for 31 JAN 08: HEADACHE #101

Undaunted by our recent posts, an in-depth investigation of Hurtsboro will come out tonight after all. This blog has NOT been interviewed as part of it. So we'll see if we're going to be ambushed, and declared a big joke - which is kind of what we try to be, anyway....

"Hurtsboro Headache" is the title of a special report being promoted by WRBL. In a way, I can relate to that title. Over the last 13 months, we've received more news tips about problems in Hurtsboro than we have anything else. But then again, 99 percent of them have come from the same person - and about the only uplifting things he's sent us have been country songs.

The commercial promoting "Hurtsboro Headache" promises Tim Reid will be "demanding answers" about all sorts of issues in the town. Given all the issues that were mentioned, there may not be time in the 11:00 p.m. news for any other stories....

Perhaps Tim Reid will touch on some of these new complaints from Hurtsboro. We've had no response to some of these from Union Springs city officials, so we bring out an e-mail from last week today:

Sir Richard:

It seems almost routine; that newscasts air coverage of police officers who are in trouble. These allegations, accusations, and convictions range the gamut - everything from drug trafficking and child molestation to homicide. I guess that it should be no surprise; that town's like "Hurt'sboro who employ cast-offs from other departments, and make inadequate background checks end up with individuals that are less than worthy!

Recent disclosures by THE BLOG OF COLUMBUS and WTVM reveal some very disturbing facts about our interim police chief. His past conduct hardly behooves the requisites for a police officer. And that is only half the story. His conduct in "Hurt'sboro is under ongoing investigation.

As if to add insult to injury - the town employs another reject from Union Springs, (to be fair I must admit, that "Hurt'sboro and Union Springs have bounced officers back and forth like ping-pong balls) Our "patrol" officer; Fuesal Turner, was discharged from USPD for putting city gasoline in his girl friend's automobile. His alibi was ridiculous!

There's been a shake-up at the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs. The new monitor is painfully aware - that "Hurt'sboro hasn't anted up the $10,000.00 it signed for, but she intends to collect it.

In closing- ADEM has finally had enough, and has scheduled a hearing later this month in regard to the unsanitary conditions at our "dump" on River Street.

Constable R.J. Schweiger

We mentioned "Jake" Turner's record of three speeding tickets earlier this week. If the Constable didn't drive so slowly through Hurtsboro, the police department would have room to floor it some more.

We always have new people discovering this blog, so we should explain some of these gripes. R.J. Schweiger says Hurtsboro was supposed to provide matching funds to receive state grant money for a new City Park But grant writer Bob Corwin told us last May that's not true [14 May 07]. So perhaps this $10,000 can wait on a resident winning the Georgia Lottery.

Hurtsboro has had plenty of problems with garbage in the last year. I'm not sure if the Constable or someone else reported the city.... well, is it a landfill? I can't believe it's really called a "dump" - since that term used to be reserved for big cities, such as Chicago.

The Alabama Department of Environmental Management hasn't returned our calls about the trash situation in Hurtsboro. So ADEM joins the Union Springs Police, the former employer of Hurtsboro Mayor Sandra Tarver-Yoba - and plenty of attractive women I knew years ago.

Here are some of the Hurtsboro issues WRBL promises to address in its special report, and what we already know about them:

1. WHERE'S THE MAYOR? Sandra Tarver-Yoba's phone number isn't listed in the AT&T directory. In fact, an acquaintance of hers tells me she no longer works in Hurtsboro - and if the Tarver Beauty salon won't take her, that's not a good sign.

2. POLICE SERVICE. At least we've learned Hurtsboro still has some. The officers have been busy doing close-up surveillance work down Main Street.

3. TRASH UNCOLLECTED. At least Hurtsboro residents have waited only for a couple of weeks at a time. Naples, Italy has had garbage piled on the sidewalks for months - and that country is considered romantic.

A revised schedule means an early deadline for a couple of days, so we'll stop here and close with some Instant Messages....

+ To all the advance voters who have marked ballots for John Edwards and Rudolph Giuliani: How are you feeling right now? A bit like someone who urged Fred Thompson to run for President last year?

+ To the Georgia Transportation Task Force: Aw c'mon -- you want a one-cent sales tax, too? Between your proposal, the Muscogee County School Board and Mayor Wetherington, it's no wonder Mike Huckabee's "national sales tax" plan has become ignored.

+ To David Seagraves at Sumter Regional Hospital: Really now - do you HAVE to lay off those 31 employees? Can't you put them to work on a demolition or rebuilding crew?

+ To Donald Johnson of Phenix City: That was an impressive display on WLTZ -- your eight years of aluminum can tabs, attached in a chain! But if you actually keep track of which years you collected which tabs, that's a bit over the pop top for me.

+ To the Columbus High School volleyball team: That's a nice billboard on Wynnton Road, celebrating your state championship. I'll assume some friends of Mayor Wetherington paid for that one, too - but you should have called Carver High, about being part of their parade.

+ To KCSP Radio in Kansas City and KLWN in Lawrence, Kansas: PLEASE fix your online streaming audio. I was forced to listen to the Kansas-Kansas State basketball game through Kansas State broadcasters - and they're simply SO biased....

BURKARD'S BEST BETS: Gas for $2.89 a gallon at Petro, Brown Avenue and Cusseta Road.... Publix two-liter sodas for 50 cents.... FREE tennis balls, left sitting around the Columbus State University courts after practice most days....

(BLOGGER'S NOTE: Friday's entry will be posted around 8:15 a.m. ET.)

This blog had more than 43,000 visitors in 2007 -- up 53% from 2006! 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: 1299 (+ 52, 4.2%)

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.

© 2003-08 Richard Burkard, all rights reserved.