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FRIDAY MAY 20, 2005 Volume 135, Number 355 Award-Winning Newspaper 2004 Better Newspaper Contest Inside TODAY , || I _ ■ The Ballad of Nimrod Jackson HHJ columnist Billy Powell updates an earlier article entitled “The Ghost of Nimrod Jackson Lives On” with news of a special event planned in Jackson’s honor. Family&Faith, page 8A !Happy BIRTHDAY! Robert Lewis Mack Peyton Chuck Stubbs (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 Gil W Barwick Jr. Jerry M. Cox Lennis D. Langlie Sr. Bob Pilkinton Obits, page 7A 1 ' 11 «"RP'' IMf-VCV INUfcX CLASSIFIED 12A CLUB NEWS 6A COMICS 11A CROSSWORD ...11A FAMILY&FAITH . . .8A OBITUARIES 7A OPINION 4A SCHOOL NEWS . .10A SPORTS 13A TV LISTINGS . . . .11A WEATHER 2A PERIODICAL tiillilliinflnlliinilillliiillnillinulillinll 6‘ Georgia Newspaper Project Man Library UNtV OF GEORGIA ATHENS GA 3060 2-0002 3-DIGIT 306 Serving Houston County Since 1870 Y fHcmstmi JHmiu'lf Qihe * LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY, city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville Coleman named top 911 officer Emergency communications worker praised by superiors By RAY UGHTNER HHJ Staff Writer WARNER ROBINS - Rita Coleman is a good all around communications officer, said 911 Director Capt. Rick Harlowe. Coleman was recently honored as Houston County’s E-911 Communications Officer of the Year for 2004. The 2004 award was just presented due to delays in the expansion of the E-911 Center, explained Harlowe. “It was presented during Telecommunication Week in April,” he said. Coleman was honored for her work in retrieving infor mation that helped in the prosecution in the double murder case at Robins Air Force Base, Harlowe explained. “She was very instrumen tal in getting the proper information to the patrol officers and to the District Attorney’s Office,” he said. See COLEMAN, page 3A Talton credited for two grants First'term lawmaker secures funding for HODAC, Senior Citizens Center By RAY UGHTNER HHJ Staff Writer WARNER ROBINS - Two local organizations are get ting state grants, thanks to Rep. Willie Talton. HODAC and the Warner Robins Senior Citizens Center are each getting $15,000 in state grants. “People like that help the citizens and put the passion into action,” Talton said. “I was honored and pleased to be able to get some state funds to further their cause and need.” HODAC Executive Director Jackie Dußose said the $15,000 would help many programs especially those “hardest hit by state cuts” - the Gateway Cottage and victim assistance. Dußose said Talton “knew we’d really been slammed by the grant cuts.” She said Talton took it upon himself to get the grants. See TALTON, page 3A www.hhjnews.com Lindsey ES kids celebrate with water ■ ’ l *™* *' stffifjL '" “**** - £gg y "•* < 4*b£SmM^BmEgj2^^^^^^B W r - 'y ML ’’'' ft. j ”' 'JeSs-. - -, ; ■ ,W3Bf 7 ■ :' f W mmm fliraKS^r 1 wR rl ' ? >?• I f % *> IF y^^M®||!¥& h** JL % * m ■ |§|l jHh r s „|r -fc, ~ / ft BMII > i»WOlLXj'‘ __ V ■ •• jt * ? ' " IIHI lm' I Ri HHJ/ Charlotte Perkins Young ballerinas at Kids America Dancers of Middle Georgia are practicing for their big show, “If You Give a Girl a Mirror,” to be held at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Warner Robins Civic Center. There will be a cast of 150 dancers. Story and photos, page 8A ‘lf You Give a Girl a Mirror’ ONE SECTION • 16 PAGES ABOVE: From left, Juanita Holmes, 11, Taliah Lawson, 11, and Angela Styles, 12 have fun with the sponge toss at Lindsey Elementary School’s Reading Counts End-of-Year Water Bash Wednesday. LEFT: Trichia Thompson, 9, passes a wet sponge to fellow 9-year-old Daniel Gordon at Lindsey Elementary School’s Reading Counts End-of-Year Water Bash Wednesday. HHJ/Don Moncrief an Evans Family Newspaper 500 Willi 8™55108*00001" , 4 Council plans budget meeting By MIKE GEORGE HHJ Staff Writer PERRY - The Perry City Council will begin taking a closer look at the city’s 2006 budget later this month. During its work session Tuesday, the council agreed to meet May 31 to begin the first in a series of budget hearings. This year’s budget does not call for any millage rate increases. Next year’s proposed budget calls for a 2.7 per cent increase in water and sewer rates, as well as trash pickup rates and natural gas operating fees. City Manager Lee Gilmour said the council established a policy in 2004 that would account for the rising costs of providing service to the community by gradually raising rates every year. “The council does not want to be in a position where they are going to have to make large rate adjustments to account for years when they didn’t raise rates at all,” Gilmour said. The proposed budget also calls for a 5 percent increase in general fund fees, which include things like building permits, fishing licenses, city building rentals and youth athletic fees. Gilmour said that city employees will receive a 1.5 percent cost-of-living pay raise. The budget also sets aside funding for a $500,000 proj ect to build a new fire sta tion for the Houston Lake Road corridor. Gilmour said that the city has been con sidering building a new fire station for at least four See PERRY, page 3A