mathis, Wilma Newberry and Barbara Tyson. Hospital Administrator Jim Peak served as master of ceremonies, welcomed everyone and introduced the first patient, Mary Jo Offenberg, and her son, Warren Offenberg. the first baby bom in the new hospital. Hal Cotton, Chairman of the Hospital Authority, said that the work done for and by the Hospital staff required "eye care, ears care, heart care, wisdom, courage and help from all to make the hospital to be the best each and every day." As Chairman, he believes the authority must be good stewards. He paid tribute to the first physicians on staff, Drs. Gallemore, Hendrick and Amall. He said that public money ought to be touched. He quoted Lillian Gish as saying, "What you get is a living - what you give is a life." Official Organ For Houston County, City of Perry & State of Georgia "...although Heaton could not guess what sentence a judge would hand down in the case, he said "We'll do everything we can to make sure he gets the maximum sentence." then committed the crimes. Although there is only one count of aggravated sodomy "that we Celebrating 25 years// He concluded by wishing that the next 25 years would be as produc tive as the past 25 years. Dr. Larry Dan Stewart, Chairman of the Medical Staff, named the group of doctors that serve Perry Hospital and said, "I am proud to be a member of the Board and Staff. I came to Perry eight years ago and am proud to be a part of this community." Mayor Jim Worrall told how it used to be before Perry had a hospital. People would look in The Macon Telegraph or The Macon News to see which Perryans were in hospitals. "Now, we have pre-natal, nutrition, health fairs, the latest in diagnostic equipment and the finest physical therapy department in the state." As mayor, he welcomed each person, and thanked "Jim Peak, Pink Ladies, Staff, Hospital Authority, doctors and those with the dream and who saw it through." Archie Thompson, Chairman of the Houston County Board of Commissioners, extended thanks to all and mentioned the efforts by the board, and their role in appointing authority members, providing indigent care, ambulance service, E9ll Communications Center and back ing bonds. He too, thanked the staff, Pink Ladies and physicians, saying, "it is comforting to know Sports Page 7A Wednesday, April 27, 1994 - - - know of so far" Heaton said, due to the fact that the witnesses were all juveniles, Foy has been charged V '‘ §. ’-SSI ‘ jMp&p W ' Hospital Authority Chairman and Parry raaldant Hal Cotton was ona of tha many apaakars who applaudad tha dadlcatad staff of Parry Hospital. that we have a capable staff, espe cially when you have small chil dren." Rep. Larry Walker gave the fa mous quote from Churchill’s 1940 speech to the House of Commons - "Never in history has so much been owed by so many with four counts of child molesta tion. Heaton said that since the perpe trator is someone other than a fam ily member and is an adult, the lo cal police department is the lead agency handling the case although juvenile and family services offi cials have also been contacted. As far as legal punishment, although Heaton could not guess to so few." Walker continued by mentioning Marion Brown as one of the early supporters for the hospital and said the hospital was a good economic investment for this city. He continued, "Few persisted in see CELEBRATION, page 5A Classified Page 8A what sentence a judge would hand down in the case, he said "We’ll do everything we can to make sure he gets the maximum sentence." On the count of aggravated sodomy, Foy could be facing a life sentence, and must serve no less than one year in prison and could serve up to 20 years. On the four counts of child mo- Please see CHARGED, page 2A School site selections questioned By BRIGETTE LOUDERMILK Editor Continuing their efforts to per suade the county school board to build a new middle school south of Highway 96, a group of concerned citizens have added two allies to their side-an attorney from Macon and (the majority of) Perry City Council. According to a member of the group, Macon attorney Hale Almand met with leaders of the concerned group Monday, April 25. From that meeting new develop ments have reportedly "come to light”. A press conference is ex pected,to be called sometime later this week to inform the public of these new developments in the group's case. Also adding to their support. Mayor James E. Worrall and five Peny City Council members signed a resolution on April 12 which supports the "actions of the group...who are demanding infor mation in order to evaluate a deci sion" of the school board. Council further stated in the reso lution that the school board should "set aside its approval of the sites selected" for two new middle schools in the north end of the county and to "conduct a valid, ob jective site selection process which focuses on the needs of all middle school students in Houston County and provides serious consideration to appropriate sites located south of the SR 96 area." Councilmen signing the procla mation were Mayor Pro-Tern Charles Lewis, Ralph Gentry, Bobby Glover, Buddy Roper and James Moore. Councilman Hervia Ingram stated this week that he did not "mean anything against the council per sonally” but that he refused to sign the resolution because he feels both political bodies should work to gether to solve the problem. "We should be building bridges together-through communication by solving the problem together. "We should not bum bridges (with the school board) by acting in an abrasive manner," Ingram said, adding that he wants to continue the , good working relationship that cur rently exists between Perry City Council and the Houston County Board of Education. Mayor Worrall said he felt the council was supporting the efforts of the citizen group but not neces sarily the means. "We’re not supporting a confronta tion," he said. "We felt obligated to support the citizens of this com munity, citizens who live in Peny who feel a new middle school is needed here." Worrall also said council under stands the new school sites would alleviate some of the over crowding at Perry Middle School but that building a school closer to Perry would be a wiser decision. Worrall said he personally feels that schools should be built in communities where services-such as police, fire and health-are readily available.