Newspaper Page Text
Westfield grad dies in Jacksonville wrecK
Four other 1996 graduates injured in car wreck on the way to class trip to the Bahamas
By EMILY JOHNSTONE
Times-Journal Staff
Westfield students and faculty, along
with family members and friends, gathered
at the First Baptist Church June 4 to bid
farewell to a young man whose death has
the community of Perry grieving.
Gregory Scott Adams, 18, of Perry died
as the result of an accident on Florida’s
Interstate 10 near Jacksonville the morning
of June 2.
Adams, who graduated with the Class of
‘1996 less than 48 hours before the acci
dent, was driving a 1989 Ford Bronco with
four fellow graduates as passengers in a
Volume 126, No. 23
2 Sections, 16 Pages
Wednesday
June 5, 1996
50 Cents
this week 1
New industry to be
approved for Perry
Members of the Perry
City Council were expected
to give their approval June 4
to a request to buy more
than seven acres of land at
the Perry Allied Business
Park.
The half-owners of the
land, the Houston County
Development Authority,
approved May 30 selling the
land to Valley Electronics, a
Houston County firm now
located in Kathleen.
John Hood told members
of the Authority the film
will build a large warehouse
on the seven acres of land
which will face Valley Drive
Extension.
The firm now employees
about seven persons. That
number is expected to
expand slightly when the
‘firm opens the Perry ware-,
house, Development
Authority Executive Tim
Martin said.
The company is a world
wide provider of parts for
C-130 aircraft. The compa
ny uses an inventory system
allied with other suppliers in
St. Louis, Mo., to communi
cate with prospective cus
tomers.
Hood said the C-130,
which is based for depot
T-work at Robins Air Force
- Base, is used by military
and civilian agencies world
wide.
If the city approved the
saleT'ffie'T-pius acres ot iandT
will be sold to Valley,
including up to 800 feet of
road frontage, Martin said.
Jj Johnson
ToUeson to head
county panel
Tee Tolleson of Perry has
been named the new chair
man of the Houston County
Development Authority.
Meeting May 30, mem
bers of the county panel
approved a nominating
committee report to elevate
Tolleson to the post. He has
served as secretary-treasurer
of the firm for the past two
years.
Additionally, Draper
Watson of Watson-Hunt
Funeral Home and Mike
Houston, who owns tire and
automotive shops in Perry
and Warner Robins, were
named vice chairmen of the
body.
Neal Reardon, now the
vice chairman of the agency,
will replace Tolleson as the
secretary-treasurer.
Members of the panel
hold posts by nomination
from the four participating
governments, the cities of
Perry, Centerville and
Warner Robins, and the
Houston County
(See NEWS page SA)
caravan of vehicles en route to Port
Canaveral, Fla., where they planned to
board a Carnival cruise ship for a class trip
to the Bahamas.
According to Lt. William Leeper of the
Florida State Highway Patrol, Adams
apparently fell asleep at the wheel. When
he attempted to gain control of the vehicle
as it began to leave the roadway Adams
overcorrected too fast which caused the
vehicle to roll over several times, ejecting
all passengers onto the median, except one
who was wearing a seat belt.
Adams was dead at the scene, the troop
er said during an interview June 3.
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 Eric Zellars
AMBER WAVES OF GRAIN Houston County Extension Agent Larry Willingham (left)
and wheat farmer Ralph Dorsett inspect the grain which Dorsett expects to harvest this week
from a field near Perry. More on the wheat story is on page BA.
Perry High graduation June 7
By EMILY JOHNSTONE
Times-Journal Staff
One hundred and sixty-eight students are sched
uled to graduate during the Perry High School grad
uation ceremony June 7 at Reaves Arena at the
Agricenter, according to Principal Phil Smith.
The ceremony is set to start at 8 p.m.
The processional will be accompanied by music
from the Perry High School band. Joe Hutcheson
will be directing as the group plays ‘Pomp and
Circumstance.’
Invocation will be given by senior class secretary
Anna Laura White.
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Times-Journal Photo by Eric Zellars
HILLARY SMITH IN GARDEN
She Is Salutatorian of PHS Class
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GEORGE POTTER
New Chief of Police
’Community police program is Potter s plan
By Jj JOHNSON
Times-Journal Editor
Perry Police Chief George Potter, who began
his work March 18, said June 3 that he has
developed a plan for changes to the department.
One of the changes will be an increased
presence in the community by officers. No
longer will patrolmen rotate shifts monthly.
Instead, they will remain on the same shift for
90 days, Potter told members of the Perry
Rotary Club.
This will enable patrolmen to get to know
their areas of service better. Officers will be
assigned to the same beats for a year at the
time, Potter said.
“This is part of community police work
getting to know the people you serve better,
and allowing them to recognize you and be
familiar with you,” Potter told the Rotarians.
fefvjflg Houston County for more than 125 jflfMffl
Manish Vashi, 17, of Perry was the one
wearing a safety device that Leeper said
probably saved him from injury or worse.
Vashi was a passenger in the front seat.
Other passengers were Julee Fryer, 18,
and Jennifer Smith, 18, both of Perry and
John David Duke 111, 18, of Fort Valley.
All four were taken to University
Medical Center in Jacksonville.
A spokesman for the Medical Center
said June 3 that Fryer, Smith and Duke
were listed in critical but stable condition
and she expected those conditions to be
upgraded to serious.
Vashi was in good condition and
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Times-Journal Photo by Eric Zellars
SHERRI LOUDERMILK REVIEWS PAPER
She Is Remembering Friends At PHS
The National Anthem will be sung by Billy King
Johnson 111, STAR Student.
