Newspaper Page Text
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Volume 125, No. 12
Wednesday
March 22,1995
50 Cents
At the
Crossroads
this week
Dogwood
Festival is near
The seventh annual
Dogwood Festival is drawing
near and Perry is taking on the
appearance of a town in festi
val.
In addition to the blooms
of dogwoods and azaleas, the
downtown area' is colored
with the addition of festival
flags and yellow ribbons at
many busi
nesses.
Activities
began last jPSjpfJj
weekend with Itrp&Jp—
the naming of ||g§g|g|£p
the new Miss ssaaiiiifii
Dogwoods
including Little Miss, Junior
Miss, Teen Miss and Miss
Dogwood.
Events continue March 30
with the Idaka Club benefit
card game party at the Rozar
Park Community Center.
Events April 1 focus on
Carroll Street with a pancake
breakfast, a run and walk, the
annual arts and crafts display,
a parade, entertainment and
an attic sale downtown. At
Rozar Park, a softball tourna
ment and a tennis tournament
will be held.
Events April 2 focus on
Rozar Park where family and
friends day will be held. One
of the highlights will be a free
lunch, served by the Perry
City Council. Other activities
include a car show, horseshoe
competition, kid’s games, and
a pet parade.
Entertainment will include
an appearance by Cliff Patton
and Skeeter, and tethered bal
loon rides in the Brown and
Williamson hot air balloon.
The festival is sponsored
by the Perry Area Chamber of
Commerce. Committee Chair
Karen Nikitopoulos said addi
tional information is available
at the chamber by calling
987-1234.
Restaurants past
health test
Environmental officers for
the Houston County Health
Department inspected several
restaurants in the county dur
ing the period March 13-17.
All of the facilities passed the
test.
Businesses, with their
addresses and scores are:
Angelina’s, 1500 Sam
Nunn Blvd., Perry; 93.
Angelina’s/Cherokee Rose
Bar, 1500 Sam Nunn Blvd.,
Perry; 95.
El Jalisiense, 115-A
Russell Parkway, Warner
Robins; 100.
Food Plus, 1424 Sam
Nunn Blvd., Perry; 100.
Happy Store No. 433, 517
N. Perry Parkway, Perry; 86.
Owen’s Ice Cream
(mobile) 617 Oakview
Square, Warner Robins; 100.
Perry Country Club
Concessions, 1000 N. Davis
Drive, Perry; 100.
Perr.y-Houston County
Hospital, 1120 Morningsidc
Drive, Perry, 98
Rib Cage, 704 Carroll
Blvd., Perry; 88.
noer nonorees
STARS named
Seniors tapped, page 5A
Houston Times-Journal
Official Legal Organ for Houston County, the City of Perry and the State of Georgia
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■ Times-Journal Photo by Jj Johnson
WORKING THE CROWD Former President Jimmy Carter (right) speaks to a two-year-old
while working the crowd outside the Butler Brown Gallery March 16. Carter and his wife spoke to
and shook hands with many of the approximately 250 persons gathered at the gallery.
President Carter visits Perry
Promotes new poetry book during visit to Butler Brown Gallery
By PAULINE LEWIS
Society Editor
Flashing his famous smile, for
mer President Jimmy Carter looked
like a favorite son on a campaign
trail as he worked his way through
the crowd of 250 to reach the Butler
Brown Gallery March 16.
The occasion was a local cele
bration of the success of his latest
book, “Always a Reckoning,” a
book of poetry, which is a new ven
ture for him. Its success has been
measured by sales and the fact that
it has been on the best-sellers list for
six consecutive weeks and is in its
seventh printing.
Admitting that he was a little
timid about publishing his poetry
after having his first attempts reject
ed by several magazines, he kept
trying until he “got better”.
He had insisted that local artist
Butler Brown paint the cover for his
book, against the wishes of the pub
lishers to have their own artists do
the work. Carter’s revelation over
national television in 1976 that his
wife, Rosalynn Carter, had given
him Butler Brown paintings for his
Christmas gift, helped give national
prominence to Brown’s career.
