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always the truth... no compromiseS
SMarch 14, 2012 Volume 1 Issue 6 facebook.com/rspublishing
Publishing Weekly! pp. 21-22
SPORTSTALK
by Jeremiah Short
VisitWWW.REALSTORYPUBLISHING.COM for more!
CCVB BoardMust Work on Image
A letter addressed to the membersof the CCVB Board of Directors
from Nadia Dale
Page 7
Protect Yourselffrom Violent Crime
A list of tips for adults,on staying safe
Page 15
Reforming EducationLet Money Follow Students
Page 11
Photos by Christy Tracey unless otherwise noted
R
Rrealstorypublishing.come Problemat Wasn'tHOTDONIA
A Hot Nightin Hotdonia
Gerhart proclaimed,He is a liar, and you can
print that in your paper.
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REALSTORYPUBLISHING.COM
March14,2012
FROMTHEEDITOR
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by Joseph B. St. JohnEditor-in-ChiefEditrsNte
Standing in front of the Cal-City Gro-cery, a person would have to strain theireyes to see the United Pentecostal Church.It is a beautiful structure with a largeparking lot and all the amenities neededto ensure a pleasant worshipping experi-ence. On Saturday aernoon, it appears tobe as quiet and serene as a baby lamb.
However, this is the problem; the y inthe ointment, so to speak, is that the
church is too close to the store. Cal-Cityis in purgatory because three people (Al-dermen) say that even though it was builtrst, Cal-City is too close to the churchwho worships a God whose rst miraclewas to turn water into wine, because itsells beer.
But, before anyone gets lost in thestereotypical characterizations about"good ol' religious folks, understand thatthe Pastor of the Church, Grant Mitchell,and his congregation have not made apeep about the existence of Cal-City. No,not a word. ey are too busy living theirlives. If they have complained, it has been
professional and to the appropriate peo-ple. But, they have not shown up at themeetings, all cloaked in righteous indig-nation.
No crazy "witch hunts." No one yellingat meetings or holding picket signs. Noone shouting about sin and the demonrum. No, as a matter of fact, this is not areligious or a church issue, at all.
It's about three people who feel they cantell the community whether or not theycan buy a beer at a particular store, eventhough the whole county has a history ofbeing wet, while the rest of the State re-mained dry for decades. For years, thisfact was the economic strength of thearea, and when this advantage was lost, sowhere hundreds of jobs.
And, in the middle of this mess we nda business owner, a family who is stillgrieving the death of a father and thecommunity. Whether or not the February11, 2012 meeting was legal or not, andwhether or not the vote against continu-ing Cal-City's "grandfather clause ex-emption was valid, is irrelevant at thispoint. at will be for the lawyers to re-solve.
However, what is at stake is a businessand a sense of fairness and justice. It is al-ways crazy, but when many people feelthey have "God on their side," it is all rightto act in unethical and bizarre ways. Likea business ghting a lawsuit, being toldthey can't re-open because it is too closeto a church that was built aer the busi-ness had been in service for years. Andoh, by the way, the church has not beenat the meetings being loud and proud anddemanding no beer.
No, its about three people, or maybetwo-and-a-half people, since one of thempulled the old switcheroo on his vote atthe February meeting. Whatever it isabout, it is not about the church. It isabout power and control and what wouldJesus do? He would have a glass of wine.Nothing is more despicable than to makea power grab in the name of the Lord.
In other "Hotdonia news, the Marshal'soffice is becoming another heated topic.On page 3, a letter written from MarshalKilgore, explaining his actions of the past
few months, can be read. Once again, theold adage "no good deed goes unpun-ished" is fully expressed, if everything hesays in the letter is true.
Regardless of who is telling the truth inthis matter, and usually it is somewhere inthe middle, it is obvious that things aredifficult at the Department. Two newdeputies were named at the last Town Hallmeeting, and it appears that John Pevey
and Ben Gill will help take the mantle oflaw enforcement in town. ey will needlots of luck and determination. It is al-ways tough to work in an environmentwhere there is already so much strife.
Add this on top of the fact that BennyColeman is also under heat from somecommunity members, and Mayor Gerhartis battling with the aldermen, and you cansee that all is not well in "Hotdonia." Fora little town with so much calm andbeauty on the outside, turmoil is bubblingeverywhere underneath the surface of thetown.
Aer the March 6th meeting, many peo-ple in the audience mentioned that Cale-donia was a nice town with great peoplein it. But, like in many communities, it isthe leadership that has them worried.
Like the CCVB, the nature of the Cale-donia Town Hall meetings are too per-sonal. People are upset and feelings arehurt. e concepts of organization anddecorum are tossed out the window.
Everything is personal and everyone hasan agenda. And, the tension can be feltbefore the meeting begins. If change isnot implemented, it will only be a matterof time before the breakdown makes the
leaders look foolish and impotent. It hasto stop before the community loses all re-spect for their leaders authority.
