GOOD EVENING AND THANKS FOR JOINING US..
I'M LEAH JOHNSON..
FRANK MALLOY HAS THE NIGHT OFF.
FIRST AT 11...
THE WILCOX COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE IS INVESTIGATING AN ATTEMPTED MURDER-SUICIDE.
ACCORDING TO MORGAN POPE... A JAILER WITH THE WILCOX COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE... A MAN SHOT A WOMAN AT A HOME, THEN TURNED THE GUN ON HIMSELF.
SHE SAID THE MAN DIED AS A RESULT OF THE SHOOTING... BUT THE WOMAN SURVIVED AND EMERGENCY CREWS TOOK HER TO A HOSPITAL IN MACON.
SHE SAYS THE SHOOTING HAPPENED AROUND 9:30 TONIGHT AT A HOME IN VIENNA AT 9622 TIPPETTVILLE ROAD.
SHERIFF'S DEPUTIES ARE STILL INVESTIGATING AND TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW THE MAN AND WOMAN KNEW EACH OTHER AND IF THEY WERE RELATED.
WE'LL UPDATE THIS STORY ON 13WMAZ DOT COM... AS MORE INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE.
MACON POLICE CHIEF MIKE BURNS SAYS THE OFFICERS WHO ADMITTED PLAYING FOOTBALL BEHIND A STORE THURSDAY AFTERNOON... WILL RECEIVE PUNISHMENT... BUT SUSPENSION IS NOT PART OF IT.
PHOTOS SHOW SIX POLICE CRUISERS PARKED BEHIND A STORE ON PRESIDENTIAL PARKWAY AND FIVE OFFICERS PLAYING FOOTBALL.
IN AN EMAIL.... THE CHIEF SAYS THE GROUP MET BEHIND THE BUILDING TO ASSIST A DETECTIVE WITH A WARRANT.
HE SAYS WHILE THEY WAITED ON THE DETECTIVE TO ARRIVE... THE OFFICERS PLAYED FOOTBALL.
BURNS SAYS, "I WANT TO BE CLEAR TO THE PUBLIC AND THE MEDIA, NO SUPERVISOR WAS ON THE SCENE AND NO HARM WAS INTENDED BY THESE OFFICERS."
"THE MEN ARE APPROPRIATELY REMORSEFUL AND EMBARRASSED BY THEIR INVOLVEMENT."
HE SAYS THEY RECEIVED A NOTICE OF THEIR DISCIPLINE TODAY.
NEXT WEEK... A GRAND JURY WILL WEIGH IN ON THE CASE OF A FOOTBALL BRAWL BETWEEN TWO RIVAL HIGH SCHOOL TEAMS.
WARREN COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT... CAROLE JEAN CAREY GAVE 13WMAZ'S AMY AUBERT A COPY OF HER LETTER TO WILLIAM PRIOR...
THE OCMULGEE CIRCUIT JUDGE HANDLING THE CASE.
CAREY SAYS SHE WROTE THE LETTER IN OCTOBER... JUST DAYS AFTER THE FOOTBALL FIGHT BETWEEN HANCOCK AND WARREN COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL TEAMS.
SHE SAYS SHE ASKED JUDGE PRIOR TO OPEN A G-B-I INVESTIGATION.
ACCORDING TO THE LETTER... HANCOCK COUNTY SHERIFF TOMLYN PRIMUS INITIALLY DENIED THAT REQUEST... SAYING QUOTE...
WE ARE GOING TO INVESTIGATE IT FROM THE HANCOCK POINT OF VIEW...
AND QUOTE... IF YOU WANT IT INVESTIGATED FROM THE WARREN PERSPECTIVE... YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE TO GET SOMEONE ELSE TO DO IT.
THE LETTER GOES ON TO SAY... THE WEEK BEFORE THE GAME... SEVERAL WARREN COUNTY PLAYERS RECEIVED QUOTE... PROVOCATIVE AND PROFANE TEXT MESSAGES FROM A FORMER WARREN COUNTY COACH WHO NOW COACHES AT HANCOCK CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL.
IT ALSO SAYS HANCOCK COUNTY PLAYERS THREATENED THAT THEY WOULD FIGHT THE TEAM AFTER THE GAME... IF THEY LOST.
SHERIFF PRIMUS HAS SINCE ASKED THE G-B-I TO INVESTIGATE... BUT WE COULD NOT REACH HIM FOR COMMENT.
