18 NOV 07: A CITY SO BUSY

It was about 8:50 a.m. Saturday when I walked out the door to go to church. A bit of slushy ice was on the rear windshield of my car. Why the slush was on the side facing the sunrise while none was on the other side, I don't quite understand.

I allowed myself a few extra minutes to get to church - and less than a block from my home, I was glad I did. A Columbus Police officer had stopped traffic at Fifth Street and First Avenue. Not for march practice by SOA Watch, but the God Bless Fort Benning 5,000 meter run. The runners wore costumes in a way -- because it was only about 35 degrees F.

The female police officer was waiting on what she called "stragglers" in the road race. They came in pairs or threesomes, with a couple walking more than running. They could have passed for Fort Benning soldiers, in their second week of basic training.

After taking a short unplanned side trip down Fifth Street, I was off the road course and on the way to church. So I missed the crowd at God Bless Fort Benning - and for some reason, the only lines of traffic I noticed all day where heading to the Cottonmouths game after dark.

Yet on the way to church, I also felt the impact of the SOA Watch protest. I drove in the center lane up Veterans Parkway, and suddenly found two large tour buses on either side of me. One was marked New Orleans, and the other seemed to be from out of town as well. Neither one was from Groome Transportation, taking evicted protesters to the Atlanta airport.

Once I arrived at church, a couple of people there expressed concern that the close proximity of God Bless Fort Benning and SOA Watch activities downtown might cause some trouble. But apparently the two groups got along fine, as the late news didn't mention any arrests. Which group do you think would be more likely to spend a late night at the Broadway bars?

About 5,000 basic training members were bused from Fort Benning to the God Bless Fort Benning party on Broadway. They wore military outfits, so everyone would be sure to spot them and "hug a soldier." In Columbus, this is acceptable. In parts of Iraq, it could be downright dangerous.

The basic training soldiers were able to make free five-minute phone calls to family members across the country. This time limit must not have seemed very long. Carlton Gary probably has longer sessions with his attorneys on death row every week....

So if God Bless Fort Benning wasn't using South Commons Saturday, who was? I took a walk there during mid-afternoon, and only found hockey players and fans in the parking lot. If the Tidwells had hired a few Cottonmouth players as special guest stars, they could have saved on money for extra police.

In a possible first, a bus came from out of state to join in God Bless Fort Benning. It was filled with military supporters from Pennsylvania, who heard about SOA Watch and decided to respond. We hope they enjoyed staying overnight in motels across LaGrange.

While SOA Watch protesters filled Columbus motels, the managers were not exactly on their side. "GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS" said a sign outside Howard Johnson's on Veterans Parkway. The other side of the sign did NOT welcome SOA Watch - unless it was reminding the marchers to eat the lunch buffet before protesting.

SOA Watch held a Saturday afternoon musical rally outside the main gate of Fort Benning, along with workshops at the Trade Center. But the big event comes today, with a mass protest on Fort Benning Road - and with so many Catholic students involved, the emphasis will be on "mass."

SOA Watch organizer Roy Bourgeois says progress is being made to shut down the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation. He noted a House vote earlier this year to close WHINSEC failed by only six votes. Close losses didn't keep Mike Shula in his coaching job at Alabama....

WHINSEC again invited SOA Watch protesters into its building Saturday, for a presentation on what the institute really does. So anyone who climbs over the fence onto Fort Benning today only has himself to blame - because he could have taken a bus ride inside and staged a sit-in.

An SOA Watch protester from Wisconsin actually admitted to WRBL that she's noticed a change in what WHINSEC does, compared with the old School of the Americas. This was a startling statement - and made me wonder if she actually was a chaperone.

While noisy events occurred in two corners of Columbus, I left church at about 12:15 p.m. I sat in my car for a moment, and marveled at how quiet things were around me. No drumbeats, no motorcycle procession, no chanting - yup, I'm attending a conservative church these days.

E-MAIL UPDATE: Sometimes we get one hot tip at a time. Sometimes they come in bunches....

Sir Richard:

Rumors have swirled for months about our "mare," first it was a matter between her and East Alabama Medical Center. That issue was proven true. Just before going to trial with an out of court settlement.

Next; there was the "Park" plan. Well it seems that because of a grant writer's self-interest the program is moving forward. There has already been a confrontation between a heavy equiptment operator and an adjacent property owner! And, the Chairman of the "Hurt'sboro Water Board "Doesn't want to cause trouble.' so he is allowing a parking area to be built on the Board's property. Actually the "Park is virtually landlocked if the surveyor's measurements were adhered to! What is sad is - that no one would believe me until I produced letters attesting to the fact that; with a stroke of her pen - she has committed "Hurt'sboro to a $15,000.00 debt that is collectible in Federal Court. At one time the town had collected $5,000.00 for community improvement - but now no one seems to know where the money is at!!

As you know - the "mare" has been the manager of the JET center in "Hurt'sboro for some time. Well - it seems the board members there have had reason to FIRE the ol' girl - can you imagine that!!!

By the way, our garbage wasn't picked up again this week. Good thing its cooled off - the insects and the aroma - shouldn't be too overwhelming until next Wednesday. It MAY get picked up then?? And we can always call in the buzzards, if all else fails

THERE'S MUCH MORE TO COME!!!

Constable R.J. Schweiger

We dealt at length with the grant money for a Hurtsboro city park several months ago [14 May]. At the time, grant writer Bob Corwin denied he sought a state grant simply for his cut from the city. But if Corwin had NOT sought the grant, would the Constable accuse him of being lax in his job?

