Newspaper Page Text
FRIDAY
April 28, 2006
VOLUME 136, NUMBER 83
OUR
FRONT
PORCH
INSIDE
Don’t Sweat the small stuff
■ Perry soccer standout Jason
Sweat has plenty ot memories on the
pitch - a lot of them revolving around
scoring.
The one that stands out the most,
however, is more like a nightmare
than a blessing.
- Page 1B
Sara Lewis, ‘do-overs’
■ If you could do it all over again,
would you?
- Page 4A
IN BRIEF
Christmas in April
■ Rebuilding America along with
Christmas In April will be holding their
annual work day Saturday. This year’s
projects include making repairs to
more than 30 houses in the Houston
County/Wamer Robins area.
According to representatives from
the organization, all repairs, wheth
er major projects or smaller work
requests, are handled at no cost to
the homeowner. Materials, as well
as laborers, are provided for the proj
ects.
For more information on how you,
your group, your church or your civic
organization can help, contact James
Williams at 971-3769 or Jerome
Stephens at 929-1476.
Mossy Creek Barnyard
Festival this weekend
■ The semiannual Mossy Creek
Barnyard Festival will be held on
Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m.
to 5 p.m.
The festival is located six miles
east of Interstate 75, in deep piney
woods off Lake Joy Road between
Perry and Warner Robins.
The Mossy Creek Barnyard
Festival was named one of the Top
20 events in the southeast, and also
one of the top 100 events in North
America.
According to a release from the
organization, it features nation
ally acclaimed artists, craftsmen and
entertainers, with plenty of “great
festival foods." This is where you
will see “the way things used to be.”
Admission is $5 for adults and $1 for
children. Parking is free. They ask,
however: “no pets, please.” •
BIRTHDAYS
■ Foster Rhodes
Having a birthday or anniversa
ry? Call Charlotte Perkins at 987-
1823, ext. 234, or e-mail her at
cperkins@evansnewspapers. com.
DEATHS
■ Mary Dougherty Shell
INDEX
LOCAL 2 A
WEATHER 3 A
OPINION 4 A
LIFESTYLE 5 A
SPORTS 1 B
COMICS 4 B
CLASSIFIEDS .... 5 B
PERIODICAL
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ATHENS GA 30602-0002
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April 28, 2006
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LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY,
city of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville
Perry PD warns pranksters, their parents
By MIKE GEORGE
HHJ Staff Writer
Senior pranks are a simple fact of
high school life, but the Perry Police
Department is warning parents and
teens that they won’t turn a blind
eye.
Capt. Bill Phelps said the depart
ment has seen a recent rash of com
plaints stemming from pranks, with
five just in the last three days.
“I hope parents will sit down with
their kids and warn them,” Phelps
said. “We all have a soft spot in our
No trouble for Tribble
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ENlGary Harmon
Houston County’s Buddy Tribble works his way through defenders in the Bears’
AAAAA state tournament opening win over Stephenson Wednesday at Tanner Field
in Warner Robins. For more, see page 18.
Fishing - check it out
By RAY UGHTNER
HHJ Staff Writer
Thanks to a local outdoor
group, you can check out a
fishing pole, just like a book,
from the local libraries.
The Georgia Outdoor
Network, a group of local
citizens concerned about out
door-related issues and an
offshoot of Georgia Outdoor
News Magazine, decided the
“Fishing - Check It Out” pro
gram would be a quick and
easy way for local citizens to
access fishing equipment to
sample some excellent out
door recreation available in
Houston County, explained
GON banquet coordinator
and outdoor writer John
Trussed.
“The program is simple,”
Trussed said. “Anyone with
a Houston County Library
card can go to the Warner
Robins, Centerville or Perry
branches, sign a liability
waiver slip and check out a
Zebco 33 rod and reel, just
dke a book.”
Patrons must buy their
own hooks, corks and sink
www.hhjnews. com
hearts, but we can’t stand by when
they hurt innocent people.”
