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Award-Winning Better Newspaper Contests >gS^ Volume 131. Number 101 TUESDAY, 1 p^calTveathie^ UG 59/40 / jjrf» Partly cloudy skies in the morning will give way to cloudy skies during the. Wod 58/46 /N* 12/18 Overcast. Highs in the upper 50s and lows in the mid 40s. Thu 64/49 Z~V,, 12/19 Cloudy. Highs in the mid 60s and lows in the upper 40s, Perry Parade 2002 “*§s& l^K-, • "“■ ,i |fe'„ <s» fc Alvalyn Pope, Grand Marshal of the 2002 Perry Christmas Parade, waves to'the crowd. Hundreds of people lined the streets of Perry Thursday evening for a nighttime Christmas parade. Float winners included: lst-New Life, 2nd-First Baptist Church Hayneville for church groups; 1 st-Cystic Fibrosis, 2nd-Exchange Club of Perry for clubs; lst-Perry Head Start, 2nd- Morningside Elementary School for schools; Ist- ALLTEL, 2nd-Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter for industry and business. See more on Page 9A Inside OPINION PG.4A CLASSIFIED ...PG.6B COMICS PG. 5B BUSINESS PG. 6A NEWS BRIEFS . .PG. 2A HIM 8 1in 55108 00001* 4 Periodical + 3-Dieit .306 Georeia Newsoaoer Project Main Librarv Jeamoie Ledford Main Librarv Uga Athens Ga 30602 (7ft i C?( fflk Ajmmi V ' PmMmrJLMM j -.mSf * i Yamr | VyggL M I & > ;£&& * i ?it 7- S ®S| Ww9Sr 1 v- ns‘ w -* ?' Photo by Charlotte Perkins Santa Claus was honored by the Centerville Fire Department Saturday night for 20 years of appearances at the depart ment's annual Christmas party. The plaque was presented by Shannon Sharpless to u Santa’s Helper * retired firefighter Terrf Stafford. f 1 .’ Roberts found gutty ol RaffieM shooting By Charlotte Perkins Staff Writer A Houston County Jury took about two hours to make a decision on Thursday, convicting Michael Tyrone Roberts on two counts of felony murder, attempted armed robbery and aggravat ed assault. Superior Court Judge George Nunn sentenced the 22-year-old Miami native to life in prison, in accordance with Georgia law for a murder con viction. Roberts was charged with the Jan. 18, 2002, shooting death of a young Warner Robins man, Jamie Raffield. According to witnesses at the trial, Raffield, who was in a car driven by Jason Mills, also of Warner Robins, had purchased $lO of marijuana from Kenshaun Taylor in the Oak Terrace apartment parking lot, and reportedly had a large roll of cash, which the drug-seller saw. Raffield and Mills left the parking lot with a passenger, Kenny “Blackbird” Womack, bound for a local convenience store, and then returned to let Womack out. At that point, as he was talk ing to Taylor through the partially-open window of the car, Raffield was shot. Testimony indicated that Taylor and Roberts had discussed taking Raffield’s money. However, Taylor said that his only plan was to “snatch” the money and run. The prosecution’s con Higuera speaks to entire community W j igjf w t w fcwf •v. TntWßWHr* Photo by Luci Joulllan Yessica Higuera and John Sillers of Houston County Habitat for Humanity. “Houston County's Legal Organ Since 1870” \ isil ns on Hie web at www.hiHistonlurniejournal.eom Detcinlu i 17, 2002 Bands to play at Bowls From Staff Reports The New Year will start out with plenty of excitement for some Houston County young peo ple, as two local high school bands play during halftime for college football bowl games. Perry High School’s “Pride of the Crossroads” Marching Band will play for the Orange Bowl in Miami, and Houston County High’s “Black and Silver Brigade” will perform at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, dur ing the halftime of a game between the University of Georgia Bulldogs and Florida State University. The band members have been working hard since last spring to raise funds for their trips. About 170 members of the HCHS band will be taking the trip to New Orleans, according to Wally Shaw, band director. Shaw said that the students were very excited about the Georgia Bulldogs’ Dec. 7 win over Arkansas, which meant that the Bulldogs would go to the Sugar Bowl. By Luci Joullian Staff Writer Dr. David Harvey, a Warner Robins pediatrician, was pre sented with a Lifetime Service Award Thursday evening dur ing a meeting of the Phoenix tention was that Roberts became “impatient,” pulled a loaded gun out of Taylor’s back pocket and shot Raffield in the shoulder. • Despite the violence of the crime, no money was taken. Mills, who was driving the car, drove off immediately to get his friend to the hospital. Raffield, who was 22, died a few hours later of injuries to his heart and lung from multiple frag ments of a hollow bullet. According to Burke, “Eyewitnesses at the scene and statements given by the two perpetra tors led to the arrest of both Michael Roberts and Kenshaun Taylor.” Taylor’s trial in September resulted in a mis trial, because jurors could not reach an agree ment on his guilt or innocence. He pled guilty last week to lesser charges of attempted robbery, possession of marijuana with intent to distrib