It is time for the leaders of Caledonia toform a legion with the community, andnot be a lesion. e spelling of the twowords is almost identical, but they havetwo completely different meanings. And,if the Mayor and the Aldermen are notcareful, they will be a sore on the commu-nity.
Meanwhile, while the leaders x theirproblems, leave Jesus and the churchesalone. If you don't want the store to sellbeer, just say so. Don't hide behind the
mask of piety, to make your decision. eChurch down the road is too busy for thisfoolishness. ey're trying to save souls.
Joseph B. St. JohnA/K/A Mr. MoJo Rising
How can you say to your brother,Let me take the speck out of youreye, when all the time there is a
plank in your own eye?~ A quote from a really famous guy!
Htdnia The Prblem That Wasnt
The beer issue at the Cal-City Grocery is more about political ego than religion.
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FROMTHEEDITOR
March14,2012
REALSTO
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Columbus Mayor, City CouncilSet Land Speed Record
In what had to be the shortest CityCouncil meeting on record, the
ayor and Council managed to con-duct the Citys business and be ontheir way out of the door by 5:18pm.
ats right, folks; the meeting wasgaveled to a close, just EIGHTEEN
INUTES aer it began!
How do you manage such a feat?wo words: avoid controversy.
Perhaps the Mayor and Council-men took a look at the recentshenanigans of their counterparts tothe north (Caledonia), and decidedo y under the radar.
You know that, when the highlightf the meeting is a Mayoral procla-ation to the Red Cross, its a quiet
ight at the Municipal Complex.
e closest that our local elected of-cials came to controversy was when
they discussed the fact that the bid onthe Old River Bridge Restorationproject came in at about $400K overthe amount that had been budgetedfor the project. However, without anywailing or gnashing of teeth, the CityCouncil voted to re-bid the project ata later date.
So, the end results were that no un-kind words were spoken, nobodysblood pressure was raised, and every-body was out of there in time to catchthe last thirty minutes of happyhour. Now, thats my kind of meet-ing!
Ben Kilgore Press ReleaseEditors Note: is press releasewas issued by Ben Kilgore, Cale-donia Town Marshal, in responseto last nights Board of Aldermenmeeting.
In the last two months, Caledoniahas had two long-time Deputy Mar-shals walk off the job. One neverstated to me or gave me a written rea-son as to why he le. e other said,in his resignation, that he did not likethe way in which the Departmentwas headed, and that he had lost allrespect for the Department Head. Iam the same Department Head whodid not write him up for sleeping ona Sunday aernoon in the patrol car,at the park (with his duty belt layingon the seat beside him); for havinghis girlfriend in the patrol car on ahigh-speed pursuit; for being late forwork; for taking a bicycle, which was
evidence (and recovered stolen prop-erty) home for personal use; who al-lowed him to work during the day,every other Friday, so that he couldgo to another town to pick his kidsup for the weekend, etc. Both officershad over ten years as a Deputy Mar-shal and even more with other agen-cies. Both are ranked officers withthe Lowndes County Sheriff's De-partment. Both are very well trainedofficers. e problem they had withme, I assume, is the following: Iasked them to do their job; I askedthem to be on-time; I asked them tobe in Caledonia's uniform; I asked
them to treat the citizens and visitorswith respect; I asked them not tocome and get a patrol car, then go in-service and go home; and I askedthem to stay inside the city limits,while on duty. I told them I waschanging the schedule to benet theneeds of Caledonia, and that I wouldtry to work around their Sheriff's De-partment duties, but Caledonia camerst. I was employed to provide thebest coverage for Caledonia I could,with the number of man-hours andmanpower that was given to me bythe Board.
I would expect an 18-year-old highschool drop-out with a labor job tosimply walk off his job in the middleof a shi. One of these officers wasscheduled to get off at 10:30PM, aerthe stores close. He le at 8:00PM,without notifying me that he was
quitting, so that I or another DeputyMarshal could have come on duty.He le the store employees vulnera-ble to any type of crime. Most ofthese are ladies that have to close thestore alone at night. ey are accus-tomed to seeing a marked Marshal'scar around, when they close. Atrained professional does not justwalk off the job, without a notice, inthe middle of his shi. If you do notlike me, that is ne. If you do not re-spect me, that is ne. But don't sayyou care about Caledonia and its cit-izens, and not give some type noticeand just leave..
Ben KilgoreCaledonia Town Marshal
Reader Comments
Street King says:March 7, 2012 at 2:23 pmI dont really have a dog in this hunt,
but aer reading the above, if youknew he was doing all of that and youallowed it to occur without ring him,youre just as at fault as he was. eabove press release really makes youlook like a good ole boy leader whocovered for his buddy and now youremad because your buddy le youhanging. e way this is written, itmakes you look worse than it does thedeputy because youre the boss.
Raider says:March 7, 2012 at 4:07 pmI believe if Kilgore reads his own letter,he will gure out why the deputies felt
like they could just quit. If the individ-uals could sleep on duty, show up latefor work, check in for duty and then gohome (misappropriation) or fail to ad-equately insure their weapon was se-cure and not get into any troublewhat would you expect? I have toagree with Street King, your lettermakes you look worse. I would suggestthat you just let this story die andlearn from it. Although, it may be toolate now.
