We begin tonight with a meeting of the Bibb County School Board...where, among other items...a new chief of campus police was named.
The board selected Russell Bentley, who served on the Bibb Campus Police force starting in 1995 and took over as chief in 2001.Bentley retired in 2009.
Candace Adorka joins Leah with more on the new chief, and the rest of the board's agenda.
LEAH: Bentley has lots of experience in the Bibb School district, and also Chief of police at Fort Valley state. What else makes him a stand out for this position?
CAD: He's currently a senior analyst with safe havens international. That's the firm hired to assess safety at Bibb schools last summer. They produced this lengthy report that found all kinds of holes in the district's security, including the campus police department-- and now he's going to be running it. Tonight, board Vice president Susan Middleton was concerned about that link, but the Superintendent assured her they didn't interview Bentley for the job until after the report came out.
LEAH: He's coming in at a time when safety and discipline are on the minds of many parents-- last week we had a handful of incidents with students bringing weapons to school, and even a shooting at a bus stop.
When will he get started.
CAD:According to Deputy Superintendent Ed Judie, they're trying to get a start date of October 1. But hiring a new police chief was only one short part of the meeting. The bulk of it was taken up by the Macon Miracle. It's being rolled out this year and board members got an update of how its going-- including teaching mandarin in all the elementary schools.
That was Mariah Reeves, a kindergartener at Rosa Taylor elementary with her Mandarin teacher Miss Xiu. She started out a bit nervous but got comfortable towards the end there. But Associate Superintendent Donna Jackson says by and large, Bibb parents are happy with the Mandarin program.
The board also got similarly positive progress reports on other macon miracle initiatives like diversity training, and efficacy program for students, and a career coach program. But they also heard how they are all affecting the budget.
This year, the total for Macon Miracle is running just over 2-point-7 million, with the largest chunk going to the three new alternative schools.
LEAH: since we're talking numbers, lets move to the financial audit that was discussed at the meeting.
CAD: This is the last part of the audit by that firm McGladrey. The McGladrey audit caused tension a few months ago when an audit of board member e-mails only showed wrongdoing on the part board members Gary Bechtel and Sue Sipe, and they frequently oppose the superintendent. Tonight, the board got the last part of this audit which looked at things like credit card usage, payroll, and service agreements.
The auditors say they found about 30-thousand dollars in misused funds, mainly because people misunderstood policies, but one thing they found, six school were using credit cards when they weren't supposed to. The superintendent was not happy with it, but Bechtel said he was pleased with the results of the audit.
Leah wraps.
The district says Russell Bentley was selected as the new police chief out of 15 candidates.
The National Transportation and Safety Board is still investigating an accident...involving a small plane that slid off a runway in Macon and into the woods Tuesday.
Yesterday, they removed the plane from the spot where it stopped after it hydroplaned off course at Herbert Smart Airport in Bibb County.
Investigators pulled out the flight recorder and GPS so experts at the NTSB could analyze it.
John Dewberry, a businessman from Atlanta, owns the plane and was on board with the pilot and another passenger. .
The former Georgia Tech quarterback spoke with our sister station, WXIA in Atlanta today about his close call.
<I kinda looked at Georgia, my dog, and said, I think we're going to use all the runway today, I was kind of chuckling. When we hit the road, I mean the dirt, I grabbed her and I said, okay,it's gonna be kind of fun. None of us knew that we had to go over a forty foot cliff. When we hit the road, we had to go over another thirty, forty foot cliff. So what you saw on television, looked bad for the plane, the actual ride would have been much for severe than what you would expect by just shooting that picture. >
Dewberry said...in spite of being kind of stiff the day after...he was okay...and that he was even able to make it out for a round of golf with friends yesterday.
A couple of minutes ago...we spent some time talking about "trouble with the Curve"...a possible highlight for your weekend plans.
Now in Scene 13 tonight...we take you from the big screen to the small stage.
J-D's Drama and Dinner Theater in Macon is hosting a tribute to the late Coretta Scott King...
"A Song for Coretta" is the story of five women from different circumstances who are all inspired by the wife of Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Junior.
The play is Saturday night at 7.
Admission is 20 dollars.
The address for J-D's is 550 Riverside Drive...
The theater is actually fairly new to Macon...
<we are just newly ..We opened up around June 29th..30th...opening for our first weekend..we've had Scott Dodson there..Bo Ponder. We've had 13's Dean Brown.. . Adult eloquent way of just entertaining ourselves and just enjoying life. >
If bluegrass is your thing..you may want to head to the Juliette Opry...
Now That's not your daddy's bluegrass...
"larkin Poe" is in concert tomorrow night..at 7:30.
The five-piece band offers up a progressive form of bluegrass..known as "newgrass".
Tickets are 20 dollars at the door.
If bluegrass is your thing..you may want to head to the Juliette Opry...
Now That's not your daddy's bluegrass...
"larkin Poe" is in concert tomorrow night..at 7:30.
The five-piece band offers up a progressive form of bluegrass..known as "newgrass".
