Newspaper Page Text
FRIDAY
July 29, 2005
Volume 135, Number 405
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Award-Winning
Newspaper
2005
Belter Newspaper
Contest
Inside TODAY
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Softball teams
continue
preparations
Teams worked on speed
as their coaches timed the
players.
Sports, page 7A
Happy BIRTHDAY!
July 29
Dalton Crofutt
Dakota Crofutt
Laura Loewen
Lynn Trice
(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
- -
None were reported for
this edition
INDEX
CLASSIFIED 13A
COMICS 10A
CROSSWORD ...10A
FAMILY&FAITH .. .11A
OPINION 4A
SCHOOL NEWS . .14A
SPORTS 7 A
TV LISTINGS ... .10A
WEATHER 2A
PERIODICAL
5
Georgia newspaper Protect
Man Library
UNiV OF GEORGIA
ATHENS GA 30602-0002
AU. FOR ADC 301
July 29, 2005
Serving Houston County Since 1870
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9 LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY,
city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville
County millage up, but tax bill going down
By RAY UGHTNER
HHJ Staff Writer
While the county tax rate
went up Wednesday, the
result may be a decrease in
the bill for residents in the
unincorporated areas.
The Houston County
Board of Commissioners
voted 3-1 Wednesday night
to raise the county’s portion
of property tax bills, and
lower the fire tax.
Commissioner Jay Walker
voted against the increase,
“because it’s an increase.
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HHJ Mike George
Peggy and Ed Vesely hold up her portrait of Ed at the Perry Arts Center Thursday morn
ing. Peggy’s painting was modeled after the cubist style of 20th-century artist Pablo
Picasso. The Houston Arts Alliance sponsored a weeklong program of art and story
telling called ‘‘Meet the Masters," where students learn about the lives of famous
artists including Rembrandt, Monet and Van Gogh.
RIGHT:
Shana Lehrmann
of Warner Robins
works on a portrait
of Tish Mims, vice
president of the
Houston Arts
Alliance, at the
Perry Arts Center
Thursday morning.
More photos, page xA
HHJ/Mike George
Friends unite to support Wetherington
Fund-raisers being held to offset
medical costs after freak accident
By RAY UGHTNER
HHJ Staff Writer
Chris Wetherington’s
friends have organized sev
eral benefits to help him out
following a freak accident
that put in the Shepherd
Center.
Warner Robins Police Lt.
Joe Wetherington, said his
brother was “clothes-lined”
by a deer while riding his
motorcycle.
“The bike continued on
down the road,” Joe
Wetherington said. The only
injuries were to his head
and that impact “crashed
his face and gave him a mas
sive concussion.”
He was taken to the
Medical Center of Central
Georgia, in Macon, and was
several weeks before doctors
were able to complete facial
surgeries to repair the bro
ken jaw and multiple facial
fractures.
“It’s not that I disagree
with the entire budget, just
parts of it,” he said. “This
vote is up or down on the
whole thing so I have no
choice.”
Walker noted he was the
lone vote against the last
increase in the budget and
millage four years ago.
Commission Chairman
Ned Sanders said the net
tax would raise roughly
$27.4 million or about a $3.1
million increase over last
year.
See MILLAGE, page 3A
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“Amazingly, he didn’t lose
any teeth,” his brother
noted, “and speaks really
well.”
Wetherington said Chris
has been staying at the
Shepherd Center.
“He’s got a tough road to
go,” he said.
Friends and family have
been of great support to
Chris and his wife Monica
through their ordeal, said
Wetherington. They have
organized hot dog sales, a
motorcycle poker run, a
Boston butt sale and a raffle
- and have raised about
SIB,OOO so far.
“That’s a lot of friends
selling a lot of tickets,” Joe
Wetherington said.
The next event is The
Chris Wetherington Relief
Fund Golf Tournament.
“They need at least 20
teams for the golf
See WETHERINGTON, page 3A
www.hhjnews.com
The Houston County Board of Education
has set the millage rate for school taxes at
13.48 mills - a 0.15 reduction from last
year’s rate.
According to Stephen Thublin, the
board’s assistant superintendent for
finance and business operations, the rate
will generate approximately $36,590,283 in
Houston County property taxes, which is
about 21 percent of the total cost of opera
tions for the year.
The lion’s share of operational funds are
made up by state and federal revenue and,
r .
submitted
Chris Wetherington hugs his wife, Monica and their two daughters, Vally and Shelby,
in this Christmas photo prior to his motorcycle accident.
School millage rate down from last year
in the case of school construction, sales tax
revenue.
A mill is 1/10 of one cent, or $1 per
SI,OOO dollars of taxable value. Property
taxes in Georgia are generally assessed at
40 percent of the fair market value. For
example, if the market value of a house has
been determined to be SIOO,OOO, 40 per
cent (or $40,000) of that value is taxed.
With a millage rate of 13.48 mills, the
school property tax on a SIOO,OOO house
would be approximately $539.
- Charlotte Perkins
116th proves
successful
Robins wing enters third year
since becoming ‘blended unit’
By Tech. Sgt. BEVERLY ISIK
and Airman Ist Class
PAUL RYAN
USAF Public Affairs
ROBINS AIR FORCE
BASE - The first Future
Total Force wing, the
116th Air Control Wing, is
nearing its third birthday
since merging active-duty
Air Force, Army and Air
National Guard units to
Authority buys land,
OKs renovations
Also, Houston Medical Center
'Sees record number of births
By TIMOTHY GRAHAM
HHJ Staff Writer
The Hospital Authority
of Houston County
approved two renovation
projects at Houston
Medical Center and pur
chased a property behind
the hospital.
The authority approved a
renovation of the pharma
cy at Houston Medical
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ONE SECTION • 14 PAGES
form a “blended wing.”
In October 2002,
America’s first total force
wing took flight as the
116th ACW and made his
tory by combining active
duty airmen and soldiers
from the 93rd ACW, along
with Georgia Air National
Guardsmen from the 116th
Bomb Wing. The two wings
formed one cohesive unit,
See 116th, page 2A
Center. The project will be
supervised by the authority
and the work done through
subcontractors. The project
is budgeted at SBO,OOO. The
impetus of the project is a
requirement that the mix
ing of IV fluids be done in a
sterile environment in a
separate room.
The second renovation
See AUTHORITY, page 3A