Newspaper Page Text
TUESDAY
April 4, 2006
VOLUME 136, NUMBER 65
Award-Winning
Better Newspaper Vcje—Jjjw
Contest s <2ct*Zy
In BRIEF
Register now In'
Spring Ring
A Spring Fling for
senior citizens from South
Houston County will
be sponsored by Perry
Volunteer Outreach at
Rozar Park Pavilion in
Perry from 10 a.m. to 2
p.m. on Thursday, April 20.
There is no charge. Guests
will enjoy an old-fashioned
picnic, games, homemade
ice cream, fun and fel
lowship. To register, call
218-2274 or 987-4194 by
Thursday, April 6.
Robert Ray not
running for
re-election
State
Rep.
Robert
Ray (D
Fort
Valley)
has
announc
ed he
is not
running
again for
RAY
the State House District
136 seat. The district
covers portions of Bibb,
Crawford, Houston,
Lamar, Monroe, Peach
and Upson counties.
Elected in 1982,
Rep. Ray is a member
and former Chair of
the House Agriculture
and Consumer Affairs
See RAY, page 10A
Happy BIRTHDAY!
Jerry Patton
Lucy Hunt
Mary Vamadoe
Tabitha McSwain
Red Adams
Margaret Talton
Having a birthday or anniver
sary? Well put it right here.
Call Charlotte Perkins at (472)
987-1823, ext. 234, ore-mail
cperkins@evansnewspapers. com
Area DEATHS -
Johnson D. "J.D."
McCracken
See OBITS, page 2A
INDEX
CLASSIFIED 9A
COMICS 8A
CROSSWORD 8A
HHJ QUIZ 5A
OBITUARIES 2A
OPINION 4A
SCHOOL NEWS .. 6A
SPORTS 7 A
TV LISTINGS 8A
WEATHER 2A
PERIODICAL
4
Georgia Newspaper Project
Main Library
UN IV OF GEORGIA
ATHENS GA 30602-0002
ALL FOR ADC 301
April 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
m |
ENiy Gary Harmon
The EC-135 that once served as General Norman Schwarzkopf’s command aircraft was towed down Highway 247 Sunday
morning from Robins Air Force Base to the Museum of Aviation for permanent display. Traffic was held up for several hours
during the move, and the move was complicated further when the tow bar broke at the side gate of the museum.
A puppy named Gumbo meets the Governor
By MIKE GEORGE
HHJ Staff Writer
Gov. Sonny Perdue visited
the Westmoreland Animal
Hospital in Perry Monday
morning,' keeping a pledge
made for the city’s animal
shelter, and encouraging
Georgia animal lovers to
control the state’s pet popu
lation.
A licensed veterinarian
since graduating from the
University of Georgia in
1971, Perdue was on hand
Monday to help hospital
staff neuter a six-month
old puppy named Gumbo,
adopted last fall by the
Tolbert family.
In December, local busi
nessman and shelter vol
unteer Davis Cosey first
approached the governor
with an idea. Cosey was
working to find donations
for a silent auction for the
shelter’s Fur Ball fundrais
er, and thought an auto
graphed picture of Perdue
with his dog, Ivy, might be
a nice addition. When he
asked Perdue for help, the
governor not only agreed to
sign a photo for the auction,
but added to the deal by
offering to spay or neuter a
family pet himself.
Kevin and Mollie Tolbert,
long-time animal lovers
and supporters of the Perry
Animal Shelter, bid more
than S2OO for the governor’s
offer, according to Cosey.
Mollie Tolbert said her fam
ily was looking for a basset
hound last October at the
shelter when she noticed
Gumbo, then roughly eight
weeks old.
“His brother and sister
were in the pen with him,”
Pearson Farm
finalizes buy-out ol
Whitworth Pecans
From staff reports
Pearson Farm finalized their buy-out of Whitworth
Pecans of Marshallville on Friday. In an ongoing celebra
tion of the company’s 10-year anniversary, Mary Pearson
said “It was just the right time to take the plunge.”
“Whitworth is a wonderful company that was owned
and operated by Joyce Whitworth” Pearson said. “Joyce
actually grew up with my husband Al.”
A 1 Pearson is one of the owners of Big 6, the oldest
peach and pecan farm in the state of Georgia. Asked
about the sale Pearson said, “It will allow us to gain
new customers obviously and continue to spread the
word about Pearson Farm; but also the customers of
Whitworth Pecans will continue to enjoy great southern
products and superb customer service.”
He added that “with the new products we are launch
ing this year and our focus on health and family, we will
continue to grow by leaps and bounds. This is just going
to be such a great year. You will have to watch out all the
time because almost each month we will be announcing
a new product or a new service.”
“We are here for the duration, we are here for our
clients, both past and future.”
