Newspaper Page Text
Volume 127,
No. 27
2 Sections,
14 Pages
Wednesday,
July 8, 1998
50 Cents
At the
Crossroads
This Week
Chamber to host forum
for candidates July 22
On July 22. the Perry Area
Chamber of Commerce, in
conjunction with their Good
Morning Perry Breakfast, will
host a forum for candidates
running for Houston County
Commission Chairman. Both
Democrat Sherrill Stafford
and Republican Ned Sanders
will participate and answer
questions from the member
ship at the 7:30 a.m. program,
which will be held at the
Georgia National Fairgrounds
and Agricenter Roquemore
Conference Center. There arc
several critical issues that face
our country this election year
and this forum will provide an
opportunity to find out where
the candidates stand on issues
that affect Perry and Houston
County. The Good Morning
Perry Breakfast, provided free
of charge to all members of
the Chamber, is held every
other month and it features
programs of interest to the
Perry business community. All
attendees are encouraged to
RSVP to the Chamber of
Commerce by July 20. 1998 at
987- or by facsimile at
988-
Car wash to support
Belles softball trip to
Dixie World Series
Last week, the Perry
Ochlahatchec girls all-star
softball team won the State
Belles Championship. With
that victory, they have quali
fied for the Dixie World Scries
in Lawrenceville, Va.
To help defray the cost of
traveling to the World Series,
the team is sponsoring a car
wash on July 11 at Advance
Auto Parts in Perry starting at
9 a m.
Local restaurant scores
Some of the restaurants
inspected by the Houston
County Environmental Health
Department were found out of
compliance with rules con
cerning the appropriate tem
perature for foods.
Cox Concession/Dcluxe
Trailer, 401 Larry Walker
Parkway, Perry. 85. problems
with temperature control of
foods or food sources, prob
lems with storage of cleaning
products/toxic materials
Cox Concession/Mulli-
Purpose Bldg. Trailer #6401,
Georgia Agricenter, Perry, 82,
problems with temperature
control of foods or food
sources
Cox Concession
/Shcep/Swine #l, 401 Larry
(See FOOD, Page SA)
Houston
Contact
the Times-
Journal
Contact the Houston Times-
Journal:
Voice (912) 987-1823
Fax (912) 988-1181
email .jjedit@hom.net
Mail P.O. Drawer M,
Perry. 31069
Street 807 Carroll St.,
Perry, 31069
juston
I vsOiuuy aupermiendant
and see what he has in
store for local schools
See Page 3A
Houston Times-Journal
Competition heats up for cable service
By EMILY JOHNSTONE
Times-Journal Snn
The picture of who will pro
vide local cable television access
is a little less in focus today.
During a recent Perry City
Council workshop, representa
tives of two cable companies
made their pitches to provide
cable service to the city of Perry
service area.
Bill Mitchell, president of
Peachstatc Cable, the company
presently serving the Perry area,
} jf ff >
MIDNIGHT BLAZE -- (Pictured above)
Firefighters arrived to this scene July 6 as two
Perry businesses suffered fire damage as a result
By EMILY JOHNSTONE
Times-Journal Staff
Fire almost consumed a Hicks Drive business
July 6 and did destroy a Gaines Drive residence
July I.
Houston County Fire Department Chief Jimmy
Williams said the late night fire July 6 which he
termed "suspicious" caused damage to Classic
Limousines, a mechanic shop and vehicle salvage
business at 134 Hicks Drive.
When firefighters arrived, they found the
building engulfed in flames.
Residents of nearby neighborhoods could see
the flames, Williams said.
"Some items inside the building such as tools,
was salvageable." Williams said. Many items,
including vehicles stored in the building, were
lost to the fire.
Early on, there was a threat of the fire spread
ing because of sparks igniting grassy areas around
the building. Those flames were quickly extin
guished, Williams said, and the grass fires did not
occur.
"If that had happened, it would have been an
even worse situation." he added.
Firefighters from several county stations, along
with some from the Perry Fire Department, spent
several hours on the scene. They battled the blaze
Prison bed shortage creating cost for local taxpayers
By CHARLOTTE PERKINS
TIMES-jQt'RNAL STAFF
Most law-abiding citizens
would like to see criminals behind
bars, serving out their full sen
tences, and that’s a sentiment that
Houston County District Attorney
Kelley Burke fully agrees with.
Unfortunately, there’s no such
thing as a free jail or prison sen
tence, and it’s the taxpayer who
covers the cost.
In Houston County, where
insufficient jail space makes it
necessary to spend thousands
each month on housing inmates in
jails in other counties, the county
government is faced with the
Official Legal Organ for Houston County, the City of Perry and the State of Georgia
Perry all-stars
beat Monroe
County all-stars
in tournament
See Page 3B
sought to extend the current fran
chise agreement. Mitchell wants
the city to extend that franchise
another 10-15 years. The present
agreement expires within the next
two years, he said.
Larry Angel, general manager
of James Cable Partners. L.P.. told
council the Eatonton-based com
pany would like a franchise for
the Perry market Angel said
CommuniComm Services, a part
of the James Cable Partners, pro
vides cable connections for mid-
Tims Journal photo by Emily Johnstone
of this blaze. (Below, right) The building on Hicks
Drive was still smoldering the next morning.
Authorities are investigating the fire.
1 —: —
through intense heat. The county Special
Operations and Rescue team came to the scene to
provide additional manpower.
At least one firefighter received oxygen treat
ment during the time. Investigators with the local
and state fire Marshall s office are seeking the
cause of the fire. Williams said.