DISTRICT ATTORNEY FRED BRIGHT COULD NOT COMMENT ON THE CASE BECAUSE IT'S AN OPEN INVESTIGATION.
ONE COMPANY HERE IN MACON OFFERS JOB HUNTERS A LITTLE EXTRA HELP WITH THEIR SEARCH -- AT A PRICE.
THE COMPANY IS PRO RESOURCES.
THEY OFFER JOB LISTINGS... RESUME HELP... AND INTERVIEW TIPS FOR THEIR CUSTOMERS.
BUT ANGELA WALLS FROM WARNER ROBINS SAYS AN EMPLOYEE GUARANTEED HER A JOB IF SHE PAID THE MEMBERSHIP FEE.
I called and the woman on the phone said I have to pay her 190 dollars to be a member of her services. She said she couldnt help me get a job unless I'm a member
KELVIN COLLINS WITH THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU SAYS THE COMPANY FIRED AN EMPLOYEE LATE LAST YEAR... FOR FALSELY MAKING THE SAME PROMISE.
We've seen where the operator has said something like that to a customer. But it comes down to dont believe what you hear, believe what you're signing. And I do know that all of the customers does go in and sign a contract with the company.
JENNIFER SOLBERG OF PRO RESOURCES SAYS THEY DON'T KNOW WHICH EMPLOYEE SPOKE TO ANGELA BROWN... BUT THEIR STAFF WORKS OFF OF APPROVED SCRIPTS.
SHE SAYS THEY'LL WORK WITH THEIR EMPLOYEES TO MAKE SURE THEY'RE GIVING CUSTOMERS THE RIGHT INFORMATION.
A COUPLE FROM ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA SPENT A WEEK ON THE COSTA CONDORDIA.... THE ITALIAN CRUISE SHIP THAT HIT A ORCK... AND BEGAN TO SINK FRIDAY NIGHT.
THEIR ORIGINAL ITINERARY ACTUALLY HAD THEM STILL ON THE SHIP FRIDAY NIGHT.
INSTEAD... THEY CHANGED THEIR PLANS AT THE LAST MINUTE AND MISSED THE DISASTER BY JUST TEN HOURS.
THEY TOLD KRISTIN FISHER AT OUR SISTER STATION WUSA IN WASHINGTON D.C. THEY HAD SOME CONCERNS WHILE ON BOARD.
A couple from Alexandria, Virginia spent a week on the Costa Condordia. Their original itinerary actually had them still on the ship that fateful Friday night (01/13).
Instead, they changed their plans at the last minute and missed the disaster by just ten hours.
They told Kristin Fisher they had some concerns while on board.
SOT Emily Bonilla: "When you're on a cruise, the Titanic always comes up, but in a joking manner, you never imagine that it could actually happen."
Three days ago, Emily Bonilla (boh-nee-ah) and Leonard Pieton (peet-un) were wrapping up a romantic cruise in the Mediterranean. They took this video on their last night.'
NATSND ship's passengers singing, close up of the couple
Little did they know that is was also the last night that their ship would be afloat. Around the same time that the Costa Concordia was crashing on the rocks, Loenard was giving Emily this rock (engagement ring) at the Coliseum in Rome. They disembarked just hours earlier.
SOT Leonard Pieton: "It's surreal, it's ... you don't really expect to see the boat you just stepped off of halfway under water."
But looking back, the couple says there were signs that if something went wrong, it would go really wrong. For starters, they took this picture during the standard emergency drill three days into the cruise.
SOT Leonard Pieton: "I think that was something that kinda struck us as odd ... that it took that long to actually receive an emergency preparedness drill."
Then there were the complaints from the crew.
SOT Emily Bonilla: "A few of them mentioned that they were under-employed, overworked, long hours ..."
The couple described a prevading feeling of chaos and confusion, accentuated by language barriers and big crowds.
SOT Emily Bonilla: "If we had problems at the buffet line everyday, I can only imagine that had occurred that day."
The couple, now safely at home in Alexandria, can't stop staring at this picture, Emily and the captain, holding a cocktail.
SOT Emily Bonilla: "If there is a lesson to be learned, it is to understand your crew's rules and pay more attention to the drills because you really never know what could happen ..."