Phelps said the pranks range from
shooting pedestrians and homes
with paintball guns to throwing eggs
at cars and uprooting flowers and
shrubs. Phelps said that many of
these pranks may seem harmless,
but all eventually end up costing the
victims money, and some are even
more dangerous.
“Toilet papering a house is one
thing, but when you hit someone
with a paintball, it may seem funny,
ers, only cost a few dollars,
Trussed said, but the main
fishing cost, the rod and reel
is supplied.
Trussed suggests Houston
Lake, a free fishing lake, as
a good place for beginning
anglers. “Some bank fish
ing is available,” he said,
“but if you have access to a
boat there are many acres to
explore.”
Trussed said “the Outdoor
Network hopes that this
fishing opportunity will help
expose more citizens to the
joy of the outdoors, espe
cially people and children
with limited funds.”
Last fad the local GON
committee donated 10 deer
to the Harvest Share pro
gram, which provides free
venison to the community
outreach center on Duke
Avenue in Warner Robins.
The center offers housing
and meals to the homeless.
Trussed said the local
GON consists of Jay Walker,
Steve Engle, Shay Little,
Bob Turner, Arnie Harris,
See FISHING, page 6A
but you can hurt them,” Phelps said.
“When you egg a car, that can eat
through the paint. Even when you
pull up a flower bed, it takes money
to replace it.”
Phelps said there is usually no
set pattern to the pranks, but said
that pranksters could face criminal
charges depending on the amount
of damage.
“A criminal record will follow you
for the rest of your life,” he said. “If
you’re responsible for SSOO worth of
damage, you’re going to face crimi-
\
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ENI/Gary Harmon
From left, John Trussell, Marsha Christy, Esther Edwards, Judy Golden, Alex Morrow,
And Grady Trussell hold fishing rods donated to the library in Warner Robins for the
“Fishing - Check it Out” program.
A little money,
a lot of faith
Rebound Center helps
get their feet back on the ground
By CHARLOTTE PERKINS
HHJ Assistant Editor
Tim Johnson had done
time.
A big man with a winning
smile and a talent for gos
pel music, he’s an ordained
minister now, and he’s
proud of working hard for
the Houston County Public
Works Department.
But he got where he is
today the hard way, learning
by his mistakes, accepting
criticism, and facing up to
responsibility. .
“The ironic thing is that
I grew up in the church,”
he says, “but back then I
wanted to be like my older
brothers and their friends.”
By the time he was 17,
he was behind bars and he
spent the better part of the
next nine years in jails and
prisons.
Then he wound up in the
Houston County Correctional
Institute, where he was put
to work with the county’s
public works department.
Laughing as he looks
back, he says that his first
detail officer was a strict
disciplinarian who had some
good moods, but mostly bad
ones.
“All the black guys said
he was prejudiced,” Johnson
recalls, “But I got to know
him. He wasn’t a racist. He
didn’t like nobody.”
Still, this was a man who
taught a young inmate to
work hard and well.
“One day I’m going to
make it my business to find
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TWO SECTIONS • 12 PAGES
nal charges.
“You’re probably not going to see
time in jail, but you could.”
Just Sunday evening, a prank
ster called in a bomb threat at the
Colonial Garden Apartment Complex
on Keith Drive. The complex was
not evacuated, but police are search
ing for who was responsible.
“So many people think this stuff is
funny, but it’s not,” he said.
Phelps said concerned parents
should contact him at the Perry
Police Department at 988-2812.
him and tell him I owe him a
lot,” Johnson says,” because
I really do.”
Public Works Director
Tommy
Stalnaker
has also
been an
important
person in
Johnson’s
life, hiring
him when
his time in
the Cl was
done, and
giving him
opportu
nities for
training and
improving
his skills.
But
Johnson
puts God
first when
he talks
about the
turnaround
in his life,
because
even before
he was
transferred
to Houston
County, he
had redis
covered the
faith he
grew up with.
He says he was sitting in
his prison cell listening to a
gospel song with the words,
“Let not your heart be trou
bled.” which touched him
deeply. The very next day a
See REBOUND, page 64
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JOHNSON
WATKINS
Jaffa
GASTON
L.