Meanwhile, authorities are also seeking the
cause of a blaze which destroyed the home of a
Perry family of seven July 1 along Gaines Drive.
Perry Police Detective Drew Dodson said the
family includes five children, one a l()-year-old
handicapped female. Children range in ages from
12 down.
Persons who would like information on help
ing the family can contact Dodson at 988-2821.
additional cost of underwriting
the housing costs of inmates who
are already sentenced in Superior
Court and are the responsibility of
the state.
According to Burke, sentenced
inmates frequently spend months
being housed by Houston County
before there is room for them in
the state prison system.
The state does contribute to the
cost of incarceration of these
inmates, but the state fee per night
s2O -- is far less than the aver
age of $35 per night charged for
housing in most county jails.
According to Jennifer
Sarginson, a spokesperson for the
® "SH* Mtwf
state communi
ties including
Cochran and
Hawkinsville.
"We just
completed
building a
state-of-the-art
system and are
looking to
expand our ser
vice area,"
Angel said.
MITCHELL
Perry Mayor Jim Worrall said
Department of Corrections,
agrees that there’s a problem not
just in Houston County, but
statewide, and says that the
D.O.C. is working on solutions to
its shortage of beds for prisoners.
As of June 26, Sarginson said,
3309 sentenced prisoners were
waiting in county jails to be
picked up by the state and trans
ferred to state prisons.
“Sentenced inmates are the
county’s responsibility until 15
days after the sentencing package
reaches us,” Sarginson added.
“After that DOC pays S2O per day
to house the prisoners, and that’s
an amount that was determined by
Catch up on all the local
news with Joan Dorsett's
Potpourri column
See Page IB
he believes Mitchell and the
Peachstate Company are "doing a
great job providing quality cable
service to the city of Perry," it is
the obligation of Council to look
at other options.
"This is something we will
look at during an upcoming work
session," Worrall said. He added
that although he has not always
felt Mitchell's firm did a satisfac
tory job, he has changed his mind
recently.
"He has done a good job of
Officials say that
Perry has plenty of
water for now
Bv EMILY JOHNSTONE
Times-Joiknai. Staff
Perry residents are using lots
of water this summer, according
to City Water Superintendent
Danny Walker.
Right now, there are no short
ages or water use restrictions.
Normal Perry average daily con
sumption is about 1.35 million
gallons per day. Walker said
Responding to the heat. Perry
residents used almost 3 million
gallons per day, beginning about
two weeks ago. Walker said.
"We have an adequate water
supply so people should not
worry." Walker said.
Although some nearby water
systems have placed restrictions
on water use,
Perry officials do not foresee
that happening. Houston County
officials asked county residents to
voluntarily comply to even-odd
outside water consumption last
week.
Houston County Commission
Chairman J. Sherrill Stafford said
July 7 he wants residents to "use
common sense" with water usage
County approves
budget for FY '99
By EMILY JOHNSTONE
Times-Journal Staff
County employees will get a
cost-of-living raise this year, but
there's no word on how that will
affect county property taxes.
The two percent cost-of-living
pay increase is part of what
Chairman J. Sherrill Stafford
termed an "austere" budget for
the new fiscal year.
Commissioners adopted the
the legislature. Several counties
have asked for more than that, but
it hasn’t been granted.”
State currently has 37,204
prison beds for inmates, and is
increasing that capacity 12 per
cent —up to 41,758 beds —in the
next year through three different
strategies.
The lion’s share of the cost is
being borne by Georgia taxpay
ers, with construction currently
going on at seven prisons to add a
total of 1,728 beds for the coming
year. These additions are at
Macon County Prison, Augusta
Slate Medical Prison, Smith State
Prison, Autry and Hancock State
/jlEr - ** jjf
JL
Home of the Georgia
National lair and
Agricenter
improving the quality of cable lor
city residents," Worrall said. In
the past, there has been some dis
agreement concerning the fran
chise arrangement.
The subject of Mitchell's
request for renewal may be on the
July 21 Perry City Council meet
ing agenda
A copy of the proposed agree
ment is available for public
inspection at city hall. 1207
Washington St.
Under Hie even-odd system,
residents with even number
street addresses use outside
water on even-numbered calen
dar days and odd-number resi
dents water on the other days
Under the even-odd system
residents with even number street
addresses use outside water on
even-numbered calendar days
Odd-numbered street address res
idents use outside water on odd
numbered calendar tftys
Much of the state has been
under drought conditions due to
the lack of rainfall and high tem
peratures during recent months.
Forecasters are watching a
small tropical depression in the
Caribbean area.
They believe it will move into
the Florida area within the next
few days and provide some relief
to areas experiencing wildfires.
Locally, forecasters predict
scattered afternoon thunderstorms
with highs near 100 degrees and
lows in the 70s during the next
several days.
budget during their July 6 meet
ing in Perry.
The budget, which began July
1. includes slightly more than $26
million for the general fund.
Another $lO million is earmarked
for the Jail and Courthouse Fund
budget. Money in that account
will come from the one-cent local
option sales tax collection which
(See BUDGET, Page SA)
Prisons as well as Pulaski and
Washington.
The corrections budget for fis
cal ycarl999 is $747.8 million. Of
that, a total of $26.5 million was
appropriated to cover the continu
ing costs of the new bed space,
Sarginson said.
One 750 bed privately-owned
and operated prison will open in
Charlton County in August, two
more are slated to open next year
- one in Coffee County, the other
in Wheeler. These are to be pri
vately owned and operated. But.
of course, the state will pay a cost
per inmate.