Newspaper Page Text
WEEKEND
April 15, 2006
VOLUME 136, NUMBER 74
Award-Winning
Newspaper
2004
Better Newspaper
Contest
In BRIEF
Boehner to
be in Houston
Congressman John
Boehner (R-Ohio),
Majority Leader of the U.S.
House of Representatives
will be in Houston County
on Tuesday for a fund
raising dinner for for
mer Congressman Mac
Collins, Republican candi
date for the Bth District
Congressional Seat. The
dinner, with seats at SIOO
and SSOO, will be held at
the Houston Lake Country
Club. Boehner recently suc
ceeded Rep. Tom DeLay as
Majority Leader. For more
information, call (770) 880-
5177.
Happy BIRTHDAY!
April 16
Nell Minter
Mary Catherine Pinckney
April 17
Mari ah Hoit
Tori Huffman
April 18
Vicky Kirby
Se-nhya Roberts
Having a birthday or anniver
sary? We'll put it right here.
Call Charlotte Perkins at (478)
987-1823, ext. 234, or e-mail
cperkins@evansnewspapers. com
Happy ANNIVERSARY!
April 16
Doug and Christi Stewart
Jim and Rosalie Patterson
CORRECTION
Two errors were made
inadvertently in the story
in Thursday’s paper about
Beth Perera, Democratic
candidate for the House of
Representatives, Perera
was formerly married to
an Air Force pilot. She
has a degree in comput
er programming and is
an executive sales direc
tor with The Pampered
Chef. We apologize for the
errors.
Area DEATHS
Christine Williamson
Troxell
See OBITS, page 3A
INDEX
CELEBRATIONS.. 7A
CLASSIFIED 5B
COMICS 4B
CROSSWORD . ... 4B
OBITUARIES 3A
OPINION 4A
SCHOOL NEWS .. 6A
SPORTS 1B
TV LISTINGS 4B
WEATHER 2A
PERIODICAL
4
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LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY,
city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville
HoCo has seven National Merit Scholarship finalists
From staff reports
Seven high school students in
Houston County have been selected
by the National Merit Scholarship
Corporation (NMSC) as finalists
for either the National Merit or
National Achievement Scholarship
Program.
Only about 15,000 finalists were
selected nationwide, narrowed from
over 1.3 million students from near
ly 21,000 high schools. Less than
one percent of the nation’s high
school seniors make it to the semifi
nalist stage.
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ENI/ Gary Harmon
Planting a tree at Westfield for Arbor Day are, from left, Amy Spillers, Maggie Swearingen, Graeme Ciccarelli, Carson Grist, Alex
Morgan and Mary Claire Kinnas. See page 10A for more.
Fair to extend Reithoffer's midway contract
By MIKE GEORGE
HHJ Staff Writer
The Reithoffer Midway is
seen by many as a recogniz
able fixture of the Georgia
National Fair, and plans are
underway to keep it that
way.
The Florida-based compa
Republicans tear
into tax system
By MIKE GEORGE
HHJ Staff Writer
As the filing deadline
looms for filing state and
federal income taxes, for
mer Congressman Mac
Collins called the nation’s
tax system a “nightmare” in
a stump speech in Warner
Robins Friday.
Collins has launched a bid
for the Republication nomi
nation to unseat U.S. Rep.
Jim Marshall, D-Macon, and
laid out his plans for reform
of what he called a “convo
luted, complex, complicating
and costly” system.
“We need to end the
(Internal Revenue Service)
as we know it today,” Collins
said. “Many of our accoun
tants across this country
who people think are thriv
ing off of this system are
very unnerved by it ... They
see the IRS as an 800-pound
gorilla.”
Collins was joined by two
other Georgia legislators,
Sen. Cecil Staton of Macon,
and Larry O’Neal of Warner
Robins. O’Neal is chair
man of the House Ways and
Means Committee, which
oversees state tax policy.
www. hhjnews. com
To become a finalist, a semifi
nalist must have an outstanding
academic record throughout high
school, be endorsed by the prin
cipal, and earn a high SAT score.
