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FRIDAY June 3, 2005 Volume 135, Number 365 Award-Winning Newspaper 2004 Better Newspaper Contest Inside TODAY K-'. '-V * H Ik > ■ Making friends through the Moms Troop for many young moth ers in an increasingly mobile society, isolation is a real problem. That’s why the Moms Troop was formed. Famly&Faith, page 9A ? w „' : ■., 1 Second Baptist Church gives a whole new meaning to 'saves' Sports, page 14A Happy BIRTHDAY! Natalie Claxton Laura Clay Shirley Kendrick Cal Langston Herman Schojan (Surprise your friends! Let us know when their birthday or anniversary is, and we’ll put theit 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 Col. Marc L. Drinkhahn, USAF (Ret.) Inez Strowder Obits, page 2A INDEX CLASSIFIED 12A CLUB NEWS 7A COMICS 11A CROSSWORD ...11A FAMILY&FAITH .. .9A OBITUARIES 2A OPINION 4A POLICE BEAT ... .5A SCHOOL NEWS . . .8A SPORTS 14A TV LISTINGS 11A WEATHER 2A PERIODICAL 6* Georgia Newspaper Projed Main Library UN IV OF GEORGIA ATHENS GA 30602-0002 3-DIGIT 306 Serving Houston County Since 1870 ®ltc djuurmtl 9 LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY, city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville .V-' ' ' —— ~" |W ’' "H ~~~~ “l 3 j', gm. -n-- ■ *9 j|B A ■ f a h ji*l i hi n• i i , a Ajsf- g;j. ij a 3. ■ 1 o i A VB ygs§gngijg||£i. ■ \ o ) f i... 9 \ \ , I MS IBk HL • lliSBflBWE&I1 6 * flliKid Hp r %||H. . i ' m t \ 1 Hl£&3 i .„•,, ‘ aaii./wlw# f t|. t >;" mi v / £« &y® 1 fm. mr' M ' tjpy ' ‘ fIF \ ilir»^Bßfll'-^ 4wß3Pf' «WKm. : 'W? i iBwIiR fe i lHHfe -A* If FnF t : ” T aMf * ,|p - .cv. 11* JPSPiPjf.. 4jl li&igJi &«»• «„ • • ’ HHJ/Mike George Fire crews talk to the injured driver of a 1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse after a two-car wreck at the intersection of Perry Parkway and Airport Road in Perry Thursday. Two people were injured. Two hurt in wreck Two people were injured in a two-car wreck at the intersection of Perry Parkway and Airport Road in Perry Thursday, and both were taken to area hospi tals. According to Patrolman John Kessler of the Perry Police Department, a 1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse driven by Carol Painter, 48, of Warner Robins, was eastbound on Perry Parkway when a 2005 Jeep Liberty, driven by Catherine Blount, 44, of Bonaire, ran a stop sign on Airport Road and collided with the Eclipse, sending it careening into a field. - Mike George Bus drivers compete in ‘road-e-o' Perry’s agricenter hosts state event to test drivers’ skills By TIM HOSKINS HHJ Staff Writer “It’s going to take a heap of luck today, with all this rain,” said Wendell Crook, finding shelter under the north gate of the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter in Perry. Crook, a Houston County school bus driver, competed in the 27th annual Georgia bus driver “road-e-o,” held Thursday. “This is the second time I’ve had rain at a road-e-o,” said Crook, who has been a bus driver for over 40 years. “This is where your prac tice comes in. Practice gives you that little last minute thought about where things are in your mirrors and where they go when you turn,” said Crook, who was one of two drivers from Houston County to make it to the event. Thursday’s road-e-o is the www.hhjnews.com L**k JK I I I \ l Wmw&wmb hp s \ . " -■». gaiNlM MHipf 1 Jk/Tk ts>. wwiaK-aE. HHJ/Mike George Rescue crews pull an injured woman from a wrecked 2005 Jeep Liberty at the inter section of Perry Parkway and Airport Road in Perry Thursday. Rescue crews extract ed the pinned woman from the vehicle, and she was transported to the Medical Center of Central Georgia. state championship for the Pupil Transportation Safety Competition, which chal lenges bus drivers to hone their skills and complete a course of driving obstacles. Drivers volunteered to com pete in local events and advanced to regional compe titions based on their per formance. The top-placing drivers in each region advanced to the state cham pionship, which this year is hosted by the Houston County Board of Education. The road-e-o is run by the nonprofit Pupil Transportation Safety Competition Foundation Inc., and this year involved 41 drivers from across the state. The top two from Thursday’s event will go on to the international compe tition in Washington, D.C. Carolyn Bracewell, a DeKalb County bus driver, See ROAD-E-O, page 3A * IB HHJ/Teresa D. Southern Marty Riley of Kathleen judges a bus performing the Serpentine Maneuver in the Georgia Annual Pupil Transportation Safety Competition. Riley is a judge, but compet ed at the local level for the competition and has been a driver for three years. ONE SECTION • 16 PAGES County taxes may go up Officials: Millage ♦increase likely By RAY UGHTNER HHJ Staff Writer Based on the proposed budget, Houston County may be raising the property tax rate. County Commissioner Larry Thomson told mem bers of the Houston County Development Authority Thursday that the' budget was complete and based on it, “a small millage rate increase is expected. Less than a mill.” Thomson said the increas es in the budget are for fire services and equipment. See TAXES, page 3A YMCA plans fun day By RAY LIGHTNER HHJ Staff Writer There are all kinds of activities at the Houston County YMCA this week. The fifth annual Healthy Kids Day is Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Day include events to celebrate how fitness can be fun, with activities including an obstacle course, rock climb ing walls, moonwalks and youth program demonstra tions, said Houston County See YMCA, page 6A an Evans Family Newspaper 50c inn s^ssiolPooooirM