Newspaper Page Text
THURSDAY
September 25,2003
Volume 134, Number 175
Award-Winning
Newspaper
2003
Better Newspaper
Contest
INSIDE TODAY
Westfield wins
softbaH title
Westfield and Deerfield-
Windsor’s fast-pitch
teams share a burden
each would rather not
carry.
Sports, page 1B
’Supertnom' author
channels Bombeck
Need a laugh?
Deb DiSandro, who
writes a humor column
on family life for a num
ber of midwestem news
papers, has
captured a certain off
the-wall outlook that will
remind many parents
that they aren’t alone.
Entertainment, page 6 A
IN BRIEF
School board
to set miltage
PERRY - The Houston
County Board of
Education has called a
special meeting at noon
Friday, to set the millage
rate for 2003, and “any
other lawful business
that may come before the
board.”
The meeting will be
held at the Houston
County Career &
Technology Center, 1311
Corder Road, Warner
Robins.
- From staff reports
AREA DEATHS
Wayne Thomas Ball
Wayne Farrell
Mary Rose Hall
Stanley Martin McCrory
Ernest Otwell Sheriff Sr.
Robert J. White Sr.
Obits, page 8A
INDEX
BUSINESS 5A
CLASSIFIED 6B
COMICS 4B
CROSSWORD ... .4B
ENTERTAINMENT .6A
LEGALS 1C
OBITUARIES 8A
OPINION 4A
SCHOOL 58,11 C
TV LISTINGS 4B
WEATHER 2A
PERIODICAL
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MAIN LIBRARY UGA
ATHENS GA 30602
3-DIGIT 306
Serving Houston County Since 1870
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LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY,
city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville
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Jake Redmon, recently appointed to the Georgia Development Authority,
stands before the grain silos of the Houston Fertilizer and Grain Co. facility in
Peach County.
Serving rural Georgia
Houston Countian Jake Redmon
named to state development authority
By Jon Suggs
HHJ Staff Writer
PEACH COUNTY - It wasn’t just a
few words from his boss when Jake
Redmon got a call from Sonny Perdue
recently.
The Georgia governor and owner of
Houston Fertilizer and Grain Co. was
calling Redmon, his general manager,
with an important assignment.
Important to rural Georgia, that is.
Perdue recently named Redmon one
of four appointees to the Georgia
Development Authority, which has as
its mission the economic development
of the state’s rural areas, with agricul
ture primarily in mind.
Together with three permanent
members - the state commissioner of
agriculture, the state auditor and the
state commissioner of industry and
trade - these four form the authority
DFCS director retiring after 30 years
By Charlotte Perkins
HHJ Lifestyle Editor
WARNER ROBINS - Back
in 1973, a young woman just
out of college with a degree
in psychology was visiting
Warner Robins for the very
good reason that her
boyfriend, a young man
from Statesboro named
Allen Strange, had taken a
job at Robins Air Force
Base.
She was driving down
Watson Boulevard when the
sign in front of a small office
caught her eye, and she
It doesn't matter who the commissioner
of DHR Is, or who runs DFCS, until people
recognize that our children are our
future and start dealing with the issues
that are out there.'
- Deborah Strange, Houston County DFCS
www.hhjnews.com
which has, among other responsibili
ties, oversight of Georgia’s farm loan
proceedings.
Perdue knows what he’s getting in
Redmon, who has worked for him for
23 years. Prior to joining the company,
Redmon taught high school agricultur
al classes for 12 years.
He is a member of severed profession
al associations for his industry and has
held leadership positions in many of
them.
He is a member and past president of
the Agricultural Chemical Association
of Georgia, member and past president
of the Georgia Plant Food Educational
Society, member and past president of
the National Agricultural Retailers
Association and a past president of the
Perry Rotary Club. He has served on
the state board jof certified crop advi
sors.
See REDMON, page 84
turned in to see if there
might be a job for her there.
There was, and it turned
out to be the beginning of a
career that would span
three decades.
Deborah Strange - a
native of Buffalo, N.Y. -
married the man she had
met at Georgia Southern,
put down roots in Houston
County. She started out at
entry level, checking out eli
gibility for welfare payment
and calculating incomes and
benefits with a paper and
See STRANGE, page 3A
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Cox speaks to
area educators
State schools superintendent pushes
changes in students’ curriculum
By Heather Fasciocco
HHJ Staff Writer
WARNER ROBINS - Local
members of Delta Kappa Gamma
Society International of Women
Educators were treated to a spe
cial presentation by state
Superintendent of Schools Kathy
Cox Tuesday night, which
focused on improving the cur
riculum for Georgia’s schools.
Cox told Houston County edu
cators that while this county
seems to have an overall low
dropout rate and good test
scores, it is the classroom
instruction that encourages
many of these performances to
be achieved and where she
intends to see improvement.
She explained many teachers
derive lessons based on an
upcoming test, from the textbook
or from their own past instruc
tional experience, but Cox said
both teachers and students need
See COX, page 8A
Thompson named
Labor Leader of Year
By Heather Fasciocco
HHJ Staff Writer
WARNER ROBINtf - In almost
three years, American
Federation of Government
Employees Local 987 President
Donald Thompson has driven
himself and fellow union mem
bers to succeed while represent
ing the local union.
Based on Thompson dedica
tion, Local 987 full-time repre
sentatives Bill Haas, Gail Rogers
and Tom Scott nominated him
and celebrated recently after he
was named the Central Georgia
Federation of Trades and Labor
Council AFL-CIO Labor Person
of the Year.
“I appreciate Bill, Gail and
Tom nominating me, as well as
the support and encouragement
of every union member,”
Thompson said. “When I heard I
had been elected as the Labor
Person of the Year, I didn’t feel
deserving of the award because I
consider myself of just doing my
job. And I cannot do my job with
out the full-time and part-time
representatives, union stewards,
and the 2,592 union members.”
All three members believe it
DEBORAH STRANGE
THREE SECTIONS • 28 PAGES
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DONALD THOMPSON
was through his leadership skills
and willingness to meet with oth
ers on a one-on-one basis that
has encouraged the union to
attract over 500 additional mem
bers since Thompson’s term
began in October 2001.
“In his short tenure as presi
dent, Donald Thompson has been
See THOMPSON, page 3A
an Evans Family Newspaper
50c
.MR.
KATHY COX