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Central Ga. Honors National Day of Prayer

Central Georgians gathered outside Macon City Hall to honor the 60th National Day of Prayer.

"I do believe that when we pray we will begin to pray as a nation," says Pastor Victor Grubbs, "that the guns will go out of the schools, the drugs will leave the classroom."

Covenant Academy Grammar School's chorus sang at Thursday's event.

Congress established the day in 1952, and in 1988 designated the first Thursday in May as the National Day of Prayer.

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More Than 300 Gather To Talk to Dallemand

Parents and community members crowded inside the auditorium at Northeast High School Thursday evening for the latest in a series of public forums hosted by Bibb County superintendent Romain Dallemand.

More than 300 parents filled the room to capacity, lining the walls and poking their heads in from the hallway.

According to Board of Education spokesman Chris Floore, it's the largest crowd they've had so far.

Parents voiced questions and concerns Thursday evening and told Dallemand what they'd like to see him do first.

Dallemand didn't respond to the questions, but he did take notes.

Floore says Dallemand intends to answer the questions in his blog.

Telegraph Ending Daily Circulation in Rural Areas

Citing higher newsprint, fuel and transportation costs, The Telegraph publisher plans to stop daily newspaper circulations in several rural areas.

In a letter to the subscribers, publisher George McCanless wrote that Monday through Saturday home deliver will end beginning May 30.

But McCanless said the subscribers will continue getting home delivery on Sundays, plus the annual Thanksgiving Day edition.

McCanless also said the Monday through Saturday editions will be sold at select stores and racks in Baldwin, Bleckley, Dodge, Laurens, Pulaski and Putnam counties.

While listing those six counties, McCanless didn't name any other affected areas. He also didn't say how many jobs would be lost or how much The Telegraph's overall circulation would be reduced.

Bounty Hunter Out On Bond

The Bibb County Sheriff's Office says the bounty hunter who shot at a fugitive's car is out on bond. 

Macon police say David Harper, also known as a bail recovery agent, fired shots at a suspect's car Wednesday in East Macon.

Lutrina Wheeler said she heard the shots while working at Fincher's Barbecue on Gray Highway.

"I just heard the bullets flying and shootin' everywhere and I just told everybody to get down," said Wheeler.

Macon police say Harper fired shots at a car driven by Dytuan Ervin, who's wanted in Mississippi.  They say Harper first talked to Ervin at Precision Tune Auto but then Ervin tried to leave.

Police say Harper tried to stop Ervin from causing an accident, so he fired multiple shots at Ervin's car aiming at the passenger side and wheels.

"This is highly unusual," said David Davis, Bibb County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy.

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High-Speed Chase Begins in Monroe, Ends in Bibb

A Tennessee man was arrested Wednesday night after a high-speed chase that began in Monroe County and ended in south Bibb County near Hartley Bridge Road.

Lieutenant Brad Freeman with the Monroe County Sheriff's Office says Forsyth police officers tried to pull over 34-year-old Todd Ruston for speeding on Interstate 75 south around 9 p.m., but Ruston refused to stop.

He says officers clocked Ruston at more than 100 miles per hour.

The Monroe County Sheriff's Office took over the chase at the I-75/I-475 junction. Freeman says they chased Ruston to Zebulon Road. He says Ruston got off the interstate, then made a U-turn and got back on.

Freeman says, they then tried to box in Ruston. When that didn't work, Freeman says Ruston started driving recklessly and deputies tried a manuever that involved tapping the car's rear bumper with the patrol car's front bumper.

Macon State College Holds Commencement

 

Macon State College will confer its 3,000th bachelor's degree at the 2011 commencement, scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday, May 6, at the Macon Coliseum.

Since becoming a four-year institution in 1997, the college - founded in 1968 - has conferred a total of 2,807 bachelor's degrees. Another 525 candidates for graduation are set to receive their bachelor's degrees on May 6. Some 317 candidates are set to receive associate's degrees, a Macon State news release says.

 

This year's graduation speaker will be Dr. David A. Bell, Macon State's fifth and longest serving president, who is ending his tenure on June 30. Since he became president in 1997 -- first as interim president -- enrollment has nearly doubled from about 3,600 to more than 6,200 today; bachelor’s degrees have increased from 3 to 18; and the Board of Regents has invested more than $90 million in construction at the Macon and Warner Robins campuses.