Newspaper Page Text
FRIDAY
June 9, 2006
VOLUME 136, NUMBER 113
OUR
FRONT
PORCH
IN BRIEF
Authority finds hits on Internet
■ The Houston County
Development Authority is mak
ing a splash on the Internet.
The development board's
new Web site, www.houston
countyga.net, has seen over
32,000 hits since the new
site debuted online early last
month.
HCDA Executive Director
Morgan Law said during the
board’s monthly meeting
Wednesday that online visi
tors stay on the site an aver
age of five to six minutes,
with some browsing for up to
20 minutes.
According to Law, more
people are visiting the site on
weekends, with an average
of 153 hits on weekend days,
compared to an average of
95 hits for weekdays.
The site was designed by
Cox Business Services, a
division of Atlanta-based Cox
Communications, Inc. Maria
Garnto, project manager for
the development authority,
spent nearly four months
working with the company on
the Web site.
The site offers a variety of
information for business and
industry, but may quickly
become a valuable resource
for new homeowners, entre
preneurs and even travelers.
The site also includes infor
mation on the county's labor
market, property tax rates,
education, health care, tax
incentives for business, and
even climate figures.
The Houston County
Development Authority
strives to be the primary
point of contact for economic
development activities in
Centerville, Perry and Warner
Robins, as well as unincorpo
rated Houston County.
Mike George
BIRTHDAYS
Friday
■ Elizabeth Soderman
■ Lucy Hicks
■ Stacy Minter
■ Andy Johnson
■ David Walker
ANNIVERSARIES
Friday
■ Wayne and Sheila Harris
Having a birthday or anniver
sary? Cali Charlotte Perkins at
987-1823, ext. 234, ore-mail her at
cperkins<B>e vansnewspapers com.
DEATHS
■ Almeda Harrison Carlisle
■ Marie L. Hayes
INDEX
LOCAL 2 A
WEATHER 3 A
OPINION 4 A
SPORTS 1 B
FAITH & FAMILY .. 3B
COMICS 4 B
CLASSIFIEDS .... 5 B
PERIODICAL
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LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY,
cit\’ of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city of Centerville
New trial needed for 1984 murder
Ga. Supreme Court sends case back
By RAY UGHTNER
HHJ Staff Writer
The Houston County Grand
Jury indicted Timothy Johnson on
Tuesday for the offenses of murder,
armed robbery and aggravated bat
tery in the shooting death of Taressa
J. Stanley on Sept. 14, 1984.
Stanley was shot and killed during
an armed robbery of the Kwickie
Food Store on Wall Street at Wellborn
Road in Warner Robins. Johnson was
Good look around
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Laura Loewen has seen Houston County grow in the years since she was a young girl in Centerville, and has watched
Perry move through an unprecedented housing boom.
Loewen has life-long perspective on growth
By MIKE GEORGE
HHJ Staff Writer
Laura Loewen has lived within
the same 20-mile radius of Houston
County her entire life.
She can remember when Russell
Parkway wasn’t much more than
a bypass, and the Rama Theatre
was the only place around to see
“Charlotte’s Web.”
But Houston County has grown
since she was a little girl living on
Elizabeth Drive in Centerville in the
late 19605, and Loewen has grown
along with it.
Pool talk fails to cool Perry
council members’ tempers
By MIKE GEORGE
HHJ Staff Writer
Tempers flared during the
Perry City Council’s regular
meeting Tuesday, when dis
cussion turned to closing the
city’s only public pool.
Councilwoman Phyllis
Bynum-Grace said she
could remember swimming
at Creekwood Park when
she was a child. But after
decades as a haven from the
summer heat, Perry’s recre
ation director, Rick Kilgore,
said the Creekwood pool has
fallen into disrepair.
Kilgore said the pool is
more than 40 years old, and
told the council that health
www.hhjnews.com
subsequently charged and arrested
for that murder, entered a guilty
plea in Superior Court and spent 22
years in prison.
On Feb. 13, the Georgia Supreme
Court sent the case back to the
Houston County Superior Court by
for a new trial. Houston District
Attorney Kelly Burke said the case
was sent back because “Johnson
pleaded guilty but later on com
plained that nobody advised him of
Mb
a weekly series by
Mike George
“Centerville has really come into it’s
own since then,” she said. “No one
even knew what a galleria was then.”
