Good evening.
Thanks for joining us.
I'm Leah Johnson.
And I'm Frank Malloy..
This is Eyewitness News at 11.
Our top story tonight at 11..
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and tonight one local group honored victims with a candlelight vigil.
Participants also hoped to raise awareness of an issue that cuts across all socio-economic lines.
According to the Georgia Commission on Family Violence, Georgia ranks 10th in the nation for its rate of men killing women.
In 2010, domestic violence agencies took more than 71-thousand crisis calls in the state.
The same year, more than 75 hundred victims and children sought refuge in domestic violence shelters in Georgia.
and there were 130 deaths related to domestic violence in Georgia in 2010.
The theme of tonight's event was "no More Sheets"...Judy Le was there and talked to one survivor.
Survivors...fighters...and supporters came out to raise their voices against domestic violence. Speakers used numbers....
And poets used spoken word to kick off the event. Advocacy group, Violence Intervention and Prevention, hosted a Silent Witness Exhibit and Candlelight vigil to remember victims and encourage survivors.
"I'm here to lend a voice, stand in for the ones that have been silenced, to let people know that this is real."
Four wooden figures represents a person who died from domestic violence. Each shawl represents comfort and healing for those who won the fight. According to the national Coalition against domestic violence...85-percent of victims are women.
"I was in a relationship for many years with a man and it became abusive. It became verbally, physically, emotionally abusive. And it took a long time before I could get out of it."
Taquila Thomas proudly wears the purple ribbon. She says she hopes her story will help those suffering know that they aren't alone.
"I'm not judging them. Everybody's story is different and it's going to happen in their own time. But when they feel that urge it's time to go, to listen to their inner voice because it usually never steers you wrong and to go to find some safety somewhere, someone."
Experts say...most cases of abuse are never reported to the police. Judy Le 13wmaz eyewitness news
Several agencies are available to help victims of domestic violence in Central Georgia... including Crisis Line and Safe House..
Their 24-hour crisis hotline number is 478-745-9292... again that number is 478-745-9292.
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Police confirm that a Macon woman found dead inside her home was suffocated..
The three people charged with killing 58-year-old Gail Spencer last weekend... Will stay in the Bibb County Jail.
Michael Kelly.. Courtney Kelly and Tracy Jones all made their first appearances in court today.
Magistrate Judge Barbara Harris... Told the trio they each face a murder charge... And said she would not be able to set bond.
Macon police say they killed Spencer... Who was found dead in her Stinsonville Road home early Saturday.
Chief Mike Burns and District Attorney Greg Winters explained at a news conference how they found Spencer.
But would release few details about the investigation.
"To preserve the integrity of this investigation and the prosecution we're not going to release any details of what we found or what lead us to these people. I hope y'all accept that that we have to finish this investigation and we still have work to do."
Chief Burns would not confirm the relationship between the victim and the suspects.
A law enforcement official did tell us that Tracey Jones and Gail Spencer worked together in the office of Macon lawyer Calder Pinkston.
He said the two Kellys are brother and sister... And believes the motive was money.
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Georgia Democrats today announced they are planning to take Georgia's voter ID law to court.
At a gathering of Democrats in Macon, party Chairman Michael Berlon announced he would likely file the suit in federal court in Macon. He says recent laws being struck down in other states that are less strict than Georgia's would give this case a chance.
"Well, Georgia has one of the most restrictive voter ID laws in the country and it was one of the first that was ever passed. And, there have been several decisions that have happened during the course of this campaign, most recently in Pennsylvania and a couple of other places where they struck laws down that were much less restrictive than ours."
But Republican Senator Cecil Staton, the architect of the voter ID law in Georgia, says the law has already been upheld and that Democrats are trying to play politics in an election year.
"We were one the first states to enact the photo ID bill and we started that process in 2005. So we've really been through the court processes from start to finish and our law has been upheld. So I think its frankly foolishness and election year politics."
Today, a panel of federal judges ruled on a similar law in South Carolina. They upheld the law, but said it's too late to use it in November's election.
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Tomorrow night...the vice-presidential candidates will face off in their first and only debate...
Vice President Joe Biden and Republican contender Paul Ryan will square off in Danville, Kentucky.
One of the issues that will most likely be addressed will be abortion..
Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney told an Iowa newspaper that he wasn't aware of any abortion legislation that would be part of his agenda..if elected.
