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FRIDAY May 13, 2005 Volume 135, Number 250 Award-Winning Newspaper 2004 Better Newspaper Contest Inside TODAjf ■Ft / lALi SB iwj A garden for St. Christopher's When Jerry Addison needed a service project to complete the require ments for becoming an Eagle Scout, he chose cre ating a garden for medita tion and prayer. That gar den was dedicated last Sunday morning at Christopher’s Episcopal Church in Perry. The project took a great deal of hard work as he created a garden spot with a trellis and swing in an area that had been overgrown and wooded and there was shrubbery to be dug up and relocat ed. Family&Faith, page 9A Happy BIRTHDAY! May 13 Dan Hart (Surprise your friends! Let us know when their birthday or anniversary is, and we’it 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 12A CLUB NEWS ....13A COMICS 11A CROSSWORD ...11A FAMILY&FAITH .. ,9A HOSPITAL PAGE . .7A OPINION 4A SPORTS 14A SCHOOL NEWS .. .8A TV LISTINGS ... .11A WEATHER 2A PERIODICAL li>ilillf»illiill,iiiil,|||ii,||,,,|| 111 l | l || lll || 6* Geonja Newspaper Project Man Library I IN(V OF GEORGIA ATHENS GA 30602-0002 3-DIGrT 306 Serving Houston County Since 1870 EDIMGIAFAD Every Day In Middle Georgia Is Armed Forces Appreciation Day CTft Y JHrancy (Hire djtfitraai W LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY, city of Perry , city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville BRAC announcement today Defense secretary slated to release his recommendations for base closures, realignments From staff, wire reports WASHINGTON - Secretary of Defense Donald S. Rumsfeld is expected to release his recommenda tions for the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process today. As of Thursday, Robins Air Force Jessica's story Perry teen one of three survivors to be honored at Houston County Relay For Life ' . #?< - -i M' i o 1 (Pi \ );icklv's/ v. Plan Cancer survivor Jessica Whitney, 17, holds a T-shirt her father, Jerry, designed to help her get through chemother apy treatments in 2004 at her home on Ga. 127 in Perry. Whitney was diagnosed with anaplastic large cell lymphoma in January 2004, but now is in remission. Ga. 247 a temporary runway By TIMOTHY GRAHAM HHJ Staff Writer WARNER ROBINS - Marvin Bessinger was wait ing for an old friend Thursday morning. Bessinger stood patiently at the Museum Of Aviation for his newly refurbished friend to arrive. When the F-106A Convair fighter jet finally crested the horizon on the back of a flatbed truck Bessinger had a big smile and just the hint of a tear in his eye. Bessinger and the F-106 go back to 1961, when he joined the maintenance team for the new jet at Selfridge Air Force Base in Michigan. Bessinger worked on maintaining the fire control system of the jet. In short, he made sure their missiles flew straight and true. Through his 20- year career with the Air Force Bessinger followed the F-106 to Castle AFB in California, Oxnard AFB in California, Klamath Falls AFB in Oregon, and finally Grand Forks AFB in North Dakota. In 1973 Bessinger retired to Warner Robins, but the www.hhjnews.com Base was planning to conduct a brief news conference at 12:05 p.m. today in front of the base headquarters building. Base officials will address the impact the Department of Defense recommendations may have at Robins. w f ?f ■ ■- - >V; v • ! -:-y|£ HHJ/Timothy Graham A restored F-106 is moved to its new site at the Museum of Aviation on Thursday morning. Some personnel had to push the gate open a little wider in order to get the plane onto the site. F-106 was in his blood. He traveled to Castle AFB in 2002 for a reunion of his old 456th Fighter Interceptor Squadron (FIS) and saw a refurbished plane there. When he heard the old F -106 at the Museum of Aviation was going to be restored and put on display, The 21st Century Partnership has planned a press conference of its own, tentatively set for 1 p.m. today in the lobby of the Century of Flight building at the Museum of Aviation. Partnership officials will provide their own analysis of the DoD rec- he had this day marked on his calendar. “I have a lot of memories in that plane, both good and bad,” said Bessinger. “When it came out it was state-of-the-art, and it was my job to keep it that way. This was one of the best planes ever built. They tried to retire it many times but the airframe was built so well they kept upgrading it. When they finally retired it in 1989, they still used some of the remaining planes as robot-piloted drones for target practice.” Bessinger is just happy See F-106, page 3A \ v Evans Family Newspaper 500 ONE SECTION • 18 PAGES ommendations, and their implica tions for Robins Air Force Base. The Partnership has established a web site, www.bracnews.org, which will be used to post the latest news and information on BRAC. See BRAC, page 3A Story and photos by Mike George PERRY - Seventeen-year old Jessica Whitney is like most girls getting ready for their high school gradua tion. Full of energy and excitement, Jessica is already talking about col lege and a career. But little more than a year ago, Jessica’s future wasn’t so bright. In January 2004, Whitney was diagnosed with anaplas tic large cell lymphoma, a cancer that attacks the lymph nodes and can spread throughout the body’s lym phatic system. After two months of pain, chemotherapy and long nights, doctors found no traces of the cancer in Jessica’s body. Still in remis sion, Jessica will be honored this weekend as one of three honorary chairs of the 2005 Houston County Relay for Life, a charity event that is expected to raise thousands of dollars for the American Cancer Society. See JESSICA, page 3A Special pull-out section inside Locals planning barbecue for Reed From staff reports KATHLEEN - A bar beque fund-raiser will be held on behalf of Ralph Reed, a Republican candi date for Lieutenant Governor, from 5-7 p.m. Friday, May 20, at the home of Charles and Gloria Alday, 123 Kevin Drive, Kathleen. Tickets are SIOO per per son. Please R.S.VP to Gloria Alday at (478) 987-4335 or glo3s@cox.net Contributions are not tax deductible for income tax purposes. State law requires us to report the name, address, occupation and employer of every person who contributes more than SIOO per election cycle. This event is paid for and author ized by Reed for Lt. Governor Inc. Chairs of the event are See REED, page 3A