3 JUL 07: LIKE FATHER, UNLIKE DAUGHTER
Things seemed to have returned to normal for Muscogee County Sheriff Ralph Johnson. Then came the Monday evening news - and we learned the sheriff's daughter is engaged to marry a convicted felon. It's enough to make him look up the psychiatrist for "The Sopranos...."
The romance came out in the wake of a rowdy incident Sunday at a Columbus intersection. Witnesses say the daughter of Sheriff Ralph Johnson was forced out of a truck by a crowd and beaten at 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue. No one deserves to have that happen -- not even Scooter Libby, after having his prison time commuted.
There were three people in the vehicle which was stopped, including Cassady Johnson. It happens that her fiancé and her two friends' husbands all served time together in prison for burglary. Did the sheriff take his daughter along to a support group meeting at a halfway house?
It also happens that the three men "attached" to the women in the truck were a block away from the attack, and ran to the rescue. Normally this would only happen in a movie - and only if Spiderman's sense of hearing was turned up extra-high.
But for coming to the aid of their women, the three convicted burglars could be in trouble all over again. Columbus Police charged everyone at the scene with disorderly conduct - even the rescuers. The reasoning here seems to be: when in doubt, let Recorder's Court sort it out.
The trouble is that the three convicted felons apparently are still on probation -- so the disorderly conduct charge could get them tossed back behind bars. If their judge is as tough as Paris Hilton's, Cassady Johnson might have to postpone the wedding for a long while.
One of the rescuers actually is upset with Columbus Police for another reason. I'm hearing he wants one of the attackers charged with aggravated assault, for beating women with an Asian-style Kendo Stick. I would be more concerned about people doing other things with those sticks - such as making a second belly button in my stomach.
This case raises all sorts of questions, and we'll start with the sheriff's family. Even though Kevin Williams has been out of prison for years, don't you think Ralph Johnson winces a bit at the thought of his daughter marrying him? But the sheriff bit his tongue very well several years ago, when the Kenneth Walker case was raging....
I'm sure Sheriff Ralph Johnson has tried to bring up his children as best he could. But we've documented his son Adam's problems with the law, and now we learn his daughter Cassady is engaged to a former prison inmate. If only his teenagers had rebelled in another way - such as picketing gun shops.
Then there's the matter of that big crowd on a street corner on a Sunday. I'm told 18 people stopped Cassady Johnson at 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue. Do you think they were annoyed, because their stickball game was interrupted?
News such as this brings the phrase "mob rule" to mind. I've never heard of unruly crowds like this on a Columbus street, not even in housing projects. Maybe in the Civic Center parking lot on Sunday nights, but not on a street....
Is this incident the first sign of what presidential candidate Barack Obama has called a "quiet riot" brewing in some cities? Is there some gang activity happening on 42nd Street? Or should next year's Rod Hood Football Camp be moved to a different part of town?
E-MAIL UPDATE: Let's not all jump onto that "virtual floor" at once....
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Constable R.J. Schweiger
Thank you for - well, maybe two or three of those points, Mr. Constable. But did you really look me up in the F.B.I. database for #30?
Let me help the Constable with a couple of points on this "personality survey." When it comes to #6 "counter culture," it does NOT refer to where people dine in Hurtsboro.
And as for #10 "Drama Queen" - this answer seems to even the score at 1-1, on whether this blog is "gay" or not.
We'll see if others wish to comment - and while we wait, we'll comment about some other Monday news:
+ Rep. Sanford Bishop presented a $25,000 check to the House of Mercy. The check reflects money raised at the Black History Month breakfast - which was held February 20. So why does it take more than four months to give the charity its money? Are the 90-day rates on certificates of deposit THAT compelling?
+ WXTX "News at Ten" reported Ranger Joe's has opened a coffee shop on Victory Drive called "Cup-O-Joe." Owner Paul Voorhees also sells military goods, has a barber shop with 12 chairs - why, it's no wonder Wal-Mart doesn't build south of Buena Vista Road.
+ Columbus Civic Center manager Dale Hester told WRBL he sold 4,500 tickets to Saturday night's "World Indoor Bowl I." Yet the league declared the attendance online as 3,529 -- so did this game have about 1,000 no-shows?! Did that many people decide they had to see Fort Benning's fireworks show first?
+ Former Auburn University men's basketball coach Cliff Ellis was named the head coach of Coastal Carolina. He moved into his new office Monday morning - after Alabama House Republican leader Mike Hubbard probably helped him pack, so Hubbard doesn't have to run against Ellis's wife for reelection again.
+ Instant Message to anyone who might be running the Peachtree Road Race Wednesday: I've done it a few times, so learn from my experience. The left side of Peachtree Street in Atlanta will reduce your distance. Run under all the water sprays you can. And don't put your MARTA token anyplace where it can fall onto the street, in front of thousands of other runners.
COMING WEDNESDAY: Probably the busiest man in Columbus on Independence Day....
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