18 MAR 08: BAKER RAZING?

Judging from the e-mails I read, Monday night's Muscogee County School Board meeting could have been a testy affair. An online campaign called for a big protest by all Baker High School alumni. That was really sneaky of Uptown Columbus - to distract so many of them away, by offering green beer.

The Muscogee County School Board voted to sell the old Baker High School building at Benning Road and Victory Drive. The new owner will be Place Properties of Atlanta - and some Baker alumni fear that means the building will be bulldozed. At least the machinery is waiting right next door, at what's left of the Baker Village Apartments....

While nothing is official yet, Place Properties is expected to turn the Baker High School site into apartments for the military. Some alums warned in e-mails this would result in the destruction of South Columbus's most "historically significant property." We may be reaching the point where that title gets passed to a Victory Drive strip motel.

An e-mail appeal in recent days made some serious accusations about the sale of the Baker High School property. One accused land broker Kennon Parker Duncan and Key of discrimination, for refusing to consider options preserving the building. Come to think of it, the sign outside never called it a "fixer-upper."

The e-mail campaign also claimed another bidder wanted to turn the Baker High School building into "assisted living" for older people. This seemed like an interesting idea - to put those people in a building almost as old as they are.

Baker High School graduate Terry Nunelly Todd appealed to the school board to at least postpone a vote on the sale for 30 days. She noted Baker alumni plan to hold a big reunion this October. As if they were going to hold the reunion in that rundown building?! Even Carver High graduates hold those things at the Trade Center.

Terry Nunelly Todd suggested the school board was interested only in the $1.3 million Place Properties was offering. In other words, she thought the district needed Baker's dough....

School board member and Columbus South backer Cathy Williams told Terry Nunelly Todd that in effect, she complained too late. Williams said Baker High School alumni should have objected to the building going on the district's "surplus list" in the first place. After all, we have too many school buildings now - and we certainly can't have that, with base realignment coming.

The final school board vote was 9-1 in favor of selling the Baker High School building to Place Properties. The lone vote against came from Patricia Hugley-Green. It's only fitting that a "Green" would make news on St. Patrick's Day....

A couple of things strike me as interesting about all this. For one thing, the Historic Columbus Foundation apparently has NOT intervened on behalf of preserving the Baker High School building. But this may say more about the foundation losing some clout in recent years - down to perhaps a few folding tables at Broadway Springfest in April.

It's also worth noting that Joseph Roberson voted for the sale of the Baker High School building. His South Columbus United Methodist Church is right down the street from there. So either he wants a revitalized neighborhood - or he'll be knocking on doors at those new apartments, seeking members.

Keep in mind that the Baker High School building's fate has been debated for years - ever since the new Baker Middle School opened. With Monday night's vote, the Muscogee County School Board finally has done something. Well, except the Columbus Fire Department will need a new place to do rescue training. How many vacant storefronts does Peachtree Mall have?

E-MAIL UPDATE: We still haven't received any scores from opening day of Pioneer Little League. But we HAVE heard again about something else....

Richard!!!

For all of those people that say that the uniforms at DCR are not "poor quality" and is worth the $75.00, I have a picture.

As you know, opening day was this past Saturday. We also had a game that day. My child played for 2 of the 5 innings we had and I washed his uniform that night.

GUESS WHAT!!!! The pants didn't last through the FIRST wash!!! The company logo fell off of the pocket. I was so amazed and honestly p.o.'d that I got my camera to take a picture. It is sooooo obvious that this is missing. AND AFTER ONE WASH!!

So there you go Pioneer board members! I paid $75.00 for a cheap uniform from the company that you "recommended".

This raises one big question right away - did you use water as hot as the Pioneer board has been facing?

If a logo tag falls off, does this mean an entire pair of pants is ruined? The picture we received doesn't show any other rip in the clothing. And if Alleson Athletic hasn't bought a sign on the outfield fence, the Pioneer Little League officials probably don't care.

We've also been meaning to get to this two-part e-mail, which has us scratching our head a bit:

I am thankful child is fine, I am normally a sane person.........take child to "doc in box" Major eye problem, 2 prescriptions "get him to opthamologist ASAP ......go to chain drug store..get 2 prescriptions..one of which is $78..try to ask about it and "the Pharmacist " has stepped out.........so go home use $6 antibiotic...don't open other till opthamologist visit next morning.. Opthamologist says he doesn't see same problem as Doc in the box...don't need $78 prescription..in fact..he could give free sample if it were needed. Try to return $78 unopened antimflammatory to drug store chain "can't take that back"........call to doc in the box...."we did what we thought you needed" $78 bottle of antimflammatory for eye unopened for problem Opthamologist did not even see. There is something wrong with this picture and I am sure there is a sweet kickback somewhere as well as a Pharmacist who better have a good answer for where he was when corporate gives him a call. bummed....

and I forgot to mention the 80$ in co pays to both facilities...............frustrated

So who has the kickback here? The ophthalmologist? The pharmacist? The insurance company, for those co-pays? Or do patients feel like kicking themselves in the backside, for not getting that "second opinion" the first doctor hinted at to begin with?

With thanks that the child really is fine, let's quickly review other Monday headlines:

+ WRBL showed a Phenix City police car parked on the North Bypass, displaying the speed of drivers through the Riverchase construction zone. Sometimes the car has a real officer in it - and when that happens, the speeder becomes the dummy.

+ Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue announced he'll seek a federal disaster declaration for Atlanta. Of course, some pockets of the city were a disaster even before the tornado struck....

(Did you see the video of rainwater pouring down stairs, inside the Georgia World Congress Center? I won't be surprised if some hotel makes a bid for that stairwell, and turns it into a memorial fountain.)

+ The third annual St. Patrick's Day parade in Phenix City brought out a small crowd. In this part of the country, the day doesn't seem to be that big a deal. Now if they scheduled a parade for Jefferson Davis's birthday in June....

+ Instant Message to the people who argue, "Everybody's Irish on Saint Patrick's Day": Oh please - are you also going to argue everyone's a Christian this coming Sunday, on Easter?

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BURKARD BULK MAIL INDEX: 674 (+ 22, 3.4%)

TRUDGE REPORT, DAY 16: 1.45 miles jogged, 0.75 walked. Total: 51.60 miles run, 7.90 walked

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