Newspaper Page Text
Award-Winning
Better Newspaper
Contests
\ oitimc 132, Number 2
THURSDAY
Local Weather
S“ 65raa 4^
Renty of sun. Higtfis in the mid 60s
and lows in the upper 30s.
1/10 A —**
Times of sun and clouds. Highs in
the low 60s and lows in the low
30s.
Sat 56/29 £%
1/11
Partial sunshine. Highs in the mid
50s and lows in the upper 20s.
Sun 54/30 jLi
1/12 ■
Considerable doudiness. Highs in
the mid 50s and lows in the low
30s.
Mon 55H/-34
1/13 W
Occasional showers. Highs in the
mid 50s and lows in the mid 30s.
Gambill loins stall
—■
Rex Gambill
Daniel F. Evans, President
of Evans Newspapers, Inc.
announced he has hired Rex
Gambill to take over the
duties of managing editor of
The Houston Home Journal.
As managing editor, Gambill
will head up all news and edi
torial operations for The
Houston Home Journal and
publications produced by The
Journal.
Gambill, a native of Warner
Robins, was previously
Houston & Peach bureau chief
for The Macon Telegraph. As
bureau chief, he was responsi
ble for The Telegraph’s news
coverage in Houston, Peach,
Pulaski and Dooly counties.
See GAMBILL on Page 5A
Inside
OPINION PG.4A
CLASSIFIED ...PG.7C
LEGALS PG. 4B
COMICS .......PG. 6C
LIFESTYLE ... .PG. 1C
NEWS BRIEFS . .PG. 2A
PM
8 55108 000014
Periodical
tiiliifiaiifiiilfiaiiilillafnl
+
3-Digit 306
Georgia Newspaper Project Main Library
Jeannie Ledford
Main library Uga
Athens Ga 30602
(Tf* If |(
mt pur mu
Journal to go daily
Daniel F. Evans, President of
Evans Newspapers Inc., has
announced The Houston Home
Journal, Houston County’s 132-
year-old legal organ, will begin
publishing five editions a week
beginning Feb. 3.
Evans, a long-time entre
prenuer in the newspaper busi
ness, said the paper will be pub
lished Monday through Friday.
At present, The Houston
Home Journal is published
twice a week, on Tuesdays and
Thursdays.
Evans has a long relationship
with The Journal.
In 1994, he combined his
weekly, The Perry Times, with
The Houston Home Journal to
walker and Coleman
down to the wire
By Charlotte Perkins
Staff Writer
Rep. Larry Walker is in the
political fight of his life, and
one thing,is clear.
Whichever way things go
Monday morning when the
Georgia House *•§{*-
Representatives chooses a SW
cessor to former speaker Top
Murphy, Walker will he
relieved- just to havtejte*
behind-the-scenes political
maneuvering at an end.
The vote for a new speaker
of the House will be held just
after 10 a.m. on the opening
day of Georgia’s 2003 General
Assembly.
Walker, a lifelong Perryan,
and Coleman, who is from
Eastman, are both Democrats.
Coleman has the nomination of
the Democratic caucus and
Walker, in alliance with
Republican governor-elect
Jail delays costing
SIOO.OOO per month
By Charlotte Perkins
Staff Writer
The dedication of the
Houston County Judicial
Complex has been held and the
new courthouse is fully occu-
pied, but
the punch
list of
items still
to be com
pleted or
corrected
at the new
jail goes on
for 12
pages:
“Two
wall cracks j
noted in
hallway...”
“J-14
toilet con
tinuously
runs...”
“Shower
floor is
delaminat
ing...”
The indi
vid u a 1
gjfflg J . jftg&BL CJi .
items may seem minor, but the
cost to the taxpayers of
Houston County is major. Not
having the new jail open means
that the county is continuing to
pay Dooly County and other
counties room and board for up
to 200 inmates a month, send
ing up to SIOO,OOO per month
out of the county.
Sheriff Cullen Talton, who
has been waiting for years for
the new facility, said Tuesday
that he’s been promised that
the work will be finished by
“Houston County’s Legal Organ Since 1870”
create The Houston Times-
Journal.
Newspaper businessman Bob
Tribble later purchased Evans’
shares and took over operation
of The Houston Times-Journal.
In 1999, Evans began publi
cation of the weekly The Town
Crier.
One year later, he purchased
The Journal from Tribble and
dropped publication of The
Town Crier.
Since then, the newspaper
has expanded its coverage,
reaching into all parts of the
county to provide quality com
munity news.
Last year, the publication
began pubishing twice a week,
Sonny Perdue, is attempting to
build a bipartisan coalition of
support. To capture the speak
er’s gavel, Walker must com
bine a block vote of the
Republican minority with at
least 19 Democrats.
* “It’s going pretty good,”
Walker said earlier this week
from his office in Atlanta, “but
it’s not a done deal.”
a Walker said on Sunday that
he had “some 15 or 16 written
commitments,”] from
Democratic representatives to
go v#ith the 7j2 Republicans
already in his damp, and that
the “scrambling” for votes is
continuing.
“I’ll be so glad when it’s
over,” Walker said.
