GOOD EVENING AND THANKS FOR JOINING US..
I'M FRANK MALLOY..
AND I'M LEAH JOHNSON.... THIS IS EYEWITNESS NEWS AT ELEVEN.
FIRST, 13-W-M-A-Z'S LORRA LYNCH JONES SPENT SOME TIME TONIGHT WITH MAJOR GENERAL BOB MCMAHON.... COMMANDER OF THE AIR LOGISTICS CENTER AT ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE.
ON EYEWITNESS NEWS AT FIVE TONIGHT YOU HEARD ABOUT A RANGE OF TOPICS, FROM THE PRESIDENT'S 20-13 BUDGET, WHICH INCLUDES DEFENSE CUTS.
MCMAHON TOLD US THE GREATEST IMPACT ON
ROBINS WILL NOT COME FROM THE 32-BILLION DOLLARS CUT BY THE PRESIDENT...BUT FROM THE POSSIBLE REDUCED WORKLOAD.
A MAJOR PART OF ROBINS MISSION IS... IN MCMAHON'S WORDS... TO SERVICE "OTHER PEOPLE'S AIRCRAFTS".
THE GENERAL SAYS THOSE INCLUDE 65 C-130'S SERVICED HERE...AND 27 C-5S.
THOSE AIRCRAFTS ARE ON THE LIST TO BE DECOMMISSIONED OR RETIRED, ACCORDING TO MCMAHON.
HE SAYS HE HOPES THAT THEY CAN REDUCE SOME OF THE STING FROM THE LOSSES....BY BRINGING NEW WORK TO ROBINS.
NOW WE COULDN'T FIT ALL OF OUR QUESTIONS FOR GENERAL MCMAHON INTO THE TIME ALLOTTED FOR OUR LIVE INTERVIEW ON EYEWITNESS NEWS AT FIVE.
AS PROMISED... LORRA LYNCH JONES' DISCUSSION WITH MCMAHON CONTINUED... TO COVER HOW THE PRESIDENT'S PROPOSED BUDGET COULD AFFECT ROBINS.
Maj. Gen. Robert McMahon, WR-ALC Commander:
McMahon explains approach to Air Force cuts. Says this will not create a "hollow" force. This is an entirely different approach.
Talks about budgets reference to specific line items in the president's 2013 budget, such as investment in the F15 program and global air strike capabilities
Opportunities for growth in U2 program office located at Robins
"People will continue to beat down the door at Robins Air Force Base to ask us to do
their work.
AGAIN, GENERAL MCMAHON SAYS HE'S CONFIDENT THE BASE WON'T HAVE TO RESORT TO LAYOFFS IN ORDER TO REACH THE NUMBER OF POSITIONS THAT NEED TO BE ELIMINATED
13-W-M-A-Z WANTS TO HEAR YOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT THE MACON MIRACLE STRATEGIC PLAN FOR BIBB COUNTY SCHOOLS.
TOMORROW NIGHT ON EYEWITNESS NEWS AT SIX, WE'LL CONTINUE THIS WEEK'S FOCUS ON PARTS OF THE PLAN YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT..
TO JOIN THE CONVERSATION, TALK TO US ON FACEBOOK.
LET US KNOW WHAT QUESTIONS YOU HAVE ABOUT BIBB COUNTY SCHOOL'S AND WE'LL GET ANSWERS FOR YOU, ON EYEWITNESS NEWS AT SIX.
A NEW HIGHWAY CONNECTING FIVE CITIES FROM GEORGIA TO MISSISSIPPI COULD RUN THROUGH PARTS OF MACON... BYRON... AND WARNER ROBINS.
THE FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION'S 14-th AMENDMENT STUDY HAS FIVE ALTERNATIVE ROUTES WITH COSTS RANGING FROM JUST UNDER 300 MILLION DOLLARS TO OVER SEVEN AND A HALF BILLION.
ONE OF THE ROUTES IS A NEW INTERSTATE SYSTEM RUNNING NEAR DOWNTOWN BYRON BEFORE HEADING TOWARD STATE ROAD 247.
BYRON MAYOR LARRY COLLINS SAYS A NEW EAST-WEST ROUTE COULD HELP SPREAD OUT SOME OF THE TRAFFIC BETWEEN BYRON AND ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE.
HE SAYS THE BIGGEST JOB FOR CITY OFFICIALS WOULD BE ENHANCING THE BYRON AREA WHILE MAINTAINING ITS SMALL-TOWN FEEL.
"Things like that are already set up to deal with growth. We've participated a number of times in quality growth clinics throughout the state. We are not adverse to growth. We're good to go if its going to happen."
ONE OF THE ALTERNATIVE ROUTES STARTS IN BYRON AND FOLLOWS INTERSTATES 75 AND 16... AROUND THE OCMULGEE NATIONAL MONUMENT... BEFORE HEADING TOWARD AUGUSTA.
