Newspaper Page Text
WEEKEND
December 31, 2005
Volume 135, Number 261
(^p
Award-Winning
Newspaper
2004
Better Newspaper
Contest
In BRIEF
Teen errested in
armed robbery
Warner Robins Police
arrested a 16-year-old in
Thursday’s armed rob
bery of Jerry’s Quick
Tax.
At approximately 11:30
a.m., police responded to
550 N. Davis Drive, in
reference to a reported
robbery. A man report
edly entered the busi
ness, showed a handgun
and demanded property
from an employee and a
customer in the store at
the time. There were no
injuries.
The perpetrator fled to
a nearby neighborhood
and was later taken into
custody without incident.
Police turned the juve
nile over to the Houston
County Sheriff’s Juvenile
Division after his arrest.
Anyone with informa
tion about the incident is
asked to call Det. Mark
Wright at 929-6911 or
929-6906.
- Ray Lightner
Happy BIRTHDAY!
Dec. 31
Effie Almand
Nelle Cosey
Haley Crofutt
Jo Hunt
Ken Keadle
Vivian Long
Dick McCoy
Lorraine Pratt
Mark Snay
Allison Wilson
Jan. 1
Nancy Branscom
Cheryl Stephens
Jan. 2
Bryce Patton
Otis Smith
Jan. 3
Jeff Spires
(Surprise your friends! Let us
know when their birthday or anni
versary 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
Robert “Bob” Konrady Sr.
Obit, page 2A
INDEX
CLASSIFIED 9A
COMICS 8A
CROSSWORD.... 8A
LIFESTYLE 5A
OPINION 4A
SCHOOL NEWS .. 7A
SPORTS 10A
TV LISTINGS 8A
WEATHER 2A
PERIODICAL
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UNIV OF GEORGIA
ATHENS GA 30602-0002
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December 31, 2005
Serving Houston County Since 1870
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" LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY,
city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville
Church
Mormons look to
future on Smith's
200th birthday
By JENNIFER DOBNER
Associated Press Writer
SALT LAKE CITY -
Though The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-Day Saints
is one of the world’s fast
est-growing religions - 120
million copies of the Book of
Mormon are in print - believ
ers still endure suggestions
by mainstream churches
that they are not authenti
cally Christian.
Yes, the Mormons once
called themselves “a peculiar
people.” But as the church
celebrates the 200th anni
versary of founder Joseph
Smith Jr.’s birth, its presi
dent says his flock is well
within the Christian fold.
“Of course we’re Christian.
The very name of the church
declares that,” said Gordon
B. Hinckley, in a recent inter
view with The Associated
Press.
“No one believes more
strongly in the divinity of
the Lord Jesus Christ. No
one believes more strongly
in the power of his redeem
ing sacrifice. The Book of
Mormon is another witness
for the divinity and reality
of Jesus Christ,” he said.
“The more people see us and
come to know us, the more
I believe they will come to
realize that we are trying to
exemplify in our lives and in
our living the great ideals
which he taught.”
Smith founded the Mormon
church in April 1830, 10
years after he claimed to
experience a vision of God
and Jesus in a grove of trees
near his family home in
Palmyra, N.Y. He said an
angel, Moroni, later led him
to a buried set of gold plates
inscribed with the story of
a lost tribe of Israel that
had settled North America.
Smith’s translation of the
plates became known as The
Book of Mormon, the first
of the unique scriptures the
church follows alongside the
Bible.
The church teaches that
Smith was a prophet and con
siders the men who succeed
ed him as church president
to this day as the “prophet,
seer and revelator” on earth
for Mormons.
Even more than the 78-
year-old Pope Benedict
XVI, the 95-year-old
Hinckley bears weighty
See HINCKLEY, page 3A
Hospital unit spreads
joy to local family
Perry Medical/Surgical Unit workers
adopt needy family for Christmas
Employees of Perry
Hospital’s Medical/Surgical
Unit took it upon themselves
to bring Christmas to a local
family this year.
“Instead of buying each
other gifts for Christmas like
we do every year, we decid
ed to adopt a family right
here in our own community
and help bring Christmas
to them,” explains Karen
Herring, Nurse Manager for
Perry Hospital’s Med/Surg
Unit. “Employees from each
of the three shifts donated
money as well as their own
Christmas gift cards from
the hospital and I went shop
ping for the family’s Wish
List.”
www.hhjnews.com
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Elders Carter Wilford and Alex Daily are missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-
Day Saints in Warner Robins.
WR, Perry home to
Mormon wards
Story and photos by
Timothy Graham
2005 was a significant year
for many people, but none
more so than the members
of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-Day Saints.