But hold on here - was the Hurtsboro Mayor actually fired from the Jet Adult Care Center? A staff member at the center denied it, when we called the other day. But the staff member confirmed Sandra Tarver-Yoe didn't work there anymore - so maybe she found a better job with the new owner of that grocery store.

So why did Mayor Sandra Tarver-Yoe leave the adult care center she helped found? The staff member admitted she wasn't "at liberty to tell me that," but she took my name and phone number to have a member of the center's board call me. As of Saturday night, no one had called - but this is Hurtsboro, and pink message slips might move a bit slower there.

As for Constable Schweiger's other allegations: we called the Hurtsboro City Hall for a comment Friday afternoon - but no one answered the phone. So maybe the staff was out looking for thousands of dollars, in people's garbage bags.

Next up: a question that's come up several times in recent weeks....

I saw sprinklers running at Ft Benning,are they exempt from the no watering ban?

As I understand it, yes. Fort Benning is in Chattahoochee County, and the boundary line for the watering ban is Muscogee County. So fill your buckets with water indoors, drive them to Cusseta and sponge your car down all you want.

And uh-oh -- is this blog in trouble again?

Okay- you've gone too far- you made me laugh out loud at a mortuary! Shame on you!

People are reading this blog at a mortuary?! Some people will go to any lengths to find free Wi-Fi access....

We thank all of you who write us - and now let's write a little more about the weekend:

+ The Army Corps of Engineers decided to reduce the flow of water down the Chattahoochee River from Lake Lanier - but by only five percent. I can't wait to hear Governor Sonny Perdue describe about 250 million gallons a day as a "drop in the bucket."

(Believe it or not, I heard an older man at church this weekend pooh-pooh the prayer vigils for rain. He declared God is "not in the rain-making business." I didn't recognize the man, to see if he was a retired meteorologist.)

+ The Courier's "Street Committee" claimed Keyshia Cole bailed out of the R. Kelly concert at the Civic Center, because she was upset with the order of the performers. Cole reportedly wanted to appear after Ne-Yo, not before him. Too bad for Cole that VH-1 doesn't do "Diva Night" concerts anymore....

+ WLTZ showed no "local" Saturday night newscasts, so apparently their new news team is working only five days a week. There might have been more meaningful information on "Real Time" with Bill Purvis, anyway.

+ WRBL's late news included a headline: "CYCLONE DAMAGE." I was thrilled at the thought of seeing undefeated Kansas crushing the Iowa State Cyclones 45-7 -- but then I saw those needy people in Bangladesh....

+ Georgia won an important football game over Kentucky 24-13. The Bulldogs' Michael Henderson proposed to his girlfriend on the field before the game. Then I assume Coach Mark Richt gave the couple instructions on how to romantically hug and kiss.

+ Instant Message to all Alabama football fans: Baptist ministers across the state will be waiting for you today - so you can repent, and bring your Nick Saban gods to be burned.

(Really now - Louisiana-Monroe 21, Alabama 14?! How ULM-barrassing....)

+ The Columbus Cottonmouths lost to Knoxville 6-4. It was the season debut of Cottonmouths defenseman Tom Wilson - and he wound up in at least two fights. Wilson needs to transfer away from Columbus EMS, and become a boxing coach at Comer Gym.

THE BLOG OF AMERICA: The cast of "Saturday Night Live" moved to a Manhattan theater Saturday night. An "improv" program was held, because of the continuing Writers' Guild strike. If someone smuggles a tape of that show onto the NBC web site, we'll have some real fireworks.

+ A New Jersey SWAT team was disbanded, after pictures surfaced of a road trip members took two years ago. They went to the Gulf Coast, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina - but the pictures showed them partying at a Hooters restaurant in Tuscaloosa. You don't use pepper spray to spice up chicken wings, you know....

+ A report from international climate experts warned global warming has become so bad, sea levels are destined to rise as much as 4.6 feet. And we wondered why Panama City Beach was building all those ten-story-high condominiums.

+ An unknown buyer spent more than $30 million to buy a collection of rare U.S. coins. Some are original uncirculated coins from the 1700s - way back when no one had a good picture of George Washington to put on the quarter.

+ Coca-Cola's stock closed Friday at a new high, of $62.62 a share. This may force Pepsi to do what it's resisted all this time -- and answer"Coca-Cola Zero" with "Pepsi Minus-One."

+ Our sympathies to Martha Stewart, whose mother has died at a Connecticut hospital. But we still suspect plenty of women will watch the funeral closely - to see what Stewart wears, and whether the casket is a matching color.

+ Britney Spears made another trip to court - and a tape was played of her running a red light, with her children in the car. If she's not careful, Spears is going to wind up spending ten minutes longer in jail than Lindsay Lohan did.

(TMZ reports Spears now claims to have attention deficit disorder, and is taking the drug Adderal for it. So she can sign yet another big endorsement deal, and make Kevin Federline look like an even bigger bum.)

+ Country singer Garth Brooks wrapped up his comeback tour with concerts in Kansas City. He was disappointed to learn Toby Keith is refusing to surrender the title, "Big Dog Daddy."

+ College football had another big surprise, as Texas Tech topped third-ranked Oklahoma 34-27. The ABC telecast left one critical question unsettled. Why does Texas Tech keep calling itself the "Red Raiders," when the team wears black jerseys at home? [True!]

+ The Tennessee "Lady Vol" basketball team announced it will give away free tuition to a student at an upcoming game. We're trying to track down which female swimmer left school, and gave up her scholarship....

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