Newspaper Page Text
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At the [3o^
Crossroads
This Week
Time for registration
in Head Start program
FVrry Head Start is accepting appli
cations for three and four year olds for
the 1999-2000 school year. Children
must be three or four years old by Sept.
1,1999, to meet eligibility requirements.
The program is located at 601 Hillcrest
Avenue in Perry. For more information,
please call 988-4256.
Barbecue planned at
Kings Chapel School
The Kings Chapel Elementary
School Parent Teacher Organization
will host a community barbecue on
March 25. 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Take-out or eat-in plates will be
served with homemade barbecue, cole
slaw, pickles, chips, bread and cake for 15.
Tickets are available from Cindy
Collier at the school office, at Rainbow's
End Draft Store or bv calling Sue
Walton at 987-8692.
Perry Recreation Easter
Egg Hunt is April 3
The Perry Recreation Department
will hold an Easter Egg Hum at 10 a.m.,
Apr. 3, in the picnic area of Rozar Park.
Children ages 3-5 may participate.
At 11 a.m. the same day, a special
program, “Easter Magic is in the Air”
will be held for children ages six to 10
years old at the pavilion at Rozar Park.
For more information on these pro
grams, call 988-2860.
Meeting held for Red
Cross volunteers
The American Red Cross will hold a
training class for blood drive volunteers
at the Houston County Agricultural
Building, Carroll Street, Perry, on
March 12 from 10 a.m. to noon.
Volunteers arc needed for registration,
labeling and serving refreshments at
blood drives.
For more information, call Louise
Sturgis at 987-3723 or Pennv LaDuc,
929-4064
Volunteers needed to
help abused children
Rainbow House in Warner Robins
needs volunteers for its Court
Appointed Special Advocates program.
Volunteers work to help insure a safe,
permanent home for abused or neglect
ed children. The public is invited to an
open house March 18, at 6 p.m. at
Rainbow House, 108 Elmwood St.,
Warner Robins. To register and for more
information, please call 923-5923.
Defensive Driving
Course offered by City
A defensive driving course will be
given April 3 from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at
the Perry Community Center in Rozar
Park.
The course fee is $25. The classes
will be taught by certified instructor
Lori Fox.
Upon completion of the course, a
certificate will be awarded which is rec
ognized by most insurance companies
for a period of three years.
Pre-registration is required. Please
call 988-2860 for details.
Revival begins March 15
A community revival will begin on
March 15. Praise and worship will start
each night at 7:30 p.m The revival loca
tion is North Houston Road in Warner
Robins next door to the Zeb’s Zip In.
This community revival will be outside
under the big gospel tent for 100 days
and will host over 30 pastors and
churches. The event is open to the pub
lic.
Oak Level annual day set
Members of the Oak Level Baptist
Church in Kathleen will celebrate
Annual Day at the church beginning 6
p.m. March 14.
The Rev. Keith Anderson will be the
guest along with the Greater Union
Baptist Church of Perry.
The regular worship service will
begin 11 a.m. and the Sunday School
will begin 9:45 a.m.
Aglow meets March 20
Members of the Women's Aglow
Fellowship will meet at the Crossroads
United Methodist Church at 1600 Main
St., at 10 a.m. March 20.
“We welcome Joyce Fisher as she
leads us in praise and worship” said
Diane McDowell.
Following the meeting will be a time
of prayer and personal ministry.
Refreshments will be served.
Game dinner coming
The ninth annual Wild Game
Dinner sponsored by churches of the
Rehoboth Baptist Association will be
March 128 at 6 p.m. at the Reeves
Arena of the C'-'rgia National
Fairgrounds and Agricentei ... ?.....
According to spokesperson Patsy
Dorman, the meal will be served buffet
style. Breaking with a past tradition, no
covered dishes will be accepted this year.
(See BRIEF, Page 3A)
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Houston rimes -Journal
What am I bid?
Utah bank puts possible Perry Post Office site up for auction
Bv CHARLOTTE PERKINS
and STACIE VU
Times-lournal Staff
After a delay of more than 15 months,
Perry’s post office building project is up
against a major new obstacle. There may
not e'-:i be a site to build it on after March
23.
