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Volume 127,
No. 39
2 Sections,
18 Pages
Wednesday,
Sept. 30, 1998
50 Cents
At the
Crossroads
This Week
Chicken on elementary
lunch menu
Here are menus for
Houston County public
schools for the coming week:
All meals are served with
milk. Breakfast includes fresh
fruit or fruit juice each day.
Lunches include two hot veg
etables and four to six cold
fruit and vegetable choices
daily. Schools under renova
tion may have different menus.
Sept. 30 Breakfast:
sausage biscuit or cereal and
toast; Lunch: hot dog or slop
py joes or PBJ sandwich or
baked potato with hot top
pings. brownie.
Oct. I— Breakfast:
Manager’s choice or cereal
and toast; Lunch:
Cheeseburger or Southern
chicken with roll or PBJ sand
wich or sub sandwich.
Manager’s choice dessert.
Oct. 2 Breakfast: French
toast or cereal and toast;
Lunch: Pizza or Manager’s
choice or PBJ sandwich,
applesauce cake.
Oct. 5 Breakfast:
Sausage biscuit or cereal and
toast; Lunch: Hamburgers or
manager’s choice or PBJ sand
wich or baked potato with hot
toppings, juice bar.
Oct. 6 Breakfast:
Manager’s choice or cereal
and toast; Lunch: Chicken
Sandwich or becf-a-roni or
PBJ sandwich or sub sand
wich, manager’s choice
dessert.
Oct. 7 Breakfast: Ham
biscuit or cereal and toast:
Lunch: Com dog or grilled
cheese with fruit yogurt or PBJ
sandwich or baked potato with
hot toppings. Mississippi Mud
cake.
Two restaurants fail to
meet standard
Two Houston County
restaurants failed to meet the
standard used by the
Environmental Health
Department during inspections
Sept. 21-25.
Angelina's Italian Garden
Cafe, 1500 Sam Nunn Blvd.,
Perry, 89, had problems with
temperature of foods
Steak & Shake, 2996
Martin Luther King Blvd.,
Warner Robins, 80, had, prob
lems with storage of cleaning
products/toxic materials
No discrepancies were
reported at these locations:
Angelina’s Lounge, 1500
Sam Nunn Blvd., Perry, 99
Don’s Place Cafe, 759
Highway 247 S., Bonaire, 99
Miller Elementary School,
101 Pine Valley, Warner
Robins, 100
Pearson Farms, 1412 Sam
Nunn Blvd., Perry, 97
Quincy’s, 1413 Sam Nunn
Blvd., Perry, 87
Waffle House, 2816 Watson
Blvd., Centerville, %
Contact
the Times-
Journal
Contact the Houston Times-
Joumal:
Voice (912)987-1823
Fa* (912) 988-1181
email.. timesjm@hom.net
Mail P.O. Drawer M,
Perry, 31069
Street 807 Carroll St.,
Perry. 31069
Houston roues-Jamal
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THE NEW QMiiW IranJi Bazemore
(center), a senior aflftfastfield, smiles as
she wears her new crown. Bazemore was
named Homecoming Queen of Westfield
RV show participants prove economic impact
Visitors Bureau studies visitor complaints at Perry area motels
By EMILY JOHNSTONE
Times-Joubxai. Stait
Asking RVers who recently
held a rally at the Georgia
National Fairgrounds and
Agricenter to turn in receipts to
the Perry Welcome Center helped
prove the economic impact such
groups have on the Perry area,
according to Perry Area
Convention and Visitors Bureau
Executive Director Jenny
Andrew.
“An RV group is somewhat
different from people who stay in
hotels, but they still have an
impact on economics,” said
Andrew during a Sept. 24 meet
ing of the PACVB Authority.
During a three-day period
hosting some 200 people, more
than SB,OOO in receipts were
turned in. Of that figure, $2,300
were spent outside the Perry area
with the balance of $5,700 spent
Labor pool study shows many skills among unemployed
By EMILY JOHNSTONE
TIMB-JWWWfSW?
