Newspaper Page Text
Volume 128, No. 14
2 Sections, 18 Pages
Wednesday,
April 7, 1999
50 Cents
Home of the
Georgia A
National Fair
and Agricenter I
At the
Crossroads
This Week
More campers coming
While not as large a dele
gation as the Family
Motorcoach Association,
members of the Georgia
Good Sams club will have a
Samboree rally at the Georgia
National Fairgrounds April
8-11.
This rally is an annual
event in Perry.
The Peach Blossom
Cluster Dog Show will be
April 15-18.
It only takes one shot
Dave (Super Dave)
Semmel, Assistant Golf Pro
at the
Perry
Country
Club, made
a hole in
one while
visiting the
Doublegate
Country
Club in
Albany
Mach 29.
Semmel
MU
Semmel
made the 164 yard shot at
hole number two using a six
iron during a Georgia PGA
Central chapter dogfight.
Professional Golfer Nancy
Lopez was also playing the
course that day according to
Butch Wilhelm of the Perry
Country Club.
Meanwhile at the Perry
Country Club Meyur Vashi
of the Westfield High School
golf team shot a 184 yard
hole in one.
Vashi made the shot while
playing hole number nine
using a four iron during a
high school practice round
Mar. 25 according to Butch
Wilhelm of the Perry
Country' Club.
Adult softball
registration extended
Registration for men’s,
women’s and church adult
softball leagues with the Perry'
Recreation Department has
been extended through April
9.
The season, which will run
April-June will cost S4OO per
team with a roster limit of 20
persons aged 18 and older.
Each team will be given
one dozen softballs for the
league. For information, con
tact the Recreation
Department at 988-2860 or
visit the department at 1060
Keith Drive.
Restaurants inspected
Here is the results of
Houston County
Environmental Health
Department inspections for
the week of March 29-April
2. Where discrepancies were
found, immediate changes
were made.
Angelina’s Italian Garden
Cafe, 1500 Sam Nunn Blvd.,
Perry, 96.
Angelina’s Lounge, 1500
Sam Nunn Blvd., Perry, 97.
Bull and Dee’s Sports
Lounge, 120 S. First St.,
Warner Robins, 88, none.
Charlie William’s
Pinecrest, Margie Drive,
Warner Robins, 81. Problems
(See FOOD, Page SA)
Houston /
Contact
the Times-
Journal
Contact the Houston Times-
Joumai:
Voice (912' 987-1823
Fax (912) 98b-li«i
email timesjm@hom.net
Mail .....P.O. Drawer M,
Ferry, 31069
Street 807 Carroll St.,
Perry, 31069
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Houston Times-Journal
Official Legal Organ for Houston County, the City of Perry and the State of Georgia
Prison space shortage forces jail construction first
County spent more than $700,000 in first three months of ’99 housing prisoners out of county
By CHARLOTTE PERKINS
Times-lournai. Staff
With the cost of boarding lawbreakers in
other counties skyrocketing , the construc
tion of the new county jail is taking priori
ty over the construction of the new court
hou„,..
According to Houston County
Commission Chairman J. Sherrill Stafford,
costs for Houston County’s overflow of
inmates behind bars in other counties, usu
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W.D. SULLIVAN AND CO. FIRST TO OPEN AT NEW CENTER
Store Was Last To Close At Old Sports Center Space
Weather brings good news to Dogwood
By CHARLOTTE PERKINS
Times-lournal Staff
On April 3, the day of Perry’s
1999 Dogwood Festival, the dog
woods (not to mention the wiste
ria and azaleas) were at their peak
and the weather was more like
June than April without a
cloud in the sky.
In short, it was a good day to
be outdoors whether running
in the 5K race, setting up an arts
and crafts booth, roaming around
at the car show or playing softball.
That weather paid off with an
attendance in excess of 3,500,
according to Chamber of
Commerce President Chris
Kinnas.
Kinnas, who was overseeing
his second Dogwood Festival,
noted that the weather was a big
help, but also pointed,out several
specific festival successes.
Hundreds showed up for the
Perry Hospital 5K road race, for
example, and many stayed on to
Dogwood Festival in
ires and stories
CT weather brings large
See below, and pages 9-10 A
ally at a rate of 525-J35 per day, was more
than $700,000 for the first three months of
1999.
The new jail, which will be built on the
same Perry Parkway site as the new court
house, will house up to 524 prisoners,
Stafford said. It will also be designed to
allow room for later expansion, if necessary.
Commissioner Tom McMichacl pre
sented a scale model of the site at the
Commissioners’ April 6 meeting, pointing
enjoy the festival.
“We had runners from as far
away as Vidalia, Waycross and
Savannah,” Kinnas said, “and
because we moved the time of the
race up this year, when they were
through with the race, there was
something for them to do. The
festival food was already being
served, for example. I saw one
man buy a slice of pizza right after
he finished the race.”
