2 NOV 05: COMMANDER IN FIRE CHIEF

Phenix City made history Tuesday, by naming its first female fire chief. I will resist the obvious temptation to call her a "hottie...."

Kristin Kennedy is a new assistant fire chief in Phenix City. She's been a firefighter there for about 15 years -- so she knows how to break through glass ceilings, if only with a fire ax.

Kristin Kennedy was one of the first female firefighters that Phenix City hired around 1990. Back then, a lot of people probably laughed at the thought of it -- or at least at the thought of saying "first Phenix female firefighter" five times fast.

Kristin Kennedy admits when she was young, she was afraid of fire trucks -- and she'd run inside at the sound of them. For other people, of course, the reaction is different. They drive right behind fire trucks, and take advantage of their drivers speeding.

Kristin Kennedy says she overcame that early fear of fire trucks, and now considers it "a calling" to help people. You'd think that would be everyone's calling - but some people DO become oil company executives....

Phenix City Fire Chief Wallace Hunter noted Kristin Kennedy oversaw three different aspects of the fire department already -- by herself! So where's the talk about raising sales taxes in THAT city?

We're told one area where Kristin Kennedy has proven herself in the Phenix City Fire Department is in enforcing building codes. But that leads us to wonder something -- which department has been inspecting the Center City Motel?

In her new role as assistant fire chief, Kristin Kennedy will have staff members under her -- and she'll lead a new division focusing on fire prevention. So if you're in Phenix City next April, she's the woman to call about smoke detector batteries.

Did you see the pictures of Kristin Kennedy on the evening news? She looks like someone absolutely dedicate to firefighting -- and someone Tillman Pugh would never confuse with LeeAnn Horne-Jordan, and think about sexually harassing.

As it happened, Columbus Fire Chief Roy Waters revealed at Tuesday night's Council meeting he'll retire at the end of the month. So will a woman be given the opportunity to take over HIS job? Assistant City Manager Lisa Goodwin must have a few hours open every week....

Roy Waters has been a member of the Columbus Fire Department 33 years, starting when he was 22. With that last name, it either was fight fires or take a job with Columbus Water Works.

Public Safety Director/Mayor Bob Poydasheff has the job of nominating a replacement for Fire Chief Roy Waters. The Mayor is up for reelection next year - and given what's happened the last few weeks, somehow I get the feeling he will NOT nominate his legal counsel.

BLOG UPDATE: Muscogee County school officials learned Tuesday dozens of special education teachers will be given two extra months, to gain the title of "highly qualified." So for once, it's the teachers receiving the "special ed" treatment....

You may recall special education teachers were upset about having to gain the status of "highly qualified," under the No Child Left Behind Act [11 Oct]. Now they'll be able to attain that title by passing a 100-question test. I assume this is called the Special Education Test - or S.E.T.

E-MAIL UPDATE: Speaking of education, our Tuesday focus about a big fund-raising campaign brought a big vote of support:

Dear Richard,

Jimmy Yancey heads up the Capital Campaign for Columbus State University . He started classes there in the first class of 300 enrollees in 1959 when the then tiny college was located in the Shannon Hosiery Mill on Talbotton Road! He finished a two year degree. He has said that the only way he could get an education is if he could do it here in Columbus. He was working with CB&T at that time. Who would have ever thought he would go on to be Chairman of CB& T and Synovus.

The Capital Campaign is an effort to fund the Columbus State University buildings in downtown Columbus (and more).

All contributions and pledges made prior to Oct. 31 will be matched by the Kresge Foundation.

The unprecedented $100 million will aid Columbus in so very many ways!

The Alumni Funds differ from the Capital Fund....

Though one can designate a gift for a specific purpose....

Alumni gifts go to these areas:

Athletics Columbus State University Alumni Association, Inc. CSU Partnership Fund Friends of Art Friends of Coca-Cola Space Science Center Friends of Oxbow Meadows Patrons of Music Theatre Angels

The tiny college has changed the landscape of Columbus. The mill town i grew up in is a very different place now because the modest little college in the hosiery mill educated the mill workers' kids. Thriving businesses, and international networking have resulted from the meager beginnings of a few who wanted better. The college has enriched the lives of many well beyond finances ... it brought hope, change, plans for the future and a new way of thinking. It brought the American Dream to Columbus.