He has described the battle
as an “emotional rollercoast
er,” but also recently told a
See WALKER on Page 5A
Jan. 16, which is the date that
Commissioner Larry Thomson,
Public Works Director Tommy
Stalnaker and other expect to
meet with Turner Construction
to go over the punch list one
Sheriff Cullen Talton
tial completion.
According to county admin
istrator Steve Engle, the county
commissioners budgeted
$450,000 for boarding inmates
outside of the county, and
wound up spending $620,000,
coming in $170,000 over budg
et.
Mark Alles, the project man
ager for Turner Construction,
said on Monday that his compa
ny received a certificate of sub-
See DELAY on Page 54
Visit us on the well at www.lioiistonhoineioiirnal.com
January 9, 2003
on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
“I look forward to carrying on
the tradition of fine newspaper
coverage the Evans family has
been offering the citizens of
Houston County for decades,”
said Evans.
“We welcome our readers to
share their news with us as we
bring comprehensive, interest
ing, and provocative coverage to
this area,” he added.
Here’s what folks around
Houston County said about
the decision:
“I think it’s fantastic! I think
the community as a whole is
growing fast enough to warrant
a daily newspaper. It gives us
the opportunity to keep the
public better informed and pro
vide a needed service to the
community.”
f: m whk; liSSJill
Photo by Charlotte Perkins
Houston Lake has been lowered by approximately three feet since Jan. 1 to give home and prop
erty owners a chance to do maintenance work on their docks. The procedure has exposed the
banks of the lake to the winter weather, and is also expected to reduce the growth of algae.
According to County Public Works Director Tommy Stalnaker, the man-made lake will be returned
to its normal level by Jan. 21.
Recreation commission:
County should help pay
more time
and make
sure that
everything is
competed
and correct
ed before
turning over
the final pay
ment to the
construction
management
firm.
The cost
of housing
prisoners in
outside facil
ities sky
rocketed last
year, even as
the new
143,850-
square-foot
jail was near
ing substan-
By Emily Johnstone
News Editor
While they might not have agreed on every
thing Tuesday night, members of the Perry
Recreation Commission and most of the city
council did agree to seek Houston County’s help
in funding recreation and to begin a search for a
new director for Perry’s recreation program.
For the past six months, members of the recre
ation commission, at the request of city council,
have been meeting and discussing ideas to
improve recreation.
Tuesday night, PRC member Daryl Albritton
told the council that hiring a new director is at
the top of their list of recommendations.
“We need a leader to give us direction and help
us fine-tune the program,” he said.
Albritton said past directors never seemed to
take an active part in the administrative role of
seeking grant monies or other avenues of funding
to help ease the growing cost of providing recre
ation.
Since Houston County dropped their financial
assistance in the 1990 s to help municipalities
with recreation funding, the City of Perry has
struggled to provide the service, according to city
officials.
“The county a few years ago pretty much
dropped the rec ball on the City,” said long-time
PRC member Danny Redmond.
Redmond, along with his peers, said it may be
Perry Mayor Jim Worrall
“I think it is great because
we’ll have a local paper that’s
going to focus on local news.
With the ownership and staff of
The Houston Home Journal, I
don’t see anything but good
things happening for the
paper.”
Tommy Stalnaker
Houston County Director of
Public Works
“More power to you!”
Houston County Commission
Vice-Chair Larry Thomson
“I think it’s fantastic. It will
mean more coverage for the
north end of the county.”
Houston County
Commissioner Tom McMichael
time to meet with county commissioners and try
to persuade them to once again offer financial
assistance to the recreation program.
City council member James Moore said, “We
have sat down with county commissioners in the
past and they turned us down.”
However, he said there is a new group in now
and it “couldn’t hurt to try again.”
Recreation Commission member Dr. Brian
Burnham said he wonders if county residents
who use city recreation programs understand
their fees are higher because the county govern
ment does not contribute to city recreation.
“We just assume we have just as much right to
come in and enjoy Perry recreation,” he said.
However, Councilman Billy Jerles said he is
concerned that if recreation monies come from
county taxes, that would mean Perry residents
would be paying twice once through city taxes,
once through their county property tax bills.
Jerles has voiced support of privatization of
the recreation department in the past.
However, recreation commission members said
they do not feel comfortable with going that
route.
And Councilwoman Phyllis Bynum-Grace said
she opposes any type of privatization of the recre
ation because it would “not benefit everyone.”
Wednesday morning, Perry City Manager Lee
See RECREATION on Page 94
SK
I hrec Sections • 30 Pages
“I am delighted to hear that.
I’ve really come to enjoy your
paper. It’s a very high-quality
paper with a mission to bring
local news to the people of
Houston County, and it’s much
needed.”
Rep. Larry O’Neal
“That’s super! I just hope that
The Home Journal will contin
ue the same level of detailed
reporting and continue to give
the whole scope of stories.”
Solicitor General Rob Tawse
“1 just heard that about 20
minutes ago. Speculation has
been rampant as to the future of
media coverage. I think it will
generate a lot of public interest
and public involvement.”
See DAILY on Page SA