Straight ahead on Eyewitness News at Six,
New Orleans marks the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina with a blow from another storm.
We're tracking Isaac...and we'll show you conditions there, just ahead.
And... James Eddy Clements, the man convicted of hiring two men to kill his wife, returns to a Perry Courtroom for sentencing.
We'll bring you the latest.
Eyewitness News at Six comes your way next. .
Isaac strikes, leaving property damage... Downed trees...and flooded homes...across New Orleans.
An all-too-familiar scene on this seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina...
We'll have An update just ahead on Isaac....
Good Evening and thanks for joining us... I'm Frank Malloy.
And I'm Leah Johnson.
You're watching Eyewitness News at Six.
Before we get back to our coverage of Isaac, two men got life without parole for their role in a Warner Robins murder for hire case.
A third man... got 30 years in prison.
Sentenced first today was James Eddy Clements...He's the Warner Robins man who, last week, was convicted of hiring a father and son to kill his wife in February 2011.
Clements actually got life...plus five years with no parole.
Also sentenced......Richard Sybert...the alleged shooter.
He also got life...plus five...and no parole...for killing Joni Clements.
He avoided the death penalty...by testifying against James Clements.
The third man sentenced was his father....Robert Sybert...who helped arrange the plot.
He received a thirty-year prison term.
At today's hearing...District Attorney George Hartwig said those sentences were part of a plea deal with the two Syberts...for testitfying last week.
It's been a day of dramatic rescues in Louisiana, as Isaac pounds the southern part of the state.
Isaac has now been downgraded to a tropical storm, but when it slammed into the coast last night, it was a category one hurricane.
It pushed water over levees outside the city, flooding streets and homes.
At least seventy-five people were rescued from their roofs after floodwaters poured over an 18 mile stretch in (plaque-we-mens) Plaquemines Parish.
Sharon Sylvia and her family tried to drive away from the rising water, but it was raining too hard.
They were stranded until a boat picked them up...and ferried them to safety.
<THEY TOOK US OUT OF THE ATTIC AND INTO THE BOATS. IT'S VERY BAD DOWN THERE. VERY BAD.>
Search teams are still trying to rescue several other flood victims.
we here in central Georgia escaped the direct effects of Isaac... But indirect effects were felt as far east as the Georgia and South Carolina coast.
Ben--as far as the weather we're seeing out there right now--
are we looking at any fringe effects from Isaac...or just a routine downpour?
Two Macon businesses remain closed today after a visit from police.
The Macon Police Department conducted what they call a periodic...Random check for current Valid business licenses with the city.
Jennifer Moulliet went to several businesses on a violation list... Here's what she found.
Macon Police went to nine businesses... Including the Ihop on Eisenhower Parkway.
The manager refused to comment...but did renew the restaurant's license and it was open for customers.
Just across the Pio Nono intersection was the open sign in Subway's window... Their manager refused to comment but had a new license framed inside.
Then I headed down Pio Nono Avenue... Where Officers hit three establishments with violations Tuesday.
Employees at Papa's Wings and Deli say it was a misunderstanding and they resolved the situation.
It was another story for the Chevron down the street... All the lights were off...the doors were locked... And the sign in the door said Closed for repairs.
South on Pio Nono... The Lucky Lottery Mart... was also closed ...the door was chained shut... Even though the sign on the door said their normal business hours are from ten to ten.
M-P-D also struck on Riverside Drive.
The owner of the Budget Inn told me over the phone that his expired license was an oversight on his part... He says he was at the city's financial office as soon as they opened this morning to renew it.
Officers also served a notice to the Motel Six just north of the Budget Inn on riverside. The manager was not available for comment... But its new license dated... August twenty-ninth two-thousand twelve was in clear view on the front desk.
Just down the road... Employees at the Holiday Inn Express say they received a notice that their license was expired... Tuesday morning... And as they were faxing the notice to their owner... a Macon Police Officer walked through the door with a list. She said it was an oversight on their accountant's part and have since fixed the issue... But thought it was odd that they would receive a notice within hours of being fined.
Jennifer Moulliet 13wmaz eyewitness news.
Macon Police Chief Mike Burns told eyewitness news... most business owners in Macon willingly and routinely obtain their business license each year. .. But it's disappointing to see some that don't.
The City of Macon is distributing a million-and-a-half dollars in federal money to put up housing in East Macon.
Georgia Behavioral Health Services is using the money to expand a program that helps homeless and low income people with disabilities get back on track.
