22 DEC 06: ESTATE PLANNING

The west side of Columbus has Green Island. The center has the Country Club of Columbus. But the city's east side is about to lose its best-known symbol of all things "upscale." And before you get the wrong idea - I'm NOT talking about Muscogee Manor.

The building known by many as "The Estate" on Macon Road would be torn down, under a zoning plan the new Columbus Council will consider in January. The land will become a new subdivision of homes - so perhaps the developer doesn't like paying Estate taxes.

Developer Britt Moon said Thursday The Estate is "not conducive" to his company's plans for a new subdivision along Macon Road. If he was building apartments or condominiums, it could serve as a clubhouse. But he's building houses -- which leaves you wondering why The Estate couldn't be the wealthiest mansion on the block, for some rap star to call home.

If you think about it, The Estate may become a victim of BRAC - the base realignment which is bringing all the new soldiers to Fort Benning. You'd think military families would want an alternative to Burger King at the PX food court....

I wasn't aware of the history surrounding The Estate until Thursday night's news. The building was originally the "Harmony Club" in the 1970's, and was used by Jewish and black people -- before black people preferred to be called African-American, and before being in harmony was replaced by the unity of One Columbus.

The Harmony Club underwent changes in the late eighties, when some members decided to join Green Island Country Club. The result by the late nineties was The Estate, which became a banquet and meeting hall. It's succeeded in part because its closest competition in the neighborhood is Captain Tom's buffet.

Given its history, The Estate's best-known event of recent years seems even more bizarre. The hall hosted the "whites-only" Taylor County High School prom, which brought national network news wrath on this area. I never heard if the managers knew they were renting The Estate for a whites-only event. But then again, most civil rights banquets would cancel that out.

While I've never visited Green Island or the Country Club of Columbus, I've been inside The Estate three times. The first time was very brief, after someone at a barber shop gave me a catalog of products on "the healing power of magnets" and invited me to a Thursday night lecture. I quietly left the catalog on a table and left, before they tried to induct me in a cult.

The second visit to The Estate came in September 1998, for the wedding reception of then-TV news anchor John Lyles. Lyles was married in Jamaica, but the couple had a reception for friends in Columbus. Local television stars simply don't make as much as Oprah Winfrey.

My last trip to The Estate was for a business party, several months after the Taylor County High School incident. I quietly wondered if anyone objected to having the party there - but since everyone took home a prize, race relations were probably the last thing on everyone's minds.

Should The Estate be saved in some way, given its history in Columbus? Do progress and the need for new housing take priority? And what will the Columbus Quarterback Club do for meetings, if the building is torn down? Using the meeting area inside Golden Park simply wouldn't look right....

E-MAIL UPDATE: Now let's go all the way to the east edge of town, for a complaint about "landfill-gate":

If you or I worked for a business and $2 million was missing you know where we would be?.....Some one must be held accountable for this disgrace..Maybe the accusations should move right up the chain of command..

Is this really December? Never know it by the weather. I bet we pay for it in January just like Christmas bills..No escape...

Assuming the writer is connecting these two events - I don't think the missing money in tipping fees was donated to Atmos Energy.

The accusations about "landfill-gate" truly are moving up the ladder. They're in the hands of the District Attorney right now - and may wind up on the top floor of the Government Center, with guilty pleas in a courtroom.

As for the weather: Thursday's high temperature in Columbus was 61 degrees F. I beat the rain Thursday night, and took a three-mile run on both sides of the Chattahoochee. The people who bundle up to look at the Phenix City Riverwalk's light show must consider my running in a T-shirt and shorts the most fascinating site of all.

(By the way, there IS a way to escape Christmas bills. Did you see our item last weekend on Hanukkah?)

BLOG UPDATE: An era ended in Columbus television Thursday evening, as Blaine Stewart anchored his last newscast on WRBL. I wonder if the Stewart County Commissioners sent him a proclamation, thanking him for representing them so well.

Blaine Stewart revealed he's found work, since announcing his resignation from WRBL [5 Dec]. He's going to work for the CBS station in Norfolk, Virginia. So he won't have to worry about changing heroes, from Katie Couric to Brian Williams.

Co-anchor Creshon Saunders continued a tradition Blaine Stewart began, of presenting a gift on the set to the departing anchor. You may recall Stewart gave Mara Kelly and Jessica Clark autographed pictures of himself. Saunders did the very same thing - giving Stewart a big autographed picture of HIMSELF! That'll come in handy, if early Alzheimer's sets in.

Blaine Stewart actually will leave WRBL at the end of next week - but he won't be anchoring any more. Perhaps he's planning a last couple of probing consumer investigations - or a documentary about Leonard Crain at the Better Business Bureau.

