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Macon Community News

The Macon Newsroom

Macon Community News

The Macon Newsroom

Macon Community News

The Macon Newsroom

All content by Laura Corley
Linear Park in the historic Pleasant Hill neighborhood is separated from Interstate 75 by a barrier wall and runs between Walnut Street and First Avenue where Middle Street once was.

County seeks new name as part of $2M renovation for bungled Pleasant Hill park

Public may submit ideas online until Nov. 1
Laura Corley, Civic Journalism Fellow
October 17, 2024
Members of Keep Macon-Bibb Beautiful, the United Way of Central Georgia and community volunteers walk along Watkins Lane while participating in a Walking School Bus audit for Burdell-Hunt Elementary School Tuesday.

East Macon students tread hazardous paths to school. Community wants to change that

'I didn't realize how bad her walk was,' teacher says of third grade student's trek to school
Laura Corley, Civic Journalism Fellow
September 26, 2024
A handful of Bibb County public school students boarded a bus at InTown Suites on Eisenhower Parkway early one dewy morning in August.

Number of homeless students in Georgia grows while funding to support them shrinks

Bibb County's homeless student population is underrepresented
Laura Corley, Civic Journalism Fellow
September 12, 2024
Janice McCrary uses the new medianettes on Gray Highway one sweltering afternoon in August 2024. The 59-year-old lives in an apartment at McAfee Towers and was on the way back from eating lunch at Dairy Queen.

Macon-Bibb County gets millions to fix one of its deadliest roads

U.S. DOT grants $5.6 million for Gray Highway safety improvements
Laura Corley, Civic Journalism Fellow
September 9, 2024
Superintendent Dan Sims attended an assembly at Hartley Elementary before the school board meeting on Monday, Aug. 19, 2024.

Bibb County school board set to approve property tax increase

Maintaining the millage rate would yield $4.3 million in revenue
Laura Corley, Civic Journalism Fellow
August 20, 2024
Janice McCrary uses the new medianettes on Gray Highway one sweltering afternoon in August 2024. The 59-year-old lives in an apartment at McAfee Towers and was on the way back from eating lunch at Dairy Queen.

One of Macon’s deadliest highways is made a bit safer

Gray Highway is among the deadliest highways for pedestrians in Bibb County
Laura Corley, Civic Journalism Fellow
August 13, 2024
Rodney Mason collects scoops of soil to test from the vacant lot in Kings Park Subdivision where he will grow indigenous cultivars in a neighborhood garden.

Nonprofit using community gardens to reintroduce African food culture

Restored Ancestral Roots aims to repatriate classic cultivars of the Deep South
Laura Corley, Civic Journalism Fellow
August 13, 2024
Macon-Bibb County Commissioner-elect Stanley Stewart hosts the first meeting of the east Macon neighborhood associations at Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church on Aug. 5, 2024.

East Macon residents gather to discuss gambling machines, development and voting

Gambling machines coming to Kroger, plans to change entrance to Ocmulgee Mounds
Laura Corley, Civic Journalism Felloe
August 6, 2024
Bibb County school board members are set to decide the fate of Infinity Academy, a charter school that proposes to open downtown next fall, at the school board meeting in August 2024.

Allegations of fraud by proposed charter school are ‘deeply concerning,’ Bibb County school board members say

'That is not my signature. Period,' former chairperson of proposed charter school says
Laura Corley, Civic Journalism Fellow
August 1, 2024
In a video posted online the day after Gail Fowler was fired as superintendent of Cirrus Academy, Fowler thanked parents and staff.

Cirrus Academy ousts head of school

Superintendent Gail Fowler fired after lengthy closed-door board meeting
Laura Corley, Civic Journalism Fellow
July 19, 2024
Bibb County Superintendent Dan Sims at the school board meeting July 18, 2024.

Bibb Schools considers plan for school closures, new charter school

Infinity Academy wants to open a small elementary school downtown
Laura Corley, Civic Journalism Fellow
July 19, 2024
The dormer of this house at 1783 First Ave. overlooks Jefferson Long Park and is down Craft Street from The Little Richard Resource House. The Georgia Department of Transportation paid CEA more than $180,000 to build it for a nonprofit created by Rep. James Beverly.

Minimal oversight led to misspent money meant for Pleasant Hill, records show

GDOT paid $180,000 to build a home for nonprofit created by Rep. James Beverly
Laura Corley, Civic Journalism Fellow
July 18, 2024
The Buck Melton Community Center is now under the ownership of the Boys & Girls Club of Central Georgia.

Macon community center sold to a nonprofit

Laura Corley, Civic Journalism Fellow
June 21, 2024
Albert Kenneth Knight Jr. was bludgeoned in the head with a cinder block as he slept in a downtown alley. His son, Albert Kenneth Knight III, said his father was trying to turn his life around and hopes hopes the killer will be brought to justice.

‘I hope they find the person who did this.’ Suspect still at large in homeless man’s killing

It took almost two days for Albert Knight Jr.'s body to be discovered in a downtown Macon alley
Laura Corley, Civic Journalism Fellow
June 10, 2024
Images of Macon's famed showman line the hall of the Little Richard House in Pleasant Hill.

