The Blog of Columbus, Georgia

20 AUG 06: BUILDING TENSION

If you were expecting complete extensive blog coverage of the Little League World Series -- sorry, not quite. The Northern All-Stars played Saturday afternoon, while I had church commitments. And as a former youth baseball umpire, I realize you can't call what you can't see.

Instead we'll focus first on a scalding e-mail we received the other day. And for a change, it did NOT name any of the candidates for Mayor:

How the Columbus Ga Area Home Builder is protected and getting away with using The Illegal Alien workers,They sub work out to a contractor that uses Illegal aliens, The Builder knowingly does this! The Builder is not required to police who the Contractors use as workers!

BUT.. What is starting to happen is that Insurance is picking this apart and finding the contractor who is not properly reporting payroll.. the Contractor with illegal subs claim they have maybe 3-5 workers when in fact they have anywhere from 20-30 workers! .. The Columbus Ga.Area Home Builders know this is going on!

The BIG LIE.. They do the work Americans don't want to do.. what has happened is the Builder has driven out the Native area workers(AMERICANS), they have driven them right out of business because the honest Construction contractor CANNOT compete with the Driven Down low wages of those that employ or Sub illegals!

Right now in Columbus Ga. are HUNDREDS of native construction workers out of work and THEY WANT WORK!. Next time you Drive by a residential home construction site .. take a good look at the Builders name on the sign .. Look at The majority of workers, what do you see,.. you will see a Builder breaking immigration laws.. !

The sad part .. most native construction workers in our area do not know where to begin in complaining.. Call I.C.E. you get a recording, call your State Govt. ..Nothing!

Ga. Passed one of the toughest laws against those that employ illegal aliens... the kicker.. Georgias Govenor is a Member of The Home Builders Association!

Mad as H**l In Columbus Ga.!

Maria

If the Georgia Republican Party realized that many people were mad here, they might have staged one of those immigration reform hearings in Columbus this past week. Instead, they were held in Gainesville and Dalton - perhaps proving many immigrants don't want to drive down Interstate 185, either.

But what about Maria's complaint? First of all, I'm aware of something like this happening in downtown Columbus. The Coffee Beanery which opened Friday on First Avenue had at least one outside worker in the construction project - a man who's lived in Phenix City for years.

Are Columbus home builders turning the other way, while contractors hire illegal workers? This letter called for a response from the Greater Columbus Home Builders Association - so we called Mary Mardis there on Friday. In an initial hopeful sign, her voice did not sound Hispanic in any way....

Mary Mardis told me a recent Home Builders Association newsletter had two full pages of "questions and answers" on the issue of hiring immigrants. I assume if the answers explained how to hire illegal ones, someone would have sent it directly to federal agents.

Mary Mardis says it's important for "any employer" to know the people being hired -- whether it's a home builder or a contractor. For one thing, half the crew might answer when a supervisor calls for Bubba....

Mary Mardis admitted she was put "on the defensive" by my call, and my reading of part of the e-mail. I should note here that I never raised my voice as loudly as mad Maria might have. In fact, it didn't even approach the District Attorney on "Law and Order."

When I asked Mary Mardis if she'd heard any complaints about illegal workers being hired in Columbus, she didn't give a direct answer. She wasn't familiar with the blog, and may have thought I was really doing undercover work for the Minuteman Project.

(In fact, the Minuteman Project might be a good place to complain if you're a construction worker. They'll at least come to town and hold an impressive-looking news conference - which I think puts them on a level with Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.)

But when it comes to "native area workers" being unable to work, Mary Mardis said there "should be plenty of work for everyone these days." That's because of the home construction for Fort Benning's incoming soldiers and families. Besides that, there's the upcoming overhaul of Baker Village Apartments -- where at the very least they'll need extra security guards.

As it happens, Sonny Perdue's latest campaign commercial focuses on immigration. Where DID they find that videotape of someone going under a fence in Lanett, to sneak into West Point?

The immigration ad brings in a new motto for Governor Sonny Perdue: "big heart, firm hand." So he's taking a step toward Mark Taylor - who's a completely big guy.

By the way, I'm surprised Governor Sonny Perdue is a member of the Home Builders Association. After that property deal he made in Florida, I thought he might really be a Realtor....

LOOK OUT BELOW FOR MORE....

Only four days to go before the premiere of Power Frisbee of Georgia! Our opening night is this Thursday in Augusta, with matches coming to Columbus this fall. Check the schedule and learn more about our new game at the official Power Frisbee web site; then offer your comments at the P.F.G. blog.

