Newspaper Page Text
2 Setßons, 14 Pages
Wednesday
July 2,1997
50 Cents
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Agricenter events
indude Big Bang Boom
The fourth annual Big
Bang Boom heads activities
scheduled at the Georgia
National Fairgrounds and
Agricenter this week.
tatepi will
Also scheduled this
weekend is a cutting horse
show July 4-6, mid the
Firecracker Futurity Lamb
Show, July 5.
The Georgia State 4-H
Horse School continues
through July 4.
remains restaurant
problem
Six of tiie seven restau
rants where a discrepancy
with the Houston County
Environmental Health
Department inspector was
reported last week involved
proper temperature control
offoods
The remainingl6 restau-
Garden Cafe, 1500 Sam
Nunn Blvd., Perry, inspec
tors found discrepancies
relating to temperature con
trol of foods and equipment
problems. The score was 75.
At Applebee’s Grill Mid
Bar, 314 Russell Parkway,
Warner Robins, inspectors
found a discrepancy with
temperature control of
4SP». The score was 91.
At Captain D’s, 513 N.
Davis Drive, Warner
Jtebins, inspectors found a
relating to stor
age of cleaning products,
m score was 88.
At Casa Maria, 1855
W%» Blvd., Warned
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4|screpancy relating to prop
er temperature control of
foods. The score was 91.
At Kentucky Fried
, Chicken, 409 N. Davis
Drive, Warner Robins,
inspectors found a discrep
ancy with proper tempera
ture control of foods. The
score was 73.,
At Mandarin House, 401
Gen, Courtney Hodges
Blvd., Perry, inspectors
found a discrepancy with
temperature control of food.
The score was 74. v
At Wendy’s, 1824
Watson Blvd., Warner
Robins, inspectors reported
tore control of
• score was 91. £
No discrepancies were
reported at these locations:
Angelina’s Lounge, 1500
Sam Nunn Blvd., Perry, 97.
Casa Maria Cantina,
1855 Watson Blvd., Warner
v Robins, 97.
Comfort ton Mini
Kitchen, 1602 Sam Nunn
Blvd.,*'Perry, 99.
El Jalisiense, 115-A
Russell Parkway, Warner
Rohin s 94
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Wuston Times-Journal
Official Legal Organ for Houston County, the City of Perry and the State of Georgia
Hotel operators oppose any additional sales tax
By EMILY JOHNSTONE
Times-Journal Staff
Even as they began collecting an extra
penny of sales tax July 1, Perry area hotel
and motel operators were voicing concern
over the next proposed sales tax increase.
The extra penny which all county mer
chants began collecting July 1 is to pay for
a $34.5 million school bond referendum
approved Sept. 17, 1996. Voters agreed to
pay for the school bonds with a one-penny
extra sales tax for up to five years.
This penny was added to the existing
four cents on the dollar state sales tax and
the one cent on the dollar local option tax
Official says work
on post office
stalled late July
By EMILY JOHNSTONE
Times-Journal Staff
“We hope they will get their financial
house in order.”
That is the hope of the United States
Postal Service, said U.S.P.S.
Communications Program Specialist
Michael Miles regarding the company con
tracted to build a new post office for Perry.
Miles said during a telephone interview
July 1 that the employees of Bison
Development, a company located in Siloam
Springs, Ark., had apparently not been
receiving pay and recently walked off the
job site that is located in the 1400 block of
Macon Road.
“At the site, work has^stppped. Nothing
is being done right now, and very little has
been done on site recently,” said Miles.
“We don’t expect any more work before
(See STOPPED, Page SA)
4th Big Bang
Boom is July 5
From Staff Reports
Folks are gearing up for a fun-filled
Fourth of July celebration at the
Big*Bang*Boom that is set for July 5 at the
Georgia National Fairgrounds and
Agricenter.
This is the fourth year of the event,
J which is expected to draw more than
25,000 people from all over the state.
Activities include a concert by national
country music recording artist David Ball.
That begins at 7 p.m.
Another well-known recording artist,
Michael Peterson, will be in concert at 5:15
p.m.
Perryan Davis Cosey, a member of the
Perry Horseshoe Pitchers Club, says his
group will be working with anyone interest
ed in joining in horseshoe pitching through
a clinic set to be held every hour during the
day-long celebration. i(
“We’ll have a nice prize for the person
with the most ringers, but every participant
will get a souvenir,” he said.
The Warner Robins Rockets, a chorus
(See BOOM, Page SA)
Late afternoon thunderstorms
leave some damage in Perry
By EMILY JOHNSTONE
Times-Journal Staff
Things got a little windy around the city
of Perry the afternoon of June 25.
So windy, in fact, residents of the Holly
Hills area are still cleaning debris blown
about by a strong thunderstorm that, some
residents say, carried a tornado with it.
According to reports, Houston County
rescue personnel were working an accident
along U.S. 41S when the storm appeared on
the southern horizon.
Rescue workers were soon called to
other incidents in the area as calls of
downed trees and a damaged chicken house
began to come in at about 6 p.m.
Perry Mtutor Jim Worrall was one resi
dent whose nome suffered damage from a
fallen tree.
“I had a hole in my roof,” said Worrall
the next day. “During the storm I walked
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which results in reduced property taxes for
the operation of schools.
Houston County Chairman J. Sherrill
Stafford told members of the Perry Area
Convention and Visitors Bureau June 26 a
vote on the proposed seventh penny of sales
tax will probably be added on November
ballots when several municipality seats will
come up for grabs.
