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Second cable television firm considers Perry A firm based in Michigan has applied to the city of Perry for a f 99/99/99 cable television ser gl:orc>ia nluspapek: pro Volume 127, No. 52 2 Sections, 14 Pages Wednesday, Dec. 30, 1998 50 Cents At the Crossroads This Week New Perry Middle School to open Jan. 4 When students return from the Christmas holidays Jan. 4, students at Perry Middle School will report to the new campus at 1098 Perry Parkway. According to Principal Tom Gupton, a ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held Jan. 6 at 9 a.m. Also planned is an open house Jan. 14. Festivities will include a barbecue dinner, available from 5-6:45 p.m. and the open house program at 7 p.m. The barbecue will serve as a fund-raising project, and baked items will be available for purchase at the same time. Tickets are on sale through teachers, booster club mem bers, athletes and cheerleaders for $5. Only one restaurant inspected last week Houston County health inspectors made one restaurant visit during the week of Dec. 21-24. Jin Jin Chinese Restaurant. 1309-D S. Main Street, Perry, 84, with storage of cleaning products. All major discrepancies are corrected before the health inspector leaves the premises. Closings told Most city, county, state and federal offices will be closed Jan. 1, 1999 to observe the holiday. There will be no mail ser vice or trash collection that day. Some businesses will be open and most franchise restaurants will be open dur ing the day. The Houston Times- Journal will be closed that day. Newspaper begins subscription campaign Houston Times-Joumal General Manager Jj Johnson announced plans this week for a three-week telephone sales subscription effort in southern Houston County. The campaign will begin Jan. 4. Callers will identify themselves as associated with the Houston Times-Joumal, and will offer new and renew al subscriptions to the paper. The S2O plus tax ($21.40) in-county rate for one year of home delivery will apply. A portion of each subscription sold will be given to the Houston County Habitat for Humanity organization to sup port construction of new homes in Perry. ■4* I Houston 1 Contact the Times- Journal Contact the Houston Times- Joumal: Voice (91 1,.-’’ Fax (912)988-1181 email timcsjm@hom.net Mail P.O. Drawer M, Perry, 31069 Street 807 Carroll St., Perry. 31069 Houston Times-Joumal Official Legal Organ for Houston County, the City of Perry and the State of Georgia Walker: Environment, education, transportation top issues ahead By CHARLOTTE PERKINS Times-JduKNAi. STrr There’ll be some changes when the Georgia General Assembly convenes in Atlanta next month including anew governor and, anew lieutenant governor. What won’t change, however, is Houston County’s delegation, and Rep. Larry Walker’s leadership role in state govern ment. Walker, who won a decisive victory over Republican challenger Gloria A. Alday in the November genera! election, has already been re-elected by the Democratic Caucus to serve as House Majority Leader With House Speaker Tom Murphy plan Dream comes true for Perryan Fkom STArr woets Everyman’s dream‘Christmas present came true for one Perryan. But the winner is being very reclusive about his dream, according to Florida lottery offi cials. Ed George of the Florida Lottery office, said that Milton Shepherd, 53, claimed his half of the Nov. 28 Florida Lotto jackpot on Dec. 24.- He chose Florida’s new cash option method of payment and received a lump sum of $4.4 mil lion. Shepherd’s ticket, one of two that matched all six winning numbers for the drawing, was sold in Jennings, Fla. Shepherd chose not to release any information to the media when he claimed his prize, and could not be reached for com ment on his good fortune. He did list Perry as his home town although there is no tele phone registered in that name. Courthouse named top story two years running By CHARLOTTE PERKINS Times-Jouknal Staft Moving the Houston County Courthouse from downtown Perry to a location along Perry Parkway has been named the lop story of the year for two years running. The story continued this year with selec tion of design firms, passage of a special option local sales tax to pay for the con struction, and the purchase of the site. Here arc the top 20 stories for 1998 as selected by the Houston Times-Joumal news staff: 1, The new courthouse site On Sept. 1, after weeks of suspense, the Houston County