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Review
anticipated competition with
existing stores.
The Wal-Mart facility is
expected to employ at least .300
people, according to a spokesman
from Jacoby Developers.
9. Houston Lake Road
WIDENING
Just after Thanksgiving. Rep.
Larry Walker. State Senator
Sonny Perdue, and county and
city officials held a press confer
ence to announce that
Department, of Transportation
Commissioner Wayne
Shackleford had agreed to desig
nate Houston Lake Road as a stale
highway for the lime required for
four-laning.
Because this means that the
state will pay for the right-of-way
costs and relocating utilities, the
savings to the county are estimat
ed at $lO million.
The decision was welcomed
because, with Houston County’s
tax cap in place, county officials
were at a loss to figure out how to
raise the needed funds.
Perry Mayor Jim Worrall called
the state funding agreement
secured just before Thanksgiving
“another good example of Team
Houston working together.”
He also said that he was “con
vinced that the tax cap will even
tually strangle us if we don’t do
something about it."
10. PPG CLOSES PLANT
PPG employees prepared their
final shipment of glass on Aug.
12, in the final phases of the com
pany’s shutdown. The doors were
closed for good after that. The
building is being marketed by
CBR Commerce Realty.
PPG came to town during late
1989 and shipped the first glass
products during March 1990. The
company spent a large amount of
monev to remodel the plant during
1997.
Some 150 persons lost jobs
because of the change.
New cable firm eyes Perry installation
By ROB MEAD
Times-Journal Staff
Members of Communicom
Services submitted a cable televi
sion franchise application to the
city of Perry earlier this month.
“We expect to hear one way or
the other within three months but
don’t anticipate a problem getting
the franchise,” said Larry Angel,
general manager of
Communicom Services.
Communicom Services is a
subsidiary of James Cable
Partners LP of Bloomfield Hills,
Mich.
The Communicom application
will be considered by members of
the City Council during the next
City Council meeting, Jan. 5, said
Skip Nalley, Perry City Manager.
“It is possible for multiple
cable television systems to oper
ate in one geographical area
without violating the City ordi
nances," Nalley said. If that hap
pens the customer is likely to
benefit due to the competition
between the companies, he
added.
Some customers complain that
the Atlanta news stations are not
available through Pcachstate
Cable said Nalley.
Pending the approval of the
franchise, Communicom officials
expect the building of the system
to begin in approximately six
months and be complete in 24
months.
Employees of Communicom
are currently re-building cable
systems in Eatonton and
Madison.'
Communicom provides ser
vices for 20 Georgia communi
ties including Hawkinsville and
Cochran, said Angel.
The cable system proposed for
Perry shares the same technology
as systems in Atlanta,
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11. Oak Grove CME makes a
COMEBACK
Oak Grove CME Church of
Elko Road reopened its doors in
late October with a three-day
revival and dedication cere
monies.
The church was burned by
arsonists in February 1997. and
three Perry men were subsequent
ly found guilty of the crime.
“They did evil, but every step
since then has been a blessing,"
said the Rev. Rutha Mae Brown,
pastor of the church, reflecting on
the many donations given to
rebuild the church.
The new church building was
built at anew location, about a
mile from the previous location
12. Charles Holloway named
SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT
On March 18, members of the
Houston County Board of
Education announced the search
for anew Superintendent of
Schools was
complete. Dr.
Charles Allen
Holloway of
Grand
Prairie,
Texas, had
accepted the
post.
Holloway,
who was in
competition
with Warner
Holloway
Robins High School Principal
Marianne Melnick and another
Texan. Albert D. Thomas, for the
post, succeeded long-time super
intendent Tony Hinnant. He took
office in July at a salary of
$124,500.
13. PHS plays for state bas
ketball title
Members of the Perry Panthers
recorded a dream season during
1997-98. The basketball team ran
rampant during the regular sea
son, suffering their first loss just
days before the Subregion
Hawkinsville and Cochran.
“Being close to systems we
already operate will allow us to
do more for Perry as a company
in services than we would be able
to do in a community without any
support nearby,” said Angel.
“This is a 750-megahertz sys
tem utilizing both fiber optics
and co-axial cables. This will
allow us to offer more than the
typical 40 or 50 channels," Angel
added.
“We will be offering the stan
dard analog basic services, some
digital programming, digital
stereo, premium channel ser
vices, special events and impulse
pay per view (immediate service
through the cable converter),"
said Angel.
He said the firm will also offer
high speed internet service oper
ating at 1.5 megabits per second
which is 50 times faster than dial
up service.
Angel said Communicom has
plans for a system which would
■>sr all new equipment. He said
this would tree the cablfe compa
ny of any problems associated
with trying to use old equipment
already in place in the communi
ty
“We arc also considering an
office in Perry but choosing one
at this time would be premature,"
he said.
Peachstate Cable share holders
recently executed a letter of
intent with CTI Communications
Incorporated by which CTI
would acquire the Peachstate sys
tem said Bill Mitchell, Peachstate
Cable General Manager.
Peachstate Cable is using a
hybrid fiber optic/co - axial cable
system which was converted
from the less efficient old hard
line system four years ago.
Very soon Peachstate will
Tournament.
The Panthers of Coach Carl
Lewis didn’t suffer another loss
until their record stood at 30-1,
the best in any classification in
Georgia.
Then the Panthers met
Milchcll-Baker in the Class AA
state boys championship game
and came home with the runner
up trophy.