Since 1988, Loewen has worked for
the city of Perry, and now serves as
inspectors have recently
raised concerns about the
pool’s ability to stop bacte
ria.
Kilgore suggested that
children who want to swim
could be transported to
Warner Robins or to the
pool at Fort Valley State
University, but Grace raised
concerns over liabilty.
Mary Lou Simon, who crit
icized the council Tuesday,
arguing they haven’t done
enough to fix the pool, said
outside Tuesday’s meeting
that the city is focused more
on fixing problems at Rozar
Park, and is largely ignoring
problems at Creekwood.
his rights and the state Supreme
Court agreed.”
“I disagree with the Supreme
Court,” Burke said, “but we will go
ahead with this. They ordered a new
trial so we’ll give him one.”
“The Grand Jury’s indictment is
the first step in the process of get
ting justice for the family of Taressa
Stanley,” said Burke. “Her family
believed for years that justice had
been done, but their hopes were
dashed by the Supreme Court’s deci
sion.”
Johnson pleaded guilty in 1984
Councilman Riley Hunt
questioned spending money
to fix, or replace, the pool if
few area children actually
swim there.
“It doesn’t make sense to
spend $1 million on some
thing if only 25 kids are
using it,” he said.
But when questioned about
how many children actually
use the pool, Simon argued
that numbers aren’t impor
tant. Outside Tuesday ! s
meeting, Simon also argued
that spending money on a
new pool may actually bring
more swimmers to the pool,
even from outside of Perry.
See POOL, page 6A
an administrative assistant for the
office of City Manager Lee Gilmour
and Mayor Jim Worrall. You may have
spotted her writing down notes dur
ing the council’s regular meetings, or
heard her voice when you called with
a question.
Born in Centerville in 1964,
Loewen went to elementary school
in Centerville and Warner Robins,
but spent her middle and high school
years in Perry.
“People think that Warner Robins is
busy now, but there’s always been
See GROW, page 6A
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ilii.f Mike George
Perry mayor Jim Worrall, second from left, recognizes
volunteers with the Great American Cleanup, the annual
national effort to beautify the country, during the Perry
City Council’s regular meeting Tuesday. From left, Mary
Lou Simon, Willie Thornton, Kim Thomas and Joan
Dorsett join the Mayor during the recognition.
TWO SECTIONS • 12 PAGES
to charges of murder and armed
robbery and was sentenced to three
consecutive life sentences by then-
Houston Superior Court Judge
Willis Hunt. The prosecutor was
Theron Finlayson, the district attor
ney at the time.
Johnson subsequently filed the
instant habeas petition claiming
that his pleas were not entered
knowingly, intelligently and volun
tarily because he was not advised
of his constitutional rights. After a
hearing at which Johnson’s original
See TRIAL, page 6A
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500
IIHI.
Council
accepts
chief’s
noticed
By KIMBERLY CASSEL
PRITCHETT
HHJ Contributing Writer
Centerville City
Council voted to accept
Centerville Fire Chief
Larry Sharpless’ “vol
untary and irrevocable
notice of retirement” in
its regular Tuesday night
meeting.
Sharpless had been on
administrative leave with
pay pending review of his
employment status since
May 5 when council held
a special called meet
ing to vote on changing
Sharpless’ employment
status.
That vote was unani
mous by council with the
exception of Councilman
Cameron Andrews who
was not present.
“When possible and
when circumstances per
mit, I would like to see
the city offer administra
tive leave with pay dur
ing the time an employee
is considering retire
ment while they consider
their options,” explained
Centerville city attorney
Rebecca Tydings late
Wednesday afternoon.
Sharpless signed a
“Severance Agreement
and Full and Final Release
of All Claims” with the
city May 26; however,
“city employees who are
department heads and
higher require a vote by
mayor and council to have
their employment status
changed,” Centerville city
administrator Patrick
Eidson explained last
month.
According to the sev
erance agreement,
Sharpless’ retirement
becomes effective July 1.
See CHIEF, page 6A