Newspaper Page Text
FRIDAY
March 24, 2006
VOLUME 136, NUMBER 57
Award-Winning
Better Sewspaper
Contest 'j&crfy
In BRIEF
Annette Sanders
passes away
Ruby Annette Sanders,
wife of Houston County
Commission Chairman
Ned Sanders died
Wednesday in a Macon
Hospital, following an ill
ness of several years dura
tion. Flags in the county
were lowered to half-mast
in her honor. McCullough
Funeral Home in Warner
Robins is in charge of
arrangements, which
have not yet been final
ized.
Inside TODAY
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'Pride of the
Panthers' - a gift
to Perry fans
An HHJ book review of
Billy Powell's 'Pride of the
Panthers' by Staff Writer
Mike George on page 5A
Lariy Walker also has
praise for the book in his
column on page 4A.
Parking lot deal
could make way
for Walgreens
Speculation has re
emerged that Walgreens,
one of the nation’s larg
est pharmacy chains, is
headed to Perry.
See page 3A
Area DEATHS
Howell P Chapman
See OBIT, page 2A
INDEX
CLASSIFIED 11A
CLUB NEWS 2A
COMICS 10A
CROSSWORD... 10A
FAMILY&FAITH ... 6A
HEALTH 7 A
OBITUARIES 2A
OPINION 4A
SPORTS 8A
TV LISTINGS .... 10A
WEATHER 2A
PERIODICAL
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Georgia Newspaper Project
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UN IV OF GEORGIA
ATHENS GA 30602-0002
ALL FOR ADC 301
March 24, 2006
Serving Houston County Since 1870
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Tom Moore (Heft), principal of Perry Middle School, helps Hillary Albritton display her winning
design for this year’s Dogwood Festival t-shirt. Hillary, who is the daughter of Terri and Darryl
Albritton, won S2OO for the best design. The big Perry Festival, which is an annual springtime
event organized by the Perry Area Chamber of Commerce, will be on April 8 and 9.
Patient Towep decision made
Hospital
Authority OKs
Atlanta firm as
construction
manager
By CHARLOTTE PERKINS
HHJ News Editor
At Atlanta firm has been
chosen to serve as con
struction manager for the
planned patient tower, cen
tral energy plan and reno
vations at Houston Medical
Center .
The Hospital Authority
of Houston County voted
unanimously on Wednesday
to award the contract to
Gilbane Building Company
of Atlanta, at a fee of
$2,216,800. The choice,
according to Houston
Healthcare CEO Frank
Aaron, was based on
Gilbane’s offering the low
est fee.
“It was a hard decision
and it broke down to cost,”
Aaron said, noting that the
selection committee felt
that any of the four final
ists for the project could
have done the job well.
Serving on the selection
committee were Aaron,
Warner Robins getting $600,000 for frontage road
By RAY LIGHTNER
HHJ Staff Writer
Mayor Donald Walker got some
good news during his recent trip to
Atlanta.
Walker told the city council
he met with the local legislators
and with Georgia Department of
Transportation Commissioner
Harold Linnekohl. “Our frontage
road is on their project list,” Walker
said.
“He looked at our proposed $2.6
million project, and suggested chang
ing the road design from urban to
rural,” Walker said, noting that this
saved about $1 million.
“He said have the developers pay
to put in curb and gutter as they
build on the road,” Walker said.
The mayor said “council has
kicked in $1 million for the road.
www.hhjnews.com
And the winner is ...
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HHJ'('harlot te Perkins
Two new members were formally sworn at the Hospital
Authority meeting on Wednesday night, with Probate Judge
Janice Spires, center, officiating. G/en Greenway, right, has
served on the Authority before for over 12years, and has been
chairman twice, is filling the post held by Shiriyn Johnson-
Granviiie. Jack Ragland, left, was sworn in fill the post formerly
held by Car! Hammock.
Authority member Sonny
Watson, Houston Medical
Center Administrator
Art Christie, Director of
Engineering Jim Seguin,
and Construction Manager
Davis Rossman.
The fee is based on esti
mated construction cost of
S4O million, and includes
preconstruction planning
fees, corporate overhead,
rofit fees, payment and per
Linnekohl pledged the remaining
$600,000 - $300,000 in this budget
and $300,000 in July.”