Betty says:March 9, 2012 at 7:02 pm eWith George as Mayor it will alwaysbe a 1 horse town. Oh they voted him
in TWICE. You cant x stupid !!!!!!!!!
Howard says:March 9, 2012 at 7:31 pm eYou got that right Ms. Betty. e onehorse is a jackass. I cant wait till thenext election.
Real Story Staff Report
Lmbardi: Always PreparedAer watching this year's Super
Bowl, it is clear to me that the manwhose name is on the trophy shouldnever be forgotten. He was hard-working, dedicated and a footballgiant. He is the standard of all great-ness in professional spots. He isLombardi.
Lombardis greatness stemmedfrom his ability to understand themoment at hand. Not just focusingon winning and losing alone, he un-derstood what it took to win andwhat caused defeat. He saw how allthe pieces came together. He had aclear picture of what he wanted to ac-complish and how to successfullycomplete his goal.
Everyone wants to be a winner. Noone goes into the game, a battle or lifehoping to lose. Everyone wants to beseen as a successful person. However,most people do not know how to win.ey see the rewards of greatness.ey see the acclaim given to the vic-tors and the condence that success
breeds; however, they dont want todo what it takes to accomplish thisgoal.
Lombardi understood that, if a per-son or a team accomplished certaingoals, victories would be attained. Heworried about the small integral partsof the game. Blocking, tackling, con-ditioning all were stressed. Footballis a game built on small steps. Whenfootball is examined closely, it is agame of small battles. e team thatwins the greatest amount of battles,usually wins the game.
Preparation, planning and practicecreated an environment that allowedthe Packers to be successful. Lom-
bardi knew that the Packers mightnot always be the most talented team,but they could be the most preparedteam.
He drilled the basics, over and over,and focused on the fundamental ele-ments of football. e beauty of theplan was in its simplicity. Each playwas carefully planned. Each plan wascarefully executed. e drills wererun over and over, until they weremodels of perfection.
Perfection was so engraved in hismen that, on Sunday aernoon, hismen could run over their opposition,even when the other team knewwhich play was coming. Teams knewthat the power sweep, the most beau-tiful of all of Lombardis plays, wascoming. All they had to do was stop.More oen than not, that did nothappen, and that play set the tone forthe Packers success.
Lombardis simple approach of win-ning the little battles, led to victory.
He coached the Packers for nineyears and won ve championships. Aregular season winning-percentage of73.8%, and 90% in the postseason. Itis a success rate that most coaches, atany level, would dream of having.Lombardi did it in the NFL.
Lombardi was a winner. He under-stood the ingredients necessary tobuild a winning team. A simplerecipe for success for all to follow.
Joseph B. St. [email protected]
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ING.COM
March14,2012
FROMTHEEDITORA Ht Night in Htdnia
The March 7, 2012 Twn f Calednia Mayr and Bard f Aldermens MeetingWhat started out as a friendly town
meeting in Caledonia, turned into alarge brouhaha. A meeting that wasexpected to be highlighted by an ap-peal of the Cal-City Grocery Store de-
cision of February 11, 2012, turnedinto a meltdown about the Town Mar-shal's office and Water Department,with no feelings spared.
e assembly, led by Mayor Gerhart,was heated and oen spectacular, asinnuendos about town employees andpersonnel issues exploded on thescene, with no thought of "executivesession" or concern about privacyrights. e "heat" was put out to theaudience, quick and heavy, with theperson of scorn oen sitting in atten-dance.
e biggest "shoot out" of the night
was between Mayor Gerhart andTown Marshal Ben Kilgore. Duringwhat should have been a routine ap-pointment of two new Deputy Mar-shals, Ben Gill and John Pevey, allmayhem broke loose aer Mayor Ger-hart attempted to name another can-didate, Steve Johnston. In "no holdsbarred fashion", the battle was on.
e heated situation appears tohinge on the resignation of ex- DeputyMarshal Larry Swearingen. MayorGerhart read the letter of resignationto the crowd and then stopped beforenishing it. Marshal Kilgore than
stated, "Go ahead: read the rest."Aer a brief silence, Gerhart read
the following statement from Swearin-gen's letter:
As for the department I workedunder; I can no longer ll my obli-gations. I know what is required torun a department in a procient, professional manner, due to the fact that I do it on a daily basiswith my full-time job. e way thecurrent leadership is headed is away I cannot and will not go down.Due to the fact that I have lost allrespect for the department head, I
no longer wish to be affiliated withthe Caledonia Marshals Depart-ment.
(e entire letter can be seenat the end of the article)
e pace of the event quickened,aer the reading of the letter, andMarshal Kilgore challenged Mayor
Gerhart on "scuttle-butt" he had heardabout the Mayor either suspending orring him at the meeting.
