26 FEB 06: SUNDAY BUFFET

We may be borrowing a concept from another local blogger, but we have plenty of tasty items to offer today -- catching up on news from this past week:

+ The Muscogee County School District and Columbus Council held another meeting on the split sales tax. One TV station said they're now in agreement. Another station said the idea is postponed for this year. So when in doubt, you form a committee and claim victory.

+ Fort Benning commanders revealed the wave of new soldiers will come to the Columbus area in 2009. Dozens of used car dealers will have to hang on a little while longer.

(Columbus Mayor Bob Poydasheff calls the effort to get organized for thousands of new soldiers "Operation Preparation." At Martin Army Hospital, would they call it Operation Preparation H?)

+ A Russell County jury found William Crawford NOT guilty of murdering his father-in-law, apparently because he was drunk when he did it. What's the lesson of this for young people? Drink some shots, before firing shots?!

(The logic of this verdict is that drunk people in Alabama can do pretty much anything they please. If Mike Price had realized this a few years ago, he still might be University of Alabama football coach.)

+ WRBL presented a lengthy special report on the Stocking Strangler case. Defense attorney Jack Martin asked why Columbus Police never tape-recorded the confessions of convicted killer Carlton Gary. Maybe police budgets were tight back then as well, and they couldn't afford it.

(Jack Martin suggests detectives with notepads can't be trusted -- and people who are skeptical of the Ledger-Enquirer probably will agree with him.)

+ The Georgia Legislature debated a bill making red clay the official state dirt. I'm surprised no Democrat has tried to put this title on Governor Sonny Perdue.

(So is there any competition for the title of "official state dirt?" Is there a brown dirt lobby in Atlanta, accusing lawmakers of discriminating on the basis of color?)

+ The Georgia House passed a bill requiring parental permission before anyone under 16 gets married. One member dared to ask during the debate how many lawmakers had sex before THEY turned 16. [True/GPB] Now we're almost wishing someone runs against Rep. Calvin Smyre, and asks him that during a debate.

+ The Georgia Senate passed a bill toughening the state rules on dogfighting, but not before adding a section on cockfighting. One Senator claimed some chickens will fight each other without any training. This apparently explains why KFC divides the regular and extra crispy chicken in its barrels.

+ The final Lotto South drawing occurred, as the Georgia Lottery switches to "Win for Life." Instead of winning millions of dollars in a jackpot, you could win $52,000 a year for the rest of your life. Considering the other stuff lottery players tend to buy at convenience stores, this is a major downsizing.

+ Our trip to Valdosta to announce the launch of Power Frisbee found Tifton, Georgia has a Starbucks coffee shop - AND signs along Interstate 75 leading you to it. When Tifton is ahead of Columbus in something like this, I feel a bit embarrassed for my city....

(Tifton also has less expensive gasoline than Columbus. A couple of stations sold regular unleaded for $2.01 - as apparently they didn't want the big crowds a $1.99 price would have brought.)

+ Saturday's rainfall in Columbus was more than two inches, setting a record for the date. Whoever tried to set fire to a church in Marion County at midday was seriously lacking in brains.

+ A group of children put on a dance performance at Peachtree Mall, to mark Heart Month. Dancing truly can stimulate your heart - just ask any guy who's watched Stacey Kiebler on "Dancing With the Stars" the last several weeks.

+ Several Columbus teams qualified for the Georgia high school basketball final four -- the Carver and Spencer boys, along with the Kendrick and Pacelli girls. No sir, we're not missing those Riverdragons one bit....

+ Instant message to Great Championship Wrestling: I don't get it. The referee is looking right at a guy pulling trunks, and he doesn't call it?! Is that legal now? Or are you trying to get a sponsorship deal with an eye doctor?

YOUR EXQUISITELY EXTRAVAGANT LOCAL BLOG WINTER OLYMPIC COVERAGE: On this final day on the Winter Olympics in Italy, we offer several ways the games can be improved in time for Vancouver 2010:

1. Olympic Blind Date. How about Bode Miller with Michelle Kwan - a match made off the podium, and maybe in a bar.

2. Send NBC-38's Al Fleming to the games, to personally tell off athletes like Shani Davis for their bad attitudes.

3. Add a couple more figure skating announcers. Four people in the booth simply wasn't enough for me.

4. Build a speed-skating short track on the infield of East Alabama Motor Speedway. They both have the same level of crazy bumping.

5. Have REAL Olympic curling - with a team from the Southeastern Beauty School.

6. Have hockey "thugs" do short track speed skating between periods. Just think of it: Jerome Bechard, five laps, anything goes....

7. Add the new sport of ice fishing. People around Lake Eufaula can understand that one.

8. Move NASCAR radio announcers to short-track speed skating. NOW we'll see how fast they can call the action in turns one and two.

9. Even better: have Darrell Waltrip cover alpine skiing - so he can say of one U.S. gold medalist: "Liggity Liggity Liggity, boys!"

10. Have Apollo Anton Ono host a Winter Olympic talent contest - and call it "Showtime at the Apollo."

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