Walker also expressed his displea
sure with legislaton sponsored by
Rep. Larry O’Neal and Sen. Cecil
Staton, which would permit the
creation of private cities. He also
thanked Rep. Willie Talton for his
vote against the legislation.
In a related matter, the city is
already having to deal with pri
vate streets. During the pre-council
session Councilman Terry Horton
raised the issue of two streets in
Featherstone subdivison.
“They’ve got a major problem in
there,” Horton said. “Those people
have been paying city taxes for 25
years.”
Walker said the streets were never
brought into the city because they
formance bonding, liability
insurance and other costs.
Aaron noted that he
hopes the patient tower can
be completed by the second
half of 2009.
There was also discus
sion of a plan to clean and
renovate hospital rooms at
both the Houston Medical
Center in Warner Robins
and the Perry Hospital.
See HOSPITAL, page 10A
were never brought up to city stan
dards. “We had a similar situation in
Briarcliff.”
Walked pointed out the main street
going into Featherstone, which goes
to a school and is heavily traveled
will be paved under the SPLOST
(special purpose local option sales
tax).
Walker also noted all paving the
city has done of late has been with
SPLOST, LARP (local assistance
road program) money or grants.
“If we can do something, fine,”
Horton said, “if not, we can’t,”
“We can’t take a substandard
street into the city,” Walker said.
“We can’t take on that liability.”
‘Brokeback Mountain’
reaction
During the public comments por-
Man gets four
years hi prison for
child molestation
By RAY UGHTNER
HHJ Staff Writer
Ephraim Lord Williams, 54,
230 Stevens Road, Danville,
was sentenced Wednesday to
10 years, with four in pris
on, for two counts of child
molestation.
Williams was found guilty
March 1 of two counts of
child molestation for per
forming lewd acts in front
of two children at a grocery
store in Warner Robins. He
masturbated in a car parked
next to two girls ages 9 and
12 in front of the Food Lion
on Watson Boulevard back
on Nov. 20, 2004, at approx
imately 2:30 in the after
noon.
Superior Court Judge
George F. Nunn sentenced
Williams, requiring four
years be served in prison.
Nunn also required Williams
to pay up to $5,000 for coun
seling for the girls, banished
Williams from Houston
County, and required he
complete a sex offenders
counseling program.
“He will be required to
register as a sex offender
and will be subject to strict
monitoring to help insure
he doesn’t do this kind of
thing again,” said Assistant
District Attorney Jason
Ashford, who prosecuted the
case.
‘We are satisfied with the
sentence,” Ashford said,
"arid think it sends X pow-
Bears, Demons, oh my
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Houston County and Warner Robins’ girts and boys met on the
soccer pitch at Tanner Field Thursday with the Demonettes
coming away 1-0 winner and the boys playing to an 0-0 tie. For
more, see page BA.
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EPHRAIM LORD WILLIAMS
erful message to would-be
child molesters to stay out of
Houston County.”
After Williams’s conviction
but before the sentencing,
Ashford said Nunn could
sentence Williams to up to a
maximum of 60 years.
Ashford said the mother of
the victims chased Williams
soon after the incident, get
ting his tag number before
he fled at a high rate of speed
the wrong way down a side
street, running a red light,
and escaping. Police were
able to track down Williams
through that tag number.
Ashford presented a police
video interview of Williams
in which he ultimately
admitted performing the
lewd acts but claimed he did
not intend for the children
to witness the event.
“Det. Brad Mules of
See MOLESTER, page 10A
tion of Monday’s council meeting,
Aaron Hufstetler, 114 Tina Drive,
proposed a change in the city char
ter. He was apparently motivated
by all the publicity given the movie
“Brokeback Mountain,” and the
possibility it could win the best film
award.
“It is past time for decent citizens
to take a stand and say “Enough is
enough,” he said, and asked that the
city charter be changed so that “no
special class status may be granted
based upon sexual orientation, con
duct or relationships.”
He read the council the wording
for his request:
“The City of Warner Robins and
its various Boards and Commissions
may not enact, adopt, enforce
or administer an ordinance,
See COUNCIL, page 10A