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ALWAYSTHET
RUTH...NOCOMPROMISE
REALSTORYPUBLIS
HING.COM
June27,2012
FROMT
HEEDITOR
EDITORIAL
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
J.B. ST. [email protected]
SPORTS WRITER
JEREMIAH [email protected]
FEATURE COLUMNISTS
KATE [email protected]
AIMEE [email protected]
WRITERS
INVINO VERITAS
MEAGAN M. ONAN
CANDI VEZINA
MELINDA DUFFIE
CLARE MALLORY
MOLLY MURPHREE
JOYCE SHAW WHITE
TORI HAWKINS
WHIT HARRINGTON
PAIGE CANIDA-GREENE
EMILY GAITHER SMITH
ABIGAIL HATHORN
RYAN MUNSON
GUEST FEATURE WRITER
DICK [email protected]
ART & PRODUCTION
ART/LAYOUT DIRECTOR
AIMEE [email protected]
PHOTOGRAPHERS
MOLLY [email protected]
ADVERTISINGBRENDA MINOR
DISTRIBUTIONCINDY LYNCH
CUSTOMER SERVICEKATE SPENCER
PUBLISHERJ.B. ST. JOHN
CONTACT US:[email protected]@realstorypublishing.com
[email protected]@realstorypublishing.com
THE REAL STORYP. O. Box 403
Columbus, MS 39703
Editorial 662.497.2914Advertising 662.251.1839
Check for daily updates online:
http://realstorypublishing.comFacebook.com/rspublishing
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by Joseph B. St. JohnEditor-in-ChiefEditorsNote
Summer is here. e weather is hot andwe have all settled in for a calm, enjoyablesummertime of love - a place and timewhere all is good and wonderful and thechildren play together nicely. Not!!
In Lowndes County, it is business asusual, and that means that craziness pre-
vails at every turn. No matter which wayyou look, a restorm has broken out. Itbecomes so predictable that a writer couldfeel bad about repeating the same story;the fact is, the narrative has to be told. Itis the media's job.
e media is not, and repeat is not, thegovernment's public relations rm. emedia is there to report facts, editorializeon situations and educate the public. If itmakes the government mad, so be it. If thegovernment entities don't want to be seenas being silly, then stop being silly. It is justthat simple!
Nowhere does insanity reign supreme asmuch as it does at the Columbus Conven-tion & Visitors Bureau. Like masterpainters, they illustrate their ignorancewith Salvador Dali-like skill. Mired some-where between the sublime and fantasti-
cal, the CCVB takes pride in making theterm "political jackass" come to life atevery meeting.
Tennessee Williams, the master play-wright, could not create a better set of tor-mented characters, if he was alive. Everymeeting is a scene straight from a tragiccomedy. Complete with antagonists, foolsand sinister subplots, the meetings playout with surrealistic precision. e onlyproblem is that there is no hero waiting inthe wings to save the day. So, the play con-tinues, with no end in sight.
Even when the board gets it right, theydo it wrong. e Legends Concert does
not meet the funding requirements as afestival, so the Legends' Committee wastold to request the money through a "Spe-cial Projects" grant. Sound simpleenough? Well, not here on PlanetCCVB.
When the committee members showedup at the CCVB Board meeting, theyfound out that they don't qualify for that,either. What the $%#&? And what isworse, several sources in the audience feltthat the Legends Committee, and espe-cially Roger Short of the Columbus/Lown-des County Recreation Authority andWCBI's Steve Rogers both of whom at-tended the CCVB Board meeting weretreated very disrespectfully.
Regardless of whether someone gets adime from the CCVB, they should be re-
spected. e CCVB is a public relationsnightmare unto themselves. Alienatingpeople by being rude and overly officious,only accelerates their demise in the com-munity. Only Tennessee Williams couldappreciate the tragedy that the communitycalls the CCVB.
In other news from the CCVB, BernardBuckhalter is up for re-appointment to theboard. His tales of woe and confusionhave been chronicled regularly in e RealStory. Now, it's time for the City to put upor shut up.
According to sources, two councilmen,
Kabir Karriem and Joseph Mickens, favorre-appointing Buckhalter. Two others,Councilmen Bill Gavin and Charlie Box,are opposed. at leaves Gene Taylor andFred Stewart as the swing votes.
And, in one of the most humorous anddisingenuous statements of all time,Mayor Smith has reportedly told peoplethat he does not have a vote in the matter,which is kind of true. He has two votes.Unless, a person has been in a CaptainAmerica-type coma, that is commonknowledge.
So, here you go, boys and girls, RobertSmith holds the keys to re-appointing the
most dysfunctional member of the CCVBBoard. Let's see if he has the intestinal for-titude to make the correct decision or if hewill hide behind the half-truth that hedoes not have a vote. Only time will tell.And last but not least, let's be blunt: It is
time for the CCVB to handle Nancy Car-penter's use of the CCVB-mobile. It is inbad taste that her husband is driving it andif it's not illegal or unethical, it should be.is shows a complete lack of understand-ing of proper protocol and should not betolerated. Let's see if anyone is willing totake the challenge and put an end to thispractice.
In other news from C-Town, Superin-tendent Dr. Liddell has sent the followingquote in regard to the two newly-assigned
principals in the Columbus MunicipalSchool District:
Jill Savely has been a dedicated admin-istrator for Columbus Schools for manyyears. She goes above and beyond thecall of duty in giving teachers, studentsand parents at Columbus High Schoolrespect and guidance. One of the mostfrequent comments I hear from CHSstudents is that Mrs. Savely not onlycares about their education progress,but she also cares about them as indi-viduals. Teachers at CHS have a newleader who has taught alongside themand understands the concerns theyhave about improving student achieve-ment. Columbus Schools is fortunate tohave her at the helm at Columbus HighSchool.
Mrs. Dismukes, in my opinion, can bebest described as a relentless advocatefor children. She puts the needs of stu-dents rst and has a balanced combi-nation of tenacity and sincerity. For thepast three years, Mrs. Dismukes hasworked diligently with many youth pro-grams at Columbus Middle School in-cluding Project LACE Up and Stop theViolence leadership programs. I am im-pressed with her commitment to com-munity service. She builds positiverelationships with teachers and parents.We are looking forward as a district tocontinuing the successful innovationsunderway at CMS under Mrs. Dis-mukes leadership.
Here is wishing Ms.Savely and Ms. Dis-mukes all the luck inthe world. Now, let'shope that the CMSDwill work on gettingthemselves focusedon the task at hand -
teaching the children!
Joseph B. St. JohnMr. Mojo Rising
An extra noteof artistic rumor:
It is believed Dalicreated ePersistence of
Memorywhilewaiting for theCCVB to makesense...it is justa rumor..I guess.
Hot Fun in the Summer Time(The CCVB and CMSD)
at's when I had most of my fun, backhigh high high high thereem summer days, those summer days---
- Sly and the Family Stone
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NEWS/COMMENTARY
June27,2012
REALSTORYPUBLISHING.COM
The Language That We Usee other day, I ran across a post on
Facebook that was written by an oldfriend, and it made me think about thestate of language in this country and howt shapes our decisions. More specically,e shared a quote, purportedly fromlexis de Tocqueville, about which I hady doubts, as well as a quote by H.L.encken, a writer and critic known for
is sharp wit and pen that cut like a razor
o the heart of issues. Vilied by fellowsoutherners aer his scathing indictmentf the post-Civil War south, in which healled the region the Sahara of theozart, he was known for his use of hy-erbole to make a point.
For those who may be wondering, hy-erbole is a fancy way of saying exag-eration, the difference being thatyperbole is not as closely related to lyings is exaggeration. It is a perfectly accept-ble tool, available to the satirist and sagelike. Its purpose is to highly exaggeratedescription in order for the thing beingescribed to be more fully understood; tohe educated reader, it is recognized as
such. Allow me to cite a couple of exam-les with which you may be familiar:
It is easier for a camel to go throughthe eye of a needle, than for a richman to enter into the kingdom ofGod. - Mark 10:25
Now, no one expects to see a camel nav-gate the actual eye of a needle. at is ob-iously impossible. And those whoenerally believe in heaven certainlyould not be surprised to see some richeople walking the streets of gold. How-
ver, what Jesus, or the author of theospel, was doing here was using hyper-ole to illustrate his point - that the thingshat come with being rich make it very
difficult to commit to living the type oflife required of a humble Christian.
Im so hungry I could eat a horse!- most of us, at one time or another.
Again, immediately aer uttering thisphrase, no one would expect to see youmunching on a giant piece of roastedhorse. Even if you are one who enjoys theequine delicacy, you certainly wouldnt
eat a whole one in one sitting. We all un-derstand that you are exaggerating a sit-uation in order to fully express just howhungry you are. You arent lying, you areusing hyperbole.
at brings me to the thought that myfriends posts brought to mind. e sub-
ject was erroneous quotes ascribed to gi-ants of thought, like Tocqueville, in orderto score political points. As it turned out,the Tocqueville quotation was bogus.Perhaps to be fair to my friend, I mustadmit that the reason I am sensitive tofalse quotations is because I was taken in,a few weeks ago, by a Facebook quote
attributed to omas Jefferson. I was sus-ceptible, since the quote seemed to backmy own political thinking - and thereinlies the danger. Both sides of the politicalarena oen use made-up quotes and thenascribe them to respected gures in an at-tempt to further their political ideology.ese quotes get picked up by unques-tioning gures like us and are passedalong as veried truth, when, in fact, theyare the furthest thing from it. en camethe Mencken quote, and my thoughtsabout the use of hyperbole, then and now.