They celebrated the 200th
anniversary of the birth
of their Prophet, Joseph
Smith.
Despite the fact that there
are congregations (known
as wards) of Mormons in
Warner Robins and Perry,
the church remains a mys
tery to many people. Some
consider them a cult. Some
feel they are not Christians.
Smith was born in 1805
in Sharon, Windsor County,
Vt. He was raised to read
the Bible and have faith in
God, but he did not know
what church was right. He
decided to ask God, and at
the age of 14, he had a vision
of God and Jesus Christ.
Christ told Smith that none
of the churches that existed
at that time were right for
him. Mormons believe that
this was the beginning of
the Restoration of Christ’s
Church to Earth.
Four years later in 1823
Smith was visited by the
Angel Moroni. Moroni
told Smith that the record
of ancient inhabitants of
America was buried in a
nearby hillside and it con-
According to Willie Blige,
Certified Nursing Assistant
at Perry Hospital, the deci
sion to adopt the family was
unanimous among the staff.
“We couldn’t think of a
better way to give back to
our community than by
helping bring Christmas
to a child who otherwise
would not know the joy of
Christmas,” she says. “The
Perry Volunteer Outreach
provided us with several
families to choose from and
we chose a family with three
little boys. Just knowing
that those little boys will
have smiles on their faces
Christmas morning is gift
enough for all of us.”
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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Warner
Robins is located on Draper Street.
tained the full record of the
Gospel of Christ. Smith dug
up several thin plates of
gold on which was inscribed
what has become known as
the Book of Mormon.
Smith rapidly gained
adherents but the estab
lished churches of the
time would not tolerate
his church and they had to
constantly move westward.
Smith was finally lynched
in Illinois and the group
decided to move to what is
now Utah.
Smith is considered to be
a prophet by the Church of
Latter-Day Saints. All of the
church leaders who served
after him, such as Brigham
Young, were also consid
ered prophets. The current
president of the church,
Gordon B. Hinckley, has
this to say about Smith:
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From left, Willie Blige, CNA; Karen Herring, Perry Hospital Med/Surg Nurse Manager, Linda
Bausick, CNA; Gladys Alexander, CNA; and Karla Jessup, RN, are pictured with some of the gifts
for their adopted family.
“We do not worship the
Prophet Smith. We worship
God our Eternal Father
and the risen Lord Jesus
Christ. But we acknowl
edge the Prophet; we pro
claim him; we respect him;
we reverence him as an
instrument in the hands of
the Almighty in restoring
to the earth the ancient
truths of the divine gospel,
together with the priest
hood.”
The core beliefs of the
Church of Latter Day
Saints differ but little from
those of any mainstream
Christian faith. They had
13 Articles of Faith which
are the basic beliefs of the
Church.
The first is: “We believe
in God, the Eternal
Father, and in His Son,
See WARDS, page 3A
an Evans Family Newspaper
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ONE SECTION *l2 PAGES
Confused
about
Medicare
Some seniors
scratching their
heads over new
prescription
drug benefit
By LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ
Associated Press Writer
MIAMI BEACH, Fla.
- Jean Newman is hardly
afraid of challenges. The 73-
year-old Cuban native came
to the United States as a
teen, worked for years as a
substitute teacher and vol
unteered in the Israeli army
well into her 50s.
But when it comes to the
new Medicare prescription
drug benefit, she is at a loss.
“The whole thing is so con
fusing. It might as well be in
Chinese,” Newman said.
Millions of senior citizens
will become eligible for the
benefit Jan. 1, but but many
don’t know whether it will
save them money, or which
private insurance plan they
should choose among the
dozens that have bombarded
their mailboxes with ads in
recent months. Many don’t
know how to apply or wheth
er they are even eligible. And
many are asking: Will the
medications I need be cov
ered?
The clock is ticking. Those
who fail to sign up by May 15
may not get coverage until
2007.
Not surprisingly, the peo
ple who seem to know the
most tend to be the more
educated and more affluent
- the ones least likely to
need the new coverage.
About 42 million people
are eligible for the Medicare
drug benefit. As of mid-
December, nearly 20 million
were enrolled in some form,
but the vast majority of them
were automatically switched
over from other benefit pro
grams, including Medicaid.
Only about 1 million had
joined voluntarily.
Newman spends about
$l5O a month on Prozac
and the thyroid supple
ment Levoxyl. She applied
for the low-income assis
tance but was rejected. Now
she is unsure whether she
is eligible for any of the
See MEDICARE, page 3 A