Newspaper Page Text
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Infeitjie
Volume 125, No. 5
Wednesday
February 1,1995
50 Cents
At the 1
Crossroads I
this week
Ruth Smith Shealey
Joseph E. Andrews Jr.
Pearlene W. Jolly
Annie McWilliams
Clinton D. Manning Sr.
Norman Arthur Murphy
Christopher S. Waszczak
Doris Akin Kersey
See Obituaries, page A 2
Red Cross to
collect blood
The American Red Cross
Bloodmobile will be in the
midstate area several times
during coming days to col
lect blood. These drives are
sponsored by the Houston-
Middle Georgia chapter of
the Red Cross.
The bloodmobile will be
at the Wellston Senior
Center, 155 Maple St. in
Warner Robins Wednesday
from 1-6:30 p.m.
The bloodmobile will be
at Crossroads United
Methodist Church, 1600
Main St., Perry, from 1:30-7
p.m. Feb. 2.
The bloodmobile will be
at Houston County High, 906
Ga. 96, from 9 a.m.-l p.m.
Feb. 10.
The bloodmobile will be
at the First United Methodist
Church on Merritt Street in
Hawkinsville Feb. 15 from
2-7 p.m.
The bloodmobile will be
hosted by the sth MOB at
Smith Recreation Center,
Robins Air Force Base Feb.
16 from 9 a.m.-l p.m.
Another bloodmobile visit
will be Feb. 21 at the Board
of Realtors office at 11078
Russell Parkway in Warner
Robins. The bloodmobile
will be open from 1-5 p.m.
that day.
For additional informa
tion contact the American
Red Cross at 923-6332 or
visit the office at 346 Corder
Road in Warner Robins.
United We Stand
to meet Feb. 9
Members of United We
Stand, the organization
which supported Ross Perot
during the 1992 presidential
election, will meet Feb. 9 at 7
p.m. at the Nola Brantley
Library in Warner Robins.
Members will discuss the
initiative and referendum
effort before the Georgia
General Assembly. Also to be
discussed is the formation of
a political party.
The meeting is open to the
public.
The Houston Times-
Journal wants to hear from
you. Call (912)987-1823 dur
ing business hours, 8:30 a.m.-
5:30 p.m., Monday through
Friday. Fax us anytime at
(912) 988-1181. Visit our
office at 807 Carroll Street in
historic downtown Perry.
Health counts
Special Section Inside
Houston Times-Journal
Official Legal Organ for Houston County, the City of Perry and the State of Georgia
Open at last!
miinrin iiMTWr " t
Times Journal Photo by Eric Zellars
BACK ON THE BRIDGE After months of detouring around
the Georgia 247 Spur crossing of Mossy Creek, motorists are
now back on the spur. The bridge was washed away July 5 after
water washed downstream after Houston Lake Dam broke. The
bridge is one of many which had to be repaired or replaced in
Houston County.
McDannald sees bright future
for healthcare complex
By LARRY HITCHCOCK
News Editor
Technology and impending
changes in the nation’s health care
system will affect future health care
for residents of southern Houston
County, but the Houston Healthcare
Complex is taking steps to make the
transition easier.
And the patient will play a big
part in the quality of care, according
to Dr. Eugene “Skip” McDannald
Jr., the chief executive officer of the
complex.
McDannald became CEO Nov.
1. He oversees both the Houston
Medical Center in Warner Robins
and Perry Hospital.
“Health care is going to be man
aged more in the future,” McDannald
said. “There’s going to be more
‘sameness’ in treating diseases.
“I hope the public will start ask
ing questions about the medical care
they are about to receive what
are we going to do and why? what
will it cost?
“The insurance companies are
tne financial part of health care and
they need to wake up to today, too,”
McDannald said. “They have to
MUSI ™
msm>
IIPP I;
1 i Q -
Times-Joumal Photo by Eric Zeilars
NEW TO HOUSTON COUNTY New Houston Healthcare
Complex Chief Executive Officer Eugene “Skip” MCDannald Jr.
(left) visits with Perry Hospital nurse Hazel McCurdy, RN.
Celebrating^!2s years of service tb fhe citizens of Houston County
work with the hospitals to give the
best individual care for the lowest
cost. Patients need to ask the doctor
about test results and find out what
the next step is and how much it is
going to cost.
