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Volume 129, No. 1 1 Sections 12 Pages Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2000 50 Cents Home of the Georgia National Fair I The Jr~ Crassroai lOLy This Week Calendar of Events for Perry area Jan. 5 V “Moms in Touch" informational meeting to form group to pray for schools. 7 p.m. Perry United Methodist Church. Call Tammy Pitzer at 988-8504 for more information. v Second semester begins for Houston Coun ty Public Schools. Jan. 6 V "Moms in Touch" informational meeting to form group to pray ior schools. 9 a.m. First Baptist Perry. Call Tina Collins. 987-1893, for more information. Jan. 7 - \ Dodge Coun ty basketball at Perry High School. 7 p.m. Jan. 8 V U.S. Team Roping Championship at Georgia National Fair grounds and Agricenter V Georgia Farm Credit Winter Pig Classic at Georgia National Fair grounds and Agricenter. For information, call 912/248-2236. Jan. 10 V Perry Area Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting in the Georgia Living Center. Georgia National Fair grounds. Congressman Saxby Chambliss will be the featured speaker. For more information, call 987-1234. V Georgia General Assembly convenes in Atlanta. Jan. 14 \ American Red Cross Blood Drive, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m., Westfield Schools music room. V Southeast Macon basketball at Perry High School. 7 p.m. Jan. 15-16 V Geor gia Horse Fair at Georgia Agricenter. Call (706) 542-0967 for more infor mation. Jan. 15 V Peach County basketball at Perry High School. 7 p.m. Jan. 17 V National observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Banks, schools and gov ernment offices closed. Feb. 8 V The 10th annual Wild Game Din ner at the Reaves Arena of the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricen ter. ' Call 987-0005 for tickets. To list your event for free on the Houston Home Journal calendar, call Lanorris Fleming or Charlotte Perkins at 987- 1823. Deadline for each week is noon.. Monday. Lunches for Houston County Schools set Milk is served with every meal. Breakfast fea tures fresh fruit or fruit juice: cereal and toast are a daily breakfast choice. Lunches offer a variety of fruits and vegetables (See FOOD, Page 3) i*" l Houston Contact the Home Journal Contact the Houston Home Journal: Voice (912) 987-1823 Fax (912) 988-1181 email homcjm(*hom.net Mail HO. Drawer M, Perry, 31069 Street 807 Carroll St., Perry, 31069 PAL offers thanks Letter explains actions taken by Project Agap£ Love during recent holidays. See page 4 Houston Home Journal Official Legal Organ for Houston County, the City of Perry and the State of Georgia City reaches out to annex Arthur Elementary . LStoB ALVALYN POPE Discusses Volunteer Needs Hi LEADERSHIP Tim Ward, center, will serve as superintendent of the new Perry Detention Center, to be operated by the Ga. Department of Corrections. Ward is Detention center opens soon Work crews to be available for local government projects By CHARLOTTE PERKINS Home Journal Staff The new state-operated Mcfever Deten tion Center at the intersection of Kings Chapel Road with Perry Parkway, which is nearing completion, will provide free labor to Perry and Houston County, according to Tim Ward, who has just been named superintendent of the facility. Ward, a native of Taylor County, has been named by the Georgia Department of Corrections to serve as superintendent of the Perry Detention Center. He spoke briefly at the regular meeting of the Hous ton County Commissioners Jan. 4, after being introduced by John Trussed. Chief Circuit Probation Officer. Ward said that once the detention cen ter is in operation, one 12-inmate work crew will be made available at no cost to the county and another will be available for the City of Perry. He added that the detention center will hold no “hardened criminals"and that it will probably serve a three-county area. The new facility, which is named after Dr. Virgil McEver of Warner Robins, will be turned over to the Department of Cor rections Jan. 11. Inmates should be housed in the facility a few weeks later. The Old Reliable,, Serving Houston County Since Dec. 17* 1870 The best of Ge< — Sports columnist Phil ( 99/99 recalls all the Georgia 1 GLOf,:G legends. u " ? A 6 ATHLN' See By Lanorris Fleming Home Journal Staff Annexation of a new elementary school and presentation of a plan for volunteers kept the attention of Perry City Council members during their first meeting of 2000. By a unanimous vote Jan. 4, council voted to include the 20-acre campus of Matt Arthur Elementary in the city limits. The new school, which opened with the fall semester, is located along Ga. 127 near the intersection with Moody Road. Council agreed to annex the prop erty with an R-l, single family resi dential zoning. Also annexed was an 86-acre site which will be used for the new Cagle water treatment plant. The site off Ga. 247 spur, is being zoned as M-2 Industrial. Casting the lone nay vote was Councilman Billy Jerles whose posi tion has been the same since Jan. Homt* Journal Photo by Charlotte Perkins shown with Tommy Stalnaker, (left) Director oj Public Works for Houston County and John Trussell, Chief Circuit Probation Officer for the D.O.C. According to Trussed, there will be approximately 200 inmates serving short terms for violation of probation. The inmates will work under supervision 10 hours a day on a non-paid basis, primar ily on road maintenance and