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All content by Debbie Blankenship
Sign in front of the former Roxy Theatre in 2015.

Lost History of the Roxy

Debbie Blankenship, Murphy Center
December 11, 2015
The former Roxy Theater in the Greenwood Bottoms neighborhood. Photographed in October 2015.

The Beginning

Debbie Blankenship, Murphy Center
October 1, 2015
Will Butler, who is chief operating officer and director of events for Pilot International, is behind an initiative to provide Board training to the community. Pictured here in his office at Pilot, Butler wanted to make it easier for anyone in the community to get involved with nonprofit boards.

Free workshop trains community in nonprofit service

Next series starts Saturday at Washington Memorial
Debbie Blankenship, Murphy Center
January 15, 2025
Voters in Georgia get this sticker after they cast their ballot.

[Photo] Macon-Bibb votes: Election Day 2024

The Macon Newsroom
November 5, 2024
How well does local government do in following Georgia's open record laws?

Murphy Center students check open records compliance

Debbie Blankenship, Murphy Center
October 22, 2024
Voting machines are lined up at the Macon-Bibb County at the Board of Elections.

The Candidates for Macon-Bibb County Mayor

Debbie Blankenship, Murphy Center
May 14, 2024
Voting machines are lined up at the Macon-Bibb County at the Board of Elections.

The Candidates for Bibb County School Board District 3 seat

Debbie Blankenship, Murphy Center
May 10, 2024
Voting machines are lined up at the Macon-Bibb County at the Board of Elections.

The Candidates for Bibb County Sheriff

Debbie Blankenship, Murphy Center
May 10, 2024
Macon-Bibb Agencies Graded for Online Accessibility

Macon-Bibb Agencies Graded for Online Accessibility

Students looked at legal requirements and online information that might be of public interest
Debbie Blankenship, Reg Murphy Center for Collaborative Journalism
December 10, 2023
Mercer engineering students, along with Sabana Bonita community members construct the water tank walls with stone and mortar. Community members had to sign up for shifts to help construct the tank in addition to paying the fees to maintain the tank.

Water Projects Improve Health of Dominican Republic Communities

Mercer On Mission engineering program has assisted for past 8 years
Debbie Blankenship, Center for Collaborative Journalism
June 28, 2023
CCJ Students Grade Government Agencies on Transparency

CCJ Students Grade Government Agencies on Transparency

Students requested open records from local and state agencies
Debbie Blankenship, Center for Collaborative Journalism
November 7, 2022
The Ocmulgee Indigenous Celebration returns in 2022 for an in-person event.

Events in Macon for Sept. 15-21

Debbie Blankenship, Center for Collaborative Journalism
September 14, 2022
Louis McMickle (right), Kara McMickle and Janie Wilhoit add carrots to bags of food being distributed across Bibb County. Volunteers with The Mentors Project met June 30 to pack and deliver food.

Volunteers step in to fill gap in summer food access

The Mentors Project will provide 10,0000 meals in July
Debbie Blankenship, Center for Collaborative Journalism
June 30, 2022
Kareemah Hanifa during her September 2021 testimony to a committee of Georgia legislators concerned with violence in the state's prisons. Hanifa began serving a life sentence when she was a teenager.

Why the investigation into Georgia prisons matters

CCJ in partnership with Georgia Public Broadcasting, The Telegraph and 13WMAZ will be reporting on this in the coming months.
Debbie Blankenship, Center for Collaborative Journalism
November 19, 2021
Calvin Jackson picks up trash in the yard of one of two vacant houses in ill repair in the cul de sac on his street in the Kings Park neighborhood of Macon recently. Jackson says picking up trash this way is a habit he's had for a few years. "They tell me it's not my job," he said. "I do it anyway."

Addressing Blight in Macon

New Code Enforcement Office combatting neighborhood blight
Debbie Blankenship, Center for Collaborative Journalism
April 20, 2021
vote

Macon-Bibb mayoral candidates respond to top issues

Debbie Blankenship
May 8, 2020

[Video] Peacing Together: Pilot program at Bibb schools teaches mindful breathing to boost self-control

Debbie Blankenship
January 2, 2020
* denotes fewer than either 15 male or 15 female students in that racial category at that school

Racial concentration on the rise in Bibb schools

Debbie Blankenship and Adam Ragusea
January 13, 2017
A vacant home in Pleasant Hill exemplifies the persistent problem of blight in Macon neighborhoods.

New property inspection process helping ease crowds in Macon-Bibb Municipal Court

Debbie Blankenship, Center for Collaborative Journalism
September 19, 2015
This Beall's Hill sign stands across the street from the plot of land on Oglethorpe Street that will house new duplexes in Beall's Hill.

Local government has various blight arrows in its arsenal

The House Next Door: Part 9
Debbie Blankenship, Center for Collaborative Journalism
September 29, 2014
Genester Marshall has gone to Municipal Court to try and hold the owner responsible for this blighted Knightsbridge Road home. Marshall outside the home in August 2014.

Housing court reveals human woes behind neglected homes

The House Next Door Part 5
Debbie Blankenship, Center for Collaborative Journalism
September 25, 2014
This archival photo shows a home at 3341 Kings Park Circle in Kings Park that was abandoned and vandalized for about a year according to the lady that lived next door.

Expert: Blight has no clear definition

The House Next Door: Part 1
Debbie Blankenship, Center for Collaborative Journalism
September 21, 2014
Susanna Patterson, who lives in the Ingleside area, said a friend once described Macon as "1952 with Wi-Fi."

Macon in the Mirror: Frustrations — PART II

Race relations, political divisions among Macon residents’ frustrations
Debbie Blankenship, Center for Collaborative Journalism
September 11, 2013
Frank Dawkins in front of one of the vacant, dilapidated homes in his neighborhood, Kings Park, in east Macon. Dawkins wishes that local government would look harder for property owners and that people who want to keep their homes up could get some financial help.

Macon in the Mirror: — PART II

Blight: Decaying neighborhoods a concern
Debbie Blankenship, Center for Collaborative Journalism
September 11, 2013
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