E-MAIL UPDATE: Friday's e-mail about the Kenneth Walker case and Kaffie Sledge of the Ledger-Enquirer brings this response:

Hey Richard. I read Ms. Kaffie's article and must say that I feel that she has found the perfect way to voice her racism by way of the paper. I have the right to not read her articles anymore thank God. I sent an email after the last article because I had to point out that she did not read the definition of victim before writing her article:

Ms. Kaffie,

Please review the dictionary meaning for VICTIM and you will understand why Mr. Glisson is considered a victim.

vic·tim

vic·tim [víktim]

1. somebody hurt or killed: somebody who is hurt or killed by somebody or something

2. somebody or something harmed: somebody or something harmed by an act or circumstance

3. somebody duped: somebody who is tricked or taken advantage of

4. creature used for sacrifice: a living creature used as a sacrifice or in a religious rite

5. helpless person: somebody who experiences misfortune and feels helpless to do anything about it

Ooh boy, now you've done it! I'm not that concerned about Kaffie Sledge suing me - but a copyright suit from Microsoft is something else.

Based on this message, we can clearly say Kenneth Walker fits definition #1. So which one fits David Glisson -- #4?!

(In fact, some civil rights leaders might contend the grand jury which considered the Walker case in November 2004 qualifies under #3.)

We have one other e-mail, which finally brings us to the hot topic on many people's minds:

Have you noticed the game looked like a reunion of Hardaway High School...Beth Lester,mom of Josh,taught at HHS,Richard Carter,dad of Kyle,played sports at HHS,Rick Stallings,dad of Patrick Stallings is HHS grad,and Allan Rovig grad of HHS had his son playing..no wonder Bobby Howard was in the stands at the play off in Fla,.Hawk blood runs thick..

This is referring to the Little League Southeast Regional finals, more than a week ago. But it begs the question: was Hardaway High School's coach in the stands that night? If he wasn't, what is HE saving leave for -- next spring's playoffs?

The Columbus Northern Little League won its first World Series game Saturday, edging Staten Island, New York 3-2 in seven innings. The game was a marathon because of a two-hour rain delay -- leaving me to wonder if the players took buckets, to bring back some of that moisture.

The Columbus win means Mayor Bob Poydasheff has some apples and chocolates coming from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. They made a wager on the outcome of Saturday's Little League game. Of course, this would never happen if Jim Wetherington was Mayor. He'd call the Metro Squad, and report a case of illegal gambling.

The Columbus win even received a mention in the final two minutes of Saturday night's Atlanta Falcons telecast. Of course, when it's a pre-season game and Green Bay is stomping the Falcons 38-10, there might not be much else to talk about.

The next Northern matchup comes this afternoon, against a Little League team from Phoenix. How bizarre is this?! They're playing Phoenix, Arizona - and they can't even arrange a game against Phenix City, Alabama?!

The Northerners received a phone call at the Little League World Series Friday, from University of Georgia football coach Mark Richt. I suppose the Georgia baseball coach could have given them a pep talk - but most of the players probably couldn't name him.

The families of Northern players made it to Williamsport, Pennsylvania for the opening game - but at least one family lost its luggage during the flight from Atlanta. Did that $45,000 goal in donations include travel insurance?

Several signs along Veterans Parkway are rooting on the Northern All-Stars. In fact, Hamilton Ace Hardware's sign actually invited people to watch Saturday's game with them. But when I drove by, the parking lot wasn't very full - so maybe the staff needs to ask Carmike for a big-screen TV.

The Northern trip to the Little League World Series has again exposed an old staffing problem at WRBL. With Bruce Frazier in Williamsport, Pennsylvania and the newly-returned Jack Rodgers apparently only working part-time, Phil Scoggins had to double as sports anchor Friday night. You'd think Blaine Stewart would have been trained for this task, too....

We'll keep watch on that drama, while considering other weekend news:

+ Jordan High School finally opened for a new school year. It opened 12 days late, because of construction. And it opened on a Saturday - which makes me wonder how many Seventh-Day Adventists noticed, and plan to show up at the next School Board meeting to complain.

(The faculty of Jordan High tried to ease the concerns about "Saturday school" by holding a hot dog eating contest in the gym. Of course, this will increase attendance next Saturday - as the Health Department tries to persuade the faculty to hold a fruit-eating contest instead.)

+ WRBL reported the Russell County District Attorney filed papers to shut down an Internet Café on the 280 Bypass. Kenneth Davis says people only go there for illegal online gambling. Of course they do - since people who want to use the Internet can sneak over to Chattahoochee Valley Community College and do that for free.

+ Instant Message to Insiders Betting Digest magazine: I don't know how I wound up on your mailing list. I do NOT gamble. And if I find out there are betting lines posted in Las Vegas on Power Frisbee matches, I might just.... well..... I might just promote that here.

People across metro Columbus and around the world read this blog every day. To advertise to them, offer a story tip or comment on this blog, write me - but be warned, I may post your e-mail comment and offer a reply.

BURKARD BULK MAIL INDEX: 7429 (- 282, 3.7%)

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Sunday, August 20, 2006