21 MAR 08: THE SIMPLE FACTS?

The U.S. stock markets are off today, to mark Good Friday. Have I ever told you what I heard an Atlanta radio announcer say about that? "They're ALL good, as far as I'm concerned."

Some Christians take time on Good Friday to remember the One who died for their sins. But some people seem to have a different focus this year. They're too busy pointing out the sins of others, which need to be covered....

The people doing this are connected to the town with as many controversies as residents - Hurtsboro. On Wednesday, former resident Sam Smith told us he challenged Constable Robert Schweiger in small claims court and won. Russell County records show the $250 judgment was paid to the court this week. So Smith can't lean on the Constable's barn - or is that what he meant?

But now it's the Constable's turn to fire - almost like a game of darts, except people are throwing at each other:

Sir Richard:

Some of the "good" folks here in "Hurt'sboro have tried to convince me to quit Blogging with you. I've seriously considered their advice. BUT THEN! you come ridin' in out of cyber-space with information that makes my day!

Lil' Sammy's boasting on yesterday's BLOG was news to me. Oh yes it's true - but the court never passed the order on to me. The time for appeal is long past - but Judge Bellamy has it on his desk for consideration. Thanks Richard. I owe you one!

When the Big Blog Question was in effect [21 Feb] - one of my supporters suggested that I write fiction. Believe me here in "Hurt'sboro truth is stranger than fiction!

"Simple" Sammy would be a good project for your tracking skills. There's the saga of the missing pick-up truck, an episode of horse rustling, altered police reports, and even an incident where the hoodlums in town took his mace. (He went crying to the Russell County deputy's, and asked them to get it back) He is as laughable as Barney Fife in most cases except one that I know of - where he physically abused a much smaller young man (240/140 ratio) and cost the young fellow's mother almost a thousand dollars in fines and court costs.

His property is a public nuisance with brush, weeds, varmints, insects, snakes, and junk.

Today I received a nasty letter telling me all the bad things he's going to do - unless I pay off in two weeks. I suppose he will try to sue me for what I've written today, but I've got letters, pictures, and witnesses to back up my allegations."simple" Sammy thinks he's above the law - because he carries a gun and wears a tinfoil star!

Check him out Sir Richard - you will have lots of copy for your Blog

Constable R.J. Schweiger.

Sometimes I wonder if the Constable missed his calling in life. He could have been a great gossip columnist for the New York Post or TMZ.

Verifying all these claims by Robert Schweiger isn't easy. That's partly because court records might not exist for all of them, and partly because Alabama's court records have plenty of people named Sam or Samuel Smith. There are even several court listings for "Sammie Smith" - which may explain what happened after her one big hit country song.

We did an online court search for Samuel Smith in Russell, Bullock and Lee Counties - but we couldn't find any records relating to most of the cases the Constable mentions. But the way he's kept score on Smith, I'm assuming these men belong to opposite political parties.

The one case we know about involving Sam Smith is one the Constable brought up here last year. In fact, it's the one which put Robert Schweiger in court as well - for giving legal advice in a Sam Smith trial without a license. Perhaps they both should have performed "community service," by putting up a tall fence on their shared property line.

I mean, look at some of the accusations the Constable is making here spent time in jail -- all the way down to a neighbor's property having weeds. If I didn't know better, I'd think Robert Schweiger and Sam Smith were competing coaches in a Little League program....

Sam Smith has moved out of Hurtsboro, to the Montgomery area. And if Robert Schweiger gets his way, Hurtsboro soon could be filled with "former residents" like Smith -- since the Constable wants the city charter revoked, and everything turned over to Russell County.

We should note there are NO pending court cases involving Samuel Smith or Robert Schweiger in Russell County court. This allows both men a bit of time to rest their voices, before the next shouting match begins.

E-MAIL UPDATE: The latest big decision by the Muscogee County School Board brought a reply Thursday....

Richard, I have several comments concerning Baker High School. First, if as many Baker grads would have showed up at the School Board Meetings as come to the Baker Reunion parties the decisions to put Baker on the surplus property list and to sell it would probably have been different.

Secondly, there are thousands of BHS graduates still living in the Columbus area. They could band together and vote out of office the school board members who voted for this sale. As a matter of fact, I'm surprised they haven't initiated a recall petition on those board members who have allowed that school to deteriorate to such a degree that it has to be bulldozed.

And to illustrate how South Columbus is treated differently than North Columbus can anyone imagine the Muscogee County School Board allowing Columbus High School to sit for years in a state of disrepair after the fire there? Of course not! It was immediately rebuilt.

And if BRAC is bringing thousands of new children to the South Columbus /Ft Benning area wouldn't it have made sense to refurbish Baker High School? It won't be long before the School Board will be looking for an expensive piece of property to build a new school on in the South Columbus area for these students. And my guess is that the dollar total to buy the property and build a new school will cost more than to renovate BHS. But that's no problem - just raise the property taxes again.

A Baker High School Graduate & Columbus, GA taxpayer

Someone spread a rumor our way several weeks ago, that a recall drive was planned against a Muscogee County School Board member. But so far, it has NOT materialized. Instead, you're more likely to find petitions about high gas prices than an old high school.

It may not be fair to compare the Columbus High School fire of 1981 with the old Baker High School property now. For one thing, Baker students were moved into a nice new middle school several years ago -- and then the old building became vacant. And on top of that, the change gave Hispanic soccer players a new place to play their league matches on Sundays.

We also have a reaction to Thursday's main topic -- the two lockdowns at Phenix City schools:

Your comment that the schools should post immediate news is very feasible.

I just completed a 100% scan for a company, (Skyhook Wireless) locating Wi-Fi locations in Columbus and Phenix City.

I was surprised at the number of people with a wireless set-up in their homes. (Don't worry, it was just noting signals, not hacking into them).

Match this up with the number of businesses and government offices that do not either have a web site, or do not keep it current and you can see where the mis-match is in this area.

Back to my original comment. If the school used the internet as a means to get timely info out, then, yes, I believe it would be used by parents. They would also be better able to reach the parent through e-mail to notify them their kid is absent as well, and most others without broadband are on dial-up locking out other calls.

Mike Daley

I'd heard of "wi-fi" in Columbus -- but I never knew that would lead to companies becoming "wi-fi spies."

The Phenix City School Board may not update its web site often, but at least the city web site appears current. A check at our post time found a "what's happening" page filled with coming events from April to December -- but it includes a May concert by the lead singer of "Bad Comany." Either they meant Bad Company, or this is an attempt at bad comedy.

BIG PREDICTION UPDATE: The Georgia men's basketball team led for quite awhile Thursday, but wound up losing to Xavier 73-61. Once again, we learn a lesson from the comic books - it's very hard to defeat those uncanny X-Men.

All Georgia fans are invited and encouraged to root for my alma mater Kansas from here on out. The Jayhawks pummeled Portland State Thursday in Omaha, Nebraska - and in a nice new arena that I'm surprised isn't named after Warren Buffett.

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BURKARD BULK MAIL INDEX: 747 (+ 18, 2.5%)

TRUDGE REPORT, DAY 19: 30 minutes spring cleaning. (Yes, housework counts.)

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.

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