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Volume 128, No. 21 3 Sections 22 Pages Wednesday, May 26, 1999 50 Cents p Home of the w Georgia MM National P*i£ Be and AfrieM Q X The Cras s roads Th yJTjy Week jTafaC Westfield graduation is May 28 at campus Twenty nine seniors at Westfield Schools will receive their high school diplomas on May 28 in an evening ceremony which will begin at 7 p.m. in the Westfield Gymnatorium. This year’s Westfield Valedictorian is Richard Allen Coogle. The Salu tatorian is Brandi Baze more. Other graduating seniors Eire Chad Eric Bailey. Elizabeth Hall Berry, Kelly Elizabeth Bryant, Gloria Lauren Byrd, Robert Henry Causey, IV. Chad Aaron Ekey, Joshua Boyd Giles, Matthew Levoyd Hardy, Brian Donald Hartley, Jeri Lynn Hawk, Robert Joshua Heaton, Brittany Nicole Hutto, Trevor Thomas Jones, John Matthew Lee, Richard Joshua Maddox, Aaron Wayne Marshall, Matthew Chance Moore, Richard Tate Parker, Laura Leigh Posey, Bren ton Joe Roper, Salena Ann Sampson, Alison Michelle Sarrat, Jared Brittain Shell, Connie Elaine Thompson, Joseph Hunter Todd, Meyur Bipin Vashi and Gary Roger Virden. Graduation section is coming June 2 The annual Houston Home Journal salute to area high school gradu ates will be published as part of the June 2 news paper. The section will include photos of the graduating seniors and stories about members of the class. Memorial Day observance set The Perry Memorial Day ceremonies will be held May 31 at 11 a.m. in the Perry Memorial Gardens, located on U.S. 41 North at Thompson Road. The ceremony is sponsored by the Ameri can Legion and the Vet erans of Foreign Wars. The Rev. Dr. David Carter of Crossroads United Methodist Church will serve as master of ceremonies. Others on the program will be the Perry High School Junior R.0.T.C., posting colors; Hayley Greene, who will sing the National Anthem; Mayor Jim Worrall; guest speaker retired Chief Master Sgt. John ny Barton; members of the American Legion and V.F.W. Auxiliaries; Kit See DAT, Page SA Contact j the f'~ Home HOUSUIfI Journal Contact the Houston Home Jour nal: Voice (91*, °«7-1823 Fax (912) 988-1181 email homejrn@hom.net Mail P.O. Drawer M, Perry, 31069 Street 807 Carroll St., Pterry, 31069 LO^^^>ecUa^^tS /99/99 'ft ORGIA NEWSPAPER PROJECT While GA. MAIN LIBRARY , HENS, GA 30502 ™ u cT* pa9e 6A Houston Home Journal Official Legal Organ for Houston County, the City of Perry and the State of Georgia School budget to reach sll7 million for 1999-2000 The Houston County School Board tentatively adopted a budget on May 24. This budget will cover the fiscal year beginning Ju1y1,1999 through June 30, 2000. The estimated receipts from ad valorem taxes, local option sales tax, other local receipts, state QBE funds other state funds, federal funds, and other sources will total i —* - ■■■ ~-i — ■ HpHH J| ' k. HI | .../V jMMHBW wmmm - * jfi A NEW NAME - Jimmy Autrey, mar keting vice president, and Joe B. Cade, president and CEO, check out a compa- Flint EMC takes new name From Staff Reports Plint Electric Member ship Corp. is now Flint Energies. The announcement of the name change was made May 24 by company officials, who noted that the new name will “better reflect the non-electric ■Li | l|R. v^ :> p jSMtoMglla ? r m f ... ''"■' ''jEjar \... tr S • I.* BP :5 s gfefL — - - %-;^s^.- The Old Reliable. Serving Honston Connty Since Dec* 17 t 1870 $114,543,421 for the general fund. The Debt Service Fund will receive sl4, 363,058 and the Capi tal Projects Fund will collect $421,787. The estimated expenditures are instruction, pupil services, instruc tional staff services, media services, general administration, school administration, business services, maintenance and operations, stu dent transportation, central sup Home Journal Photo by Charlotte Perkins ny van bearing their company's new name Flint Energies. products and services the company now offers." Flint Energies will mar ket its products and ser vices under three brand names, Flint Electric. Flint Connections and Flint Energy Store. The expanding compa ny also announced May cmt\ PUP 25 that on June 1, it will take over the ownership, operation and mainte nance of the Fort Ben ning electric power