So how will WRBL fill Blaine Stewart's anchor chair at 5:00 p.m.? There's one male anchor available right now, but Tim Reid mysteriously was removed from "News 3 This Morning" several weeks ago. I can't believe it takes that long to get used to waking up at 7:00 a.m. for work.

With Phil Scoggins already busy anchoring at 6:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m., I'm inclined to think WRBL will hire someone from outside for 5:00. It should be someone who knows Columbus well, and.... hey, wait a minute! Would sportscaster Jack Rodgers recommend his dad - who won't be busy as Mayor Pro-Tem anymore?

Now from the newscast, to some actual news of Thursday:

+ Columbus Police arrested two men in the St. Mary's Road area, for robbing a Waffle House on Bradley Park Drive. The pursuit went practically all the way across town from Waffle House - so even though the crooks scattered, they still were covered.

+ Club Roc/The Road House owner Misha Simmons said Phenix City is punishing her for misdeeds of former owners. She noted the state of Alabama granted her a liquor license, while the city council won't. The politicians must know a nice venue for campaign rallies when they see one.

+ Rick Caldwell of J.T. Knight and Co. won the Columbus Chamber of Commerce's "Small Business Giant Award." Caldwell's grand-grandfather won the award years ago - so doesn't this mean Caldwell should be disqualified? After all, his business is still small....

(I didn't realize until Thursday that J.T. Knight and Co. has been in business about 110 years. What did they call recycling, way back before environmentalists were around telling us to do it?)

+ Auburn University announced its director of research programs has been dismissed. Nobody's saying why -- so do you think he spent too much time researching those football players' grades?!

+ Police at the University of Georgia reported Taylor Douglas of Taylor County was arrested, for attacking the Bulldog mascot during Tuesday night's basketball game. Police say Douglas was drunk when he beat up "Harry Dog." Someone must have been, to mistake the mascot for UGA President Michael Adams.

(Two teenagers actually were arrested for attacking the Georgia mascot and several cheerleaders. If there's any justice, these drunk attackers should recover with a Harry Dog that bites them.)

+ Instant Message to the Phenix City Walgreens: You may be on to something there. I mean, throwing cigarette packs across the checkout line to each other. Restaurants in Missouri and South Alabama became famous with that sort of thing.

2006 IN REVIEW CONTINUED: May began with a new event in South Commons, called "Fiesta Columbus." We're still waiting for the German-speaking residents to demand the Greater Columbus Fair be changed to Oktoberfest.

Immigration was a big national issue in May, as hundreds of people rallied for reform outside the Columbus Civic Center. I keep waiting for the march along 13^th Avenue, demanding Clear Channel change "Viva 1460" back to gospel music.

Columbus Police Chief Ricky Boren called in May for a starting officers' salary of $32,000. It will be interesting to see if Mayor-Elect Jim Wetherington can find a way in his first city budget to make this happen. Can City Manager Isaiah Hugley work part-time next year?

A debate developed in May about whether Columbus can afford a fall season for youth baseball. For some strange reason, I haven't heard anyone mention this since the Northern All-Stars won the Little League World Series....

A Muscogee County judge ordered The Fire House club shut down in May. Seven months later, it still sits there empty - so when does the city plan to build a REAL fire station there?

The manager of a Japanese steak house in Auburn was robbed outside his back door in May. That place needs an alarm system - so the chef with knives and bowls of fire can hurry outside and scare criminals away.

Political campaigns turned up the volume in May. In a big surprise, Zell Miller's voice was heard in commercials endorsing Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue. Why do I get the feeling Miller will announce he's switching political parties, through a statement read at his funeral?

But Georgia's former state school superintendent pleaded guilty to criminal charges in May. Linda Schrenko is now in a federal prison in Florida - where that facelift she paid for with education money might actually fit in.

May brought a big event in Ellerslie, as the Harris County town gained its first traffic light. But somehow, that still wasn't enough to keep the town on the official Georgia state map....

WRCG radio brought back Doug Kellett in May, only to drop him by the end of October. When Columbus isn't big enough to have two local talk show hosts on the same station, we ARE a small town -- and it's a wonder we're still on that official state map.

Alabama had several reasons to celebrate in May. Taylor Hicks won the American Idol title. U.S. 280 became a completely four-lane highway, from Phenix City to Birmingham. And with her move out of Columbus, the state claimed TV reporter Ashley Nix all to itself.

SCHEDULED THIS WEEKEND: Talk of lights and lies.... and an amazing "back-from-the-dead" experience....

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