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THURSDAY July 21, 2005 Volume 135, Number 399 Award-Winning Newspaper 2005 Better Newspaper Contest Inside TODAY jfMfcjflr * a- Strong medicine The Panthers marked their second day of foot ball practice Tuesday at the school. The team used a medicine ball to teach players to stay low. Sports, page 1B fpßji Review of 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' Entertainment, page 8A Happy BIRTHDAY! Homer N. Childs Betty Dawkins Billy Franklin Gary L. Hudgens Itaska Joiner Gary McCoy Dennis Oliver Marcus Privette Jim Rosser Ned Sanders Megan Tinnin Happy ANNIVERSARY! Nannette and Kyle Holder Area DEATHS James “Jim” Edward Burrow Shandon L. Soles Jr. Julian Bryant Stevens Obits, page 2A INDEX CLASSIFIED 4B COMICS 7A CROSSWORD 7A ENTERTAINMENT .8A OBITUARIES 2A OPINION 4A POLICE BEAT ... .5A SPORTS 1B SCHOOL NEWS .. .9A TV LISTINGS 7A WEATHER 2A PERIODICAL 5 Georgia Newspaper Project Man Library UNIV OF GEORGIA ATHENS GA 3G6G2-GOC2 ALL FOR ADC 301 JULY 21, 2005 Serving Houston County Since 1870 i I-lmxstcrtt dim sonnmi * LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY, city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville County millage up, but some to pay less Chief: Budget constraints leave fire department no room to grow <Part one of two) By RAY UGHTNER HHJ Staff Writer Houston County may cut its fire tax rate for unincorporated areas. The Board of Commissioners is prq posing a cut in the fire tax rate from I.76'mills to 1.3 mills. “There needs to be a different for mula to where the incidents are, to spread out the costs more evenly,” said Commission Chairman Ned Sanders. Sanders said the structures are pay ing all the costs right now, but only account for about 3.79 percent of the department expenses. In a recent meeting of the Warner Robins Rotary Club, guest speaker Houston County Fire Chief Jimmy Williams explained WR hears red-light camera proposal Manufacturer says system is effective in reducing traffic collisions, injuries By TIMOTHY GRAHAM HHJ Staff Writer The Warner Robins City Council held a special work session on Tuesday to hear a presentation from anoth er company offering to install cameras at local intersections to stop red light runners. The council heard a pres entation from Cherif Elsadek, director of new business development for Redflex Traffic Systems of Scottsdale, Ariz. Elsadek told the council that in 2002 there were more than 200,000 acci dents in the United States attributed to red light viola tors. These accidents result- Hester to serve three years for deaths By RAY LIGHTNER HHJ Staff Writer Scott Glenn Hester, 43, 114 Johannes Square, Bonaire, has been sentenced to 15 years, to serve three with Department of Corrections, for vehicular homicide in the December deaths of a Warner Robins couple. Hester, a sergeant with Air Force Reserve Command, was jailed in December on two counts of vehicular homicide, as well as failure to main tain lane, DUI, reckless driving and Schools, system receive grants By TERESA D. SOUTHERN HHJ Staff Writer In his report at the monthly Houston County Board of Education meet ing, Superintendent Danny Carpenter announced that the school system has been awarded grants totaling over $2 million. www.hhjnews.com the fire tax is on improved land - land with buildings. Williams noted grass fires only account for about 3 percent of the department’s expenses. “If you have 50 acres, we come out and put out your grass fire for free.” The Houston County Fire Department is funded by the 1.76-mill fire tax on improved land in unincor porated areas of the county. The cities each provide their own fire services so their residents get a 1.76-mill reduc tion on county tax bills. “We cannot use the General Fund for fires services,” Williams explained. “That gets into the double taxation rule.” The fiscal year 2005 budget for the county fire department was $1.4 mil- . . . ; '■ ■' ' ■ ■ I m Ip n \ " c ' V . % » ->JKM Z ■ HHJ/Timothy (Jraham Redflex representative Cherif Elsadek describes his product to a city council work session Tuesday. ed in 181,000 injuries and 921 fatalities. He said that a system to catch red light violators would improve traffic safety through law enforcement and education of the public. The system would reduce the risk of intersection colli sions between 50 and 70 percent, as well as free up driving too fast for conditions in the one-car wreck which killed Brian and Sara McQueen of