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Tolume 128, No. 18 2 Sections 20 Pages Wednesday, May 5,1999 50 Cents ► Home of the 1 Georgia National Mr H p» The Crossroa Jgjh/ This Jv|E?C Week Library friends plan book sale May 6-8 The Perry Friends of the Library will hold the old book sale on May 6. 7, and 8. The location of the sale has been changed since earlier announcements were made. It will be held at the former location of Big B pharmacy on Macon Road. Thursday, May 6. from noon until 7 p.m., Friday. May 7 from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m.. and Saturday. May 8. from 9 a.m. until noon. “You name it. we've got it - non-fiction, reg ular fiction, children's books, videos, paper backs. magazines, all at prices from 25 cents and up,” said Nancy Granger of the library staff. There are many brand new books on sale. All proceeds bene fit the Perry Public Library. For more information, please call 987-3050. Arabian Horse show continues The Region 12 Arabian Horse Show, which began May 4. continues through May 9 at the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter. An estimated 2-3,000 visitors per day are expected for this event, Fairgrounds officials said. Letter carriers help stamp out hunger Letter carriers for the U.S. Postal Service, including employees of the Perry Post Office, are participating in a Stamp out hunger day May 8. According to a spokesman for the Perry Post Office, letter carri ers will pick up food items such as canned meats, soups, vegeta bles, juice, pasta, cereal and rice for distribution to families in need. The food donations can be placed beside mailboxes and will be picked up during the day May 8. The project is spon sored nationally by members of the National Association of Letter Carriers. Breakfast pizza on menu for students Here are the menus for Houston County Elementary Schools for this week. Milk is served with all meals. See FOOD, Page 9A Contact ttie I 4" Home Journal Contact the Houston Home Journal: Voice (912) 987-1823 Fax (912) 988-1181 email he"ir.irn@hom.net Mail P.O: bn. V. Perry, 31069 Street 807 Carroll St., Perry, 31069 |i Looking baew out what Penyant were doing oo yean H ago _ )RGI A NEWSPAPER PROJECT lENS, GA 30602 ■ Houston Home Journal Official Legal Organ for Houston County, the City of Perry and the State of Georgia You’re right the name has changed Houston Home Journal general manager Jj Johnson announced today that the county’s oldest newspaper and likely the oldest continuous busi ness, has changed names. Founded Dec. 17, 1870 as the Houston Home Journal, the paper used that business name for 120 years before merging with The Perry Times in February 1994 and adding the word “Times" to the paper name. “We have felt for some time that our readers and advertisers would like to see us return to our her itage. We decided it was time to return there, and thus, the Home Journal is back in business," Johnson said. He also outlined several other changes to the newspaper which are covered in detail in his column on page 4-A of this issue. New ground relay radio link to benefit pilots By CHARLOTTE PERKINS Home Joukhal Staff Pilots using the Perry Houston County Airport will soon benefit from the installation of a relay sys tem that makes radio com munication possible while an aircraft -is -still on- the ground. Airport Authority mem bers. on receiving news of a $9,000 state grant for purchase of the ground communication outlet, voted at their May 3 meet ing to add another $2,000 to $4,000 for the purchase of the new radio equip ment. According to Authority member David Morgan, the improvement in the radio system will enhance both convenience and safety for pilots using the airport. “In bad weather, a pilot is very busy before depart ing.” Morgan said. “This will allow him get radio instructions from the Macon airport before departing." With the current radio system, pilots cannot com municate by radio while they are on the ground, making it necessary for them to be airborne before getting flight instructions. For that reason, Morgan said, some pilots of corpo rate planes have not been able to use the airport because of insurance restrictions. The authority also voted on their budget requests for the coming year. The City of Perry will be asked for $76,350, and the Houston County Commissioners will be asked for an equal amount. The budget is to cover general operating expens es, hangar loan payments and matching funds for runway overlay. In other business, the Authority: • Agreed that in the future no one will be allowed to occupy a hangar without having a lease; • Heard a request from Authority chairman Gary Peavy that all members report in advance if they are unable to attend a meeting so that meetings without a quorum can be avoided; See AIRPORT, page 9A The Old Reliable, Serving Houston County Since Dec. 17, 1870 Magnolias of steel visit Perry Irl ■OLY ~ * '<* * ' Cat Home Journal Photo by Charlotte Perkins THE CAST of "Steel Magnolias": Front: Kay Bailey (Annelle), Director Joy