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Start the Holiday with a
Shopping Spree with your
local downtown
merchants.
See Page 2A
Christmas Eve
Sunday, December 24
• 6 p.m. Christmas Eve ser
vice, First Baptist Church,
1105 Main St.
•6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.:
Candlelight Communion Ser
vice at First Christian Church,
2100 Macon Rd.
•7 p.m. Christmas Eve
Candlelight Communion Ser
vice and Wassail Bowl Fellow
ship at Andrew United Meth
odist Church, 2430 Highway
124, Kathleen. Call 987-7934
for more information.
9:45 am: Festival of Lessons
and Carols and Eucharist, St.
Christopher’s Episcopal
Church, 1207 Macon Road,
Perry.
11:30 pm. Midnight Mass,
St. Christopher’s Episcopal
Churchy 1207 Macon Road,
Perry.
5:30 p.m. - Children’s Mass
at St. Patrick’s Catholic
Church, 1241 St. Patrick’s
Drive, Perry
Midnight Mass at St.
Juliana’s Catholic Church in
Fort Valley.
Christmas Day
Monday, December 25
11 a.m. - Christmas morn
ing mass at St. Patrick’s
Catholic Church, 1241 St.
Patrick’s Dr., Perry
• • •
•Holiday Homes: Some
homes to drive by and enjoy:
Lots of lights at the homes of
Susie Rutledge, 715 Mason
Terrace Rd., Apt. 16, and
Chris and judy Stephens, 205
Hwy. 41 Circle, and Lula Mae
Vance, 1108 Creekwood
Drive; traditional Christmas
decor at the home of Mayor
Jim Worrall and his wife,
Frances, 1418 Park Avenue,
and the home of Mr. and Mrs.
Remo Bertolini, 1525 Holland
Rd.
A beautiful display of lights
surrounds the fish pond at the
country home of Kelly Ham
mock, two miles east of the
Georgia National Fairgrounds
on Larry Walker Parkway.
•Free Farriily fun. Fri
day and Saturday nights
through Christmas. Stop by
to see the real live Santa and
the dazzling Christmas light
display at 13|6 Smoak Av
enue,.
Drive by tjie home of
Rock and Julie Young, 157
Sandefur Rd. off Houston
Lake Road, on Thursday,
Friday and Saturday to see
Santa, a manger scene,
Charlie Brown Christmas
tree and lots of lights.
Candy canes given away.
• • •
Index
OPINION.. PAGE4A
CLASSIFIED... PAGE 128
LIFESTYLES.... PAGE 1B
SPORTS PAGEIOA
LEGALS... PAGE 7B
NEWS BRIEFS..PAGE 2A
2001: The year for
reapportionment
By Charlotte Perkins
Staff Writer
Every ten years, following the U.S.
Census, Georgia’s lawmakers face
reapportionment - a process de
signed to adjust district lines and
keep citizens’ representation ap
proximately equal in the U.S. Con
gress and the Georgia House and
Senate.
On the one hand it’s a painstak
ing and detailed process that in
volves number crunching and street
maps, census counts of voting-aged
population and computerized fine
tuning, so that each voting district
meets numerical population require
ments.
On the other hand, redistricting
is a highly politicized process can
make or break political careers,
boost the chances of one party over
another, create new opportunities
for minority candidates, put incum
bents at risk and lead to legal wran
gling over oddly-shaped, or “gerry
mandered” districts.
Rep. Larry Walker (D-Perry), who
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I i Photo by Lanorris Askew
This woman, who was later charged with tiui, takes a beathalyzer
test. /,
Road check dabs 21
By Lanorris Askew
Staff Writer
WARNER ROBINS lt was a
dark and rainy night, traffic was
backed up at the intersection of
Russell Parkway and Grant
Street.
Blue lights flashed as impatient
drivers waited to see what was
going on.
No, this is not the beginning of
a mystery novel. This was the
scene on the evening of December
Bas police officers from 11 differ
ent law enforcement agencies set
up a driving check point in con
tinuation of “Operation Zero Tol
erance.”
According to Ricky Rich, Law
Enforcement Coordinator with
the Governor’s Office of Highway
Safety, this month is 3-D(Drunk
and Drugged Driving) month.
Houston County’s check point
which utilized the county’s new
BATmobile(Blood Alcohol Test
ing) was a part of a national so
briety campaign aimed at not only
stopping drunk and drugged driv
ers but at educating others.
“Check points are being set up
around the nation this weekend,”
said Rich.
“Operation Zero Tolerance” is
a 15-month campaign begun in
Holiday schedules
From Staff Reports
The City of Perry offices will
be closed beginning at noon Dec.
22 and will reopen Dec. 26.
Houston County offices will be
closed Dec. 25 and 26. Also closed
those two days will be the City
of Centerville and City of Warner
Robins offices.
City of Perry garbage pickup
Christmas schedule runs as follows:
M*ru Chiitmai
Houston County’s Legal Organ Since 1870
1 I VwmK i ’l, .HHH I
has been through the process three
times, calls it “hand to hand com
bat” - and says of this year’s reap
portionment session, “It won’t be
pleasant.”
Reapportionment for the new
decade is likely to be decided in a
special session - either in the spring
or summer- Walker said. ,
On the positive side, he noted
that because of population growth
Geqrgia will have more represen
tation in the U.S. House of Repre
sentatives - going from 11 districts
to 13.