Mayor Gerhart stated, "who evertold you that lied." And, then he chal-lenged the Marshal to reveal hissources. Kilgore then called on LanceLucky, a Columbus Police Department(CPD) Officer andpart-time DeputyMarshal, to repeatwhat he had heard.Lucky did say thathe was approachedby CPD LieutenantCarroll Culpepperand was told byCulpepper that he (Culpepper) hadtalked to Gerhart and was told thatKilgore would be suspended or red.
At this point, Gerhart proclaimed,"He is a liar and you can print that inyour paper." e two sides then con-tinued to break down, with each sidemaking accusations. e most seriousof these were that Swearingen hadused a red bike that was evidence in alarceny case for his personal use.(Mayor Gerhart was also implicatedfor taking the bike from Swearingenand illegally leaving it outside.) Ger-hart countered he had taken it (the redbike) to the courthouse, a buildingwhich Kilgore proclaimed did notexist.
Kilgore also conded that Swearin-gen was unreliable to work with, andthat his duties as a training officer forthe Lowndes County Sheriffs Office(LCSO) were interfering with his du-ties as a town marshal. Kilgore wasadamant that Swearingen had beenunreliable and had not put the town'sbest interests at heart.
Pevey and Gill were hired, with a 5-0 vote, and will start work in the verynear future.
In other wild business, the battle be-tween citizens Jim and Pam Robertsonand the Caledonia Water Department
continued, with no resolution. eRobertsons claim that over $10,000dollars of damage was done to theirproperty during a city project that in-
volved laying a waterline, and thatthey have waited over eight months toget their repairs completed.
Calling out Water Department Su-
perintendent Benny Coleman, theRobertsons made it clear that theywere being treated unfairly. Whenasked by Alderwoman Willis if thework could be completed by the Water
Department, Mrs. Robertson statedthat she felt Coleman tried to makeher feel stupid and that eight monthswas enough time to complete the proj-
ect. Also, theTown has not beenable to produce acopy of the ease-ment for theirproperty, over aperiod of severalmonths.
A vote was taken to get another bid,since the aldermen thought a price tagof more than $10,000 was too high.
is battle is far from over.e ever-continuing saga over "Cal
City" ended in a whimper, with no al-dermen or City attorney commentingon accusations made by Jeff Doty thatthe previous meeting had been held il-legally and that the Aldermen had in-advertently voted yes to his requestto reopen the business.
No one said a word, in response,which le the discussion to die.
In a phone interview Mr. Dotystated, "I have a beer permit and I amre-opening the business."
So, to sum it up, it was a wild nightin Caledonia!
Joseph B. St. JohnA/K/A Mr. MoJo Rising
Editors Note e following is ex-Deputy Marshal Swearingen's let-ter in its entirety:
To: Caledonia MayorBoard of Aldermen
From: Deputy MarshalLarry Swearingen
Date: 29 Feb 2012
Ref: Resignation
Greetings,
I have enjoyed working for the Townof Caledonia since Sept. 3, 2003. I havemade numerous friends and met agood many people during my timeand service with this department. I
have nothing but respect for theMayor and the Board and wish eachand every one of you the best of luckin your upcoming endeavors. MayGod bless each and every one of
you!!!!I love being a law enforcement offi-
cer, because it is a profession whereyou get to help people under all kindsof circumstances. Recently, my role inlaw enforcement has changed direc-tions and now I'm able to help officersbetter themselves through training.My current role has me being out oftown a good bit, spending time awayfrom family. To me, family is more im-portant and when I'm home I'd ratherbe spending time with them.
As for the department I workedunder, I can no longer fulll my obli-
gations. I know what is required torun a department in a procient, pro-fessional manner, due to the fact thatI do it on a daily basis with my fulltime job. e way the current leader-ship is headed is a way I cannot andwill not go down. Due to the fact thatI have lost all respect for the depart-ment head, I no longer wish to be affil-iated with the Caledonia MarshalsDepartment.
My resignation will be effective atthe end of my shi at 10:00 p.m.Wednesday, the 29th day of February,2012. Keys and all issued equipment
will be turned over to Mayor GeorgeGerhart. If I can be of any assistanceto any of you, feel free to contact meat any time.
Sincerely,Larry Swearingen
Reader Comment
Patty says:March 8, 2012 at 10:30 am e
I love my little town and am glad to be ableto read about what is going on here. anks
Joe!
From my own experiences I believe thatBen Kilgore is doing a very good job as ourTown Marshal, and thatBennie Colemanis doing a very good job at the Water Dept.,and Ill leave the rest of it alone. Also, gladto hear that Cal-City is about to reopen; Idont drink beer, but am glad others willagain be able buy it in their home town.Welcome to Caledonia, Jeff Doty!
Gerhart proclaimed,"He is a liar and you can
print that in your paper."