ITALIAN COAST GUARD OFFICIALS SAY THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE MISSING FROM THE COSTA CONCORDIA CRUISE LINER HAS RISEN TO 29.
TODAY WE RECOGNIZE THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
AS WE REMEMBER THE CONTRIBUTIONS MADE BY DOCTOR KING... WE ALSO TOUCH ON THE ADVANCEMENT OF CIVIL RIGHTS BY SOME PIVOTAL FIGURES HERE IN CENTRAL GEORGIA.
THEY INCLUDE SIBLINGS THELMA DILLARD AND BIBB COUNTY COMMISSIONER BERT BIVINS....
THE TWO JOINED US TODAY ON EYEWITNESS NEWS AT SIX TO TALK ABOUT THEIR MEMORY OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVMENT... AND HOW THEY SEE THINGS TODAY.
BERT:
Yeah, I think things can always regress if you don't work on them. I'm a little concerned to a great extent, we don't really work on them anymore and so I wish we made a little more effort. I ran into a lady not long ago, Nancy Anderson, who was a part of a effot a long time ago where blacks and whites got together and discussed our differences and tried to understand each other better. And I think today we'd be better off to make more effort to do that.
LORRA:
Do you, too, have those concerns?
THELMA:
I do. And I think, you know, we gotta educate ourselves on the history. We gotta be open about what's happening. You can't resolve or solve a problem, if you don't talk about that problem. And we've come a long way since the civil rights act and voting rights act. But, here's an opportunity now, for us to lay it all out on the table; talk about it. Let's not hide what happened, let's talk about it. Let's respect each other as we do that. Let's listen to each other an be willing to help with the healing process.
YOU CAN SEE THAT ENTIRE INTERVIEW ON OUR WEB SITE AT 13WAMZ DOT COM.
IN MACON TODAY HUNDREDS TOOK TO THE STREETS TO PAY TRIBUTE TO THE LIFE OF DOCTOR KING.
THEY HAD THEIR CHOICE OF FOUR POINTS AROUND THE CITY.... INCLUDING THE ROSA JACKSON RECREATION CENTER IN EAST MACON... TO BEGIN A MARCH TO CITY HALL.
FOR THE PAST TWENTY YEARS... ADMIRERS OF THE LATE CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER HAVE TAKEN PART IN THIS MARCH..
THIS YEAR... MEMBERS OF ORGANIZED LABOR UNIONS MARCHED FOR THE PLIGHT OF CITY WORKERS WHO WILL BE TRANSFERED TO THE COUNTY THIS SUMMER.
CITY COUNCILMAN LONNIE MILEY SAYS THEY MARCHED FOR FAIRNESS... AS KING DID.
"We want to let them know that we're not going to rest until we know that the workers are going to be transfered and treated right, that nothing is going to be taken away from them, we dont' want them on probation, we don't want pay cuts."
THE MARCH WRAPPED UP WITH A MEMORIAL SERVICE AT STEWART CHAPEL A-M-E CHURCH ON FORSYTH ROAD.
THIS PAST DECEMBER WE ASKED ALL OF YOU TO DONATE TO TO KROGER'S... CAN HUNGER FOOD DRIVE... AND BECAUSE OF YOUR DONTIONS... THE GROCERY CHAIN RAISED OVER 16 THOUSAND DOLLARS.
ALL OF THOSE FUNDS BENEFIT THE MIDDLE GEORGIA COMMUNITY FOOD BANK.
THIS YEAR'S CAMPAIGN RAISED A RECORD BREAKING 517 THOUSAND DOLLARS... A NEW ATLANTA DIVISION RECORD.
KROGER EQUATES THAT CASH TO APPROXIMATELY 1.8 MILLION MEALS.
A NEW WAY OF TEACHING HAS LEFT THE BACKPACKS OF HOUSTON COUNTY STUDENTS... A LITTLE LIGHTER.
SUPERINTENDENT OF TEACHING AND LEARNING... ERIC PAYNE.. SAYS THEY USED TO DEPEND ON TEXTBOOKS FOR THE CIRRICULUM... BUT NOW.. THE THICK BOOKS OF KNOWLEDGE ARE JUST ONE OF MANY RESOURCES.
PAYNE SAYS SOME CLASSES NO LONGER HAVE ASSIGNED TEXT BOOKS FOR EACH STUDENT.
THEY USE A CLASS SET THAT DOESN'T GO HOME.