However, because the population
growth has been heavily in the At
lanta metropolitan area, south
Georgia could lose a district while
north Georgia gains.
At stake for Houston Qounty are
the boundary lines for House Dis
tricts 141 (Larry Walker, D-
Perryjand 139 (Pam Bphannon, R-
Wamer Robins); Senate Districtlß
(Sonny Perdue, R-Bpnaire); and
the Eighth Congressional District
(Saxby Chambliss, R-GA.)
July of this year intended to curb
the number of drunk drivers and
other offenders on Georgia’s
highways.
“We are trying to make sure
that the good safe drivers get
home safely,” said Warner Rob
ins Police Capt. Charles Capps.
More than 30 officers from
agencies around the Mid-state
area came out to help with the
check point.
“Working with these other
agencies builds camaraderie
among us,” said Capps. “This is
the first time that I have worked
with a lot of these guys.”
he went on to state that the
teaming up of the officers also
helps to compensate for certain
lacks,
“We may be out in one of their
counties next week helping them
with this campaign.”
According to the Warner Rob
ins Police Department by night’s
end the effort had cited 86 driv
ers with 21 arrests. Among the
arrests were nine DUl’s, six sus
pended licenses, four possessions
of controlled substances and two
for the underaged consumption
of alcohol.
Friday was only the secpnd
Continued on Page 2A
• Dec. 25 will be picked up on
Dec. 26
• Dec. 26 will be picked upon
Dec. 27
• Dec. 28 will be picked up
that actual day
Extra trash and bulk waste
will be picked up on the same
day as toter pickup. Place bags,
boxes and bulk waste by the
curb five feet away from toter.
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Photo by Charlotte Perkins
Ready for Santa - Noah Lambert, 3, hangs his Christmas stocking. Noah is the son of Phil and
Richelle Lambert, and the grandson of Lynward and Debbie Barrett, all of Perry.
Solar eclipse due December 25
By Lanorris Askew
Staff Writer
As we celebrate the last Christ
mas of the 2nd millennium,
North America will get a very
special treat.
For the first time since 1954
and the last time until 2307,
there will be a partial eclipse of
the sun.
A solar eclipse occurs when the
moon moves between the Earth
and sun.
Since the moon is much
smaller than the Earth, the
shadow that is cast only covers
part of the daylight side of our
planet. Anyone within that
shadow can see part of the sun’s
surface blocked from view.
According to the Macon Mu
seum of Arts and Sciences, the
celestial gift will take begin at
11:00 a.m and reach is peak at
12:25 p.m.
5 charged
in thefts
From Staff Reports
Five people have been charged
with theft by taking after alleg
edly taking about $23,000 worth
of items from the Perry Kmart
without paying for the merchan
dise during multiple incidents
spanning several weeks.
As of Tuesday, police declined
to disclose how the group took
the merchandise.
Charged the thefts are
Sonja Jean Thornton, 34, 121
Joshua St., Perry; Syyifah
Sharell Hooks, 17, Rt. 1,
Pineview; Toccara Latrecia Tate,
18, 704 6th St., Hawkinsville;
Conswalla Shemika Billings, 21,
525 Bill St., Perry and Travinski
Perez Hill, 204 Valley Drive, Fort
Valley.
“Our detectives did an excel
lent job on this case,” said Chief
George Potter. •
The museum invites the public
to view the eclipse at the obser
vatory from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m.
If the sky is clear, a telescope
Tempers flare over reo proposal
By Lanorris Askew
Staff Writer
The proposal to combine the
two local youth softball and base
ball programs was brought before
city council at the December 19
work session.
The proposal, which was ini
tially drafted by the Perry Recre
ation Commission and The Perry
Junior League boards, was
brought forth by chairman of the
C ; ■ a ■
Photo by Emllv Johnstone
Leaders of tomorrow
The Leadership Perry Class for2ool was honored with a reception
last week. The class, held annually, is sponsored by the Perry Area
Chamber of Commerce and includes itineraries such as day-long
visits to various governmental agencies, Robins Air Force Base
and a retreat Attending the reception were: Kenna Scragg, Parrish
Georgia; Felicia Mackey, MGTC;Kerry Lineberger, Weyerhauser;
Bob Lawson, Daniel, Lawson, Tuggle and Jeries; Siobhan Beasley,
Bank of Perry; Mary Ann Bowers, Bank of Perry; Joe Burrough,
Weyerhauser; Bob Irwin, Georgia National Fairgrounds and
Agricenter, Lorie Hamby, Flint Energies; Police Chief George
Potter, City of Perry. Not pictured: Roberta Lasater, Coldwell
Banker; Barbara Meads, ALLTEL; Julie Neece, RFCU; Corey
Lumpkin, GNFA; Dallas Smith, Parrish Georgia.
Vitm- Mviious, >8 Pages |
with a special filter will be avail
able to see part of the sun disap
pear.
Continued on Page 7A
recreation commission, Danny
Redmond. The proposal, which
would combine both the Perry
Junior League and he City of
Perry Recreation Department
softball and baseball programs,
and would call for a 15 member
board to govern that, was met
with opposition from several
community members and some
Continued on Page 7A
500