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THURSDAY June 23, 2005 Volume 135, Number 370 1 iVUnUiy */ Award-Winning Newspaper 2004 Better Newspaper Contest ''' , Up ; And you're outl Midget League Cardinals pitcher Lyndon 1 Meadows fields a grounder in front of the mound and throws to first for the out. Sports, page 3B Happy BIRTHDAY? Robert Bearden Brittany Capps Steven Harrell Taylor Loudin Gabrial Rice Kenny Shy (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 DEATH Kenneth “Kenny” E. Boutwell Obit, page 2A INDEX CLASSIFIED 7 A COMICS 6A CROSSWORD ... .6A ENTERTAINMENT .8A LEGALS 4B OBITUARY 2A OPINION 4A SCHOOL NEWS .. .2A SPORTS 1B TV LISTINGS 6A WEATHER 2A PERIODICAL {ffillUllllllMllilKtMHfulllulllfllllllllllll 6* Georgia newspaper Preyed Man Library UN IV OF GEORGIA ATHENS GA 3G6G2-GOC2 3-DIGIT 306 June 23, 2005 Serving Houston County Since 1870 tfJicrusfom ptametf dim " LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY, city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville Perry passes weaker fireworks law City ordinance stops short of banning fireworks; attorney says a ban could lead to litigation By MIKE GEORGE HHJ Staff Writer The Perry City Council erred on the side of caution Tuesday night, |B| -- ■■■»; ■ •i&kjtt'' /• ’-2^ jj£oP39&|HKr fefejK. JR>SSK.\ Jff. !S«g» HPKjW h jjBPKLJ R i I JtF I wmL- <JfI If Workers climb this 360-foot radio tower near the Perry Water Treatment Plant this week to repair damage caused in a recent lightning storm ... and kept on tickin’ 800-MHz emergency communications system withstands lightning strike Article and photos by Ray Lightner How many men does it take to change a light bulb? If the two lights are 100 feet up a 360-foot tower and there’s a communications amplifier at the top that also needs changing, then the answer is five. Two Flint Energies elec tricians and Houston County Communications Systems Manager Tim Ealer assisted two tower climbers from CCSI Tower Site Systems Services of Dublin, in making repairs this week to one of the county’s new 800-megahertz emergency communications tower and equipment damaged by a lightning strike two weeks ago. Ealer said the E-911 sys tem communications were not affected or interrupted by the outage. E-911 See TOWER, page 10A Tolleson hosts fund-raiser Perry senator, colleagues attend authority meeting By TIMOTHY GRAHAM HHJ Staff Writer State Sen. Ross Tolleson and four of his most impor tant associates met with the Houston County Development Authority Tuesday to hear the concerns of the local group. Tolleson was at the Houston Lake Country Club on Tuesday morning for a fund raiser breakfast, and four of www.hhjnews.com passing a fireworks ordinance that restricts the sale of state-allowed sparklers, but does not ban them outright. It took a lickin’ _.v {§s3Sfc. ® f’" .- *v- I ' g % /: , J : • ' ; ».?’ ’ . ■ ' .-C:"\ A *w*- .&■, *[ '>v -.s& ® : ;s&Mt,*? >&)&s igffifv.; a l,.'*^..■'fe- 1 ij| * ijp a# i , -r T| ~> - ' m.'M Tjl&X • / • % ‘4. '»• ‘xV %*fp& -- * •?.-: ••’■ £, '- / •/• jaffiXa luSmr <ib£a. .« .<dH LB< sE^Sr''tW .<• <*• / / . ->. . *?“ ■ ■'■”■>'; v : '- JHr^ l //>■* a : ■-: .- ■'•• ‘ ,; ii -J •■ J m&»- I; //■ _•••>.. .-*-y --rKNr|i>»Ai // ■■, Rodney Cash from CCSI Tower Site Systems Services of Dublin prepares to climb up one leg of the tower to change a light bulb about 100 feet up. his fellow senators showed up to show their support for him. They were Rules Committee Chair Don Balfour, Senate President Pro Tern Eric Johnson, Majority Leader Tommie Williams and Tourism Committee Chair Jeff Mullis. The Development Authority was scheduled to have a called meeting following the fund Perry City Attorney David Walker said in a letter he presented to the council that the city could not ban fireworks if a state law allows it. raiser, but they took a few minutes to meet with Tolleson and his fellow senators in order to bring them up to date on local issues high on their priority list. Development Authority Chair Larry Snellgrove wel comed the visitors. “We want to thank you all for coming down to help Ross See TOLLESON, page 10A TWO SECTIONS • 18 PAGES “Based on our research, municipal regulation or prohibition of fire works must conform and not See PERRY, page 54 MT Jtt<' W k i | . -v- 4^-y lit diM :ri HHJ/Timothy Graham State Sen. Ross Tolleson talks with Houston County Development Authority Executive Director Morgan Law prior to Tuesday’s authority meeting. an Evans Family Newspaper 50c iiiiiig 3'"5 5108*000 01®'4 ... but county bans them All fireworks now illegal in Houston; commissioners pass budget By TIMOTHY GRAHAM HHJ Staff Writer The Houston County Board of Commissioners approved a budget for fiscal year 2005-2006, voted to ban the sale of fireworks and sparklers in the county, and accepted the low hid on widening North Houston Lake Boulevard in Centerville, all during Tuesday night’s meeting. The new budget calls for a general fund of $40,524,824 - a 9 percent increase over See COUNTY, page 10A Authonity enables MERC expansion By TIMOTHY GRAHAM HHJ Staff Writer The Houston County Development Authority held a called meeting Tuesday and made two deci sions that will help pave the way for an expansion of the Mercer Engineering Research Center (MERC) in Warner Robins’ Advanced Technology Park. MERC currently employs 160 people at its Warner Robins facility. Under the proposed plan it will add See MERC, page 5A