9 JAN 08: IF I HAD A HAMMER....
....well, for starters, I probably wouldn't think about using one in a fight. I've had trouble over the years simply using hammers for their regular uses. Why can't Lee make "Press-on Nails" for walls and floors?
But someone grabbed a hammer for a fight two weeks ago -- and that someone happened to be a member of the Shiloh City Council, in eastern Harris County. Talk about a break from Southern tradition! He couldn't reach into his pickup truck, and pull out his hunting rifle?!
Well, wait a second -- Shiloh City Councillor William McDaniel probably couldn't reach for that rifle. Harris County Sheriff Mike Jolley says he was on the ground, in a fight with Mayor-Elect Jessie Lee Ellison. If these gentlemen aren't careful, they're going to provoke some Hurtsboro residents to go one step too far.
An arrest warrant says William McDaniel was upset with Jessie Lee Ellison because of a planned added office at the Shiloh City Hall. They argued, eventually traded punches -- and now could be recruited to run for Alabama State Senate.
Shiloh's new mayor took office Tuesday night, after Jessie Lee Ellison and William McDaniel both posted bail. Of all the strange ways to check if criminals are treated properly....
WXTX "News at Ten" reported the Shiloh City Council meeting had a record turnout, and a few people wondered if "round two" would break out. Well, it beat driving to the Columbus Civic Center for a Cottonmouths game.
But there was NO "round two" at the Shiloh City Council meeting. Instead, Mayor Jessie Lee Ellison issued a written apology - and he shook hands with William McDaniel in front of everyone. Of course, even contestants in mixed martial arts do that after the decision is announced....
Georgia NAACP President Edward DuBose even showed up in Shiloh. He said he was there to "commend" William McDaniel for settling his differences with Jessie Lee Ellison. Of course, the combatants happened to have different skin colors - but does DuBose's mere appearance convict him of racial profiling?
A couple of Shiloh City Councilors called on both Jessie Lee Ellison and William McDaniel to resign. But both men assured the group they've resolved things - or as a co-worker told me Tuesday, they've "hammered out their differences."
E-MAIL UPDATE: Now to a dispute which did NOT end peacefully, over the Chattahoochee River. A reader suggested Tuesday we check the state line signs by the bridges....
Richard, While I do not condone what takes place on the 14th Street Bridge, it does belong to the State of Georgia. The state line of Georgia ends at the high water mark on the Alabama river bank. The law enforcements of both cities do share a responsibility to make sure that all people that use this bridge are safe while there. Unfortunately, some that sleep there are confused about the word "use." They use it as a place to sleep and a public restroom. But hey, it's our tax dollars at work!
I already knew the matter of bridge jurisdiction - but this message may settle a question the Redneckin blog in Russell County has raised off and on for years. Apparently the "Phenix City Riverwalk" IS technically part of Columbus. So a high enough flood in the spring could put part of the MeadWestvaco building in Columbus - and allow some incoming Russell County offices to secede.
Phenix City has taken some small steps to make the 14th Street Pedestrian Bridge look nicer. Three potted trees are in place at the west end of the bridge, and a few fake giant snowflakes were hung from them in December. Someday Auburn football fans will discover those trees, and hang other things....
And speaking of Auburn football - the transfer of quarterback Blake Field brought a comment as well:
You know college coaches court,recruit and sign players they never intend to play..The whole idea is to keep them for playing for other schools,which is almost as good as have them playing second team.However,a free college education is worth sitting on any bench instead of owing big buck when college is finished..
I'd be willing to accept that explanation - but some college football players may not like that. In this case, he's pursuing a "Field of Dreams" in Valdosta.
But then again, Blake Field may have seen a big steamroller approaching from Columbus. Carver High School football coach Dell McGee revealed Tuesday quarterback DeRon Furr is enrolling at Auburn University early - in fact, by next week. I suppose a step-up is better than a dropout....
The title of this e-mail referred to "football," but I can't help wondering if this message relates to Ketia Swanier's basketball career at Connecticut as well. An all-state wonder from Columbus High is coming off the bench in her senior season. How many relatives does she have in Tennessee, anyway?
Now for other things which had people talking on Tuesday....
+ Local activist Jim Rhodes presented Columbus Council with petitions for widening Moon Road to three lanes. Rhodes contended city reserve funds should be used, to improve what he calls a "catastrophe." Someone should take this man for a ride down dirt roads in Russell County.
(City Manager Isaiah Hugley noted the city needs to spend "180 million dollars on roads." In this election year, he should know better than to make that statement -- and spend a few million on Rhodes.)
+ Deputy City Manager Lisa Goodwin told WRBL money currently is lacking for building a new ice rink. If all else fails, the city could build that new natatorium near Macon Road - then turn the air conditioners all the way up.
(No, I will NOT go for the cheap punch line here. I will NOT say plans for the new skating rink are on ice....)
+ TSYS stock fell more than two dollars, to a 52-week low of $22.97. So far, no executive has crawled on his hands and knees down Broadway to Synovus headquarters to beg for a reconciled marriage.
+ WRBL showed opening day of the new Rigdon Road Elementary School. There are plans to double the school's attendance in coming years - so all those students can parade past the new central administration building each afternoon, and remind the officials on the third floor to do their jobs.
+ Jordan crushed Columbus in boys' high school basketball 103-46. Jordan's a defending state champion, top-ranked, playing a local rival - yet the bleachers at Jordan only half-full. This is what happens when baseball practice starts about three weeks too early....
+ University of Georgia President Michael Adams proposed an eight-team playoff format for major college football. Auburn got stiffed, and Adams didn't care. Georgia winds up second in the final polls, and suddenly.... well, Adams DOES serve at the pleasure of the state Board of Regents.
+ Instant Message to the mom I saw picking up her daughter for an off-the-ground spin, outside the Public Safety Center: You should have told the Police Department you were going to do that. I don't think they would have arrested you for child abuse. It would have been the most loving thing most officers probably saw all day.
(BLOGGER'S NOTE: Thursday's entry will not be posted until around 8:00 a.m. ET.)
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