Finalists from Houston
County High School are
National Merit: Tyler S. Rasmussen
and Kristopher J. Carta; National
Achievement: Jeremy D. Whitley
and Darnesha R. Sherrod
Finalists from Warner Robins High
School are National Merit: Vann
Thomas Jarrell and Christopher
Michael Tuck.
Kids dig Arbor Day
ny has been a part of the fair
since its inaugural season in
1990.
On Wednesday, the Georgia
Agricultural Exposition
Authority, the board which
oversees the direction
of the Georgia National
Fairgrounds & Agricenter in
Collins sharply criticized
the nation’s tax code, call
ing for a repeal of the so
called “death tax,” a term
opponents use to challenge
estate and inheritance taxes.
Collins said the current tax
system not only burdens mil
lions of average Americans,
but its growing complexity
actually costs the govern
ment as well.
“The cost of filing is tre
mendous, based on our U.S.
tax codes,” Collins said. “It’s
estimated it costs something
like S4OO or SSOO billion
just to comply with the tax
codes.”
Collins said the nation’s
complicated tax system has
forced hundreds of American
companies offshore, turning
to tax systems more favor
able for business.
“We are losing jobs,” he
said. “We used to be a nation
of export, now we’re a nation
of import.”
Collins pointed out that
the U.S. trade deficit exceed
ed $725 billion last year, and
said that rising deficits are
largely due to the tax sys
tem.
See TAXES, page 10A
The National Achievement
Finalist from Northside High School
is Carrie Oliver.
The National Merit Scholarship
Program and National Achievement
Scholarship Program are annual aca
demic competitions which offer high
school students the opportunity to
earn recognition and scholarships.
Students enter the Merit Program
by taking the PSAT during their
junior year. A selection index based
on verbal, math and writing test
scores is used by the National Merit
Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) to
Perry, approved a three-year
extension of the fairgrounds’
contract with Reithoffer
Shows, Inc. The deal also
includes an option for anoth
er two-year extension of the
contract in the future.
This year’s Georgia
National Fair, scheduled for
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Congressional candidate Mac Collins, flanked by State Sen. Cecil Staton, R-Macon, and State
Rep. Lary O'Neal, R-Warner Robins, talks about taxes at the Warner Robins post office.
Oct. 6-15, is one of more
than 40 stops on Reithoffer’s
North American tour this
year. According to Michael
Froehlich, the fairgrounds’
executive director, beyond
the midway’s returning
attractions, the company
See FAIR, page 10A
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initially screen more them one mil
lion students to select high scorers
for recognition.
The National Merit Scholarship
semifinalists continue in the competi
tion for scholarships at their selected
college and through private industry.
The first national Merit competi
tion was in 1956. The Achievement
Program, which honors outstanding
African - American students, began
in 1964. For more information, con
tact NMSC at (847) 866-5100 in
Evanston, 111., or visit www.nation
almerit.org.
AFJROTC
teams
win state
awards
also 2nd in
nation overall
From staff reports
AFJROTC drill teams
from Houston County won
14 awards at the Air Force
Association Georgia State
Drill Meet which was held this
past Saturday, Apr. 8. Sixteen
schools and approximate
ly 1,000 cadets from across
Georgia competed.
Col. Craig Lightfoot and
CMSgt. Lelan Callan, Perry
High aerospace science
instructors coordinated this
year’s event. According to
Jack Steed with the local Air
Force Association Chapter,
“Col. Lightfoot really knows
how to run a meet - he got it
started earlier than usual and,
of course, it concluded earlier.
About 20 teams competed.”
The Houston County High
School Black Knights won:
• Ist place, unarmed regula
tion,
• 2nd place, unarmed regu
lation,
• Ist place, unarmed inspec
tion,
• 3rd place, unarmed inspec
tion,
• 2nd place color guard,
• Ist place most impressive
commander, Cadet Jeremiah
Jones
• 2nd place most impressive
See ROTC, page 10A