Newspaper Page Text
TUESDAY
March 22, 2005
Volume 135, Number 312
Award-Winning
Newspaper
2004
Better Newspaper
Contest
Inside TODAY
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KEVIN TODD SCREWS
DA has GBI report
from shooting
The Georgia Bureau of
Investigation report into
the Jan. 27 chase and
fatal shooting in their
own back yard is now in
the hands of Houston
Circuit District Attorney
Kelly Burke.
Both offices announced
the report on the shoot
ing of Kevin Todd Screws
- minus pending ballistics
and toxicology reports -
has been turned over to
Burke’s office for review.
Local, page 2A
Happy BIRTHDAY!
Sylvia Arnold
Brenda Elliott
Ashley Hill
John W. Montford
Eric Robinson
Matthew Watkins Sr.
(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
Martha Fowler
Dale D. Grim
Leland Pugh
Bernice Sutton
Obits, page 5A
INDEX
BUSINESS 6B
CLASSIFIED 5B
COMICS 4B
CROSSWORD ... .4B
OBITUARIES 5B
OPINION 4A
SCHOOL NEWS .. .6B
SPORTS 1B
TV LISTINGS 4B
WEATHER 2A
PERIODICAL
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Georgia Newspaper Project
Man Library
UNIV OF GEORGIA
ATHENS GA 30602-0002
3-DIGIT 306
Serving Houston County Since 1870
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city of Perry ; c/ty of Warner Robins and city of Centervilee
Bowen to run for Perry council
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Families hold their place in line at Lake Joy Elementary School Saturday.
Parents camp out tor pre-K slots
By RAY LIGHTNER
HHJ Staff Writer
CENTERVILLE
Parents began lining up
Friday night at Eagle
Spring Elementary School.
Kellie Evans was the first
in line at 6 p.m., setting up
camp as the doors closed at
the school. She and other
Houston Healthcare
takes Bohannon case
to Supreme Court
By TIMOTHY GRAHAM
HHJ Staff Writer
WARNER ROBINS - The
Hospital Authority of
Houston County has decided
to take its case all the way to
the Georgia Supreme Court
after failing to get a lower
court ruling overturned by
the state Court of Appeals.
The Georgia Court of
Appeals recently ruled that
it would not reverse its Feb.
11 decision that the trial
court’s ruling in Bohannon
vs. Hospital Authority of
Houston County would
stand.
The ruling will require the
authority’s health insurance
plan to pay for an individ
ual’s treatment despite the
fact that the treatment was
expressly excluded from cov
erage by the plan.
The concern for the
Hospital Authority in the
case is that the ruling may
later be construed to require
www.hhjnews.com
Businessman throws hat in ring for seat Billy Jerles is vacating
By MIKE GEORGE
HHJ Staff Writer
PERRY - A local businessman who
helped bring cell phones to Uzbekistan
announced Monday that he plans to
run for the Perry City Council seat
being vacated by mayoral candidate
Billy Jerles.
If elected, Brian Bowen will repre
sent District 3, Post 1.
Bowen, 45, has lived in Perry for 18
years. If elected, Bowen said he will
work to bolster downtown tourism and
help the city grow beyond its borders.
Bowen emphasized, however, that he
wants Perry to maintain its small-town
atmosphere and southern charm.
Pre-K campout
families spent the night
Friday, Saturday and
Sunday to sign up Monday
at 9 a.m. for one of the 40
pre-K spots the school has
to offer this fall.
They weren’t alone. A
similar scene unfolded over
the weekend at other
Houston schools, including
the authority’s self-funded
health insurance plan to pay
in the future for medical
treatments and procedures
that are not covered under
the plan.
The decision to apply for a
writ of certiorari and ask
the state Supreme Court to
review the decision of the
Court of Appeals was
announced Monday by Mary
Jane Kinnas, director of
marketing and community
relations for Houston
Healthcare.
“These rulings, if unchal
lenged, may set legal prece
dent in requiring the
authority’s self-funded
health plan to pay for med
ical treatments and proce
dures that are not covered
under the plan for other
plan participants in the
future,” Kinnas said. “Our
intention in seeking reversal
in this case is to prevent the
See BOHANNON, page 7A
“I don’t want Perry to lose the char
acter of being a fine southern town,”
Bowen said. “We need aggressive lead
ership, but we need to protect Perry
and the positive points that we’ve all
benefited from.”
Bowen considers himself a farmboy
from nearby Dooly County, but he’s
one whose business ventures have
taken him around the world.
After graduating from Emory
University in Atlanta with a bachelor’s
degree in business administration,
Bowen opened his own accounting
firm.
“I had family in Perry growing up
Lake Joy and Matt Arthur
elementary schools.
Parents who camped out
at the schools were pre
pared for the wait, bringing
tents, chairs, blankets,
food, generators and exten
sion cords. On Saturday
there was also one travel
trailer in the parking lot at
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FMCA conventioneers check out motor coach chassis from Spartan.
FMCA convention begins in Perry
By RAY UGHTNER
HHJ Staff Writer
PERRY - Security volun
teers with the Family
Motor Coach Association
prepared for 10,000 mem
bers to converge on Perry
this week.
About a third of those
10,000, according to
National FMCA Director
Eagle Springs. Some of the
future students came with
mom and dad, bringing
bikes and scooters along
with the parents and their
laptop computers.
There were only 35 spots
available at Eagle Springs,
parents said, as teachers
See SCHOOL, page 8A
Don Eversman, are first
timers. Walter and Ann
Berg of Young Harris are
among those with the
brown “first-timer” rib
bons on.
“We’ve heard about it
and drove by last year
when it was here,” Walter
Berg said. “It’s curiosity
mostly. We wanted to see
an Evans Family Newspaper
TWO SECTIONS • 14 PAGES
and it seemed like a place where I
could get a good start,” he said.
In 1990, Bowen learned about a
lucrative business opportunity in the
Republic of Uzbekistan. Bowen quickly
sold his accounting business to help
start the International
Communications Group, or ICG Inc.
The Perry-based company owned 41
percent of the Uzbek cellular telecom
munications company Uzdunrobita,
which held a 51 percent share in the
Uzbek mobile phone market.
“We were partners with the govern
ment of Uzbekistan,” Bowen said.
“But we were responsible for running
See BOWEN, page 3A
Nigerian
scams
hit Perry
Police caution
individuals, banks
about foreigners
preying on greed
By REX GAMBILL
HHJ Managing Editor
PERRY - Police here are
cautioning citizens to
beware of Nigerians bearing
gifts.
Specifically, Nigerians
offering to give you hun
dreds, even thousands of
dollars, in exchange for
cashing some checks or
money orders, and wiring
them the money back.
Two recent cases being
investigated by the Perry
Police Department have
prompted the warning. The
PD is also planning a semi
nar to help educate local
businesses on how not to be
victimized by individuals
who are the unwitting
pawns in the scammers’
game.
See SCAMS, page 7A
what it’s all about.”
Ann Berg said they
bought a Gulf Stream
motor home about a year
ago.
“We had a travel trailer
for 25 years before that,”
she said.
About 750 FMCA mem
bers volunteered for
See FMCA, page 3A
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