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THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
Howell graduates
from Mercer
MACON - Amber Skeen
Howell, graduated
Saturday, May 7, 2005,
from the Mercer
University School of
Pharmacy with a doctorate
of pharmacy.
A 1998 graduate of Perry
High School, she also
attended Abraham
Baldwin Agricultural
College and the University
of Georgia.
Howell is the daughter of
Gary and Cheryl Skeen.
She interned with Chi-
Chester Pharmacy, The
Medical Center of Central
Georgia, Coliseum Medical
Center, PharmAmerica
and Option Care.
Currently employed with
Walgreens Drug Company,
Howell is a member of the
American Pharmacists
% ill
Diana Sacks of Shirley Hills Elementary School was
second-place winner of the FOCUS Oratorical
Contest. She spoke about her grandmother.
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Zach Kinsley of Matt Arthur Elementary School was
third-place winner of the FOCUS Oratorical Contest.
His hero is Jenny Jackson-Adams, pastor at Perry
United Methodist Church.
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Alyssa Gisseman from Quail Run Elementary School
won first place in the FOCUS Oratorical Contest.
FOCUS students talk about heroes
PERRY - The FOCUS Oratorical Contest was held
recently at the Houston County Board of Education
office. The topic for this year’s speech was “My Hero.”
Each elementary school held a competition and the win
ner then competed at the system competition. At the
Houston County Board of Education April meeting the
students performed their winning speeches for members
of the board.
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AMBER SKEEN HOWELL
Association, the Georgia
American Pharmacists
Association and the
National Community
Pharmacists Association.
She and her husband
Joshua Howell reside in
north Macon.
LOCAL & STATE
Stale looks lor surplus as collections shew growth
By DICK PETTYS
AP Political Writer
ATLANTA - State tax col
lections for the first 10
months of the year are up
8.4 percent - more than
S9OO million - over revenue
for the same period last year,
according to figures released
Friday.
“We’re running a couple of
hundred million dollars or
so over the budget year-to
date and I think we’re still
hopeful that we will retain
some surplus this year,” said
Tommy Hills, the state’s
chief financial officer.
That leaves the state with
far better financial
prospects than it experi
enced in the past several
years, when the lingering
effects of recession forced a
series of spending cuts.
University of Georgia
economist Jeffrey
Humphreys said the state is
posting “very solid numbers,
Student says T-shirt
slogans got her a
day's suspension
The Associated Press
TIFTON - A teenager was
back in class Friday after
receiving a one-day suspen
sion for wearing a T-shirt
with slogans including
“freedom of expression” and
“don’t drink and drive” that
school administrators con
sidered disruptive.
Hanna Smith, 18, a junior
at Tift County High School,
said principal Mike Duck
told her that if she wore the
shirt again she would be
suspended for the remain
der of the year.
The principal was arrest
ed six years ago for DUI and
running a stop sign, the
Tifton Gazette said Friday
in a story on Smith’s sus
pension. Duck made a public
apology for the DUI and was
himself suspended for five
days.
Smith’s mother, Tracy
Fletcher, said she would
defend her daughter’s right
to express herself, even if it
means hiring an attorney
and taking the case to court.
“They want everyone to
fit into a mold and there’s
no room for individuality.
These kids are our future, I
think they should be treated
with a little more respect.
Their opinions count. Their
thoughts count,” Fletcher
said.
The principal confirmed
that Smith was back in class
Friday without the banned
T-shirt, which also had a
peace symbol on the front
N.J. man
to make
bread off
runaway
bride
The Associated Press
NEWTON, N.J. - A local
man has made the case of
runaway Georgia bride
Jennifer Wilbanks the toast
of eßay.
Perry Lonzello, 48, of
Newton, says he carved a
rudimentary drawing of
Wilbanks on a piece of toast
ed Wonder Bread and posted
it on eßay on a whim.
“I just carved it on there
real quick and put it on
there as a joke,” Lonzello
told the Daily Record of
Parsippany for Friday’s
newspapers.
As of about noon Friday,
102 bids had been made on
the toast, which was selling
for S6OO on the auction Web
site. Bidding closes Sunday.
The toast is still a long
way from equaling the
grilled cheese sandwich with
an image of the Virgin Mary
that sold for $28,000 on
eßay in 2004.
particularly given that the
inflation rate is very low and
we are not getting much of a
push from inflation.”
However, April collections
of $1.2 billion were down 2.9
percent compared to last
April, but state financial
analysts said that was only
because of a technicality.
Hills said a change in tax
withholding rules which
took effect in April 2004
resulted in a one-time gain
that month of $202 million.
For the state to come so
close in matching that per
formance again in April
2005, when there were no
special circumstances,
means “it really was a pret
ty strong month,” he said.
Dollarwise, the sales tax
and individual income tax
have contributed the bulk of
the state’s year-to-date gain.
Individual income tax col
lections are up 9.8 percent,
or $514.5 million, for the
and “Veritas” (truth) writ
ten on the back.
On Friday, Smith wore a
different T-shirt, this one
reading “Don’t
Underestimate
Individuality,” her mother
said. The first letters of
those words spell “DUI.”
Her mother said the teen
plans to wear the banned T
shirt again on Monday.
Duck said he could not
comment on the suspension.
“We can’t discuss children
and their issue,” he said.
“It’s a matter of privacy and
protection of their rights.”
The school system’s dress
code forbids disruptive
clothing, grooming and sym
bols. Principals decide
what’s disruptive.
“I have an obligation to
maintain an orderly envi
ronment,” Duck said. “The
courts give me the authority
and the right to make those
decisions and as long as I’m
sitting in this chair that’s
what I’m going to do.”
Smith said she learned
about Constitutional rights,
such as freedom of expres
sion, in class and wishes
school officials would honor
them.
“I think it’s silly that we
can’t practice the freedoms
that they teach us here,”
Smith said. “You would
think that school officials
would have respect for the
law and people’s rights, or
at least they should.”
Thank you for
reading the HHJ
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period while sales tax collec
tions are up $351.8 million,
or 8.8 percent.
Meanwhile, the rising cost
of gasoline also is showing
up in the state’s revenue
picture.
For the year to date, the 4
percent sales tax on gasoline
has generated $75.4 million,
39 percent more than for the
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same period a year ago. But
the 7.5 cents per gallon
excise tax is down some
$50.3 million, or 11.7 per
cent.
Revenue Commissioner
Bart Graham called that a
clear sign that many
motorists are driving less
because of the rising cost of
the product.
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