Writers and thinkers like Menckenused hyperbole like a surgeons tool toshave off the trappings of power and goright at a thing. Wit and intelligence werethe cutting edge of their pen. Sure, they
made people astonishingly angry - butthey made people think. And peopleknew that their points oen were hyper-bolic, and they understood the real prob-lem at which they were getting, whetherthey agreed or not.
I turn on my television set or open myFacebook page today and see punditsand experts of Fox News and MSNBCraging on and on about their political op-
position. I see President Obama called asocialist Muslim radical. I have seenGeorge Bush and other conservativescalled neo-Nazis or the Gestapo. Both ofthese are absolutely and utterly ridicu-lous! Yet it seems that we, as the public,lap it up and parrot whatever insane no-tion we saw on Hannity or e EdShow last night as gospel truth. en,heres the craziest part: WE MAKE DE-CISIONS BASED ON IT! ats right.e American public makes decisions,both personal and political, based onblather garnered from 24-hour cablenews networks that is not worth thetime it took to watch. We vote by it. Weget mad and stop speaking to friends overit. We form world views by it. We makethese decisions based on the overuse andmisuse of hyperbole. We even start doingit ourselves.
What passes for political discourse inthe country, right now, seems to be hy-perbole presented and taken as literaltruth. It seems that if the talking headscan convince an unthinking public thatthe opponent is as close to Satan himselfas possible, and that he must be opposedat all costs, then it is worth the damage inorder to garner the votes. And it works.is isnt thoughtful discourse. Its grade-school name-calling, and it adds nothingto our knowledge and understanding of
candidates and issues. We are most sus-ceptible to this tactic not when we dis-agree with the speaker or writer, butwhen we agree. is agreement is whatmakes this type of manipulation so insid-ious and dangerous. We dont see it com-ing because it massages our ownpreconceived notions. It is when we agreewith the demagogues that it is most im-portant for us to detach and think criti-
cally for ourselves about the issues.When so much of a political election
turns on who is caught saying the wrongthing at the wrong time, who can lookpresidential, who can be made out to beanti-American and, maybe most impor-tantly, who can gain the most corporatemoney, we are in a hell of a shape. Myfriend and I may not agree about whoshould be president, but we do agree thatmuch about our government does noth-ing to represent the people anymore. Re-gardless of whom the lobbyists andcorporations attempt to manipulate usinto choosing to be our president and ourrepresentatives this fall, if we have anyhope to regain true representativedemocracy we have to stop accepting andusing hyperbole as fact. People of goodfaith and honest hearts have to nd com-mon ground. e United States was builton compromise. is is not a zero-sumgame, and we have to demand that it stopbeing treated as though it were. e lan-guage that we use (or dont use) is a goodplace to start.Richard Bryant
Richard Bryant
Richard Bryant has a BS and MS in SecondaryEducation from Mississippi State. He lives withhis wife and four children in Starkville.
Noise Ordinance, SaggingPants, and Paving
Addressed at City CouncilAn allegation about possible policeraud involving the citys noise ordinance
was brought to the City Councils atten-tion at the June 21, 2012, council meet-ing. Billy Perkins of Columbus gave astern lecture on the issue. Weve got aproblem with loud noises going on inthis town, whether it is music, loudtailpipes, jake brakes on trucks or loudmotorcycles. e problem I have is, I be-lieve we no longer issue citations for loudmusic, and if the officer does so, theysimply throw it out in court, saidPerkins. He continued with, If this istrue, then we need to think about somethings. Is there fraud going on in this de-
partment? Perkins then asked Chief ofPolice Selvain McQueen, If I le an affi-davit for a vehicle tag, will a ticket be is-sued? McQueen responded, Mr.Perkins, you cannot sign an affidavit ona tag. It has to be on a person. MayorRobert Smith asked, You stated that ci-ations have been thrown out. Do youave any facts? Perkins ended with, No
sir, its just hearsay. If you cant get some-body to investigate this, Ill tell you a manyou can call, and thats the attorney gen-eral in Jackson, Mississippi. Anotherconcerned citizen commented that aColumbus law enforcement officer hadsaid that noise violations werent beingtaken seriously and that if a citation wasissued, it has, in fact, been ignored by thecourt.
City Engineer Kevin Stafford had theask of determining the low bidder
among construction companies vying forthe project to restore the old river bridge.Stafford dealt with two companies andnoted, e bids came down a good bitfrom last time. With a city budget for theproject allocated at 2.2 million, MaloufConstruction of Starkville cast the lowbid of $2,386,000. e bid is about$39,693 over budget. I feel like the extracost would be easily achievable, statedStafford. e council unanimously ap-proved the proposal.
Councilman Charlie Boxs proposedaddition to the current public indecencyordinance involving sagging pants re-ceived nal approval by the City at Tues-days meeting. If charged, a violatorwould be subject to a ne ranging be-tween $75 and $250. e vote was 5-1,with the lone dissent coming fromCouncilman Kabir Karriem, who ques-tioned, If its at the Citys discretion be-tween $75 and $250, how is thatassessed? City Attorney Jeff Turnage an-swered, If the Municipal Court Judgends them guilty, then its up to his or herdiscretion to set the ne." Karriem in-quired further, If the subject is underage,a teenager, whos responsible for payingthe ne? Turnage responded, eteenager. e ordinance prohibits indi-
viduals from wearing pants below thewaist, exposing skin or undergarments.
Public Works Director Mike Pratt wassubjected to lengthy questioning from
See CITY COUNCIL Pg. 4
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NEWS/COMMENTARY
ALWAYSTHET
RUTH...NOCOMPROMISE
Ladies & Gentlemen! In This Corner...The June 18, 2012 CCVBBoard MeetingLets begin with a multiple-choice
question.
Q: e June 18, 2012 ColumbusConvention & Visitors BureauBoard meeting was:
a. Embarrassing
b. Childishc. Pathetic
d. All of the Above
Did you pick d? You did? Ding! Ding!Ding! Youre a winner! Youve won twotickets to the next CCVB Board meeting!No, you dont have to accept your prize.e meeting actually started out prettytame, if not downright boring. First upon the agenda was Joe Higgins, executivedirector of the Columbus Lowndes De-
velopment Link, who nearly put every-one to sleep with his forty-minutesoliloquy on all of the wonderful thingsthat the Link has been doing. I guess thateven the Pope has to lower himself, oc-casionally, to mingle with the commonfolk and let them kiss his ring. Or maybehe felt the need to justify the $200,000that the Link gets from the CCVB everyyear.
ings began to heat up when RissaLawrence challenged a claim made byboard member Bernard Buckhalter at lastmonths meeting in which he alleged thatthe legislation that created the CCVB in-cluded language directing the CCVB to
fund festivals. Lawrence proceeded toquote the actual legislative language andthen referred to a conversation that shehad had with State Senator Terry Brown,who indicated that the wording of the billdid not say that the CCVB has to fundfestivals. Board member Whirllie Byrdthen replied, It doesnt say that we haveto fund the Link, but we do.
Buckhalter then complained about
what he perceived to be omissions in theminutes from the previous meeting,which he believed created an inaccurateimpression about his position in regardsto local festivals. In reply to his statementthat the minutes should contain more de-tails, CCVB Executive Director NancyCarpenter replied, We had one set ofboard minutes that was 17 pages; were
just not going to do that anymore.
A visibly animated Buckhalter laterpounced on a comment made by Car-penter in which she mentioned that shehad contacted newly hired board attor-ney Chris Latimer in regards to evaluat-
ing her employment contract. Buckhalterand other board members then engagedin a spirited back-and-forth about whoshould be able to contact the board attor-ney. e prevailing opinion was that theboard attorney should be contacted whenthe board votes to do so, and then onlyby Carpenter. Shortly thereaer, BoardPresident George Swales appeared tocontradict that opinion when he statedthat he had instructed Carpenter to con-tact the boards legal counsel about hercontract.
As the discussion about the board at-torney devolved into a debate aboutwhether he (the board attorney) shouldbe present at every CCVB board meeting,opposition to this concept surfaced, towhich board member Nadia Dalereplied, e Columbus MunicipalSchool District and the Lowndes CountyBoard of Supervisors have their counselpresent at every meeting. How are we any
different?During a discussion about the recently
completed audits of the CCVB coveringthe scal years 2009, 2010, and 2011,Byrd questioned the wisdom of using therm of Watkins Ward & Stafford yearaer year. Carpenter replied that shedidnt think that there was another rmlocally who was qualied to perform anindependent audit.
e sparks really began to y when theissue of the funding request by the Leg-ends Concert Committee came up. Car-penter recommended that the project notbe funded at all due to the fact that it was
a one-day event and that there was only$54 remaining in the special eventsbudget. Despite vigorous protests on thepart of board members Harvey Myrick,Byrd and Buckhalter, as well as impas-sioned comments by committee mem-bers Roger Short and Steve Rogers, thedecision was made to deny CCVB fund-ing for the event.
ings became so rancorous that, atone point, Swales bellowed, I demandthe same respect that I give every other
member of this board!