Did you know: If you have a beloved family member you would like to memorialize through a scholarship fund, that you can set up and donate to the fund on installments, over a period of years, and after reaching your goal gift, the scholarship can start funding students. You don't have to be wealthy to provide an eternal gift to others.

Since my beloved Grandmother, Beulah Hunter Owens, was a simple Indian woman from South Ga., who had to drop out of school in the 5th grade because she had no clothes to wear to school, and who married well ... and later instilled the value of education in her younguns and grand younguns ... I think we may try to establish a Book Scholarship in her name. She went on to finish High School and nursing school.

I bet a lot of you out there have families with similar family members, whom you would love to memorialize with a gift that keeps on giving ... like a scholarship fund. You don't have to be wealthy to establish a gift that is eternal ...You can set it up as an ROTC, Education, Criminal Justice, Business, Nursing, Art, etc., fund. You can call the Alumni Assoc. and they can direct you to Mr. Rex Whidden, (some of you know he is a wonderful pianist, i used to plant myself in an empty classroom and listen and read while he practiced in the afternoons)... Mr. Whidden can help you set up a memorial to your loved ones and help many students in the process.

Can you imagine a fund that helps give student's an education? Can you imagine a better way to honor a family member's memory?

We all, each and everyone of us, have been impacted by the great good the school has done for our tri-city area. Everything we can do to get more kids in our fine university and get them through the education process will help the city.

Deborah Owens

The first thing that struck me about this e-mail was what Deborah did NOT say. She never once referred to C.S.U. President Frank Brown as "Spanky Franky" [21 Mar].

Deborah's brief history lesson shows how some things never change in this area. "Columbus College" began at a mill - and now its downtown arts center is occupying old mill space all over again.

I didn't realize Columbus State had a group of "Theatre Angels." It seemed to me the play "Angels in America" might be too controversial to show around here....

So it was C.S.U. which "brought the American Dream to Columbus"?! Were that many people unable to own their own homes before 1959?

When I moved to Georgia 21 years ago this month, my first roommate in College Park was a salesman and classical music singer. He'd use piano practice rooms at "Columbus College" when his route took him to this area. Who knows how many people have used those practice rooms, for (ahem) other pursuits....

By the way, the Columbus State women's soccer team knocked off North Georgia 3-1 Tuesday in the Peach Belt Conference tournament. The match was suspended almost an hour because of lightning - and we certainly don't want any players' metal hairpins getting zapped.

Now for other quick strikes from a busy Tuesday:

+ The Chattahoochee County Commission held a testy meeting, about on the alleged pocketing of arrest warrants by the sheriff. One resident defended the sheriff's actions, saying the county lacks a jail for holding suspects. Somehow I have a feeling the average driving speed in this county is about to go way up.

(It costs $15 per day, this man said, to house Chattahoochee County suspects inside the Muscogee County Jail. Am I missing something here - or is Fort Benning's stockade even more overcrowded than county jails?)

+ The Opelika Public Works Department spent its first day under private management and control. So far, the lines at Lee County unemployment offices somehow have NOT lengthened.

+ Statesboro, Georgia city officials banned "happy hours," to stop binge drinking by Georgia Southern University students. New city rules also require restaurant customers to have only one drink at a time - so having coffee and orange juice together at Waffle House for breakfast could get you arrested.

+ Alabama Power disclosed it will ask the state Public Service Commission for a ten-percent rate increase. The utility blames this on higher fuel costs, for generating power. Can't this company do things the old-fashioned way -- and make power with electricity or something?

+ The touring "Beatlemania" show appeared at the Columbus RiverCenter. Some of the Beatles's music sounds a bit strange, 40 years later. These days, "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" might refer to a female poker player.

+ Local baseball player Frank Thomas began a contract staredown with the Chicago White Sox. The team has until Friday to pick up his option for next year and pay him about three million dollars. Otherwise, Thomas will become a free agent - though "The Big Hurt" will be in his wallet for awhile.

+ Instant Message to Target on Bradley Park Drive: Your selection of half-price Halloween candy Tuesday didn't thrill me much at all. For one thing, you should tell companies to invent chocolate-flavored candy corn....

COMING THURSDAY: Something downtown which isn't free anymore....

Your PayPal donations can keep this blog ad-free and independent-minded. To make a donation, offer a story tip or comment on this blog, write me - but be warned, I may post a reply.

If you quote from this in public somewhere, please be polite enough to let me know.

© 2003-05 Richard Burkard, All Rights Reserved.