Newspaper Page Text
Houston Times-Journal
folume 124 No. 60
3 erry, Ga
his week
2 Sections, 16 Pages
In today's
issue...
le community's sympathy is
ided to the families of those
recently died. They
Je:Lula Mae Davis and Hester
n Smith. For more informa
>lease see Page 2A.
od Assistance
Houston County residents
suffered losses due to re
floods may be eligible for
stance, it was announced
sday. The Houston County
artment of Family and Chil
\ Services will be at Heri
( Hall of the Georgia Na
al Fairgrounds today
ugh Friday from 8 a.m.-6
. (8 a.m.-3 p.m. on Satur
to distribute food stamps,
ziduals will have to meet
me eligibility guidelines to
ify.
o Lay Approved
, proposed congeneration
t at Frito Lay’s Kathleen
ty has passed the first step,
ting approval from the
rgia Public Service Com
>ion (PSC). Page 3A.
yers Get SI,OOO
he Perry Players are one
» closer to their fund-rais
goal after Kroger donated
>OO fortheater renovations
le Main St. location. Page
jcare Exceeds Goal
ducare celebrates its first
• in Perry with record num
;, attracting 4,453 persons
Hasses. Page 88.
rary Gets Truck
e Houston County Library
:em is sporting new wheels
week after board mem
; approved the purchase
1994 GMC Sonoma. Li
y spokesperson Judyt
Jen says the library had
J the same van for 10
s. Page 3A.
liams Gets Position
;rry Parks and Recreation
a new voice, with Melba
ams taking over the ex
ive secretary position at
local department. Page
I SIMPSON 4A
ARIES 2A
iIHED MB
RIALS M
■ NOTICES ffc6B
■ CALENDAR SB
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n i3B
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Work'
1
Kerce rejoins newspaper as editor & GM
James B. "Jim" Kerce, a reporter, editor and pub
lisher, whose career spans 32 years in newspapers,
has returned to The Houston Times-Journal as edi
tor and general manager.
The announcement was made Monday by Bob
Tribble, owner of Trib Publications (the Times-
Journal's parent company) and Danny Evans, part
owner of the newspaper.
He replaces Brigette Loudermilk, who is pursuing
other interests.
In his dual role as editor and general manager,
Kerce will be responsible for the day-to-day opera
tion of the newspaper.
Prior to leaving the paper for a five-month period,
after The Houston Home Journal merged with The
Perry Times, Kerce had been editor and and general
manager of the Home Journal for 13 years.
From March 1994 until late this month, he had
been managing editor of The Daily Sun, Warner
Robins.
"Coming back to the Journal is like returning
home," Kerce said of the appointment. "Perry is an
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Perry Mayor James Worrall received the first check from the Georgia Emergency
Management Agency to cover costs Incurred during the recent floods. The check
was for $1,525, which Perry City Manager Janice Williams said was a rough estimate
of five percent of the damage suffered by the city In the flood. Williams said Perry
would receive more money from GEMA In the future. Shown with Worrall Is Warner
Robins Mayor Donald Walker, who received a check for $256,000. Earlier, the
county received a check for $511,000 for disaster relief.
Times-Journal lowers subscription cost;
announces plan to end weekend edition
In a move designed to better serve
readers and advertisers in the Perry
community, the Houston Times-
Journal will revert to weekly publi
cation with the Aug. 3, 1994 issue.
At the same time, the paper will
lower subscription rates by 28 per
cent. The Saturday, July 30, 1994
issue will be the newspaper's final
weekend edition.
The decision to discontinue the
Saturday edition of the newspaper
was announced by Jim Kerce, editor
and general manager of the
Times-Journal earlier this week.
"When the weekend edition was
introduced a number of years ago, I
believed local news events and ad
vertising needs warranted expansion
of the Home Journal to twice
weekly," Kerce said.
