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Guns in Schools Concern Bibb Students

As Bibb County Schools Superintendent Romain Dallemand continues his listening tour of high schools, the district says one topic that keeps coming up is safety and discipline in the schools.

Since August 2009, school officials have found 11 guns at Bibb County schools. Some incidents have forced classrooms into lockdown and prompted officials to add canine units to random searches.

At Bloomfield Middle School, near Rocky Creek Road, a .38-mm handgun went off inside a classroom in August 2009. At Bloomfield, and in all of the other cases since, school officials found the guns before anyone got hurt. 

State reports show 180 firearms were found on Georgia school campuses in the last school year.

What do gun incidents, lockdowns, and searches mean for a school's environment?

Some Bibb students say lockdowns can be a frightening experience.

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Amy LaVere to Release “Stranger Me” on July 19th

Archer Records is excited to announce the release of Amy LaVere’s new record, Stranger Me, on July 19, 2011. Produced by Craig Silvey (Arcade Fire), Stranger Me is LaVere’s third record and is the follow up to the Jim Dickinson-produced Anchors & Anvils. Always texturally rich and often employing dissonance and off-kilter instrumentation, Stranger Me is her most exploratory work to date. Alternately haunting and exuberantly defiant, it is a perfect backdrop for this collection of songs about frustration and feeling emotionally disconnected.

Scene 13: Blues, B.o.B. and Wild, Wild Hogs

If you're on the lookout for some fun and excitement to pepper your weekend, then look no further! Scene 13's got it for you.

He's the blues man! This Friday evening, Baatin is set to rock the Douglass Theatre in a funkadelic, blues-a-licious kinda concert. Playing songs from his new album, plus a few favorites, Baatin says his music encompasses everything from Johnny Lee Hooker type blues to Allman Bros inspired grooves to more traditional church-type melodies.

And to wrap up the night, Baatin will jam with other musicians in a tribute to local blues legend, Eddie Kirkland. The music plays Friday night, 8:00 p.m., at the Douglass Theatre in downtown Macon. Call (478) 742-2000 for tickets.

Health Concerns Cancel 'Macon Bacon' Potluck

Organizers have canceled their attempt at a mass potluck dinner at the Georgia State Fair in Macon this weekend.

They planned to shoot for the Guinness Book of World Records for largest potluck dinner.

In a Facebook post, organizer Chris Horne says the Bibb County health department raised "some legitimate safety concerns" about the Macon Bacon & Kazoo Festival.

He noted, "This is a matter of hundreds of strangers feeding each other with no control over the preparation or source of the food. The potential for someone to get sick is too great to ignore."

"The only way to proceed, they said, would be if no one ate the food," he wrote. "Obviously, that puts a kink in things -- it would be an incredibly unfair temptation to look at all that bacon and not be able to eat it."

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Organizer: "Pivotal" Year For GA. State Fair

As the Georgia State Fair heads into its final weekend, organizers say they're hopeful that the attendance rates will show an increase over last year.

But one official says the future of the fair may hinge on this year's outcome.

President of the Board of Directors for the fair Don Johstono says the fair has been losing attendance and money for years.

They've tried a number of tactics over the years to revitalize it, and he says some of it seems to be working.

The fair has a new look this year, with rides, games, and food all intermingling in a more spacious layout.

Johstono says the goal was to give it a "theme park" atmosphere.

There are 50 fewer commercial vendors and 20 fewer food vendors at the fair this year. Johstono says they made that decision intentionally to help vendors be profitable.

He says reducing the number of vendors also makes the layout more spacious, and easier for security to patrol.

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.

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.