Newspaper Page Text
FRIDAY
February 27, 2004
Volume 135, Number 41
Award-Winning
Newspaper
2003
Better Newspaper
Contest
Inside TODAY
Hospice coming
to Perry Hospttd
The Hospital Authority
of Houston County
approved a motion
Wednesday evening to
extend the “collaborative
relationship” Houston
Healthcare has with
Hospice of . Houston
County - specifically in
the form of developing an
inpatient hospice and pal
liative care unit in the
former obstetric unit of
Perry Hospital.
Local, page 7A
WPlf
Dipner over
Bears basebaH
HoCo enters 2004 with
a new baseball coach and
eight pitchers, five of
whom are lefties.
Sports, page 1B
Nathan Lee, Feb. 27
Quenkerie Milton, Feb. 28
Happy m-.mm
Gary and Karla Borosky
(Surprise your friends! Lei us
know when their birthday or
anniversary is, and we'll put their
names 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
hhjOevansnewspapers.com, or
mail them to us at the address
inside. No phone calls, please.
Many happy returns!)
Area DEATHS
Rev. Charles L. Clark
Ann Jackson Purvis
Roland Raphael
Obits, page 2A
INDEX
CLASSIFIED 6B
COMICS 4B
CROSSWORD 4B
LIFESTYLE 8A
OBITUARIES 2A
OPINION 4A
SCHOOL NEWS .10A,
TV LISTINGS 4B
WEATHER 2A
PERIODICAL
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Photographic Services
200 D W BROOKS DR
ATHENS GA 30602-5016
3-DtGtT 306
Serving Houston County Since 1870
If ;Mouston Home if
LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY,
city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville
Three nabbed for home invasions
Fourth suspect sought in connection with Houston, Pulaski and Dooly County incidents
By Emily Johnstone
HHJ Associate Editor
HOUSTON COUNTY - Three
people face charges and police are
searching for another after the four
allegedly went on a home invasion
spree in Houston, Dooly and Pulaski
counties Tuesday night.
According to Houston County
Sheriffs Investigator Sgt. Joe
Sendek, he plans to seek charges of
armed robbery, burglary and kid
napping against Sharon Katie Park,
Goodwill
coming
to Perry
By Jon Suggs
HHJ Staff Writer
PERRY - Thanks to
strong community involve
ment over the years,
Goodwill is increasing its
local presence.
In May, Goodwill
Industries of Middle
Georgia will open a
Goodwill Emporium in the
Perry Market Place, its 20th
store.
“It’s because of the gen
erosity of the naople in
Perry that We are coming
here,” said Meredith
Vasquez, vice president of
communications.
Donations from the area
have been very strong,
Vasquez said, and the organ
ization hopes this new com
mitment to Perry will con
tinue that success.
The approximately
15,000-square-foot facility
will be located between
Fred’s and the new Ace
Hardware, filling the last
space of what was once
Kmart.
The store will feature
clothing and housewares for
sale. Although most of
Goodwill’s clothing is donat
ed by individuals, about 30
percent is unused clothing
from such major retailers as
Belk, J.C. Penney and
See GOODWILL, page 6A
Potter looks to hire more officers
Chief proposes creating more
patrol zones for city in response
to burgeoning population
By Emily Johnstone
HHJ Associate Editor
PERRY - With Perry’s
population projected to
almost double within the
next several years, Police
Chief George Potter is look
ing to stay ahead of the
crime curve by hiring more
officers, having five patrol
zones instead of three and
going to 12-hour work
shifts.
It’s all part of Potter’s
plan to keep crime numbers
down while the city grows,
he said.
Currently, the department
has 21 officers working
three eight-hour shifts.
Each team consists of a
lieutenant, sergeant and
five officers.
Potter is hoping to switch
to a four-team arrangement
with a lieutenant, sergeant
www.hhjnews.com
who also goes by the name of Sharon
Katie Douglas, 45, of Street Bath,
S.C.; Amy Howard, 29, of
Hawkinsville; Albert Daniel Wynne,
34, of Vanville, S.C., and the suspect
still being sought, Billy English, also
known as “Billy Googe,” 36, of
Warner Robins.
The incident in Houston County is
reported to have taken place about
2:45 a.m. when a resident of Third
Street in Elko said he was awakened
by a knock on the door.
Buchanan oversees Mexican supper
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Father John Buchanan prepares the beans for St. Christopher’s-at-the-
Crossroads Episcopal Church’s traditional Mexican Pancake Supper on Shrove
Tuesday or otherwise known as Fat Tuesday. Buchanan continued the traditional
supper from one of his former parishes in Fort Worth, Texas.
Story, page 3A
and five officers working 12-
hour shifts.
He is ready to take on a
proactive stance with his
department, preparing for
the increase in population
that seems inevitable for a
city with a population that
has not seen much fluctua
tion in numbers in the past
20 or so years.
Potter said projections
from the city’s building offi
cials office shows that
Perry’s population could
increase by as many as 5,000
persons in the next ten
years.
Building Official Steve
Howard said he would not
be surprised to see that
number go even higher, up
to about 10,000 new resi
dents.
Howard says his office
See POTTER, page 8A
When he opened the door, a man
asked for gas to put in his car.
The resident told the man he did
not have any gas. The man then
asked for $lO, according to reports.
After telling the man he did not
have the money, the victim found
himself looking down the barrel of a
gun.
The suspect then forced his way
inside the home.
He told the victim to walk back
wards into the bedroom and to turn
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CHIEF QEORQE POTTER
TWO SECTIONS • 20 PAGES
around, said the report.
Then, the offender apparently
walked out of the house and got into
a vehicle and left the scene.
The victim was not injured.
However, in Pulaski County, the vic
tim was not as fortunate.
Pulaski County Sheriff Jerry
Lancaster said when the victim
opened the door of his residence
located near the Vienna highway
about 1:30 a.m., the person at the
See INVASIONS, page 6A
BOE
to buy
more
land
Board agrees to
hire 10 more
teachers for fall
By Luci Joullian
HHJ Staff Writer
WARNER ROBINS - The
Houston County Board of*
Education has announced
that it would be buying
three more parcels of land
after meeting ip executive
session Wednesday after
noon.
The board also revealed
projected school enrollment
numbers for this fall.
The board declined to
release exact details about
the land, which is not yet
under contract. The three
parcels, which are some
where in the growth area of
Ga. 96 and 127, total 114
acres.
Dr. Ron Busbee, assistant
superintendent of human
resources, asked the board
to hire additional teachers
for this fall. Earlier this
year, the board decided to
hire 40 new teachers, 10 of
See BOARD, page 64
Potter: Closing
jail will put
more officers
on Perry streets
By Emily Johnstone
HHJ Associate Editor
PERRY - When
Police Chief George Potter
looked at the numbers, he
could not avoid the plain
facts ... closing the Perry jail
would mean savings of over
SIOO,OOO per year.
For a force that is looking
for funds to hire new patrol
officers to cover an increas
ingly larger and more popu
lous city, those numbers led
to his change of mind about
shutting the doors one final
time on the Perry jail.
Meeting with Houston
County Sheriff Cullen
Talton and coming up with
an agreement that will have
Perry inmates transported,
booked and housed at the
Houston County Detention
See JAIL, page 84
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