Honor graduate Laura Nicole Fountain is sched
uled to deliver a welcome to attendees and the Literary
Quartet will sing ‘Precious Lord Take My Hand.’
Senior class president Hillary Smith will present
the salutatorian address.
Next, Timothy Lester, Thalmus Copeland,
Dontrell Clark and Jarmaine Whitest will be singing
the class song ‘Visions of Sunset.’
The graduation address will be delivered by Sherri
(See GRADS, Page SAO
released later that day.
Times-Journal Sports Writer Phil Clark
talked with Billy Fryer, father of Julee
Fryer, the next morning who said his
daughter, along with Smith and Duke were
progressing well.
All had been taken off ventilators but
were still in ICU.
Doctors were planning to begin in bed
therapy on Fryer’s legs soon, said her
father. Both of the young lady’s legs were
broken in the accident.
Lane and Smith suffered from internal
injuries. All three had their spleen operated
on, said Clark.
Potter said community policing is increas
ingly popular in other communities, and he
believes it is what the Perry City Council wants
him to establish in Perry.
“We will spend less time sitting and waiting
for speeders and more time patrolling neigh
borhoods,” Potter said. The one largest area of
traffic enforcement will be school zones.
“We stopped a logging truck in front of
Perry Elementary School going 55 mph the
other day. That’s not acceptable,” Potter said.
Potter said officers would spend less time
patrolling 1-75 and leave that to other agencies.
Potter said the quality of life in Perry is very
good, especially compared to other communi
ties. He said there is a minimum of gang and
drug-related activity here, but he plans to work
to eliminate that.
He said the city will soon enter into a part-
Perryan charged in
death of husband
From Staff Reports
A Perry woman is being held at
the Houston County jail for murder.
Teresa Walker, 30, of 703 Star
St., has been charged with the
stabbing death of 31 -year old Roy
Lee Parker, her common-law hus
band, according to Perry Police
Detective Heath Dykes.
Parker was stabbed in the chest
with a 12-inch kitchen knife dur
ing an altercation outside the cou-
BOE studies plan
for bond referendum
By EMILY JOHNSTONE
and RICK JOHNSTONE
Times-Journal Staff
A consulting firm hired by the
Houston County Board of
Education has presented a strategy
on how to gain voter support of
upcoming property and sales tax
school bond referendums.
Members of the school board
are planning to call a Sept. 17 ref
erendum on a property tax
increase to raise funds for new
school buildings. Tentative plans
indicate a hike of less than one mil
would be necessary to fund the
$2.5 million bond issue.
A copy of the plan drafted by
Knox, Wall and Co. dated May 13,
and obtained by The Houston-
Times Journal, outlines sugges
tions to follow in presenting mate
rial to the public.
One page, entitled Ways to Win
a Referendum, advises the Board
to make a clear statement of pur
pose of the referendum, educate
the voters on the critical issues,
gain the support of the govern
ment agencies affected, and work
with the news media to gain their
support.
It also calls for financing the
campaign adequately and develop
ing a good track record.
The campaign focuses on three
areas: the general campaign, the
steering committee and the per
sonal campaign
For the general campaign, a
brochure is recommended, along
with a speaker’s bureau while a
finance committee will also be
established.
For the personal campaign, up
to 605 workers would be utilized
with four team leaders assigned to
GREGORY SCOTT ADAMS
Died June 2
f
JL
Home of the Georgia National
Fair and Agricenter
pie’s residence on Star Street after
midnight June 2, he said.
Neighbors called 911 after real
izing Parker had been injured dur
ing the argument.
Parker suffered from a punc
tured right aorta and lung.
He was transported by ambu
lance to Perry Hospital where he
was pronounced dead on arrival,
according to hospital spokesman
Mary Jane Kinnas.
each school.
Knox, Wall and Co. projects if
about 20 percent of the estimated
40,000 registered voters in the
county go to the polls Sept. 17,
5,000 “yes” votes would mean a
60-percent majority.
Two separate referenda are
mentioned in the report.
The General Obligation Bond
in question will be voted on Sept.
17.
It could raise $25 million for
immediate needs. The report said
an approximately 0.9 millage
increase would be necessitated to
pay off the bond.
The report indicates that bond
could be paid off entirely by a one
percent sales tax levied for
approximately three years if a spe
cial purpose local option sales tax
is authorized.
Approved by the Georgia
General Assembly earlier this
year, a special purpose local
option sales tax referendum will
be voted on statewide Nov. 5. The
measure would give local govern
ments new opportunities to raise
funds for specific projects through
a one-percent sales tax.
If Georgia voters approve the
measure, local voters could be
faced with a decision March 18,
1997, when the school board
would ask voters to OK the sales
tax to pay for the school bonds.
If approved statewide, special
purpose local option sales tax pro
posals must include information
such as the amount of money to be
raised, the projects for which the
money is being raised, and a
finance time line which includes
the end of tax collection.
nership with other communities to create a new
drug task force. Additionally, the city has qual
ified for a drug task force officer through a
grant. This person will start to work by fall,
Potter said.
He said the department organization has
been changed to encourage more input from
officers. He cited as an example a recent con
test among officers to design a new police car.
The new vehicle design, with white paint,
and red and blue stripes along the side, was
submitted by an officer and approved by Perry
City Council.
Potter said the department was obtaining
some new equipment including new expanding
batons to replace old-fashioned billy sticks.
Potter said the new 90-day schedules would
(See POTTER, Page SA)
