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WEDNESDAY May 3, 2006 YRV 136, NUMBER 86 OUR INSIDE Unemployment down B And jobs are up in Houston County according to the Georgia Department of Labor. ~ Page 2A Demons split opener B Warner Robins loses first, wins second in double header with Henry County Warhawks. . [ Hoy 1 4y e = P exdur o BERE chdn g - ™ . fa y i s R i g 3 "':" o - © O £ g B . B Laura Rodriguez wanted to show support for the rights of immigrants. So, on Monday when many in' the nation closed their doors for a day in protest, the small shop owner in Perry joined them. Read her story in Thursday's Houston Home Journal. IN BRIEF Scouts selling barbecue B Boy Scout Troop 96 is selling barbecue dinners for $6 per plate Friday 11a.m.-2p.m. and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Each plate includes pulled pork barbecue, beans, chips, bread and a dessert. They will deliver to your location if a minimum of 10 plates are ordered for same deliv ery time. Plates may be picked up at Crossroads United Methodist Church Family Activities Building at 1600 Main Street in Perry. Proceeds from the fund-raiser will go to making sure each scout can attend camp. If you have any questions, call Vickie Graham at 987-4621. Ordinance meeting set B Warner Rohins will host a town hall meeting Thursday to explain its proposed sex offender ordinance. The meeting is set to begin at 5 p.m. at Warner Robins City Hall in’ council chambers. The city council will not take action on the ordinance until after the public forum. The ordi nance would prohibit the residence of a registered sex offender from being within 1,500 feet from schools, child, care facilities or any places where minors congregate. State law is 1,000 feet. BIRTHDAYS W David Burgin M Barbara Sandefur Ham M Scott Hutchinson W Carolyn Ragan W Julia Watts DEATHS M Ron Dowdy W Michael Weldy INDEX RO .. ... ... A WEATHER ....... 3A OPINION .. ....... 4A DUSINESS . ...... 5A SIS, . ........BA SIS .. .......BA CLASSIFIEDS .....9A PERIODICAL ' Award-Winning Newspaper 2004 Better Newspaper Contest o &> £ ’ch e 8 a. i cO 52 e o i 3 ) : g% EPR 58 N'U st - = : = e : r = = = May 3, 2006 ISl{RVl‘\’(,' HoUSTON COUNTY: SINCE 1870 The JJaierl - LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY, CITY OF PERRY, CITY OF WARNER ROBINS AND CITY OF CENTERVILLE ‘ i B w d‘v;,v, ‘i 4‘i | 5 ek o SR i s O lR . o e » (R | s e | | e "i “fr;‘f '* HH.J/Ray Lightner Willie Talton looks at his new badge Monday as a member, once again, of the Warner Robins Police Department. 5 = § r, ,w Rt el s N e ee S y o ‘ E - . 3 { - | i i U | i‘el:’* 3 L k N B 3 SeieL!A 1 ! Ll R ! S - { & Fate -t L & e . s P 5 g ! 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B e> e i " "‘,3,\',:' ) " : fio.< ' Fod.. 4 § SO LT ' g ' 3 ‘ " e "\:v.""‘f TS : | , ~, L TR i : L b ] ) ] b w‘» ‘LY;e A 4 “ i =i4:; ) | ? e : » ). - < - ‘ ¥ ‘ Warner Robins city council sets its sights on Peach County By RAY LIGHTNER HHJ Staff Writer According to members of the Warner Robins city council, the city has prospects on the west side of I -75 off Russell Parkway. “If what’s happening on the plan ning board happens,” said Mayor Donald Walker, “we’d be the largest city in Peach County.” The city council was discussing the service delivery agreement in Houston County at the pre-council session this past Thursday when the issue came up. The agreement was approved Monday - minus some language about appointments to the Library Board - that the cities no long can make appointments to countywide boards like the Library Board and Hospital Authority concerns the city raised about the agreement. www.hhjnews.com Movie Magic The county, Perry and Centerville each have approved the state man dated service delivery strategy agreement, which spells out services provided by the respective govern ment entities and how those services are funded. Councilman Dean Cowart asked if a similar agreement was forthcom ing from Peach County. The mayor said yes, a service delivery agree ment is coming, “but it seems to change. They don’t want us to west of I-75.” : The city limits already extend across the interstate to the Pilot gas station and truck stop. The city also has about 500 res idents in Peach County. “Warner Robins has a say in Peach County’s service delivery strategy too,” Walker said. Warner Robins has questions Willie Talton returns to WR police department By RAY LIGHTNER HHJ Staff Writer Willie Talton began his