5 FEB 05 (special early edition): DUCKY IN LOVE

A man suggested the other night I should find "good things" to write about in this blog. OK, here you go -- as we have what appears to be a wedding announcement. But then again, some people don't want to talk about it. And the ones who are talking are using words like "underbelly" as they do.

BLOG EXCLUSIVE: Your blog has confirmed AFLAC Chairman and C.E.O. Dan Amos has a marriage license with longtime corporate counsel Kathleen Spencer. Assuming they've followed through with the ceremony, he now has a very different understanding of a "Spencer high."

Saturday marks one month since Dan Amos and Kathleen Spencer filed for a marriage license at the Government Center. The groom modestly states his "usual occupation" on the application as "insurance." That's only fair - since someone else at AFLAC handles the ducks.

Kathleen Spencer's occupation is listed as "attorney." She's been a counsel at AFLAC for years, and most recently had the title "Executive Vice President of Corporate Communications." She may not communicate about her personal life, but her corporate work is different....

The marriage license obtained by your blog shows the couple planned to marry January 8 at St. Simons Island. What - not Las Vegas?! Not the place where the AFLAC duck missed an appearance at a wedding chapel, to watch a Wayne Newton show in a commercial?

Dan Amos is 53, Kathleen Spencer s 47 - and the marriage license application shows each has been married once. In fact, the parties quietly obtained divorces within a month of each other in 2003 on grounds of "incompatibility." We do not know the most important issue in these cases -- who wound up with the insurance policies.

A check of AFLAC's web site Friday found Dan Amos listed among the "management team," while Kathleen Spencer was not. Spencer has a biography hidden inside the web site, but it says nothing about her marital status. Sometimes we webmasters are the last to know these things....

So is Kathleen Spencer still an AFLAC executive or not? Did the ceremony go through on St. Simons or not? Your blog called the company's media relations office Friday afternoon - and a woman quickly said, "I'm not going to talk to you about this." So much for my sending the couple a Sears gift card.

Despite this, aren't we all happy with news of a high-powered wedding inside the AFLAC tower? Welllll.... the e-mail which tipped us off to this story seemed to curse it with faint praise:

Congratulations to Daniel 'Danny' Amos on his recent wedding to a former employee who worked under him for several years. Seems Kathleen Spencer Amos and Daniel 'Danny' Amos were doing more than just the 'Duck Walk' these past few years. As AFLAC grew its' bottom line, so also did Kat and Danny's love grow. Despite the utter destruction of the happy homes of these two jet setters, they seem to be soooo in love. And isn't that what really matters. I just thought inquiring minds would want to know. Exposing a bit of Columbus' underbelly for all to see.

Love may conquer all -- but maybe not the feelings of the former lovers and their friends.

(No, we did NOT check what may have gone wrong with the bride and groom's first marriages. If they wanted us to know the details, they would have appeared on "Divorce Court" on Fox-54.)

Whoever could have guessed AFLAC has an "underbelly" to it? We see the tower extending several stories high, but ever think about the basement below. Only in California do people think about these things -- because of the earthquake risk.

With best wishes to all involved, let's borrow from Jerry Springer and offer some final Friday thoughts:

+ The Fraternal Order of Police urged people to sign petitions at the Columbus Public Library, to oppose parole for a convicted cop killer. I understand the police feelings and emotions about this case - but why haven't we heard the side of the convict? Does "fair and balanced" coverage mean you only hear from people you're supposed to like?

+ The Tour de Georgia announced the bicycle race will avoid Columbus this spring, because the city couldn't come up with proper financing. I suspect a different reason for this decision -- that local officials wanted the cyclists to go through those trails at Flat Rock Park.

+ The Georgia High School Association staged the state cheerleading championship at the Civic Center - and charged three dollars for parking. This group obviously knows how to make money from displaying hotties....

+ Gas prices in parts of Columbus dropped to $1.71 a gallon. That'll teach some stations to try to increase the price above $1.80 earlier this week. Now why don't you drop the 20-ounce soda prices back below a dollar, while you're at it?

+ Instant Message to the marriage license staff at the Government Center, where we started all this: How many jokes do you have to face every day? You know, about being an office for both marriage licenses and gun licenses?

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