Eyewitness News at 6, 8/21/12

7:02 PM, Aug 21, 2012   |    comments
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Students at Veterans High School and the rest of a Warner Robins community...grieve for a classmate, friend, and son killed in a collision with a semi-truck.

Hello everyone. Thank you for joining us.

I'm Frank Malloy.

And I'm Lorra Lynch Jones. Leah Johnson has the night off.

Counselors now help students cope with the death of that classmate in Houston County..

The 17-year-old Veterans High junior died when his car was hit by a tractor trailer on Highway 96 last night..

Tom George talked with classmates and neighbors about the young man..and the accident.

  1. <he was a nice kid ... And he was pretty funny from what everybody says, everything he said was a joke or something good that keeps everyone's attitude up and happy. >

Students back in school today at Veterans High in Bonaire ... But missing one of their own ... 17-year old Kyle Hillock was killed yesterday when his car collided with a tractor trailer.

< It happened right here. Hillock was driving his Mustang down Thompson Mill Road when he entered the intersection at Highway 96 he was struck by a tractor trailer ... Killing him. >

Sheriff Cullen Talton says Hillock pulled out in front of the semi...which had a green light... He said "it was just really unfortunate."

The accident was just a few minutes away from Hillock's neighborhood on Chattahoochee Drive in Bonaire. Faith Womack lives in the neighborhood, and drove by the crash scene after it happened.

<to know that he was in my neighborhood and I didn't know him and I saw the wreck ... What if I did know him? It'd be totally different for me right now.>

Investigators were at the scene earlier today reconstructing the accident to get more information ... Meanwhile, a small memorial has been put up at the scene ...

< It's kind of scary because that could have been anybody, it could have been me .... I mean that could have been anybody and that makes it so real >

In Bonaire, Tom George, 13WMAZ Eyewitness News.

We spoke with Hillock's father...

So far...no funeral arrangements have been made.

The prosecution and defense laid out their cases today in the opening statements in the murder trial of a Warner Robins man accused of hiring two men to kill his wife.

James "Eddy" Clements is accused of recruiting a father and son, Robert and Richard Sybert, to kill his wife, Joni Clements, last February. She was found shot to death...in her home.

He faces 14 counts in all, including murder.

 

 

13 WMAZ's Austin Lewis has been in the courtroom for two days in a row.

She joins us by phone now...to explain what's unfolded today.

The jury consists of 10 women and four men. There will be 12 jurors and two alternates.

Houston District Attorney George Hartwig says he is seeking the death penalty for the accused shooter.,,,,Richard Sybert.

His trial has not yet been scheduled.

Meanwhile....a Warner Robins man accused of killing his girlfriend last year... Is now out on bond.

Russell Holt was released from the Houston County jail...just over 90 minutes ago.

That's according to the jail web site.

A judge last week set bond of 650 thousand dollars...but said Holt must remain under house arrest.

He's a former probation officer....accused of shooting Jessica Wolfe back in March. Wolfe worked in the Houston County district attorney's office...and she died from a single gunshot to the chest.

No trial date has been set for Holt.

Across Georgia, voters have less than an hour to get to the polls, to vote in a number of runoffs.

At five, we told you about some of the local races on the ballots, including three Bibb County school board seats, that because of a redistricting issue, are up for vote for the first time...

And a state senate seat in District 26.

Over the past few weeks, a few people on our Facebook expressed some concerns about what they called...voting irregularities...and others just had questions about how runoffs work.

Judy Le visited polling places at Northeast High School and the Memorial Gym to try and clear things up.

Voters trickled into poll sites to cast a ballot in Tuesday's run-off elections. For 81-year-old Robert Young...voting is routine.

<Subtract 18 from 80 and I've voted every year>

But even for some veteran voters...the process still leaves a few confused.

<I vote every election and I've got one thing. I don't understand yet why on top of the registrar slip, they have whether or not you're voting with a democratic ballot or republican ballot>

To clear things up...If you voted in the primary elections with a certain party...you have to vote in the run-off elections in the same party.

<Say they voted republican, then they go today and there's no republican ballot but there is a democrat. It's because the board of ed race or whatever, those candidates qualify to another party>

This is standard in a run-off situation. Ballots are personalized and you cannot switch parties.

<Some people will go to the precincts today and will be turned away saying sorry we don't have a ballot for you>

That's because some voters live in a precinct with no races to vote on for their party. But Young considers this election...and every election...a chance for his voice to be heard.

<The right to vote gives me a privilege, to see if I can change things that are not going well>

Young voted early in the day...but the polls will remain open until 7-pm

Judy Le...13wmaz...Eyewitness News

You can keep up to date on tonight's election returns on 13wmaz dot com and 13wmaz eyewitness news.

This election season...a campaign in Missouri...has become a hot topic.

Senate candidate Todd Akin's comments that woman doesn't usually conceive in cases of, quote, "legitimate rape", led some of his own party members to call for him to step out...and back off.

<todd's statement was reprehensible and wrong. In the interest of his family and the party, and Missouri and the election, I think he should step down. He's got the opportunity to do so. It's a seat that could have been won, but unless Todd akin's not the nominee, I don't think it can. > >

Akin says, no way, though. Today-- he reaffirmed his decision to stick with his campaign.

Lorra has more on how the ripples from this one race...could make waves throughout the election season.

Today...we explored another side of this particular situation...and the impact it'll have on the conservative agenda.

On 13WMAZ-dot-com... We asked if you think abortion will be a larger issue in this year's election as a result.

So far... 44 percent of you say yes.. But 56 percent of you don't think so.

To vote now... Visit 13WMAZ.com.

Look for the question on the right side of the homepage.

Georgia Senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, visited Middle Georgia Technical College, with two other congressmen from Central Georgia to talk about the effects of sequestration.

 

A crowd of about 150 listened as Chambliss warned them of the budget cuts that could happen to our military.

He says 492 billion dollars will be taken from the defense budget.

This would also eliminate 28 thousand defense contractor jobs in Georgia.

The super committee delegated to make a bipartisan agreement on the budget cuts by January 2nd... hasn't come up with one.

< We're sent there to do a job which is to manage your money well and the super committee just did not do a very good job in achieving the result they were challenged to do.>

Chambliss also says sequestration would eliminate more than 100 thousand troops over a five year period. Of those, the army and marines would be hit hardest.

< The reason is that over the last ten years we have plushed up the fore structure of the marine corp and the army because of the surge in Iraq and because of the surge in Afghanistan. >

If the deadline beats the super committee, Federal cuts will take place in all agencies.

This could eliminate one million jobs in the U.S. by 2014.

Chambliss will continue his discussion on sequestration in military communities across the state, over the next coming weeks.

U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson has four more years before his current six-year term ends. Isakson, along with several other federal lawmakers, spent time in Central Georgia Tuesday talking about issues now facing Congress.

On this week's Close-Up program, Isakson discusses issues ranging from possible military cuts to the upcoming presidential election. He also talks about why tax reforms proposals remain bogged down on Capitol Hill.