law enforcement career 40 years ago as one of the first black police officers with the Warner Robins Police Department. “It’s good to come back home to where I started,” Talton said after taking his oath of office Monday, to once again be an active duty police officer with the department Talton was with the Warner Robins Police Department for seven years, reaching the rank of captain before being hired away by newly elected Sheriff Cullen Talton in 1973. Talton, also a state representative, recent ly retired from the Houston County Sheriff’s Office. “When I left the Sheriff’s Office for the General Assembly,” Willie Talton said, “I gave the citizens of Houston County my word I would retire.” “I felt it was fitting to retire,” he said, “to not stand in the way of others moving up in the sheriff’s office.” Mayor Donald Walker said the return about the limitations of any agree ment including other cities deny ing Warner Robins the opportunity to provide services in others ser vice delivery areas when the cities themselves can’t. Councilman Terry Horton noted both “Fort Valley and Centerville have interest in provid ing services to the area of the sod farm. I don’t know how they can deny us, when they can’t physically do it.” The city also has prospects on the east side of the interstate in Peach County including the front age road between Russell Parkway and Watson Boulevard. At Thursday night’s pre-council session, the council voted to abandon a 4-acre portion of the rights of way previ ously donated for the frontage road at Russell Parkway. Councilman Dean Cowartdescribed of Talton to the Warner Robins Police Department is to: “correct a wrong done so many years ago. “At the time he was hired, the state did not let African-American officers contribute to pension plans.” A recently passed state law changes that and permits black police officers hired at that time to now qualify for the full pension they would have received if they were white. But the state requires they be an active police officer, Walker said. Talton and others sponsored the legisla tion, House Bill 666, amending the Peace Officers” Annuity and Benefit Fund so that any active member of the fund on July 1, and any person who becomes an active member after such date, may obtain creditable service for prior service as a peace officer rendered prior to Jan. 1, 1976. According to the bill, “a member wishing toestablish such creditable service shall pay an employee’s contribution in an amount See TALTON, page 10A Members of the Warner Robins High School Theatre Department rehearse Monday for “The Follies: Movie Magic.” The group is set to perform Saturday at 7 p.m. and on Sunday at 2 p.m. Reserved tickets are $8 for adults, $5 for students. Costs at the door are: $lO for adults and $8 for students. For more information, call 542- 2275. ENI/Gary Harmon AN EVANS! EAMILY. NEWSPAPER i 8™*55108%00001""4 ONE SECTION * 10 PAGES | Persistence Childers By CHARLOTTE PERKINS HHJ Assistant Editor Al Childers got his wish for a rezoning on Tuesday - with a little help from his friends and neighbors. Childers, who wanted to have his lot at 745 Lake Joy Road rezoned so that he could use his home for a real estate office has been back and forth to meetings gslnce Feb. 22 when he first filed the request. The Planning and Zoning office approved the request. Then the County Commissioners sent it back to P&Z for further study. And then the ques tion came back to the County Commissioners. This time, Childers had a lawyer, some letters and some good friends and neighbors with him. Tim Millwood of the Rehoboth Baptist Association, achurch head quarters just across Lake See COUNTY, page 10A the land as “the little peach orchard at the corner of Russell and 1-75.” The road, now in place, was realigned from the intital design, Walker said. “Tim Dupree asked we abandon the right of way he donated to the city as we're not going to use it‘” Part of the action approved includes signing a quitclaim deed for the land. Walker said, “he asked it be done quickly as he has a buyer and can’t close until we sign off on it.” The council also approved an ani mal maintenance agreement with Centerville, which that city has already approved. Warner Robins version brings the terms of the agreement more in line with a simi lar agreement Warner Robins has with the county for keeping animals See COUNCIL, page 10A A# T W N R ‘:tk ,‘x SN G O 3 AR b B 0 S o B I B . % 1 1 3 S e Vil | CHILDERS