In regards to a query by Byrd about theuse of advertising agencies that are basedoutside of Lowndes County the CCVBuses marketing/PR rms in Tuscaloosaand Birmingham, as well as in Jacksonand Tupelo Carpenter replied, "We usecompanies that I feel are best for theCCVB.
e last bit of excitement for the nightoccurred in regards to a motion by Byrdto limit the use of the CCVB vehicle toofficial CCVB business and to prohibit itsuse by non-CCVB employees. Aer a
vigorous discussion during which Car-penter sought to defend both her use ofthe vehicle as well as the fact that it hadbeen driven by her husband (who is nota CCVB employee), the board voteddown the proposal, with Byrd, Buckhal-ter and Dale voting in favor of the motionand Swales, Castleberry, Wise, Myrickand Lawrence voting against (boardmember Dewitt Hicks was absent fromthe meeting).
Aer all of the reworks were spent, itbecame clear that the CCVB Board had,once again, expended far more time andeffort ghting among themselves thanthey had in advancing the cause oftourism in Columbus and LowndesCounty. e citizens of this countyshould expect more.
e Real Story Staff Report
Councilman Joseph Mick-ens regarding paving in theTemple Drive subdivisionand the resulting damage tocitizens mailboxes.Wheres the money goingto come from? askedMickens. Mailboxes werebroken, and it can come outof my budget if it needs to,responded Pratt. WhenCouncilman Karriem didhis work on his project, itcame from bond money.Why does the city need topay for this? retortedMickens. CouncilmanGene Taylor joined in, not-ing, e City destroyedthese mailboxes, and its ourresponsibility to replacethem. e council voted 5-
1 to repair the damage, withMickens voting against theproposal.
Also during the meeting,Jimmy Graham was re-ap-pointed to the City UtilitiesCommission for a ve-yearterm, and Johnny Fisherwas re-appointed to theGolden Triangle AirportBoard for another ve-year
term.
Both Paige Canida-Greeneand Whit Harrington
contributed tothis report.
e Real StoryStaff Report
CITY COUNCIL cont. from pg. 4
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NEWS/COMMENTARY
June27,2012
REAL
STORYPUBLISHING.COM
Summer is here which means a va-cation most likely isnt far away. Whetheryoure hitting the road, jumping on aplane or even enjoying a staycation athome, youre probably looking forwardto some down time with your family. But
not every aspect of your life should be re-laxed. Specically, you dont want to takea vacation from investing - which meansyou need to become a diligent, year-round investor.
Here are a few suggestions that canhelp:
Keep on investing. Dont head to theinvestment sidelines when the -nancial markets experience volatility.You dont want to be a nonpartici-pant when things turn around be-cause, historically, the early stage ofany market rally is generally whenthe biggest gains occur. (Keep inmind that past performance of themarket is not a guarantee of futureresults.)
Keep learning. In just about anyclassroom, the best students are theones who get the most out of theireducation and put their learning tothe best use. And the same is true ofthe investment world: e more youknow about the forces that affectyour investments performance, andabout why you own the investmentsyou do, the more likely you are tomake the right moves - and the lesslikely youll be to make hasty and
unwise decisions. Keep your focus on the long term.
As an investor, you need to look pastthose events - such as natural disas-ters, recession fears and political in-stability abroad - that may havenoticeable short-term effects on thenancial markets but little impactover the longer term. So, instead ofmaking investment decisions basedon todays headlines, think aboutwhat you want your nancial pictureto look like in 10, 20 or 30 years, andtake the appropriate steps to helpmake that picture materialize. ese
steps include following a long-term,
disciplined investment strategy thatssuitable for your individual needs,making adjustments as time goes on,and working with a professional -nancial advisor who knows your sit-uation and can help you make the
right choices. Keep looking for growth opportuni-
ties. To achieve your long-termgoals, such as a comfortable retire-ment, youll need to own growth-oriented investments such as stocksand other investments that containequities. e percentage of yourholdings devoted to stocks should bebased on your risk tolerance, timehorizon and proximity to retire-ment. But no matter what your situ-ation, you want a portfolio thatsdesigned to help you meet your in-
vestment goals.
Keep relying on hardworkinginvestments. To help ensure your in-vestments are working hard for you,choose those vehicles that can helpyou in multiple ways. For example,when you invest in a 401(k) or otheremployer-sponsored retirementplan, your money grows on a tax-deferred basis, which means it canaccumulate faster than if it wereplaced in an investment on whichyou paid taxes every year. (Keep inmind that taxes are due upon with-drawal, and withdrawals prior to age59 may be subject to a 10% IRSpenalty.) Plus, you typically fund
your 401(k) with pretax dollars, sothe more you put in each year, thelower your taxable income. Further-more, with the choices available inyour plan, you can create a good mixof investments.
Enjoy your vacation this summer. Butno matter what the season, dont take abreak from investing. Your efforts maypay off nicely for you in the future.
Ryan Munson
Ryan is a Financial Advisor with EdwardJones. E-mail reaches him at
Water Dept. Issues DominateCaledonia Town Hall MeetingMultiple concerns about the Caledo-ia Water Department were addressed
at the June 21, 2012, Caledonia TownHall meeting.
A grievance submitted by TreyRobertson, a water department em-ployee, had been passed over on thecitys agenda since it was rst brought to
he table at the beginning of May. eissue was nally considered during anexecutive session lasting approximatelyone-hour-and-forty-minutes. Caledo-nia citizen Doug McConaha also lodgeda complaint against the water depart-ment during the regular session, whichitself lasted only about 20 minutes.
Robertson took a test for water oper-ator certication in May 2011, the suc-cessful completion of which would haventitled him to a raise in salary. Whentook the test last year, I scored veryigh. I took time away from home to
ake the test, and Im seeing no reward,
nsisted Robertson. Benny Coleman,ead of the Caledonia Water Depart-ent, was the only person who could
ive nal approval for Robertsons raise.Benny refused to sign off on the certi-ate, without giving me any explanation.es the only person standing betweene and a raise in salary, said Robertson.ccording to Robertson, the next logical
step was to le a grievance against Cole-an with the towns board of aldermen.
When I brought the grievance to Mr.oleman, he refused to sign it, in addi-
ion to not signing the initial certicate.e told me he would write a response to
he board instead of ling the grievance
etter, said Robertson. I only want whatve earned. Colemans response letteras not brought to the council until lastursday, June 21, 2012. e grievance
etter and the response from Colemanere both reviewed during the pro-
onged executive session. e councilas unable to reach a decision but man-ated a 60-day time frame for a nal de-ision. Benny Coleman responded, No
comment to the allegations.
On another matter involving the Cale-donia Water Department, a complaintfrom Caledonia resident Doug Mc-Conaha was heard at ursdays townhall meeting. A water line was putacross my land. Nothing was done to re-pair three driveways and two yards that
were destroyed in front of my shop. Ididnt know this was going on because Iwork out of town three or four monthsat a time. Anyone is free to come out andsee the damage that Im talking about. I
just want everyone to understand, saidMcConaha. Mayor George Gerhartasked, Since youre out of town so oen,when did you rst notice they crossedyour property? McConaha responded,George, thats hard to say. Im out oftown so much, then I come home for afew days. Sometime last summer, latefall is when I rst saw it, I guess. I didntthink much about it at the time. I just as-sumed it would be xed. Gerhart in-
quired, Did you contact Benny[Coleman] about this? McConaha an-swered, No sir. I didnt. Coleman wasasked by the mayor if he had any inputon the situation, to which he responded,No Sir. City Attorney Jeff Smith ex-plained to McConaha that the matterwould be turned over to an insurancecarrier for compensation, to which Mc-Conaha stated, Im not going to ght it.Ill just le criminal charges against theCity of Caledonia Water Departmentfor trespassing, vandalism, and destruc-tion of private property. e board ofaldermen passed a motion to turn the
investigation over to the city attorney.
Whit [email protected]
Whit Harrington is a Marine Corps veteran,who has a B.A. in English (creative writing)
from Texas State University. He enjoysreading, and has been a working drummer
for the past eight years.
Dont Takea Vacation
from Investing
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NEWS/COMMENTARY Exxon Mobil - The Ultimate Corporation
Bill McKibben of e New York Re-view of Books has recently reviewed abook by Steven Coll about Exxon Mobil,one of the best managed corporations inthe world and an example of Americaningenuity, adaptability, hard-nosed busi-ness and relentless pursuit of prots. It isalso a story of personal eccentricity andcorporate short-sightedness.
Exxon Mobil, like its competitors,
makes its money from owning the oilproduced, not just from pumping it forothers. Once formerly protable oil eldsin the Middle East were no longer theirs,they had to adjust their business modelto accommodate new realities. McK-ibben states:
Aer the oil embargoes of the 1970sand the Iranian revolution, mostMiddle Eastern countries seizedback oil and gas elds. In 1973Exxon had produced 6.5 millionbarrels of oil and gas a day from itsown elds; by the late 1990s that g-ure had fallen by two thirds. Exxon
could have become a contractor thatsimply pumped oil for someone elsebut the prot margins werent ashigh. e company increasingly re-lied on its holdings in free-marketcountries like the US, Norway, andAustralia whose supplies, however,were mature or declining.