What kind of labor pool is in
Houston County?
During a recent interview,
John Ard, spokesman with the
Ga. Department of Labor, said
there are people who would be
happy to fill vacant business posi
tions and the number and skills of
those seeking unemployment
benefits might be interesting to
potential employers.
For the period ending Aug. IS,
which began July 18, Aid said
256 Houston County residents
qualified for unemployment.
Statistics show 21 had spills in
construction, 25 in manufactur
ing, 65 in trade related skills and
52 had experience in retail trade
and 84 in the service area.
Some of the numbers provided
regarding service area workers
seeking unemployment benefits
showed of the 84, five had experi
ence in the hotel/motel industry,
33 in business services, 11 in
Official Legal Organ for Houston County, the City of Perry and the State of Georgia
Iy unmptnmlnct
3 Jgs
Timai-Journol Photo by Iric ZoMori
during Sept. 25 nativities. With Basemore
are. Jjer parents, Dr. and Mrs. ken
Bazemore of Byron.
in and about Perry, said Andrew.
Much of that $2,300 was spent
in the Byron area, she added.
Monies spent by members of
the RV group went mainly to pur
chase foods, said Andrew.
Receipts show that $3,500 was
spent in restaurants, SI,BOO at
grocery stores and $2,500 at retail
locations, she added.
Also during the meeting,
Andrew told PACVB members
she has heard complaints from
patrons of local hotels and motels
regarding services.
“We have had numerous com
plaints," she said.
One incident involved a guest
who spotted a hotel employee
wearing clothes belonging to the
guest, she said.
Andrew said there have also
been problems with hotels
promising to “comp” or provide
service at no or reduced charge,
health services, 13 in social ser
vices, such as day care and others,
six with government service
experience and one with experi
ence in the field of administrative
economics.
In the area of trade retail, Ard
said 18 filing for unemployment
during that time period included
people with skills in the area of
car dealerships, 13 with financial
institution experience, three with
credit companies, three with
insurance carriers and four with
real estate experience.
Local employers who have
trouble finding workers may not
be looking in the right place,
according to Ard. He said some
times posting openings for
employment opportunities on
buildings or advertising in news
papers may not be enough.
What employers do need to
consider is contacting their local
Department of Labor, he added.
For Perry employers, there
would be no cost for their use of
Serving Houston Comity Sime Dei. 17, IJI7O
then reneging on that promise.
Members of the Paso Fino
group which recently held a large
horse show at the Georgia
National Fairgrounds and
Agricenter have said they will
spread the word to other members
about problems involving specific
hotels in Perry, said Andrew.
“This is getting out of hand,"
she said.
Perry Chamber of Commerce
President Chris Kinnas pointed
out no legislation exists regarding
hotcl/motel operation that would
hold these type businesses to cer
tain standards, even though peo
ple, such as Perry Mayor Jim
Worrall. have pushed for such
legislation.
The hotel/molel industry lobby
against regulations regarding
their businesses is strong, he
added.
the service provided by the
department.
Ard said many times a poten
tial employee in another area,
such as Macon, may see a job
posting and apply.
The state department of labor
consists of 53 offices statewide.
Each office can provide employ
ment information on their district
• to any other.
“While it is true that people
might not drive distances for
some type jobs, they may for oth
ers,” said Ard.
Meanwhile, Teddy Parker,
spokesman for the Perry office,
said the latest figures show
Houston County unemployment
rate is “pretty steady at 3.8 per
cent.”
That is lower than the overall
rate for the city of Warner Robins,
which comes in at 4.1 percent, he
added.
. The city of Perry has not beet)
(See LABOR, Page SA)
Firefighter
M Ik Perryan spends time
ImMFIH II helping others
HinUi through job and
Vrlf community work.
1 See page 1B C
Grading the schools . part II
Houston County’s
middle schools some of
the best in the region
Still, theres plenty of
room for improvement
By CHARLOTTE PERKINS
Times-Joubnal Staff
Two Houston County middle
schools led the 36-county Central
Georgia region in the recent
report card on the state’s schools
issued by the Georgia Public
Policy Foundation.