HE SAYS THEY BLEND TECHNOLOGY... WORK SHEETS.. AND OTHER RESOURCES... INCLUDING A TEXT BOOK... TO HELP STUDENTS LEARN.
Eric Payne: (4:00) "Now you can hit the internet and get real live, up-to-date information. I think the resources out there will enchance learning in the classroom more so than a text book will."
WE CAN CONNECT YOU SOME OF THE ON-LINE RESOURCES PAYNE RECOMMENDS FOR PARENTS TO USE AT HOME.
LOOK FOR THIS STORY ON OUR HOMEPAGE... 13WMAZ-DOT-COM.
IF YOU DON'T HAVE INTERNET ACCESS... HE SAYS TEXTBOOKS ARE AVAILABLE FOR PARENTS TO CHECK OUT.
THE FIVE REMAINING REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES FACED OFF IN ANOTHER DEBATE IN SOUTH CAROLINA MONDAY NIGHT.
BIGAD SHABAN HAS THE DETAILS.
NATS
Mitt Romney used a strong offense to deflect attacks from his republican rivals in Monday night's debate, promoting himself as the only candidate who can win The White House.
21:08:44 "My record is out there, proud of it, and I think people want someone to understand how the economy works, having worked in the real economy, then I'm the guy that can best post up against Barack Obama....cheers."
Rick Santorum challenged Romney over whether felons should be able to vote.. and then demanded an answer.
9:18:30 "Governor Romney? First of all the pacs that run ads on various candidates as we unfortunately....Santorum says: Answer the question first. Crowd roars."
*flash* into 21:18:49 "We have plenty of time, we'll get there. I'll answer in the order I want."
That prompted this response from Rick Perry...
9:21
"This is a great example of the insiders in Washington (loud applause from audience) the federal government needs to leave things up to the states to decide (applause)"
Perry also hammered away at Romney's refusal, so far, to release his personal income tax records.
21:10:09 "Mitt we need for you to release your income tax for the people of our country to see."
Newt Gingrich found himself again defending his negative attacks on Romney's time at an equity firm.
{21:06:26}
"I think that's part of what a campaign is about is to raise questions and see if your competitor can answer them effectively before we get to a general election."
Ron Paul also defended his use of attack ads.
21:15:04 "If you're exposing voting records, I think it's quite proper."
THE CANDIDATES ARE SCHEDULED TO HAVE ONE MORE DEBATE ON THURSDAY AHEAD OF SATURDAY'S PRIMARY.
TONIGHT'S FACEBOOK FAN OF THE DAY IS ANGIE STEWART LITTLE
ANGIE... YOU'LL NEED TO EMAIL FAN OF THE DAY AT 13WMAZ DOT COM TO CLAIM YOUR COFFEE MUG.
NOW... GETTING INTO THE RUNNING FOR FAN OF THE DAY IS AN EASY THREE-STEP PROCESS.
ONE... VISIT FACEBOOK DOT COM SLASH 13WMAZ.
TWO... BECOME A FAN... AND THREE... GET IN ON THE CONVERSATIONS.
WE PICK OUR FAN OF THE DAY RANDOMLY
REBUILDING MACON RECEIVED A 20-THOUSAND DOLLAR CHECK TODAY... AS THEY TOOK ON A NEW ENDEVOUR..
IT'S A STORY THAT COMES.. STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART
pause for nats - 03
THE GROUP THAT WORKS TO REPAIR THE HOMES OF ELDERLY PEOPLE IN MACON .. DECIDED TO RENOVATE SIX HOMES THAT WERE GIVEN TO THEM... TO SELL.
FIVE OF THE HOMES ARE ON SECOND STREET...
DEBRA ROLLINS SAYS IN HONOR OF THE MLK DAY OF SERVICE... TODAY VOLUNTEERS FROM GEORGIA POWER AND OTHER GROUPS CAME OUT TO HELP START THE CLEAN UP.
MAYOR ROBERT REICHERT PRESENTED THE CHECK ON BEHALF OF HISTORIC HILLS AND HEIGHTS... TO HELP WITH REPAIRS.
ROLLINS SAYS THEY EXPECT IT TO TAKE ABOUT THREE MONTHS TO GET EACH HOME READY TO SELL.
AND ONE LAST QUICK LOOK AT TOMORROW'S FORECAST WITH CHIEF METEOROLOGIST BEN JONES.