15 FEB 08: LAST MAN STANDING

Next week will mark four years since David Glisson was fired from the Muscogee County Sheriff's Department. Thursday he learned he'll be the only defendant in a civil suit filed by Kenneth Walker's family. At least Federal Judge Clay Land is staggering these anniversary events a bit....

Judge Clay Land officially granted two law officers immunity from the Kenneth Walker family civil suit. This leaves Glisson as the only defendant remaining. In a way this is understandable, since Glisson was the one who shot Walker in 2003. But so many other people have been blamed over the years that you'd think they all had passed away.

Columbus Police officers Jim Price and Rick Stinson received immunity from the civil suit, after a federal appeals court "remanded" the case back to Judge Clay Land Wednesday. Remanded is a fancy judicial form of the children in the Life cereal commercial saying, "I'm not gonna try it.... You try it."

Thursday's ruling was really a formality. Judge Clay Land decided in December if an appeal was sent back to him, he would grant immunity to officers Price and Stinson. So you might say the city attorney demanded the case be remanded, without the judge being reprimanded.

Columbus NAACP President Bill Madison was not pleased with the decision to grant two police officers immunity. Of course, this news was about as surprising as Mitt Romney endorsing John McCain for President....

Bill Madison noted the immunity issue hinged on a police informant who changed his story at least once. He told WXTX "News at Ten" if the informant had not been in a Metro Narcotics Task Force car on that fateful night, nothing would have happened. Now hold on here - since everyone in the van was African-American, all the driver had to do was speed a little.

Bill Madison says he still wants "justice done" in the Kenneth Walker case. But he's been waiting 50 months for that, with no satisfaction. Why do I have this feeling Madison is quietly praying for Barack Obama to become President?

Columbus civil rights leaders demanded all sorts of things, in the wake of the Kenneth Walker shooting. But 50 months later, Ralph Johnson is still Muscogee County Sheriff. Governor Sonny Perdue has NOT resigned. And the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee seems more concerned about what was injected up a baseball pitcher's (ahem) rear end.

On top of that, a long series of appeals have delayed the civil suit against David Glisson. The Thursday night newscasts said nothing about a new trial date. Things are going SO SLOWLY that we may hear the outcome of the Zachary Allen cocaine investigation before then.

David Glisson reportedly told his story in detail on videotape last year, to a local journalist. But that video has yet to appear anywhere - and a check of YouTube Thursday night found no mention of him. In fact, the top "Kenneth Walker" to show up in a search was a dance company. Maybe all the dancers are attorneys....

E-MAIL UPDATE: If you're looking for a sign of spring, we found one in our InBox Thursday....

Hey Richard,

I know that you did reporting on Pioneer [Little League] over the summer and it sure did get some attention! I absolutely loved hearing people actually talk it openly for a change. Parents think certain things but fear retrobution if they talk about it openly. You provided a source for some parents to get their thoughts out there.

I have a new question to anyone that knows the answer. Pioneer has a board member that owns a sports shop. Teams are required to purchase the childrens uniforms from him. To me that seems alittle bit like padding your pocket due to the position that you hold. We had to do this last spring and they weren't able to provide quality service then so why would they do this again? I feel that if this person wasn't on the board, they would have found someone else.

And there is the issue with the price. Since we have to use this DCR Sports, the coaches aren't able to price shop. It doesn't seem right. What happened to coaches being in charge of what they wanted to buy and pay for in regards to their teams?

I worked all summer and fall to get out of this league, without even one response, due to all of the drama last spring. I didn't receive so much as one returned phone call or email. But it comes down to either dealing with it for the sake of your child being able to play or penalizing your child by not allowing them to pay. I see that I made the wrong choice because nothing seemed to have changed.

Yes sir, it's a sure sign of an early spring - because you'd think the Little League complaints would wait for the season to open in March.

It seems to me that plenty of sports leagues have contracts with companies, to provide everything from uniforms to officials. For instance, the NASCAR races at Daytona Beach Thursday included drivers using the "Gatorade In-Car Drinking System." If any team filled those devices with the old "official beer of NASCAR," the races would have a lot more wrecks.

The contracts with companies could include commercial endorsements -- but the real goal is probably to make things easier for all the coaches. They can order what they need at one place. And if you're buying Pioneer uniforms from a Pioneer board member, isn't it a bit like "buying American?" Don't give big bad Northern any reason to gloat.

We've also been receiving e-mail updates from Rep. Richard Smith of Columbus on the Georgia legislative session. This short note this week struck us as interesting....

In response to numerous emails asking for my thoughts on this bill.

I have always believed that pickup truck drivers & their passengers should be required to use seat belts.

I do support SB 86 & I will vote for it when it reaches the House floor.

You may know there's currently an exemption under Georgia's seatbelt law for pickup trucks. This may explain why so many people in Columbus drive them -- and if "Hannah Montana" was set in Georgia, it could explain that controversial scene in her movie.

(It DOES seem curious to me that during hunting season in Georgia, the deer are belted down while the pickup drivers aren't.)

Rep. Richard Smith also reports the Georgia House passed a bill allowing residents above age 60 to take classes at state-run colleges tuition-free. But if I read HB 941 correctly, they would NOT be allowed to take free law school courses. These attorneys have to keep their trade secrets, you know....

I'm still holding one e-mail, until we can make some calls about it. So let's move on to some other notes in the Thursday news:

+ Muscogee County Republican Chair Josh McKoon proposed a resolution on the School Board, for Saturday's precinct caucus meeting. The board members who voted for the new administration building would be criticized. Board members who voted against it would be praised. And Superintendent John Phillips might be awarded a free broom, for cleaning out some "greenspace."

+ The one-room Pitts Chapel schoolhouse was rededicated. It's on the grounds of Matthews Elementary, and will now be used as a science center. Budding anthropologists will have fun figuring out how old the dust in the corners is.

+ The Georgia Legislature marked "Home School Day," one day after marking PTA Day. I assume the parents paid their own way, to travel to Atlanta with their children - so some of you looking to the school district for handouts might want to call those families, and get financial advice.

+ The new doctor-owners of Phenix City's hospital announced the name will change from Summit Hospital to Jack Hughston Memorial. They also announced the number of operating rooms will increase from four to six - which may give us a clue of the fastest way to recoup your investment in medicine.

+ The Pastoral Institute broke ground for a new campus. If they really want to make this "pastoral," the capital campaign will include money to have sheep cut the grass.

+ Talkers magazine named "Duke and the Doctor" one of the 250 most powerful radio talk shows in the U.S. How Dr. Jan McBarron beat out Chamber of Commerce Mike Gaymon's "Viewpoint" program on WDAK, I have no idea.

(But I have to admit I'm a bit skeptical of this magazine's list. George Norry's "Coast to Coast AM" placed in the top 50 - and his callers offer "truths" that are even more questionable than what Dr. Jan McBarron suggests.)

+ The annual "Sports Illustrated" swimsuit issue came out, featuring a picture of Phenix City college student Jessica Trainham. But hold on here - why was Trainham a brunette in TV interviews, while the video of her performances at Atlanta Falcons games show her as a blonde? Did going to Auburn University make her THAT much smarter?

+ Clemson clobbered Georgia Tech in men's college basketball 82-67. The Yellow Jackets are now 11-12, and seem unlikely to make the NCAA tournament. Considering Chan Gailey led the Georgia Tech football team to a winning season and a bowl game, coach Paul Hewitt might need to borrow John Phillips's broom.

+ Instant Message to self: The next time you play poker on Valentine's Day, be a lot tougher. You should have realized the tables would be dominated by guys in absolutely no mood to be gentle and romantic....

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