Took a tour of the new "Rainey-McCullers School of the Arts" here in Columbus yesterday. It's a truly special facility.. but like so many of our school/government buildings, I had to wonder if it is preordained to be torn down in 20-25 years and have to be replaced..a lot of materials used are not the best.

 

One of the disciplines at the new Arts School is all students must maintain a "C" average.. another is being responsible for their attitude and actions. Dismissal from the school is a consequence. You know, when educators provide great curriculum and discipline, this can work at all schools.
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Though not "official" yet, it looks like the wrestling building at Columbus High School will have to be built behind the right field fence. It also appears that the fence will have to be moved in a bit to accommodate it. It may be time to cut back on the performance enhanced baseball bats..
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One thing blatantly apparent is that the 2015 SPLOST revenues will be woefully short of the "plans".. through December, there have been only 2 months out of 29 reports that revenues actually met or exceeded the static plan..January of 2016 and 2017, and with the number of major stores that closed this year, January of 2018 may not reflect the same positive numbers of previous Christmas sales taxes received. On the positive side, plans are already being made to not spend money on some projects until more certainty of revenues is attained.
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From the "not really a subject matter I note, but a circumstance struck my eye" department - Online headline/story: "Teenager set to testify in rape trial found dead in woods * A teenager found dead in the woods in Kalamazoo, Mich. was set to testify in an alleged rapist’s trial in April. * M**** D*****, who was 16 when she died, had accused Quinn Anthony James of raping her. * Now, he’s a person of interest in D*****’s death, WWMT.com reported. * James, 42, a career criminal, was scheduled to be tried as a habitual offender, according to court records obtained by WWMT" -- Did you see it? the predator .. is actually described as a "career criminal" rather than the usual pab of him being "good man who has been a product of his environment"..
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Whatta waste... Elon Musk sent a Tesla automobile off into space.. with a dummy behind the wheel.. You know.. some alien life forms may recover it one day.. and figure out how to get the car started, but no luck in "jump starting" the dummy. Sadly, Musk could have helped the Earth more, especially the US, if he'd sent off one of Obama's "cash for clunkers" cars with Nancy Pelosi behind the wheel...
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From the "Marie Antoinette syndrome" department - Online headline/story: "It is so cold at the Winter Olympics, skiers are being forced to throw away their expensive skis after practice runs * "One of the coaches said they are throwing the skis out after today," said Craig Randell, a start crew technician who is working his third Olympics, told Reuters. "You can’t do anything about it but with the cold temperatures, the snow adheres to the ski base and twists it. They are turning their skis to garbage real fast."" -- Good grief.. skiers can't practice because the snow is too cold for their skis? Now I know if I see an "Official Skis of the Olympics" decal on skis, I'm not going to buy them for my once a year ski trips.
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Apparently, Sen Rand Paul was "agin" the continuing resolution before he was "fo" it". What I want to know is how Congress was able to vote AFTER the government was "officially" shut down at midnight.. Surely, DIMocrats cannot be consider "essential personnel", and should have been sent home at the strike of 12:00.
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Online headline: "Reports: 49ers, Jimmy Garoppolo agree to record-breaking five-year deal" -- Hmmm After KaeperPRICK brought the NFL to it's knees, another San Francisco QB has brought 49er's management to its knees.
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From the "why is this woman smiling" department - Online headline: "Richard Pryor's widow confirms that he slept with Marlon Brando" -- Maybe cause of death should be re-looked at?
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From the "really?" department - Online headline/story: "Speed skater Shani Davis hot over not being flag-bearer: 'Team USA dishonorably tossed a coin' * On Thursday, U.S. speed skater Shani Davis torched the decision after he lost a tiebreaker coin toss that kept him from carrying the Stars and Stripes. * Each of the eight federations — bobsled and skeleton, ski and snowboarding, figure skating, curling, biathlon, hockey, speedskating and luge — nominates an athlete for the role, and it came down to a 4-4 tie between Davis and Hamlin. When a decision couldn’t be made, a coin was tossed and Hamlin was awarded the honor. * Maybe Team USA should add a ninth voter in the future so a flip of the coin doesn’t make such a big decision." -- Personally, Davis being in his 5th Olympics versus Hamlin going to his 4th, I'd have voted for Davis for his senior longevity.. but I want to ask haw can anyone blame the side of a coin being racist?
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Yesterday was the National Day of Prayer.. sure was nice to know White House participation was not a coin flip for a sitting president.
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You know.. a military parade in Washington may be just what's needed to restore world wide respect for the power of the US military. Where else are the diplomats of nearly every country gathered, and can visually see the diversity and depth of strength our military has to call on to defend us?
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From the "it should be good for the gander, too" department - Online headline/story: California assemblywoman who championed #MeToo movement accused of groping former staffer: report * Cristina Garcia, a Democrat representing Los Angeles County, drunkenly approached 25-year-old aid Daniel Fierro in 2014, stroked his back, “then squeezed his buttocks and attempted to touch his crotch,” according to a report from Politico." -- Ain't gender equality good...
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Last November, during the #metoo! Explosion, DIMocrat spinmeister, DNC chair wannabe, Jehmu Greene cast charges that our area's "Dean of the GA House", had inappropriately groped her ln an elevator at the 1996 DIMocratic Party National Convention..what has happened to her since...she seems to have disappeared, and sadly, our Columbus L-E..nor our Local TV media, has shown any interest in clearing Rep Smyre of her charges, and I cannot find her name...or current whereabouts. Anybody know where Jehmu....or the L-E investigative reporters..are?
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Online headline/story: "Gov. Deal: Remove Jet Fuel Sales Tax, Boost International Flights * While it may dent the state’s coffers, Gov. Nathan Deal believes the long-term benefit of removing a 4 percent sales tax on jet fuel is well worth the temporary cost." -- Excuse me,, but did Governor Deal sleep during the signing ceremony of the Trump/Republican TAX CUT bill? Seems to me that Delta will benefit greatly fro,m having it's tax liabilities cut by 40% that it really won't even notice the state sales taxes on it's fuels.

