Newspaper Page Text
HH 93/99/39
Volume 127,
No. 40
5 Sections,
56 Pages
Wednesday,
Oct 7 1998
50 Cents
At the
Crossroads
This Week
City offices closed Oct.
12 for holiday
The administrative/munici
pal offices of Perry City Hall
will he closed Oct. 12 in
observance of Columbus Day
holiday.
Offices will re-open Oct. 13
at 8 a.m.
Other ' closings include
Robins Air Force Base for
most workers, area financial
institutions, public schools
and post offices.
The Houston Times-Joumal
office will be open.
Students to be offered
ham biscuits
Here are this week's ele
mentary school menus for
Houston County public
schools.
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.
* 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.
Oct. 8 Breakfast:
Manager’s choice or cereal
and toast; Lunch: Nachos with
beef and cheese or pizza or
PBJ sandwich or sub sand
wich. chocolate chip cookie.
Oct. 9 Breakfast:
Breakfast pizza or cereal and
toast; Lunch: Steak nuggets
with roll or barbecue on bun or
PBJ sandwich or manager’s
choice. Jell-O cookie.
Oct. 12 Student Holiday
(Columbus Day)
Oct. 13 Breakfast:
Waffles with syrup or cereal
and toast: Lunch: Yogurt with
deli sandwich, crunchy veggie
sticks, ranch dressing, fresh
fruit, oatmeal raisin cookie.
Oct. 14 Breakfast:
Sausage biscuit or cereal and
toast; Lunch: Georgia fried
chicken, choices of sweetheart
potato souffle or potato salad r
creamy cole slaw, new country
style turnip greens, farm house
cornbread or tasty apple crisp.
Only two inspections
result in discrepancies
Inspectors for the Houston
County Environmental Health
Department reported only two
discrepancies among restau
rants inspected Sept. 28-Oct.
2.
At Domino’s Pizza, 1431
Watson Blvd., Warner Robins,
inspectors found problems
(See FOOD, Page SA)
4*=;=:
Houston 1
Contact
the Times-
Journal
Contact the Houston Timcs
ioumal:
Voice (912)987-1823
Fax (912)988-1181
email limesjm@hom.net
Mail PO. Drawer M,
Perry. 31069
Street 807 Carroll St.,
Perry, 31069
Houston llines-Journal
Official Legal Organ for Houston County, the City of Perry and the State of Georgia
Taxes for county government, schools up slightly
By CHARLOTTE PERKINS
TIMES-jQtmNAL STAIT
The Houston County Commissioners
have set the 1998 property tax levy at 21.51
mills for the incorporated areas and 23.51
mills for the unincorporated areas.
The difference in the two millage rates is
due to a fire tax for residents of the unin
corporated areas.
For a homeowner with a $ 100.000 prop
erty. with no exemptions, that would mean
taxes of 860.40 in incorporated areas, and
$940.40 in unincorporated areas
The unanimous vote was taken at the
Commissioners' Oct. 6 meeting at Perry
City Hall.
Members of the Houston County Board
of Education met Oct. 5 to set their rate for
1998. The tax rate for schools, 12.46 mills
of the 21 or 23 mill county total, is up
slightly, one-tenth of a mill, from last year.
One tenth of a mill would cost the owner
Ninth Ga.
National Fair
opens Oct. 9
By EMILY JOHNSTONE
Timks-Jouknal Staff
Opening ceremonies. a
parade, and an opening concert
act by former Perryan Kelly
Jerles Kristensen. are just three
of the hundreds of interesting
things going on during the ninth
annua! Georgia National Fair set
for Oct. 9-18.
At 4 p.m. Oct. 9. opening cer
emonies will be held on the fair
grounds at the newly-constructed
Court of Honor, located along
side the Reaves Arena.
Keynote speaker for the cere
mony will be Ga. Rep. Bill Lee
of Forest Park. A band from
Robins Air Force Base will pro
vide music.
