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Volume 128, Na 16 At the Crossroads This Week Students visit Fairgrounds Members of the Georgia Technology Student Association will host competi tion April 22-24 at the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter. Also on the schedule at the Fairgrounds is the Georgia Electrification Council and Linesmen Rodeo. The meetings will take place April 28-30 while the Rodeo is May 1 • State seeks comments from hunters Blackpowder hunting fans are being urged to speak long and loud on a coming vote to create a Georgia Primitive Weapons season. It approved, this season would allow a short time during hunting season for blackpowder hunters to hunt without having to compete with modern firearms hunters. Archer)’ hunters would be able to hunt during this season. Georgia already has a extended season for archers. To comment on this propos al, please call Dan Forster at the Department of Natural Resources at 770-918-6404. Emails and faxes are pre ferred to vocal comments. Fax to 770-557-3030 or email to dan_forster@mail. dnr. state.ga.u $ The vote is scheduled for April 29. Newspaper continues subscription drive The Houston Times-Journal telephone subscription drive continues this week, general manager Jj Johnson announced April 20. The drive, which began April 22, has resulted in numerous new subscriptions and renewals, he said. For each subscription, either new or renewal, the Times- Journal makes a donation to the Houston County Habitat orga nization. “The drive is important to us. Not only do we offer the newspaper to many potential new readers, but we also get to listen to some of our current subscribers about what they would like to see changed about the paper,” Johnson said. “I’m also glad we can sup port Houston County Habitat for Humanity. That organiza tion, with volunteers from throughout the county, has done so much to help improve living conditions for many fam ilies,” Johnson added. The subscription price for the newspaper, delivered in Houston County, is S2O per year plus local and state sales tax. Geisman completes Haiti duty Marine Lance Cpl. David M. Geisman, a 1996 graduate pf Perry High School recently returned from conducting secu rity operations in support of operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti. During the deployment, Geisman’s unit provided 24- hour security while providing humanitarian assistance to the Haitians. Geisman joined the Marine Corps in October, 1996. Contact the Times- / Journal Contact the Houston Times- Journal: Voice (912' <>B7-1823 Fax (912) 98«>-i:c: email timcsjrn@hom.net Mail. P.O. Drawer M, Perry, 31069 Street 807 Carroll St., Perry, 31069 rnmmm mi ■■ mi ' ■ ■ ■■in ■■ i ■■» Houston Times-Journal Official Legal Organ for Houston County, the City of Perry and the State of Georgia School Board OKs school attendance map By CHARLOTTE PERKINS Times-lournal Staff The Houston County Board of Education did some final tinkering with its much-discussed school zoning map on the morning of April 20, before voting unanimous ly for the final version at their regu lar board meeting in the afternoon. After voting for the map, board members suggested that Director of Facilities Bill Loudermilk take the map and easel outside of the meet ing and answer parents’ questions about the last stage changes that Tolleson, City officials to seek new road for loggers By CHARLOTTE PERKINS Times-lournai. Staff Perry’s mayor and council met with officials of Tolleson Lumber Co. on April 20 to discuss the pos sibility of opening a new road between Jernigan Street and Larry Walker Parkway for use by loggers. Rusty Tolleson, president of the 70-year-old local lumber opera tion, told the elected officials the company is planning a $6 million expan siOHpwdClrtßll be completed before the end of this year. He pointed out that the new road would be a help to the truck drivers who haul Tolleson’s logs to the Weyerhaeuser plant in Oglethorpe, as well as other locations. The road has been discussed in the past. Some surveying work has been done to determine rights-of way most of which apparently belong to Tolleson's, the Beckham Co. and the City of Perry. Mayor Jim Worrall said city leaders were in support of the road construction, which would also include a bridge. “There’s no doubt it would help the entire community," he said, noting that the challenge ahead would be to secure state grant funds for the project, as well as local funds. Rusty Tolleson, in turn, said that he and other Tolleson officials would take their lead from the city officials in seek ing support for the project. Perryans rush to help Dooly Couritians hit by tornado Kt->. Blk . BUILDING OF THE FUTURE - This is the architects rendering of the exterior of the new multi -purpose exhib it hall and convention center to be built at the Georgia What a turkey! Columnist John Trussed teds about using cads to : ind big turkeys. See page 7A had been made. According to Beth Burris, a spokesperson for the Board, the final modifications were made a* the beginning of a budget work ses sion, and a printer is preparing copies of the final map - including the latest revisions - which will be available to the press on April 23. Changes which effect Perry resi dents include the addition of a neighborhood (approximately behind Pe'rrv Pawn Shop) on Courtney lodges Blvd., and another neighborhood in the vicin- Young Parents V f 'S-.. .K I w* Up- ' : , %f\ ;,J, rimes loum,il Photo by Charlotte Perkins HOMEWORK IN A LAP Amy Shelton, a Perry Middle School Home Economics student, gets acquainted with her homework, a very realistic baby doll. Find out how some Perry Middle students handled parenthood on page 6B By CHARLOTTE PERKINS Times-lournal Staff By the time word reached most people about the disastrous tornado in Vienna, the Perry Fire Department was already on the way to help. And they’re still helping. Fire Chief Gary Hamlin said that the Perry firefighters helped with cutting off the gas lines, and Svi'vij-j/:. I 1 Uiuijny