8-9 APR 05: TARGET PRACTICE
(BLOGGER'S NOTE: Our apologies for posting this so late. We had problems all day Friday with our blogging service, and they were beyond our control. Some of you may have stumbled onto this entry already, at our poll and picture page linked above.)
Our congratulations to the Columbus Riverdragons, who clinched the N.B.D.L. regular-season title Thursday night! We hope they don't mind playing in an empty arena during the playoffs -- because the NAACP now might call a boycott of their games.
(Shame on you who are thinking about writing me about that joke. Yes, I know the Riverdragons practically play in an empty arena already.)
Columbus Mayor Bob Poydasheff took a stand on a civil rights boycott Thursday -- saying he's encouraging people to visit Riverfest in two weeks. So much for people who live on Broadway having a quiet weekend....
Mayor Poydasheff said a Riverfest boycott to protest the handling of the Kenneth Walker case would be "self-defeating." That's what he thinks. The Rainbow/PUSH Coalition found a way to claim victory, even after it came nowhere close to recalling Sheriff Ralph Johnson.
Mayor Poydasheff joined the crowd of people asking why civil rights groups would pick on the Historic Columbus Foundation, which puts on Riverfest. He said the foundation does a lot of good, including improvements to the Ma Rainey House. Yeah, but Ma Rainey must have had the blues all those years for a reason....
Mayor Poydasheff suggested civil rights groups choose a more fitting target for their protests of the Kenneth Walker case. Don't worry, Mayor - another march is planned to the Government Center April 30. But why they haven't marched to David Glisson's house, I still have no idea....
As you might guess, Columbus NAACP President Bill Madison was unpersuaded by Mayor Poydasheff's comments. Madison asked WRBL what WOULD be a fitting place to protest. Doesn't this man listen to WRCG's "TalkLine?" Callers have offered several possibilities -- all of them well out of town.
(But then again, maybe these callers need to remember the last time local civil rights leaders went to Atlanta. They would up bringing Jesse Jackson and thousands of marchers to Columbus with them.)
Bill Madison of the NAACP says protesters have to take to the streets, because the Kenneth Walker case has shown the grand jury system cannot be trusted. Thousands of indicted criminals could have told him that, long before now....
Back in January your blog showed you Bill Madison's hearse, which historically has been covered with spray-painted notes about businesses he's protesting [27 Jan]. I haven't seen that hearse in months -- so maybe he's run out of things to protest until now.
Bill Madison has a history of staging unusual protests, such as parking his hearse outside businesses he opposes. I'm actually surprised this doesn't happen more often -- especially since Archway Broadcasting and Clear Channel Broadcasting are right down the street from each other.
So, you may be asking, where do I stand when it comes to Riverfest? I'm not going this year -- but the boycott has nothing to do with it. That weekend marks the start of the Passover season, with back-to-back Sabbaths from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon. Did William Howell of Rainbow/PUSH convert to Judaism, without telling anybody?
E-MAIL UPDATE: Thursday's item listing complaints about police in the Bibb City neighborhood brought a response to this section:
Yet the complaining callers found a fourth Columbus police foul on this play. The man said he tried to report the misconduct to the Metro Narcotics Task Force - but a lieutenant on the other end of the phone hung up on him!
I would like to know the name of the lieutenant that hung up on the caller, since Metro Narcotics Task Force doesn't have a lieutenant assigned to it.
As I understand, the man who called to complain about this never named the lieutenant. Perhaps he assumed someone of that rank would be answering phones, and trying to enjoy a comfortable desk job....
I'm admittedly assuming when the man said "Task Force," he was calling the Metro Narcotics Task Force. After all, Bibb City seems a bit too far away for the Columbus South Revitalization Task Force -- although the neighborhood could use that attention.
BLOG UPDATE: Meanwhile, Muscogee County Coroner James Dunnivant ruled Thursday police beanbags apparently were to blame for the death of Lester Zachery at his home. Zachery died from internal bleeding in his spleen. But of course, if detectives check his medicine cabinet and find bottles of Bextra inside....
It turns out Lester Zachery WAS taking a medication, when he was shot with beanbags Monday. It was a blood-thinning medicine, which made it nearly impossible for surgeons to work on him. As the late Johnnie Cochran might have put it: "If your blood can't clot, doctors can't do a lot."
Coroner James Dunnivant is calling Lester Zachery's death a homicide. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking into it, as are the Columbus police internally. So it's no wonder Muscogee County Sheriff's Deputies took no chances Thursday - and pulled out the tasers again.
Did you see the video from 35th Street Thursday? Deputies used tasers to subdue a man who reportedly threatened them with a three-foot-long sword. Didn't this guy realize the Georgia Renaissance Fair takes place about 70 miles north of here?
(I don't know what made this man wield a sword. But once he recovers, Ruby Tuesday should hire him to chop that new giant one-pound cheeseburger.)
Let's all put down our potential weapons now, and consider other Thursday highlights:
+ Which Columbus city employee parked a city truck outside a Summit station on Victory Drive, went inside to buy something - and left the motor running? With gas prices above $2.10 a gallon, can our city really afford that?
+ A public hearing on METRA's budget problems revealed a vast majority of riders would rather pay higher bus fares, than have their routes cut. One woman suggested passengers buy less "junk food" to pay for an increase - either that, or get off the bus at Tom's Foods and see if you can get a factory discount.
(One man at the public hearing suggested METRA actually needs to expand service, since high-growth areas of Columbus don't have bus routes. But hold on here - if you bought a big-screen TV at H.H. Gregg, how would you fit it on the bus to take it home?)
+ The annual "Fortune 500" list placed AFLAC at number 158 among public corporations - up 14 places from last year. If this company grows any further, the duck might demand his own tower.
+ Bill Heard Chevrolet bought 30-minute blocks of time on TV-16, to show an infomercial with a parody of The Jerry Springer Show -- complete with people beating up each other. Bill Heard's Cadillacs look higher-class all the time....
+ WRBL's "Restaurant Report Card" reported on the short-term closing of Bludau's restaurant on Broadway. It's nice to know this blog beat the TV stations - by more than three weeks.... [13 Mar]
+ Instant Message to Rooster 106-FM's "Johnny Outlaw": We wish you a full recovery after that nasty wreck you had Thursday. And we hope this close call will make you think about becoming "Johnny Good Guy."
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