The Salt Lake City financial institution
which owns the 4.21 acre post office site at
1400 Macon Road has made arrangements
to have the land sold at auction on that
date.
Zion Bank, which foreclosed on Bison
Development, the construction firm origi
nally in charge of the project, has now hired
Rene’ Bates Auctioneers to sell the land.
The complex saga of a construction pro
ject which seems to permanently snarled in
red tape, began when Bison, which won the
contract to build the 14,000 sq. ft. post
office, ran into financial difficulties soon
after beginning preliminary construction
work in late 1997.
Workers walked off the site at that point,
leaving partial excavations, large pipes and
other construction debris on the empty lot,
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Timcs Journal Photo by Stacie Vu
CROWD OF PARENTS LISTEN TO POTENTIAL SCHOOL DISTRICT PLANS
Thi«f Hearing Was Held At Perdue Elementary School
School attendance zone hearings draw large crowds
By Stacie M. Vu
Times-lournal Staff
The Houston County Board of Education held a
meeting March 5, at Perdue Elementary School
regarding issues of rezoning the school attendance dis
trict. Parents from around the county expressed their
concerns and opinions to the Board Members.
Matt Arthur Elementary School and Eagle Springs
Elementary School will open in the fall, prompting
the rezoning of the school district. Matt Arthur
Elementary is located at the intersection of Moody
Road and Ga. 127, and Eagle Springs Elementary is
located along US 41 North in Warner Robins.
Most parents were there to express concerns over
how far their kids would travel to new schools, when
most can see their present school from their home.
Keith Watson of Warner Robins has watched his
neighborhood be rezoned four times since 1990 and
asked the Board, “When is this going to stop?” The
Board of Education is getting help from the Regional
Development Center in Macon to come up with a
plan so that they will not have to rezone so often.
The RDC completed a demographic study, which
includes information such as student sex, age, race and
grade. The study also includes a projected number of
students anticipated for die 2000-2001 school year.
Houston County Schools Superintendent Charles
Holloway said, “We've got to create facilities and use
them to the fullest. We want our children to come to
school ready to learn.”
According to Beth Burris, spokesperson for the
Houston County Board of Education, this is taking
place at a time when the number of children attending
public schools and the opening of new schools is on
the rise.
Burris said, “It is anticipated that primarily elemen
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Official Legal Organ for Houston County, the City of Perry and the State of Georgia
and although elected officials at the city,
state and even federal levels have made
steady efforts to get the project moving
since then, there has been no progress. In
addition to the future of the site being
uncertain, there is also no contract for con
struction of the building.
According to Nancy Ross, a spokesper
son for the U.S. Postal Service, the real
problem is that Zion Bank has turned a
deaf ear to the Postal Service’s requests for
cooperation.
“After Bison defaulted,” Ross said, “We
all started scrambling. At one point Ron
Fauconniere (a Perry developer) was going
to take it over, but he couldn’t come up with
the financing. “
At least one other firm reached the
negotiating stages with the Postal Service,
but this arrangement also fell through, and
in the meantime, problems continued jvith
communication with the bank, Ross said.
“We’ve tried all this time to get the bank
to give us an option, and they have not
responded. They could recoup their loss by
(See AUCTION, Page 3A)
tary school students and some middle school students
will be effected by the rezoning. High school students
should not be effected.” Approximately 1,100 to 1,200
students will be effected.
Approximately 600 parents showed up at the meet
ing to express concerns from how far children will be
bused to school to students at school losing friend
ships and bonds with teachers that will be transferred.
Many of the parents at the meeting chose where they
live after looking at the schools that their children would
be attending. Many parents expressed concern about the
bonds and friendships that wifi be lost in the shuffle.
The next meeting for parents to express their con
cerns will be March 11 at the Board Office in Perry.
The meeting will be at 7 p.m. and parents are urged to
arrive early to look at all of the overlay maps and to
sign in to express concerns with the Board members.
