for 15 MAY 06: THE BOOK OF JUDGE'S

BLOG EXCLUSIVEs sometimes come from readers like you -- and today we have another one, directly from the InBox:

Richard,

During a recent google search for information about Columbus, we came across a website for Judge Peters. According to the website he has written a book. Have you heard anything about this?

Here's the link....

Well, thank you. And well, what do you know - Superior Court Judge Bobby Peters has a book in the works. But I'm a bit surprised and disappointed that it has nothing to do with dating tips.

Judge Bobby Peters' upcoming book is called, "Some Call Him Pig! I Call Him Sir!!" If you didn't look at the cover, you might conclude this is a story of football linemen....

But the cover of "Some Call Him Pig! I Call Him Sir!!" indicates the book will be about police officers. At least, I assume the officer is saving someone's life. Take that uniform off, and it could be Bobby Peters practicing a move for "Dancing With the Stars."

Newcomers to Columbus may not know Bobby Peters served with the Columbus Police years ago. Yet I seem to recall public safety groups complaining about their pay, even when he was Mayor. Have these officers even asked Jim Wetherington any budget questions yet?

(Don't forget Judge Bobby Peters wrote a letter to the Ledger-Enquirer backing Mayor Bob Poydasheff for a second term. Of course, that was more than a year ago. If he can change homes and offices since then....)

The Bobby Peters web site notes the book "Some Call Him Pig! I Call Him Sir!!" is being written with help from Betty Reese. Perhaps she's the editor - guiding the former mayor by removing all the "whereas" and "hereby proclaim" phrases.

Dick McMichael wrote his memoirs last year, and now Judge Bobby Peters has a book coming out. So should other Columbus celebrities write books? Imagine what their titles might be....

+ "Fire House Who?" - written by Al Fleming.

+ "The China Syndrome" - written by the managers at W.C. Bradley.

+ "How Stella Never Got Her Sense of Humor Back" - written by Kaffie Sledge.

+ "Which Group Wants to Feel Like a Millionaire?" - written by AFLAC's Dan Amos.

+ "Gone to Tampa With the Wind" - written by Brian McClure.

+ "Get 'er Done" - written by Russell County Commissioner Ronnie Reed.

+ "Some Call It a Pig, and I Really Don't Mind That" - written by Jim from Country's Barbecue.

E-MAIL UPDATE: The Sunday InBox had a reply to the complaint we posted about severe weather coverage:

Richard,

I hope this note finds you well. I'm writing to "clear the air" about last week's severe weather coverage. I can only speak to what we aired on WRBL, obviously, since I was on the air at the time. Here's what I know:

*In the 4pm hour, Chief Meteorologist Jeff Donald broke into programming to warn viewers of the approaching severe weather. At that time, there were no severe weather warnings in effect for the vieweing area. Jeff warned that Lee, Russell and Chambers counties would be hit first.

*Just a couple minutes before our 5pm newscast began, a severe thunderstorm warning was issued for either Lee or Chambers county (I can't recall which). Our "crawl" system was up and running and warned viewers in that area of the approaching storm.

*Less than 5 minutes later, our 5pm newscast began. We led the broadcast with weather. Jeff first spoke about the warnings for the East Alabama counties, and then warned viewers in Columbus that this weather was headed our way.

*By 5:03, warnings were issued for Harris and Muscogee Counties. We broke from the regular news block and went back to Jeff to get those warnings across to viewers. Jeff also continued to cover the severe weather threat in our Alabama counties as well.

*At 5:25-ish, I personally delivered the Flash Flood Warning for Lee and Chambers Counties on the air.

*Our severe weather coverage continued through the end of the 6pm newscast. Obviously, by that time, more focus was on Georgia, since the threat had passed our Alabama friends.

*At 11pm, we covered storm damage and power coutages with crews in both Columbus and Lee County.

I am very proud of the job Jeff Donald and the First Alert Weather Team did during last week's severe weather outbreak. WRBL News 3 is committed to covering ALL of our viewing area, both Columbus AND East Alabama. I'm sure you'll agree our daily coverage reflects that. I personally invite the blog reader who emailed you to give WRBL and First Alert Weather another try during the next severe weather event. Perhaps while flipping channels, which I know I do obsessively, he/she may have missed some of our alerts. The reader (or anyone) can email me at: bstewart@wrbl.com with any suggestions on how to improve our coverage.

Thanks for your time.

Best,

Blaine Stewart

5pm Anchor/Reporter

WRBL-TV

Thanks for the update -- Blaine Stewart in the WRBL newsroom. Hey, that's almost how a news anchor actually would say that.

Perhaps our earlier writer wasn't watching Judge Judy and Judge Joe Brown on WRBL that afternoon. Let's face it, Judge Marilyn Milian on "The People's Court" at NBC-38 looks hotter than both of them....

It's nice to see Blaine Stewart kept a log of everything that went on last Wednesday. But then again, we shouldn't be surprised -- since he was acting meteorologist at WRBL only a few weeks ago.

Severe weather threatened parts of the Columbus area again Sunday - and here's what else came to our attention:

+ Columbus Urban League President Reginald Pugh told the Ledger-Enquirer several big-name local Democrats tried to talk him out of running for State Senator against Ed Harbison. State Rep. Calvin Smyre and Cong. Sanford Bishop denied it. Perhaps they really wanted Pugh to move into Seth Harp's district.

+ CBS News announced next weekend's "48 Hours Mystery" will examine the murder of Fort Benning soldier Richard Davis. That's just what the Columbus Convention and Visitors Bureau needed, to promote summer tourism....

+ The Columbus Public Library marked Mother's Day by holding a "Teddy Bear Tea." By comparison, Abercrombie and Fitch sold potential teenage mothers Teddy Bear T's - as in shirts asking for steamy hugs.

+ The Auburn Police began a new seat belt crackdown, called "Buckle Up in Your Truck." If more young couples did this on dates, the number of sexually transmitted diseases might drop dramatically.

+ Columbus State won the Peach Belt Conference baseball tournament, taking two games over top-ranked Georgia College and State University. This was the first conference baseball tournament since 1998 - perhaps waiting for Kennesaw State to go away, so C.S.U. could start dominating again.

Today's main topic was the result of a blog reader's tip. To offer a story tip, make a PayPal donation or comment on this blog, write me - but be warned, I may post a reply.

BURKARD BULK MAIL INDEX: 10,641 (- 412, 3.7%)

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

© 2003-06 Richard Burkard, All Rights Reserved.