Central Georgia communities are already seeing the effects of federal spending cuts, made earlier this year to balance the budget.

Congress agreed last month to nearly $39 billion in cuts for the rest of the fiscal year.

In Warner Robins, public service groups that rely on federal grants will have to work with less this year.

Sherri Windham, with the city's community development department, says the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development plans to give them about $83,000 less than last year -- a nearly 17 percent cut.

She says communities across the country were told to expect an additional $600 million in funding cuts next year.

Organizations in the city taking a hit include those dealing with housing, transportation, food, and mental health services for the low-income, disabled, and elderly.

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.