Little Richard House closes indefinitely 

Laura Corley, Civic Journalism Fellow
June 7, 2024
Gov. Brian Kemp signed off on the 2025 budget at a signing ceremony. Later that day, he vetoed a dozen bills.

‘Not a clear picture.’ Middle Georgia school districts prepare for voucher impact

The state will cover up to $6,500 for students who transfer from low-performing public schools to private schools
Laura Corley, Civic Journalism Fellow
May 21, 2024
The Macon-Bibb County Board of Elections office in the old Macon Mall.

A Georgia voter’s guide to campaign finance research

Who is funding who? Here's where to look
Laura Corley, Civic Journalism Fellow
April 1, 2024
The cremains of about 400 people are stored in boxes in the basement of the Bibb County Sheriff's Office.

Hundreds of unclaimed human cremains to be scattered in upcoming ceremony at Rose Hill Cemetery

County erects headstone, plans to scatter hundreds of unclaimed cremains
Laura Corley, Civic Journalism Fellow
March 14, 2024
Rep. James Beverly, D-Macon, right, applauds a speaker at the black-tie fundraising gala for the Macon-Bibb Community Enhancement Authority in the rotunda of the Tubman African American Museum on Oct. 29, 2022.

Ga. State Rep. James Beverly will not seek re-election

Democrat Anissa Jones and Republican Barbara Boyer have qualified to run for the House District 143 seat
Laura Corley and Liz Fabian
March 8, 2024
Cirrus Academy Superintendent Gail Fowler tells the State Charter Schools Commission, “we stand to pledge that we’re going to continue this work of what success is as we continue to grow and provide an opportunity – a choice – for students in Macon-Bibb County.”

Macon’s Cirrus Academy survives state charter board vote following year of turmoil

State charter school granted a three-year charter contract renewal
Laura Corley, Civic Journalism Fellow
March 4, 2024
United Way of Central Georgia's "United to End Homelessness" initiative director Jake Hall gives census volunteer Heather Sims a hand as she wends her way through a new to the census takers homeless encampment in Macon.

Middle Georgia homeless coalitions seek partners for new federal program

Macon, Warner Robins are the only Georgia metro areas without a Continuum of Care
Laura Corley, Civic Journalism Fellow
February 27, 2024
United Way of Central Georgia's "United to End Homelessness" initiative director Jake Hall gives census volunteer Heather Sims a hand as she wends her way through a new to the census takers homeless encampment in Macon.

How many homeless people live in Bibb County? A new rough estimate is in.

Number of unsheltered people in Macon higher than previously thought, survey finds
Laura Corley, Civic Journalism Fellow
February 9, 2024
Washington Memorial Library celebrates its 100th year from November 2023 through October 2024.

Much more than books offered at Washington Memorial Library in its 100th year

Macon's grandest library serves as a civic hub, resource center and portal to enrichment
Laura Corley, Civic Journalism Fellow
January 15, 2024
Mika Shills crosses Spring Street in Macon with the red light going her way by about 20 yards from the crosswalk a few hours after another pedestrian was hit and killed near the same spot. Shills is careful about crossing Macon roadways on foot but says nowhere is really safe to do it. "They'll speed up and try to hit you out here," she said.

U.S. DOT declines Macon’s proposal to fix one of its deadliest roads – again

Gray Highway needs $4 million in work, but U.S. DOT twice rejected Macon’s proposals to fix it
Laura Corley, Civic Journalism Fellow
January 12, 2024
A Bibb County sheriff deputy's car with blue lights activated near a pedestrian crosswalk on Jeffersonville Road in Macon.

Man hit by car dies weeks after crash, coroner says

Traffic death marks county's 15th pedestrian fatality in 2023
Laura Corley, Civic Journalism Fellow
January 8, 2024
Bruce Elementary School Principal Kizzie Lott endures one of about 20 dumps of water on her head courtesy of students with good school attendance. It was one of the periodic rewards Lott gives students to incentivize them and their parents to prioritize school attendance.

Bibb schools grapple with spike in chronically absent students

More than a quarter of Bibb County public schools students were chronically absent last school year.
Laura Corley, Civic Journalism Fellow
September 21, 2023
Staff and board members of the State Charter Schools Commission visited Cirrus Academy on Aug. 23, 2023, to discuss the school's eligibility for renewal of its charter contract. The current two-year probationary charter expires in June 2024.

Cirrus Academy faces new scrutiny from State Charter Schools Commission

State charter school given deadline of Oct. 15 to address issues
Laura Corley, Civic Journalism Fellow
September 20, 2023
Academy for Classical Education Principal Laura Perkins, second from right, during a recent meeting of the school's governing board.

Finances in flux, future uncharted for ACE

Laura Corley, Civic Journalism Fellow
May 31, 2023
The Macon-Bibb County Board of Elections awaits a judge's ruling on their lawsuit against Mayor Lester Miller and county commissioners over the elections supervisor selection process.

2023 Preview – Part 4: Board of Elections stalemate, downtown improvements, Chamber move, Farmers Market conflict, celebrating Macon’s 200 years

The Macon Newsroom has compiled 20 things to look for in 2023 in a 4-part series that will be published this week
Liz Fabian and Laura Corley
December 29, 2022
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