sys tem. This privatization of the military base’s elec tricity is the result of a See FLINT, page 5A Special Olympics torch pays brief visit to Perry en route to summer games By Torey Jolley Home Journal Staff Tj. ~~ w ” I j i The Special Olympic Torch passed through the fair city of Perry on May 19 at B:3oam. Leading the runners were Monica Lazaura, training instruc tor for the State Prison in TORCH RUN Mayor Jim Worrall (left, upper photo) joins police officers in exchanging the Special Olympics torch in front of the Perry Public Sqfety Building A long time I ago, in a local community... The story of a man who waited 50 years to get his college degree. see page 1B port services, transfers to other funds, and miscellaneous uses. The General fund will cost approximately $117,517,410. The Debt Service Fund will cost $4,656,741, and the Capital Pro jects will require $10,179,764. The general fund is estimated to be $2,973,989 short, and the capi tal projects will be $9,757,977 short. However, the debt service fund will be $9,706,317 over. lassg-g'g'amiKasTiaiKßrB 1 !, 11 , 11 trrr-'rßajarßwararr:- ■ Perry takes aim at trash on streets, in yards By Torey Jolley Home Journal Staff Perry City Council mem bers took strong steps to stop trash inside city limits and agreed to a land deal during the May 18 meeting. A resolution to adopt the final* draft of the Houston County Service Delivery Strategy and get a 120-day extension for filing, a dis cussion of surplus items, and department updates were also on the Council’s agenda. Thfe council approved the sell of 6.332 acres“of land in the Industrial Park area to Parrish Inc. for the sum of $30,000. The land was a joint ven ture with the Houston County Development Authority and both the City of Perry and the Develop ment Authority agreed to the deal. Parrish Inc. builds jail cells and school buildings. It purchased an existing building in the park to expand. According to Peny Mayor Jim Worrall, “This is great. We’re real proud to have Parrish. Existing business es build the economy faster." Passing the second read ing of an ordinance No. 99- 01 to adopt and amend cer tain sections of the Perry Code, Worrall said, “The City of Perry is ready to clean up." Hawkinsville, and Staff Sergeant. Wendy Blevins from Robins Air Force Base. According to Peny Police Officer Keith Kindle, route director, said Law Enforce ment of Georgia raised $3,000 for the Special Olympics. He added that May 19. Runners (left) race along Wash ington Street with the torch. Runners (above) head for the street with the torch. These figures and the fund bal ance at the beginning of the year is expected to give the school board a $1,035,225 surplus in the general fund area and a surplus of $25,232,055 in the debt service fund. Capital projects fund will be zero by the end of the fiscal year. Final approval of the budget is anticipated during the June 8 meeting of the school board. The changes will give the building official more authority to deal with prob lems such as unsightly yards and abandoned vehi cles. . Hugh Sharp, Public Works Superintendent, commented on several houses in the city in need of serious cleaning up. Sharp mentioned “two houses on Swift Street and the one on the comer of Pine Ridge and Crater, for examples." He cited high weeds and grass, junk and abandoned vehicles as the main problems. Worrall further said. “We are going to get aggressive about enforcing the ordi nance. We have the ordi nance and now we will come up with a plan to hire a full-time code enforcer to deal with this issue." Worrall said trash along the city streets and high way off-ramps is becoming an increasing problem as well. He asked if prisoners could be used to clean up those type areas. Sharp said the city would have to buy a new van and maintain the van, plus hire and pay the salary of a guard to watch over the prisoners. He esti mated the cost of a new van to be about $25,000 and the salaiy to be $35,000. Worrall said, “The state See CITY, Page 5A Blevins raised $2,700. Kindle, also, thanked Susan Ham, manager of the local Red Lobster, for her help in raising Special Olympic funds with “Tip a Cop." The fund-raising event made S9OO.