Newspaper Page Text
SUNDAY
December 12, 2004
Volume 135, Number 243
Award-Winning
Newspaper
2004
Better Newspaper
Contest
inside TODAY
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Home for the holidays
The Warner Robins
Junior Woman’s Club
held its “Wrapped in
Holiday Style” tour of
homes, with a big crowd
showing up for open
houses at Kitchen
Gallery, Legacy and Just
Fabulous, before going on
to Bonaire for a tour of
three beautifully decorat
ed homes.
Lifestyle, page 1C
Happy BIRTHDAY!
Brad Lane
Dec. 12
Cissy Black
Taylor Price
Dec. 13
Rena Derrick
Chris Grasso
Konondra Rumph
Tommy Sikes
Neil Woodruff
(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 DEATHS
Glen E Bembry Sr.
Helen W Douglass
Geneva Riddle Rainey
Obits, page 6A
INDEX
CLASSIFIED 1D
COMICS 5C
CROSSWORD 5C
LIFESTYLE 1C
OBITUARIES 6A
OPINION 4A
SCHOOL MENUS . .7A
SCHOOL NEWS . . .7B
TV LISTINGS 5C
WEATHER 2A
PERIODICAL
Geoi’gia Newspaper Project
iVlan Library
UNfV OF GEORGIA
ATHENS GA 30602-0002
3-DIGIT 306
Serving Houston County Since 1870
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city of Perry ; crn of Warner Robins and city of Centerville
WR police chief has big plans
Evans’ vision coming to fruition in WRPD; 12-hour shifts, precincts on horizon
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BRETT EVANS
Fire strikes house on Dunbar Road
By RAY UGHTNER
HHJ Staff Writer
WARNER ROBINS - A
Friday morning fire did sub
stantial damage to a home
at 515 Dunbar Road.
Around 8:10 a.m., Jasento
Flowers saw all the smoke
and called his boss.
“I knew he was a firefight
er,” Flowers said. “He was
the first responder.”
Jesse Blair, a Crawford
County firefighter, owns
A&K Porta-Toilets.
“He got on the radio and
called me. I live iust down
the road,” Blair said, from
the scene.
“I couldn’t do much until
the fire trucks arrived,”
Blair said, “I helped them
with the hoses.”
Blair was one of the fire
fighters to go in as well.
“Fortunately there was no
one inside,” he said.
The homeowner, who
declined to identify himself,
said he’d bought the house a
month ago and was making
renovations. He was not at
home when the fire started.
Houston County Fire
Chief Jimmy Williams said
there was heavy fire damage
in the kitchen, and attic of
the home with smoke and
water damage throughout.
See FIRE, page 3A
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HHJJoe Sersey
Warner Robins head coach Bryan Way and team captain Justin Brown (65) look on as
the other captains Ben Crenshaw (69) and Kyle Hicks (8) put the 2004 state trophy with
the 1988, 1981 and 1976 state trophies. The trophy was by presented during a cere
mony Thursday at the school. The Demons won the trophy by beating Statesboro dur
ing the AAAA football finals Dec. 3. Also during the recognition, Mike Long from Gov.
Sonny Perdue’s office read a proclamation commending the team for their efforts, and
Mayor Donald Walker proclaimed that Friday the city’s name had been changed from
Warner Robins to “Warner Robins High School” for that day.
Sports, page 1B
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A homeowner watches as firefighters work to put out the blaze at 515 Dunbar Road on Friday morning.
Four ... and counting
www.hhjnews.com
By RAY LIGHTNER
HHJ Staff Writer
WARNER ROBINS - The honey
moon is over for Brett Evans.
On Wednesday, Evans will have
been Warner Robins’ police chief for
a year. He was hired in May 1987 as
a patrol officer and worked his was
up through the ranks.
“I worked two years in patrol, four
years in the drug unit, went back to
patrol in 1993,” he said.
Evans was promoted‘to sergeant
in 1995, lieutenant in 1998, captain
in 1999 and was named chief in
2003. The former captain over
investigations was promoted follow
ing the sudden retirement of the
chief, a colonel and a major.
When Evans took over, he said,
the department was down almost 20
officers.
“The attrition rate was higher
than the state average,” he said.
“There were some internal conflicts.
It was not a good working environ
ment.”
He began with three initiatives to
raise morale.
“I put families first. Family is very
important to me,” Evans said. “I
wanted to make sure we could work
around any of the family emergen
cies that come up.”
Secondly was “work unified.”
“We had to do away with the sepa
rate factions that had formed,” he
said.
Business asks
WR for refund
Owner of Georgia Aerospace
Manufacturing asks for deposit
back on building after it was sold
By RAY LIGHTNER
HHJ Staff Writer
WARNER ROBINS
Will he get his money back?
Thomas Mensah, presi
dent and CEO of Georgia
Aerospace Manufacturing,
came before the Warner
Robins City Council to
make a presentation on his
company - but was also
asking for a refund.
Mensah put down
$50,000 on a $1.2 million
purchase of the old
Lithonia Lighting building,
but said the deal fell
through because his
appraiser had appraised
the site at sl.l million.
After the deal fell
through, the property, at
150 Osigian Blvd., was sold
for $1 million and the five
FOUR SECTIONS • 30 PAGES
Evans realigned the department
with respective department heads
reporting to a major - administra
tion under Maj. Harry Dennard or
operations under Maj. John Wagner.
“Me and the majors must be in
full agreement before any decisions
are implemented,” Evans said.
Third was a focus on the patrol
division, which had been neglected,
Evans said.
“They were understaffed, (and)
some officers had to work six days a
week and overtime each day to cover
shifts,” he said.
But in less than a month, Evans
said, the police department will be
fully staffed.
See EVANS, page SA
adjoining five acres sold for
$75,000 each to Joe Kovac
Sr. in August, for a total of
$1,375,000. The price was
contingent on the purchase
of the adjoining property
and $450,000 of improve
ments being done to the
building.
“Obviously, the appraiser
was wrong,” Mensah said.
Council members Grady
Clemonts and Terry
Horton noted the main
purpose for coming to
council was to ask for the
refund. Horton asked
Mensah if he’d gone to the
Houston County
Development Authority
and the Warner Robins
Area Chamber of
Commerce, “who have
more in the deal than we
See REFUND, page 3A
an Evans Family Newspaper
Willi
HHJ/Ray Lightner