Newspaper Page Text
New agreement eases transition for military students
By Luci Joullian
Staff Writer
Robins Air Force Base and The Houston County Board of
Education recently adopted a memorandum of agreement designed
to facilitate military children’s transition into public schools.
Colonel Bonnie Cirrincione, 78th Air Base Wing Commander; Dr.
Charles Holloway, Houston County Superintendent of Schools; and
Gillis “Skip” Dawkins, Houston County Board of Education
Chairman signed the document during a ceremony held Monday at
the RAFB Officers’ Club.
Since many children of military personnel experience public
school only on the high school level, the agreement is primarily
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Volume 131, Number 100 December 12, 2002 Three Sections • 34 Pages
THURSOAY
I Local Weather I
60/43 / * i
12/12
Sunshine along with some passing
clouds. High around 6QF.
r ‘ 59/40 /
12/13 **
Chance of showers. Highs in the
upper 50s and lows in the low 40s.
61/30 / Ci
12/14
Mostly cloudy. Highs in the low
60s and lows in the low 30s.
Su " 57/31 //<%
12/15 A
Partial sunshine. Highs in the up
per 50s and lows in the low 30s.
JtUJ 60/31
Times of sun and clouds. Highs in
the low 60s and lows in the low
30s.
Softball
fields cut
mmmmr- 1
Due to state budget cuts, the
Houston Board of Education
has announced the proposed
plans for the improvements of
softball fields for the four high
schools has been put on hold.
For more on this story, see B 1
Inside
OPINION PG.4A
CLASSIFIED ...PG.BC
LEGALS PG. 5B
COMICS PG. 7C
LIFESTYLE ... .PG. 1C
NEWS BRIEFS . .PG. 2A
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Photo by Judy Hall
The crew from Perry Library wants to make sure Santa remembers good books make great
gifts for boys and girls and adults, too. Library Director Judy Golden (left) watches as Santa
reads a book to Children’s Librarian Sandra French as Susan Halvedel looks over his shoulder.
Board of Education sets new school zones
By Charlotte Perkins
Staff Writer
The Houston County Board of
Education approved new ele
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Photo by Charlotte Perkins
Standing, during the discussion before the vote, on school zon
ing, are board members Karen Mertens and Fred Wilson.
Seated in foreground: Shirley Lowery and Pam Greenway.
mentary school zoning lines for
the mid-county area on
Tuesday, agreeing on a map
which will determine whether
children attend Quail Run
Elementary, Lake Joy
Elementary, Perdue Elementary
or Perdue Primary School.
However, regardless of the
map’s lines, some parents will
have the option of keeping their
children in the schools they now
attend. It has already been
determined that fifth graders
would have the option of staying
in schools they are now attend
ing.
The vote on Tuesday, follow-
aimed toward secondary education. Dawkins hopes the agreement
will help “provide a smooth transition and reduce some of the pres
sure that military children feel coming into public school, especial
ly high school.”
A recent study shows that there are approximately 175,000 sec
ondary school-aged students of military personnel and that the
average military-connected student changes school more than two
times during their high school years.
This study - the Army’s Secondary Education Transition Study
(SETS), performed in 2001 by the Military Child Education
Coalition (MCEC), inspired the idea for the memorandum of agree
ment, which has been signed by more than 100 school systems.
Houston County’s Legal Organ Since 1870”
ing a motion by Pam Greenway,
will provide an option for chil
dren living in the Mill Pond or
Red Fox Run housing areas.
Officer not indicted by Grand Jury
From Staff Reports
A Houston County Grand Jury declined Tuesday to indict a
Centerville police officer in relation to an incident that led to his
being charged with aggravated assault.
The charges stemmed from an October incident during which
Officer Michael Smith, 26, of 303 Mauk Circle was alleged to have
struck a male subject Smith found with his girlfriend with an ASP
baton, then threatened him with a gun.
Earlier, another Centerville Officer, Daryl Bittick had charges
dropped that alleged he coached the victim about what to tell
deputies regarding the incident.
Smith had been placed on administrative leave pending an
investigation.
Centerville Police Chief Mike Sullivan was not available for
comment Wednesday morning.
Visit us on the web at www.hoystonhomeiournal.com
Parents of those children, who
are now attending Quail Run
School but have been rezoned
into the 1 new Lake Joy school,
may keep their children in
Quail Run if they choose at
least until the completion of the
Russell Parkway Extension,
which will provide a new “natu
ral” boundary line.
Parents living in the Mill
Pond subdivision and Red Fox
Run trailer park had com
plained about the greater dis
tance from their homes to the
Lake Joy school, which is cur
rently under construction and is
expected to be open in the fall of
2003.
The second new school under
construction Perdue Primary
is being constructed adjacent
to Perdue Elementary and will
have the same zoning as that
school under the new map.
See BOE on Page 128
Cirrincione says that the program is currently primarily an Army
program and that RAFB is one of the first Air Force bases in the
U.S. to sign the agreement.
Dawkins notes the importance of these predecessors. He says
that Houston County and RAFB “won’t try to reinvent the wheel,”
but will learn from the school systems and bases that have previ
ously signed the agreement by taking note of programs they have
implemented.
Some of the objectives of the agreement include easing students’
first two weeks of transition into a new school and promoting mil-
See RAFB on Page 128
Raffield murder
trial under way
By Charlotte Perkins
Staff Writer
One cold and drizzly night
last January, two young men
from Warner Robins started out
having a night
of fun, and
wound up in the
wrong place at
the wrong time.
Some would
also say that
Jason Mills and
his lifelong
friend, Jamie
Raffield, went
to 212 Tabor
Drive for the
wrong reason,
but the mari
juana purchase
Raffield report
edly carried out
in the “war
zone” parking
lot of the Oak
Terrace apart
ment complex
turned out to be
a minor matter
compared to the
tragedy that
was to follow.
Mills, who
testified
Tuesday in the
The trial at a
glance
The crime: The murder by
shooting of Jamie Raffield of
Warner Robins. Raffield, who had
just been accepted to culinary
school, was 22 at the time of his
death.
The accused: Michael Tyrone
Roberts, 22, originally from Miami,
most recent address believed to
be 212 Tabor Drive, Warner
Robins. >
The charges: murder, felony
murder, aggravated assault, crimi
nal attempt to rob.
Time and place of crime:
About 3 a.m., Jan. 18, 2002, at the
Oaks Terrace apartment complex
on Tabor Drive.
Prosecutors: Houston County
District Attorney Kelly Burke;
Assistant D.A. Jason Ashford.
Defense attorney: Jeff Grube of
Warner Robins.
Presiding: Superior Court
Judge George Nunn.
murder trial of Michael Tyrone
Roberts, said that he was driv
ing his mother’s car that night,
and that after a trip to Macon,
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9H. M
Photo by Judy Hall
Holiday Music!
Jillian Trask and her friends sing and make music for nursing
home residents at Christmastime.
at about 3 a.m.,Raffield asked
him to go to the Tabor Drive
address.
According to Mills, Raffield
bought two packets of marijua-
na from
Ken Shaun
Taylor, and,
before leav
ing, agreed
to give an
apparent
acquain
tance, Kenny
Womack, a
ride to a
nearby con
veni e n c e
store, where
Womack
bought beer,
and Raffield
bought a
“blunt”, a
cigar to be
cut and used
for smoking
marijuana.
The sub
dued and
softspoken
Mills told the
court under
questioning
on Tuesday,
that when
they returned to Oak Terrace to
let Womack out, several people
See RAFFIELD on page 5A