https://www.globalatlanta.com/gov-deal-remove-jet-fuel-sales-tax-boost-international-flights/
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Columbus is blessed with the choices of good men running for Council Post 10.. My personal choice is Tollie Strode but John House would be a shot in the arm to get our local economy back "great again". Maybe one will refocus his campaign and run for Mayor instead and Columbus can benefit from both of these men.
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L-E headline: "Upatoi slaying trial focuses on stolen items, teens’ route" -- When you read about the distance and effort these animals had to maneuver to get to the Upatoi home, their violence had to be predetermined. Once again.. considering all the ages, Robert Short will take his last breath knowing these animals will still be breathing. What a lack of justice.
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Stupor-uber LIV's L-E "soundoff": "Americans witnessing neighbors buying large amounts of fertilizer or ammunition may no longer inform the FBI of potential terroristic threats, because they no longer have FISA confidentiality protections. Nunes has undermined America’s safety." -- Good grief! No where is an American patriot denied the opportunity to alert officials over an overt act!
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Did I see right... that two Columbus High math scholars take on the Princeton Math Competition, and won of them won first place in his Algebra division. Congrats to Tyler Bondurant and Jai Jun Park.
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L-E headline/story: "3-year-old’s death in grease pit prompts bill from Alabama lawmaker * One of those lawmakers is State Senator Tom Whatley (R-Lee County), who introduced a bill on Jan. 30 he hopes will prevent any tragedies like this from happening again. * The Sadie Grace Andrews Act, would require any commercial food service establishments with grease traps to provide locking, secure covers around the pits or face penalties. * The bill specifically mandates the covers be designed to prevent access by children and to handle any reasonable expected load. It would also need to have a bolt or locking mechanism and be heavy enough to prevent just anyone from opening it. * If a business doesn’t follow the rule, they would be fined $500 for every day they don’t correct the problem. That money would then go back to the state to further enforce the law." -- Good grief.. if building codes were written correctly and inspectors "inspected correctly", there would be no need for this discussion, but what's even worse is wanting a $500.00 a day fine when owners not in compliance don't fix it promptly. A law such as this becomes mercenary rather than effective.. sorta like heavily taxing cigarettes to pay for medical bills..What the law should demand is stores be shut down immediately on the day an inspector thinks the grease pits are not properly secure.
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From the "if something doesn't add up. it must be the new math" department - L-E story: "Muscogee County Schools director of athletics Jeff Battles confirmed Thursday that Dougherty head football coach Corey Joyner will be the new head coach at Carver. * Joyner comes to Carver after a six-year stint at Dougherty, during which time he compiled a 10-48 overall record at his alma mater. The Trojans made the Class 3A playoffs the last two seasons under Joyner, marking the program’s first ever consecutive playoff appearances." -- Excuse me, but how does a school make the playoffs for consecutive years when the school has won only 10 games in 6 years.. I do not want to imply the new coach is not a good man or not a good developer of young men, but 10 wins even over 2 seasons are not playoff figures in a healthy system.

Of course it could be simply a bad case of reporting by the L-E
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L-E headline/story: : "Woman who sat with King during Columbus bomb threats dies * When Martin Luther King Jr. traveled to Columbus in 1958, defying bomb threats from white segregationists, Minnie Wimbish sat as the lone woman on the platform. * As the years rolled by, she outlived all of the men who shared the stage on that historic occasion, * Wimbish, a renowned public speaker, author and civil rights advocate for most of her life, died Jan. 27 at Columbus Hospice three months shy of her next birthday. She was 102." -- A real treasure has left us.. left us with a better spirit and a better future.. Everybody.. pause.. and celebrate the well lived life of Minnie Wimbish...
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