clean-up details. County Commissioner Tom McMichael. who chaired the meeting in the absence of Commission Chairman J. Sherrill Stafford, said he hoped the detention cen ter would make it possible to move people out of the Houston County jail more quickly and to reduce the cost of renting space in other jails for housing inmates. In other business, the Commissioners V Voted to hire the Middle Georgia Regional Development Center to conduct .a survey of county salaries to achieve pay equity and also to ensure the county is able to compete with other employers in recruiting and retaining employees. In a memo to the Board, Director of Management Services Steve Engle said, "Several department heads have expressed concern regarding the starting salary for public safety and professional employees." See COUNTY. Page 8 1999. Jerles said, “Mr. Cagle doesn't want to pay city taxes." He added that he did not support annexing just the wastewater treat - ment site but had wanted to see the entire plant brought into the city’s tax base. The plant, built as a Pabst brew ing facility during the 19605, is located along Ga. 247 Spur. Council had anticipated annexing the com plete industrial site into the city. Cagle will open the plant soon as a chicken processing plant after spending large sums of money to refurbish the facility. Alvalyn Pope of Loaves and Fishes Ministries brought a crowd of sup porters as she pitched her point of view on Perry Volunteer Outreach. The project calls for a clearinghouse where services for those who need help can get in contact with those who can provide services. According to Pope the project wall turn Perry' into "the city that shares Domestic violence claims lives of two Perry men during holiday weekend From Staff Reports A Perry man who alleged ly shot and killed his ex wife's fiance, apparently took his own life by shooting himself in the head after after a two-hour stand-off with police. Capt. Harry Enckler of the Houston County Sher iffs office said that both the murder of Bradford Helms, 38. ofThomaston Road, and the subsequent suicide of Todd Burkette, 37, of Piperidge Drive, took place on Jan. 2 at the home of Holly Burkette of Sandefur Road. Holly Burkette and her three children, ages 4,6, and 12, were unharmed. According to Sgt Char lene Giles. Burkette and Helms returned to her home after taking her mother to the Atlanta airport, and smelled gasoline in the house. Walker: Education to be key issue during General Assembly By CHARLOTTE PERKINS Home Journax. Staff According to Rep. Walker, D-Perry. education and the environment will be the big issues for the 2000 session of the Georgia Gener al Assembly. Georgia lawmakers will officially begin their work in Atlanta Jan. 10, but Walker, who serves as the House Majority Leader, is on the job this week. In a Home Journal inter view Jan. 4. Walker said, “The big issue for 2000 is going to be education. The governor is presenting sig nificant and far-reaching educational initiatives.” He added that environ mental issues will also be major in this session. “We'U be dealing with issues ' y recipe >orsett snags WSPARER PROJECT * cipe f rom h LIPftARy 30002 See page 7 and cares.” Mayor Jim Worrall made new appointments to Perry City Council committees. Phyllis Bynum-Graee. Ralph Gentry and Charles Lewis were appointed to Code Enforce ment. Charles Lewis, Ralph Gentry and Phyllis Bynum-Grace to Light ing Requirements including Christ mas lights, Billy Jerles, James Moore and Bobby Glover to Court house Renovation. Others named were James Moore, Billy Jerles and Bobby Glover to Downtown Survival, Bobby Glover, James Moore and Charles Lewis to Future Infra-Structure Needs and Ralph Gentry, Billy Jerles and Phyl lis Bynum-Grace to Economic Devel opment and Property Tax Payment Methods. Council Liaison appointments were also made. Downtown Develop ment - James Moore, Fairgrounds See CITY, Page 2 such as clean water, clean air and urban sprawl, “Walker said. “Were the fourth fastest growing state in the country now. Our problems used to be lack of progress. Now our biggest problems are related to progress." Walker said that he has three local concerns: the Warner Robins expansion of Macon State College; the development of a state park in this area, and some fine tuning of House Bill 489. “Houston County lias the largest population of any county in the state without a college," Walker said. “We plan to talk with the Board of Regents about that." He also hopes to locate land in the Houston County area for a state park with recreational offerings, and to provide “some mecha nism" to settle disputes between cities and counties in developing planning strategies under the terms of House Bill 489. Walker Investigators have deter mined that Todd Burkette had poured the gasoline around the house. A five gallon gasoline can was later found in the house. This reportedly led to an argument between Burkette and Helms, which resulted in Burkette’s fatally shoot ing Helms in the chest. The children ran to the home of a neighbor while Holly Burkette pulled Helms to safety. A neighbor called 911 for help. According to Capt. Enck ler, when officers arrived on the scene, Burkette retreat ed into the house, and police spent more than two hours trying to get him to surrender. Finally, when he failed to come out after tear gas was used, deputies entered the home and found him lying on the floor. He had shot himself in the right temple.