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WEEKEND May 7-9, 2005 Volume 135, Number 346 Award-Winning Better Newspaper VtfUvlw Contest nk fl.' Mackey puns to state title Lana Mackey prefers squares but don’t expect to see her hanging around with nerdy guys with glasses. She might, but it’s more the fact she just doesn’t care to be placed within stereotypical cir cles. Sports, page 1B Happy BIRTHDAY! May 8 Shirley Patel May 9 Anastasia Hamm Happy ANNIVERSARY! May 9 Tony and Winnie Parker (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 None were reported for today’s edition. INDEX CLASSIFIED 7B CELEBRATIONS . .8A COMICS 7A CROSSWORD ... .7A HOMETOWN 4B LIFESTYLE 9A OBITUARIES ..NONE OPINION 4A SCHOOL NEWS .. 8B SPORTS 1B TV LISTINGS 7A WEATHER 2A PERIODICAL 7* Georgia Newspaper ProjecJ Main Library UNIV OF GEORGIA ATHENS GA 30602-0002 3-DIGIT 306 Serving Houston County Since 1870 EDIMGIAFAD Every Day In Middle Georgia Is Armed Forces Appreciation Day ClLhe journal " LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY \ city of Perry ; city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville O'Neal: Expect economy to improve By TIMOTHY GRAHAM HHJ Staff Writer WARNER ROBINS - State Rep. Larry O’Neal (R-Warner Robins) gave a report on the just-completed legislative session to the Warner Robins Rotary Club recently and, to nobody’s surprise, his analysis was almost totally positive. Wt'f m V \ f IHjl & ’ vpjf * . J . HHJ/Mike George State Sen. Ross Tolleson, R-Perry, visits with Darrell Edge, owner of Jack’s Place Catfish in Dublin, before a party celebrating the senator’s birthday at the Perry- Houston County Airport Thursday. Tolleson turned 49 on April 26. Friends, family mark Tolleson's birthday Perry state senator hosts fish fry to thank the people By MIKE GEORGE HHJ Staff Writer PERRY - State Sen. Ross Tolleson, R- Perry, thought that throwing a birthday party was the perfect way to give some thing back to the people who helped him win his seat in the Georgia Senate. Nearly 200 people packed the Evans Newspapers Inc. hanger at the Perry- Houston County Airport Thursday night to celebrate Tolleson’s “20th anniversary of his 29th birthday.” Tolleson turned 49 on April 26, but could not schedule the party until Thursday. “We just wanted people to come out for a Student suspended after getting call from Iraq The Associated Press COLUMBUS - A high school junior has been sus pended for the rest of the school year for refusing to end a cell phone call to his mother who is a soldier in Iraq. Kevin Francois, a 17- year-old at Spencer High School in Columbus, was suspended for disorderly conduct Wednesday after a confrontation that began when he was told to give up his cell phone at lunch dur ing the call, he said. His mother, Sgt. Ist Class Happy birthday, Ross! Monique Bates, left in January for a one-year tour and serves with the 203rd Forward Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division. “This is our first time separated like this,” said Francois. Since her deploy ment overseas, Francois has been living with a guardian in Columbus. Francois got the call from his mother at 12:30 p.m., which he said was his lunch break. He said he went out side the school building to get a better reception. A www.hhjnews.com “We had a complete party change in Atlanta, so when we got there, nobody had an office and all of the committee assignments had changed,” said O’Neal. “We old hands knew where the bathrooms were, but that was about it. It was an unbelievable undertaking to get it all organized as well as dealing non-fundraising event to thank them for everything they’ve done for us the last few years,” Tolleson said. “I just wanted to have a fish fry for people to get together.” Friends, family members, area business leaders, local and state officials - and a number of legislators - were on hand to celebrate with Tolleson, including Rep. Willie Talton, R-Warner Robins; former Rep. Larry Walker; and Rep. Larry O’Neal, R-Warner Robins. “It’s not actually my birthday today,” Tolleson said. “But it is Larry O’Neal’s, so it was great to have him here.” See TOLLESON, page 6A with all of the egos involved, but we were finally able to get it done.” O’Neal ended up being named chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, as well as serv ing as the governor’s floor leader. “The best part of the entire ses sion was serving with Willie Talton,” said O’Neal. “It was a teacher who saw Francois on his phone told him to hang up. He refused. According to the Muscogee County School District Board of Education’s policy, students are allowed to have cell phones in school, but can not use them during school hours. “They’re not supposed to use them for conversing back and forth during school because if they were allowed to do that, they could be text messaging See STUDENT, page 6A Best practices Museum hosts third int’l. Lean business symposium By TERESA D. SOUTHERN HHJ Staff Writer WARNER ROBINS - LEAN. What does it mean? It’s not an acronym. It’s a process that has Robins Air Force Base one step ahead in the area of depot mainte nance, cutting the time it takes to get aircraft and equipment to the warfight er. Six years ago, Lean busi ness practices were intro duced at Robins as a way to reduce “flow time” in the maintenance environment. The result is both a cost and time savinfe^ The Museum oiAviation played host to the Third Annual Georgia International Lean Symposium was held at the Museum of Aviation this week, and concluded with a Thursday luncheon keynot ed by Lt. Gen. Richard Reynolds, vice commander of Air Force Material Command. Reynolds congratulated Robins on its progress with Lean. “Blending the old with the new is huge challenge,” Reynolds said. “The logistics community can show the way. Lean will make us bet ter show the Air Force and the rest of the world, but the challenges are huge. It will have a tremendous role to play on the other side of BRAG.” The Lean business prac- f fjif 7% - r 7,* TBjiBIIpIBMK mi I '■%, ' 1 ' ilv ’3*" ■Sf g|j ", |p||| "'*7: HHJ/Teresa D. Southern Lt. Gen. Richard Reynolds, vice commander of the Air Force Material Command, spoke at the third annual Lean symposium held at the Museum of Aviation. The Lean symposium was jointly sponsored by the 21st Century Partnership, the Middle Georgia Military Affairs Committee and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. an Evans Family Newspaper 50c TWO SECTIONS • 20 PAGES Godsend to have him there serving with me.” Rep. Talton (R-Warner Robins) was elected to his first term in the legislature last year. O’Neal expects the efforts of the past legislative session to help the economy of the state. See O'NEAL, page 6A tice began with production system principles developed at the Toyota company. This week’s Lean sympo sium was jointly sponsored by the 21st Century Partnership, the Middle Georgia Military Affairs Committee and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. The event was designed to provide attendees an in depth look at targeted aspects of Lean process improvement. Ron Carbon, director of the 21st Century Partnership, said this is the third year they’ve had the opportunity to bring Lean leaders from around the world to Robins Air Force Base. Carbon gave examples of how Lean methods reduced the repair times of many air craft such as the U-2. “Lean better utilizes what’s available so the U.S. will be at a better readiness standpoint,” Carbon said. “Robins has a long way to go, but has made great strides.” Carbon said attendees were from the Department of Defense, England, Canada and locally from the Middle Georgia area. The symposium, which ran through late Thursday, included speakers repre senting industry, education and specialized Lean appli cations from across the U.S. and the United Kingdom.