Newspaper Page Text
TUESDAY
April 11, 2006
VOLUME 136 , NUMBER 70
Award-Winning
Newspaper
2004
Better Newspaper
Contest
In BRIEF
Perry hosting
'Heart & Soul'
Bus Tour
From staff reports
On April 18, Perry will
be one of 13 Georgia
Cities visited on the
“Heart & Soul” Bus Tour
hosted by the Georgia
Municipal Association
(GMA). The tour will
bring business, politi
cal and philanthropic
leaders from around the
state to Perry.
Guests will arrive by
bus at 11:30 a.m. and
will have lunch at the
New Perry Hotel. They
will then have a walking
tour of the downtown
Perry shops on Carroll
Street and the Perry
Arts Center.
Other cities on the
tour will be Fort Valley,
Fitzgerald, Waycross,
Folkston, Woodbine,
St. Marys, Ringsland,
Darien, Baxley,
Jesup, Hinesville and
Savannah.
According to Brooke
Starr of the GMA, the
tour is part of an over
all effort to educate and
inform state leaders on
the importance of suc
cessful downtown devel
opment and its role in
economic development.
“The bus will visit the
cities in three days,”
Starr said, “and the
tour will highlight the
innovative ways that
Georgia’s cities create
vibrant, attractive and
artful downtown com
munities.”
For more informa
tion, contact Perry
Downtown Development
Director Tish Mims at
(478) 988-2757 or perry.
dda@perry-ga.gov.
Area DEATHS
Eva W. Culpepper
See OBIT, page 2A
INDEX
CLASSIFIED 9A
COMICS 8A
CROSSWORD.... 8A
OBITUARIES 2A
OPINION 4A
SPORTS 7 A
TV LISTINGS 8A
WEATHER 2A
PERIODICAL
4
Georgia Newspaper Project
Man Library
UN IV OF GEORGIA
ATHENS GA 306C2-00G2
ALL FOR ADC 301
April 11, 2006
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LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY,
city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville
HHJ/Mike George
Pre- Teen Miss Dogwood Rae Aspen, left, and Tiny Miss Dogwood Hannah Perry, right, stop to pet David Hensley’s Jack Russell
and rat terrier mix, Willow, at the Dawg Jawg at Rozar Park Sunday.
Crowds 'jawg 1 to Perry for annual event
By MIKE GEORGE
HHJ Staff Writer
Dog lovers from as far
as Centerville, Byron and
Hawkinsville brought their
canine mmrmnions to Rozar
Park in Perry Sunday after
noon for the 16th annual
Dawg Jawg, a fundraiser for
Perry’s animal shelter.
Costume contests, dog
WR Chamber hosts Business Expo Thursday
Service agencies will also take part in event at Galleria Mall
By CHARLOTTE PERKINS
HHJ News Editor
If you’re planning to go to the mall
on Thursday, you may wind up learn
ing a lot about Houston County’s busi
ness community.
You might even come away with
some new ideas about where to buy
insurance, get a body wrap or take a
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Parents brave the rain at Saturday's Dogwood Festival in downtown Perry to hear their children
sing.
Rain, rain go away, and it did, Sunday
Mother Nature cooperated
with the dogwoods, which
were blossoming all over
Perry in time for the annual
Dogwood Festival.
She just wasn’t so kind
about the weather. On
Saturday afternoon, after
months of planning, crafters
huddled under their tents
and food vendors stood with
their hands in their pockets,
waiting out the bad weath-
Going to the dogs
races and obstacle courses
are regular attractions at
the yearly event, but the vol
unteers who helped organize
the Dawg Jawg this year
had something much more
exciting to cheer about than
sunny skies.
Supporters of the shelter
posted a simple sign this
weekend at the park, mark
child with learning problems.
Representatives from a wide range of
businesses and agencies will be meeting
the public face-to-face on Thursday at
Business Expo 2006, which will be held
at the Galleria Mall in Centerville.
The event, hosted by the Warner
Robins Chamber of Commerce, gives
Chamber members an opportunity to
Singin' in the rain
Photos and story
by Charlotte
Perkins
er.
The day started out gray.
Then it drizzled. Then it
poured. There was some
lightning. Then more rain.