“Something has got to be done
about the doctors having to practice
‘defensive’ medicine the ordering
of multiple tests to avoid lawsuits.
Doctors need to work with the insur
ance companies to assure that the
patient gets the best possible care.
“There are a lot of areas which
need to be looked at to make health
care affordable to all concerned,”
McDannald said.
And just where does Perry
Hospital fit in the scheme of things?
“The hospital is going forward to
meet the health care needs of the com
munity,” McDannald said. “We are
looking at ways to improve the pub
lic’s access to health care, such as
walk-in primary care clinics,” he said.
Perry Hospital has just recently
added a new obstetrician and a new
pediatrician will be joining the staff
soon, McDannald said.
(See HEALTH, Page SA)
3 tries at winning
Panthers win
Triple overtime effort 6A
New Houston Lake Dam
moves two steps closer
By Jj JOHNSON
Times-Journal Editor
Efforts to replace Houston Lake Dam, washed away
in wake of the July 5, 1994 record rainfall and flooding,
moved two steps closer to reality Tuesday.
Houston County Commission Chairman J. Sherrill
Stafford told members of the board the county had been
approved for up to $75,000 in grant funds to provide
engineering studies at the dam.
Once commissioners learned the money was
promised, they unanimously approved a bid process to
search for a firm to do the engineering work.
Steve Engle, a county administrator, told commis
sioners the process would take about a month to com
plete the specifications, place the legal advertisements
and wait for the engineering bids to arrive.
Commissioners voted during November, 1994 to
proceed with repairs to the dam and to take possession
of the dam, which had for several years been privately
owned by corporations associated with Houston Lake
Country Club.
The county also agreed by taking possession of the
dam.and repairing it, that land would be made available
for reasonable public access to the lake. Those regula
tions will include no skiing on the lake, but fishing
access will be provided during daylight hours.
Recent Perry grad killed in Macon
From Staff Reports
Macon law enforcement officials
are still seeking clues to the
Saturday murder of two young men,
including a former Perry resident.
Joseph J. “J.J.” Andrews Jr., 19,
son of Joseph Andrews Sr. and Dee
Dee Wrigley, both of Perry, and his
roommate, Kyle St. John, 20, of
Macon, were found shot to death,
execution-style, early Saturday
morning near the intersection of
Montpelier and Carling streets in
Macon.
Teachers expected to protest BOE
questionnaire about second jobs
By LARRY HITCHCOCK
News Editor
The Houston County Board of
Education can expect a large contin
gent of teachers at its next work ses
sion Feb. 13 at Bonaire School.
The session opens at 6:30 p.m.
with an hour of public comments
and the teachers are expected to
voice their opinions about Supt.
Tony Hinnant’s recent implementa
tion of a board policy on employees
holding second jobs.
Hinnant told the Times-Joumal
he was following board orders when
he sent all school systems employ
ees a form requesting information
Dogwood festival brochure headed to printer
From Staff Reports
Any church, civic organization or
club that is planning events in con
nection with the Dogwood Festival
should contact Festival Chairwoman
Karen Nikitopoulos to have the
event listed in the Festival brochure.
School office faces position cuts
By LARRY HITCHCOCK
News Editor
Houston County is one of five
middle Georgia counties which
faces cuts in state funding of school
system central office staff, if a pro
posal by Gov. Zell Miller is
approved by the state Legislature.
The governor’s plan calls for the
state to fund a maximum of 12 posi
tions in the central office of each
local school system.
The plan would cut Houston
County’s central office staff from 66
employees to 12, according to Supt.
Tony Hinnant.
For Houston County, the propos
al would cost the system $626,173.
Last year, the school system
received $914,225. Under Miller’s
plan, Houston County would
receive $288,052 this year.
Commissioners also agreed Tuesday to extend the
moratorium on outdoor display boards through Feb. 21.
Tim Andrews of the Houston County Planning and
Zoning Commission told Stafford that panel will meet at
5:30 p.m. Feb. 21. The first item on the agenda is a pub
lic hearing on rules for outdoor advertising. Andrews
said he felt certain the panel would rule on the matter by
the time the commission begins meeting in an adjoining
room at the Houston County Annex in Warner Robins at
7 p.m. that day.