Exxon solved some of its reserveproblem by exploring for oil incountries too marginal to controltheir own production. Places likeChad or Equatorial Guinea wereclearly not sophisticated enough totake charge of their own reserves and
were happy to sign contracts with thehighest bidder
However, drilling for oil in the Nigerian
delta was a far cry from the protected en-claves of Saudi Arabia.
Working in Nigeria, required pre-dicting not just the price of oil, butthe price of ransoming workers rou-tinely kidnapped by rebels or crimi-nal gangs. In Nigeria, the companynot only had its own police force, butalso hired and supervised an eight-hundred-man unarmed unit of the
supernumerary or spy police, saidColl.
is shi to more shady operationsforced a rethinking of what had been thehallmark of Exxons business model.Aer the tragedy ofExxon Valdez, thecompany successfully remade itself intoan organization built on solid manage-ment, accountability and respectabilitybased in part on its Operations IntegrityManagement System, which valued cor-porate ethics, international accountabilityand solid management.
Suddenly, Exxon had to dramatically
change from a solid, ethical corporateculture to one more suited to the WildWest. Despite the disingenuous commentof Dick Cheney, then CEO of Hallibur-ton, who said, e good Lord didnt seet to put oil and gas only where there aredemocratically elected regimes. We gowhere the business is," world censure wasmaking Exxon Mobils life difficult. Ac-cording to McKibben:
Oil production [in despotic, failingstates] made them even more unsta-ble than they otherwise would havebeen. Not only did oil wealth owmostly to the ruler and his clique, butthe very richness of the prize madethese governments attractive targetsfor coups and invasions. In order toward off attacks, despots invested
much of the money that didnt go formansions and Lamborghinis inarmies and weapons [oen turnedagainst their own people].
Exxon soon realized that doing busi-ness in these gnarly places, while prof-itable, was taking its toll. Since the corebusiness model of Exxon has always beena relentless pursuit of prots, it has alwaysput its vast resources into the develop-
ment of new opportunities. Technologycame at the right time, according toMcKibben:
In recent years Exxon has supple-mented lthy tar sands crude and oilby spending some of its cash hoardto acquire holdings in the Americangas elds newly opened by frackingtechnology, signaling a long-termshi in Exxons businessincreas-ingly, its a gas company as much asan oil giant.
Not only has this strategy paid off forthe company, it has moved the United
States further along the road to self-suffi-ciency. Exxon gets to own and produceenergy at great prot. e US benetsfrom national resources, and Congressbenets by showing how drilling and na-tional exploitation of our vast reservespays great dividends.
Exxon was on top of the world, but forsome reason the companys powerfulCEO entered into an unnecessary andcontentious debate on climate change. Hedecided that, by backing the naysayers, hewould be able to deect the ominous in-roads made by the environmental com-munity. At Kyoto, he gave animpassioned speech denying globalwarming.
At home, he allied his company withthe most radical fringe of American pol-itics, according to McKibben:
e Petroleum Institutes goal was tomake sure that recognition of un-certainties becomes part of the con-
ventional wisdom, said Coll, andthat media coverage recognizes thevalidity of viewpoints challengingthe current conventional wisdom,
so that those promoting the Kyototreaty on the basis of extant scienceappear to be out of touch with real-ity.
Aer a new CEO took over, Exxonmodied its stance, backed off from itsmost radical statements and deferred tothe growing evidence of climate alter-ation. However, even with their vastwealth, they chose not to get into the al-
ternative fuel business a choice whichwould have eventually paid off and giventhem the politically correct veneer thatthey had always sought, asserts McK-ibben:
If Exxon had decided that it wantedto be an energy company, not an oiland gas company, and if it had spentthe $100 million a day it now spendssearching for more hydrocarbons onpursuing renewable breakthroughs,it might have been one of the greatcatalysts for solving climate change.Instead, it decided to rest easy.
is is not surprising. Great Americancorporations such as General Motorsrested easy for decades, refusing to ac-knowledge the worldwide demand forsmaller, fuel-efficient cars because theprots on Cadillacs were so incrediblyhigh. Top executives came and went, andquick, short-term prots were the rule.
e story of Exxon Mobil is a fascinat-ing one. e United States was built onStandard Oil and General Motors, andthis look into one of our most durableand powerful corporations is a look in-side America at our limitless strengthsand our predictable weaknesses.
Ron Parlato is a writerliving in Washington, DC.
He has close ties withColumbus which he visits
frequently. His writings onliterature, politics and
culture, travel, and cookingcan be found on his own
blog, uncleguidosfacts.com.
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FROMTHECITIZENLETTERSTOTHEEDITOR
June27,2012
REALSTO
RYPUBLISHING.COM
From the Citizen is a column that appears, periodically, in the printedition of e Real Story, and will feature commentary from members of the
community, and from both ends of the political spectrum.
Individuals who are interested in submitting commentary for this column shouldwrite to [email protected].
The MoneyFollows the Child
e public may be unaware of the facthat when a public school district falls
elow Mississippi States Accountabilityodel for public schools, the studenthen can go to any other school thate/she selects (for example, a private
school such as Heritage Academy, Im-manuel Center for Christian Education
r Victory Christian Academy - or evencharter school, once they are legally per-itted in our state) and that the state and
ederal funds follow the child to the cho-sen school. is allocation of funds is
andated by the No Child Le Behindegislation that was passed during theush administration. However, it onlypplies in the cases of substandard public
school situations. What does this mean
for our public school system here inColumbus?
e Columbus Municipal District is ina substandard position at this time andhas been since around 2008. erefore,the state is required to pay alternative in-stitutions approximately $6,000, and thefederal government also pays about $6,000, totaling approximately $12,000 perstudent, per year, enrolled in these insti-utions, instead of funds remaining in theublic school systems operating budget.
is action removes approximately$12,000 per student from the publicschools operating budget each year for
ach student not attending the publicschool system. If 100 students leave the
public school system, the result is thatabout $1.2 million is gone from the publicschools yearly operating budget. ere-fore, the private schools in Columbuswould appear to be pulling millions ofdollars from the Columbus public schoolsystems budget each year.
is fact can help us to better under-stand the urgency that Dr. Liddell placesupon improving our schools in Colum-bus. Without improvement, we will seefurther decreases in the operating budgetof our public schools in Columbus. issituation could become devastating in theevent that the inevitable permission forcharter schools in our state and/or theimplementation of the voucher systembegins, whereby parents who send theirchildren to a private or charter school cando so without any out-of-pocket cost.
All of these facts raise a question, in mymind, as to the motivation of some mem-bers of our community, and certainly theowners and managers of the privateschools in our city/county, to assist in thestrengthening of the Columbus Munici-pal School District. Why is Dr. Liddell so
vigorously attacked, politically, for trivialsituations?
Lets be honest with ourselves and facereality. Dr. Liddell inherited a mess madeby the past administration when she tookover as interim superintendent. Amongthe problems are: (1) All of the reserve ac-counts were basically depleted; (2) thesystem is characterized by low studentachievement, based upon the states ac-countability model, and is on academic
watch by the state; and (3) due to the lackof funds to pay their salaries, good teach-
ers had to be terminated. I understandwhy the last person who had the super-intendents job cut and ran from the mess.I had heard, through the grapevine, thathe did not receive a signicant pay raise,if any, at his new job.
Dr. Liddell was astute enough to prefaceher public interview for the position ofsuperintendent and boldly report themess in which the CMSD is mired. In ad-dition, she was condent enough in herability to face the school board and thepublic in her job interview and say, I willx it. e buck stops here. Give me theopportunity and strength to make it hap-pen. Because of my experience and edu-cation, I know what to do, and, inaddition, the good education of my ownchildren depends upon it. I did not hearany other candidate for that job outlinethe problems of our schools and promiseto take personal responsibility to x themas Dr. Liddell has done.
Since that interview, all that I have seenin the media are stones thrown at her fortrivial reasons. Could there be ulteriormotives for these attacks? Is there a goodreason not to try and improve the publicschool system in Columbus? In reality, itmay be in the economic best interest ofcertain parties in our city if the ColumbusSchool District remains in a failing situa-tion. Aer all, approximately $1.2 millionfor every 100 students attending alterna-tive schools is not small money. us,some folks may not wish to x the publicschool system in our city.
To develop our community, we need a
successful public school system. Compa-nies with an interest in setting up opera-
tions here look at the quality of the publicschools as a major factor in their deci-sion-making process. Good publicschools equate to attractive communitiesis the axiom of corporate executives seek-ing new locations. In addition, I andmany other people in our community areproducts of the Columbus/Lowndes
County school system, and we would notbe where we are today without it. ere-fore, I say quit looking for ways to attackDr. Liddell but nd ways to help her xour public school system. en hold heraccountable by looking at the improve-ments of test scores, lower drop-out ratesand all other such publically availabledata that will show her progress withouta political bias.
e methods and techniques for theeducation of young people are a knownscience and technology. People such asDr. Liddell earn PhDs doing research andstudy on the topics in this discipline.
Please take the politics out of the super-intendents job and let her do the job thatshe has already outlined as needing to bedone. If we do that, I rmly believe thatwe will see a very good result. People willthen look at Columbus not just for thenumber of old houses that we have, or thenumber of great places to sh and hunt,or the money that they can save not pay-ing taxes but, more importantly, by thequality of our school system and the eco-nomic development possibilities enjoyedby a well-educated public.
