Thank you for joining us for Eyewitness News at Six.
I'm Jennifer Moulliet.
It's lights ... Camera ... Action ... Right here in downtown Macon for the Macon Film Festival. Tom George caught up with one actress showing off her work on both sides of the camera.
Loyal fans armed with cameras, phones, even iPads waited Saturday morning for a brush with their favorite soap star .. Crystal Chappell....
But it was her work behind the scenes that brought her town, showing off her new web series, the Grove.
Crystal Chappell: "It's just your typical primetime, it's sort of Dallas meets Northern Exposure because I like a little bit of quirk in the middle of the serious drama."
Chappell got to show off her work on both sides of the camera at the Macon Film Festival and after her first trip to Macon, the Maryland native says she's impressed.
Crystal Chappell: "It's charming like Baltimore, but much, much smaller, I just like all the little boutique restaurants, and it's just a sense of community that's really lovely and the architecture is amazing."
Tom George: "After visiting Macon for the festival, many say it's not just a great place for screening films ... Some say after looking around, they might be shooting here in the future."
Chuck Clark/ Macon:"Well one of the things I mentioned is the Hay House and all the architecture and the history that he have here .. It's a treasure trove."
Sheri Mann Stewart/ Atlanta: "Macon and the whole state of Georgia, but Macon specifically offer so much variety of location and what you can make it look like and what periods of history."
A boost for locals looking for that perfect role...
Elizabeth Warren/ Macon: "Opportunities for actors, and writers, and producers ... I think it's fantastic..."
And directors scouting that perfect spot.
Crystal Chappell: "I love the houses with the porches, and in fact, we went on a location scout for an other show that I had in mind, cause they're being very inviting to come shoot here."
Southern hospitality ... That gets two thumbs up...
In Macon, Tom George, 13WMAZA Eyewitness News.
The Macon Film Festival will continue through tomorrow. You can find out more information about the films showing at the festival's office on Cherry Street in Downtown Macon.
A Florida couple says they want to spend the rest of their lives building new hope for others.
Bill and France Moriarty retired in their early 40s and instead of taking it easy, they packed their trailers up and helped build homes across the country for Habitat for Humanity.
One of their stops brought them to central Georgia to help build a new home for Macon family.
France Moriarty: "It's something that we get to do you know we don't have to do it we retired like you said we could go and just travel the country in an RV and go sightseeing but we chose to do what we love to do my husband is a great builder and I am his little helper."
For more information on how you can volunteer for Habitat for Humanity go to our website 13WMAZ dot com.
They're furry, they breathe air and live on land.
And they were the center of attention at the Museum of Arts and Sciences Today.
Mammal Mayhem is an exhibit that the museum displayed for family day.
The day allowed kids and parents to learn about all types of mammals.
The exhibit included mammals that live in the wild and domestic types like cats and dogs.
Some mammals were live and ready to play with visitors.
Visitors say family day at the museum is a lot of fun, but also educational.
Holly Smith, Macon: "That book over there has all the fur and stuff in it. I was looking at it trying to guess which one was a fox.
Sharron Wilhelm: Museum of Arts and Sciences: Seeing the children react to things that they don't normally get a chance to see and they learn so much at the same time they're being entertained and have a good time doing it also."
The museum will continue to have family day throughout the year.
The next one will be held in June and will be all about bugs.
Spring is almost a month away and some people are ready for the change of weather and a chance to enjoy the outdoors.
Bass Pro Shops are reeling them in this weekend.
Fishing Pro, Timmy Horton is on hand to meet fans and talk about fishing.
Horton has his own television show, and is a Bass Pro host.
He says the fishing classic brings people of all ages out for the Great American Boat show as well as activities for kids.
Horton says during his visit he may also offer advice to those looking to fish in the upcoming season.
Timmy Horton, Timmy Horton Outdoors: "The best thing about this time of year is the bass really get active. As the water starts warming up the bass starts to get more active and it's just fun being out there."
Horton will be at Bass Pro Shops in Macon again Tomorrow from 12 to 5 p.m.
It's that time of the year when the color yellow takes over Forsyth.
Members of the Forsyth- Monroe chamber kicked off Hello Yellow.
The event starts the countdown to the annual Forsythia Festival.
People showed up to get their car windows painted and to purchase t-shirts.
Darlene McLendon of the chamber of commerce says the Forsythia Festival has been in place for 26 years.
This year will offer some community favorites.
Darlene McLendon, Forsyth- Monroe Chamber of Commerce: "We have a fashion show. We have arts and crafts. We have a kids corner. We have faith fest."
