10 ways to prevent Christmas tree fires

Submitted by Jacqueline Harnevious, 13WMAZ Community Web Producer

Wednesday, December 11th, 2013, 5:21pm

USA TODAY Network

Your beautifully decorated Christmas tree can also be a deadly fire hazard.

Christmas tree fires are infrequent, but when they do occur, they are serious, according to the National Fire Protection Association.

Fire departments responded to an average of 230 home fires caused by Christmas trees each year from 2007-2011. The result was a yearly average of six deaths, 22 injuries and $18.3 million in property damage, the NFPA reported.

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Submitted by Jacqueline Harnevious, 13WMAZ Community Web Producer

Wednesday, December 11th, 2013, 1:46pm

Robins Air Force Base sends holiday greetings to troops

Home for the holidays: It's something many people from Robins Air Force Base will not be this season.

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Submitted by Andi Willis - Good Life Organizing, Professional Organizer

Monday, December 9th, 2013, 5:03pm

Holiday Organizing Tip #7 - Think of Others

Think of others over the holiday season. Volunteer at soup kitchen. Buy gifts for a toy drive or angel tree. Send a care package to a soldier oversees (http://soldiersangels.org/).

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Submitted by 13WMAZ Web Staff

Friday, December 6th, 2013, 11:01am

Santa will have a busy weekend! He's coming to town in the parade.

Find out when and where to greet him in your neck of the woods on his parade route.

Macon: Sunday at 3 p.m. on Cherry Street

Warner Robins: Saturday at 10 a.m. down Watson Blvd. (Al Roker and his wife will grand marshal.)

Perry: Saturday, 4 p.m. on General Courtney Hodges Blvd.

Centerville: Lighted parade at 7 p.m. Saturday

Forsyth: Thursday, Dec. 5 at 7 p.m.

Rhine: Saturday at 3 p.m.

Bolingbroke: Saturday at 3 p.m. downtown

Milledgeville: 3 p.m. Sunday, downtown

Gray: Tuesday, Dec. 10 at 7 p.m.

Byron: Saturday, 1 p.m.

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Holiday Organizing Tip #6 - Pare Down the Decorations

Submitted by Andi Willis - Good Life Organizing, Professional Organizer

Friday, December 6th, 2013, 7:00am

Holiday Organizing Tip #6 - Pare Down the Decorations

When you put out your Christmas decorations, do you have a few lone items that can’t seem to find a home? Don’t let them just live in a box year after year, get rid of them! Donate them to Goodwill or a local women’s shelter. Share the holiday spirit with others and keep your valuable storage space available for the items you truly love!

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Submitted by 13WMAZ Web Staff

Wednesday, December 4th, 2013, 4:05pm

NORAD: No fighter escorts for Santa this year

As it has every year since 1955, the North American Aerospace Defense Command will be tracking Santa on his whirlwind journey to deliver presents to all the good little boys and girls around the world.

But he won't be escorted by armed fighter jets.

When NORAD recently launched its yearly online Santa tracker, the site featured a video showing the jolly old elf being escorted by U.S. fighter jets "bristling with missiles," as the Boston Globe put it.

That caused a minor earthquake in the Twitterverse about why Santa would need an armed escort. The answer: Russia.

But a NORAD spokesman confirmed to Military Times that the "missiles" are actually fuel tanks.

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Submitted by 13WMAZ Web Staff

Wednesday, December 4th, 2013, 1:34am

It would be located just off of Old Richland Church Road, near I-16.

The proposed Richland Solar Center would be 200 acres and between 15 and 20 feet high. Director of Operations Andrew Foukal said the project would bring between 170-200 temporary construction jobs to the area and generate $4 million over 25 years.

He also said it could generate electricity for 4,600 homes, just over half of the county.

After 25 years, the panels could be removed, and the area could be used as farmland again. Foukal said HelioSage is looking to finalize a contract within a month, and that, if approved, construction would begin in the summer of 2014.

Watson says he'd like to have the project in Twiggs County but has several unanswered questions.

"My concern is that they're trying to set it up to pay no taxes and I'm not saying they are. I'm concerned that we do need to know the full scope of their intentions regarding local tax abatement," Watson said.

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