8 JUL 05: JUST FOR THE FUND OF IT
The Columbus Urban League held its annual "Equal Opportunity Dinner" Thursday night. But sadly, a moment to build "One Columbus" was lost -- as David Glisson and his lawyer didn't show up, to have an equal opportunity to defend themselves.
BLOG EXCLUSIVE: Reginald Pugh of the Urban League is one of the promoters of a new fund-raising campaign, called the "Kenny Walker Fund." It's the first substantial news we've heard about the Walker case since the Riverfest boycott was canceled in April - so we've turned from not spending money to giving money away.
"Kenny Walker Fund" reads the modest masthead atop the letter I saw this week. It explains the fund-raising drive is to pay the legal expenses for Joseph Wiley, who's arguing for the convening of a second grand jury in the killing of Kenneth Walker. Does this mean Wiley has his doubts about that 100-million dollar lawsuit?
Joseph Wiley is handling the appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court for a second grand jury in the Kenneth Walker case. You may recall it was Wiley who persuaded civil rights leaders to have a "cooling-off period" after they lost in Superior Court [22 Apr]. It worked, because I didn't run my air conditioner much in June at all....
(As it happened, the guest speaker at Thursday night's Urban League dinner was new Georgia Chief Justice Leah Sears. Is this really going to help the appeal for the Walker family -- forcing an influential African-American justice to recuse herself, for ethical reasons?)
From the short peek I had at this letter, it's not clear how much money the Kenny Walker Fund is trying to raise. Certainly Joseph Wiley wouldn't give a discount on his legal fees to civil rights groups - because that might be considered race discrimination.
The fund-raising appeal notes if there's money left over after Joseph Wiley's legal fees are paid, it will go into a scholarship fund for Kenneth Walker's children. The priorities here are interesting - as groups which often call for "putting children first" let a lawyer go to the front of the line.
I don't know how many people in the area are receiving this appeal from the Kenny Walker Fund. You'd think the mailing list would include everyone who signed petitions to recall Sheriff Ralph Johnson - but then again, I'm assuming William Howell of Rainbow/PUSH is organized enough to keep a copy of those addresses....
Someone I know who received the appeal from the Kenny Walker Fund seemed unpersuaded by it. "They're going to get so much money from that lawsuit...." this person said. Well, maybe. Take out legal fees and taxes, and I'm not sure even a $100 million judgment will leave enough to buy a home in Green Island.
An obvious question may arise from this fund-raising drive: where is the campaign to help pay former Deputy David Glisson's legal bills? After all, his attorney has spent much more time on TV - and Richard Hagler may be charging him so much money per soundbite.
The "Friends of David Glisson" web site has a reminder of a fund for the fired deputy at CB&T branches. For all I know, Glisson still doesn't have a steady job - even though you'd think plenty of those new restaurants around Columbus Park Crossing would hire him, merely for the name value.
Now for other items from a sad and busy Thursday....
+ Gas prices across Columbus suddenly jumped 15 cents a gallon. What gets the blame for this? Empty rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, due to tropical storms? Crude oil costing 60 dollars a barrel? Please don't blame the events in London - because subway trains don't run on gasoline.
+ Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama happened to be in London, as the "Terror on the Tube" occurred. He gave Fox News Channel this analysis: "The people are determined.... in fact, the sun came out today...." What's he trying to do - encourage terrorists to remove the clouds completely?
+ Fort Benning's "Ranger Rendezvous" ended with several new names added to the Ranger Hall of Fame. They include James Kinsey, one of the founders of America Online. So if the AOL Spam Blocker seems unusually aggressive, this could explain it....
+ "Golf Digest" magazine ranked Auburn-Opelika the best place for golf in the country, out of 330 metropolitan areas. Aha! This may explain that arson at the Indian Pines clubhouse - some jealous caddy from Birmingham probably did it.
+ Google News reported softball will be dropped from the schedule for the 2012 Olympics. Columbus made Olympic softball famous in 1996 -- and soon it may look as antiquated and out-of-date as the tug-of-war at St. Louis in 1904.
+ The remains of Tropical Storm Cindy left extensive damage at Atlanta Motor Speedway, including a blown-down scoreboard tower. Tony Stewart's crew hurried to the scene to take pictures - to use in his defense, the next time he throws a fit.
(In case you haven't been updated on this: Atlanta Motor Speedway is under a caution flag for debris on the track - for roughly the next three months.)
+ WLTZ NBC-38 showed a "makeup" edition of Cascade Hills Church's "Real Time" broadcast. Last weekend's program never appeared at 2:00 a.m. Sunday, after the rain-delayed NASCAR race - as if God had to get some sleep before the Sunday morning church services.
(Last weekend's cancellation was strange, because Cascade Hills Pastor Bill Purvis's testimony involves almost dying from a Columbus attacker early on a Sunday morning. If God can help him after midnight on a Saturday night, he can help NASCAR fans who drank too many beers watching a race.)
+ Instant Message to WHAL radio: You're "Hallelujah 1460," playing gospel music - yet you're running commercials for "readings" from a "spiritualist"?! Now we know what Clear Channel's REAL god is. It's the almighty dollar....
(I shouldn't have been surprised by this commercial for a spiritualist, on a "Christian" station. A year or two ago, WHAL ran condom commercials late at night -- almost as if they were providing "equal time" for all the songs about obeying commandments.)
COMING SATURDAY: E-mails and answers in our recent fuss about the Catholic Church and "Mother Mary...."
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