for 15 OCT 07: ALCOHOL-FREE NEW BLOOD
During the first part of this year, our Mondays were filled with news and comments about a small town in Russell County. We hadn't heard from that town in two months - until the man who started it all wrote us over the weekend:
Sir Richard:
Hello Again!!
Just thought you might like to know that:
"Hurt'sboro is still suffering from Tarveritis.The garbage is accumulating again along the curbs; with no tangible answer in sight. But, there's much bigger news tonight.
A few weks ago, Williams Grocery was sold to a man by the name of G-Tu with the promise of using the off-premise liquor license in the forseeable future. There were other inducements made to encourage the sale, and Mr. Tu parted with over $300,00.00 to become part of the "Hurt'sboro community.
Mr. Tu went to the City Council weeks ago to apply for his own license - but with business as usual - the application was ignored. Mr. Tu was advised that he was headed for trouble - but he chose to trust Gary Williams. The Alabama Beverage Control board was very patient, but now they have "locked down" Mr. Tu's alchol sales. This is the "kiss of death" for Mr Tu's business. And now he faces the almost impossible task of getting the "mare's blessing for a liquor license in his own name.
There are extenuating circumstances in play here - but I'm not going out on a limb right now. They will come to light sooner or later. All I will offer at this time is my condolences to Mr. Tu; and wish him well in good ol' "Hurt'sboro
Constable R.J. Schweiger
There's a buildup of garbage along the Columbus Riverwalk right now as well. But the prison work crews should take care of that "Help the Hooch" stuff in the next few days.
But anyway: is Constable Robert Schweiger mellowing a bit after all these months? Notice he calls the town "good ol' Hurtsboro" at one point. It's either that, or he had some alcohol in his system while he was at the keyboard....
This e-mail leaves me wondering what sort of "inducements" G-Tu received, to buy a Hurtsboro grocery store. Would this be like Columbus or Phenix City officials giving a new industry tax breaks? Does the new owner get to eat all the leftover Blue Bell ice cream, like in that commercial?
(There's also the puzzle about that name, G-Tu. It sounds like something which should belong to a rap artist - one who owned a Gulfstream jet plane about 20 or 30 years ago.)
Apparently Constable Schweiger wanted the Hurtsboro City Council to move faster, to approve the transfer of the Williams Grocery liquor license. But that's another puzzle in itself. Small towns shouldn't have a big backlog of applications waiting for approval -- yet they pride themselves on having a slower pace.
The web site of Alabama Beverage Control didn't offer any help Sunday, when we tried to confirm the facts of this report. But you'll be pleased to know you can check the official state prices of alcohol there. For all the putdowns Alabamians get about a lack of education, at least they know how to spell cognac.
But hold on here - why should a lack of alcohol sales be the "kiss of death" for a grocery store? Lewis-Jones stores operated in Columbus for decades, without selling any alcohol. Yet I never could quite understand why they felt cigarette sales were acceptable. After all, an old song warned "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes."
Robert Schweiger's e-mail reminded us that we're overdue to check on a couple of court cases involving elected officials in Hurtsboro. Council member Mae Dell McVay pleaded NOT guilty to a pair of ethics charges in September, and is scheduled for trial December 3. Of course, this assumes she can buy a surplus city vehicle in time to drive to the courthouse....
And a contempt of court case against Constable R.J.. Schweiger admittedly has me confused. A court hearing is scheduled for next week on a "defendant's motion to quash plaintiff's motion to dismiss." That sounds to me like prosecutors want to drop the charges - but the Constable wants to go to trial, to see exactly how flimsy the evidence is.
Constable Schweiger actually faced a pair of charges early in the year. One of the counts was dismissed, but not before a Russell Court judge ordered him to pay ten dollars a week in attorneys' fees. If Brian Nichols in Atlanta had an order like this, he'd probably serve life in prison before he even came to trial.
E-MAIL UPDATE: Back in Columbus, someone else has been thinking about the planned new building on Macon Road....
Here are my thoughts regarding the new school administration building......I am sure they want to be impressive and make things easier to all the new soldiers expected to be coming within the say next 5 years. ........but you know what......they need to look at the school these kids will be going to .....PUT SOME FUNDING INTO SPENCER HIGH SCHOOL PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!!!!! THIS is the school that they will be getting their impression from ...I hope Cathy Williams reads this as she seems to be the only one with guts to speak the MINDS of the people instead of the wallets of the select. I know first hand that this county does not do as they should for our Military kids in our public schools!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Spencer should be our Pride and Joy and should be more of a "focal point" rather than treated like a stepchild!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS IS THE HIGH SCHOOL WE WELCOME THE NEW MILITARY TOO????????? I challenge the board to turn Spencer High School around and make it THE school for the military families to want to enroll their children in rather than one they just plain Have too!!!!
I'm not sure all of the newly-arriving Fort Benning soldiers will go to Spencer. After all, Chattahoochee County has its own high school now -- and with the addition this fall of a football field, Doughboy Stadium will keep looking like a historic relic for a long time to come.
There's a good reason why Cathy Williams would speak up about this kind of issue. She's a Spencer High School graduate - so she might be a little biased. But Williams had better not get out of line -- and not insist on putting a distracting multicolor electronic sign along Victory Drive.
Come to think of it, the location of Spencer High School may explain why some consider it a neglected school. It's hidden in the woods off Victory Drive - and hidden so well that the only way passing drivers can see it is if a controlled burn at Fort Benning gets out of hand.
Benning will come up in our review of Sunday news items starts there....
+ The Antioch Volunteer Fire Department in Fortson set a Christmas tree on fire. Here we go, mixing up the seasons again. Couldn't they torch a deep-fried turkey first, in honor of Thanksgiving?
+ Fort Benning hosted the "all-army combatives tournament." Soldiers competed in a variety of areas, showing how to fight enemy attackers - but for some strange reason, we never heard who won the title in waterboarding.
+ A "welcome-home" picnic honored Columbus resident Scott Sieg. He won three medals at the world Special Olympics in China, including a gold medal in singles' bowling. Isn't this amazing -- Sieg brought home one medal for every bowling center in the Columbus area.
(Having Down's syndrome actually might be a blessing for Scott Sieg - because he doesn't have to endure any silly "Sieg Hail" jokes.)
+ The first Bowl Championship Series rankings put my undefeated alma mater Kansas in 13th - above Alabama, Auburn and Georgia. You Southeastern Conference braggers should be thankful only lowly Kansas State came this way in September....
+ Instant Message to Hyundai of Auburn: It's bad enough that your infomercial has two people yelling at me at once. But that "Money Man" running around behind the cars - is he the old Rivertown Ford dancing turkey?
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