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FROMTHEEDITOR
March14,2012
REALSTO
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Liddell Prvides Update t Teachers, StaffDear Columbus Schools Teachers& Staff:
State & Benchmark StudentAssessments Follow Up:
I wanted to take some time, this af-ternoon, to wish each of you a restfulSpring Break with your families. It'sbeen a very busy year. Last week, our4th and 7th graders wrapped up the
tate's Writing Assessments and CHSstudents completed their benchmarkssessments. Our principals have re-orted to me that the assessment pe-iods went very smoothly, at each site.
anks, everyone, for all your hardork.
tate Budget Progress Monitoringnderway:
e budget process in Jackson is get-ing underway, and funding appropri-
ations are scheduled to take placeduring the last two weeks of April, be-fore the close of the regular session. If
all goes well, Governor Bryant couldsign off on the state's approved budgetby the end of April. With this stepcompleted, the school district can po-sition itself to begin the re-hiringprocess of personnel members af-fected by the Reduction in Force(RIF). e re-hiring process for criti-cal areas, such as special education,specialized certication, and second-ry education will begin in early May.ur goal is to begin the re-hiring
rocess before school is out, or as soons the state adopts the educationudget for scal year 2012-2013.
(Reminder) RIF Affected Employeesill Receive Hiring Priority:
Please keep in mind that RIF-af-ected employees will receive hiringriority. Principals will conduct inter-iews with RIF-affected staff seekingo be re-employed, using a Board-ap-roved rubric, to ensure fairness iniring practices for all involved. I'meeply committed to rehiring as manyIF-affected employees as nancially
easible, once the state adopts itsudget. I anticipate being able to re-ire 35-40 RIF-affected employees,ased on critical needs and student
nrollment by school. We anticipatehe state budget being adopted in latepril or May; however, the exact date
he state budget will be adopted is un-nown, at this time. I will keep every-ne informed as the state workshrough the budget appropriationsrocess.
ississippi Adequate Education Pro-ram (MAEP) Funding Details:
is state's process determines themount of funding the Columbuschool District will receive throughheMississippi Adequate Education
rogram (MAEP). e MAEP fund-ng formula is a major driver in aschool districts' ability to set a person-
el budget each school year that isased on the dollars expected fromhe state. Presently, the CMSD Budgeteam and I are identifying all criticaleeds areas and reviewing Columbuschool's anticipated enrollment g-res by school. We are in the processf developing a re-hiring plan basedn this information. e next step for
RIF-affected staff is to update yourmployment le with the Columbuschool District.
IF-Affected Employees Next Stepso Update Your Employment Files:
e personnel department will takepdates from RIF-affected employees,
beginning on March 19, 2012. To up-date their employment le, RIF-af-
fected employees should contact thedistrict's Personnel Office and submitthe following information aer SpringBreak: an updated Employment Ap-plication (showing all years of experi-ence to-date); a Letter of Interest,indicating that you would like to beconsidered for re-employment in theColumbus School District; and a cur-rent Resume that describes all of your
professional qualications.
Proposed Charter Schools Legisla-tion - MAEP & Local Dollars WillFollow Students (is is serious.)
It is important that educators, ad-ministrators and staff understand thatthe proposed Charter School legisla-tion that is on the horizon will have aserious impact on school districtsrated "Successful or Below" in thestate's accountability system. e most
proactive way for Columbus Schoolsto address the opening of CharterSchools is to improve student achieve-ment. Although the district's budgetconcerns will require larger class sizesfor next school year, I am working ona plan to keep class sizes smaller forcore areas of instruction, across theschool district. Principals and teacherswill have an opportunity to help de-
sign this new state-of-the-art instruc-tional achievement plan.
I am including an update from Jack-son, today, regarding the CharterSchools Movement in Mississippi.Please review this important informa-tion when you have some time. I've in-cluded the House and Senate Bill
versions for your review. CharterSchools will be a game-changer in thepublic schools landscape in Missis-
sippi. We must be prepared, both aca-demically and nancially, for the po-tential entry of Charter Schools in ourarea. anks for all you do for our stu-dents everyday, in and out of the class-room. (Find out more about theCharter bills below)
Dr. Liddell, Interim SuperintendentColumbus Municipal School District
Here is a Synopsis of the CharterSchools Legislation(From e Parents' Campaign):
Senate Bill 2401
Mississippi Public Charter SchoolsAct of 2012: Allows conversion, start-up, and virtual public charter schools tolocate throughout the state. High Per-
See UPDATE Pg. 6
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March14,2012
FROMTHEEDITOR
forming and Star school districts must
give board approval for charters to lo-cate within their districts; Creates theMississippi Public Charter School Ac-countability Board, which consists ofseven appointed members, to serve asthe sole authorizer of charter schools.Students may cross district lines to at-tend charter schools; Allows state andlocal per-pupil funding to follow stu-dents; Charter schools are subject to thesame accountability assessments andratings, as traditional public schools.
