Newspaper Page Text
WEEKEND
October 11-13, 2003
Volume 134, Number 187
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Award-Winning
Newspaper
2003
Better Newspaper
Contest
Inside TODAY
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Panthers beat
Southwest Patriots
Perry High School
assistant coach Andy
Gentry high-fives a
Panther during Friday
night’s victory over the
Southwest’s Patriots. In
other gridiron action,
Northside crushed
Jonesboro.
Sports, page 1B
Pets await you
at area shelters
The HHJ regularly
publishes portraits of
potential pets awaiting
adoption from animal
shelters in Perry and
Warner Robins.
Shelter Pets, page 6A
Robert L. Culpepper
Shirley Kinder
Carolyn Wiseman
OBITS, page 2A
INDEX
CLASSIFIED 5B
COMICS 4B
CROSSWORD 4B
LIFESTYLE 7A
OBITUARIES 2A
OPINION 4A
SCHOOL MENUS . .6A
SHELTER PETS . . .6A
TV LISTINGS 4B
WEATHER 2A
PERIODICAL
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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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HIM Emily Johnstone
Warner Robins Fire Deputy Chief Jeff Onsted loves the
life of a firefighter. The veteran has been with the depart
ment more than 30 years.
Onsted named
deputy fire chief
Veteran firefighter promoted
By Emily Johnstone
HHJ Associate Editor
WARNER ROBINS - With
a twinkle in his eyes ttnd an
infectious laugh, Jeff
Onsted enjoys the cama
raderie at Warner Robins
Fire Station 1.
When an alarm sounds,
however, he and his broth
ers and sisters in the fire
service switch gears to take
care of serious business.
Now, after spending more
than 30 years with the fire
department,
Onsted has
been promot
ed to deputy
chief status
in charge of
fire suppres
sion.
What that
means is not
only will he
continue
having a
hand in the
training por
tion of the
department,
'You do not do this
for money or
honor... if you're
not doing it to help
people, you're
probably not going
to last.'
- Jeff Onsted
but he will also be in charge
of keeping tabs on every
piece of equipment, all appa
ratus, each and every truck
and station.
And the veteran firefight
er is eager for the challenge
as he continues working in a
field where his peers are like
his own family.
He met his wife, Marcine,
while both were in school in
the early ’7os, he at
Northside High and she at
Warner Robins High.
They met during a night
class and have been together
ever since.
When Marcine’s father
announced the family would
be moving, Onsted knew he
Five Slap Automotive
gives to Partnership
By Heather Fasciocco
HHJ Staff Writer
WARNER ROBINS - With
less than a year as a Warner
Robins business, Five Star
Automotive has made its
mark on the community by
becoming the single largest
automobile dealership to
donate funds to The 21st
Century Partnership.
Charlie Cantrell, owner of
Five Star Chevrolet/Cadillac
www.hhjnews.com
had to keep this special lady
with him ... so he proposed.
He began working with
Warner Robins’ Fire
Department on May 15,
1973. The couple was mar
ried five days later, under
Chief Ernest Wood.
“The chief gave me a Kelly
day for my honeymoon!” he
laughed, referring to a way
firefighters used to accumu
late days off.
The couple was married at
a small church in
Powersville.
Then,
Onsted was
back at work
at the sta
tion, learning
the ropes as a
rookie fire
fighter.
Within a
couple of
months, the
station
received a
call to a “big
one” on
MacArthur
Boulevard, he remembers.
That was the first time
, the young engineer in train
ing drove a fire truck, a 1963
American La France, to a
fire scene.
“I was nervous and want
ed to make sure I did not
make any mistakes,” he
remembered. “But I did
fine.”
The following years saw
Onsted move up the fire
department ladder. He was
promoted to engineer in
1975; to lieutenant in 1979;
to captain in 1983; to assis
tant chief in 1985; to shift
commander in 1986; and
now to position of deputy
chief which took effect a few
See ONSTED, page 5A
in Warner Robins, Five Star
Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep/Eagle
and Five Star
Mazda/Hyundai in Macon,
recognized the
Partnership’s need to reach
their $1.2 million goal.
Cantrell handed over the
$35,000 check to Warner
Robins Industry Now Group
co-chair Neil Suggs
Thursday.
See FIVE STAR, page 5A
19 and life
Daniels pleads guilty to murder
From staff reports
PERRY - A 19-year-old
man accused in the murder
of a man found crushed in a
trash compactor in April
pleaded guilty Friday in
Houston Superior Court and
was sentenced to life in
prison plus five years.
Melvin “Scooter” Daniels
of Warner Robins, was one
of five arrested in connec
tion with the death of
Robert Daughtry Jr.
An autopsy showed
Daughtry died of multiple
gunshot wounds. He was
also beaten.
His body was found in a
dumpster at the entrance to
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HHJ Heather Fasciocco
Standing back after shaping one of the Three Little Kittens’ noses, Sandscapes co
owner Karen Fralich brings the hard-packed sand design to life.
Tons of sand, a little
water, art in progress
Storybook and Mother Goose characters star
in huge landscape’ at Georgia National Fair
By Charlotte Perkins
HHJ Lifestyle Editor
PERRY - For anyone who has ever built a
sand castle at the beach and watched the
waves wash it away, watching Karen
Fralich, Brad Goll and Alan Matsomoto at
work in the Georgia Living Center raises an
obvious question.
The trio of sand sculptors are spending a
week working on their mountainous mas
terpiece, which is topped by a replica of the
Georgia National Fairgrounds clock tower -
a work that will be knocked down by back
hoes and hauled off once the fair is over.
So what’s it like to put so much effort and
so much expertise into creating an artwork
that will just be a pile of sand again at the
end of the week?
Fralich grins, flicks more sand away from
Rapunzel’s brick tower, and explains that
Wilshire Estates April 8.
The murder occurred at
209 Billy Ave., according to
Houston County District
Attorney Kelly Burke.
An unidentified person
notified police about a possi
ble body in a dumpster the
morning of April 8 about 8
a.m.
The clothed body was
retrieved later that morn
ing.
Daughtry was identified
by his fingerprints, said offi
cials.
Daniels entered a guilty
plea to murder, aggravated
battery and possession of a
there’ll always be more “sandscapes” to
build.
“That means I’ll get another paycheck,”
she says.
For the moment, however, she and the
others are more concerned with the sandy
details of their work in progress.
The theme is fairytales, with some Mother
Goose favorites added in. The cow is already
jumping over the moon, and the three pigs
are peeping warily out of their house. Jack
is climbing up a beanstalk that leads, inter
estingly enough, straight up to the clock
tower, but Peter Pumpkin Eater hasn’t yet
put his wayward wife into the pumpkin
shell, and that’s the challenge Alan
Matsumoto is about to take on.
Basically, aside from their demonstrable
talent at their chosen art form, Fralich, Goll
See SAND, page 5A
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firearm dur
ing a crime,
Burke said.
Also
charged in
connection
with the
murder are
Kyle Oree,
32, Jamaal
Williams,
17, Alex Marshall, 16, and
Benny Durham, 18, all of
Warner Robins.
Burke said Daniels admit
ted his role in the murder.
He will be eligible for
parole in 14 years, said the
district attorney.
T 'i9L r '
DANIELS