Commissioners announced their intention to buy a 66-acre site at the intersection of King's Chapel Road and Perry Parkway as the location of the county's new courthouse and jai* Some $500,000 was paid for the land. Prior to the long-awaited decision, some officials had argued the new courthouse should ly located in the center of the coun ty at a site near the Houston Lake Country Club, or along Ga. 96. Some leaders suggested that Perry the county seat could annex a site at some distance from its city limits through a state-law that allows annexing of non-con tiguous land if the land is connected to a municipality by a highway. However, Perry’s mayor and city coun cil showed no interest in annexing distant sites, and County Commission Chairman J. Sherrill Stafford said the law required keeping the courthouse in the county seat. The site that was purchased has been annexed into the city limits. The announcement was made in Perry City Hall at a crowded 9 a.m. press con ference. The architects for the two build ings estimated that residents should see dirt Bridesmaid again The Perry Panthers fell to Warner Robins in the finals of the Houston County Bear Brawl w -7ktball tournament last week. Details, page 5A ning to retire after this year, Walker is also generally considered one of the leading contenders for that position. "I have a chance at it,” the veteran legis lator said during an interview at his Perry law office Dec. 29, “but there’s many a slip between the cup and the lip.” Asked about top issues for the coming session, Walker began with environmental issues. Air quality and water quality are going to be big concerns as the urban sgrawl pushes to the forefront,” he explained. “Most of these problems are problems of growth and progress." Walker said that the legislature will also - me IMMjL . / ''. |HV I HP liL 9* \ ■ .<*2j *V\_> % c / • ■ •'• ■', '- Hk *- •-® l * lW jf£ v I i‘4 z* j^l j • |e§i”*s*V^av|jir^Y ’ £4toisSSKßß&’ JH!™Bi iaa|MHaSpay th> - •• _- f •> j^MUT "if / j. fi' SPECIAL BLOOMS Long-time Perry resident Wilma Gay shows off the specially-colored start to turn in the third quarter of 1999, and then it will be 20 months or so for ultimate construction. 2. Election '9B Following a season of lively —and sometimes controversial campaigning, Houston County voters returned Rep. Larry Walker and County Commissioner J. Sherrill Stafford, both Democrats, to office. Walker defeated political newcomer, Gloria Alday. Stafford prevailed over Warner Robins’ frequent campaigner Ned Sanders. Republicans made strong gains, howev er, indicating that the two party system is here to stay. Republican Larry Thomson won a four-year term on the Houston County Board of Commissioners, and Rob Tawse, another Republican newcomer, won the post of Solicitor General of the State Court. 3. From beer to chickens Cagle, Inc., an Atlanta-based poultry orocessing firm, purchased the long-empty Stroh brewery plant in Hoston County on Dec 4, with promises of 500 job openings to start and a potential of 2,000 later. The purchase was the successful culmination of a six-month effort spearheaded by the Houston Criunty Development Authority and city and county officials. The plant will require extensive redesigning at an estimated cost of $10.5 million. Expansion to the water and waste water facilities are expected to cost as much as $5.5 million. Some citizens voiced opposition to the Cagle purchase, expressing concern about environmental impact. Tim Martin, director of the Development Authority, acknowl edge that there were “mixed feelings in the community,” but said he and others had visited the Cagle processing plant at Pine Valley Mountain and found “a very nice Serving Houston Comity Since Dec. 17, 1870 be dealing with regional transportation and with education, which was a major cam paign issue for the incoming governor, Roy Barnes, and others. “We’ll be talking about alternative schools as a partial solution to discipline problems, “ Walker said. “I think that the governor’s going to propose building more alternative schools.We have to start think ing about the common good as far as the schools are concerned, and not let one or two students dominate a classroom.” “Crime will still be a hot button topic,” he noted, “and there’ll be lot of rhetoric about that in the ’99 session, but Georgia is already tough on crime. We have crime Times Journal Photo by Joan Dorset* blooms on her poinsettia plant. For details, see Just