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10 FEB 04: BIG LOTS
I was simply thrilled (giggle) to learn Monday that the new Bay Avenue parking garage is now open downtown. It's right next door to the River Club - so with a one-dollar parking fee and a sack lunch, it's like a poor man's membership.
The Bay Avenue parking lot rises fives stories above downtown Columbus, between 11th and 12th Streets. Sadly, it also rises five stories over the Riverwalk - making that part of the walk a bit more cold and confining.
You can't simply park anywhere you please in the Bay Avenue parking garage. A number of spots are reserved for businesses. So it IS a lot like the River Club - with the big-money people getting the best view of the Chattahoochee.
I've driven down Bay Avenue near this new parking lot, and it feels more a big-city downtown avenue than almost anywhere else in Columbus. Brick and concrete rise high to your west side. Reserved parking spaces are on your east side. And at the end of the avenue, you're stuck under the 13th Street Bridge and have to turn around.
You may have heard about plans to crack down on downtown parking scofflaws. One idea is to lock wheels with what's called a "Denver boot." Male drivers will want to know this has nothing to do with Broncos kickers.
Are you heading downtown and want to avoid concerns about time limits and parking charges? I'll be happy to help you:
+ Try the T-SYS lot near First Avenue. About 200 spaces should have just opened in the last few days.
+ Roll into the driveway of a downtown church - then explain to the Pastor we're not under law now, we're under grace.
+ Park along 8th Street. It's free, you're only a one-block walk from the RiverCenter or Government Center - and at noon, you might be able to sell your spot for someone eating lunch at Minnie's.
Here's what else we heard about on Monday:
+ A jury in Talladega, Alabama took only 25 minutes to find Jimmy Lee Brooks Jr. guilty of murdering young Brett Bowyer. Brooks then claimed he was the victim of "malicious prosecution." Apparently seeing your face on tape confessing to a 2002 Russell County killing is malicious.
(Wait a minute -- malicious prosecution?! When Brooks's attorney only calls one witness and rests his case in ten minutes, that sounds like malicious defense....)
+ The Georgia Revenue Department posted a list of delinquent taxpayers - and the Dairy Queen on Macon Road owes more than $620,000! No wonder a simple cheeseburger costs close to two bucks.
+ The Columbus Better Business Bureau presented Knology a "Torch Award" for business ethics and standards. Considering I still haven't heard from the "how's my driving" operator about those fast-moving vans on Crawford Road [5-6 Feb], can we do a public vote on this?
+ Three Russell County grade schools received grant money to put PlayStation game systems in every classroom. We're told they'll be used for educational games, in everything from science to reading. There's nothing like the thrill of zapping a silent "e" out of existence....
+ I went to the Sports Page for Monday night basketball, and found only two TV's tuned to the Atlanta Hawks game - out of more than 20 in the building. But it could have been worse. Not one TV was tuned to "Monday Night Raw" wrestling -- or even the Westminster Kennel Club dog show.
(The Kansas-Oklahoma State game enticed me to visit the Sports Page. Just like my alma mater K.U. in the Tangerine Bowl, I left feeling like a sucker....)
+ Instant Message to whichever Columbus cable company inserted an ad for "Follies 2004" during Fox News Channel's "Hannity and Colmes": Follies ended Saturday night - and so far I have NOT heard a clamor for it to be held over.
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