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« r Volume 135, Number 341 Award-Winning Newspaper 2004 Better Newspaper Contest Inside TODAY ■ ' . ■*y' m i n m ghm'-, will Mi mt ifl&eMiWr.. •Hys H ~- : Book sale PERRY Are you hooked on romances? Do you need more suspense in your life? Lifestyle, page 8A Happy BIRTHDAY! May 1 Faye T. Lacey Reatha Thomas May 2 Nancy Joiner Bobbe Richardson Happy ANNIVERSARY! May 2 Roy and Jannet Bibb Area DEATH Sara Taylor Self Obit, page 2A Correction An article in Wednesday’s Houston Home Journal contained an error. The statement should have read, “The Houston County Board of Education voted to approve a request from Comptroller Steve Thublin for a budget amount of about $176 million.” The Houston Home Journal regrets the error. INDEX CLASSIFIED 7B CLUB NEWS 7A COMICS 5B CROSSWORD 5B LIFESTYLE 8A OBITUARY 2A OPINION 4A SCHOOL NEWS .. .6B SPORTS 1B TV LISTINGS 5B WEATHER 2A PERIODICAL 7* Georgia Newspaper Project Man Library UNIV OF GEORGIA ATHENS GA 30602-0002 3-DIGIT 30S Serving Houston County Since 1870 r Y JCcrmelf uLhe 3)mtrmtl * LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY, city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville Housing permits rising in Housto By RAY UGHTNER HHJ Staff Writer WARNER ROBINS - Permits for new single-family homes are on the rise here. For Warner Robins, Centerville, Perry and unincorporated Houston County combined there were 156 single-family dwelling permits Jobless rate, claims down By RAY UGHTNER HHJ Staff Writer ATLANTA - The Warner Robins area unemployment rate and the number of ini tial claims were both down for the month of March. In the Warner Robins metro area, which includes all of Houston County, ini tial claims were down 30, or 8.3 percent, from 360 in February to 330. Initial claims are considered to be a leading economic indicator, because they measure newly laid-off workers, according to the Georgia Department of Labor. —~——■ The unemployment rate in the metro Warner Robins area declined to 4.7 percent, 0.2 percent lower than the 4.9 percent in February. That is still greater than the area’s jobless rate of 3.5 per cent in March 2004. Statewide, the Georgia Department of Labor reported 30,477 filed first time claims for unemploy ment insurance benefits in March. This represents a slight increase of 4.4 percent from February, when 29,191 claims were filed. “The March increase in initial unemployment insur ance claims indicates that Georgia is not creating enough jobs for the workers See JOBLESS, page 6A 21 CP braces for BRAC announcement ‘D-Day’ could be only two weeks away; Davis Oil Co. donates to base booster group By TERESA D. SOUTHERN HHJ Staff Writer WARNER ROBINS - The 21st Century Partnership has kicked into overdrive to prepare for an announce ment that will be a strong indicator of the future for Robins Air Force base. Federal Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld will make an official recom mendation of bases to be affected by base realign ment and closure (BRAC) on May 16. BRAC is a federal process to identify military installa tions for closure or work force changes. In the process, the commission will evaluate the Pentagon’s plan for closing and realign ing domestic military instal lations, including Robins, Georgia’s largest employer and largest industrial com plex. Next on the BRAC time line is Sept. 8, when the BRAC commissioners sub mit a list to the president. Then on Sept. 23, the presi www.hhjnews.com issued in March, up from the 111 February and in January, but down from the 226 in March 2004. Average values of the homes per mitted were down at $140,425, from $171,073 in February. It is also up from March 2004’s average of $72,195. The number of permits issued was Bloom where you’re planted _ v ; Mv r • 7 yjr; rW HHJ/Rex Gambill An amaryllis blooms, improbably, from a gutter along Swift Street in Perry on Friday. dent will either approve or reject that list. BRAC commissioners were named March 12. These individuals, nominat ed by President Bush and confirmed by the Senate, will decide which bases will be affected based on Rumsfeld’s recommenda tions. Ron Smith of the 21st Century Partnership said “D-Day,” as the Robins Air Force Base support group has named it, may be as early as May 13. Smith said he has infor mation from White House officials that Rumsfeld has called a press conference for May 13 at 10 a.m. This press event may or may not be for BRAC announcements. Smith said they are preparing to hear announce ments as early as May 10. Immediately following this press conference, the 21 Century Partnership will follow with its own press conference to provide See BRAC, page 6A up for each city and the county from February. In the unincorporated areas of the county, permits for single-family dwellings rose from 39 in February to 57 in March. The 57 permits are, however, down from the 61 issued in March 2004. In unincorporated Houston /:uo DO!LABS HHJ/Teresa D. Southern Davis Oil Company of Perry made a SIO,OOO contribution to the 21st Century Partnership. Pictured are Neil Suggs with the 21st Century Partnership, Dennis Burnett, manager of alternative fuels at Davis Oil Company, and Ron Carbon, director of the 21st Century Partnership. TWO SECTIONS • 22 PAGES County, the average value of the new homes was down from $265,861 in February at $185,170, which is up, however, from the $164,388 in March 2004. Year to date, 133 homes with a total value of $24,370,400, have been permitted in unincorporated Houston County. See HOUSING, page 11A Deputy: Meth is prevalent in county HCHS PTSA hosts presentation by members of sheriffs narcotics unit By RAY UGHTNER HHJ Staff Writer WARNER ROBINS - Parents and students were told things they probably didn’t like to hear Thursday night at Houston County High School. The school’s Parent Teacher Student Association learned about methamphetamine and its prevalence in the county from Sgt. Wayne Franklin, who along with Sgt. Manny Quinones make up the narcotics unit for the Houston County Sheriffs Office. Since 1999, they have worked over 300 clandestine methamphetamine labs in the county. That does not include those found in Warner Robins and Perry. Franklin said most of the drug investigations are methamphetamine, with a few exceptions - namely those found on the interstate with large quantities of mari juana or cocaine. Methamphetamine is a central nervous sys tem stimulant made in a lab. “When I say lab,” Franklin said, “I’m not talking about a laboratory with beakers, like the school chemistry lab.” „ Everything needed to manufacture it can be purchased at retail stores like Wal-Mart and Home Depot. “For an SBO investment, (meth manufactur ers) can make $5,000,” Franklin said. “That’s See METH, page 6A an Evans Family Newspaper 500 111! 11l 8 *5 5108*00001" 4 on