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THURSDAY June 8, 2006 VOLUME 136, NUMBER 112 OUR FRONT PORCH COMING FRIDAY Resignation accepted ■ Centerville City Council voted to accept Centerville Fire Chief Larry Sharpless’ “voluntary and irrevocable notice of retirement” in its regular meeting Tuesday night. The council put Sharpless on administrative leave with pay in a special called meeting on May 5. IN BRIEF Meeting called ■ A town hall meeting will be held at Centerville City Hall today at 10 a.m. The purpose of the meeting is for council members to hear citizens' opinions about the possible repeal of the senior citizens tax law that allows 100 percent exemption on property tax for seniors age 70 and older and the pos sible change in law allowing sale of alcohol by the drink on Sundays in restaurants. These two topics may even tually be put to public vote in the form of a referendum. Masouras honored ■ Air Force Airman and per sonnel apprentice Michael J. Masouras. who is assigned to Hurlburt Field, Fort Walton Beach, Fla., has been named the 17th Mission Support Squadron's Airman of the Quarter. Selection was based on the his exemplary duty performance, job knowledge, leadership qualities, signifi cant self-improvement, spe cific achievements, notable accomplishments, and com munity service and support. He is the son of Jimmy and Shirley Masouras of Hazel Drive, Warner Robins. His wife, Jessica, is the daughter of Alex and Charlotte Searcy of Prower Place, Bonaire. He is a 2001 graduate of Warner Robins High School. Jones re-ups ■ William L. Jones, who is originally from Perry, and is currently a sonar technician second class and onboard the USS Vicksburg (CG-69), a Naval cruiser homeported in Mayport, Fla., recently reenlisted for six more years. BIRTHDAYS Thursday ■ Josh Ray ■ Johnny Evans DEATHS ■ Doris Watson Gill ■ James J. Howard ■ Sanne’ Alexandria Pinkett ■ Wynelle Anderson Tucker INDEX LOCAL 2 A WEATHER 3 A OPINION 4 A HONOR ROLL 5 A SPORTS 1 B comics. .: 11 B CLASSIFIEDS ... 128 PERIODICAL Award-Winning Sewspaper 2004 Better Sewspaper Contest COOI 0 GEORGIA NEWSPAPER PROJECT Main Library UNIV OF GEORGIA ATHENS GA 30602-0002 ALL FOR ADC 301 V/ am / \f, llnrs/os (’m \n \a: 1870 (/SJt If i Jinn start JMame if dim LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY, city of Perry, cm' of Warner Robins and city of Centerville Perry man dies after truck accident Local charity worker described as a faithful foot soldier by friends, family By MIKE GEORGE HHJ Staff Writer Among friends and co workers, Duane Rothes quiet example will live on. Critically injured in an accident along Ga. 247 and Bear Branch Road Monday morning, Rothe died It boggles the mind ■ inp ** IIH.I Charlotte Herkina Above, Kathryn Lanier looks through the balsa wood structure that supported 775 lbs. at the Oddysey of the Mind world competition in Ames, lowa., recently. Most of the team’s work was done at the home of their coach, James Yawn. Their faculty advisor from Warner Robins High is Scott Daniel. Below, seated on the bottom step are Kyle Yawn, Kathryn Lanier and Katie Causey; on the second step, Marc Kushinka; third step, Scott Daniel and James Yawn. Team members not pictured here are Sophia Uddin and Garrett Pruett. Local Odyssey group places sth in world By CHARLOTTE PERKINS HHJ Lifestyle Editor Remember balsa wood? It’s the stuff that inexpensive model airplanes used to be made of so light you could break it with your bare hand. Can you imagine building a structure of balsa wood that would hold 755 lbs? Well, that’s what six local teenagers just accom plished. The Warner Robins High School Houston County High School Odyssey of the Mind team went to world finals in lowa on May 24-27 and placed sth in the world in the Geometry Structure problem, division 111. The team’s structure held 775 pounds, carefully placed.— one weight at a time. This was 230 pounds more than Governor, Mayor to sign land swap deal ByRAYUGHTNER HHJ Staff Writer Governor Sonny Perdue is coming to Warner Robins Friday morning to finalize a land swap between the city and the state for land adjacent to Robins Air Force Base. Perdue and Mayor Donald Walker will sign and exchange deeds for the land swap at City Hall Friday around 9:45 a.m. ♦ The city’s land - 330.746 acres east of the base along the Ocmulgee River - was acquired from the U.S. gov ernment as surplus on July Tuesday afternoon at the Macon Medical Center. One of three full-time employees of the Perry Volunteer Outreach, Rothe had picked up a donated baby bed, and was on his way back to the PVO’s office on it held at the state competi tion. They were the ninth ranked team in terms of weight (an Arizona school held 980 pounds), but their highly original and visually arresting performance of their solution enabled them to “leapfrog several other teams and place among the top six teams,” according to the faculty