Pearson Farm is introducing new products
See PEARSON, page 10A
www. hhjnews. com
King of the Road
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HHJ/ Mike George
Gov. Sonny Perdue, right, assists Dr. Scott Westmoreland, as the Tolbert family’s dog, Gumbo,
is neutered inside the Westmoreland Animat Hospital in Perry Monday. Perdue, a licensed vet
erinarian since graduating from the University of Georgia in 1971, offered to neuter the dog as
part of a package that was auctioned during a Perry Animal Shelter fundraiser in January.
she said. “They were jump
ing around, but he was just
sitting there, looking kind
of sad.
“I just fell in love with
him, and we took him
home.”
A native of Perry, Mollie
Tolbert and her husband,
Kevin, moved back to
the area in 1997. Kevin
Tolbert, who helped start
the Edgewood Development
Group, said he framed the
picture of Perdue and Ivy
and hung it inside his firm’s
office in downtown Perry.
Tolbert said her son
and daughter, Palmer and
Mollie, have already bonded
with the dog, and both chil
dren waited anxiously dur
ing the operation Monday
morning.
Using laser technology,
Monday’s operation was
over in minutes, and Perdue
commented that new tech
nology has made neutering
a largely bloodless proce
dure.
“I’m here today to encour
age Georgians to be respon
sible pet owners,” Perdue
said, emphasizing the
importance of spaying and
neutering dogs and cats.
“We have a sad situa
tion in our animal shelters
of being forced to put too
many our animals to sleep,”
he said.
Time to smell the flowers
.■ --- - -
..4* / -
ENI/ Cary Harmon
Lara Aromatorio takes time out from browsing with her mom
to check out the geraniums at the Beitista Spring Home
and Garden Show. The show, held at the Georgia National
Fairgrounds, attracted thousands on Saturday and Sunday. For
more photos, see page 3A
Cosey said that the gov
ernor’s visit Monday brings
much-needed attention to
a local push to build a new
animal shelter in Perry. For
years, local supporters have
argued for moving the shel
ter from its current home
in a modest building behind
a city maintenance shed
near the Tolleson Lumber
Company on Ball Street.
As Perry faces an unprec
edented housing boom, vol
unteers like Cosey said the
shelter will have to expand
along with it. The Perry
City Council has committed
more than $90,000 for the
project from their portion
See, SONNY, page 10A
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Murder
trial
begins
this week
By RAY LIGHTNER
HHJ Staff Writer
Jury selection began
Monday in the murder
trial of Sherronika Vo-Shay
McKenzie, 29, 740 Cornelia
Drive, Warner Robins.
She is
accused in
the March 5,
2005, stab
bing death
of her hus
band Curtis
McKenzie
111, 25, in
their home.
She report
edly called
911 after
the stabbing and has been
held without bond in the
Houston County Jail since
the murder.
Senior Assistant District
Attorney Jason Ashford
said the trial is expected
to last about two to three
days, with opening state
ments tentatively scheduled
for Wednesday. Ashford will
be prosecuting the case and
attorney Jeff Grube is repre
senting McKenzie.
Sherronika McKenzie was
indicted March 22, 2005, on
charges of murder, aggra
vated battery, possession of
knife during a crime and
cruelty to children for on or
about March 5, 2005, unlaw
fully and without authority
during the commission of a
felony of aggravated battery,
causing the death of her hus
band, maliciously causing
bodily harm to him by stab
bing his heart with a knife,
possessing the knife, with
a blade of three inches or
more during the commission
of the felony murder and
being the primary aggressor
to a forcible felony while a
child under age 18 was pres
ent to see the act.
According to police reports,
four children, ages 1,2, 8
and 11, were in the home
at the time of the incident.
They are in the custody of
grandparents at this time.
The Warner Robins Police
Department responded to
an assault call from the
Cornelia Drive residence
March 5, 2005, and found
Mr. McKenzie bleeding from
stab wounds to his upper
torso. He was transported to
the Houston County Medical
Center where he later died
from his injuries. The mur
der was the first homicide of
2005 in Warner Robins.
During the bond hearing
last year, Grube asked the
court “to understand the fla
vor of the situation,” explain
ing the “violent nature of the
couple’s relationship,” disci
pline problems with the two
older children who were not
fathered by the victim, and
“the victim’s extracurricular
activities - running around
on his wife and selling dope,
(which) contributed to their
problems.”
During the bond hearing,
Ashford noted that Mrs.
McKenzie initially said her
husband fell on the knife
“and then changed her story
when that didn’t fly,” as he
was stabbed twice in the
chest.
Grube said at the time,
“there is a strong valid self
defense. If my client wanted
to kill the victim, she could
have got the gun and shot
him.”
Grube pointed out that
“a few weeks before the
incident, the victim was
See TRIAL, page 10A
□H
MCKENZIE