Today Romney said he was against abortion and would immediately move to strip federal funding from planned parenthood...
Ryan says he's ready to discuss it with Biden...who he claims is at disadvantage despite his experience on the big stage.
Ryan: " Look, what I am excited about is we get to offer the american people a very clear choice. Look, Joe Biden has been on this stage before. He has been on these big stages. This is my first time. But what he can't run from is President Obama's indefensible record. They are just offering more of the same."
The Obama campaign has accused Romney of "playing politics" with his stand on abortion.
It claims that Romney was firmly against abortion during the Republican primary race...but is now more to the center of the issue during the general election campaign.
You can watch the vice-presidential debate right here on WMAZ...starting at 8:45 tomorrow night.
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Fire drills are fairly common at schools, but it's not every day that you have a fire drill with the state fire commissioner.
McKibben Lane Elementary School in Macon was chosen for the event as part of October's Fire Prevention Month. ... Commissioner Ralph Hudgens visited from Atlanta, and along with Macon-Bibb Fire Chief Marvin Riggins ... they showed up in a 3rd grade class to give advice on making sure families have a safety plan, when to change smoke detectors, and also to hand out some red fire hats ... Hudgens says the students all did a great job.
"Very impressed... This school was very well organized . The kids, the chilldren knew what they were going to do. There wasn't any pushing. There wasn't any shoving. There wasnt any talking. They walked out, They knew exactly where they were going and that's exacatly what they need to do."
Schools across the county participated in fire drills at 10 a.m. this morning. The theme of Fire Prevention Month this year is "Have Two Ways Out."
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Doctors say they are noticing what they call an alarming trend in patients being treated for stroke...They're getting younger
Vinita Nair takes a look at why this may be happening.
SANTOS RODRIGUEZ WOKE UP IN MARCH AND COULDN'T MOVE HIS LEFT ARM. BY THE TIME HE GOT TO THE HOSPITAL, HE COULD BARELY SPEAK.
(Santos Rodriguez/Stroke Victim) I know what I was trying to say but I couldn't pronounce it. I told the nurse i'm trying to say things to you and you're not understanding me
THE DOCTOR RAN A FEW TESTS, THEN SENT HIM HOME. BUT LATER THAT NIGHT - HE FELT INTENSE PAINS IN HIS HEAD. HE WENT TO A DIFFERENT HOSPITAL...WHERE HIS DOCTOR FOUND HE HAD SUFFERED THREE STROKES.
HE WAS JUST 46 - PART OF A GROWING TREND.
(Dr. Aviva Lubin/ Assoc. Stroke Director, Lenox Hill Hospital) If patients start having their strokes younger they will be left with many more years of having a disability
NEW RESEARCH FINDS THAT (graphic) IN 2005, NINETEEN PERCENT OF STROKE PATIENTS WERE UNDER THE AGE OF 55. THAT'S UP FROM THIRTEEN PERCENT A DECADE EARLIER.
(Vinita Nair/New York) Doctors think the reason for this trend...has to do with the increase in risk factors. More and more young people are obese and have diabetes and high cholesterol.
RODRIGUEZ DIDN'T KNOW HE WAS DIABETIC UNTIL AFTER HIS STROKE. NOW HE'S GETTING IT UNDER CONTROL WITH DIET AND INSULIN.
WITH A WIFE AND FIVE KIDS TO SUPPORT, THE STROKE WAS A FRIGHTENING REALITY CHECK.
(Santos) It reminds you of how things can be taken away from you
SEVEN MONTHS LATER, RODRIGUEZ IS SLOWLY REGAINING STRENGTH IN HIS ARM and mentally he's nearly back to normal. HE SAYS HE'S COMMITTED TO A HEALTHIER LIFESTYLE..SO HE CAN BE STRONG FOR HIS FAMILY FOR MANY YEARS TO COME.
During the ten year period covered in the study, the average age of stroke victims fell from 71 to 69.
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In other health news...
If you throw out medication as soon as it expires...you might be jumping the gun..
A new study shows that most drugs still pack a punch 40 years after their expiration dates.
Researchers tested several drugs including over the counter pain medications like aspirin..
Most drugs are marked to expire five years after they're made...
The study's author says their shelf lives were prolonged..it could save patients hundreds of dollars a year..
There is one warning...The drugs in the study had been stored unopened for all those years...
Professors say Similar drugs stored under different conditions may not hold up as well.