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6 NOV 03: SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW
Much of Columbus talked Wednesday about the close vote for the one-cent school sales tax. I say "much" because WRCG's Russ Hollenbeck decided there was some breaking event at Port Columbus which took priority.
Russ Hollenbeck hurt the flow of "TalkLine" by insisting on his every-first-Wednesday visit from people at Port Columbus. It turns out the museum's guest arrived late, due to that OTHER north-south divide of Columbus - freight trains blocking 10th Avenue and 9th Street.
To his credit, Russ Hollenbeck let Columbus Mayor Bob Poydasheff read a short statement over the phone at the start of the show appealing for north-south unity. That may be easier said than done. The Mustard Seed Christian store is on the north side of town - and it's promoting YANKEE candles right now....
WRCG's Russ Hollenbeck let Mayor Poydasheff read his statement appealing for unity - but apparently the Mayor was so busy at Columbus State University, the talk show didn't ask him any questions. For instance, about C.S.U. opening a satellite campus on Victory Drive or something....
(Did you see the voter quotes in Wednesday's paper - where a Columbus city employee said we're taxed too much already? Hopefully he'll have his resume updated, before the city asks for its own one-cent sales tax next year.)
Wednesday's Ledger-Enquirer analyzed the sales tax vote by precinct - and sure enough, people south of Macon Road were against it, while almost all the precincts north of Macon Road were for it. So what about those four northside precincts against the sales tax? Are those areas where most of the students go to Calvary Christian and Brookstone?
(By the way, I checked online early Wednesday -- and your blog posted sales tax results BEFORE the Ledger-Enquirer and WRBL web sites did! When will journalists here learn in the Internet age, you don't have to wait until tomorrow to post the news of today?)
The latest sign of north-south division in Columbus opened for business Wednesday. Carmike has a new 15-cinema complex at Columbus Park Crossing, not that far from the Hollywood Connection's "Ritz 10." Moviegoers on the southside risk going through car searches, to get to Fort Benning's Wynnsong 10.
The new Carmike 15 has several unusual quirks. For one thing, you can order grape-flavored popcorn! So when will they start offering "corn chip soda" to wash it down?
The opening of 15 new movie screens at Columbus Park Crossing came at a price. The seven-screen discount house on Sidney Simons Boulevard near Office Depot closed a few days ago. You now may begin wagering on which church denomination will claim it first.
(So does this closing mean the line has moved, and Manchester Expressway is now part of "Columbus South?" It has a few X-rated shops scattered around, you know....)
To be fair, Carmike's decisions reflect more than a north-side divide. Phenix City hasn't had a movie theater in years. And Smith Station's best hope is for someone to hook up a DVD player to a TV set, in the back of a video store.
Another sign of change in Columbus business was the news this week that Piggly Wiggly is buying out the Lewis-Jones grocery stores. It's been more than five years since the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition announced a boycott of local Piggly Wiggly stores - and I guess this news shows how successful that's been.
Piggly Wiggly reportedly plans to close the Lewis-Jones stores on Buena Vista Road and near Manchester Expressway. Another store will have a name change, leaving only one "Lewis-Jones" on 13th Street. We'll see how "classic" and traditional this store becomes - for instance, whether beer sales will be banned again.
Now we have some Instant Messages to send around the area:
+ To Phenix City's Public Safety Department: Thank you for clearing away that overturned tanker, so U.S. 280 could reopen Wednesday. But once and for all, how DO you pronounce the name of the chemical in that tanker? It sounded at times like "Dime-a-Tapp-a-mine" or "Dime-for-each-way-you-say-it-mine."
+ To Rob Doll Nissan: You CANNOT be serious! You're actually offering a free shotgun, to anyone buying a pick-up truck?! For one thing, does the shotgun come loaded -- in case the customer finds out he bought a lemon?
+ To Columbus and the Valley magazine: Who was the genius who put together an ad, saying the Columbus Symphony is conducted by GEORGIA Del Gobbo? He's the last person we'd expect to get a sex change operation.
(Then again, maybe this was a test -- to see if people really read that magazine, or simply put it on their coffee table and forget about it.)
+ To Electra Bail Bonds in Phenix City: Did you really mean to have that artwork on your "park bench ad" downtown - with a guy holding his hands up, standing next to a bag of money? Isn't someone like that an argument AGAINST allowing bail?
COMING FRIDAY: I'm taking a day off from blogging, to let other people fill in and supply you the jokes. If you have one to share, send it to me ASAP....