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I Zmmm _ At the * #• Crossroads This Week * Principals named for two county schools The Houston County Board of Education has named principals for two new schools. Kim Schoening will move to Matthew Arthur Elementary School and David Carpenter will transfer to Eagle Springs Elementary School. Schoening has been the principal at Perdue Elementary since 1993. Prior to Perdue, she was the princi pal at Kings Chapel Elementary School for seven years. Carpenter has been the principal at Bonaire Elementary School for 13 years. He was the Warner Robins assistant principal prior to this appointment. Matthew Arthur Elementary School is located at the corner of Moody Road and Ga. 127. Eagle Springs is located along U.S. 41 adjacent to the Eagle Springs develop ment. The two schools are scheduled to open this fall. Horses coming Members of the Georgia Horsemens Council will host a horse fair at the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricentcr Jan. 20-22. Other activities at the Agricenter this week include the Southeastern Exotic Bird Show Jan. 23-24 and the Georgia State Horseshoe Tournament, Jan. 23-24. Restaurants checked During the week of Jan. 11 - 15 the Houston County Environmental Health Inspectors made numerous checks of local food service providers and found discrep ancies in some of the following locations: Anderson’s Diner 103 Manor Court, Warner Robins, 98, none. Boardwalk Frozen Custard 1241 Russell Parkway, Warner Robins, 100, none. Checkers Drive In 120 N. Houston Road, Warner Robins, 92, none. Church’s Chicken 1801 Watson Blvd., Warner Robins, 84, storage of cleaning prod ucts / toxic materials. I. H. O. P. 2718 Watson Blvd., Warner Robins, 100, none. Pizza Hut 1344 Sam Nunn Blvd., Perry, 94, none. Schlotzsky’s Deli 2902 Watson Blvd., Warner Robins, 98, none. Subway 100 N. Houston Lake Blvd., Suite A, Centerville, 81, storage of cleaning products / toxic materials. Winn Dixie 2203 Watson Blvd., Warner Robins, 90, none. All major discrepancies are corrected before the health inspector leaves the premises. Talent show is Jan. 21 The annual Kiwanis Club sponsored Perry area talent snow will be at 7 p.m. Jan. 21 at the Perry High School Auditorium. Admission is S 3 for the event. J=m H Contact the Times- Joumal Contact the Houston Times- Journal: Voice '.222 Fax (912)988-1181 email timesjm@hom.net Mail P.O. Drawer M, Perry, 31069 Street 807 Carroll St., Perry. 31069 9H Wf I _ 39/99 RGIA NEWSPAPER PROJECT GA. MAIN LIBRARY INS, GA 3060 c Houston Times-Journal Official Legal Organ for Houston County, the City of Perry and the State of Georgia County, Centerville agree on fire station County Firefighters express opposition to new station, Kersey seeks help for Henderson fire building By CHARLOTTE PERKINS TIMES-lOURNAL STAFF With the state government pushing intergovernmental cooperation and taxpay ers hoping for more cost efficiency and less duplication in local services, consolidation may well be the wave of the future. But, if the recent controversy over an agreement between the Houston County Commissioners and the City of Centerville is any example of what to expect, one thing is clear. It’s not going to be easy. And at times it's not even going to be friendly. Faced with a room full of firefighters many of whom clearly disagreed with their decision the Houston County Commissioners voted at their Jan. 19 meet ing to approve a “memorandum of under standing” between the county and the City of Centerville. The memorandum, originally called a “contract”, includes detailed provisions for ■■ •”T 1 * | H < \ f 1 ■ U K t yrpf. Tim©*- Journal Photo by Rob Mood IN THE DITCH The 1993 Ford which Martin Heinz drove dur ing a high speed chase which ended east of Perry, is in the ditch where Heinz crashed. Annual Perry Chamber of Commerce dinner is Jan. 21 By ROB MEAD Times-lournal Staff Members of the Perry area Chamber of Commerce will gather for their annual dinner in the Georgia Living Center build ing at the Georgia National Fair at 7 p.m. Jan 21. Dr. William F. Cummings, Chairman and CEO of Cummings Consolidated Corporations, who is well known as a management consultant and lecturer will be the keynote speaker during the event. During the evening, the gavel will be passed from outgoing Chairman Paul Hicks to incom ing Chairman Steve Rodgers sig nifying the official transfer of the Chamber of Commerce Talks for construction contract for Perry Post Office continue By ROB MEAD Timks-louhnal Staff ___ Construction on the new post office in the 1400 block of