Newspaper Page Text
THURSDAY
December 9, 2004
Volume 135, Number 241
Award-Winning
Newspaper
2004
Better Newspaper
Contest
Inside TODAY
Benefit concert
tonight for Tots
Chevy’s second annual
Southern Christmas Jam
Rockin’ for Robins Air
Force .Base Toys for Tots
is tonight, and will
include members of Doc
Holiday, Silver Hammer,
The Wall, Big Mike & The
Booty Papas, Doni Helms
& Friends and “many
more surprise guests.”
Tickets are $lO at the
door, and doors open a 5
p.m.
Entertainment, page 6A
rap; ''' ’ ' '
El .
■F -V *BBI
yfLw' ' lb sip .-V" !■
BHk. I
Santa enjoys
breakfast in Perry
They opened the doors
at 8 a.m., with breakfast
ready to serve and Santa
ready to meet some little
ones for the very first
time. It was also the very
first Breakfast with Santa
sponsored by the Mahala
Club of Perry.
Entertainment, page 6A
Happy BIRTHDAY!
(Surprise your friends! Let 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
hhj@evansnewspapers.com, or
mail them to us at the address
inside. No phone calls, please.
Many happy returns!)
Area DEATH
Hunter James Hoff
Obit, page 5A
INDEX
CLASSIFIED 5B
COMICS 4B
CROSSWORD . . . .4B
ENTERTAINMENT .6A
LEGALS 1C
OBITUARIES 5A
OPINION 4A
SPORTS 1B
TV LISTINGS 4B
WEATHER 2A
PERIODICAL
i>>.ii«ih...ii..if i l ni„ r ;i lll ii | l ||, ll ||
Georgia NeviSpaper Project
Main Library
UNIV OF GEORGIA
ATHENS GA 30602-0002
3-DIGIT 306
Serving Houston County Since 1870
(Tjft Y jMmistcm Jirmte
(Lme JJrrurttHl
* LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY,
city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville
Public defender struggles to fill vacancies
Everett tells county commission she can’t compete on salary due to budget constraints
By RAY LIGHTNER
HHJ Staff Writer
PERRY - Terry Everett, of the
Houston Judicial Circuit Public
Defender’s Office, told the Houston
County Board of Commissioners
that the $42,000 her office has to
Old
cars,
new
road
New Russell
extension
open to traffic
Story and photos
by Ray Lightner
WARNER ROBINS - “I’m
glad we can give directions
now to Warner Robins that
don’t start out with ‘turn at
Case Erotfc'a, 1 ’" TsSd state
Rep. Larry O’Neal.
O’Neal emceed the cere
monies for the opening of
the Richard B. Russell
Parkway extension. The six
mile, four-lane divided high
way connects Houston Lake
Road to a new interchange
at Interstate 75.
Ceremonies included com
ments from numerous offi
cials involved in the 20-year
process, a ribbon cutting
and antique cars - “which
were not new when this
began,” said former state
Rep. Sonny Watson.
“Nobody can understand
stand why it takes so long,”
he added. “I’ll let our com
missioner explain why.”
Georgia Department of
Transportation
Commissioner Harold
Linnenkohl said the project
is the culmination of work at
'Mister
Museum'
new exhibit
memorializes
Edwards
By JON SUGGS
HHJ Staff Writer
WARNER ROBINS -
Those we love are never
gone. That’s true of sons,
husbands, brothers, fathers,
airmen and museum cura
tors.
Darwin Edwards was all
of these.
Tuesday the Museum of
Aviation opened an exhibit
honoring Edwards, its first
curator, who died in
November 2003.
Paul Hibbitts, director of
the museum, told the large
crowd assembled in the
See EDWARDS, page 3A
www.hhjnews.com
offer law school graduates is not
enough to fill three vacant positions.
“We are not competitive,” she
said.
She said although the amount is
above the state minimum, the office
has been turned down by all four
‘'3b* - HQb *•”~•
%
vm v
. 4. , |y'
’•'mWrWf' -■ 1
the federal, state and local
levels.
Warmer Robins Mayor
Donald Walker shared
praise for his fellow local
elected officials.
“These things don’t hap
pen by accident,” he said.
“The county has been
blessed by great leadership
in the past 40 years.”
Many of those leaders
were cited including state
Rep. Larry Walker and
Watson, who have some 54
years between them in the
General Assembly, working
for Houston County. Both
men credited the coopera
tion among the legislative
delegation and with the
cities and the county.
The delegation of Larry
Walker, Sonny Watson,
Sonny Perdue and Ted
Waddle agreed to sit down
and cooperate, Walker said.
“You don’t have to look far
to see what happens when
people don’t work together,”
he added.
He also remembered going
to Winder to sit down with
Sen. Richard B. Russell.
“Forty years later, I’m
jkj;- i'
HHJ Jon Suggs
Sheila Edwards, widow of Lt. Col. Darwin Edwards, gazes
upon the just-unveiled bronze bust of her husband, part
of an exhibit honoring him at the Museum of Aviation,
where he was known as “Mister Museum. ”
These Ford Model A’s and
other cars from the Middle
Georgia Antique Auto Club were the
first to drive on the Russell Parkway
extension after Tuesday’s ceremonies.
Wf W* ' . Jjjt' ■
1 ■' | **s4
rg b • . \ jjHfflam
4 n I
cJL „ a mwrnrnmm tL flßf
' .i* BWBBPWBP 'jMK
j- &i- mi 1 r r i WTjimF
WKi .if § W - ** *
Warner Robins Mayor Donald Walker speaks during Tuesday’s opening of the exten
sion of Russell Parkway.
here for dedication of a road county will be a “tremen- “This is a born natural,
named in his honor,” he dous asset to the communi- But Mayor Walker
said. ty,” noted state reminded everyone what the
The opening of the new Transportation Board Vice real reason for the road was:
interstate connection for the Chairman Ward Edwards. See RUSSELL, page 8A
applicants so far.
The Public Defender’s Office has
lost four attorneys this past year.
One accepted a position within the
county courts and the other three,
Everett said, are now earning
“$20,000 more than what we’re pay-
Chief brings driving
simulators to Perry
By TERESA D. SOUTHERN
HHJ Staff Writer
PERRY - It’s inevitable -
the time when teenagers
crave to be behind the
wheel of an automobile.
Much to the delight of the
teenagers themselves, but
more to the dismay of who
ever has the task of being
in the passenger seat.
The Safe America
Foundation and Perry
Police Chief George Potter
are hoping to ease this
transition for many local
teens.
At Perry High School,
several students are using
driving simulators com
plete with all the compo
nents of an automobile.
Seatbelts, headphones
which offer the sounds of
driving, a computer screen
that gives a view of several
different driving settings
THREE SECTIONS • 20 PAGES
ing.”
Commissioner Jay Walker, an
attorney, said the county needs to
look at professions with licenses and
increase the rates, not just for attor
neys but also engineers and others.
See DEFENDER, page 3A
| _ H Jjr l „
an Evans Family Newspaper
50c
ilium.
from highways to moun
tain overpasses, are just
parts of the driving experi
ence.
Students benefiting from
the driving training receive
two hours of classroom
instruction and two hours
of behind-the-wheel
instruction over the course
of one week.
Potter encouraged the
Safe America program to
come to Houston County.
Perry is one of the five
cities the simulators have
visited so far which include
Albany, Marietta and
Savannah.
In 2005 Safe America
hopes to establish a perma
nent training facility in
Houston County with help
from the Perry Chamber
Area of Commerce and
other local business leaders.
See SIMULATORS, page 3A