Claude Simpson
Claude Simpson is a retired entrepreneurwho is passionate about the success ofColumbus.
LetterstotheEditor
Dear Editor:
I attended the Monday (6/18/2012) ses-sion of the municipal court and was reallysurprised that the session is held in secretin open view. e people could view theproceedings but could not hear 99% ofwhat was said. e prosecuting attorneyfor the city must have been in side barwith the judge constantly, since the onlywords heard by anyone from her were thealling of the name of the next case. eefendants, attorneys and even a police
officer stood directly in front of the judgeat the bar such that their voices were soow the microphones could not pickhem up to amplify the sound. Most ofhe time, the judge spoke soly or mum-led; as a result, her rulings could not benderstood. e citizens of Columbus,ho profess that they want change, must
start attending these sessions and de-
and change. Berry HindsColumbus
Dear Editor:
ere's something happening hereey weren't thinking exactly cleare wall's just a little cocky-eyedWill make our guests ... all run and hide
Hey now, what's that sound ... everybodylook what's going down!
CRB
Editors Note: Portions of the aboveletter were borrowed from BuffaloSpringelds For What Its Worth.
(See accompanying photo)
"In the rst place,God made idiots.
That was for practice. Then
he made school boards."- Mark Twain
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AMERIC
ANWINDSYMPHONY American Wind Symphony Orchestra
American Wind SymphonyMusicians Provide aTaste of Things to Come
Five Members of the American WindSymphony Orchestra performed urs-day, June 21, 2012, at the RosenzweigArts Center. Members of the AWSO gothrough a rigorous audition processunder the scrutiny of conductor RobertBoudreau. ey are classically trainedmusicians who are guaranteed to bedaz-zle the most avid music enthusiast.
e quintet met for the rst time onSunday, June 17, began rehearsal onMonday, June 18, and was performinglike a well-oiled machine by ursday the21st.
e dynamics were amazing, not justin regards to the harmony among themusicians but also in the range of sonotes that waed throughout the enthu-siastic audience. e room was small but
the sound was big, and everyone in atten-dance felt it. e ve musicians, hailingfrom all over the world, performed as apreview of the much larger symphony, ofwhich they are a part.
e group closed their set with eFlight of the Bumblebee, in which utistMelanie Liddey from Suffolk, Va., stolethe show. Bassoonist Wen Hsieh, origi-nally from Taiwan but who has studiedin Philadelphia, played low notes thatwould make any bassist green with envy.e syncopation between Natalie Hig-gins from Sacramento, Calif., on theFrench horn, Glenda Bates from Vienna,
Va., on the oboe, and Erik Franklin fromColumbia, S.C., playing clarinet was apure delight.
Whit [email protected]
Saturday at the Symphony
It is not every day that Columbus,Mississippi is privileged enough toplay host to a world-renowned sym-phony orchestra. It is even less oenthat an orchestra sets up camp on a195-foot barge on the banks of the
Tombigbee. But that is exactly whatwe happened on Saturday, June 24,2012, as our fair city welcomed eAmerican Wind Symphony Orches-tra.
e AWSO was founded in 1957 byMaestro Robert Austin Boudreau,who still leads the orchestra today andfor the past 55 years has been travelingall over the world performing foradoring crowds. e AWSO hasplayed all over the United States, theCaribbean and northern Europe, trav-eling to each new port in their oatingarts center. e orchestra, which ismade up of musicians all under theage of 30, performs their concert on astage built atop an enormous barge;the interior of the vessel houses an artgallery and small theatre.
So it is no surprise thatthis past Saturdayevening, the John C. Sten-nis Lock and Dam areawas packed full of lawnchairs and picnic blan-kets, as well as musiclovers from throughout
the area. e settingcould not have been moreserene for listening to thesoothing sounds of theorchestra. e cricketsand frogs seemed tochime in with themelodic sounds of thehorns and the strings as
they masterfully played each piece.Children danced, couples held handsand friends chatted as all arounthem the beautiful music lled the air.e heat, in a way, seemed to makethe music even that much sweeter, asif the notes got hung up in the humiair and were able to envelop the entirecrowd. e attendees were le feelingas if they had just witnessed some-thing very important, something thatthey would not soon forget.
Without a doubt, e AmericanWind Symphony Orchestra is a one-of-a-kind experience. MaestroBoudreau denitely knows what he isdoing when it comes to music and artin general. e orchestra, on thewhole, is so very talented; each mem-ber brings something unique to theensemble. ey will continue to travelthe world, performing their art for themasses. But maybe they will return. I
and when that happens, I hope yocan be there.
Courtesy Photo Graule Studios
Tori [email protected]
Tori is a native of Columbus, who studiedcommunications at MS State University.
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LIFESTYLES Paws Corner
by Sam Mazzotta
The Right Way to Remove Ticks
Dear Paws Corner:I wanted to pass on to your readers some-thing I found that works very well for re-moving ticks: Icy-Hot. My little dog got atick right in our own yard. I tried using amatch, but I was so nervous that I mightburn her. My sister told me to use Icy-Hot.
I'm so relieved it did the trick!-- Diane O., Palmyra, N.Y.
Dear Diane: Interesting tip! One waythat we used to remove ticks from ourdogs many years ago was by smearing adollop of Vaseline over the embeddedtick, covering it completely. Eventually,the tick would suffocate or try to escape.
In recent years, however, veterinariansand disease-control experts have rec-ommended against using Vaseline be-cause it can take up to 48 hours for thetick to suffocate. Ticks need to be re-moved quickly -- within 24 hours or
less. Why? Because aer a day of feed-ing, the tick is completely engorged withblood. To keep feeding, it regurgitatesthat blood right back into your pet --
and if the tick is carrying a disease likeLyme, your pet is likely to be infected.
Ditto with the old-fashioned matchtrick. When a lighted match is held tothe tick, the tick oen pulls out quickly-- but it tends to regurgitate as it does so.
So what's the best way to remove ticks?Experts recommend tweezers, grabbingas close to the tick's head as possible.Slowly pull the head out without twist-ing or jerking -- being careful not tosquish the tick for the reasons listedabove. If the tick's head or part of itshead breaks off in the skin, monitoryour pet for a few days. It should beworked out by your pet's own body, butif signs of infection appear, contact your
veterinarian.
Send your questions or comments [email protected], or write to Paw'sCorner, c/o King Features Weekly Serv-ice, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL32853-6475. For more pet care-relatedadvice and information, visitwww.pawscorner.com.
(c) 2012 King Features Synd., Inc.
ColumbusExchange Club
Members of the American Wind Symphony Orchestra performed for the Exchange Club.
Officer Goes Above andBeyond to Solve Crime
Gotta vent!...It's a sad day in this country when a 74-year-old woman (mymother) has her purse stolen from a shopping cart in the Walmart parkinglot, and Walmart won't review the video tape unless the police departmentrequests it, and the police wont request it unless it's a felony crime committed.So, I guess you can go steal ladies purses in the parking lot of Wally-World,because it's just a misdemeanor unless you try and use credit cards or forgea check! UNBELIEVABLE!! Wally has all that elaborate video security andrefuses to use it to help a customer. REMEMBER that next time you're head-
ing there to shop.
e above comment was posted onthe Columbus, Miss., Facebook Watchpage on Monday, June 4. When DonnieElkin with the Columbus Police Depart-ment viewed this post on Tuesday, June5, he jumped right on it and not only gotthe ball rolling but made an arrest!
It all started when a 74-year-oldwoman noticed her purse was missing.She then realized she had le it in thebuggy when she had returned it to theshopping cart section. When she re-turned to Walmart to see if it had beenturned in, she was told that they couldnot review the surveillance tapes with-out the police requesting it.
e victim then proceeded to makearrangements to have all her credit cardscancelled and went to the bank to cancela series of checks. At the bank, she wastold that she was the third person whohad come into that particular bank thatday for the same reason (although wedont know that the purses were allsnatched at Walmart). As she was relay-ing this to her son, he persuaded her togo to the police department to le a re-port. Unfortunately, this added fuel tothe already burning re when she wastold that the police department wouldnot review the surveillance tapes unlessit involved a felony - and that until thesuspect tried to use a credit card orforged a check, it was only a misde-meanor. It was later determined that theofficer who told her that was misin-formed, as this is not true.
In the meantime, however, family andfriends were discouraged by the tape notbeing able to be reviewed and were ex-tremely concerned that the culprit nownot only had her Social Security cardand information but her address as well.
Since the victim is an elderly lady, therewas justiable concern that the personwho stole her purse would attempt to goto her home.
en Donnie Elkin came to the res-cue! Aer seeing the post on Facebook,he contacted Shonda Browning (LossPrevention) at Walmart and was able to
view the surveillance video. Ms. Brown-ing could not identify the white malefrom the video, but she did think thatthe kids who were with him resembledthe children of a white male who man-
ages a local restaurant. e video alsoshowed this same white male get thepurse out of the shopping cart and thenget into his vehicle (a white, square-type
vehicle) and leave the area.