On this occasion, Brown took
great pleasure in presenting the
original painting of the cover to
Carter for the Carter Library.
On hand to greet the Carters offi
cially were Mayor Jim Worrall of
Perry, Mayor Donald Walker of
Warner Robins and Sherrill
Stafford, Chairman of the Houston
County Commission. All three
thanked Carter for the service he
has, and is rendering to the nation
and the world. Other elected and
civic officials and friends were on
hand to greet the Carters.
The next day, Laveme Brown ,
wife of Butler Brown, reported that
their large stocks of “Always a
Library funding compromise reached
Warner Robins City Council OKs new library funding formula
By LARRY HITCHCOCK
Times-Journal News Editor
Funding for the county library
system, threatened when Warner
Robins declared it would not pay its
share, may be back on track.
A compromise worked out last
week shifts most of the library fund
ing to the county. Meanwhile, the
cities of Warner Robins, Perry and
Centerville all agreed to leave E
-911 emergency dispatch funding
untouched.
The original compromise called
for the county to fund the develop
ment authority completely and for
Celebrating 125 years of service to the citizens of Houston County
The day the president came to town
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Times-Journal Photo by Pauline Lewi*
MEET THE PRESS Former President Jimmy Carter
answers questions from the press while standing beside his
host for the evening, Butler Brown.
Reckoning” and Rosalynn Carter's
latest book, “Helping Yourself Help
Others,” were almost sold out.
In his remarks, Carter had
referred to his wife’s book as being
important because it shows how to
reach out to the sick and aged peo
ple “who don’t get much attention.”
The Carters were en route to
Plains and Rosalynn commented
that it’s “good to be home again.”
the cities to take over funding for
recreation programs. The library
funding would be based on the tax
digest and E-911 funding would
continue to be based on population.
Warner Robins balked at the idea
of the cities having to pay for the
recreation program.
The county will now pay 61.3
percent of the library bill, while
Perry will pay 6.5 percent,
Centerville 2.2 percent and Warner
Robins 30 percent.
Current expenditures have
Warner Robins paying 49 percent,
the county 36.8 percent, Perry 10.6
Snatching incidents
Arrest made
Man is charged, page 5A
They had been spending time at the
Carter Center where CBS has head
quartered while covering news
about the activities leading up to the
Olympics, the Carter Center, and
interviewing the Carters.
Carter said he always had a
warm feeling for Houston County,
where in 1976. he received 85 per
cent of the vote in his first race for
the presidency.
percent and Centerville 3.'6 percent.
All that remains is for the com
promise to be approved by the coun
ty commission and all three city
councils.
The first step in that direction
came March 20 members of
the Warner Robins City Council
unanimously approved changing
their support to match the new for
mula.
Members of the Perry City
Council and the Houston County
Commission were expected to dis
cuss the matter during meetings
Tuesday night after T-J deadlines.
Index
Classified 7B Obituaries 2A
Church 8B Potpourri 1B
Editorials A 4 Sports 6A
Legals 4B Woods and Water,.. 7A
Robins named
best AF base
in the world
By LARRY HITCHCOCK
News Editor
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE
“It’ll never get any better than this
and it comes at absolutely the right
time.”
That’s how \
Maj. 1
William P. j|B
Ha! 1 i n ’ l|j|
described his * rtf ***&**
reaction to the ESu '
announcement \ 4
Monday that
Robins Air
Force Base was -
the winner of Ha ,| in
the Comman
der-In-Chief’s
Installation Excellence Award as the
best Air Force base in the world.
“It’s a very significant win
one in a series,” Hallin said.
A member of the Base
Realignment and Closure Commis
sion is due at the base Thursday for
a fact-finding tour.
Hallin credited Team Robins and
the surrounding communities with
the award selection.
