<<opening for eyewitness news at eleven>>
GOOD EVENING AND THANKS FOR JOINING US..
I'M FRANK MALLOY..
AND I'M LEAH JOHNSON..THIS IS EYEWITNESS NEWS AT 11.
FIRST AT 11...
WARNER ROBINS POLICE ARE LOOKING FOR A SHOPLIGHTER TONIGHT... WHO STABBED A LOSS PREVENTION OFFICER AT THE LOWE'S ON WATSON BLVD.
POLICE SPOKERPERSON TABITHA PUGH SAYS THEIF STABBED THE OFFICER... WHEN HE TRIED TO STOP HIM FROM STEALING...
PUGH SAID IT HAPPENED JUST BEFORE 7 TONIGHT.
THEY'RE NOT SURE WHAT THE SHOPLIFTER TOOK... AND PUGH SAYS THE OFFICER IS OK
IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION ABOUT THIS CRIME... PLEASE CALL THE WARNER ROBINS POLICE DEPARTMENT AT 478-929-1170... AGAIN THAT'S 929-1170
PEACH COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT JO ANNE DENNING SAYS THEY ARE SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING GOING BACK TO FIVE DAY SCHOOL WEEK AT THE SCHOOL BOARD MEETING TONIGHT.
IN 2009---PEACH COUNTY STARTED A FOUR DAY SCHOOL WEEK AS A WAY TO SAVE THE DISTRICT MONEY---AND KEEP TEACHER JOBS.
AUSTIN LEWIS HAS MORE ABOUT WHY THEY ARE CONSIDERING GOING THE FIVE DAY WEEK AND WHEN THEY COULD DECIDE.
nats: I know that's an attention getter.
SUPERINTENDENT JO ANNE DENNING IS TALKING ABOUT THE FIVE DAY SCHOOL WEEK---
SHE SAYS SHE IS LISTENING TO PARENTS, TEACHERS---AND THE COMMUNITY'S THOUGHTS ON A FIVE DAY WEEK.
00:23 Superintendent Jo Anne Denning, Peach County:They are asking if it's possible can we go back and so that what's we're doing now, looking to see if we can find a five day school week. 00:29
DENNING SAYS THE DATA HAS BEEN GATHERED---AND THEY WILL BE REVIEWING IT TO SEE IF IT'S POSSIBLE.
Superintendent Jo Anne Denning, Peach County: 1`:43 We're looking at how many teachers we have to employ, we have to look at our heating and cooling bill. We've got to look at what it costs to transport our students for five days. 1:50
BOARD CHAIRMAN JAMIE JOHNSON SAYS THE FOUR DAY SCHOOL WEEK'S SAVING WASN'T WHAT HE EXPECTED IT TO BE.
Chairman Jamie Johnson, Peach County Board: 1:15 Just looking at utility part, we're looking at spending about 200,000 dollars or somewhere in that area more than what we've been spending on a five day work week.1:27
DENNING SAYS SHE ISN'T AS FOCUSED ON SAVINGS, BUT MORE ON WHETHER THEIR FINANCES CAN MAKE A FIVE DAY SCHOOL WEEK WORK.
Superintendent Jo Anne Denning, Peach County:3:23 I'm looking at how much it's going to cost right now. I've kind of gone away from the savings ordeal, I have the bills, the paid invoices, that's what I'm going to be looking at3:34
DENNING SAYS THE COMMUNITY HAS BEEN VERY SUPPORTIVE AND THINKS THEY WILL CONTINUE TO BE WHETHER OR NOT THEY GO BACK TO A FIVE DAY WEEK.
AUSTIN LEWIS 13 WMAZ EYEWITNESS NEWS.
DENNING HOPES THEY REACH A DECISION BY THEIR STUDY SESSION AT THE END OF THE MONTH OR BY THEIR NEXT MEETING IN MARCH.
COMMUNITY REACTION ON ROMAIN DALLEMAND'S PROPOSED PLAN IS SPLIT..
MONDAY - FORMER MACON MAYOR C. JACK ELLIS AND SEVERAL PASTORS ACROSS THE COMMUNITY ANNOUNCED THEIR SUPPORT FOR THE PLAN..
TODAY... A COUPLE BIBB COUNTY PARENTS SAY... THEY'RE NOT ON BOARD.