The softball tournament,
which went on all day and into
the night, with games at both
Rozar and Creekwood parks, also
was a big success, with 14 teams,
as compared to 11 last year. All of
the recreation departments ball
fields were in use.
The arts and crafts show in
downtown Perry was the biggest
in recent years, Kinnas said, with
43 booths set up.
Also, two new features the
“Show and Shine” car show and
the downtown live talent show
'x i \ m\; Houston ( ounh Sim cDn I~ 1M“I)
out the location of the jail behind the cour
thouse.
The courthouse, he explained, will face
Perry Parkway, but will be entered from the
side. The jail will be connected to the cour
thouse by an underground tunnel, provid
ing maximum security for the transfer of
prisoners to the courtrooms for trial.
The construction is being funded
through a special local option sales tax
approved by Houston County voters.
n; Cmsmils fata
Construction continues as
completed spaces begin opening
By CHARLOTTE
PERKINS
Houston Times- lournal
While substantial work
remains on Perry’s big new
Wal-Mart building, scheduled
to open this summer, two shops
in the strip of buildings con
nected to Wal-Mart are already
in business, with more soon to
come.
Friedman’s Jewelers,
the newest unit in a 400-
store chain, is having its
“soft opening” April 7,
according to store manag
er Beth Erickson, who
added that the store’s for
mal grand opening will be
April 10.
Erickson who was hard
at work setting up the
store’s computer system
last week, said she was
working on the store’s
computer system, and
waiting for security to be
installed before the inven
tory is brought in.
Friedman’s, which offers a
wide range of jewelry with
in-store financing, is fre
quently located in Wal-
Mart shopping areas or in
malls, she said.
Next door to
Friedman’s, the W.D.
Sullivan and Co. store has
been open for several
weeks. Wanda Sullivan,
owner of the store, had an
established location in the
were definite hits.
“Donna Long did a great job
with the talent show," Kinnas
said, “ and we had great help from
the Agriccnter with the sound
stage. The crowd was big at the
car show, too. They had to ask
people to leave at the end of the
day.
A festival standby, the Kiwanis
Club pancake breakfast, attracted
more than 600 people, Kinnas
said. The Beltista Club Spring
Home and Garden Show was
another success, with more than
1,400 in attendance.
Did it help or hurt to have the
festival on Easter weekend?
Kinnas acknowledged that many
people were out of town, but at
the same time, many people had
company.
“The grandparents brought
their grandkids,* he observed.
Most important for the success
(See FESTIVAL, Page SA)
|
9 « t .
strip of shops connected to the
Sports Center. Those stores
have been torn down to make
way for a larger parking area.
Sullivan’s new store is just a
short distance from her old
location, but not so visible to
shoppeq ttttftis point because
(See STORES, Page SA)
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Time* Journal Photos by Charlotte Perkins
FINAL TOUCHES - Friedman's
manager Beth Erickson and her
husband, Jim, put the final
touches on the new store which
opens April 7.
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Times-Journal Photo by Jj Johnson
SHRINER CLOWN MAKES WAY THROUGH DOWNTOWN
Many People Came For The Entertainment, Parade
Walking for Christ
Minnesota resident walking
across the country, sharing
story ct Jesus with all she meets
see pagelß
At the meeting, the Commissioners also
voted to hire an Atlanta firm, Turner
Construction Co., to serve as construction
manager for the firm at a fee of
$2,853,315.
Two other companies, Parrish Georgia
and Haskcll/CRSS had offered higher
bids for the service, which will include
day-to-day overseeing of the two building
projects, and monitoring of both costs and
schedule.
DFCS is
checking
abuse charge
at Headstart
By ROB MEAD
Times-lournal Staff
Allegations of child abuse
have been made against five
Georgia State Headstart employ
ees who worked at the 601
Hillcrest Ave. location in Perry.
Connie Eden, Headstart area
director, received numerous com
plaints March 29 that children at
the center were suffering multipie
types of abuse by employees
charged with caring for the chil
dren.
Eden did not describe the
types of abuse allegedly involved
in the case, but said the investiga
tion involves physical abuse.
According to Eden it is policy
to investigate any complaint of
this nature. She registered the
complaints with an intake worker
from the Georgia Department of
Family and Children Services
early March 30.
Representatives of DFCS
went to the Hillcrest Avenue
Headstart location and placed
five employees on indefinite
administrative leave without nay
that day, according to Eden. This
leave is because of the on-going
investigation.
Wanda Kea, Houston County
Department of Family and
Children Services Assistant
Director, confirmed that her
department is conducting an
investigation.
Some parents of the 34 chil
(See ABUSE, Page SA)