for 17 AUG 06: TO TELL THE TRUTH

Well, that didn't take long! The Northern Little League President announced Wednesday the $45,000 goal already has been reached, to send family members to the World Series in Pennsylvania. Now will someone please tell us how much money has been raised by "The Kenny Walker Fund" - so we can see where Columbus's priorities really are?

The front page of Wednesday's Ledger-Enquirer seemed to essentially confirm the story WRCG broke last week - that Columbus Council has discussed in closed-door meetings about paying a settlement to Kenneth Walker's family. Of course, members probably discuss a lot of things behind closed doors. But bets on Auburn-Georgia football games never make the news....

The part of the original WRCG story about a settlement vote this week turned out to be wrong. But the newspaper indicated several closed-door talks have occurred about it. It sounds like an idea from a Fort Worth, Texas suburb - "White Settlement."

Richard Hyatt of the Ledger-Enquirer cited four Columbus Councilors, who spoke "on condition of anonymity" about the Kenneth Walker case. We'd like to thank the new Iraq, for setting the example of having anonymous political candidates in election years.

WRBL persuaded Councilor Wayne Anthony to appear on camera Wednesday. He didn't say much about the discussions, but said the city needs "some closure" in the Kenneth Walker case. It sounds like the Council already did - by closing the doors for the talks.

When your blog visited WRCG to appear on "TalkLine" last week, we were told some Columbus Council members support a settlement payment while some are against it. The people opposed apparently like to see Kenneth Walker's mother show up at meetings every few weeks.

But what about the mayor in all this discussion? You'll recall last week, Bob Poydasheff he told me talk of a settlement vote in the Kenneth Walker case was
"nonsense" and "utterly premature." [11 Aug] Was he lying to me - or did the Council close the meeting doors to keep him out?

Mayor Poydasheff said last week there's a litigation process underway in the Kenneth Walker case - and WRBL's report Wednesday night indicated any settlement vote would come after a ruling by Federal Judge Clay Land. But maybe we're all being tricked here, and that's a lie of the Land....

If Mayor Poydasheff misled the mass media (WRCG and myself) about the Kenneth Walker settlement talk, that doesn't look good in an election year. Jim Wetherington might challenge him to show all 7,000 local workers who supposedly gained new jobs in the last four years.

LOOK OUT BELOW FOR MORE....

Only one week to go before the premiere of Power Frisbee of Georgia! Our opening night is 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: "Bob's new job" happened to be the title of a message which reached us Wednesday:

Hey Bob,

The Piggly Wiggly on River road has a sign in the window...they are taking applications for bag boys.

Now hold on here! Mayor Poydasheff's term runs until the end of the year - and I had to bag my own groceries at that Piggly Wiggly last week.

No, I'm not kidding! There was only one bagger in sight last Friday afternoon at the "Pig on the River." I had to bag my groceries myself - and they didn't even give me a choice of paper or plastic.

(But let's look on the bright side - so far, there's no indication Piggly Wiggly is giving bagging jobs to illegal immigrants.)

We had a busy e-mail day Wednesday, as we also heard more about Columbus High School's baseball coach:

I wonder if Bobby called in sick for Friday...or if he got professional leave to recruit in Florida?

Well, wait a second - I'm assuming that "Bobby" is Bobby Howard. The writer could have seen Mayor Poydasheff at the regionals, shaking hands with the Little League players' parents.

But if this IS referring to Bobby Howard, then maybe he went to the Little League regionals to learn something about baseball. After all, Columbus High DID lose in the state finals.

Our last e-mail relates to Wednesday's Instant Message about a strange new TV commercial:

Funny comment about the Bi-city Decor spot... hopefully that wasn't their intent... because it didn't work with this guy. Haha.

Take Care,

BS

To be honest, I didn't see the ad with the naked man on "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy." I only watch the Bravo cable channel for wholesome quality family programs - you know, like "Celebrity Poker Showdown."

The commercial for Bi-City Decor surprised me during the middle of David Letterman's talk show the other night. At least a black box covers the "secret parts" of a man -- although you'd think a home decor store would cover the spot with bright wallpaper or something.

We thank you all for reading and writing -- and now let's check other Wednesday headlines:

+ A new Census Bureau report reinforced the trend that Columbus has no majority ethnic community. As of last year, we were 47% "European-American", 45.6% African-American and 4% Hispanic - but we're not completely sure if that last group is American, Mexican, Peruvian....

+ Muscogee County School Board member Joseph Roberson probably stunned some people, by telling WRBL he's against Bible courses in public schools. Last time I checked, Roberson was still a church pastor - but maybe he's being persuaded by all those letters to the editor in the Ledger-Enquirer.

(Joseph Roberson explained courses such as "The Bible as Literature" in public schools might wind up promoting "secular humanism." So where is the campaign to promote SPIRITUAL humanism? Are we waiting for the "intelligent design" debate to get settled first?)

+ Former Georgia schoolteacher John Carr was arrested in Thailand, in the killing of JonBenet Ramsey. Well, what do you know - maybe it's safe to read the Ramsey parents' book after all, without thinking it's a work of propaganda.

+ Officials at Summit Hospital announced the new Phenix City medical center officially will open by Monday. We hope the Alabama state inspectors handling the approval process never take jobs as ambulance drivers.

+ Columbus city workers finally fixed the bad light tower at Golden Park, so the Catfish can go back to 7:00 p.m. games. But did you notice one of the workers was a state prison inmate? [True/WTVM] Is it good for him to get practice in handling electric matters? Next thing you know, he might disable a fence.

(Catfish General Manager Ken Clary revealed the team has laid off some staff members in recent days, because attendance has dropped with late-afternoon games. We'll know it's bad when Hook the mascot shows up in the first-base coaches' box.)

+ Instant Message to Rep. Cynthia McKinney: Did I hear you right - that the African-American community has become "comatose" politically? So how did you win so many terms in Congress? How do Sanford Bishop and John Lewis do it? And why didn't the two candidates who defeated you look white at all?

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