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3 SEP 04: FLEE-RIDA

Days of speculation were confirmed Thursday night, with the announcement that Vice President Cheney will visit Columbus this weekend. The reason why he's coming here seemed obvious - to appeal for votes from all the Florida residents who have moved here for a few days.

We welcome all the people who have taken refuge in Columbus from the approaching hurricane. And we encourage our guests to try to have some fun while they're here. For instance, try this tongue-twister: "My family fled Florida, afraid of Frances."

Motel rooms were full in many Georgia and Alabama cities Thursday, as people evacuated Florida. Valdosta, Macon and Eufaula reportedly had all their rooms booked -- which is big news, considering Eufaula is the only one you'd probably want to visit over Labor Day weekend.

Several Columbus motels tried to be merciful on evacuees, by offering the lowest rates they could. We're still waiting to see if the nightclubs on Victory Drive will be so cooperative....

Even the House of Mercy offered to take in people fleeing Hurricane Frances. Some long-term residents may meet visitors from Palm Beach - and wind up moving there with new jobs as domestic help.

Several Columbus stores were out of generators Thursday. Even before this, Home Depot reported it was out of bottled water. As if people GO to Home Depot to buy bottled water? Do you need it to make your new faucet work?

Isn't it interesting that in a Presidential election year, Florida is getting hit by two strong hurricanes only three weeks apart? It almost makes you wonder if Someone is trying to send a message, about who REALLY had more votes four years ago.

Given the rush of people into Columbus, you might wonder where Vice President Cheney will find a place to sleep after appearing in Columbus. It simply wouldn't look right for Rob Doll to put a mattress inside a Nissan SUV for him....

But don't worry about the Vice President. I'm told the Secret Service did a security sweep of a nice hotel near the airport earlier this week, in preparation for a visit. Clearly when it comes to the White House staff, membership has its privileges.

For some reason, Vice President Cheney will NOT make a public campaign appearance in Columbus. Instead, he'll visit a Third Ranger Battalion military ball at the Trade Center Saturday night -- and it's CLOSED to the news media! Maybe he'll be interviewing soldiers for jobs with Halliburton....

One other scheduled event for this weekend has been postponed. October 23 is the new date for the Civic Center's "Chaos in Columbus" boxing card. Between the evacuees from Florida and a Vice Presidential visit, we might have chaos anyway.

E-MAIL UPDATE: The Children's Miracle Network put down any rumors Thursday about its executive director - and seemed to aim the firehose directly at your blog. This message came first:

Richard,

Rather than making assumptions about why the CMN Director resigned, why don't you ask your "sources" about her recent engagement and upcoming marriage in October, not to mention the fact that she is moving next month. Of course, that did not cross your mind, I'm sure. We will encourage her to add you to the guest list...but be sure to bring a gift!

She has served the families and sponsors of CMN faithfully and tirelessly for years. She will be missed by all who have had the pleasure of knowing her. Her contributions to CMN far surpassed any of the expectations.

Wishing her well in her marriage......

A grateful CMN family

Thank you for the clarification - and no, my sources never mentioned Alexis Cantwell being engaged. They can be like some Paul Harvey news stories: "Just what, not why."

I wish Alexis Cantwell - uh, well in her marriage, too. Finding the love of your life can be a "miracle" as well. At least I've heard that, because I'm still looking for one....

I'll be happy to bring a gift to Alexis Cantwell's wedding in October, if I can make it. Let's see: maybe something with the letters "C-M-N" in it - naaah, I can't afford to buy her a condominium.

Not long after that came a supporting message from Alan Quin of Sunny 100 FM:

I'm an Alexis fan from way back. How possibly could Columbus Regional and CMN find anyone better to argue, fight, cry, laugh, celebrate success and still learn with all in an effort to do and gain the most for the Children's Miracle Network.

Anybody notice the $70k plus increase in telethon this year? Anyone notice the effort radio put in cross-promoting the event? Anyone notice it's close proximity to this year's radio-thon? Anyone notice we never gave anything more than hourly totals on the air last year during radiothon?

My challenge and charge to those who choose to be critical from the outside............get involved and encourage others to do the same........whatever your cause.

Negative is easy, positive is another issue.

AQ

Uh-oh -- I'd better not go to Georgia Freight and ask for the Reggie Foster special for awhile.

Our thanks to AQ for showing at least one fundraising event in Columbus did well this year. Maybe all those CMN telethon donors were moved to give, simply because they were happy not to watch hours of infomercials.

As for that thought for the day: "Negative is easy, positive is another issue" - just remember: a battery-powered radio can't work correctly without a little bit of both.

(And for the record: I'm an "Alexis fan" from way back, too -- only it was supermodel Kim Alexis, starting about 20 years ago.)

(BLOGGER'S NOTE: Because of Thursday's twin breaking stories, our item about the Marshal will be delayed until another day....)

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© 2003-04 Richard Burkard, All Rights Reserved.