3 MAR 09: Pen and Teller?

The Muscogee County Marshal's Office announced a new program Monday, working with local ministers. "Cops and Clergy of Columbus" will focus on abstinence education for young people. But based on another news item, the ministers might want to arrange a seminar with law officers - because some of them could use ethics education.

WRBL revealed Monday another Columbus Police officer has been arrested. Of all things, Shatoya Wright faces federal charges of helping with a bank robbery. But she apparently joined the police force after the robbery occurred - perhaps in an effort to start the "good behavior" part of her sentence early.

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This strange case stems from October 2007, when a Wachovia Bank on Milgen Road was robbed. Federal documents released Monday claim convicted robber Odis Hallstock pulled it off by working with Shatoya Wright, who was a bank teller at the time. It now appears the teller didn't tell, but the taker is telling on the teller.

The FBI document claims Odis Hallstock and Shatoya Wright talked by phone for several months about exchanging counterfeit money. Then when the bank was robbed, Hallstock hauled away almost $8,000 -- and he went to the Wright window, to commit a very wrong crime.

A Google search Monday night revealed someone named Shatoya Wright received a scholarship from Synovus in 2006, about 18 months before the robbery. We don't know if it's the same Shatoya Wright as our suspect. But her interest in banking may have begun early - along with possibly a lust for free money.

Two months after the 2007 bank robbery, Shatoya Wright joined the Columbus Police Department. Chief Ricky Boren revealed she's now under arrest, and on unpaid administrative leave. So for the moment, we can say the police department is NOT looking for one extra new officer....

It's hard for any police department to conduct a criminal background check, to spot someone who's hiding a crime. But the application process for new officers includes a polygraph test. We're left to wonder if Shatoya Wright was asked if she'd ever broken the law - or if she was asked the usual Maury Povich Show questions about cheating on a lover.

We made a surprising discovery Monday about another accused Columbus police officer. Roscoe Castle has been listed at a web site called "Don't Date Him Girl." No, I was too scared to check whether I was listed there by anyone....

Your blog broke the story of Roscoe Castle last September - that he was under an internal investigation, for allegedly beating an inmate at the entrance to the Muscogee County Jail [9 Sep 08]. The listing at "Don't Date Him Girl" doesn't help his cause, as someone calls him "bipolar, violent.... he can juggle so many women at one time...." Oh, did we mention the Tip-A-Snake fund-raising banquet is tonight?

But anyway: some have claimed "Don't Date Him Girl" is an unfair site - because anyone can post any complaint about practically anybody, even if it isn't true. Then again, countless bloggers probably do the same thing every week.

BLOG UPDATE: Speaking of WRBL, that station actually did have a 12:00 noon newscast Monday. It also had its 5:00 p.m. news hour, after taking Friday off. So maybe all these rumors about canceled newscasts will prove to be a new approach to self-promotion.

But the "24/7 Weather" channel at digital 3.2 still wasn't quite right Monday night. It showed five-day forecasts which began last Saturday -- and at 10:00 p.m. ET it indicated the temperature in Troy was 71 degrees F. Maybe in some university dorm room, it was....

-> Our other blog starts with poker, then goes in directions you might not expect. Visit "On the Flop!" <--

E-MAIL UPDATE: We were prepared to let sleeping S-Blogs lie, but this was addressed directly to us....

Check out 'A Shout Out to IntownColumbus of Congratulations for One Million Page Views and A Bigger Shout Out to ColumbusGeorgia.ning.com for Nearing 15,000 Page Views Just Week # 3'

As ITC Nears One Million Page Views, We Celebrate our 3rd Week Anniversary with Close to 15,000 Page Views

This came from Simon at the "Columbus Georgia" social blog. Does this mean peace is at hand, between web sites which seemed to be feuding a couple of weeks ago? Can it happen without any intervention from the Pastoral Institute?

But uh-oh - Simon claims his S-Blog is marking a "three-week anniversary." Language purists will tell you "anni-" means year, so you only mark anniversaries once a year. So if he gains several English teachers as new members, this could explain why.

Other e-mails from readers are coming, we promise. But we're out of time for writing, save for a quick wrap-up of other Monday news:

+ You may be pleased to know I picked up some leftover snow. A little clump was sitting by a racquetball court, waiting for me to harvest it. It's now in a sealed bowl in my freezer, awaiting some big event - perhaps a championship victory parade for the Cottonmouths.

+ Students from tornado-damaged Wacoochee Junior High School in Lee County began attending class at Smiths Station High. The principal says several portable classrooms were "evacuated" to prepare for the new students -- as if they're all showing up with short attention spans and sugar rushes.

+ A meeting with Fort Benning commanders ended with recalled soldier Lisa Pagan receiving a discharge from the Army. Pagan traveled to Benning from North Carolina with her two children, claiming her husband was traveling on business and other relatives couldn't care for them. In some countries, this would be no excuse - and the children would be trained for undercover missions.

+ The Columbus Convention and Visitors Bureau told WRBL this area had about 1.1 million tourists last year. The leaders of SOA Watch were disappointed to learn they only accounted for less than two percent of that total.

+ Instant Message to Peggy's Image Makers in Bibb City: What do you mean by that sign - "How white are your legs?" Is this a slap at me, for not being able to jump very high?

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