Referred to Senate EducationCommittee, 2/15/12
Amended by Senate EducationCommittee to prohibit virtualcharter schools and to allow pre-K
to be offered in charter schools ifprivately funded; passed byCommittee as amended, 2/21/12
Debated by full Senate;Amendment 1 proposed toauthorize charters only for LowPerforming, At Risk of Failing, andFailing schools; amendment failed;19 yeas, 32 nays, 1 absent; 2/22/12e Parents' Campaign favors a"yea" vote on this amendment.
Bill passed by full Senate, without
amendments; 34 yeas, 17 nays,1 absent, 2/22/12
House Bill 888
Mississippi Public Charter Schools Actof 2012: Allows conversion, start-up,and virtual public charter schools to lo-cate throughout the state; Allows mul-tiple authorizers of charter schools;Allows students to cross district lines toattend charter schools and provides forstate and local per pupil funding to fol-low students; Holds charter schools tothe same accountability assessmentsand ratings as traditional publicschools.
Referred to House EducationCommittee, 2/20/12
Amended by House EducationCommittee to allow conversion andstart-up public charter schools only
in districts rated Successful orbelow, to require that chartermanagement organizations have atrack record of success, to authorizevirtual public schools (referred to inthe original bill as "virtual publiccharter schools") to contract with acharter authorizer to offereducational services, predominatelythrough an on-line program; passedby Committee as amended; 14 yeas,12 nays, 2/29/12
UPDATE cnt. frm pg. 5
Cal-City Grocery Moving ForwardJeff Doty, the new owner of Cal-City
Grocery, announced yesterday that hewas moving forward with his plans tore-open the store in the very near future.
"I am not here to start trouble" saidDoty. "I am here to open a legitimatebusiness."
Reiterating his point that he felt that
the February 11, 2012 Board of Alder-men meeting was conducted improp-erly and that the vote was, therefore,
void, Doty is planning to move forward.
During a tour of the building, Doty ex-plained his plan to be a family-orientedbusiness that would serve food andother day-to-day items, not just coldbeer.
"I don't want to start a war. I want toget along with everyone" Doty ex-plained. "But, I have a valid beer permitand I am going to open my business. Itis that simple."
Cal-City Grocery has been in exis-tence since 1973. During that time, ithad been allowed to function freely, andhas served cold beer since its inception.Additionally, it was given a grandfatherclause exemption in 1982, when theTown of Caledonia made provisionsthat alcohol could not be sold within1,500 feet of a church.
At the February 11 meeting, Cal-Citylost its right to sell beer. e vote wasthree-to-two, with only AldermenQuinn Parham and Mike Savage votingyes to continue the grandfatherclause for Cal-City. Shortly aer the
meeting, the vote was met with shock,as many individuals close to the situa-tion were advised that Alderman BillDarnell had changed his mind, aersupporting the Cal-City request in pri-
vate session.
e meeting, in general, has comeunder great scrutiny. And, at the March
6th Town Hall meeting, Doty and Attor-
ney Steve Wallace, who represents thePearrow estate, made a passionate pleato the board to reverse their decision,based on their contention that the meet-ing was held illegally.
e major concerns brought beforethe Aldermen were that the involvedparties felt that the board had acted im-properly in the February 11 meeting,and that the Aldermen had inadver-tently voted to allow Cal-City to keep its"grandfather" clause. Also, Wallace wasadamant that there was no legal prece-dent or Attorney General's opinion thatconrmed Board Attorney Jeff Smith'sbelief that a business being closed for 24hours was a legitimate reason for strip-ping it of its grandfather" status.
e Aldermen listened to the plea andthe accusations, but did nothing. Nomotion was made to discuss the situa-tion, and the controversy died with awhimper.
During yesterday's
visit, Doty remainedstrong in his belief.He hung posters an-nouncing the busi-ness would bere-opened. Along-side the posters, heposted a copy of hisbeer permit. He iscompletely commit-ted to re-opening thebusiness. He is al-ready contacting
vendors to stock thestore.
ey will be morenews about this ad-
venture in the com-ing months.
Joseph B. St. JohnA/K/A Mr.
MoJo Rising
Cal-City Grocery owner, Jeff Doty, says he wants business, not trouble.
Copy of beer permit and privilege license.
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COMMUNITY
March14,2012
REALSTORYPUBLISHING.COM
CCVB Bard Must Wrk n ImageEditors Note: e following is aletter, addressed to the members ofthe Board of Directors of theColumbus-Lowndes Convention &Visitors Bureau, which was pro-vided to e Real Story.
ith respect to my fellow boardembers & those supporting my
ppointment to the CCVB Board:I came to this board hoping to seizen opportunity to learn and growrom working closely with an experi-nced and diverse group of con-
stituents, toward the common goal ofromoting tourism for Columbus/owndes County. However, aer thisrst year of service, I am no longerlear that this is the common goal ofur board. From where I sit, our obli-ation to tourism has been stied byersonal agendas, manipulation, rhet-ric and most unfortunately, a lack ofacial awareness.
Having a wealth of experiencesorking and living among various
thnic groups (and still benetingrom those relationships), I believehat all endeavors turn out best wheneople have a basic level of trust, re-
spect and understanding.