"However; while the edition did
Identity of washed out caskets sought
By VETO F. ROLEY
Staff Writer
The city of Perry is looking for
family members or others who
might know the identity of persons
buried in at least four graves beside
Big Indian Creek in the Evergreen
Cemetery on Main Street.
While none of the graves were
washed open, Perry City Manager
Janice Williams said a lot of the
dirt and sand covering the graves
were washed away during the recent
flooding. "They are very much in
Panthers Gear Up
Page 7 A
Official Organ For Houston County, City of Perry & State of Georgia
allow us to bring certain news to
our readers on a more timely basis,
overall we realized we could publish
a stronger community newspaper
by presenting complete Perry cov
erage in one weekly edition," he
said.
Kerce also pointed out that current
features published in the Saturday
edition will be carried in the
Wednesday newspaper. "In addi
tion," he added, "we will be adding
some features to the paper and ex
panding local coverage in the near
future."
Citing the rich newspaper heritage
Perry has enjoyed for over a cen
tury, Kerce said the Times-Journal
staff is determined to uphold the
standards of community journalism
excellence that has earned the news
danger of (washing away in the fu
ture)," she said.
The graves are in an old section
of the cemetery, dating back to the
1920 s or earlier, said Williams. The
city’s search for family members
and names is hampered by the fact
that few records were kept on the
people buried in the cemetery in the
early history of the cemetery.
Several years ago, said
Williams, the city identified the
obvious graves in the section, and
put crosses on the graves.
For News And Subscriptions Call 912-987 1B?3
Wednesday, July 27, 1994
exceptionally fine community and, to me, the her
itage of first-class community journalism it has en
joyed for over 124 years is special."
"During my 13 years' association with the paper, I
grew to appreciate the quality of life in Perry. Also,
I became deeply committed to providing Perry with
the type of top-quality, hometown newspaper readers
have enjoyed for over a century."
"That commitment will continue," he said.
In commenting on Kerce's return to the Journal,
Tribble said: "Jim has a wealth of knowledge about
the Perry community from his long association
with the newspaper. I believe concern for the com
munity and newspaper will be an asset to readers and
advertisers.
Co-owner Danny Evans said he is "glad to have
Jim back on the team." Citing Kerce's past experi
ence, Evans said: "now we can continue the level of
journalistic excellence Perry has enjoyed in past
years."
Kerce's experience includes news reporting, editing
and management positions in daily and weekly
paper scores of awards. Among
those were first place for general
excellence in the Georgia Press
Association's Better Newspaper
Contest two years in a row.
In announcing the move to once
weekly publication, Kerce said the
price for local, home delivery of the
paper will drop to $lB per year. The
Times-Journal currently charges
$25 for local delivery. Rack rates
will remain at $.50 at this time.
The weekend edition had been
published by The Houston Home
Journal for over eight years. Prior
to that date, the newspaper had been
a weekly for over 116 years, except
for a short time in the late 19705.
The Home Journal and The Perry
Times were merged earlier this year
to form the Houston Times-
Journal.
Williams said that no coffins
were washed away when Big Indian
Creek flooded, adding that most of
the coffins in the section affected
were pine coffins, with the coffins
probably being disintegrated by
now.
Williams said the bodies in the
graves will be relocated to higher
ground within Evergreen Cemetery.
At its meeting Tuesday, July 19,
the Perry City Council indicated its
desire to have a ceremony when the
bodies were moved.
Mayos Celebrate
Page 3B
>3Br W
\ |p> 'jMt Mi* N '- . B
Yi
JAMES B. ’JIM' KERCE
veteran newsman
rejoins newspaper
Perry will seek
more funds for
flood damage
By JIM MY, .SIMPSON
Staff Writer
A top city official said this week
that despite only a portion of flood
funds being received, the city
remains optomistic that additional
monies are just around the comer.
A Disaster Survey Report is
presently being conducted by the
Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA) that will estimate
the cost of road and bride damage.
Once the report is completed,
city officials say they will then talk
with federal officials to see how far
apart the two sides may be.
