MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — Community members and leaders from around middle Georgia went to jail Thursday. The Muscular Dystrophy Association Lock Up is an annual fundraiser that puts participants ‘behind bars’ to raise money for 43 different neuromuscular diseases. The participants are essentially ‘locked’ insidea room while they network and call friends, asking for donations to support the cause and…
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – After hearing a 70-page proposed budget for the 2014 fiscal year, Bibb County school board members decided to hold off on approving it. Thursday interim Chief Financial Officer Sharon Roberts presented the tentative budget, which would shave off nearly $14 million from the 2013 budget, which totaled aroudn $284 million. The cuts have major implications for…
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Bullying is a problem sweeping the nation, and middle Georgians are doing something about it. The Mentors Project has signed on to give kids a voice. They teamed up for an anti-bullying rally to show young people a better way. Mentors project Executive Director, June O’Neal, wants kids to be safe this summer, and encourage friends…
JEFFERSONVILLE, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — Twiggs County Sheriff Darren Mitchum fired two jail guards after he says they weren’t properly checking on inmates when one escaped Sunday morning. Early Sunday morning, 45-year-old Troy Criswell escaped from the jail after pulling a shower head off the wall, and escaped through the hold in the wall. He was found three days later after…
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMFT) — Former State Senator Miriam Paris is getting back on the campaign trail. At a news conference on Coleman Hill with family, friends, and community leaders by her side, Paris announced she wants her seat back in 2014. Paris said she announced early to let her constituents know she’s ready to get back to serving them. “I’ve…
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – In the ever-changing landscape of college athletics, there’s always a chance a school could switch conferences. But it was still a surprise to some Thursday when one of the Atlantic Sun’s charter members announced it was heading elsewhere. “This afternoon, we formally accepted an invitation to join the Southern Conference, effective July 1, 2014,” Dr. William…
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Have you heard of the exercise trend making its way across the country called stand-up paddling? What started as a mode of transportation in Hawaii, is quickly becoming a favorite way for people to get a full-body workout. The boards being used out on Lake Juliette are called ‘YOLO Boards’. YOLO stands for You Only Live…
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – A driver has crashed into a McDonald’s on Rocky Creek Road early Thursday morning. The car hit the side of the building away from where patrons order their food. Macon police officers that responded to the scene say the woman that was driving was taken to the hospital. There were children in the vehicle, but did…
DRY BRANCH, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — Twiggs County Sheriff Darren Mitchum launched an internal investigation after an inmate escaped from jail Sunday. At a news conference Wednesday morning, Mitchum thanked the Bleckley County deputies who found 45-year-old Troy Criswell. Criswell escaped from the jail after ripping a shower head out of a wall and crawling through the hole that was left…
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Demolition crews have been steady at work, knocking down blighted houses in neighborhoods in Macon. Its part of the city’s efforts to get rid of run down abandoned structures in the area. Since April 25, the city has demolished almost 20 houses and commercial buildings that haven’t passed building codes. Residents watched, smiling and applauding, as…
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The U.S. Department of Justice’s decision to delay the Macon-Bibb County consolidated government election is both a blessing and a curse for candidates running for office. They say they will be working hard to win your vote no matter when the DOJ decides you can cast your ballot. Don’t expect to see campaign signs around the…
ROCHELLE, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – When Mariesha Rucker leaves her home in Abbeville for college, she will leave behind a long lasting legacy. Next year, for the first time ever, Wilcox County schools officials will sponsor a prom, leaving the tradition of privately sponsored segregated proms in the past. The new prom comes just a month after Rucker and her friends…
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – When you have a whole lot of cats in one place, it might cause a bit of a smell at times, no matter how hard you try to stop it. The renters of the space next to Macon Purrs N Paws in the Fall Line Plaza filed a complaint about the smell with the property manager…
MILLEDGEVILLE, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Milledgeville City Council heard from skateboarders about their push for a skate spot to call their own for the first time Tuesday night. It has been two years in the making. Skateboarders and Milledgeville leaders are taking the first steps to turn the skate spot into a reality. There was standing room only during the city…
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The US Department of Justice says it needs more information on the push to make local elections nonpartisan before they can approve it. The call for more clarification comes less than two months before a scheduled election, in which Republican State Representative Cecil Staton and others voted to drop political parties from the ballots. Now, the…
WARNER ROBINS, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – A music teacher in Houston County has been nominated for a Grammy. Faye Boyer is one of over 200 quarter-finalists for the first ever Music Educator Award. The award recognizes kindergarten through college educators who’ve made a lasting contribution to music education. She says she tries to bring more than music to the classroom….
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The Macon Bomb Squad detonated a World War II artillery round on Tuesday after recovering it a few days ago. Two brothers were clearing out a shed that belongs to their grandmother off Jeffersonville Road. What they found is a piece of history. Macon Police E.O.D. Commander, Lt. Wilton Collins responded to the scene. The round,…
PERRY, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — 9-year-old Bailey Arnold says there’s nothing better than getting lost in a good book. “I love like when you’re reading and you get into the book, and once you get like deep into the book it feels like you’re in the book.” Her favorite book is “The Doll and the Garden.” It’s different than Nathaniel O’Neill’s…
MILLEDGEVILLE, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – A Milledgeville man is dead after crashing his car into several trees on SR 212 around 6 a.m. Tuesday morning. According to Georgia State Patrol spokeswoman Tracy Watson, 33-year-old William J. Tudor IV was going around a curve when he drove off the roadway. GSP says his pickup truck struck an embankment before hitting the trees….
JEFFERSONVILLE, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Twiggs County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Billy Boney has confirmed the Twiggs County inmate who escaped is now back in police custody. He was found just more than 20 miles away on some railroad tracks in rural Bleckley County. Just before noon Tuesday, a woman spotted him on those tracks and called authorities to report a suspicious…
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Danny Glover, Macon-Bibb County Commission candidate for the District 3 seat, announced he is dropping out of the race. “It is with great hope and great joy that I am here today to withdraw my candidacy,” Glover said at a news conference on Tuesday. Glover along with community activist Al Tillman will endorse former Bibb County…
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Two men are dead after a plane crash in South Bibb County. Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones previously reported a child was also among the dead, but he has now amended that statement. 58-year-old Anthony Cabeza of Greer, South Carolina and 71-year-old Julius Gilreath of Greenville, South Carolina took off in their single-engine Piper-32 plane from…
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — All walks of life came out to donate blood for the American Red Cross’ Memorial Blood Drive. As a proud sponsor, 41NBC hit all four locations to talk to the people who helped make it a success! She normally shakes it for the Falcons, but Monday the “bird lady” was in front of AmStar 16 in Macon…
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Hundreds gathered to honor fallen soldiers at Linwood Cemetery and Macon Memorial Park in Macon for Memorial Day. Memorial Day means many things to many soldiers. No matter the branch of service, or the years served, the day leaves heavy hearts for friends and family of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice to protect our home….