ute, and possession of a firearm during a crime. Taylor was sentenced to 20 years, and must serve at least ten years in prison. Det. Chris Rooks of the Warner Robins Police Department was the lead detective in the case. Detectives Scott McSwain and David Rice also played key roles in the investigation. The defendant was represented by Jeff Grube of Warner Robins, who contended that it was Kenshaun Taylor, not Roberts, who actually pulled the trigger. No weapon was ever found in the case, but See RAFFIELD on Page 8A By Luci Joullian Staff Writer Yessica Higuera is making a difference in her community, although it’s only been her home for little more than a year. Originally from Mexico, Higuera moved to Warner Robins with her husband, Philippe, who is in the military. “I had my work, my family, my friends in Mexico; everything changed when I met him,” says Higuera of her husband. Higuera didn’t let the move dis courage her, though, and, upon her arrival in America, immedi ately started taking English classes at Middle Georgia Tech. Through her involvement in a student speech competition, she met John J. Sillers, executive Harvey receives Lifetime award Houston County High’s 250- member band had been chosen last spring to march in the Orange Bowl Parade. Shaw said that band members had a major disappointment when the parade was canceled just a week after the invitation was received. However, they subsequently received the invitation to play at the Sugar Bowl, and having Georgia play in the Sugar Bowl has made the whole experience more exciting. The Black and Silver Brigade will play during pre-game cere monies as well as at halftime. Shaw said that they are already rehearsing for the program, which will include a medley of patriotic songs before the game, and a tribute to the Louisiana heritage at half time. For the Louisiana tribute, which will include the “La Marseillaise” (the French national anthem), “Hello Dolly,” “Old Man River” and other tunes, the band will join 20 other high schools bands, the Red Coat Band and the Marching Chiefs. Perry High School’s Pride of Community Service Board at the Phoenix Center campus on Highway 96. Houston County Board of Commissioners Chairman Ned Sanders presented the award to a surprised Dr. Harvey whose wife Charlotte looked on. The award was presented to recognize Harvey’s 30 cumula tive years of volunteer service |h Photo by Luci Joullian Dr. David Harvey, right, receives a Lifetime Service Award from Commissioner Ned Sanders. director of the Houston County affiliate of Habitat for Humanity (HFH). Habitat for Humanity International is a nonprofit, nondenominational Christian housing organization, which builds affordable housing for those in need. Through his friendship with Higuera, Sillers saw a special opportunity for the bilingual woman to utilize an untapped resource in the community. Says Higuera, “my position here is to help Hispanic people. Here in Houston County we have built 22 houses, but only one has an Hispanic owner.” Sillers and Higuera also per form Hispanic outreach in affili ation with the Peach and Bibb County chapters of Habitat. Two Sections • 24 Pajjcs the Crossroads Marching Band was chosen in March 2002 to play in the Orange Bowl at halftime. They will be playing, along with fourteen other bands. All the bands will accompany four celebrity acts including Shaggy, She Daisy, Default and the Latin Grammy winners, Jaunes, Olga and Tanon. Perry’s band was asked to sub mit a tape because of their excel lent reputation and past perform ances says Band Director Kenyon Carter. Perry’s band has per formed at a Chicago Christmas Parade and was featured in the movie, “Remember the Titans.” About 75 members of the 120- member band will be making the trip which is costing about $50,000 for transportation, hotel and food costs. Each band mem ber making the trip was required to raise about S7OO through a variety of fund raisers. Band members and those accompanying them will leave on December 30 and return on January 3 from Miami and the Orange Bowl. to Houston County as chair of the Board of Health and chair of the Phoenix Community Service Board, which oversees public mental health services for Houston, Crawford and Peach counties. Harvey also served as chief of staff for the Warner Robins Medical Center from 2000 to 2002. Through her volunteer public relations position, which she has held for two months, she aims “to invite the Hispanic people to participate in nonprof it work.” Last week, Houston County HFH celebrated the dedication of a new house in Warner Robins, built for a single mother with four children. It is plan ning a building project for mid- January for a couple with four children. The Houston branch, which has been in existence for 11 years, has already plotted out its goals for the next few years. It plans to organize the building of four houses next year and five houses in 2004. Higuera empha sizes the need for publicizing See HABITAT on Page BA