advisor Scott Daniel. Kathryn Lanier, the extrovert of the group, explains it her way. “With imagination, any thing is possible.” Kathryn, Katie Causey, and Sophia Uddin were involved in giving an origi nal skit at both the state competition and the world finals. Kyle Yawn, Marc Kushinka and Garrett See MIND, page 6A 10, 1973. Use of the land, which is prone to flooding, was and will remain restrict ed to outdoor recreation pur poses. In exchange the state will convey to the city a 544-acre tract, a portion of which has been designated as the loca tion for base support facili ties. It is adjacent to the base along the Echeconnee River. Some of it is flood plain and hardwoods, City Development Director Jesse Fountain said in December, but some is useable. “What See LAND, page 6A www.hhjnews.com Home Office, Rothe was turning onto Bear •' - M -, ri ,■ '"At*! $ v M >■ | MB w'iiKSv [ i . 'ff-. Medical Center receives award for excellence in improvement Special to the HHJ Houston Medical Center has been awarded the 2006 Insight Award in recognition as one of 18 hospitals in the nation honored for excellence in operational perfor mance improvement by Solucient, an information products company serving the healthcare industry by providing comparative measurements of cost, quality and market per formance. The award was pre sented to Houston Medical Center at the 2006 Solucient Insight Conference in Phoenix, Branch Road when a trac tor-trailer following close behind clipped the back of his pickup truck, forcing Rothe onto the shoulder. Rothe’s pickup rolled over several times before landing on its tires on a set of rail road tracks. Rothe was par tially ejected from the cab of the pickup, suffering severe head trauma and internal injuries. Investigators have Commerce Street when the accident occurred. According to Cpl. Sean Alexander with the Houston County Sheriff’s Ariz. “Solucient measures cost, quality and perfor mance data for more than 1,800 hospitals across the country, said Houston Healthcare CEO Frank Aaron, “using criteria based purely on perfor mance improvement from one year to the next. We are very pleased to receive this award in recognizing the efforts of our staff and physicians in reduc ing costs and improving productivity in order to achieve operational excel lence.” “Solucient is proud to See AWARD, page 6 A TWO SECTIONS • 18 PAGES not determined if Rothe was wearing his seatbelt at the time, but the driver of the tractor-trailer, James Rountree of Claxton, has already been charged with reckless driving, following too close and serious injury by motor vehicle, a felony that carries up to a 15-year jail sentence, according to Alexander. No additional See ROTHE, page 6A Child found in Sarasota Family friend charged with kidnapping By RAY LIGHTNER HHJ Staff Writer The search for a missing child ended as well as could be hoped Tuesday when Jaylynn Blount was found in Sarasota, Fla. “The child is in protective custody,” said Perry police chief George Potter, “and the perp is also in custody.” The 2-month-old was reportedly taken there by Russell Horton on Tuesday without the father’s knowl- edge or per mission. “We knew about an hour ahead of time where he was going,” Potter said, “and they were there waiting for him.” The capture was made at the home of the child’s aunt by the Sarasota Sheriffs Office at 3 p.m. Tuesday. Potter said Horton picked up the child from babysit ter Deborah Dunn on Park Avenue in Perry Tuesday morning about 8:30 a.m. Potter said Dunn was watching the child for the father as the mother, Shirley Lord Patel, is currently incar cerated. Her charges include theft by deception, accord ing to the Houston County Sheriffs Office. Dunn reportedly told police the child was too much to handle since she has three of her own and called someone to come get the baby. The child’s father, Jason Blount told police he did not give Horton, a family friend, per mission to take the child. “He had picked up the child for the father before,” Potter said, “so it was not unusual for Dunn to give him the child. He was allowed.” There will be a hearing in Florida since a minor is involved, Potter said. “We’ve asked Capt. Jerry Stewart of the Houston County Sheriff s Office Juvenile Division to assist in the process to quick ly bring the child back up here.” The custody of the child will be determined by the Department of Family and Children Services, Potter said, whether the child would be returned to the father. Horton has been charged with kidnapping and endan gering a child. Police have filed for extradition to get him back to Perry. The Houston district attor ney will decide on charges for Dunn and if any others will be charged. Potter said the aunt in Florida and Dunn will not be charged, but “we’ll be seeking more charges (on Horton), Potter said. “You can count on that.” i\ Ev :lvv V/:n smrift 500 unit 8" r S5108 , 00001 ,, "4 HORTON