BURKARD'S BLOG
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22 JUL 03: THREE CONS. NEAR A FOUNTAIN
The Governors of Alabama, Florida and Georgia gathered at the RiverCenter Monday, to discuss water-sharing issues. If they'd been here a few weeks ago and seen all the flooding, they might have concluded there's nothing to discuss.
Governors Bob Riley, Jeb Bush and Sonny Perdue examined an "agreement in principle" for the states to share water on the Apalachicola, Chattahoochee, Flint and Tallapoosa Rivers. After that's settled, the next challenging step will begin - finding a river name the Apalachicola and Chattahoochee can share.
(Some Columbus residents will be saddened the outside governors did NOT complain about what a waste that new fountain is outside the RiverCenter. For now, it can stay.)
I've promised for months to talk about the "flow of the river" on this blog, and today I finally will. The proposed tri-state water agreement includes a section on flow requirements. We now await the important details - of whether they will allow kayaking before or after noon.
It's thought Monday marked the first time the Governors of three different states were in Columbus at the same time. And on top of that, they're all conservative Republicans - in a county that tends to vote for Democrats. So where were all the protesters outside the RiverCenter? Were they all stuck at the bus station or something?
(So three Governors discussed river-sharing at the Columbus RiverCenter - and 92.7-FM "The River" didn't have live coverage?!?! What an outrage....)
Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue traveled from Atlanta to the Columbus water talks by helicopter. In fact, he reportedly landed it on top of the Government Center! That must have made the Doppler Radar images look strange for awhile....
Florida Governor Jeb Bush didn't spend much time in town -- but couldn't he at least have said something about expanding I-185 to Tallahassee? His group probably would have saved some travel time.
Alabama Governor Bob Riley, of course, has much more on his mind than water. His tax and accountability package is at stake - but it just gained a key endorsement from former college football coach Gene Stallings. Ziegler hot dogs simply went downhill after Mike DuBose took over at Alabama.
Just what's IN the water the Governors talked about, anyway? We pulled out a recent "Water Quality Report" from Columbus Water Works, and found the Chattahoochee has all sorts of curious things:
+ "Turbidity." Some of us can remember when computers had a special button for this.
+ "Bromodichloromethane." OK, who's been taking all the Bromo-Seltzers?
+ Haloketones." That looks it should be the name of a gospel choir.
Have you seen the latest issue of "Columbus and the Valley" magazine? It has several dramatic photos of the Chattahoochee flooding from May, including water almost covering the 1492-1992 Riverwalk arch. Someone ought to record that high-level point for history -- late at night, of course, with spray paint.
But one big question for many people remains unsettled: what does this proposed water-sharing agreement mean for fishing on the Chattahoochee? After watching Monday's news, I don't plan to go "phishing" on the Internet anytime soon....
It turns out I was nearly hooked by Internet "phishing" a couple of weeks ago. An e-mail from "service@PayPal.com" claimed
the web site's computers were overloaded, and my account would be terminated if I didn't confirm it was active. It was all a fraud, apparently by identity thieves - maybe to use my name for some other fine Internet offers, like pills to enlarge sex organs.
I actually clicked on a link in the phishing e-mail - and was bounced to a couple of places other than PayPal, the second one a web site "temporarily disabled." Perhaps the F.B.I. showed up only a few hours before.
The "PayPal Police," for lack of a better term, confirmed for me the e-mail I received was a hoax. After all, if it HAD been accurate, I never would have heard from this company again.
(By the way, PayPal is how we accept donations to this blog. Write me if you'd like to make one - and after watching the cyber-begging story on CBS News Monday night, I'm expecting you to do your part.)