Commissioners Calvin Maye and Larry Snellgrove
agreed to wait only until Feb. 21 after Jay Walker made
a motion to extend the moratorium until a report was
received from the planning board.
The board also agreed to new outdoor burning regu
lations which Snellgrove said put the county back in
charge of burning in the county and took that regulating
power away from federal officials.
He said he hoped the new regulations would be used
with some common sense in their interpretation.
Commissioners met in Perry one week early for their
first meeting of February. Members of the commission,
along with other local government leaders and members
of the Perry Area and Warner Robins Area Chambers of
Commerce will be in Atlanta Feb. 7 at noon for the
annual luncheon with area legislators.
The next commission meeting will be Feb. 21.
Police said both had been shot
several times and had apparently
been shot in the head at close range.
The area where the bodies were
found was near Interstate 75 in an
area Macon police said is a known
drug area.
A 1991 light blue Nissan pickup
truck with a black camper shell was
found abandoned a few hours later
on Chestnut Place, across 1-75 from
where the bodies were found.
The two young men shared an
apartment with another person on
about possible second jobs the
employees may hold.
The forms were due to be
returned by Feb. 1.
“We’ve been rewriting our
school policies during executive
sessions on employee policies,”
Hinnant said. “The old policy said
teachers may work at outside jobs
with the permission of the principal
and the superintendent. Our attor
ney (Tom Daniel) told us we needed
to address this issue and he felt
comfortable with the policy.”
Hinnant said the board’s concern
was that some teachers may be
working a second full-time job and
The deadline for accepting
events for the brochure is Feb. 10.
“Any local club, church group or
civic organization that plans to have
activities going on April 1 or 2, or
even March 31, may request to have
it listed in the brochure. Simply call
Only Bibb County receives more
in middle Georgia. Other systems
that would see funding cut are
Baldwin County, Hancock County
and Tift County.
Most smaller school systems
would receive more for central
office employees than under previ
ous allocations.
“The state provides funds for the
salaries of administrative personnel
and it’s up to the school system to
decide how the money will be
spent,” Hinnant said.
“In our office, everybody has an
assigned responsibility and if the
person is not there, then someone
else has to take over those responsi
bilities,” Hinnant said.
“Of course, this is all hypotheti
cal,” Hinnant said. “The Legislature
has not acted on the governor’s pro
index
Classified........ SB
Church 3B
Editorials 4A
Legals 6B
Home of the Georgia National
Fair and Agricenter
Arlington Place. Both were
employed at a M,acon restaurant.
Macon police are asking anyone
who might have seen the two men or
the pickup truck to contact them at
751-7571.
Andrews was a 1993 graduate of
Perry High School. Funeral services
were held Tuesday at Watson-Hunt
Funeral Home with Elder Gordon
Buchanan officiating. Burial was in
Perry Memorial Gardens.
would not be able to fulfill their
obligations as teachers.
“I can assure you that it (the pol
icy) will be discussed at our next
meeting,” Hinnant said.
Those opposed to Hinnant’s
action received support from
Georgia School Superintendent
Linda Schrenko, according to a
report in another publication.
Schrenko was quoted as saying
she personally believed the policy
was an invasion of privacy.
“If they (the teachers) are doing
an adequate job, what they’re doing
(See JOBS, page SA)
file chamber at 987-1234 during
office hours. Evenings and week
ends, persons may call Nikitopoulos
at 987-5535.
The brochure will be printed by
March 1 so it may be distributed to
area tourism promotion outlets.
posal yet.”
However, if the plan is approved,
“we will try to place as many of the
central office personnel as possible
back in the classrooms,” Hinnant said.
Some school system administra
tors have said the cutback would
force them to raise taxes or send
administrators back; to the class
room.
State School Supt. Linda
Schrenko said Miller’s plan was
prepared before she took office, but
she endorsed the idea.
“We are cutting bureaucracy,”
Schrenko said. She said any school
board that votes to raise taxes
should be voted out of office.
Miller’s plan would take S3O
million in funding for central office
positions and move it into classroom
funding.
Obituaries 2A
Potpourri 1B
Sports 6A
School news 4B
A