Visitin' on page 18. plant, well-managed and clean also a big employer for the area.” 4. A NEW SCHOOL The new Perry Middle School is ready for occupancy and students will begin the new year by settling into brand new class rooms. The 159,(KK) square foot brick building already a familiar landmark at the intersec tion of Macon Road and Perry Parkway, has been under construction for 18 months. Students and teachers had their first opportunity to tour the building just before Christmas vacation. The project is part of a five new school and extensive renovation bond project passed by voters three years ago. 5. The indefinite post office After repeated slops and starts, construc tion of the new 14,000 square-foot Perry Post Office on Macon Road could be a pos sibility for 1999. Delays on the project have been a cause of concern throughout 1998 following the abandonment of the project by the first con tractor, Bison Development. At this point Postal Services LLC, a Denver, Colo, company, has apparently taken over the project, but to date, no con struction has begun at the site. 6. One more penny The sales tax in Houston County climbed to seven cents on the dollar on July 1, as the voter-approved special option sales tax for building the new courthouse and jail went into effect. The sales tax is expected to raise about sll million per year. The tax will expire after five years or when the $44 million for the project is col lected. 7. The Houston Lake Dam saga A little over fou# years after the disas trous flood of 1994 destroyed the old Help for Georgia, too Ducks Unlimited works to benefit areas of Georgia as well as the midwest and Canada Details, page 1B laws as conservative as any state.” Pointing out that abolishing parole was turned into a major issue in the recent cam paigns, he added, “That’s lost steam. Millner tried to make it an issue in the gubernatorial campaign, but we’ve already got a burgeoning prison population, and it would take a tremendous amount of tax money (to abolish parole).’’ In regard to tax money. Walker doesn't anticipate any increase in taxes His main interests for Houston County, he says, are continuing to enhance the Agricenter and the Air Force Aviation (See WALKER, Page 3A> Chipper to collect Christmas trees Jan. 9 Fkom Staff Rirorrs Christmas tree recycling will take place Jan. 9 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to Bill Hafley, coordinator of Keep Perry Beautiful. The theme of the event which is carried out across the state is “Bring one for the Chipper.” The trees may be brought to the Perry recycling center near the Lumpkin Shell Station at the intersection of Houston Lake Road with James Street. Trees will be chipped for mulch. Those who bring trees to be recycled will receive dogwood seedlings free. \\ ivA^^|^DH|HpPr Houston Lake Dam, anew dam was com pleted and complaints began immediately that the water level in some areas was 17 to 18 inches lower than it was prior to the flood. This made the docks of some home owners around the lake unusable. According to at least one county official, the water is at the right level for the newly established public access areas. The dam was rebuilt with a combination of state (GEMA) and federal (FEMA) emergency management funds. At year’s end no decision had been made about what corrective steps (if any) would be taken. 8. Super Wal-Mart on its way Following weeks of rumor, the Houston Times-Joumal got the story. A Super Wal- Mart was definitely coming to Perry. Officials at Landmark Realty confirmed that a deal had been struck with Jacoby Developers of Atlanta to purchase a large commercial lot on the north side of Sam Nunn Boulevard near 1-75, and that Jacoby had secured an agreement from Wal-Mart to build a 151 .OOOsquare foot “super store" there - including a grocery store. Additionally, plans were announced for 30,000 square f *et of shops, and 800 park ing spaces. The shopping center will be behind the existing Grant City-Kmart-Sports Center shopping center. The new building is under construction, with a target opening date of June I, 1999. A strip of shops and businesses near the front of the lot will be tom down as con struction nears completion. However, at least two businesses, W.D. Sullivans and the Sports Center will become of the new complex of buildings. Reaction to the arrival of the Wal-Mart superstore has been mixed, because of (See REVIEW, Page 3A) Home of the Georgia National Fair and Agricenter