Warner Robins, and injured the driver’s wife, Tina Hester. The accident occurred about 1:11 a.m. Dec. 19. According to incident reports, Hester was driving his 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer at a high rate of speed on Van Drive, and ran through a wooden fence at the end of the cul de-sac. He then struck a concrete cul vert and continued in an easterly Northside High, Northside Middle and Thomson Middle schools have been awarded a Comprehensive School Reform Grant for the next three years. The schools will receive the following amounts: • Northside High, police officers for other pur poses. The system need only catch two violators per day to pay for itself. Redflex was begun in 1986 and the company has more than 600 systems in 76 cities and 13 states. They do their own manufactur ing. The Redflex system provides not only videos of $695,000; • Northside Middle $708,000; and • Thomson Middle $450,000. Also announced in Tuesday’s meeting, the school system has been awarded $306,246 for the 2006 fiscal year to fund a , . ■.—«- <jr’ - ■ ■ —— HHJ Kay Lightner Houston County Fire Chief Jimmy Williams speaks to the Warner Robins Rotary Club on Tuesday. lion, with “next year’s budget about the same,” Williams said, at around $1.5 million. The budget includes: • salaries and benefits of about $620,000 or about 42 percent; See WILLIAMS, page 6A the violation but also digital still shots of the vehicle’s license plate. “There is minimal out-of pocket costs and no finan cial risk to the city,” said Elsadek. “We provide all hardware and software and do all training.” Elsadek said the only See CAMERAS, page 5A direction through an open field. According to the report, the vehicle rotated, became airborne and struck an oak tree on the right side. The two right-side, the McQueens, suffered fatal injuries. They were extricated from the vehi cle and transported to Houston Medical Center. Tina Hester was also transported to Houston Medical Center, where she was treated and released. Mathematics and Science Partnership Program. The Partnership Program will provide professional learning for county math teachers through the math departments of Macon State College and Fort Valley University. See BOARD, page SA TWO SECTIONS • 20 PAGES Houston’s fire tax to be cut for some residents By RAY LIGHTNER HHJ Staff Writer Houston County has pro posed raising its tax rate, but the result may be a lower bill for some residents in unincorporated areas. Commission Chairman Ned Sanders explained that because of the decrease in the county fire tax from 1.76 to 1.3 mills and the school board lowering its tax rate from 13.63 to 13.48 mills, those in unincorporated areas will end up with a reduction in their millage rate, by 0.07 mills from last year. See MILLAGE, page 3A Wash out! Businesses spar over proposed Perry car wash By MIKE GEORGE HHJ Staff Writer Tensions rose to the sur face at a meeting of the Perry City Council Tuesday night, as neighboring busi ness owners argued over the proposed development of a car wash near the Perry Parkway. The council voted unani mously to deny a special exception that would have allowed Mike Powers and Art Hall, who own Permac Properties Inc., to build a car wash at the intersection of Wespark Drive and Houston Lake Road in Perry. A group of vocal oppo nents argued that the car wash would have caused a number of problems in the area, from generating unwanted trash to creating traffic problems and safety issues. Powers and Hall, who already own a car wash and a laundromat on Swift Street in Perry, said they spent $510,000 in March to buy the 5.5 site. The two men had planned to build the car wash on a small lot on the property. The Perry Land Development Ordinance (PLDO) requires a special exception from the Perry Planning Commission and the City Council to build a car wash within a C-2 (gen eral commercial) district, which allows for a wide vari ety of other commercial developments. In early June, the Perry Planning Commission unanimously denied the partners’ request, saying the building would not fit in with surrounding offices and small businesses. J. Wayne Crowley, an attorney with the Macon firm of Bush, Crowley, Leverett and Leggett who represented Permac at the meeting, sent the council an 18-page document July 13 that argued that the PLDO violates Powers’ and Hall’s constitutional right to due process, when they were not allowed to directly See PERRY, page 3A an Evans Family Newspaper 50c jmiiit