In a recent editorial, our board wasriticized for accusations of racism in
a decision to hire general counsel.ere are fewer claims that will morequickly destroy progress than beingsuspected of racism. However, I be-lieve this editorial missed an impor-tant point. To me, the decision wasdisappointing because it reects a sys-temic and historical pattern of dis-crimination. An African-American
attorney, to the best of my knowledge,has never been selected to represent apublic board in Lowndes County.Most oen, the decision to pass onblack applicants is supposedly basedon their lack of experience. But, unlessa person is initially given a chance,and if one has been historically de-nied, then the cycle of denied oppor-tunity continues.
As public servants, we have to con-cern ourselves with equity in such apattern; not only in the sense of actingin fairness, but also in utilizing powerto take responsible risks, in order tobalance an uneven playing eld. Ig-noring the pattern only fuels the typeof racial tension and distrust that willleave us doing more to sell papers, em-barrassing our city than to promotetourism. erefore, my concerns withthe selection of a Board Attorney hadmore to do with the historical patternof denied opportunities, than whetherthe CCVB chose Chris Latimer or the
Colom Law Firm.Nevertheless, with this decision be-
hind us, the question I believe weshould be asking ourselves is: Howare we making decisions and what de-cisions are we presently making to en-sure a positive impact on the future ofColumbus through the CCVB? Onedecision to be proud of is the adoption
of the accrual accounting system,which will tremendously decrease thelikelihood that the festival communitywill ever have to face another unpre-dictable funding year, again. e com-munity can no longer afford for us tocontinue in the power struggle be-tween the LINK & the festival com-munity. Otherwise, the City andCounty officials can add a line item totheir own budgets to support eco-nomic development & grant fundingfor community projects with the taxrevenues the CCVB receives.
One city official, grippingly, posed
the question If the CVB did not fundevents, what would they be doing topromote tourism? is is an impor-tant question, though, because itbrings our conversations outside of itscurrent box. Why couldnt we ndways to creatively support events thatare important to the communityandfund more sustainable quality-of-lifeprojects? We need projects that open
possibilities for tourism, 365 days ayear. With two thriving institutions ofhigher learning; factories producingsteel, transfer trucks & helicopters;and an Air Force base ALL within ourreach, I think were overlooking op-portunities to creatively put these dol-lars to good use. Even if this meansrst investing in the community on a
smaller scale - for example, with theR.E. Hunt Cultural Center & Museumand our Columbus Arts Council.ese are two spaces with great poten-tial to draw tourists, but which are inneed of more funding.
At this point, I am not certain thatthe Board, with all of its present chal-lenges, will rise above the tension andseek mutual understanding, to im-prove what we do as an organization.We may have to explore and purge thesources of our distrust before reallybeing able to move forward. However,I appeal to you that we all set our en-
ergy, hearts and mind on doing justthat- moving forward. Not just forourselves, but for the entire city.
Sincerely,
Nadia Dale
On April 2, the National Archivesand Records Administration will makendividual records from the 1940 Cen-
sus available to the public, for the rsttime, at 9:00 AM (Eastern Daylight
ime). e Columbus-Lowndes PublicLibrary would like to invite everyone toutilize the librarys more than thirtycomputers to view and search thenewly-released Census.
ough the records will be available,
starting in early April, they will not beindexed initially, which means theywill not be searchable by name. You canlocate people by identifying the enu-meration district in which they lived in1940, and then browsing the censuspopulation schedules for that enumer-ation district. In order to help ndsomeones enumeration district visitwww.stevemorse.org/census.
e 1940 Census was conducted dur-ing a momentous time in our nation'shistory, as the Great Depression waswinding down and it was not long be-fore the entry of the United States intoWorld War II. It marked the only cen-sus conducted during the lengthy pres-idency of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Many of the questions on the 1940census are the standard ones: name,age, gender, race, education, andplace of birth. But, the 1940 censusalso asked many new questions. enstructions asked the enumerator to
enter an [a circled x] aer the nameof the person furnishing the infor-mation about the family; whether the
erson worked for the CCC, WPA,r NYA the week of March 24-30,
1940; and income for the twelveonths ending December 31, 1939.
e release of the 1940 Census isxtraordinarily important, becausef the links to parents, grandparentsnd great-grandparents that will beccessible to family historians and re-
searchers for the very rst time,
Archivist Mona K. Vance said.
e library currently provides pa-
trons free access to the research data-bases, Ancestry.com Library Editionand HeritageQuest Online. e data-
bases provide a way to search a vastarray of records useful in historical andgenealogical research, such as the fed-
eral census, war service records, andover 12,000 local and family historybooks.
Family Search International,Archives.com, and FindMyPast.comhave teamed up as sponsors of the 1940Census Community Project, a joint ef-fort to leverage volunteers to index theentire census. Family Search currentlyhas about 140,000 volunteer indexersthat help make digital documentssearchable by name. With the excite-ment over the new census, that numbercould skyrocket to the quarter millionor 400,000 range.
