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16 NOV 04: INCOMING!

Monday was a big day for drivers heading to Fort Benning. Interstate 185 finally reopened beyond Victory Drive. Thousands of people no longer will be tempted to stop at the Traffic Light Inn, while they're detouring.

The I-185 entrance to Fort Benning was closed almost a year, so a major security upgrade could be done. So why open it THIS week - and let all the S.O.A. Watch protesters know they have an alternate route?

The security rules at Fort Benning are changing, with the opening of a new I-185 checkpoint. After Wednesday, you'll need a special sticker to avoid being stopped. And before some of you get concerned - the sticker will NOT have the words
"Bush/Cheney '04" on it.

If you don't have the special sticker after Wednesday, Fort Benning personnel will guide you to a registry office. You'll need to sign in your name, and why you're visiting. This may scare some veterans - because now there'll be a record of
them getting drinks at the NCO Club.

Before you're allowed on post, Fort Benning will compare your name with a list of people not allowed to visit. You can probably guess who's on this list. There's Usama bin-Laden, the manager of Coach's Corner....

For its next trick, Fort Benning will close the Benning Road entrance to traffic this Friday. This security upgrade will begin just in time for "S.O.A. Watch weekend." So anyone crossing the line onto post could have their sentences doubled, for doing it in a construction zone.

If you believe the Ledger-Enquirer, this year's crowd of protesters outside Fort Benning will include actress Susan Sarandon. Of course, critics will be quick to point out she starred years ago in a movie called "BULL Durham...."

(Hey, hold on here! I just realized - S.O.A. Watch never has been put on the Fort Benning "off-limits" list. So soldiers can go visit Pastor Roy Bourgeois, but NOT some Victory Drive nightclubs!? Apparently the generals care more about soldiers' hormones than their brains.)

It's not yet clear when sort of counterattack Fort Benning has planned for the S.O.A. Watch protesters. Last year, loud music was blared from Benning's side of the line. This year, one Columbus radio station already is playing psychological
games - by playing Christmas music.

That was the talk of my workplace Monday - WGSY-FM "Sunny 100" playing holiday music, six weeks before Christmas. Not even Christian radio stations in Columbus do this. Some wait until December 1 -- so you don't feel like you have to gulp down Thanksgiving leftovers.

Alan Quin of Sunny 100 admits some people like the switch to Christmas music in mid-November, while others can't stand it. Come to think of it, the same sort of thing happened when B-101 FM went hip-hop.

The music switch by Sunny 100 may have gained some important fans already. The bridge at the south end of the Phenix City Riverwalk was lit with holiday lights, when I jogged there Monday night. Perhaps it was a test for the big display in December - or perhaps Phenix City is showing which bridge is NOT under construction at the moment.

THE BIG BLOG QUESTION wants to know what you think of this. Should Sunny 100 be playing Christmas music more than a week before Thanksgiving? Is this rushing "the season" too much? Or could we argue any "love songs" show sneakily promotes Valentine's Day?

BLOG UPDATE: Uh-oh - outgoing Superior Court Judge Roxann Daniel is being sued for almost $10,000. A public relations firm claims she owes that much for last summer's campaign. Bobby Peters could turn this into a class-action suit - because we think Judge Daniel still owes him a concession speech.

Marquette McKnight of "Media, Marketing and More" told WRBL Judge Roxann Daniel hasn't paid her, almost four months after the election. But you have to understand how politics works here. Judges are used to receiving payoffs, not making them to others.

Judge Roxann Daniel told WRBL Monday night she's waiting for an itemized bill from Marquette McKnight, to find out what she's paying for. For instance, how many "supporters" were paid to call WRCG talk shows?

Meanwhile, Monday night's news included the most unusual "campaign commercial" I've ever seen. A man urged you to elect him President - of the Georgia Missionary Baptist Convention! Wow, who's the "moral values" candidate in this race?

The Georgia Missionary Baptist Convention will select a new President Thursday. But c'mon - buying TV time to campaign for the job?! And it was the evening news, not a commercial break during "The 700 Club."

Now other items of interest from a busy Monday:

+ Former Georgia School Superintendent Linda Schrenko pleaded NOT guilty to stealing federal education money. Schrenko appeared in federal court in handcuffs - and former Governor Roy Barnes can't wait to post a big photo of that in his law office.

(If this indictment is accurate, and she actually used federal education money for cosmetic surgery, then Linda Schrenko needs to see a -- well -- a shrink-o.)

+ Georgia football coach Mark Richt was the guest speaker at the Columbus Quarterback Club. We're pleased to report after the loss to Auburn, there's still NO web site calling for Richt to be fired.

+ Tri-County High School basketball star Charles Jackson signed a letter of intent to play college ball at Illinois. He should feel right at home there -- as long as someone explains the corn stalks outside Champaign-Urbana are not peanuts on
steroids.

(Did you see my beloved Kansas Jayhawks are ranked number ONE in the Associated Press men's basketball poll? I say let's have a hockey-style lockout, cancel the season and declare them champions now.)

+ Instant Message to the Columbus Riverdragons: Let's see - the front of your pocket schedule has pictures of nine female dancers, but only one basketball player. What do you REALLY want me to come watch this winter?

COMING WEDNESDAY: It could be one of the strangest Columbus Council meetings ever....

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