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K" m — - [Different opinions *#****#*** views on UNIVERSITY OF GA LII'RARIESPKG 92 I plant an ATTN: FOR HENNEBERGER SACK 81 Mart in P *™ens, oa 30*02 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 ■Kir id' 1 J ■’’• m3 * wSs Mm WMKmsßmgazm*.. aßemsf-: - *•'■' Jgfew f JR - "Tl 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.