Newspaper Page Text
TUESDAY
February 24, 2004
Volume 135, Number 38
Award-Winning
Better Newspaper
Loved ones honor
Pearl Stephens
Friends and family of
the late Pearl J. Stephens
gathered Saturday after
noon at her namesake
school to celebrate the
educator’s memory.
Local, page SA
Houston bests Hit
in state opener
In a 63-55 Georgia High
School Association
AAAAA first-round loss,
host Tift County finally
thought it had found a
way to crack the armor of
mighty Houston County
with less than two min
utes to play.
Sports, page 8A
Sam Green
(Surprise your friends! Let
us know when their birthday
is, and we’ll put their name
in the paper that day. Just
send the name and date at
least a week in advance, and
we’ll do the rest. E-mail to
hhjCg.evansnewspapers.com, or
mail them to us at the
address inside. No phone
calls, please. Many happy
returns!)
Sadie Pearl Bailey Cerka
Bobby L. Malone Jr.
George “Bud” Thomas
Pierce Jr.
Faye Ireene Suhanich
Edward (Lowell)
Thompson
Obits, page SA
BUSINESS 6A
CLASSIFIED ....12A
CLUB NEWS 7A
COMICS 11A
CROSSWORD ...11A
OBITUARIES 5A
OPINION 4A
TV LISTINGS 11A
WEATHER 2A
PERIODICAL
111 11.11 ....IMlmm .1.1.1.1.11 ••••I
8
Photographic Services
200 OW BROCKS OR
ATHENS GA 30602-5016
3-CtGfT3C6
Serving Houston County Since 1870
Y f 33xmsttm Mtmte if
, LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY,
city of Perry ; city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville
Early voting under way in Houston
Voters may cast ballots in Perry, Warner Robins in advance of Tuesday’s primary
From staff, wire reports
ATLANTA - For the first time,
Georgia voters have six days, not
just the one, to cast their election
ballots.
The early voting period, approved
by the Georgia General Assembly
last year, started Monday and runs
through Friday for next week’s
March 2 presidential primary and
flag referendum.
Houston County voters can take
advantage of early voting at two
locations: the Board of Elections
office in Perry (8 a.m. - 5 p.m. daily)
and the County Annex in Warner
Robins (8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. daily).
■ - ft ■P*'-, m
Bf. -»
u*fV *»'.'R •{» pkiit»« ” I 1
mEti;, ” .dtat wfl,(ua. i ’SIUceJI
Pf®- 'i‘ ' "• p, fj 3nv| <7 &
•A. ..2 £ v jfjjlt
,«/ .*••) * : iV : P' ’’§*& -' '-’ c ' »'■ \
■ i*** IS * ** 4
HHJ/Charlotte Perkins
The children’s choir sings “Unshackle my Feet" at New Hope International Church of God on Sunday.
Peace, poverty, pop culture
Martin Luther King 111 speaks on human issues at Houston County church
' 3gfsaf|pr .' v S * 9k Hf iKkJ W:
J 9 liii
;V.i ’■/ s ; wtof-' r ""' Vr.’V \vTX v
■ ■ ■ • ■ ■
Martin Luthar King 111 (laft) stands with Bishop Jaff Pools, and mambars of
tha congragatlon of Naw Hopa International Church of Qod at tha early serv
ice on Sunday.
www.hhjnews.com
Secretary of State Cathy Cox
called early voting a “great new
option” for those who don’t qualify
to vote by absentee ballot or who
have trouble getting to the polls
between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on elec
tion day.
Early voting should mean shorter
lines at the polls and could help
reverse the trend of declining voter
participation, Cox said.
Muscogee County residents got an
early preview last fall in a vote on a
special purpose local option sales tax
for schools.
“From the feedback we got, our
voters really liked it,” said Nancy
Boren, the county’s executive direc
tor of elections and registration.
Of 22,626 people who cast ballots
in the election, 965 opted to do it the
week before election day, Boren said.
In Warner Robins, early voting
was available during the week
before the Nov. 4 City Council elec
tion.
City Clerk Carolyn Robbins said
few Warner Robins residents came
forward, however. Most of those
were seniors, she said, who are eligi
ble to vote early anyway, leading her
to believe few people were aware of
the new option.
In Chatham County, about 10 per-
By Charlotte Perkins
HHJ Lifestyle Editor
KATHLEEN - Martin Luther King
111 was just 6 years old when his father
stood on the steps of the Lincoln
Memorial in Washington, D.C., and
talked about his dream of racial equal
ity.
He was just 11 when his father died.
He is 46 now - a soft-spoken, self
effacing man who makes it clear that
he’s not an ordained minister as his
great-grandfather, grandfather and
father were.
However, he has made a ministry of
supporting human rights around the
world and carrying out his father’s
legacy of opposition to “three evils:
poverty, racism and militarism, or vio
lence.”
On Sunday morning in the heart of
Houston County, he spoke to a stand
ing-room-only congregation at New
Hope International Church of God,
responding first to the fact that he was
speaking to a congregation where
black and white Christians sing and
pray together every Sunday.
“I knew I was in Houston County,”
he said from the pulpit, speaking of his
arrival. “I saw some trees, some farms,
a golf course, but what’s truly wonder
ful about your church is its diversity. I
just never would have expected this in
Kathleen. This is a great example that
most ministries need, because 11 a.m.
on Sunday morning is still the most
segregated hour in America.”
The service was New Hope’s celebra
tion of Black History Month according
to Pastor Jeff Screen who spoke of
“tearing down racial walls” and Bishop
Jeff Poole, who spoke to the
See KING, page 3A
ONE SECTION • 14 PAGES
Cast your ballots
Registered voters may vote prior to
Tuesday’s primary elections, today
through Friday.
Perry: Board of Elections office,
732 Main St., 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.
Warner Robins: County Annex,
200 Carl Vinson Pkwy., 8:30 a.m. until
4 p.m.
cent of the participants in last fall’s
municipal elections took advantage
of that city’s debut of early voting,
said Sandra Williams, the county’s
director of voter registration.
See VOTING, page 3A
Students
excel at
science
contest
From staff reports
WARNER ROBINS -
Over 450 students from four
counties competed in this
year’s Houston Regional
Science and Engineering
Fair.
Students from Houston
County took many of the
fair’s top honors during an
awards ceremony Saturday
morning.
These grand-prize win
ners in the senior division
will compete in the upcom
ing International Science
Fair in Portland, Oregon:
• Lauren Byrd and
Stephen Leotis - “A Rotary
Implementation of the
Stirling Concept” - Houston
County High School
• Thomas Franklin -
“Correlating Solar Activity
and the NAM” - Houston
County High School
• Andrew Stanley - “A
Study of Cooling Methods
See SCIENCE FAIR, page 3A
: viV ” ;
JENNIFER STEWART
Stewart wins
Delta Sigma
Theta pageant
By Luci Joullian
HHJ Staff Writer
WARNER ROBINS -
Hundreds of local Delta
Sigma Theta members filled
the Museum of Aviation’s
Century of Flight Hangar
Saturday night to celebrate
the sorority’s Warner
Robins Alumnae Chapter’s
14th annual scholarship
ball.
See BALL, page 3A
an Evans Family Newspaper
50c
Ml.