Elkin then went to Logans Roadhouseand showed photos of the video to themanager on duty, who identied thesuspect as Daniel Meek, the generalmanager of the restaurant. Later that af-ternoon, Elkin was driving by Lowesand noticed a white, square-type vehiclethat matched the one in the video. Aerconducting a check on the tag, it cameback as belonging to the suspect, DanielMeek. Elkin then stopped the vehicle onRidge Road and, aer questioning himabout the purse and showing himscreen-capture photos of the surveil-lance video, Meek nally admitted totaking the purse from the buggy. He alsostated that he had tossed the purse intoa dumpster behind Mi Toro. Investiga-tors and family members, however, wereunable to recover the purse, even aerclimbing into the dumpster and search-ing for it.
Meek was arrested and charged withpetit larceny. Sources have indicated thathe has been recalled to anotherLogans location.
e victims family members thencalled Logans corporate office and weretold that Mr. Meek had not been con-
victed yet, and that he was innocentuntil proven guilty. e victims sonstated that not only had Meek confessed,but that he had been captured on videocommitting the crime. ere was nomention of any disciplinary action orapology made to the family, or any ex-pression of concern at all. e irony ofit all is that the victim had actually dined(for the rst time) at Logans earlier thatday.
THANK YOU, Donnie Elkin, forgoing above and beyond. You are verymuch appreciated.
Aimee [email protected]
Aimee is the Office Manager at MaloneElectric Company, Inc. and also has her own
freelance graphic design business.She is married to Kenneth Shaw of Columbus.
In front of Mitchell School, 15th St.
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LIFESTYLES
June
27,2012
REALSTORYPUBLISHING.COM
Sounds of SummerSerenades Hundreds
e sounds of sweet music lled the air arounddowntown Columbus this past ursday night,
hen Swingshi took the stage at Sounds ofummer. All ages and all walks of life were presento soak up the music, food and
scenery at this lovely Colum-us tradition. Folks mingledith old friends and maybe
ven made some new onesown by the Tennessee-ombigbee River. Good timesere had by all.
Around 6:30 p.m. every otherursday night, the excited
hrongs of people begin to ar-ive at the Riverwalk. Manyome equipped with lawnhairs, baby strollers and bug
spray, all the necessities for en-oying an evening underneathhe stars in the muggy Missis-
sippi heat. When they rst ar-ive, you will denitely hear thebligatory, It is so hot, yall,"ut by the time the band takeshe stage and begins to sere-ade, temperatures seem to miraculously drop!k, they really dont, but you are having such a
ood time by then you dont even mind that youre sweating profusely in front of most of the town.
is past ursday, the musical entertainmentas provided by the band Swingshi. You are
probably already familiar with Swingshi," asthey have been a staple on the local music scenefor years. ey play the good stuff from back whenpeople really knew how to write songs - exactlythe kind of music that makes you want to get upand dance! My personal favorite was when theyplayed ese Arms of Mine by Otis Redding.But even if you arent into the oldies, Swingshi
makes sure that everyone present has an amazingtime.
Sounds of Summer also features a number ofvendors. From food to t-shirts, if you are looking
to spend a little extra cash atSounds of Summer, you willhave an opportunity to do just
that! e Main Street staff setsup a beer tent where you canalso purchase adorable Soundsof Summer t-shirts. ere areseveral food vendors, offeringeverything from boiled peanutsto barbecue. And Sounds ofSummer is a great place to pickup Columbus latest fashiontrend, LowCo Gear.
Sounds of Summer is such aunique experience. We are solucky to have the Main StreetColumbus team, who work sohard and are so devoted to
making sure our city lives up toall of its potential. Amber Bris-lin and all the staff go above andbeyond to put on these won-
derful activities in Columbus, and we should alltake pride in our town and come out in support.Sounds of Summer will continue all summer, withthe next concert scheduled for ursday, July 12so as not to conict with your Fourth of July ac-tivities. So please make plans to come out nexttime, and bring the whole family!
Senior News Lineby Matilda Charles
Blue-Collar Blues
Blue-collar workers amongus could be hurt if the retire-ment age is raised again.While the overall state of So-cial Security wouldn't be af-fected that much, it would bea burden for those who'vedone the hard work all their
lives.
So says a report by theAmerican Institute for Eco-nomic Research.
ink about it: ose of uswho've done physical workall our lives want to retireearlier. We're tired and needa break. A researcher exam-ined records for a period of21 years and found that:
Less than 5 percent ofworkers in white-collar pro-
fessions retire at age 65. isgroup includes lawyers, sci-entists, managers and ad-ministrators.
ose who do manuallabor, the blue-collar workersamong us, retire at age 65 atthe following rates:
32 percent -- foremen,machine operators
23 percent -- carpenters
21.6 -- farm workers
19 percent -- kitchenworkers
18.5 percent --gardeners, automechanics
If the retirement age israised, blue-collar workerswon't stay on the job. ey'llstill retire, but their Social Se-curity each month will be lessthan it would be at full retire-ment age.
e current debate iswhether raising the retire-ment age would have anybenet to the Social Securityprogram itself. One studythat showed raising the earli-est retirement age from 62 to65 would have only "modesteffects" on the health of So-cial Security.
On the other hand, to keepworking requires that onehave a job. It's shown that theunemployment rate for thoseage 55 and older is the high-
est it's been in 60 years.If you object to the govern-
ment trying to balance thebudget by tinkering with ourretirement, let your senatorsknow.
Matilda Charles regrets that shecannot personally answerreader questions, but will incor-porate them into her columnwhenever possible. Write to herin care of King Features WeeklyService, P.O. Box 536475, Or-lando, FL 32853-6475, or sende-mail to columnreply
@gmail.com.
(c) 2012 King Features Synd., Inc.
Tori [email protected]
Tori is a native of Columbus, who studied communicationsat MS State University.
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BUSINESSSPOTLIGHT
SUNRISE POOL & CONSTRUCTIONLocal Pool Builder Uses A TeamApproach To Construction
A few weeks ago, it began to get hotenough to jump into a swimming pool,and I had several opportunities to do so.Many people seem to build their summerlives around water, including in-groundpools.
Now that the June heat is with us, alongwith our famous Gulf humidity, it's likelythat warmer temperatures will be hereuntil well into September. Until the sun-light begins to arrive in Mississippi at aslight slant, you need to round up yourswimsuit, ippers, mask and water noo-dles.
Full-service pool company plus
I had a conversation with Dale Breiti-gan, founder and owner of Sunrise Pool& Construction. Breitigan has beautifullyfused pool installations with new and ex-isting home construction, using a team
approach.
"I've worked for several area pool com-panies," said Breitigan, "and decided in1998 to venture out on my own. It wastime."
Breitigan's mentor is James Edwards,who has about 22 years of professionalpool experience.
"We're a full-service pool company,"Breitigan said. "We service pools, getthem ready for the new season and do alot of pool liner jobs. You don't have tohave bought a pool from us to get goodservice," he added. "We do it all, from sit-
ting down with a client and drawing a
customized pool plan, to installing, sug-gesting how to landscape the area andhooking you up with someone whodoes."
Seasonal business...
My friends who work with catshponds have busy seasons that uctuatewith weather. e same is true with al-
most anyone who works outside (withthe exception of mail carriers). Oen,these individuals whose jobs depend onthe weather have to nd supplementalemployment for their off-season. epool business is a prime example.
Since the pool business is so seasonal, Ineeded something to do for the rest of theyear. at's how I got hooked up withMike McElhenney, who has his own con-struction company here in New Hope."What I heard Breitigan describing was ateam approach in the business world.
"Mike's specialty is dirt movement -
clearing lots, hauling dirt, bull-dozingand related things. My specialty is, ofcourse, pools and hot tubs, but we worktogether to build some heavily cus-tomized homes."
New subdivision...
One of the newest subdivisions in theNew Hope area is Sleepy Fawn Park,which is located off of Casey Lane, not farfrom New Hope School. Somewhat iso-lated, Sleepy Fawn Park has about 60completed and developing homes.
"Let me walk you through a few of thesehomes," said Breitigan. "You'll see just
how much work is customized."
Breitigan operates as the supervisor, fa-
cilitating and coordinating work oen atthree or four sites at the same time. Hespends a lot of his time orchestrating anddirecting, making sure that all workersare on-task and that there are as fewproblems as possible.
"About 40 percent of my time is beingspent on pool work and the other 60 per-cent in home construction," he said.Economic upturn?
Based on the general activity andthere was a lot of it that I observed inSleepy Fawn Park, I asked for conrma-tion that we have begun to climb out ofthe economic sinkhole. Two of mytrucker buddies have recently told methat the truck traffic has picked up sig-nicantly, indicating that a turnaround islikely.
Breitigan agrees. "I don't think that wewill be out of the hole this year," he said,"but in 2013 for sure. Breitigan does nothave a degree in economics, but he seeswhat's going on in our area, and it cer-tainly is an improvement, at least in hisline of work.
Work day...
A typical work day for Breitigan, in
warmer weather, lasts 14 hours."I leave my house about sunrise and get
back at dusk," he admitted. "I'm a pivotman, more or less, and spend my timecoordinating work on several sites. It's noteasy...Oh," he added, "I spend a lot of time
on the phone, something like 3,600 min-
utes in a month!"I walked through two of the homes
which Breitigan's crew has built, and I ob-served a trend of using old-fashioned x-tures and brick and mortar that seemedmore solid - denitely not a pre-fabri-cated type of construction. Breitigan'shomes are highly customized, satisfyingthe client's specic needs.