Sioiti l>ec. 17, 11 i 7( ity of the Perry Airport which were rezoned for students to attend Perry Elementary School rather than Tucker School. Also students from area previously zoned to attend the new Matt Arthur School were reas signed to attend Morningside School. Elizabeth Jones, President of the Tucker Elementary School PTO expressed a mixed reaction to the final map, saying that she was pleased with the reductions in the school population at Tucker, but that it still had the highest popula- participated in a house to house search after the tornado. They also assisted with clearing the streets of debris. Hamlin explained that street clearing is one of the first things that needs to be done following a tornado, because people can’t be reached until emergency vehicles can get through. “There were 25 to 30 people National Fainzrounds. The interior will include meeting rooms, a gallery and a large auditorium and exhibit space. sBH IlfHk tion of any of the Perry Schools. Michael Goliber, also a Tucker parent said that he and others were hoping for more “socio-economic balance in the south end.” According to Loudermilk, the approximate school populations with the new zoning will be 350 at Tucker, 300 at Perry Elementary, 225 at Morningside and 300 at King’s Chapel. Loudermilk said that some of the last stage changes were made to keep the population at the new Matt Arthur school down, because that area is growing Potter follows 3 Cs rule Courtesy, communication and community count By CHARLOTTE PERKINS Times-lournal Staff After three years, Perry Police Chief George Potter clearly feels good about his decision to move his family from Columbus to Perry and about changing gears profes sionally from a big city detective unit to small town “community policing.” Potter, a veteran law enforce ment officer who is just a few courses short of earning his second is a man of action but also a man of ideas. Coming to Perry as police chief gave him the opportunity to see some ideas put into action, to take a proactive approach to crime pre vention, and to build a police force that specializes in community trust. Community. Trust. Those are the two words that seem to come up most often as he discusses his views on law enforcement and his experience so far in Perry. “We re working on trust everyday,” he said, “and we’re getting the public involved, getting close to the commu nity . They’re our eyes and ears.” A good example of this is the growth of neighborhood watch groups in Perry, from six in 1996 to ten in 1999. In these groups, neigh bors are looking out for neighbors and keeping an eye out for possible criminal activity as well. Each group has block captains and an assigned police officer who meets with them on a monthly basis to discuss problems and concerns and injured,” he said, “and they were having to move them on pieces of plyboard on the back of a four wheeler.” Hamlin added that he was sur prised that nobody was electrocut ed, because many power lines were on the ground. The Perry Fire Department is now serving as the collection center for donations for the hundreds of New at Henderson Village New manager brings ideas about community relations, more local business. See page 5B so fast. One parent from the northern part of the county expressed real anger at the final decisions made. Noting that her child would be reassigned to Shirley Hills Elementary rather than Quail Run Elementary under the plan, Susan Martin said, “22 children in the Westwood Subdivision are effected by this, and 22 could be going to private schools. The Board held four public (See SCHOOLS, Page SA) hear complaints. A continuing emphasis on sen sitivity in dealing with the public has resulted in some praise -in writing - from the community. Potter points out that each time an officer answers a call, he pro vides the complainant with infor mation on the law and with a short questionnaire to fill out, regarding the timeliness of the response and the courtesy shown by the police. Typical comments from citizens have been positive and detailed: “Officer Bill Hathcock was very kind and concerned about my acci dent and how I physically felt,” wrote one woman who was in a traffic accident. “ Another wrote, “Thank you so much. My child’s bicycle was found and returned in eight hours. We appreciate you very much.” Some kinds of crime - notably burglar)' and robbery - have gone down in the last three years, one police calls to settle family disputes have gone up. “Our fastest growing area of crime in Perry is domestic vio lence,” Potter said, “That’s violence between husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends, children and parents - both ways.” Potter blames this on a combi nation of stress, unrealistic expecta tions and - in some cases imma turity. “We’re living in a fast paced (See POTTER, Page SA) homeless people in Vienna. “We’ve already taken one load of donations down there,” Hamlin said. “With the help of the Perry Rotary Club, we purchased S9OO worth of diapers, baby wipes and baby food - and while we were in the line at the grocery store, people were coming up and giving us (See HELP, Page SAO Fairgrounds to get true convention center by 2001 By CHARLOTTE PERKINS TjMPjgWNALte Convention planners, take note! By 2001, it will be possible to have meetings, exhibits and banquets all in the same building at the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter, and the parking will be convenient, too. According to Fairgrounds Director Michael A. Froehlich, the new multi-purpose building will be located on the west side of the exhibit complex which includes the Georgia Living Center and the Heritage, Roauemore ana McGill buildings. It will be clearly visible from 1-75. The building will provide more exhibit space during fair time, but is also being designed to serve as a convention center, something Rep. Larry Walker urged following his successful effort to secure funds for the building during the 1988 General Assembly session. The $8.6 million (See FAIRGROUNDS, Page SA)