The next morning at 11 a.m.. it
will be time to line-up along the
streets to watch the 1998 Farm
City Days Parade, sponsored
once again bv the Perrv Kiwams
Club.
There will be a number of
floats and local entries, along
with a procession from the fair
grounds representing Reithoffer
Shows.
Three big-name concerts arc
scheduled. They include Alan
Jackson with Lee Ann Womack
Oct. 10; Brian McKnight on Oct.
16 and Alabama with Kelly
Jerles Kristensen Oct. 17.
Both Jackson and Alabama
have performed at previous Fairs
at the Agricenter.
Tickets are on sale at the box
office located on the
Fairgrounds.
Following the theme “The
Tradition Continues”, many
favorite activities can be found
again this year at the Fair, includ
ing the Royal Hanneford Circus,
Reithoffer midway, racing pigs,
youth exhibits and livestock
shows and the popular Stories of
Agriculture.
One new item added to the
event is the Georgia Living
Store. The store functions as a
consignment shop for artists and
crafters who are interested in
selling their fair entries to the
public.
The Georgia Living Store will
be located in the McGill
Building.
Another new point of interest
will be the Story of Ag
Technology, presented by the
Cooperative Extension Service
of Fort Valley Slate University.
Computers are used to showcase
of a SIOO,OOO property $4.
While the new millage rate shows a very
slight increase over the 1997 rates of 21.41
for the incorporated areas and 23.41 for the
unincorporated areas. County
Commissioners were quick to point out that
the increase was not due to county expen
ditures but to an increase in the millage set
by tTic Houston County Board of
Education.
Commissioner Tom McMichaels said
1 hope everyone will note that the county
taxes arc the same as last year
Commissioner Jim Cartel noted that
“Citizens won't see any tax gain this year,
and we've gone down 1.3 to 1 5 mills in the
last five years.”
The vote on the tax levy followed the fil
.ing of the 1998 tax digest of
$1,660.596,677, which represents the net
value of all property in the county includ
mg public utilities
- -1
' ■
Special Photo
ENTERTAINER ON STILTS GREETS FAIR VISITOR
He's One Of Many Roving Entertainers At National Fair
how technology can help with
advances and opportunities in the
field of agriculture
For more information about
Great Escape practice is Wednesday
By EMILY JOHNSTONfe
Times-Jouenal Swn
Local Fire Chief Gary Hamlin
is asking Perryans to be a part of
the “Great Escape" Oct. 7.
The Great Escape is a concert
ed effort to get citizens to develop
home escape plans and practice
them on Oct. 7 at 6 p.m., said
Hamlin. This is in conjunction
with events recognizing Oct. 4
through 10 as 1998 Fire
Prevention Week.
Every resident in the United
States and Canada is invited to
participate in this unified North
American fire drill, where entire
communities will practice their
home escape plans at the same
time, said Hamlin.
“The Great Escape is a fun
Serving HoiiHun County Since Dec- 17, lU7O
The breakdown of this year’s millage
rate is as follows:
The tax levy for county costs (including
general government, public safety, public
works, health and welfare, libraries, conser
vation of natural resources, intergovern
mental costs, solid waste collection, animal
control and various fringe benefits and
insurance requirements) is 8.30 for both the
incorporated and unincorporated areas.
Property owners in the unincorporated
areas also pay 2.00 mills for fire protec
tion
State Courts, and federally mandated
costs account for .50 mills.
The maintenance and operation of the
county’s schools takes the biggest bite, with
12.36 mills.
A required state levy accounts for .25
mills.
In Georgia taxes are levied by state law
on 40 percent of the assessed value of prop
the 1998 Georgia National Fair,
call 987-3247 or 800/YUR-FAIR
You can visit on-line at
www gnfa.com.
"Phone calls to 911
should be made from
a neighbor's house."