Zones will be finalized at a Board Work Session
March 23, at 6:30, which is open to the public. The
zones will be adopted at the regular meeting of the
Board on April 20 at 1 p.m. at the Board of Education
office in Perry, which is also open to the public.
Plans for the old Perry Middle School were dis
cussed at the March 9 meeting of the Board of '
Education. Classes for certified staff of the Houston
County Board of Education will take place from June
10 to Aug. 7. Middle Georgia Technical Institute will
offer training in classes such as intermediate level
classes for Windows 98, Power Point, and the Internet.
Many certified teachers and some outside consultants
will offer literacy training on how to incorporate liter
acy into all content areas will also be taught.
The technology training will be deuvered using
training materials developed by MGT. Many different
materials will be used to teach the literacy and site
based professional development.
r Take a ride with the Cheeks
Find out how this Perry couple
took on an unusual appearance at
a garden show
See page 7A
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Times-Journal Photo by Stacie Vu
UP FOR BIDS - This sign, announcing a March 23 auction, was placed on the
property on which at last one company has planned to build a new Perry post office.
New emergency warning
sirens to be tested March 31
By STACIE M. VU
Times-lournal Staff
The City of Perry Fire
Department will test the new
Tornado Siren System on March
31, at noon. The system is capable
of making six separate warning
sounds and each warning sound
will be sounded during the test.
Citizens are urged to pay atten
tion to the test.
The location of the four sirens
are Sam Nunn at Hampton
Court, Tucker Road at Moreland
Avenue, Country Club Road, and
Kellwood Drive.
After the initial test, the City
Fire Department will conduct an
audible test on the fourth
Wednesday of each month,
weather permitting. During the
monthly tests, citizens will hear a
tone that is similar to the old siren
system.
“Citizens are familiar with that
sound,” stated Perry Fire Chief
Gary Hamlin.
During an actual warning the
system will make two blasts that
will last three minutes each.
Hamlin urges citizens to “take
cover, do not go outside and do
not call 911.” Hamlin also urges
House OKs funds
fdr local projects
By CHARLOTTE PERKINS
Times-lournal Staff
On March 8, the Georgia
House of Representatives
approved a $13.3 budget with
funding for several local projects.
According to Rep. Larry
Walker, funding he successfully
sponsored includes $25,000 for
Genesis House, a Perry ‘ facility
for homeless men; $25,000 for
the Houston Arts Alliance,
$50,000 for a Salvation Army
“safe house” to be opened in
Houston County for battered and
abused women, and $90,000 in
operating funds for the Museum
of Aviation at Robins Air Force
Base.
Walker said that this year’s
budget was a “difficult one 4, but
citizens to take a battery powered
radio with them so that they will
be able to hear further instruc
tions on what to do during the
Warning.
A tornado w r atch means torna
does are expected to develop.
Keep a battery-powered radio or
television set nearby and listen for
the latest weather reports, even if
the sky is blue. Tornadoes develop
very rapidly.
A tornado warning means a
tornado has actually been sighted
or indicated by weather radar.
These are generated by analysis of
Doppler radar and through wit
ness accounts from the public,
other government agencies, and
by trained spotters. People should
keep a battery-powered radio or
television nearby and listen for
further advisories.
If severe weather is confirmed
by the National Weather Service,
E-911 receives a weather warn
ing, E-911 informs the Fire
Department, the decision to acti
vate the system will be based on
where the weather is in Houston
County and how bad it is. All of
this takes place in a matter of sec
onds.
that he expected that all of the
funding for the local projects will
receive final approval.
The budget will now go to the
Georgia Senate and will then be
reviewed by a conference com
mittee from both chambers.
Walker said he also plans to
secure some substantial addition
al funds for the Georgia National
Fairgrounds and Agricenter, but
declined to give details until plans
are firm.
Walker noted also that Rep.
Pam Bohannon, R-Warner
Robins, had two projects funded
in the budget: $25,000 for a
Senior Center and another
$25,000 for the Centerville Fire
Department.