Macon Road remains at a standstill. Firm plans apparently depend on nego tiations between the U.S. Postal Service and a contracting firm already on the long-dormant con struction site. Postal Services LLC , a private contracting company , has a con struction trailer and a tractor at the construction site. Postal Services LLC workers were sup- E)sed to break ground at the site te last year according to Harvey Sergeant, then project superin tendent. Howevef, a U. S. Postal the two jurisdictions to share the cost of fire protection in District 1, an area in the northern part of the county which includes both the city of Centerville and a large unincorporated area in which subdivisions are growing rapidly. Included in the agreement is a plan to build a new fire station which will serve both Centerville and the unincorporated areas. Earlier meeting fiery While the tone of the formal Commission meeting was civil and mutual ly respectful, things got a lot hotter at an earlier and less formal meeting held by the firefighters on their own turf. At that meeting, held Jan. 14 at the Crestview fire station, Commissioner Gail Robinson, who chairs the Commissioners’ fire protection committee, and Commissioner Tom McMichael faced a barrage of questions about county priorities Chairmanship position. One of the crowd favorites of the annual banquet is the presen tation of the Seebie Hickson award. This honor goes to the Citizen of the Year in Perry. Chamber President Chris Kinnas said about 250 guests and members are expected to attend the banquet celebration. The dinner will be set up in a buffet style and will feature chicken. The cost to attend the banquet will be s2l per person. Chamber member Pat Buice heads the annual meeting com mittee of the chamber. The chamber is celebrating 44 years of service to the community with this meeting. Service official has said contract negotiations are still under way. Negotiations to restart con struction on the new post office project are “looking good” said Nancy Ross spokesperson for the regional Postal Service. “We will have more informa tion following a meeting next week but nothing has been final ized said Ross. Greg Sergeant, current project superintendent for Postal Services LLC said, “We’re just waiting for some plan changes from Post Office officials. We had a meeting with them last week and expect to (See POST OFFICE, Page 3A) •'Serving Houston (oun(\ Since Dei. 17, 11*70 and angry objections to the cooperative plan with Centerville from a dozen or more speakers. The first speaker, Hazel Kersey of Henderson, pointed out that Centerville citizens do not pay the 2 mill fire tax paid by residents of the unincorporated area. Kersey also said firefighters in the Hendcrson-Elko district had been (Jtpmised a new fire station since 1992. “The roof is falling in,” Kersey told the Commissioners. “When will Henderson be getting their fair share? Why is Centerville getting a fire station when they do not pay a fire tax?” Others argued Centerville will be get ting “a free ride on our backs”, called the proposed contract “garbage,” and said pri ority should be given to improvements in the existing county station and to making sure that there are “bays” to protect all fire vehicles from the elements. Deputy Chief Randy Boyst of Station 7 Michigan man shot after chase, standoff By STACIE M.VU Times-lournal Staff A two-county high speed chase ended just east of Perry Jan. 18, when the fleeing driver crashed into an embankment. Martirs D. Heinz, driving a 1993 Ford Crown Victoria, sped away when Dooly County Sheriff’s deputies attempted to stop him along 1-75 near Vienna. While the deputy pursued Heinz north along I -75, he radioed for help. Other Dooly officers placed some stop-sticks on the roadway in an effort to stop Heinz. Stop-sticks are long triangular tubes covered in hollow steel spikes which penetrate and gradually deflate tires. Heinz ran over one stop-stick, puncturing the left rear tire. He dodged the rest of the sticks and con tinued north into Houston County. Heinz was being pursued by Dooly County County schools rank in top third in most Georgia system comparisons (EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first of a two-part series on the Report Card released this week by the Georgia Department of Education. The first part deals with Houston County’s overall ranking. The. second installment will be on the scores of individual schools in the Perry area.) By CHARLOTTE PERKINS TIM£LIq»»NAL.STAFF The. 1997-98 Georgia Public Education Report Card has been released, with the Houston County public school system ranking in the top third in almost all categories of stu dent achievement. The report card, based on a wide range of measurements, includes rankings on both sys tems and individual schools. High School rankings In the high school rankings, which include 173 city and county systems, Houston County ranked as follows. * High School Graduation Tests: Houston County fared very well statewide. 