20 SEP 06: WHAT THE ROC IS COOKING

The Phenix City Council went against the advice of its police chief Tuesday, and approved a "liquor and dancing" license for the new owner of Club Roc. Who knows -- If the council had left the liquor part out, things might have been different.

Phenix City Police Chief Brian McGarr said Misha Simmons should be denied a liquor license for Club Roc on the 280 Bypass. With a last name like McGarr, you'd think he'd get his way on Talk Like a Pirate Day....

Brian McGarr suggested to WRBL Misha Simmons's application to buy Club Roc may be misleading. The police chief suspects Simmons is getting her financial backing from the former owners of The Fire House on Sidney Simons Boulevard. And here's the ironic thing - Club Roc is near a building which used to be a "Sportsman's Mall" for hunters.

Brian McGarr noted Misha Simmons actually used to work at The Fire House, which was shut down by court order last month. So the police chief suspects she's merely a "front" for other people in control -- but this is an election year, so we're getting used to that sort of thing.

If Misha Simmons spoke in behalf of her application, it wasn't shown on TV. But outside the Phenix City Council meeting, attorney Tommy Worley said the city had no legal reason to deny her a liquor license. That doesn't seem to stop the Chattahoochee County Commission....

Phenix City Councilor John Storey agreed with Misha Simmons and her attorney. Storey said there's nothing the city legally could do, to stop Simmons from buying Club Roc and having a liquor license. So apparently the council can't ask the Alabama Attorney General to intervene anymore.

The Phenix City area has tried to "Roc" with entertainment spots before. How many of you remember the "Rock-a-Moly Café" on Highway 80? I heard nice reviews about that restaurant in the late 1990's, but it closed before I ever stopped there to eat. All the barbecue joints ganged up on it, I guess....

The Phenix City Council promises to watch Club Roc very closely, under its new ownership. Some of us already have been doing this - but I suspect the council members are all in bed when WLGA shows "Street TV" late on Saturday nights.

"Street TV" has been taped at Club Roc the last two weekends, featuring a rising rapper named "Yung Joc." Hey, even I can write words for this:

He's Yung Joc and he's at Club Roc

And we hope nobody there's hiding a Glock.

'Cause you might send people in a panic down the block - sayin' Whoa! Whoa!

Meanwhile, Russell County Sheriff Tommy Boswell didn't have things much better Tuesday. The county commission divided on whether his entire staff should receive a 20-percent raise. If this gets turned down, the deputies should keep one thing in mind - the Chattahoochee County Police Chief is hiring a new force from scratch.

Russell County Commissioner J.D. Upshaw told WRBL the sheriff should have asked for staff raises year by year, instead of requesting 20 percent all at once. Maybe Tommy Boswell watched too many ESPN SportsCenter reports on pro football players....

E-MAIL UPDATE: Tuesday's topic about Muscogee County Schools allowing Bible classes brought this response:

I think the Bible elective is a great idea. I'm a fairly recent product of the schools, so let me mention that (1) I had to learn about the pillars of Islam in my 7th grade world history course, and (2) my 12^th grade world literature course spent as much time on Gilgamesh as it did on the Bible. I think our curricula are ridiculous anyway; with so much world history to learn, why as a 7th grader, did I have to learn about the Nok salt-trading peoples of Africa, but nothing about the Hebrews?

Political value judgments are clearly driving the selection of subjects to study, not an abstract idea of what is most impactful or worthy to teach.

Given that the selection is political, our elected officials should have influence over the curriculum, rather than some education bureaucrat. Thus, I think a state legislative proposal together with confirmation by the local boards is legitimate, regardless of motivation. Unfortunately, as a practical matter, states like California end up dictating the content of the entire nation's textbooks, which I think has led to many of what I see as problems.

I think the best rationale for having the Bible course gets lost between the "churched" and the secularists, who might oppose it for differing reasons. The Bible has had a tremendous impact on civilization, and it is frequently cited or referenced in other literature. As someone who grew up relatively "unchurched," I am unfamiliar with many of the so-called famous stories or passages from the Bible, so I am at a disadvantage, even now in professional school, when references come up. I am an editor at a scholarly journal, and recently I have been editing several articles with Biblical citations.

I know some claim that this will (or should) lead to teaching of the Koran or Zoroastrian texts. If the demand is there, go ahead.

Coincidentally, I have begun to read the Bible daily, and I wish I had started years ago.

Best,

Thomas

You might have guessed Thomas edits a "scholarly journal" from this e-mail, without his even saying so. I'm so impressed by it, I'm putting the Wikipedia link here right now - because readers probably will need it to look up some of his big words.

The only high school class I recall from my youth which utilized the Bible was Humanities, in my senior year. We read the book of Job, then the Archibald MacLeish modernized version called "J.B." Without giving away my age, this was years before James Brown started hosting football pre-game shows.

I admittedly never heard of Gilgamesh in high school -- nor did I learn about the "Nok salt-trading peoples." Were they the ones who invented the Nokia phone?

(C'mon now, admit it -- where else in the blogosphere will you find the "Nok salt-trading peoples of Africa" and rap lyrics about guns in the same post? More schools should start using this blog as an educational tool....)

Thomas is probably right, when it comes to large states such as California having a large impact on school textbooks. But look on the bright side - more children can spell Schwarzenegger correctly than ever before.

It's interesting to me that a "scholarly journal" would be publishing articles with Biblical citations. The way some preachers talk these days, a reference to Scripture might even be rejected by "Christianity Today."

Now for some other loose, uh, Rocs we picked up Tuesday:

+ A search of old Chambers County records revealed Cusseta, Alabama has been an incorporated city for 150 years - but no one ever knew it! [True/WXTX] And then people in Tallassee get upset over new companies ripping the floors out of old mills?! There might be a gold mine hiding down there, to save the city....

+ Columbus Juvenile Court Judge Aaron Cohn was named to the Chattahoochee Valley Sports Hall of Fame. I didn't realize he played tennis at the University of Georgia long ago. And I guess the selection committee didn't know, or else they wouldn't have waited until he was about 90 years old to select him.

+ Former local high school baseball star Adam Coe was named the "Gulf Coast League Braves" Player of the Year. Now I finally understand why Coe made that transfer from Columbus High to Russell County High. He was practicing for all those promotions through the minor leagues.

+ Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville held his mid-week news conference. But did I hear him right - did he say the Tiger offense is not "a rolling ball of butcher knives right now"?! What low-budget horror movie did he rent from Blockbuster?

+ Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue announced a new web site where you can submit ideas for him to work out over the next four years. It's called "SonnyDo.com" - which makes me wonder why his wife doesn't give him that same sort of list on weekends.

(The web site even shows some ideas already submitted to "SonnyDo." How many Democrats do you think are filling out the suggestion box, and urging him to buy more land near Orlando?)

+ Georgia gubernatorial challenger Mark Taylor called for the death penalty, for repeat felony sex offenders. If any men are stupid enough to visit that house in Fortson a second time to meet a teenage girl, we probably shouldn't wait to see if it's a misdemeanor or a felony.

+ Instant Message to the group of young women I saw posing for pictures at Ninth and Front Avenue: I hope you understand why I asked that question Tuesday night. If I hadn't, you might have been the best "reverse beauty pageant" look-alikes I'd ever seen.

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