Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY
January 4, 2006
Volume 136, Number 1
Award-Winning
Newspaper
2004
Better Sewspaptr
Contest
Inside TODAY
A
Pears, plain and
fancy
Ralph Waldo Emerson
once said, “There are only
ten minutes in the life of
a pear when it is perfect
to eat.”
The pear that’s just
right for eating today
is likely to be overripe
tomorrow, and many
times, the best option in
the produce section is a
pear that isn’t ripe yet.
Just let it ripen at home.
Hearth&Home, page 7A
Happy BIRTHDAY!
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(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 hhjeevansnewspapers.com,
or mail them to us at the address
inside. No phone calls, please. Many
happy returns!)
Area DEATHS
Cleveland S. Bethune Jr.
L.A. Bullock
Gertrud “Trudy” Crocker
Grier W. “G.W.” Hicks
Betty Rose Hill
Sky Owen Olson
Jerrett E. Singleton
Mary K. Smith
Madelyn Betty Snyder
Obits, page 5A
INDEX
CLASSIFIED 9A
CLUB NEWS 2A
COMICS 8A
CROSSWORD.... 8A
LIFESTYLE 7A
OBITUARIES 5A
OPINION 4A
PHARMACY Q&A . 6A
SPORTS 10A
TV LISTINGS 8A
WEATHER 2A
a
PERIODICAL
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Georgia Ne-wspaper Project
Main Library
UNIV OF GEORGIA
ATHENS GA 30602-0002
ALL FOR ADC 301
January 4, 2006
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
Board endorses
veto power for
annexations
Commissioners reject norv
contiguous request from WR
By TIMOTHY GRAHAM
HHJ Staff Writer
Although the Houston
County Board of
Commissioners had a short
agenda for its Tuesday morn
ing meeting and got through
it in short order, it was clear
that they had something on
their minds.
And that something was
annexation.
After the new business was
complete and the floor open
to public comments, three
county residents got before
the microphone to complain
Sign up now for
Fire Academy
Perry FD expects more participants
in this year’s 1 Rweek course
By MIKE QEOROE
HHJ Staff Writer
The Perry Fire Department
is bringing back the Citizens’
Fire Academy this February,
offering another chance to
see what life is really like for
local firefighters.
“I think there’s this mind
set out there that once we get
back to the station, all we do
is sit around and play check
Noler promoted at Perry PD
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HHJ Mike Georgr
The Perry Police Department’s newest detective, Nate No/er, right, beams alongside Perry
Police Chief George Potter, at his promotion ceremony Tuesday morning. No/er, 25, was hired
by the department in 2003 after an internship with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation in
2002 No/er has associate’s and bachelor’s degrees from Macon State College, and is married.
No/er said Tuesday he has always dreamed of a long career in law enforcement, and is noted
around the department for his drive and determination. He will step into a spot left by outgoing
Detective Leyon Roberts, who is moving into a position as an assistant shift supervisor with
the patrol division.
www.hhjnews.com
about -in their opinion
- out-of-control annexation.
And they found a ready and
sympathetic audience from
the commission.
Commissioners Tom
McMichael and Jay Walker
revealed that they had
recently attended a meeting
of the Association County
Commissioners of Georgia
where the question of annex
ation was discussed and a
bill was drafted to address
the issue. McMichael said
the bill - which would give
See COMMISSION, page 3A
ers,” said Perry Firefighter
Kirk Crumpton. “But there’s
so much that goes into this
that people don’t see, and
that’s what this fire acad
emy is all about.”
Only a handful signed up
for the academy last year,
but Crumpton expects
enrollment in the academy
to increase this year.
“I’d like to see at least 10
See ACADEMY, page 3A
A great year in local sports
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HHJ Clary Harmon
It was a year that began with the announcement Andy Scott would be Perry High School’s
new athletic director and head football coach and ended with Peach County stealing the Bear
Brawl basketball tournament. In between there were region championships and a hundred
other memories, including the heartbreak for Northside of losing the AAAA football finals.
Read about the past year in local sports beginning on page 10A.
HOPE rules change
could discourage
honors classes
The Associated Press
ATLANTA - A change in
how grades are weighed for
the HOPE scholarship could
end up discouraging Georgia
students from taking honors
classes.
Beginning in the spring of
2007, extra points that had
been added to grades made
in honors classes will not be
counted when deciding who
gets a HOPE scholarship.
For some college-bound
students, that means taking
the harder horrors classes
could bring their grade
point average below the
3.0 average the scholarship
requires.
The legislature agreed to
stop using the extra point
for merit-based scholarships
in 2004, citing concerns over
uneven quality of honors
classes around the state.
But Tom Bowen, chair
man of the Georgia Student
Finance Commission, said
he is worried the change will
cause students to play it safe
and take easier classes.
“Isn’t the state trying to
push standards up?” Bowen
asked. “We, being the state,
should really consider this
again. Do we really want to
tell that student who’s right
at 3.0, who wants to take
a challenging course, ‘Don’t
take it, because you may put
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ONE SECTION *l2 PAGES
your HOPE scholarship at
risk’?”
In making the change, leg
islators cited lack of con
sistency. Unlike Advanced
Placement or International
Baccalaureate classes, which
follow a set curriculum, hon
ors courses are developed by
local schools.
In a Nov. 30 letter to state
Schools Superintendent
Kathy Cox, the Finance
Commission said it would
give students a half-let
ter weight for grades in
Advanced Placement or
International Baccalaureate
classes but that it could not
do the same for honors class
es.
The commission asked
Cox and the state Education
Board to re-examine honors
classes. But a spokesman said
the Education Department
has no immediate plans to
look into setting standards
for honors classes.
A few state board mem
bers said they expect to con
sider the rigors of honors
classes at some point this
year. The board needs to
consider whether removing
extra points for those class
es will discourage students,
said board member Linda
Zechmann, who represents
southeast Georgia.
See HOPE, page 34