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6 JUL 04: KICKIN' CHICKEN

A big dispute erupted Monday afternoon at the Popeye's Chicken restaurant on Wynnton Road. Before it was over, several police cars had been called. Just imagine if the trouble had occurred at Dunkin' Donuts....

Here's how everything seemed to sort out: the manager of the Wynnton Road Popeye's says he fired an employee for leaving a rear door of the restaurant open, while taking a cigarette break. The manager considers that a security risk - and
you never know when a "bad soldier" from Fort Benning might pop up.

(Well, at least the employee stepped outside. If I want a "smoked meat," I'll go buy some beef jerky....)

After manager Al Panjawani fired the employee, three others on the staff at the Wynnton Road Popeye's staged a sympathy walkout. They apparently thought they would be shown the door next - and the rear one WAS open already.

As all this unfolded, Derrick Luttrell says he was in line to order some chicken. He claims manager Al Panjawani told him he would NOT be served because he is African-American. But hold on a second. Did he say "because you're black" - or "because of the back?"

Popeye's employees apparently started calling everyone they knew about what was happening. Staff members on their day off showed up. Then police and TV news crews showed up. About the only people who did NOT show up were the civil rights leaders - but in Columbus, they tend to wait a couple of days.

Al Panjawani insists he has nothing against African-American customers. After all, he says they make up 90 percent of his business at Popeye's. AHA! This proves it -- the difference between KFC and Popeye's is more than simply white and dark MEAT....

(Since I brought it up: have you seen the KFC commercial promoting the Dale Earnhardt Junior buckets? One woman wears a T-shirt that says, "I'm on the Dale Jr. diet." I've seen a lot of NASCAR fans on that diet - because they do nothing
but drink Budweiser on race days.)

Anyway: the tension on Wynnton Road ended with police making no arrests, and Popeye's closing for the day. Will the manager have anyone left to serve lunch today? Will there be picket lines outside his restaurant? And will Chick-fil-A down the street have a big sign, welcoming new customers?

We should note Al Panjawani owns only the Popeye's on Wynnton Road. The restaurants on River Road and Victory Drive are owned by others -- and if they're smart, they'll call Foxie 105-FM right away and arrange live broadcasts.

. A group of friends was discussing the events at Popeye's Monday night - and one of them dared to say: "Why isn't that manager running a convenience store?" I told him not even Hillary Rodham Clinton got away with a comment like that....

E-MAIL UPDATE: Thank you for a record e-mail day Monday - SIX messages! BUT I should note two of them cancelled each other out. A writer admitted she was confused by all the other things we've posted lately - which is understandable, because we get confused by all the finger-pointing as well.

The response to Sarah Clymer's endorsement of Superior Court Judge Bobby Peters still has brought NO comment from her. Instead, we heard from someone in the Army:

Bravo to you for not publishing "Craig's" accusation. I got an e-mail from this guy showing me what he wrote you. I guess he thought I'd be interested since I was married to Ms. Clymer and I'm the one who suffered at the hands of her and others involved.

You are absolutely right, without proof or evidence, which is darn near impossible to come up with in this kind of accusation, there is no way you can print it, regardless of it's accuracy.

Continue to do what is right,

Dave Daniels

Thank you, Dave -- so does this mean I escape detention at Guantanamo Bay under the Patriot Act?

I asked Craig for evidence about this still-mysterious accusation -- and while he can give me a long list of days and places, he admits it's largely based on hearsay. So most judges would dismiss what he wrote. Unless, perhaps, it helped them win an election.

Craig sent his own response Monday to what we posted here:

While I totally agree that you couldn't really print what I wrote you, in NO WAY was it a Pro-Daniel e-mail. I really just want some questions asked of the former Mayor that would make him more than a little uncomfortable, after what he and his wife did to my buddy. He is a rat and Columbus gets what it deserves.

Best of luck with the web site.

CL

All right then, Craig, let's clarify the Superior Court Judge scoreboard. It's now pro-Bobby Peters letters 6, pro-Roxann Daniel letters 0 -- and anti-rat letters 1.

If reporters REALLY wanted to ask Bobby Peters a question that would make him uncomfortable, I'd suggest trying a very different topic. Ask what color his hair REALLY is - since he's been blonde, gray and something in between.

Our next e-mail is only about politics a little bit -- as it's also about Sunday's Thunder on the Hooch event:

I'm not sure of any of the political booths at 'Thunder', however, I did spot Dave Eversman handing how campaign stickers and a couple of Alonza Whitiker supporters wearing campaign shirts.

Matt Rodriguez

Thanks for the report, Matt - and I must admit it shocks me a bit. You mean there are OTHER races on the ballot two weeks from now?

If you aren't aware, Dave Eversman is the Republican who's challenging Congressman Sanford Bishop in November. This should be a very interesting race - since Senator Zell Miller did commercials for Bishop in years past, but doesn't seem to like any Democrat now.

Alonza Whitaker is one of the two Democratic contenders for District Attorney. He might promise to run criminals out of Columbus, the way he made Gray Conger run to another party....

(BLOGGER'S NOTE: Because of time constraints, we'll have to get to some other e-mails another day....)

THE BIG BLOG QUESTION has changed as of Monday night. Given what you're writing about, I really have no choice for the new topic. Either I ask about the Superior Court Judge race - or find out if C-2 really is different from Coca-Cola and Diet Coke.

Our eight-day question on the U.S. Senate race in Georgia ended with a rather surprising outcome. Republican Herman Cain had a 71-percent majority of the votes! Maybe it was the color.... of his eyes.

Mac Collins received 14 percent of the votes in our Senate question, while fellow House member Johnny Isakson received NONE. That'll teach Mr. Isakson to walk into barbecue restaurants and talk down pork....

(And as for the 14 percent of you who voted for "other," yet did not leave a name in the comment section: are you from the pro-psychics lobby?)

Now some quick notes to wrap up a Monday, which was far from a holiday:

+ NBC-38 showed a half-hour late-night infomercial in favor of tort reform. It was prepared by "Georgians for Medical Liability Reform." The last time I heard doctors speak so persuasively, they were only playing them on TV.

(So where's the equal time for lawyers, who probably oppose this? I guess Grace Laquire is their official spokesman, when he appears on TV-16.)

+ The Harris and Troup County Sheriffs appeared in a TV commercial, endorsing Dan Lee for State Senate. Uh-oh - who does Seth Harp bring out to respond to this? Sheriff Ralph Johnson's an independent. Opponent Robert Taylor is a Democrat. And what IS David Glisson's registration, anyway?

+ Oh no! There's been a beheading on Victory Drive -- and I have the picture to prove it! This should settle it once and for all - it does NOT pay to have a big head about your business....

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