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WEDNESDAY July 5, 2006 VOLUME 136, NUMBER 130 OUR FRONT PORCH *o^ INSIDE Grlllad gobblers ■ Our weekly food section takes a look at a different way of serving this traditional Thanksgiving treat. - Page 1C IN BRIEF Authorities look for boat that struck, killed man on Sinclair ■ MILLEDGEVILLE (AP) Authorities were looking for a boat they say struck and killed a man Saturday night on Lake Sinclair in central Georgia. James Mark Baxter, 48, died when a boat, likely speeding, hit the front of his pontoon boat and ran over it, throwing Baxter and his wife into the water, said Cpl. Doug Bridges of the state Department of Natural Resources. The boat kept going, he said. Baxter was likely killed by blunt force trauma in the impact with the boat, Bridges said. Baxter’s wife and her 25- year-old daughter sustained only minor injuries. Ga. attorney general named president of association ATLANTA (AP) Georgia attorney general Thurbert Baker has been elected president ot the National Association of Attorneys General, the first black to hold the top post in the nearly 100- year-old legal institution. Baker was elected by his col leagues from other states for 2006-2007. The announce ment was made at the annual meeting of the states' top lawyers, which was held this year in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Baker, a Democrat, was appointed Georgia's attorney general in 1997 by then-Gov. Zell Miller. He has twice been elected to four-year terms and is seeking his third. His challenger is former state Sen. Perry McGuire, a Douglasville Republican who worked as a former corpo rate counsel for the fast food chain Chik-fil-A. DEATHS ■ Don R. Collins ■ Joseph Jackson Morrow ■ Peggy Ann Woods ■ Patricia Griffin INDEX LOCAL 2 A WEATHER 3 A OPINION 4 A SPORTS 1 B COMICS 4 B CLASSIFIEDS .... 5 B PERIODICAL ask mm .iward- Winning v "sr Better Newspaper Contest I.. 11.Him. 11..11..,. .1,111,,111111111. m1. 11.nil COOIO GEORGIA NEWSPAPER PROJECT Main Library UN IV OF GEORGIA ATHENS GA 306GWXXE 3-OiGIT 306 July 5, 2006 ,S> r\i,\<; Htn smx Cni xn Si\< /■: JS7Q Qim ,I|rrurttHl LEGAL ORGAN FOR HOUSTON COUNTY, cm r of Perry, city of Warner Robins and city 7 of Centerville Joiner ruled mentally ill but guilty By RAY LIGHTNER HHJ Staff Writer “Guilty but mentally ill” means “mentally ill,” but not to the extent you are not responsible for your actions. Robert Joiner found that out after he received 15 years of jail time for robbing two people, including his mother and pointing a gun at three police officers on Sept. 18, 2004. jl. V jj, rw tsc 16*. f m ■ | War * , Jr.. ; ifete ** •* v ;; ' * BL yfs\i -■ - ' # yjg?.* <. I “WL rf lri|>ijM|i | Jfe. 'We,; It j ,> ,-v B?* 41 *aaMp*'- - w * ENI/Gary Harmon Warner Robins American Little League pitcher Taylor Campbell winds up to release the ball during Saturday’s District V playoff game at the Western Little League field in Macon. For more, see 18. * 4. -A ENI/Gary Harmon A group of F- 15s fly over McConnell-Talbert Stadium before the start of Warner Robins’ 23rd annual Independence Day Celebration on Friday. Fourth celebration a big hit By KIMBERLY CASSEL PRITCHETT HHJ Contributing Writer Thousands turned out Friday night at McConnell- Talbert Stadium for Warner Robins’ 23rd annual Independence Day Celebration. Country music artist John www.hhjnews.com Joiner pled guilty this past week but mentally ill to false imprison ment of his mother, taking her gun and forcing her to an ATM for S6O, then robbing a convenience store clerk at gunpoint, then pointing a pistol and firing at three police offi cers. According to the Chief Assistant District Attorney Katherine Lumsden, Joiner had his mother Playoffs begin Berry and the Band of the U.S. Air Force Reserve were the featured performances along with an earlier per formance at 7:15 p.m. from the Houston County Honor Band. Robins Air Force Base officials and Warner Robins Police Department estimat pick him up from Colonial Gardens, after he was kicked out for using drugs and alcohol. He then took the gun she kept in the car and forced her to go to the cash machine. After that he held up the clerk at the BP and “by pure luck and bad aim,” Lumsden said, no one was shot after he fired at three police officers. Judge George Nunn asked Joiner, “Did you do the things they say you ed that between 12,000 and 15,000 were in attendance of the celebration. Approximately 14 police officers from Warner Robins Police Department and the Houston County Sheriffs Department manned the celebration, according See FOURTH, page 6A THREE SECTIONS • 18 PAGES Battles begin for education posts By CHARLOTTE PERKINS HHJ Staff Writer Seven candidates, includ ing two incumbents, have tossed their hats into the ring, and will be on the November ballot for Houston County Board of Education seats. District 2 In District 2, Marianne Melnick and Kathy Brown will be the candi dates. Both are newcom ers to politics. Brown is the president of the Houston County High School Parent Teacher Association, and has been active on the school coun cil. She is an Air Force veteran. Melnick was for merly principal of Warner Robins High School and served as Assistant Superintendent at the Board’s central office before her retirement last year. District 2 includes a large area in and con tiguous to the city of Warner Robins. The dis- i \ E v iv v / \ Mil ) \/ wsr i n.R 500 Will 111 l 8 5108*0 0001* 1 4 did?” Joiner said “not to my knowledge, no, not like that. I was trying to hurt myself.” Lumsden said according to police reports, there were “statements made hoping police would shoot him.” Joiner acknowledged he may have run from police and pointed the See GUILTY, page 6A Hospital officially releases Aaron By RAY LIGHTNER HHJ Staff Writer “The (Hospital) Authority felt compelled that it was time to take the organization in a different direction, and to do so requires a change in leadership.” That statement, made by Chairman Ed Dyson in a release Friday, was but one in a number of eyebrow raising communication eiha nating from within Houston Healthcare this past week. The aforementioned change Dyson mentioned to date has included the termination of the contract with Chief Executive Officer Frank Aaron, the rumored termination or resignation of two other department heads and the hiring of Dr. Tony Alford, the executive director of medical affairs as CEO. Judge for yourself the integrity and legality of Aaron’s firing. It includ ed voting in closed session Wednesday night to fire him, offering the job to Alford the next night, in a closed and unannounced meeting of the full board, and announc ing first thing Friday that “Aaron will vacate the posi tion effective as of today. The Authority will begin plans to fill the position immedi ately.” Then, after repeated calls about all that, along with See FIRED, page 6A trict includes Lake Joy Elementary School, Quail Run Elementary School, Shirley Hills Elementary School, Feagin Mill Middle School, Warner Robins Middle School and the Houston County Career & Technology Center. The District 2 seat is currently held by Jim Boswell, who has announced that he will not seek re-election. District 4 Incumbent District 4 board member Fred Wilson will face a chal lenge from John Geldreich. Wilson has served on the board since 1994, and has served as chairman of the board. Geldreich was formerly on the faulty of Northside High School. Both men are from Warner Robins. District 4, located entirely in the urban area of Warner Robins, includes Northside Middle School, Lindsey Elementary See BOARD, page 6A