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25 JUL 04: SHORT-TRACK RACING
All I did was turn right off Veterans Parkway onto Whittlesey. When I did that Saturday afternoon, a strange competition began - and no, street hustlers were not fighting to clean my windshield.
A driver behind me decided he simply HAD to pass me on Whittlesey Road - right then and there, as soon as I turned. I blame NASCAR for people who think they have to drive like this. The South seems to be filled with people who think they could substitute for the ailing Dale Earnhardt, Junior today....
To set the scene: I turned from northbound Veterans Parkway onto eastbound Whittlesey. There are two eastbound lanes, but a third lane suddenly develops on the right for turning into Main Street Village -- and if the wind is blowing in the right
direction from Country's Barbecue, I suppose the smell can fill it up in a hurry.
My plan was to turn right two blocks down Whittlesey onto Weems Road -- but after I properly turned onto Whittlesey in "lane #2," the driver of a Hyundai Elantra behind me turned hard into the far right lane. Some people want to be first at
everything - but first in a turn lane?
This is where it got weird. I used my turn signal in front of the Hyundai driver, and steered into the far right lane. That driver WITHOUT signaling cut left into the middle lane - then passed me and cut back into the far right lane in front of me! C'mon guy, my Honda comes first in alphabetical order....
To make matters worse, the Hyundai driver cut me off in the far right lane - at a RED light, at Whittlesey and Main Street! He did all this in ONE block! His license plate was from Georgia, but I somehow suspect he's a native New Yorker.
My church Pastor says how you react to drivers who cut you off is a sign of your Christianity. In Saturday's case, I did NOT get angry at the Hyundai driver. In fact, I sat at the traffic light laughing at him. If he went to all that trouble to gain one car-length, imagine what he must try to get a promotion from his boss.
(My Pastor suggests you say to the driver who cuts you off, "May you get home safely!" I wonder if this Hyundai driver simply was in a hurry to find a public restroom.)
When the light changed to green on Whittlesey, I made sure the Hyundai driver gained plenty of space in front of me. If he was that anxious to show me his ARS 5776 license plate, he might throw his car into reverse and put it through my
windshield.
If that incident was supposed to be scary, a much happier moment for me occurred on the way home from church Saturday evening. Coast down the hill on Talbotton Road from Hamilton Road to Veterans Parkway, and if you get a green light it's almost like a ride at Six Flags.
E-MAIL UPDATE: We now know much more about the dismissal of Dave Marshall from WRBL. In fact, your blog has obtained a copy of the story which apparently was the last straw. Apparently a station manager decided one of the "Problem Solvers" actually WAS the problem....
WARNING: Here's the script we received from an insider at WRBL -- but the mere description of an apartment complex may not be for the faint of heart:
THE APARTMENTS ARE IN THE 400 BLOCK OF 20TH AVENUE AND WHEN WE ARRIVED WE COULD NOT ONLY SEE THE PROBLEM, BUT WE COULD ALSO SMELL IT. THE PROPERTY MANAGEMNT SAYS THEY DIDN'T NEED US TO TELL THEM ABOUT THE ISSUE, THEY SAY THEY WERE ALREADY ON THE CASE, BUT TENANTS SAY THE PROPERTY MANAGER IS JUST NOT WORKING FAST ENOUGH.
(soundbite)
"IT WAS COMING FROM BACK HERE"
SHARON PEARSON SHOWS US THE PLACE WHERE SHE SAYS AN OCEAN OF HUMAN WASTE FLOWED INTO
HER KITCHEN LAST WEEK. IT WAS SO BAD, SHE SAYS THAT SHE REQUESTED TO HAVE A NEW FLOOR PUT IN, BUT HER FURNITURE IS STILL STAINED.
(soundbite)
"IT WAS AN AWFUL SMELL AND JUST NASTY AS I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE WITH PROBLEMS" (pearson)
ALL OVER THE COMPLEX WE RAN INTO RESIDENT AFTER RESIDENT SHOWING US THE MULTIPLE PLACES WHERE HUMAN WASTE WAS VISIBLE. IT WAS COMING OUT OF WALLS WITH TOILET PAPER AND COMING OUT OF THE GROUND FROM SOME SORT OF PIPES.
THE RESULTS OF SOME LONGSTANDING PLUMBING PROBLEMS RESIDENTS CLAIM.