In a listing of 58 schools in the
central region of the state,
Bonaire Middle School was tops
and Warner Robins Middle
School was no. 2. Northside and
Rumble Middle Schools came in
13th and 14th respectively, Tabor
Middle School was 21st and
Perry Middle School was 25th.
When viewed in comparison
with 406 public middle schools
statewide, however, Houston
County’s schools were mostly in
the topTsarr&uUia near the top.
Because of the correlation
between poverty rates and scores,
poverty rates were also included
in the ranking.
Despite that correlation, the
Public Policy Foundation noted
some schools are “beating the
curve” on poverty. Lumpkin
County Middle School, for exam
ple ranked 15th in the state, despite
a poverty rate of 40 percent, and
had 80 percent of its students scor
ing over the national average on
the lowa Test of Basic Skills.
Other schools beating the
curve on poverty and ranking in
the top 50 state wide included
Buford Middle School (50 per
cent poverty rate). Woody Gap
Fair parade entries sought
SfECIAI. TO the Timbs-Joubnai
The Perry Kiwanis Club is
sponsoring the Georgia National
Fair Parade.
This year’s parade, the ninth,
begins at 11 a.m. on Oct. 10 in
front of the public library located
along Washington Street. Line-up
Storm tracking through midstate
By EMILY JOHNSTONE
XS3g.:JouNM.
The month of September
began with the remnants of a
hurricane tracking through the
middle Georgia area and it
appears the month will end
with the remnants of a hurri
cane tracking through the area.
What is left of the once
powerful Hurricane Georges,
the storm that cut a path
through the Caribbean, killing
hundreds of people, then
roared into the Gulf Coast,
causing extensive damage
along the coasts of Alabama,
Louisiana, Florida and
Mississippi, is present today.
At landfall, Georges was
listed as a Category 2, nearing
Category 3 on the Safftr-
Simpson scale, with winds
about 110 miles per hour.
Now, heavy rains will be
moving into Geotgia and the
Perry area could expect some
rain to be heavy at times.
However, Houston County
.JL
Home of the Georgia
National Fair and
Agricenter
This Is the second in a
three-part series of articles
dealing with the findings
of the Georgia Public
Policy Foundations 1998
Report Card for Parents.
Last week, we reported on
the rankings of Houston
County’s Elementary
Schools in the report. This
week, we focus on the
middle schools. Next
week, the high schools
will be covered.
Middle School in Union County (
39 percent poverty rate) and
Jonesboro Middle School (43
percent poverty rate).
For purposes of comparison,
the top-ranked middle school in
Georgia for 1998 was Dickerson
Middle School in Cobb County,
in which 93 percent of the stu
dents performed above the
national average on the ITBS.
The school has a one percent
poverty rate.
The lowest-ranked middle
school in the state was the middle
school unit of Douglass
High/Elementary Schools (now
closed) in Macon County
(Montezuma), in which only six
percent of the students scored
above the national ITBS average.
The school had an 82 percent
poverty rate.
(See SCORES, Page SA)
begins at 10:15 a.m.
There arc a few spots left for
group participants in the parade.
Bring your float, car or truck.
For details and a line-up spot,
call Bill Hafley at 988-2753 or
987-5445 or Robert Brown at
987-5097.
Fire Chief Jimmy Williams
said he does not expect weath
er conditions will be as severe
as when the remnants of
Hurricane Earl moved through
middle Georgia Sept. 3. That
weather system caused uproot
ed trees and some flooding
conditions with power outages
in several locations about the
county.
“We do not expect anything
major, just wet weather,” said
Williams Sept. 29.
At press time, the storm
was causing heavy rains in
Alabama and Florida.
Williams said rain, along
with wind gusts of about 20
miles per hour, are expected
for the Perry area until late in
the afternoon Sept. 30.
The National Weather
Service located in Peachtree
City forecast showers and
thunderstorms with a high
around 80 for Sept. 30. Chance
of rain was set at 60 percent.