THEY STARTED ON-LINE PETITIONS... TO SPREAD THE WORD... AND ORGANIZE SUPPORT AGAINST DALLEMAND'S MACON MIRACLE.
MONDAY... JESSICA NEESMITH STARTED A PETITION... AND EVERY ON-LINE SIGNATURE SENDS A NOTIFCATION E-MAIL TO BIBB COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION MEMBERS.
LESS THAN 24 HOURS LATER... MORE THAN 105 SIGNED UP.
JESSICA MOSS CREATED A QUOTE... VOTE NO TO THE MACON MIRACLE FACEBOOK PAGE... AND WITH OVER 300 "LIKES"... THE VIRTUAL CONVERSATION IS A LONG ONE
Jessica Moss: "I have concerns that there are no safety measures in the plan, the closing of the schools, and the loss of jobs, I feel like the schools are completely overcrowded as it is."
THE BIBB SCHOOL BOARD PLANS TO VOTE ON THE STRATEGIC PLAN FRIDAY.
THEY ALSO HAVE A SCHEDULED BOARD MEETING ON THURSDAY.
NOW ONE OF THE MOST TALKED ABOUT ASPECTS OF DALLEMAN'S PLAN... IS THE CALL TO MAKE LEARNING MANDARIN CHINESE... MANDATORY.
WE SPOKE WITH NANCY RHODES... THE DIRECTOR OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION WITH THE CENTER FOR APPLIED LINGUISTICS IN WASHINGTON D.C.... TO FIND OUT WHY THE SUPERINTENDANT CHOSE THE EASTERN LANGUAGE.
Yeah, a lot of superintendents and principals are very interested in Mandarin. One of the reason's being, the Ministry of Education in China, the Hanban, is offering to bring over Chinese teachers. And since that's the biggest obstacle, that helps the administrators solve one of the biggesdt hurdles.
SHE SAID ANOTHER POSSIBLE REASON FOR THE MANDARIN CHOICE... COULD ALSO BE BECAUSE OF CHINA'S GROWING GLOBAL ECONOMIC INFLUENCE.
RHODES ALSO SAID LANGUAGE PROGRAMS... THOUGH NOT SPECIFICALLY MANDARIN... ARE BENEFICIAL IN SCHOOLS OR DISTRICTS WITH HIGH POVERTY... BECAUSE LEARNING ANOTHER LANGUAGE GIVES THE STUDENTS OPPORTUNITIES... THEY LIKELY WOULDN'T HAVE OTHERWISE.
YOU CAN LISTEN TO OUR ENTIRE INTERVIEW WITH RHODES... ON OUR WEB SITE AT 13 WMAZ DOT COM.
PEOPLE IN WARNER ROBINS NOW HAVE A NEW OPTION FOR BUYING GREEN POWER.
IT'S SOLAR ENERGY.. AND ITS BEING PRODUCED AT THE LOCAL CLEANING CHEMICAL FACTORY... OFF RUSSELL PARKWAY.
SOUND STRANGE ENOUGH?
LORRA LYNCH JONES EXPLAINS THE INTERESTING MIX.
nats- factory floor
120 WORKERS BUSTLE ABOUT THE FACTORY FLOOR OF THE CLEAN CONTROL CORPORATION..
nats-
THEY'RE BOTTLING ODO-BAN... INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH CLEANING SOLUTIONS... OWNER STEVE DAVISON... FIRST MIXED IN HIS BATH TUB.
Steve Davison, Warner Robins: (10:10) "That's why they call me a bath tub chemist."
DAVISONS SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS GREW INTO THIS 140-THOUSAND SQUARE FOOT FACILITY... AND THEY NOW SELL OFF WAL-MART AND HOME DEPOT SHELVES.
nats-
HE'S ALSO THRIVING... AND HIRING... IN A DOWN ECONOMY... WITH THE CAPITAL TO BUILD THIS.
nats-
A SOLAR ENERGY GRID... CAPABLE OF POWERING 24 HOMES FOR A YEAR.
Steve Davison: "You or anybody can buy, you pay a premium for it, but you can buy green power."
UNLIKE ODO-BAN... THIS IDEA WASN'T HIS OWN.
FLINT ENERGIES CAME CALLING.. SAYING IF HE HELPED PAY TO BUILT IT... THEY WOULD BUY ITS POWER.
Steve Davison: (5:20) "I sell it back to Flint. Flint puts it on the energy grid as green power."