At one home, the pool house alonecould have sold the property. ere wasan in-concrete hot tub, a customizedcedar bar with drawers, Mexican tile, areplace and outdoor furniture that com-plemented the rustic style well. And, justfeet away, was that perfect pool, ready forthe 90-degree-plus days that are in-evitably part of our lives.
Since Breitigan has minimized his over-head by working out of his home, youwill need to contact him by phone at662.242.6926. No doubt he has a wonder-ful cell phone plan!
Pool house at the home of Mike and Kim McElhenney,built by Sunrise Pool and Construction.
John Dorroh
John Dorroh is a Columbusresident who presentlyworks and lives part-time in
the St. Louis area. He worksas an educationalconsultant, traveling in the
Midwest and Southeast.He writes short stories,essays, and cheesy poetryabout people he has metalong the way.
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T
ENNESSEEWILLIAMS A Day in the Life of Tennessee Williams
One of the unique facts about Colum-bus, Mississippi, is that it is the birthplaceof playwright Tennessee Williams. Hiscontributions to theatre and lm havesupplied us with endless, timeless and rel-evant themes, as well as larger-than-lifecharacters, all of which are as signicanttoday as they were then. Williams is oneof the most brilliant playwrights inAmerican theater.
He was born omas Lanier WilliamsIII on March 25, 1911, to Cornelius andEdwina Dakin Williams. His siblings in-cluded an older sister, Rose, and ayounger brother named Dakin.
His grandfa-ther, EdwinDakin, wasthe rector atSt. Pauls Epis-copal Church.His grand-mother, Rose,was the choir
director. In hiscollection of
journals thatmade upNotebooks,W i l l i a m swrites that hisgrandfatherwas a gentle-man and aman of truefaith in his vo-cation, and yetendearinglyworldly; andalways the de-light of the oc-casion.
Because ofhis fathers oc-cupation as atraveling shoe salesman, Williams spentthe majority of his formative years livingwith his grandparents in various cities inMississippi and Tennessee. At the age of7, he was struck with diphtheria, an
upper respiratory dis-ease that le himbedridden for abouttwo years. During hisconnement, heamused himself byreading all of the clas-sics from his grandfa-thers library.
Despite his illness,Williams describedhis childhood ashappy and carefree.His sense of securitywas lost when e
movedwith hisfamily to
join his fa-ther in theurban en-
vironmentof St. Louis,Mo. It wasat this timethatWilliams
began to focus more inwardly, and towrite, mainly because he said that hefound life unsatisfactory.
Williams distress while living in St.Louis, coupled with his determination to
follow his dream, led him to ee the cityof pollution to seek solace in his writingin a city that didnt sleep - New Orleans.His struggle with depression and an un-resolved understanding of his place in theworld would lead him into unhealthy ter-ritory that, at times, would jeopardize his
life and, in the end, claim it in 1983. Herevealed in Memoirs, I live like a gypsy;I am a fugitive. No place seems tenable tome for long, anymore, not even my ownskin.
Williams muse would come from hisearly life experiences in the South, as wellas from an ingenious imagination. De-spite Williams struggles, he was a geniusand produced works that will always havea place in American theater. irty yearsaer his death, scholars are still critiquinghis works, which establish this dramatistas a literary pioneer who helped changetheater into the experience we know
today.
His mother, Edwina, wrote, Murder,cannibalism, castration, madness, incest,rape, adultery, nymphomania, and ho-mosexuality. ere exists no savage actabout which my son has not written. Yet,
his plays are lled with beauty. And theyoffer truth, truth that many of us do notlike to face.
Stay tuned, as Williams accomplish-ments and anecdotes of his life will befeatured in future editions of e RealStory.
Courtesy Photo
The Tennessee Williams home, Columbus, MS.
Courtesy Photo
A handsome, young Tennessee Williams.
Paige [email protected]
Paige Canida-Greene is a senior communicationmajor (theatre minor) at Mississippi University
for Women, and lives in Columbus.
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When you rst meet Bryan Roberts, and you nd out that he is amusician, you just might say to yourself, Yeah, I can see that.
is is of those you cant judge a book by its cover situations,because Roberts has other talents, ones that you might be able todeduce, at rst glance. He is an art lover. A vegetarian. A killer chef,who specializes in Korean cuisine.
Roberts was practically raised as a musician, since he started play-ing the drums when he was three and he hung out backstage in theuke joints and clubs where his father, Pete Roberts played, such as
e Broken Spoke, near Caledonia.
Later, Bryan was in his high school band, and majored in musicat Mississippi University for Women.
In addition to this formal music training, Roberts also experi-mented with various instruments on his own, and now can playthe guitar and bass, as well as the drums, which is his main instru-ment.
Roberts is the leader of the band Atomic Toast, which he foundedin 2003. e bands current incarnation, which has been in placefor a year, consists of: Cole Little bass and vocals; Hayden Allen drums and vocals; and Roberts guitar and vocals. e bandplays in the style of college rock and alt country, with a mixture ofcovers and original tunes. Roberts stated that their covers generallyrun along the lines of original takes on classic hits from bands likethe Beastie Boys and Rage Against the Machine.When asked about how he came up with name Atomic Toast, hewould only say that he wanted a name that would be memorable.Beyond that, there is no signicance.
Although Roberts isnt able to name a favorite musician, becausehe has been inuenced by so many, he named Ty Segal, who is onthe cutting edge of the San Francisco punk scene, as someone whohas inspired him. Roberts cites Segals ability to create music that isnot mainstream, but is still a reachable sound, and notes that Segalsmusic arises from the garage band movement of the 1960s.
Atomic Toast plays mostly club gigs in the area, but has traveled asfar away as Florence, Alabama for a performance.
e band has about 10 original songs in the can and hopes torecord an album, eventually. Roberts indicated that when they do,it will be pressed to vinyl, rather than being duplicated in compactdisk format.
The Columbus Lowndes Development LINK held its quarterly luncheonat the East Mississippi Community College on Wednesday June 20, 2012.
The purpose of the luncheon was to update LINK members on thevarious projects that the LINK is working on, and to inform them on plans
to better our community by working to bring in new business.
LINK Quarterly Luncheon Held atEast Mississippi Community College
e Real Story Staff Report
Roberts is always exploring potential gigsthroughout the Golden Triangle, and posts thatinfo on the bands Facebook page,https://www.facebook.com/ pages/Atomic-Toast/119602238156013.
If you want to hear Roberts music, live, you hadbetter do so, soon, as he and his girlfriend Leslieplan to relocate to Austin, Texas, in August.Columbus loss is Austins gain.
Oh yeah, and if you want to experience some ofRoberts culinary artistry, check out Hana KoreanRestaurant & Market (4226 Hwy. 373;662.434.8881). e man really rocks the bulgogi!
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CU
LTURALLYSPEAKING
The MostImportant W of Culture
In this column, we usually share in-formation the who, what, when,and where of the local arts and cul-ture scene.
is week, were going to talk aboutanother w word the why. As in,why you should care about and patron-ize the arts.
First of all is the obvious: patronizingthe arts, whether than means buying apiece of art, becoming a member of anarts organization, buying a ticket to aconcert, or just sending in a small do-nation, means that an visual artist orperformer can continue to create moreart or can, simply, pay the rent. Or thatan arts organization can continue itsmission of exposing people to one artform or another. Or that some under-privileged student can has his or herbudding talent nurtured.
It also means, by extension, that thecommunity as a whole, benets. Be-lieve it or not, artists and arts organiza-tions, do buy things, like food, gas, artsupplies, copy paper, etc. ose pur-chases, in turn, help employ people inthe businesses that are being patron-
ized. e tax dollars created may go topave a road or to help fund a publicsculpture garden, the latter of whichwould then benet an artist and thecycle repeats itself.
Attending a cultural event also stim-ulates the mind and opens it to newand far-ranging possibilities. It stirsemotions or passions, which may, inturn, lead either to a lifelong interest incollecting or inspire one to create awork that will move someone else.
Lastly, art is good for the soul. Beautycertainly is in the eye of the beholder,but beauty, in any art form can help tocreate a more harmonious and peace-ful world in which to live.
So, think about it. Now, you evenmore reason perhaps the best reasonof all to
Get out, andget your culture on!
Every journey into the past
is complicated by delusions,
false memories, false namings
of real events.
- Adrienne Rich
e Real Story Staff Report
CS did not take up as much room as I had
space for. I put the TN Wms ad in as filler - butwe can replace with whatever you want to use
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Topic:
Balancing Family
and CareerQuestionDear Meagan,
ow can I get my signicant other to helpout when I'm working more than 80 hourser week? My signicant other still expects
me to do the normal cooking and cleaning,then complains when I don't spend enoughtime with him. What is the best way toandle this?
Frazzled
AnswerDear Frazzled:
e moment we begin to point out-wards is an invitation to look inwards.Looking to change someone else is a cuefor us to actually stop for a moment andconsider what it is we truly want.
Taking a look at your life in a holisticmanner is important whenever you areunhappy with a situation in which yound yourself. You dont have to play theblame game to get somewhere; chang-ing your signicant other may be whatou think you want, but, in reality, its aeection of something in you withhich you are unhappy. Lord knows we
ant change another person; rather, con-
sider looking at what it is you can do toempower yourself and get clear on whatyou can actually and realistically changein your own life.