Linda Barber, Forsyth: "We come out every year for the fun and festivities. They love the bungie jumping. It's just awesome to hear my grandchildren scream with joy as they go up and bounce."
The Forsythia Festival is March 9th and 10th in downtown Forsyth.
Federal investigators say three people ran a prostitution ring out of Macon tanning salon...
(hue Joo Chi). Hyeon Joo Chae and two of her partners are charged with keeping a house of prostitution and money laundering.
The shop is Sedona Tanning Salon on Riverside Drive..
Investigators say customers would pay a fee to visit the salon..and then offered sexual services for an additional payment.
They say some of the prostitutes were illegally in the U.S. from Korea.
But law enforcement says they found no evidence of human trafficking.
Michael Moore, US Attorney: "In this case we didn't have evidence that there was trafficking at the time of the investigation I will tell you often times these businesses are places that harbor victims of sex-trafficking and human-trafficking."
The indictment also targets property owned by the three defendants.
The business has a record of brushes with the law.
They go back to the summer of 2008.
The business was named Soft Hands Massage back then.
Macon police raided it twice in June and August.
And one person was arrested twice....(hue Joo Chi).
She was charged with keeping a house of prostitution.
In 2010, the name of the business changed to Sedona Tanning.
But (chi) was arrested and charged again with keeping a house of prostitution.
That year, the city passed rules to regulate massage parlors and required workers to have massage licenses.
The next year, police raided Sedona again.
They gave the business four citations including two for offering massages without a license.
Then just last summer, reporters from 13WMAZ visited Sedona and found another violation.
The business was open after midnight.
But a city ordinance says they must shut down at 12.
Macon police didn't take immediate action but said they were looking into the business.
We couldn't verify today how any of those cases were resolved.
But that federal indictment we told you about lists (hue Joo Chi)
as the owner of the business.
The indictment says prostitutes often illegal immigrants from South Korea, worked 12 to 17 hours a day, seven days a week.
In the indictment, federal prosecutors want to seize any property that (Chi) paid for with illegal profits.
That includes a condominium in Buckhead, in Fulton County.
One day after a meteor exploded over a rural region in Russia - thousands of people are cleaning up.
Crews are also looking for remnants of the space object that may have been left behind.
Tetiana Anderson has the latest from New York.
People in Chelyabinsk, Russia are cleaning up after a meteor exploded over the region Friday.
They're picking up pieces of shattered glass and rebuilding windows and doors.
This man says his aquarium cracked and the glass on his door broke into pieces.
The blast damaged more than four-thousand buildings.
This area is extremely cold so workers are rushing to re-seal windows as soon as possible.
The Governor promised to replace all windows within a week.
NASA estimates the explosion was about 30 times the size of the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
Local officials say it injured more than one-thousand people and caused about 33-million dollars in damage.
Video captured the meteor in the sky over central Russia.
Now - crews are trying to find fragments of it in a lake about 50-miles from Chelyabinsk.
There is a large hole where some say part of the meteor fell.
Scientists say an event of this magnitude happens about once every 100 years.
But, they say it's not uncommon for meteors to impact the planet more often.
TIME GUY CTM: "EARTH IS HIT WITH 100-TONS OF SPACE DEBRIS EVERY DAY AND THAT INCLUDES AT LEAST ONE BASKETBALL SIZED OBJECT. EVERY FEW MONTHS WE'RE HIT BY AN OBJECT THE SIZE OF A VOLKSWAGON."
The explosion in Russia and an asteroid that just missed earth has people looking up.
(YOUTUBE VIDEO) Late Friday, some in the San Francisco bay area reported seeing a fireball streaking through the sky.
Experts say it was likely another meteor, but the three events are unrelated.
Russian officials say volunteers and crews from around the region are heading to Chelyabinsky to help with repairs.
For the first time in racing history, a short-course pro4 racing truck is going from "off road" to "off the grid" when it takes on Vermont's mount snow.
In lieu of the desert sand and sun-scorching heat these four-wheel drive trucks are designed to handle, this course ... which will feature soft snow, hard ice, steep terrain, altitude and freezing temperatures.
Armed only with a set of custom spiked tires and the 900 horses under it's hood, red bull team rider Ricky Johnson will take on the one-of-a-kind hillcross course specially designed by snow park technologies and mount snow's operation team.
Already a champion in the dirty world of off-road truck racing, Ricky's goal in taking on the ice-covered altitude is to thrill fans and offer an insight into racing weather restrictions for the future of motorsports.
That's it for the show join us again tonight for eyewitness news at eleven.
Remember the news is always on at 13 WMAZ dot com.