Newspaper Page Text
THURSDAY
January 6, 2005
Volume 135, Number 259
Award-Winning
Newspaper
2004
Belter Newspaper
Contest
Inside TODAY
JANET
EVANOVICH
METRO
£rl
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Book review:
'Metro Girl'
The big question for
fans of Janet Evanovich is
how “Metro Girl” stacks
up in comparison with
the Stephanie Plum
series that have become
the gourmet chocolate of
escape reading in recent
years.
Women, especially, love
these books...
Entertainment, page 6A
Happy BIRTHDAY!
Jay Branam
Sue M. Calleo
Jo Ann Hill
Rob Ray
Happy ANNIVERSARY!
Louis J. Calleo and Sue
M. Calleo
(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
Dorothy G. Ammons
Francis B. Anthony
Judy West Hammock
Milton M. McCune
Sarah Frances Stokes
Obits, page SA
INDEX
BUSINESS 3A
CLASSIFIED 5B
COMICS 4B
CROSSWORD ... .4B
ENTERTAINMENT .6A
LEGALS 1C
OBITUARIES 5A
OPINION 4A
SPORTS 1B
TV LISTINGS 4B
WEATHER 2A
PERIODICAL
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7*
Georgia Newspaper Project
Main Library
UNIV OF GEORGIA
ATHENS GA 30602-0002
3-DIGIT 306
Serving Houston County Since 1870
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city of Perry ; city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville
Perry chief fopgoes cap fop gear
City Council conducts annual housekeeping - and some shopping, too
By JON SUGGS
HHJ Staff Writer
PERRY - It’s better to
breathe easy than drive a new
car.
Fire Chief Freddy Howell
thinks so, anyway.
At the City Council’s Tuesday
meeting, the chief received
approval to purchase an air
Chamber president settling in
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HHJ Timothy Graham
Warner Robins Area Chamber of Commerce President Frank Feild looks over the
new year’s budget with Chamber Business Manager Wanda Suckow.
Feild excited about
opportunities here
By TIMOTHY GRAHAM
HHJ Staff Writer
The engine that is driving economic
development in Houston County is fueled
by cooperation, and Frank Feild - the new
president of the Warner Robins Area
Chamber of Commerce - is out to make
sure that the train keeps on the tracks.
“There is really incredible potential
here,” Feild said. “But we have not even
scratched the surface of what we can do.
When you have the proper attitude as peo
ple here have, you can do anything.
“Just look around at other communities
and the problems they have, with problems
of lack of trust and lack of respect for each
other and you can see how lucky we are
that we possess that trust and respect for
each other,” he added.
Feild comes to his new job with a back
ground in the military. After spending 24
years in the service, the Brownsville,
Texas, native got into the “chamber busi
ness” in Talladega, Ala. He then returned
to Brownsville to head the chamber there
for five years before taking the president
position in Warner Robins on Aug. 30 of
last year.
“I feel that now is the time to put down
some roots,” Feild said. “I never felt like I
really had a home while in the military. I
guess that a lot of people here can under
stand that feeling. But I really love it here.
This is a community full of people who are
open and accepting of each other.”
www.hhjnews.com
compressor and fill station
along with two new air bottles.
An air bottle is part of a fire
fighter’s standard gear, and
while the Perry Fire
Department has been refilling
its equipment at a Houston
County fire station, it’s really
something that ought to be
done in-house, Howell said.
As chamber president, Feild feels that it
is his job to put into practice the plans
developed by the various committees that
make up the chamber membership.
“We do not receive any government
money, so it is my job to support the mem
bers who provide the funding,” he said.
“The rest of the staff and I try to keep
things flowing in the right direction, but
the real thrust comes from the volunteer
leaders.”
Feild said that those volunteers have set
out three main goals for the coming year.
“First is that we want to work with the
Perry Chamber on a plan of cooperation,”
Feild said. “We know that we can do more
working together than we can separately.
One chamber for all of Houston County
may be down the road, but that is still a
long way off.”
The second goal is to find a new office for
the chamber.
“We have outgrown our current building
and we need to find a new one,” he said. “It
may be new construction or we may end up
leasing space, but we need more room. It
may be that we will be able to play a role in
the new convention center if it gets built,
but that is also down the road.” He added
that the changer would like to find a new
facility within the next 30 months.
“Our third goal is to upgrade the effort
we have been putting into the military
affairs committee,” Feild said. “The Base
See FEILD, page 8A
The chief wanted to get the
filling station right away, but
there was a little snag in that
plan: there was no money for it
in this year’s budget.
There was, however, a line
item for a new car for the fire
chief.
Howell convinced the Public
Safety Committee and City
Manager Lee Gilmour that the
department would be better off
with the air gear than the new
ride.
They agreed, and Tuesday the
full council approved a $20,678
bid from Vitco of Macon for the
equipment.
At the same meeting the
See PERRY, page 8A
C'ville mayop
reprimanded
Radio ad promoting Brand’s real
estate business called into question
By TERESA D. SOUTHERN
HHJ Staff Writer
CENTERVILLE - The
City Council unanimously
reprimanded Mayor Ronnie
Brand on Tuesday night for
authorizing a radio adver
tisement with content vio
lating the city’s ethics codes.
Brand ran an advertise
ment on radio station
WNNG-AM 1350 promoting
his real estate business. The
ad mentions the city of
Centerville and indicates
Brand’s role as mayor
eßhanceMMkMfMdifications
as a real estate agent.
See C’VILLE, page 8A
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Gov, Sonny Perdue is pictured in his office at the Georgia
capitol in Atlanta recently.
Perdue breaking
mold as governor
By DICK PETTYS
AP Political Writer
ATLANTA - Just as he
busted the century-old grip
Democrats held on political
power in Georgia,
Republican Gov. Sonny
Perdue is breaking the mold
for what governors do once
they are in office.
Halfway through his term,
an Evans Family Newspaper
THREE SECTIONS • 20 PAGES
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RONNIE BRAND
his legislative agendas so far
have been anything but
ambitious and no signature
issue is linked to his name.
By the time they had
reached the same point in
their terms, predecessors
Roy Barnes and Zell Miller
already could brag about
several major initiatives
they had launched.
See PERDUE, page 3A
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HOWELL