(soundbite)
"THIS PROBLEM WAS HERE LONG BEFORE ROWE, SO IT'S NOT THEIR FAULT, IT STARTED WITH MCDOUGAL, BUT IT IS STILL SOMETHING THAT WE ARE LIVING WITH." (cheryl asford/resident)
THE PROPERTY WAS PART OF MCDOUGAL COMPANY, BUT STARTING ABOUT TWO MONTHS AGO
RESIDENTS SAY THEY STARTED PAYING RENT TO ROWE REALTY COMPANY. WHEN WE CONTACTED ROWE, ROWE TOLD US THAT IT IS MANAGING THE APARTMENT FOR THE NEW OWNER WHO HAS SPENT
THOUSANDS ON UPKEEP. AND THEY'VE HAD A PLUMBER ON THE SCENE SINCE LAST WEEK. THEY ALSO ADD THAT RESIDENTS ARE LIKELY TO BLAME BECAUSE THEY ARE THE ONES WHO ARE FLUSHING DIAPERS AND OTHER ITEMS DOWN THE SYSTEM CAUSING THEIR OWN PROBLEMS. ADDITIONALLY A MANAGER TOLD US THAT GIVEN WHAT SHE SAYS ARE DRUG PROBLEMS AND CRIME IN THE COMPLEX SHE'S QUESTIONING WHY WE ARE FOCUSING ON A PLUMBING PROBLEM WHEN WE SHOULD BE FOCUSING ON OTHER PROBLEMS OF THOSE RESIDENTS:
"SO HOW DO YOU RESPOND TO THAT" (dave marshall)
"FIRST, THIS PLACE IS NO DIFFERENT FROM OTHER PARTS OF THE CITY AND EVEN IF THAT IS TRUE, WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH US LIVING IS THIS FILTH" (pearson)
ROWE ALSO SAYS THAT IS HAS BEEN WORKING WITH THE CITY ON THE PROBLEM, BUT IN OUR CALLS TO THREE SEPARATE CITY DIVISIONS WE COULD FIND NO ONE THERE WHO COULD TELL IS FOR SURE IF ROWE CONTACTED THEM FOR HELP.
(stand-up)
"WE DID GIVE ROWE REALTY AN OPPORTUNITY TO TALK TO US ON CAMERA, BUT THEY DECLINED. AFTER OUR CALLS TO THE CITY, IT SENT OUT A CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER RIGHT AWAY TO CHECK ON THINGS. THE CITY TELLS US THEY DID SEE A PLUMBER ON SITE WHO WAS WORKING ON THE PROBLEM AND AS OF YESTERDAY IS SATISFIED THAT ROWE IS NOW MAKING A GOOD FAITH EFFORT TO FIX THE PROBLEM. I'M DAVE MARSHALL NEWS THREE ON YOUR SIDE.
After reading this, we don't blame the residents if they want to move down the street - even if it means living at Elizabeth Canty Homes.
I honestly don't know if the 400 block of 20th Avenue has a crime and drug problem or not. But isn't it interesting that residents didn't "raise a stink" about trouble until the bathrooms.... well, you know....
Perhaps there's a lesson in this story for new parents everywhere: do NOT flush your baby's diapers down the bathroom stool. Use cloth diapers instead -- and buy the biggest box of laundry detergent you can find, because you might need a lot of it.
So why did this story get Dave Marshall booted from WRBL this past week -- and, I'm told, escorted from the building? An e-mail which came to us with the script (no, we're NOT revealing who sent it) explains:
Dave went to do the story got video and contacted the property managers who allegedly said the story would never make air because they had bought about $30,000 worth of ads on the station. I was not there, but the gossip is that Dave and the news director got in to a shouting match because we were not going to run the story and the next thing you know he was gone. Poof!!!
Honestly, he is a nice guy, but he has a thing or two to learn about "playing the game" and not "biting the hand that feeds him" He can be hotheaded and a little selfrighteous at times.
Still, even those of us who are a little more politically keen, it is not much me can do here if "on your side" only means "on your side" as long as a sponsor does not get mad.....
You can understand why this company would be concerned. It doesn't want to be known as "SKID Rowe Realty."
I've never met Dave Marshall, but he supposedly had ten years or so of TV news experience. He should know how to "play the game" -- and realize in Columbus, businesses are kind and wise and wonderful. Brian Sharpe should have left a note
about that, before he went to work for the Chamber of Commerce.
But it's interesting that Rowe Realty reportedly raised such a fuss about this story. Dave Marshall also "Problem Solved" a woman whose windshield got smashed by a baseball during a Columbus Catfish game [11 Jun] -- and WRBL isn't shooting
highlights from a hole in the Golden Park fence.
What we have here is a classic ethical tug-of-war in the news business. If an advertiser buys time on TV or space in the newspaper, should it expect favorable reports as a result? Should it have "immunity from persecution?"
THE BIG BLOG QUESTION wants to get your opinion about this. Click here to offer your opinion - and remember, your donations can ensure this blog isn't bought by anybody. But then again, not even the candidates for Superior Court Judge
made an offer to do that....
On a somewhat happier note, we attended a going-away party Friday evening for sportscaster Justin Cazana. He was given a "Baby Toomer's Corner" tree from Auburn University. I guess for a few years, he'll have to "roll it" with a small napkin
from Krystal.
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© 2003-04 Richard Burkard, All Rights Reserved.