Goodman, Wanda Goolsby (Truvy); Center: Gale Weems (Ouizer), Rebecca Archer (Shelby) Nelda Tawse (Clairee) Standing, back, Teresa Mosley (M'Lin) Steel Magnolias opens May 7 rnoM Staff Reports The Perry Players’ pro duction of “Steel Magnolias" will open on May 7. Directed by Joy Goodman and produced by Rita Schubbe, the play is set in Louisiana and deals with the bonds between six highly individual women as they face life’s sorrows and joys. Steel Magnolias was pop ular several years ago as a book, play and movie. In the cast are Rebecca Archer as Shelby, Katy Kindergarten, Pre-K registration opens TO THE Home Jpmum. Pre-kindergarten and kindergarten registration and screening for all Houston County elemen tary schools will be held the week of May 10-14. Pre-k registration is for children who will be four years old on or before Sept. 1, and kindergarten regis tration is for children who [nPantlieps capture I Region 4-aa b j track title, II j M head to I W*h& 11 state meet \Be V in Jefferson Several Panthers help team win region with 159 points Details, page 6AH Cooperative government strategy facing possible lack of cooperation By CHARLOTTE PERKINS Home Joukhal State The time has come for the four governing bodies in Houston County to agree on a cooperative strategy in accordance with House Bill 489, but it remains to be seen how much cooperation there is going to be in get ting the strategy in on deadline. The Houston County Bailey as Annelle, Wanda Goolsby as Truvy, Teresa Mosley as M’Lynn, Nelda Tawse as Clairee and Gale Weems as Ouiser. Play dates and times are May 7. 8, 12,13, 14 and 15 at 8 p.m. and May 9 at 2:30 p.m. For reservations call 987- 5354 between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Perry Players is a non profit community theater located at 909 Main Street in Perry. will be five years of age on or before Sept. 1. Registration times are from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.* May 10, 11, 12 and May 14. Registration will be from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on May 13. Children should be reg istered in their new school zones. Eagle Springs See SCHOOL, Page 9A M Robotics, iiigii tecb xj concepts i course avail- LmSHm, mm | able to RMS >JI Hi students l I Lab has programs | for experimenta- Vl \ ■ tion, discovery. ■ See pageiß|| Commissioners approved a draft version of the “Houston County Service Delivery Strategy" at their regular meeting May 4, without incorporating sug gestions proposed earlier by Mayor Donald Walker of Warner Robins. Walker, who stated April 12 that he will not support the service delivery strategy unless it offers citizens Detectives uses hard work, investigation to bring criminals to trial By CHARLOTTE PERKINS Hourrow Home Joukhal For the most part, the detectives in the Perry Police Department work steadily and quietly behind the scenes, but their work -iva triLttWfHß. in the process of bringingtriminals to jus tice. According to Lt. Heath Dykes, who heads the detective division, in the case of a felony such as a shooting, stabbing, assault or murder, the detective’s job starts with securing of the crime scene. “It’s important not to have evidence destroyed or tampered with," Dykes said. “A crime scene tells the story of what hap pened. and the fewer peo ple who are in the area, the better." Every major crime scene is videotaped and pho tographed. “You can tell a jury what happened." Dykes explains, “but seeing a pic ture is different.” What are detectives look- SjHH . ... , IIM3 * ■ . - $ H •*> I ; hk ’ At JBVV *? |||l In igßg • 11 mSB' -;■ r swuiwummu:, £ ' jjjjj^ tl • ' (iHI 1 ■ USsf »■ Kf' jCw* v « Li HI * •■BPPfct I I» -ant'RWßiPßgiWßßg^a^M 1 • |h : v WBBm jfRRRf aIR j • ■* yp jj£BßK*> v JR THE EVIDENCE ROOM Det. Ken Ezell and Lt. Heath Dykes are shown in the high security evidence room maintained by the Perry Police Department’s detective division. relief from "double taxa tion." met with representa tives of the County Commission recently. He asked specifically for an independent auditor to prepare a report on double taxation, as well as asking that the county take over all costs for the library sys tem, the economic develop - See PLAN, Page 2A ing for in a crime scene? Just for starters physical evidence such as weapons, and trace evidence such as blood, hair and fibers. But collecting evidence is just the starting point in a carefully monitored sequence of events leading up to the use of that evi dence in the courtroom. Under the administra tion of Police Chief George Potter, the department has developed an evidence room which exceeds both state and national stan dards for organization, identification of individual pieces of evidence and overall security. From the time evidence is first collected, through its processing at the police department and its storage to await trial, officers and detectives follow a strict security system so strict, in fact, that once evidence is initially deposited in a locked cabinet in the police station, even the officer See POLICE, Page 9A