95 percent of Houston County students passed the English Language Arts test on their first try for a ranking of 49th in the state; 93 percent passed the mathematics test on their first try for a rank ing of 28th in the state; 83 per cent passed the social studies Perry Area Chamber of A Commerce Annual Report! Plans for 1999 and a review of 1998 Section C\ test, for a ranking of 27th in the state; 82 percent passed the sci ence test with for a ranking of 21st in the state. •Hope Scholarship eligibili ty. 59.3 percent of Houston County public school graduates were eligible for Hope Scholarships, placing the coun ty’s schools in the 48th position statewide. The top system in this cate gory was Towns County, with 78 percent eligible for Hope Scholarships. In the middle Georgia area, Dodge County ranked higher than Houston, with 61.7 percent eligible for the scholarships. •Scholastic Assessment Test (S.A.T.): Houston County high school seniors ranked 35th in the state, with combined math and verbal scores of 967. The highest ranked system was Whitfield County, where the average S.A.T. score was 1,082. • verbal S.A.T. scores : Houston County public school seniors ranked 41st in the state, with an average Verbal S.A.T. score of 484. • Math S.A.T. scores: Houston County public school seniors came in higher in the verbal component, ranking 36th in the state, with an average score of 483. Eighth grade rankings Houston County’s eighth graders scored in the 57th per 1 said the plan put “a bad taste” in his mouth, and said the county should split the fire protection duties between Station 7 (on Elberta Road near Warner Robins) and Station 6 (on Water Road, off Smithville Church Road) and spend the money on the existing stations. “Then you won’t embarrass us, put us on the back burner or make us feel less than important," Boyst said. “This is the most morale busting thing I’ve ever known of. You’ve got a lot of explaining to do.” Some explaining County Commission Chairman J. Sherrill Stafford pointed out at the Jan. 19 Commission meeting that “Centerville could do it without us more easily than we could do it without them.” Financially, the situation is simple enough. The City of Centerville, according (See FIRE, Page 3A) deputies, Houston County deputies, Georgia State Patrol, Vienna Police and Pinehurst Police. At some point during the chase officers noticed Heinz was waving a gun in the air. Heinz got off the Interstate at exit 43A, the Perry Parkway, and took a right on the flat tire. Perry Police Chief George Potter said “Our men were out there to assist.” Perry Police had been at all intersections so that Heinz could not go into town. Heinz traveled east along the Perry Parkway, past the Perry Middle School, running several red lights before crashing into the embankment on U.S. 341 at the end of the Perry Parkway. When Heinz crashed into the embankment at approximately 3 p.m., several police cars surrounded the 1993 Ford Crown Victoria. Heinz then turned the gun toward himself which led to a standoff with police for about an hour. (See CHASE, Page 2A) centile on the lowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS), with a ranking of 45th in the state. This ranking was for the com posite score. Broken down into the read ing comprehension and math categories, the county’s eighth graders ranked higher in read ing math. The students averaged in the 51st percentile in reading, for a ranking of 51st out of 175 systems. In math, ‘ they were in die 56th per centile, but had a ranking of 62nd. Fifth grade rankings Fifth graders in Houston County ranked 26th in the state in the state on the ITBS, and were in the 62nd percentile. On the reading comprehen sion section the fifth graders were 30th in the state and in the 56th percentile. On the math section, they ranked 35th, and were in the 62nd percentile. Third grade rankings Third graders in Houston County ranked 38th in the state on the ITBS, and scored in the 62nd percentile. On the reading comprehen sion section, the third graders were ranked 62nd, and were in the 53rd percentile. On the math section, they ranked 46th and were in the 64th percentile.