Newspaper Page Text
THURSDAY
June 9, 2005
Volume 135, Number 369
Award-Winning
Newspaper
2004
Better Newspaper
Contest
Inside TODAY
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Creating art from
a block of wood
In the art of woodcarv
ing, it all begins with a
simple and featureless
block of wood.
Entertainment, page 7A
Happy BIRTHDAY!
Bettie Caldwell
Chrissy Calloway
Mark Cummings
Johnny Evans
Lucy Hicks
Andrew Johnson
Patrick McCann
Stacy Minter
Happy ANNIVERSARY;
Betsy and Dan McCann
(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
Ginger Lynn Allen
Shirley A. Collins
Annie Sullivan Evans
Jack Hardy
Harold J. Robinson
Obits, page 2A
INDEX
CLASSIFIED 9A
COMICS 6A
CROSSWORD ... .6A
ENTERTAINMENT .7A
OBITUARIES 2A
OPINION 4A
SPORTS 1B
TV LISTINGS 6A
WEATHER 2A
PERIODICAL
6*
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Man Library
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Junw 9, 2005
Serving Houston County Since 1870
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city of Perry ; city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville
County budget up about $3.5 million
ByRAYUGHTNER
HHJ Staff Writer
The county budget is going up
next year.
At the first reading of the fiscal
year 2006 general fund budget of
$40,524,824, Houston County Board
of Commissioners Chairman Ned
Holmes building on success
Warner Robins auto dealership ranked among nation’s top businesses
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Terry L. Holmes, dealer principal of Warner Robins Ford Lincoln Mercury was named
on Black Enterprise magazine’s 33rd annual B.E. 100 s ranking of black-owned busi
nesses.
Perry fireworks ban gets first reading
Chamber, Downtown Development Authority ask for more money from council
By TIM HOSKINS
HHJ Staff Writer
The Perry City Council
moved forward with a fire
works ban, and continued to
discuss 2006 budget issues
at a work session and regu
lar council meeting Tuesday
night.
County sets
moratorium
on sparklers
By RAY LIGHTNER
HHJ Staff Writer
You can’t buy, sell or use
sparklers in Houston
County through July 22.
The Houston County
Board of Commissioners
voted unanimously
Tuesday to put a moratori
um on the sale, purchase
and use of sparklers for 45
days, “to stop sales until an
ordinance can be enacted,”
said Houston County Fire
Chief Jimmy Williams.
“I’d hate to see anything
happen,” Williams said,
proposing the moratorium
until the ban ordinance is
enacted.
He said fire chiefs
around the state are con
cerned about fireworks.
“They burn hot and
cause fires,” Williams said.
“We had a grass fire started
by a sparkler on the day
the law passed.”
www.hhjnews.com
Sanders said it is up about 9.6 per
cent, from FY2oos’s $36,975,087.
The General .Fund is the largest por
tion of the county budget, and is
funded by property taxes.
No mention was made of a tax
increase at Tuesday’s hearing, but
County Commissioner Larry
The council accepted a
first reading of an ordinance
to ban items classified as
sparklers that were recently
made legal under state laws.
The city’s police and fire
chiefs support the ban and it
will receive a final vote at its
second reading at the next
Williams said sparklers
burn at 1,500 degrees.
“Matches burn at 1,000
degrees,” the fire chief
said. “We tell kids not to
play with matches, but it’s
OK to hand them a
sparkler.”
Commissioner Larry
Thompson said sparklers
are more than the small
metal sticks people are
familiar with.
“Some go 13 feet in the
air and are in canisters 6
inches in diameter,”
Thomson said. “These are
the same things that
caused that fire at the
night club in the
Northeast.”
The commissioners also
approved the first reading
of an ordinance banning all
fireworks, with the second
reading and enactment
expected to take place at
See SPARKLERS, page 10A
Thomson told members of the
Houston County Development
Authority on June 2 that “a small
millage rate increase is expected.
Less than a mill.”
County Director of
Administration Steve Engle said on
June 2 the county “is anticipating a
council meeting June 21.
One widely discussed
issue as the council prepares
the city’s fiscal year 2006
budget was city funding of
the Perry Area Chamber of
Commerce and the Perry
Downtown Development
Authority (DDA), two
Ross brings ‘Star Wars’ show to town
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Charlie Ross, the “One Man Star Wars Trilogy," jokes with Ellis Anne Sykes of Macon,
after his performance Tuesday night at the Museum of Aviation in Warner Robins.
Sykes is a student at Midsummer Macon, a program that offers children, teens and
teachers a chance to explore the arts through day camps, performances, demonstra
tions, and lectures.
Story, page 10A
By TERESA D. SOUTHERN
HHJ Staff Writer
By any measure, Terry L.
Holmes has done all right
for himself.
Holmes is dealer principal
of Warner Robins Ford
Lincoln Mercury in Warner
Robins, which has been
ranked on Black
Enterprise’s annual “B.E.
100 s” lists as one of the
nation’s top black-owned
businesses.
On the list, the auto deal
ership is ranked number 51,
rising from a position of 66
last year.
Holmes said he is proud of
the ranking, and the fact
this is the fifth year the
dealership has made the list,
which is featured in the
magazine’s June issue.
But at the end of the day,
he wants to be measured as
a good person and dealer
regardless of his race, sex or
creed - “but. not forgetting
I’m an African American,”
he said.
“It’s not about me, but the
organizations which pro
mote Perry businesses. Both
organizations had their
funding cut for the 2005
budget.
Although the Chamber of
Commerce is set to receive a
$1,500 increase over last
year’s amount, it is asking
an Evans Family Newspaper
500
TWO SECTIONS • 18 PAGES
4 percent growth in the tax digest,
but based on that we expect a mill
age increase of less than mill.”
The commissioners will hold a sec
ond hearing on the budget at its
next meeting, June 21 at the County
Annex in Warner Robins.
See BUDGET, page 10A
1 don't see this
as a minority
business, just as
a business.'
- Terry L. Holmes,
dealer principal of Warner
Robins Ford Lincoln Mercury
customers and employees
that serve the people and
community we represent by
bringing positive attention
to Middle Georgia,” Holmes
said. “I don’t see this as a
minority business, just as a
business.”
Holmes’ path to success
began on a Unadilla farm.
Here the son of Ella Lee
Goode, stepson of
Cornelious Goode and
grandson of Ella Mae
Holmes grew up on the self
sufficient 300-acre farm
that had been in his family
since slavery.
See HOLMES, page 10A
for a restoration of 2004’s
allocation of $12,000.
“We respectfully request
that the full amount be
restored,” said Mike
Jackson, chairman of the
Chamber of Commerce, at
the council meeting. “We
See PERRY, page 10A