Gary Hamlin
activity for entire families to par
ticipate in during Fire Prevention
Week, but it could also save their
lives,” he added. “If a fire breaks
out in your home, you and your
family only have a few minutes to
escape to safety. Home fire
escape planning and practice
ensure that everyone in the house
will know how to use that small
window of opportunity effective
(See FIRE, Page SA)
Houston County
high schools tops
in midstate report
GRADING THE
SCHOOLS: This is the final
installment of a three-part
series on the rankings given to
Houston County Schools in the
recently-published “Georgia
High School Report Card for
Parents.”
By CHARLOTTE PERKINS
Times-Jquknac Staff
Houston County's four high
schools arc standard setters in the
37-county central Georgia region,
according to a report recently
issued by the Georgia Public
Policy Foundation.
Houston County High School
ranked first among the 48 public
high schools in central Georgia in
the foundation’s “1998 Georgia
High School Report Card for
Parents '
Warner Robins High came in
third. Northside was sixth and
Perry- High was 13tn.
Despite a good showing in
central Georgia, however, none ol
the Houston County schools
made it into the top 50 in the
state
The ranking of the schools in
Trendline building goes to foreclosure
By EMILY JOHNSTONE
Times- Journal Staff
The former Trendline Home
Fashions property located along
Kellwood Drive is slated to go on
the auction block in front of the
Houston County courthouse steps
Nov. 3. The plant ceased textile
operations in early 1997.
Rufus Dorsey, an Atlanta attor
ney who represents a New York
corporation, CIT Group, the com
pany which made the loan, said
the lease for a business that has
been utilizing the building for the
past several months has now
expired, leaving the building
vacant, and foreclosure proceed
ings against Trendline Home
Fashions, Inc., are moving along.
According to a legal advertise
ment published in this week’s edi
tion of the Houston Times-
Journal, there is about $5.5 mil
lion owed on the property follow
ing loans made in to Trendline in
1996 and 1997. -
The property includes two
parcels of land, one about six
acres, the second about 14 acres.
erty. A millage rate of 21.51 means that a
taxpayer is billed $21.51 per SI,OOO on this
adjusted property value
In other business, the Commissioners:
V Discussed two new water tanks which
will soon be set up in the central area of the
county, increasing the water storage capac
ity by over a million gallons. One lank is
being bought second hand and will be.
transported here trom Ohio and set up |usi
behind the Phoenix Center on Ga 96
The other, which is being purchased
new, will be installed near Ga 247 Both
are "pedisphere" tanks, with a single pillar
base and spherical tank (similar to a golf
ball on a tee.)
and recognized the county s
seven new paid full-time firefighters, who
attended the meeting with Fire Chief
Jimmy Williams
the stale in the report is based on
several criteria, including the fol
lowing:
V The average score on the
math and English language arts
sections of the 1998 Georgia
High School Graduation Test
V The average of the highest
verbal and math scores on the
Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT)
for students enrolled in a college
prep curriculum.
\ The school's graduation rate
as measured by the percentage of
ninth grade students entering in
the 1993-94 school year who
graduated in the 1996-97 gradual
ing class.
Poverty rate is also included in
the report because of its estab
lished correlation with student
achievement. However, it is noted
in the report that some schools
consistently ‘beat the curve on
poverty.
The top 10 schools out ol the
311 public high schools in the
state, according to the report, are
Walton High, Cobb County;
Davidson Magnet, Richmond
(See SCHOOLS, Page SA)
Tim Martin, Executive
Director for the Houston County
Development Authority, said he is
“all in favor of doing something
with the property "
included on the property is a
300,000 sq. ft. building The orig
inal sections of the building are
about 40 years old. said Martin.
Before Trendline, the building
housed another textile operation
owned by the Kellwood Co.
The property has been listed
for sale at a price of about $2 7
million, said Martin.
Several prospects have been
shown the building in past
months, but so far nothing solid
has occurred, he added.
“We will work with whatever
company that shows interest in
the community," said Martin.
Chris Kinnas, president ot the
Perry Area Chamber of Commerce,
said he would “like to see it change
hands to someone who could put
jobs in the community."
“Every time we have develop
ers in town, we show the build
ing.” said Kinnas.
A
Home of the Georgia
National Fair and
Agricenter