The team produced one of the
best records since the days of
’Fcssor Staples.
14. Magistrate Court moves
At the first of the year, the
Houston County Commissioners
finalized plans to relocate
Houston County's Magistrate
Court in anew $1.4 million build
ing in the "Houston Central” area
- near the intersection of Houston
Lake Road and Ga. 96.
As the year closed, the decision
was made to name the building in
honor of Magistrate Judge Nick
Lazarus.
15. Free calls to Macon
Following a vote by telephone
customers in both Macon and
Perry, the Georgia Public Service
Commission went with the major
ity preference and approved toll
free calls between the two cities
The PSC stipulated that an
additional monthly fee would be
added to phone bills: $2.96 for
residences and $5.93 for business
es. The toll-free calls began on
May 15.
16. Northrop Grumman lav
offs
In early December. Northr.tp
Grumman officials announced
that their work force will be
reduced by 500, starting in
January. 1999.
Of those. 300 arc to be contract
employees and 2(H) full-time
employees. Notices will be issued
in January. The cut-back was
influenced by a reduction in
orders from Asian countries
according to Tim Martin,
offer internet services, digital
programming, digital audio and
25 to 30 pay per view channels
said Mitchell.
Mitchell said WSB channel 2
ABC which is broadcast from
Atlanta is included as part
Peachstate Cable programming
on channel 6.
Sometimes news programs on
that station are pre-empted bv
WPGA Channel 58 of
Perry/Macon, broadcast on cable
channel 5.
This is done through a Federal
Communications Commission
ruling which allows the most
local station to broadcast the net
work feed exclusively, said a
knowledgeable source who asked
not to be identified.
For example, when Lowell
Register, owner of Channel 58,
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(Continued from page 1A)
Development Authority Director.
17. A New Campus
On March 31, the grand open
ing was held for Middle Georgia
Tech’ lew 83-acre campus along
Cohen Walker Drive in the
Houston Central complex.
Students began classes there on
April 6. The $125 million project
was several years in the planning,
and meant that the MGT could
expand its course offerings. The
old campus on Cordcr Road in
Warner Robins is being used by
MGT and the Houston County
Board of Education.
18. Medusa soVd to
Southdown
The Medusa Cement plant in
Clinchfield merged with the
Southdown Corp. in a stock-for
stock transfer, making the new
company the second largest pro
ducer of cement in the country.
For employees, the only real
change was in the name. Plant
manager Jim Daniels continued in
his post.
19. Westfield expands
The Westfield Schools had a
banner year in 1998, opening a
new pre-kindergarten facility, and
starting an after-school program.
Expansion continued with an
expansion program which
includes anew administrative
building and anew athletic field
house, both funded by a recent
$1.3 million capital campaign.
20. South Perry Parkway
As the year came to a close,
city and county officials got
together with representatives of
the Ga. Department of
Transportation and mapped out
plans for securing rights of way
lor the proposed South Perry
Parkway. The new road will
extend from Ga. 127 (the
Marshallville Road) through
farmland to U.S. 41, crossing over
1-75 at the interchange currently
under construction. From that
point it will extend to Limerock
opened the station two years ago,
he decided to run the ABC morn
ing news feed live at 6:30 p.m.
WSB tapes the program and
broadcasts it at 7 Because
Register has first priority for the
rights on local cable, the 7 a m.
rcbroadcast by WSB is not avail
able in the Perry cable market.
Mitchell made no statement
regarding the possible addition of
another cable system by
Communicom Services.
Peachstate evolved from the
original cable wiring in Perry
which was installed during the
early 1960s by Register and
Horace Woodruff.
Before the sale of Peachstate,
that company was a subsidiary of
Com South Communications of
Hawkinsville.
m vsrnm
a?#
Wed., Dec. 36, IWB. Houston Timet-Journal I
Walker
museum as well as monitoring
transportation needs in the
county.
In a philosophical mood, he
described Ins recent hard
fought campaign as “probably
good for inc."
“1 wouldn’t want to do it
again,“Walker said, “but it cer
tainly brought me closer to the
people 1 represent. I made a lot
of new friends and I was over
whelmed by the generosity
and kindness of so many peo
ple. Also, there’s been a
tremendous change in the
county and a big change in my
district since reapportionment
and I learned a lot.”
Discussing the transition
from Gov. Zell Miller to
Governor-Elect Roy Barnes.
Walker said, “We're going to
have anew governor whose in
a leadership position for the
first time.
“Gov. Miller had been lieu
tenant governor for some
years. We know that Roy
Barnes is bright and witty and
has a lot of energy, but neither
he nor the new lieutenant gov
ernor (Mark Taylor) have had
leadership experience,”
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Walker said "ll will be a
change."
He also discussed his recent
election to the chairmanship o!
a nationwide group, the State
legislative Leaders, explain
ing that he joined the group
almost 10 years ago and has
found it “stimulating and inter
esting.”
Limited in membership to
state legislators who are eithei
majority leaders, minority
leaders, house speakers, senate
speakers or lieutenant gover
nors, the privately-funded
organization meets ai least
twice a year on different col
lege and university campuses.
The group will soon under
take a cooperative program
with European elected offi
cials in similar positions.
“It’s an excellent group
very broadening. One thing
I've observed over my 10
years of membership is the
changing attitudes about the
stale of Georgia.At first there
was a feeling that Georgia was
still a backwater state, but their
ideas about the state have real
ly changed." Walker said.
Page 3A