“The disaster report has
approximate cost estimates, and
that’s what (federal workers) will
base their monetary report on,” said
interim City Manager Janice
Williams. “Once their figure is
determined, they will then present it
for our approval.”
Officials from the federal team
first visited last Monday to assess
the damage with city officials while
taking a tour of the city.
Members then returned Thursday
to provide further input. Any areas
approved for repairs by FEMA are
eligible for up to 75 percent
reimbursement. The Georgia
Emergency Management Agency
(GEMA) has the option to pick up
the remaining 25 percent.
Williams said that while an
excat overall cost of damage still
has yet to be totaled, work still
remains to be done at various city
sites.
For the first time in more than
two weeks, the Valley Drive bridge
was opened to traffic, however a
backup city water plant is still in
need of repairs.
“The bridge looks real good,”
Williams said. “We haven’t had any
other problems since (it was
repaired).”
The water treatment plant,
however, may be another story.
“It’s still in need of parts to get
the system going again, but it is a
back-up system, so it is not
essential right now,” Williams
continued.
The main plant, located just off
of Highway 341, continues to
operate without any problems, said
the city manager.
That’s evident when looking at a
recent July billing printout. That
report showed city residents to have
used some 49,416,300 gallons of
water in a 30-day period.
By comparison, city residents
demanded only 35,566,800 gallons
of water the previous month.
“Thai’s because most people had
Parry, Georgia - 50 Cents
newspapers over a 32-year span, beginning in 1962.
The son of a newspaper editor, Ben L. "Red”
Kerce, he has worked in Atlanta, Tallahassee, Fla.,
Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and Harrodsburg, Ky., before
coming to Perry in 1981.
Kerce had held positions as a reporter, features edi
tor, photo editor, state news editor, page one editor
and assistant managing editor on daily newspapers
before moving into newspaper management in the
weekly field in 1978.
During his career, he has won numerous awards for
journalistic excellence, including state and national
awards for writing, layout and photography. While
he was at the Home Journal from 1981-'94, the pa
per won over 60 press association awards, including
the coveted General Excellence award back-to-back
in 1988 and 1989.
The Georgia Press Association’s General
Excellence award honors papers judged to be the
"best of the best" in state journalism each year. No
other publisher and newspaper in the association’s
Please see Kerce page 5A
to go back to watering their lawns,”
said one city employee.
Williams said a recent check
from both Georgia and Federal
Emergency Management Agencies,
for $1,525 was just “a figure off the
top of their head” for repairs.
“That check was just to let the
city know that, ‘Hey, we are
standing behind you all the way’,”
said Williams.
That check is basically already
spent once in hand, according to an
earlier report from Williams, who
said city road crews were forced to
start and complete the Valley Drive
bridge project.
Several additional projects are
still on the drawing board, said the
city manager, mainly the shoulders
of several roads that have yet to be
repaired.
Concern voiced
over rebuilding
dam at Lake Joy
By VETO F. ROLEY
Staff Writer
Residents around Lake Joy Dam
have raised concerns about Houston
County rebuilding a dam they
contend is privately owned.
"If the county can fix one private
problem, then it should fix some of
ours," said Edwin Garrett, who
lives near Lake Joy. "(Lake Joy)
has caused all kinds of problems
from backing up."
However, Mike Long, attorney
for Houston County, said the
county did own Lake Joy Dam,
since it served as the roadbed for
Lake Joy Road.
Long said the county owned the
road at least through "prescription."
"The public use of a road or prop
erty for a 20 year period of time”
makes any property or road county
property, he said. "The road has
been there a long, long time.
"The county owns the road, and
maintains the road," said Long.
"(Lake Joy Road) is a public road.
It is a county highway."
Tommy Stalnaker, director of
Public Works for Houston County,
said the county repaired Lake Joy
Dam since it was the roadbed of a
county road. "The entire dam did
not buckle,’’ he added, noting that
only a few places were damaged by
flood waters.
Repair work on Lake Joy Dam
cost the county $150,000, said
Stalnaker.