Tickets are 20 dollars at the door.
And...for more music...tune that GPS to Theatre Dublin...where you're going to get a taste of Nashville this weekend.
T.G. Shepherd is traveling down from Tennessee to perform on Saturday.
The music starts at 7:30.
You can find tickets at First Laurens Bank...
Linda's Emporium in the Dublin Mall...
And at the Courier Herald office.
Prices are 25 dollars in advance...28 at the door.
For more information...call 478-272-5870.
And finally..the Macon Symphony Orchestra opens a new season...under the leadership of new music director and Conductor Ward Stare.
Earlier this week on Eyewitness News...Stare chatted with us...about his arrival in Macon...and his plans for the making the symphony more accessible.
<it's important for an orchestra to get out into the community in a way that they're visible and that they're accessble so that people can explore their potential love and potential talents for music and just enjoy it. That's the beautiful thing about music. You can perform it yourself, you can appreciate it, you can support it in many different ways. And you can come to concerts and just enjoy it for yourself. >
And that's exactly what you can do Saturday night at the Grand Opera House...as the Orchestra presents "triple Delight".
The opening concert will feature a string trio..the work of local violists, cellists, and pianists....and a few familiar pieces from Beethoven, Strauss, and Tchaikovsky...including his fifth symphony.
The concert begins at 7:30...with a preconcert chat from Maestro Stare.
Tickets are $38.50 for adults...$18.50 for students...and $13.50 for children twelve and under.
And that wraps up our events this weekend...
news from Scene 13...check out the Features tab on our homepage at 13WMAZ-dot-com.
Earlier this year....Macon got a taste of Hollywood as Clint Eastwood and his crews rolled into town to film scenes from the baseball-themed movie "trouble with the Curve."
This marks a break from directing for Eastwood...putting him back in front of the camera for the first time in years.
Bigad Shaban interviewed the star..and some of the other cast members.
<((PKG SCRIPT))
-------------------
(vo:)
CLINT EASTWOOD PLAYS A GRUFF BASEBALL SCOUT WHO CAN TELL THE QUALITY OF A PITCH, JUST BY THE SOUND OF THE SWING.
(---NATS: Ball hitting bat---)
(vo:)
IN THE FILM , "TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE," EASTWOOD IS AN OLD TIMER STRUGGLING WITH HEALTH PROBLEMS.
ON THE SET... THIS MOVIE VETERAN TRIED TO LEND HIS EXPERIENCE TO THE CAST ...INCLUDING AMY ADAMS, WHO PLAYS HIS BASEBALL-LOVING DAUGHTER.
ADAMS SAYS EASTWOOD GAVE HER SOME UNUSUAL COACHING.
(---SOT: Amy Adams / Mickey--)
"He thinks people pull out of driveways too slowly in film or something, // he's like 'Just go! Here's what you do, just turn up the key, turn the car on, and put it in gear. And when I say go, go!" And I think he was just hanging out of the car, and I wanted to kill him and I was terrified, but everyone thought it was hysterical because Clint loves it when people pull out quickly."
(vo:)
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE PLAYS ADAMS' LOVE INTEREST, BUT OFF-SCREEN HE GUSHES OVER EASTWOOD.
(---SOT: Justin Timberlake / Johnny---)
"He really is like a sweet heart."
(vo:)
EASTWOOD IS 82 YEARS OLD AND HE'S HAS HAD SO MANY HOME RUNS AT THE BOX OFFICE, HE'S STOPPED KEEPING SCORE.
(--SOT: Clint Eastwood with Bigad Shaban--)
(Bigad:)
"Have you kept track of how many movies you've been in now?"
(Clint:)
"No, I haven't, I don't know. There's a list of it somewhere but I don't know what it is, everybody keeps reminding me though that this is the first film in 19 years that I haven't directed and acted in."
(vo:)
AND HE ISN'T TIPPING HIS HAND ABOUT WHAT'S NEXT-ACTING OR DIRECTING.
(---SOT: Clint Eastwood / Gus---)
(Bigad)
"Any more for you, or is this it?"
(Clint)
"I don't know, // I'll probably do one or the other."
(vo:)
EASTWOOD ADMITS... HE'S ALREADY LOOKING FOR THE NEXT SCRIPT TO BRING TO THE BIG SCREEN. .>
Now when "trouble with the Curve" swings into theaters tomorrow...moviegoers will spot a couple of familiar Macon sites.
One of those is Cheers...a local bar on Northside Drive.
We caught up with bar owner Jim Pierson....who says he hopes to see the film this weekend... but it probably won't be opening night.
Now that the film is finally out... he says he can't help but think of when the director first saw his bar.
<jim Pierson:
Robert said get him to sign it right now, he said you can't buy a location like this he said this is an old time neat neighborhood bar and it is.>
Are you planning to check out "trouble with the Curve" tomorrow?
So is 13WMAZ.
Let us know on Facebook if your headed to the theater...and where you're planning to watch.