Candace Adorka reports the goal is to help individuals, and the community.
Hatcher expects to break ground on the Third Neighborhood project by the end of September, and have the homes ready by next summer.
He says right now, there are no plans to expand further.
One man's love of Macon has brought him back home this week...to showcase a talent that's earned him a Grammy nod and tours around the world.
Robert McDuffie is at the helm of an international string festival.
David Earl sat down with Macon's virtuoso violinist.
"james Brown, the allman Borthers, Little Richard, Otis Redding, Robert McDuffie"
"wow ... Um, all I can say is that Macon created my musical DNA."
You wouldn't expect the birthplace of southern rock to also make a home for classical music.
"I just wanted to put Macon on the map."
But Robert McDuffie's Center for Strings ...
((NATSS))
... Is making music loud enough to reach all around the world.
((NATSS))
"countries"
And McDuffie's six-year-old Mercer conservatory teaches more than just music to aspiring soloists.
"contract law, free enterprise, psychology, micro economics, public speaking, non profits, digital rights."
It's a 21st century education on what can be a centuries old topic.
First there were two students.
Then two became 26.
Amy Schultz Moretti conducts the curriculum.
"I try to treat the students as young professionals ... "
Young professionals, sure.
But they're still students ... Who happen to have a knack for making their strings sing.
((NATSSS))
"everyone knows Allmen Brothers and Southern rock, but now Macon is a great place for classical music."
Even though he's not living here, when McDuffie comes to town ... There's a certain magic at practice.
" cccc "
But he'll tell you it's not him ...
"it's Macon ... It's Macon. What does that mean? ...... "
"is it also home?"
"it's still home, I say I'm going home. Even though I pay taxes in new york ... But Macon is still home."
You can take in the music from students in Robert McDuffie's Center for Strings at a concert at the Grand in Macon.
It's Thursday -- tomorrow night -- at 7 p.m.
It's free for everyone.
It might not be the Super Bowl, or the Olympics ... But when you're a military maintenance crew, the the Department of Defense's Robert T. Mason Award is the big dance.
And this year, it was the Air Force's C-130 team at Robins that brought home the crown. Tom George spent time on base this morning to meet the winning team and to find out what makes them the best of the best.
<this is the Super Bowl of depot mainteance!>
For General Cedric George and his C-130 maintenance crew at Robins AFB, the hard work paid off ...
(NAT POP) as they won the 2012 Robert T. Mason Depot Award for having the best programmed depot line in the entire Department of Defense.
<pumping their fists, pounding chests, they are humble about it, but absolutely thrilled to receive this recognition .. They know that this is the best of the best. >
Robins beat out crews from all branches of the military to bring the base its first ever title... Last year, their team brought 64 aircraft back to the warfighter, and boasted a 100 percent on-time delivery rate.
<we're gonna remain faithful to speed, quality, and safety to deliver warfighter readiness. We're gonna be faithful to the little things that make a big difference and what you see is the results of that happening. >
<working on the line, it used to take them a year just to get a plane fixed.. Now they've gut cut that down to just half a year, but they're not stopping there. Their next goal, just four months. >
And for the mechanics doing it, that's reason to brag.
<I got a brother in law down in C-17's and he's always talking about the C-17's a newer aircraft and he says the C-130 is so old its not really good for the Air Force anymore, but it feels good to brag on that a little bit>
But not General George, it's already back to business.
<we need to pick the right time to celebrate so I don't end up tripping and falling and not delivering when I'm this close to the end zone>
A small break ... For a big win.
At Robins Air Force Base, Tom George, 13WMAZ Eyewitness News.
And of course with any Super Bowl comes a big trophy ... And the C-130 crew will get theirs in November during the Department of Defense's Maintenance Symposium in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Here's an update to that story on the sentencing of James "eddy" Clements...convicted of hiring two men to kill his wife.
Clements will spend the rest of his life in jail...along with Richard Sybert, the man who plead guilty to shooting Joni Clements.
The father.....who drove the getaway car...will get 30 years for his part.
District Attorney George Hartwig says justice prevailed today.
<George Hartwig: I think the outcome of this case is appropiate the two most cupable folks here the husband that put this qhole thing in motion and the man that actually went into the house and pulled the trigger are bith doing life without the possibility of parole it's very satisfying to know that neither one of those will get out.
We'll have more reaction on the sentencing tonight on Eyewitness News at Eleven.