Perry Area Chamber
President Megan Smith and
www.hhjnews.com
ing the spot where they hope
a new shelter will be built
in the months and years
ahead.
Organizers like Davis
Cosey and Dr. Jim Smith
have pushed for a new shel
ter in Perry for years. But
in the past 12 months, plans
for a new shelter have won
support from the Perry
Linda Easterly managed to
pull boxes of schedules and
t-shirts into a vacant store.
Author Billy Powell stood
at the door of the Perry
Bookstore, where he had
come for a book signing. He
wasn’t complaining, though.
Selling seven books isn’t bad
for a rainy day in a book
store on a street that’s been
closed to through traffic for
See DOGWOOD, page 3A
City Council, and initial
discussion has placed the
new shelter at Rozar Park.
The renewal of Houston
County’s one-percent local
option sales tax March 21
may make the new shelter
a reality. The city council
pledged at least $90,000 of
their expected $5.5 million
See DAWG, page 11A
showcase their services and to gain
new customers.
There will also be entertainment
and live radio remotes, and the day’s
events, which start at noon will wrap
up with a 5:30 p.m. Business After
Hours celebration sponsored by CB&T
Bank.
See EXPO page 12A
Woman gets 15
years for stabbing
death of husband
By RAY LIGHTNER
HHJ Staff Writer
Sherronica McKenzie, 29,
740 Cornelia Drive, Warner
Robins, was sentenced to 15
years in prison, with five
years of probation Friday in
the March 5, 2005, stabbing
death of her husband.
Judge Edward D. Lukemire
sentenced McKenzie on vol
untary manslaughter and
aggravated battery in the
stabbing death of her hus
band, Carl McKenzie 111. She
was convicted of manslaugh
ter Thursday in Houston
County Superior Court.
Lukemire did not require
any fines in addition to usual
probation fees. The maxi
mum sentence was 20 years.
“We are very satisfied with
the sentence, and we are very
grateful for the outstanding
police work of the Warner
Robins Police Department
and Sgt. Chris Rooks in
particular,” said Senior
Assistant District Attorney
Jason Ashford, the lead pros
ecutor in the case. Assistant
District Attorney Erikka
Williams, also a prosecu-
ONE SECTION • 12 PAGES
Gretchen
Wilson
coming
to fair
First time ever
“Sneak'A-Peek”
planned for GNF
From staff reports
Get ready Georgia!
After her late cancellation
last year, Gretchen Wilson
is scheduled once more to
perform at the Georgia
National Fair in October.
Big & Rich, and the
Country Gold Tour 2006
performing on the stage in
Reaves Arena during the
17th annual, state-spon
sored Georgia National
Fair, October 6-15.
For the first time ever,
the Georgia National Fan
will have a special “Sneak
a-Peek” of the Fair during
the afternoon and evening
of October 5. The Fair’s
preview will feature a free
outdoor concert, Fair food,
and Pay-One-Price Midway
rides.
The Georgia National
Fair is exploding with so
much to do that it will take
an extra day to enjoy it all,’*
said Michael Froehlich,
executive director.
“The Georgia National
Fair is pleased Gretchen
Wilson will perform for her
many fans in Georgia. Big
& Rich and the Countiy
Gold Tour will round out a
superb lineup of the great
est in country music which
is the mainstay of the Fair’s
entertainment,” Froehlich
added.
Concerts in Reaves Arena
are scheduled as follows:
Gretchen Wilson, Oct. 7;
Big & Rich with special
guest star Cowboy Troy,
Oct. 14; and The Country
Gold Tour 2006 featuring
Leroy Van Dyke and the
Auctioneers with Rex Allen
Jr., Jimmy Fortune, Billy
Walker, Jean Shepard, and
Billy Joe Royal, Oct. 15.
Reaves Arena concert tick
ets will go on sale Aug. 26.
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SHARRONiCA MCKENZIE
tor on the case, added “the
family was pleased with the
sentence especially that the
judge, while acknowledging
that despite the victim Carl
McKenzie’s faults, he still
had value.”
During the two-day trial,
prosecutor Williams por
trayed McKenzie as an angry
woman seeking revenge for
her husband’s many wrongs
against her during their
five-year marriage. Point
ing out inconsistencies in
McKenzie’s story, Williams
See 15 YEARS, page 11A
50£
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