DAVISON INVESTED 700-THOUSAND... A PRIVATE SOLAR COMPANY PAID FOR THE REST.
FEDERAL AND STATE FUNDS DESIGNATED FOR GREEN ENERGY INITIATIVES... PAY HIM BACK.
Steve Davison: (4:50) "I'm going to get my money back in the next 45 days."
AND IN TEN YEARS... DAVISON GETS TO KEEP THE POWER IT PRODUCES... FLIPPING THE SWITCH TO FUEL PRODUCTION OF HIS OWN PRODUCTS.
Steve Davison: (6:27) "It's the sun. You make electricity from the sun. Sun's free."
AND CLEAN... A PRIORITY FOR THIS SELF PROCLAIMED MAD SCIENTIST...
Steve Davision: (12:20) "I come up with a bunch of ideas and drive everybody crazy. I do."
BUT IT'S WORKING... THE NEXT IDEA JUST A BRAINSTORM AWAY FROM ROLLING OFF HIS LINE.
nats-
STD>>
THIS ISN'T DAVISONS FIRST EXPERIMENT WITH SOLAR POWER.
HE HAS HIS OWN GRID AS HIS PERRY HOME.
JIMMY AUTRY WITH FLINT SAYS THEIR CUSTOMERS CAN BUY GREEN POWER FOR FOUR DOLLARS MORE A MONTH ON THEIR BILL.
HEART DISEASE IS THE NUMBER ONE KILLER AMONG AMERICANS, ACCORDING TO THE AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION
ON THURSDAY... COLISEUM HEART INSTITUTE WILL HOST 'A HEALTHY HEART AFFAIR'... OFFERING FREE SCREENINGS AND WORKSHOPS THROUGHOUT THE DAY TO TEACH YOU MORE ABOUT YOUR HEART HEALTH.
THE MAIN SCREEINGS THEY'LL OFFER INCLUDE AN... ANKLE BRACHIAL INDEX AND AN E-K-G.
THE ANKLE BRACHIAL INDEX TESTS YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE IN BOTH ARMS AND LEGS.. TO DETERMINE IF YOU SHOW SIGNS OF PERIPHERIAL ARTERIAL DISEASE.. WHICH CAN INCREASE YOUR RISK FOR HEART DISEASE.
AN E-K-G SHOWS YOUR HEART RHYTHEM AND CAN SHOW BLOCKAGES IN CORONARY ARTERIES.
DOCTOR GARY DANIEL AT HEART OF GEORGIA CARDIOLOGY SAYS... THESE SCREENINGS ARE A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN MORE ABOUT YOUR HEALTH.
Dr. Daniel: "What we're looking for are patients who are at risk for peripherial arterial disease. And those are generally patients who have diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, patients who smoke, who are over the age of 65, and patients who have symptoms."
DR. DANIEL SAYS THOSE SYMPTOMS CAN INCLUDE FATIGUE OR CRAMPING IN YOUR LEGS WHEN YOU WALK.
THE EVENT IS THIS THURSDAY FROM 8 A-M TO 4 P-M AT MATHEWS ATHLETIC CENTER AT WESLEYAN COLLEGE.
THEY'LL OFFER A-B-I AND E-K-G SCREENINGS... AS WELL AS BLOOD PRESSURE AND BODY MASS INDEX TESTS UNTIL NOON.
TO REGISTER... CALL 478-746-4646... ONCE AGAIN, 746-4646.
TOMORROW ON EYEWITNESS NEWS MORNIN AT 6:30... FOLLOW STEPHANIE SUSSKIND THROUGH THE A-B-I SCREENING... AS SHE FINDS OUT WHAT THE RESULTS MEAN AND HOW EASY IT IS FOR YOU TO TAKE PART.
A NEW COMPETITOR IS STEPPING UP TO CHALLENGE NETFLIX IN THE MOVIE STREAMING BUSINESS.
THIS WEEK... VERIZON ANNOUNCED PLANS TO TEAM UP WITH COINSTAR... PARENT COMPANY OF D-V-D RENTAL COMPANY REDBOX.
KARA TSUBOI BREAKS DOWN THE DETAILS... IN THIS WEEK'S GEEK 13.
FOR ALL THE LATEST TECH HEADLINES... JUST HEAD OVER TO OUR GEEK 13 PAGE ON 13 WMAZ DOT COM.
YOU'LL FIND IT IN THE SCENE 13 TAB..