Monies received from this one percent
sales tax would fund projects including
Houston Lake Road widening, a new jail
and a renovated or new courthouse. Stafford
said the city of Warner Robins is asking a
library project be included on the list.
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Times-Journal Photo by Emily Johnstone
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT Earl Nelson (right) shows his three year old son, Cody,
the proper way to salute the flag as it passes by. American Legion member Don Norris
helps out by holding the flag aloft. Men not in uniform should remove their hat with their
right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart, said Norris.
Prepare to observe the
Fourth by displaying the flag
By EMILY JOHNSTONE
Times-Journal Staff
' During this Fourth of July holiday most
people will be celebrating the fact they are
off work with a long weekend to spend
doing things about the house or attending
holiday events.
However, Perryan Don Norris, long-time
member of the American Legion, hopes
folks will take a good look at the American
flags on display for Independence Day and
remember the history of the American flag
and the respect it deserves.
“Not just young or old people, but every
body should know what the flag stands for
and how it came about,” said Norris.
Congress should take action to establish
official rules and regulations to protect the
flag from acts that cause disgrace, Norris
added.
That includes burning the flag or wearing
outside and the trees were moving one way
and then another. It was an unusual looking
site.”
Another Perryan, Ralph Gentry, lost a
bam and had damage to a chicken house as
a result of the high winds that blew pieces
of a tin roof into the tops of tall trees.
Electricity was out for part of the town
during the evening as crews for local power
companies scrambled to, repair damaged
lines.
In downtown Perry, wind snapped elec
trical wires to street traffic control lights
along Jemigan Street. Repairs are still
incomplete on those lights.
Warner Robins residents also saw high
winds and- large hail as a result of the thun
derstorms passing through the county that
afternoon.
Storms struck the county again several
afternoons during the remainder of the week.
Should voters approve this tax, the sales
tax in Houston County would climb to
seven cents on the dollar. Already some 44
counties in Georgia are at that rate, accord
ing to state figures.
An approval of the sales tax would mean a
13 cents on the dollar tax for hotel guests stay
ing in Perry, said CVB Chairman Walter Lewis.
That presently stands at 12 cents on the
dollar with six cents collected for the Perry
hotel/motel tax. More than half of that
money goes to the operation of the
Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Perry hotelier John Slezak said he has
heard a number of complaints from tourists
the flag design as clothing, he said.
Norris believes that one important thing
that needs to be done is to have young chil
dren taught the proper way to show respect
to the American flag. This is something
schools could take a more active part in, he
said.
“They need to learn about the way the
flag has been through wars and the respect
people in the military have for the flag.
These things need to be taught in school,”
according to Norris.
Some rules applying to respect for the
flag, as written in the American Legion pub
lication “Let’s be Right on Flag Etiquette”
are as follows:
• The flag should never be displayed with
the union down, except as a signal of dire
distress in instances of extreme danger to
(See FLAG, Page SA)
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Timas "Journal Hiolo by EmMy Jotmsfrow
WIND TOOK THIS BARN DOWN ALONG WESTERN CITY LIMITS
Damaged was confined to buildings, no personal injuries were reported
A
The Big Bang Boom is at the
Georgia Agricenter July 5
about the current 12-cents figure.
Stafford told the group one other way to
collect needed monies for the projects
would be to impose an ad valorem tax.
“And, nobody wants to do that,” he said.
Several local hotel/motel operators dis
cussed asking Perry city council to lower
the hotel/motel rate in April.
However, that discussion came to a halt
when city officials indicated any reduction
would effect the CVB coffers and not City
revenues.
Of the six cents collected on the dollar
for hotel/motel tax, four cents goes to the
CVB and two cents to the City.
County OKs $26.3
million budget
By RICK JOHNSTONE
For the Times-Journal
Houston County Commissioners have
adopted a $26,265,135 general fund budget
for the fiscal year that began July 1. That
includes a 2.5 percent cost of living increase
for various county employees.
At their July 1 session in Perry, the group
unanimously approved the budget.
“It’s a lean budget,” said commissioner
Larry Snellgrove. “If you go to comparable
counties, look at them and then us, you see
it’s a lean budget.”
In addition to the general fund, the water
fund budget totalled $2.7 million, the land
fill fund was $2.1 million, the 991 budget
was $1.5 million, and the CDBG fund was
$491,000.
The largest expenditure is for the sheriff’s
department, $3,054,001. That includes funds
for five new positions.
The next biggest allocation went to the
operation of the jail at $2,559,945.
Also topping the two million mark are
public roads and bridges in the county,
$2,429,192, and waste collections at
$2,246,712.
At the meeting, district attorney Kelly
Burke requested permission for an “equal
ization” plan for the salaries of assistant dis
trict attorneys in his office.
He said now two pay plans are used, one
from the county and the other from the state.
‘There is a vast difference in the starting
pay of the two,’’said Burke. The county plan
starts the lawyer at a higher rate, with the
state plan later surpassing that, he added.
Burke proposed adopting the state sched
ule plus adding $3,500 to that.
“I think it’s critical to have experienced
prosecutors” and this plan would go a long
way in bringing that about, he said.
Burke said funding for the program in the
early years could come from a fee the county
would receive for dealing with recovering funds
lost in the food stamp program overpayments.
The matter will be discussed again at the
July 15 meeting.
In another action, commissioners voted to
establish a landfill to handle construction
and disposal.
An engineer working with the county,
Bill Hodges, said the move would add a
number of years to the current landfill on
Ga. 247.
Hodges explained that environmental
restrictions are not as tight on materials that
would be dumped at the new site, which he
said could be ready to operate in 15 months
or so. It will be located on one hundred
acres adjacent to the current facility.