Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY
March 16, 2005
Volume 135, Number 308
Award-Winning
Newspaper
2004
Belter Newspaper
Contest
Inside TODAY
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f
The chocolate
challenge
Jamie Britton and
Jessica Moore are busy
seniors at Warner Robins
High School, but their
faces are familiar at The
Houston Home Journal.
Both girls are learning
about newspaper work as
interns.
Hearth&Home, page 6A
Happy BIRTHDAY!
Ronnie Minter
Sam O’Neal
(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
Shirley Loraine Amyx
Ricky Eugene Brown
Debra Coley
Gertrude A. Lacour
William Bernard
Robertson
Frances Sanders
Obits, page 5A
INDEX
CLASSIFIED 5B
COMICS 4B
CROSSWORD ... ,4B
HEARTH&HOME . ,6A
OBITUARIES 5A
OPINION 4A
POLICE BEAT ... .8A
TV LISTINGS 4B
WEATHER 2A
PERIODICAL
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Serving Houston County Since 1870
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LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY,
city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville
Bush names BRAC commissioners
Retired officers, former congressmen, Cabinet members round out the list
By TERESA D. SOUTHERN
and REX GAMBILL
HHJ Staff Writer
and Managing Editor
The president has named nine
people who could have a sweeping
impact on the future of Middle
Georgia.
President George Bush submitted
his recommendations Tuesday of
nine individuals to serve on the
2005 Base Realignment and Closure
(BRAC) Commission.
BRAC is a federal process to iden
tify military installations for closure
or workforce changes. In the
process, the commission will evalu
ate the Pentagon’s plan for closing
and realigning domestic military
installations, including Robins Air
Details
emerge
in area
murder
Police report
sheds Ught~on
woman’s death
By RAY UGHTNER
HHJ Staff Writer
KATHLEEN
According to reports filed
by the Houston County
Sheriffs Office, deputies
responded to a 911 call
Sunday and found the
corpse of Debra Ann
Johnson Coley, 52, in the
front yard of her resi
dence, with “no visible
signs of trauma.”
Coley was reportedly
found at 143 S.
Blackberry Circle by
Thomas Pitts, who identi
fied the woman as Coley,
his roommate/girlfriend.
According to the inci
dent report, Pitts told the
responding deputy that
Coley had a history of
drug abuse and had been
drinking during the
night. Pitts reportedly
said he last saw her talk
ing on the phone around
10:30 p.m. Saturday, and
got up to check on her at
3 a.m. Sunday, but could
not find her inside the
house.
He reportedly told the
deputy that at around
7:30 a.m., he noticed her
lying on the ground out
side the house near his
camper. Pitts, who has no
legs, told the deputy he
put on his artificial limbs
and walked down off the
porch to check on Coley.
When he reached her, he
reportedly found her dead
and called a friend next
door, Earl Johnson.
Johnson reportedly told
the deputy that when he
arrived, Coley was face up
in the yard and unrespon
sive. He then told Pitts to
call 911.
As the deputy arrived
on scene, he reportedly
observed what appeared
to be human remains cov
ered with a multi-colored
blanket lying in the front
yard next to the side door
of a white travel trailer. A
man in a wheelchair was
See MURDER, page 3A
vt'H'H’. h hjn e ws. com
Force Base, Georgia’s largest
employer and largest industrial
complex.
The U.S. Senate must now con
firm the president’s recommenda
tions.
The names presented were:
• Anthony Principi, former
Veterans Affairs secretary;
• James Bilbray, former Nevada
congressman;
• John Coburn, retired Army
general;
• Philip E. Coyle 111, a former
assistant secretary of defense;
• Harold Gehman, retired Navy
admiral;
• James Hill, retired Army gen
eral;
• James Hansen, former Utah
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HHJ/ Charlotte l*erkin»
Bill O’Neal holds his own in the challenging role of John Dickinson of Pennsylvania, who refused to sign the
Declaration of Independence.
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Railroad repair will result
DOT to temporarily close some Houston Co. intersections along Ga. 247
By TIMOTHY GRAHAM
HHJ Staff Writer
Norfolk-Southern
Railroad has announced
plans to make repairs and
upgrades on its tracks in
Houston County along Ga.
247.
The railroad and the
Georgia Department of
congressman;
• Sam Skinner, former trans
portation secretary; and
• Sue Ellen Turner, retired Air
Force general.
Earlier this month, the president
nominated Principi to chair the
BRAC Commission. The former
Veterans Affairs secretary is a deco
rated Vietnam veteran, and a for
mer executive with Lockheed
Martin, according to GovExec.com.
Principi, 60, is currently a vice pres
ident with Pfizer Corp.
“We will look at the overall com
position of the BRAC Commission,”
said Ron Smith, with the 21st
Century Partnership. “It matches
what we’ve had in the past, which
are former generals.”
The spirit of T 776’
Transportation report that
posted detours will be avail
able for traffic but \#arn
motorists either plan an
alternate route or allow
time for delays.
The work will begin on
Sunday at the intersection
of Watson Boulevard and
Ga. 247. Work will continue
there on the following
Monday and Tuesday,
March 21 and 22. Work each
day will be from 9 a.m. to 7
p.m.
The repair work will then
move to the intersection of
Ga. 247 and Ga. 96. That
intersection will be closed
from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on
March 24 and April 3.
Work at the intersection of
an Evans Family Newspapem
50c
IIIMIII
TWO SECTIONS • 14 PAGES
Smith said the partnership is “not
at all dismayed” by the names the
president recommended.
“In the past our studies have
shown it’s not who you know,” he
said. “We need someone to present
the facts.
“We really hope we won’t have to
work with these people, but we have
no negative reaction at all.”
U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston, R-
Savannah, has five military installa
tions in his congressional district -
Robins Air Force Base in Warner
Robins, Fort Stewart in Hinesville,
Hunter Army Air Field in
Savannah, Moody Air Force Base in
Valdosta, and Naval Submarine
Base Kings Bay in Kings Bay.
See BRAC, page 5A
John Adams,
Thomas
Jefferson and
Benjamin
Franklin come
to life on the
Perry Players
stage in “1776.”
Adams is played
by Bill Andrews;
Jefferson by
Kevin
Murchison, and
Franklin by Jim
Roberge. The
musical will
continue
Thursday
through
Sunday.
HHJ Charlotte Perkins
in detours
Ga. 247 and Ga. 127 will
take place on March 29 and
•30 f*nd will be from 9 a.m. to
7 p.m. each day.
vVork at the Georgia 247
Spur just south of Ga. 247
will cause the road to be
closed on April 5 from 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m. and on April 7 from
9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
See review
on page 3 A