2 DEC 07: WE'RE TAKING NAMES

Well, well - at least one of the rumors about Cascade Hills Church turns out to be true. It's going to court to stop people from spreading rumors about it. Those people claiming Tommy Tuberville is leaving Auburn University had better be careful....

A front-page story in Saturday's Ledger-Enquirer revealed Yahoo has been asked to turn over the identities of five e-mail accounts, which spread messages about Cascade Hills Church and Pastor Bill Purvis. The church leaders probably know the Bible verse about God revealing secrets - but apparently the Holy Spirit hasn't provided enough tips yet.

A court order seeking the e-mail identities actually was signed by Muscogee County Judge Doug Pullen at the end of October. The opinion web site "RateItAll" claims it had NOT received the order as of Friday. Has this site checked its "spam" mailbox lately?

The critics of Cascade Hills Church probably are crying foul already, because of which judge signed the court order. Doug Pullen appears in an often-broadcast "Real Time" program, where Pastor Bill Purvis gives his personal testimony. Pullen was a prosecutor when Purvis was attacked downtown - way back before such things started making page one of the newspaper.

This is actually a story this blog broke eight weeks ago - about anonymous e-mails circulating among the Cascade Hills Church membership. But I didn't know the matter had gone to court until the Ledger-Enquirer's Allison Kennedy called me Friday afternoon. It was NOT mentioned at any services I attended in October and early November -- and unlike many worshipers there, I showed up with a notebook.

Allison Kennedy was nice enough to quote this blog's interview with Pastor Bill Purvis [7 Oct], as she was unable to reach him for a comment. She called me to confirm the interview actually occurred. Oh yes - I only do pretend question-and-answer sessions when I'm practicing for possible meetings with beggars.

Of the four e-mail addresses mentioned in the court order, we received a message about Cascade Hills from only one of them. "Old Cascade Member" wrote us at the end of September, with selected highlights from a church bylaw update filed with the state of Georgia. She's probably now wishing she could have selected better -- like not selecting to click the "send" button.

The Ledger-Enquirer tracked down "Old Cascade Member." She's Briana Ogletree, who left Cascade Hills Church early this year. But her husband happens to be part of the church music team. We may have a new idea in license plates here - the words "a house divided," only with church logos.

(Briana Ogletree noted her Yahoo account doesn't work anymore. You don't think her husband was the one who disabled it....?!)

Briana Ogletree doesn't understand why Cascade Hills Church is coming after her. She told the newspaper she didn't think she had done anything wrong. Her e-mail (the top one we posted 7 October) certainly didn't seem to call Pastor Bill Purvis or his directors any names - you know, the mean ones churchgoers use like "infidel."

But if I'm putting the pieces together correctly, Cascade Hills Church may be accusing Briana Ogletree of misusing a church e-mail list. She admits sending her e-mail to about 30 people, including church staff. Lists like that are for praying, you know - not preying.

A check through our InBox shows the blog has received e-mail from a second anonymous Yahoo address in the court order: "FearsNot." That came early last year, on a completely different topic [19 Feb 06] -- when he called a local land investor a "con man." Some people apparently are more concerned about their reputation than others....

But it appears Cascade Hills Church has more on its mind that those e-mails about bylaws. At least two of the names on the court order posted negative items last spring at a local Yahoo group -- a group which now appears to have been dissolved. So a church which searches high and low for converts may be searching for critics the same way.

We should note we posted three different e-mails about Cascade Hills Church 7 October. Two of the three came from addresses which are NOT part of the court order. The church hasn't come after us for them, and in fact hasn't contacted us at all about this case. But now I'm wondering about the church I'm currently attending - which asks you to write an e-mail address on the tithing envelopes.

E-MAIL UPDATE: We expected a message in our direction about the Cascade Hills story. But instead, our InBox has other topics....

shooting on Monday 11-19 VERY HUSH HUSH ? ? ?

This e-mail came from Talbot County, and follows one we posted here last Tuesday. Several messages suggest there was a shooting sometime in November, at a junkyard in Box Springs. But then again, maybe someone spat chewing tobacco on an old metal bucket to make it sound like a gunshot.

We called the Talbot County Sheriff's Office late Thursday and asked what they knew about this story. The woman who answered the phone seemed to laugh for a moment, then said only the investigator on the case could comment. As of Saturday night, that investigator still had not called us. C'mon, folks - you don't need to dial "one" for a long-distance call.

Another e-mail is interested in education:

Columbus High School won a silver medal in US News' best high schools in GA...Looks like with the pick of the city they would have won a gold..Is CHS sliding off the hill?