“Every member of Team Robins,
on the base and in the community,
shares in this award,” Hallin said.
Robins was selected in
November as the Air Force Materiel
Command’s nominee for the award.
Crackdowns coming ...
Perry mayor wants
yard clutter ended
From Staff Reports
Perry Mayor James Worrall plans
to ask the City Council for addition
al help in eliminating yard clutter in
the city.
Worrall, in an announcement
Monday, said he will seek a “more
aggressive policy” of enforcing city
ordinances.
“There are areas throughout our
community where litter and other
items have been allowed to collect
to the extent it is jeopardizing prop
erty values of other homes in the
neighborhood,” Worrall said.
“The city has an obligation not to
allow this to happen and in those
cases where homeowners have been
asked to clean up and remove litter
and yard clutter and it has not been
done, strict enforcement of city
ordinances needs to be carried out,”
Worrall added.
PCTV to prosecute
illegal hookups
From Staff Reports
Peachstate Cable TV manage
ment is mad and it isn’t going to
take it anymore.
In the company’s most aggres
sive action in its 27-year history in
Perry, the company has announced
it will begin prosecuting illegal
hookups.
Bill Mitchell, president of the
firm, said “We believe there may be
as many as 200 illegal hookups in
our service area. We now have a
new state of the art system in place
to help us identify these illegal
hookups.”
Mitchell said those individuals
who are suspected of theft of cable
services will be turned over to local
law enforcement agencies.
He said he has discussed the mat
ter with both Houston County
Sheiiff Cullen Talton and Perry
Police Chief Frank Simons. Both
have pledged to cooperate with the
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Home of the Georgia National
Fair and Agricenter
Other bases vying for the title were
Dover AFB in Delaware, Luke AFB
in Arizona and Misawa AB in Japan.
“Winning this award underscores
what we’ve known all along,”
Hallin said. “We have outstanding
people doing their jobs better than
anyone else. We are a cohesive team
focused on our mission and dedicat
ed to our customers.
“It is indeed an honor to be cho
sen as the winner of this prestigious
award. This award symbolizes the
pride of Team Robins. Because of
the hard work and outstanding part
nership with our community, we
won,” Hallin said.
The award means Robins AFB
will receive a trophy, a flag, a presi
dential letter and a $200,000 incen
tive award.
The presentations will be made
in Washington, D.C., in May, Hallin
said.
The $200,000 will be used “to
improve the quality of life for every
one involved with Team Robins,”
Hallin said.
A team will be selected to decide
just how the money will be spent.
The award “is about more than
trophies,” Col. Jack Ward, 78th Air
Base Wing Commander, said. “It’s
about reputation, credibility and
(See ROBINS, Page 54)
Present city ordinances apply to
items located under carports or on
porches, automobiles which have
not been removed within a reason
able time, and other yard clutter
stacked around a house.
Worrall said there are several
property owners in the community
who have been asked on one or
more occasions to clean up. Worrall
said this has resulted in little visible
results.
“The city has even offered to
assist in the removal of yard trash at
several trouble spots, but the prob
lems continue to exist,” Worrall
said.
In these instances, Worrall said,
he will ask that ordinances be strict
ly enforced with no exceptions
granted and that all litter and other
items be removed from the premis-
cable television provider.
“The first felony arrest could
come as early as this week,"
Mitchell said Monday.
Theft of cable TV services cov
ers a range of activities including
possession of a converter box not
issued by PCTV and customers
hooking themselves up to a cable
line.
Quoting state law, Mitchell said
the state has determined it is a
felony “to avoid, attempt to avoid,
or cause another to avoid the
charges, in whole or in part, for any
cable television service.”
Georgia law provides penalties
up to 5 years imprisonment for the
first offense, he said.
“Cable theft affects every honest
subscriber because it deprives us of
revenue which could make the dif
ference between needing to raise
rates versus keeping them as they
are." Mitchell said.