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L# I *\ 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