Off the hill?!?! Aw, c'mon! It's the only public high school in Muscogee County that's even ranked. That's a bit like saying Auburn is sliding in football, because it only beat Alabama by seven points.

Only one Georgia high school received a "gold medal" in the U.S. News and World Report rankings - and that was a magnet school in Augusta. Columbus High is one of five to rate a silver. Alabama may not have provided any assessment data - so those schools may be not merely off the hill, but sinking in Mobile Bay.

Speaking of successful high schools, congratulations to Carver's football team. It sliced Carrollton 14-7, and will return to the AAA semifinals at the Georgia Dome. No wonder Carrollton's players and coaches want quarterback DeRon Furr to live up to his name - and go furr-way to college.

Now let's tap out some Instant Messages of our own....

+ To the Manchester Police and Fire Departments: I hope things are back to normal, after that big explosion. Maybe now you'll have time to fix your web site - and the flag that's about six years out of date.

+ To whomever turned up the Johnny Cash song "Ring of Fire" downtown on Ninth Street: Was that your way of protesting the snow machine at Winterfest?

+ To the man I saw lying on a bench, in the middle of the Phenix City Riverwalk's "Chattahoochee Christmas:" Sleep in heavenly peace - until the police find you.

+ To the staff at Port Columbus: Will you dare to bring it up to visitors? I mean, Navy beating Army in football for the sixth year in a row....

+ To anyone voting in the final polls leading to the Bowl Championship Series: Ohio State has one loss. My alma mater Kansas has one loss. This title game match-up only makes sense to me - so please ignore Hawaii, which should prove itself against somebody like Georgia.

THE BLOG OF AMERICA: The lingering Writers' Guild strike is starting to take a toll. NBC's "Tonight Show" has laid off 80 staff members - so if you see band leader Kevin Eubanks on the street in Los Angeles, put a quarter in his Philadelphia hat.

("Late Night" host Conan O'Brien is promising to pay all the staff members who are not on strike. Does that include the dog that spouts off insults? And does he get bones, or Purina?)

+ A man took several hostages at a Hillary Rodham Clinton campaign office in New Hampshire. The man claimed he needed psychiatric care, but was denied it due to a lack of money. Someone should have told him Mrs. Clinton can't provide universal health care until after she takes offices - and that's not for 14 months.

+ Oprah Winfrey will begin campaigning for Barack Obama this week. She's known as "O." Her candidate's initials are B.O. So she might be called an O-BO instrument.

+ Talk show host Montel Williams apologized, for making angry threats at reporters in Savannah. Williams reportedly told a group from the Savannah Morning News: "I'm a big star, and I can look you up, find where you live and blow you up." Who does he think he is, O.J. Simpson?

+ A radio reporter in southern Africa marked World AIDS Day by having himself circumcised - while recording it all for listeners. This could set the stage for an unusual African version of "The Sopranos."

+ Criminal charges were filed against hip-hop star Akon. A teenage girl claims Akon threw someone off the stage into the crowd at a concert -- and when that person landed on her, she had a concussion. Heavy-metal fans wouldn't be pressing charges - they'd be showing off their doctor bills to buddies.

+ A man in Fort Pierce, Florida claims he was robbed of 100 dollars by a 300-pound prostitute - and the prostitute rode away on a blue bicycle. [True/Interprep.com] As if the blue bicycle will pick her out of a crowd?!

+ It's a sad weekend for many people, after learning Evel Knievel died at age 69. But something doesn't seem right about this. He survived all those wild motorcycle jumps - and then dies of a lung problem?!

(If there's any justice, the family will cremate Evel Knievel's body - and pour the ashes off the edge of the Snake River Canyon in Idaho.)

+ Brad Pitt told an interviewer he'll no longer do nude scenes. Well, why should he? He has Angelina Jolie to handle those things now....

+ The final weekend of the college football regular season was as wild as ever, with the two top-ranked teams losing. But I was more interested in Central Michigan winning the Mid-American Conference championship game - making that school the 2007 MAC-Daddy of the Year.

+ The United States swept Russia, to win its first tennis Davis Cup in 12 years. When the Russian team gets home, President Putin will be waiting - to send the players immediately into detention for at least three months.

(BLOGGER'S NOTE: For the next few days, our post time will change. Look for updates to appear at around 8:00 a.m. ET.)

This blog has thousands of visitors each month, from people in Columbus and around the world. To advertise to them, offer a story tip or comment on this blog, write me - but be warned, I may post your e-mail comment and offer a reply.

BURKARD BULK MAIL INDEX: 1718 (- 187, 9.2%)

The views expressed in this blog are solely those of the author -- not necessarily those of anyone else in Columbus living or dead, and perhaps not even you.

© 2003-07 Richard Burkard, all rights reserved.