IF YOU WERE DRIVING THROUGH DOWNTOWN MACON TONIGHT, YOU MIGHT HAVE SEEN WHAT LOOKED LIKE THE MAKINGS OF A HIGH-RISE DISASTER.
BUT IT WAS ACTUALLY A TRAINING EXERCISE THAT SHUT DOWN A PORTION OF FIRST STREET AND SENT MACON-BIBB FIREFIGHTERS SCRAMBLING AROUND THE OLD RAMADA PLAZA BUILDING.
THE TRAINING STARTED AT SIX AND IS STILL GOING ON RIGHT NOW, WRAPPING UP AROUND MIDNIGHT.
CHIEF D.L. MERCER SAYS THIS OPPORTUNITY GIVES FIREFIGHTERS A CHANCE TO SIMULATE A SITUATION IN A REALISTIC ENVIRONMENT.
Mercer; This is a great opportunity to be able to bring all our battallion together to train for a high rise event that could occur. Hopefully it doesn't. If it does, our personnel will have a real good feel for how stressful and how it's gonna work working outside their normal operation days.
ASSISTANT FIRE CHIEF CLIFF RUSHIN SAYS TRAINING EXERCISES CONTINUE THURSDAY NIGHT.
ON THE SWEETEST DAY OF THE YEAR, SOME MACON FOLKS ARE DIPPING INTO SOMETHING DELIGHTFUL.
CHOCOLATE LOVERS POURED INTO THE MACON CITY AUDITORIUM FOR THE NINTH ANNUAL "DEATH BY CHOCOLATE", A SINFULLY FUN VALENTINES EVENT BENEFITING THE TUBMAN MUSEUM.
SWEET TREATS INCLUDED ALL KINDS OF FLAVORS AD TYPES OF CHOCOLATE CONCOCTIONS.
THERE WAS ALSO A FULL DINNER TO GO WITH DESSERT, AND JEWELRY AND FINE ART TO BID ON FOR THOSE SEEKING SOME OPTIONS A LITTLE EASIER ON THE DIET.
THE RUMOR MILL IS WORKING OVERTIME... CHURNING OUT STORIES AND DETAILS THAT MAY OR MAY NOT BE TRUE ABOUT THE NEXT VERSION OF THE I-PAD.
KARA TSUBOI TAKES ON THE RUMORS... IN THIS WEEK'S GEEK 13.
TAKE PKG:
TRACK ONE: It's been almost a year since Apple released the iPad 2...
(NATS FROM STEVE JOBS IN MARCH, 2011: "When you get your hands on it, it feels totally different.")
...so analysts say it stands to reason that a new model is on its way.
Josh Lowensohn / CNET Staff Writer
"This is a product that no one knew was going to be as popular as it is. They don't have to do a whole lot at this point. The more they do the better."
TRACK TWO: Apple is notoriously tight-lipped about any of the details surrounding new products, but some of the rumors are more likely than others. For starters, better screen resolution.
Josh Lowensohn / CNET Staff Writer
"The iPhone and the iPod Touch have moved to this thing they call the retina display. Technically that just means that when you're holdiong it about a foot away, you can't really see the pixels."
TRACK THREE: Also, Apple experts like CNET's Josh Lowensohn expect better cameras.
Josh Lowensohn / CNET Staff Writer
"It was a big short coming in the 2, and it's an area where they could do a little adjustment and have a lot of positive benefit come out of it."
TRACK FOUR: And, it could be faster with an upgrade to a quad-core processor.
Josh Lowensohn / CNET Staff Writer
"Moving up to 4 could give you faster installation speeds. It might also let games run faster.'
Kara Tsuboi / ON CAMERA STANDUP
"One feature that everyone would like to see on a new version of an Ipad is Siri, the talking personal assistant."
TRACK FIVE: iPad users we spoke with in San Francisco had other features in mind.
Paul Boynton / Dallas, TX
"Probably a better keyboard so you can use it more like a laptop."
Robbie Wychwood / Toronto, Canada
"More portable than my MacBook perhaps."
Christine Kastanos / San Lorenzo, CA
"Flash capabilities. I can't view a lot of the websites I'd like to view because they're in flash."
TRACK SIX: If the rumors are true, Apple is expected to announce this new iPad during the first week of March.
LIKE PREVIOUS VERSIONS... A-T AND T AND VERIZON ARE EXPECTED TO BE THE CELLULAR CARRIERS FOR A NEW I-PAD.
PRICING COULD BE LOWER... ESPECIALLY IF THE NEW OFFERINGS INCLUDE A SMALLER MODEL.
TO KEEP UP WITH THE LATEST TECH... INCLUDING NEWS... APP REVIEWS AND THE LATEST FROM THE GAMING WORLD... VISIT THE GEEK 13 PAGE.
YOU'LL FIND IT UNDER THE FEATURES TAB.
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