In your instance, I would begin bylooking at why you are putting so muchon your plate. Is this something you havealways done? We oen nd ourselvesstuck in old patterns, or busy patterns, tokeep ourselves from experiencing peaceof mind and happiness. Peace of mindand happiness come from within our-selves, not without, and so the way we ac-cess them is actually by looking inwardand taking care of ourselves, ourselves. I
am positive that there are some changesthat you can make that you havent con-sidered.
You are never stuck. ere are alwayssolutions to every problem, and you havea choice in everything you do. Some-times it can be hard to ask for help or tosee outside of your own situation, whichis why nding someone you can bouncelife issues off of is important. How many
hours a week do you need to work to payyour bills? If it is less than 80, perhaps youcan cut back. If you really need the 80hours of work, then maybe you could getclear about what you can and are willingto do in the house that doesnt seem liketoo much or wont put you over the edge.Once you are clear, take a moment withyour signicant other and communicateyour needs clearly. We oen dont ask forwhat we need because we think we wontget it. But the truth is oen the opposite;we never get clear about what we need,so we end up lashing out when our but-tons have been pushed too far. It is unfairto have expectations of others if youhavent rst clearly dened and commu-nicated what those expectations are.
Everything will always seem harder,and the world will always seem againstyou, if you are not taking time for your-self to do the things you enjoy and thatfeed your spirit. e key is to nd a wayto look at your life as an observer, as iffrom the outside, and see how it is youcan take care of you. Do one thing a day
just for you, and you only. Relax, and letthe answers come to you, and know thatyour situation is not immovable. Be com-passionate with yourself, and treat your-self well, and things will start to fall intoplace for you.
When you get the urge to blame life orblame your signicant other, that is a cueto go do something that will take you out
of that state of mind. at somethingthat you can do is to be discovered andcan be an adventure to nd. Whateveryou do, it is all about taking charge ofyour life and making it be what you wantit to be. e only way to do that is to get
very clear on what you want and need inyour life in order to feel balanced.
Balancing life is no easy task, and ittakes being open to learning how to ne-tune your schedule, personal wants andneeds in a partnership while adjustingyour own perspective. I have no doubtthat you are already on your way to mak-ing the changes you need to get what you
deserve - happiness.
Do you have a question about yourlife, career, or relationships?
Ask Meagan!E-mail reaches her at [email protected].
Personal information, such as your name, with NOT be divulged.
Meagan is a trained andexperienced Life Coach,award-winning author ofCreating Your Heaven onEarth, blogger, poet, andsupporter of the underdog.She has a life coaching practice in Columbus, MS.
Meagan M. [email protected]
Why Should ProteinBe Part of Your Diet?
Over the years, many clients, family,friends and people, in general, havetalked to me about what they eat. I havefound that most people dont know whatprotein is, let alone why it is important.Most people's daily diets consist mainlyof carbohydrates, such as breads, pasta,
rice, potatoes, grains and sweets, mixedin with some protein, vegetables, fruitand nuts. I am sure that you are, by now,starting to think about what you eat.Maybe you are doing the same thing, tosome extent, and are, perhaps, curious asto the possibility of doing something dif-ferent. If you are exercising, especiallystrength training, protein is even moreimportant for developing lean musclemass. Lean muscle mass burns morebody fat at rest and during exercise.
Proteins are organic molecules madeup of amino acids, which are the build-ing blocks of life. ere are two main cat-
egories of amino acids: essential aminoacids (there are nine of these that thebody cant manufacture and must getfrom our diet) and conditionally essen-tial and non-essential amino acids (thereare 14 of these that are made by our body,but stress may reduce the amount ofthese that our body can produce). Pro-tein and amino acids are needed to pro-duce enzymes, hormones, neuro-transmitters and antibodies. Proteinhelps replace worn out cells, transports
various substances throughout the body,and assists in growth and repair.
Here are some additional reasons for
getting enough protein into your dailyregimen:
Protein increases the weight-lossprole. It is thermic and can lead to ahigher metabolic rate. Its effect isnearly double that of carbohydratesand fat. is leads to greater fat loss.
It increases the hormone glucagon,which is responsible for decreasinginsulin in adipose tissue, leading tohigher fat burning and lowertriglyceride concentrations.
It increases the growth and repairof lean muscle.
It provides nutrients such asvitamins, minerals andconjugated linoleic acids.
It improves satiety andimmune functions anddecreases overeating.
Now that you understand howimportant protein is, lets talk aboutwhich foods are protein. Some sourcesof protein are: lean beef (less than 10%fat is best); sh; chicken; lean pork; eggs;egg whites; turkey; deer; wild game;some yogurts; tofu; legumes/beans;whey; and plant-based protein pow-
ders. Some examples of protein valuesare: chicken breast, 3.5 ounces - 30 g ofprotein; lean hamburger patty, 4 ounces 28 g of protein; and most sh llets orsteaks are about 22 g of protein for 3 ounces (100 g ) of cooked sh, or 6 g perounce. I will make a side note here and
clarify that nuts and nut butters, such aspeanut butter, do NOT fall into the pro-tein category. ey are fats. Many peoplehave been misinformed about this.
e recommended daily protein intakefor sedentary and generally healthyadults is 0.8 g of protein per kilogram ofbody mass. For example, that would be55 g of protein per day for a 150-poundadult. is amount would be sufficientto simply prevent protein deciency orcover the bodys basic requirements.During high intensity training, the intakewould need to be increased to approxi-mately 1.4-2.0 g of protein per kilogram
of body mass. at would translate intobetween 95 and 135 g of protein per dayfor a 150-pound individual. Many ex-perts recommend higher protein intakethat is near or more than 1 g of proteinper pound of body weight. is has his-torically been the school of thought inthe tness arena. One myth about higherprotein intake is that the kidneys willshut down. Research actually shows thatthe kidneys function quite well and haveno negative effects.
So, as you can see, our bodies do notand cannot function very well withoutadequate protein. Protein is the building
block of our cells, so you need some pro-tein to survive and even more to thrive.So how much protein do you eat everyday? ink about the changes that youneed to make to your daily routine as itis now. Always keep in mind that bal-ance is the goal. Understanding thegrams of protein per serving will helpyou determine what your requirementsare each day. A daily food regimen con-sisting predominantly of proteins, veg-etables and fruits is the best way to go.
MelindaDuffie is
acertied
personaltrainer, with
additionalexpertise in
nutritioncounseling and life
coaching, as well asa B.A. in Business.
Melinda [email protected]
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THEADVE
NTURESOFTHEV.I.P.
SOCIAL SECURITY CLAIMSChuck Easley, Attorney
327-1000I have helped hundreds of people with their social security benets
Former Supreme Court Judge215 9th St. North Columbus
Free background information available upon request
1964"Well, shake it up, baby, now (Shake it
up, baby). Twist and shout (Twist andshout). C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon,baby, now (Come on baby). Come on
and work it on out (Work it on out)."Woah! Hey there (how embarrassing)!Anyway, did you know that the numberone song in 1964 was Twist and Shoutby e Beatles? What a great song! It isdenitely one of those songs for whichyou get your hairbrush microphone outand sing at the top of your lungs.
Aer chatting with my Grammy yes,I renamed her because, as the fourthgrandchild, I never got the chance to giveher a name of my own (sniffle) - I de-cided to learn more about 1964. Anothersmashing hit (just so you know - I saidthat in a British accent) was Oh, Pretty
Woman by Roy Orbison. I don't re-member what I was going to say becauseI'm so focused on jamming out to themusic of 1964 that I lost my train ofthought.
I apologize for my digression; time toget back on topic! Aer all my research, Ihave concluded that the apparel of the 60swas indeed diverse. ere is not enoughspace for me to discuss this topic fully, butI am almost certain that I will return to itat a later time.
Why all of this chit-chat about 1964? Itall began when I discovered the mostdarling light pink dress at the back of myGrammys closet. I knew, at that moment,that I just had to wear it! When I tried iton and looked at myself in the mirror, I
felt like a 1960s princess - no, a promqueen. is custom-made, fabricated-by-hand frock (no sewing machine washarmed in the making of this dress) wasworn at some relative's wedding (myGrammy told me who, but my grandpar-ents tell me about a lot of relatives that Ihave never seen or heard of until randomconversations come up about them).
Grammys 1964 dress is based on a size-14 pattern; however, the sizes were differ-ent back then (see tips below). I lovegoing to my Grammys house and look-ing through her old sewing patterns tosee how fashion and sizes have changed.
It is so interesting how certain styles havecome back, such as high-waisted shortsand pants! Oh, my gracious! I got themost adorable tomato-red and sky-bluehigh-waisted shorts at e Attic.
V.I.P. Vintage Shopping Tips:
It is important to know thatclothes, back in the "good ole'days," were much smaller thanthey are today. For example, a size14 from back then could possiblyt a person who wears a 4/6 today.Don't focus on the label size,otherwise you might miss out ona spectacular nd!
Always try on vintage clothesbefore purchasing, to make sureyou get the right t! Keep in mindthat some vintage items have beenaltered to t the previous owner.
Look for