Currently, the 1940 and later censusesare not available for public use becauseof a statutory 72-year restriction on ac-cess, for privacy reasons. (92 Stat. 915;Public Law 95-416; October 5, 1978).
ere is a countdown clock availableon the National Archives and RecordsAdministration website, along withfurther information about the releaseof the 1940 Census that can be foundat http://www.archives.gov/research/census/1940.
Clumbus-Lwndes Library Gears Up frNewly Released 1940 Census Recrds
Special to e Real Story
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REALS
TORYPUBLISHING.COM
March14,2012
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A Suggestin fr Bmb ThreatenersWhen will this craziness end? I realize that this
question is a riff on one you may have heard, re-cently, but that doesnt render it any less appropriateor relevant.
It has seemed as if hardly a day goes by, withoutsome IDIOT thats right, I said it calling in abomb threat to one of our local schools.
e reason that I have referred to the perpetrator
(s) as an idiot is that they have, obviously, not con-sidered the consequences of their actions.
Perhaps he (I will use he for expediency, al-though the caller could female) called in the bombthreat because he is a student and wanted a day offfrom school. Maybe he did it because it gave him a
feeling of power. Perhaps he was just bored.
Whatever the reason, he obviously didnt thinkabout the consequences. So, Mr. Perpetrator, Iwould like to ask you to ponder the following ques-tions:
What if your mother or father was having aheart attack, but an ambulance couldnt get to themin time, because it was tied up at the scene of thebomb threat?
What if your sister, in her haste to get to theschool to pick up her child, ran a red light and gotinjured or killed in a wreck?
What if somebody sees a suspicious package,thinks it just another incidence of that nutty bomb
threat person, and doesnt call the authorities? Oh,and then, it really is a bomb and it goes off, maim-ing or killing untold numbers of people?
Now, one last question. What if the victim in anyof the above scenarios was you? en, the lastthought that you would have is Why was I such anidiot?
THINK ABOUT IT!
PIzzA oN
THE GRILLPrep Time: 2:45 Min Cook Time: 15 MinReady In: 3 Hrs Servings: 16Ingredients
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast1 cup warm water1 pinch white sugar2 teaspoons kosher salt1 tablespoon olive oil3 1/3 cups all-purpose our2 cloves garlic, minced1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic1/4 cup tomato sauce1 cup chopped tomatoes1/4 cup sliced black olives1/4 cup roasted red peppers2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese4 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
Directions
In a bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water, and mixin sugar. Proof for ten minutes, or until frothy.Mix in the salt, olive oil, and our until doughpulls away from the sides of the bowl. Turn ontoa lightly oured surface. Knead until smooth,about 8 minutes. Place dough in a well oiled bowl,and cover with a damp cloth. Set aside to rise untildoubled, about 1 hour. Punch down, and kneadin garlic and basil. Set aside to rise for 1 morehour, or until doubled again.
Preheat grill for high heat. Heat olive oil with gar-lic for 30 seconds in the microwave. Set aside.Punch down dough, and divide in half. Form eachhalf into an oblong shape 3/8 to 1/2 inch thick.
Brush grill grate with garlic avored olive oil.Carefully place one piece of dough on hot grill.e dough will begin to puff almost immediately.When the bottom crust has lightly browned, turnthe dough over using two spatulas. Workingquickly, brush oil over crust, and then brush with2 tablespoons tomato sauce. Arrange 1/2 cupchopped tomatoes, 1/8 cup sliced black olives, and1/8 cup roasted red peppers over crust. Sprinklewith 1 cup cheese and 2 tablespoons basil. Closethe lid, and cook until the cheese melts. Removefrom grill, and set aside to cool for a few minuteswhile you prepare the second pizza.
e Real Story Staff
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ENTERTAINMENT
March14,2012
REALSTOR
YPUBLISHING.COM
Courtesy Photo
David Orr
Courtesy Photo
Bob Gurske, R.I.P July 4, 2011
Courtesy Photo
Donnie Kepley
Update frm Issue 1:Back at the Hme Frnt in ol Virginia
Look for The Real Storyin all of the SOCO stores
beginning this week!
My buddies did not win theircontest, but they had a goodtime trying. eir band,Tusko Fatale, had been nomi-nated for "Best Video" in Veer
Magazine's Local MusicAwards. e song, "e Ghost
of a Hurricane" was written bymy lifelong friend, David Orrand the video was his creation.
I have included pictures ofthe group and, as you can see,I would t in right with them,especially nowadays. BobGurske passed away, last year,and he is still deeply missed.RIP Bob!
David and Donnie are stillrocking in Virginia, and I amalso rocking in the great Stateof Mississippi.
You can check out more
from the East Coast musicscene at www.veermag.comand http://www.hardcorenor-folk.com.
We encourage all local bandsto share their photos and giginformation with e RealStory and we will publish theinformation.
Local music is importantand real to the community, solet's get the information outthere for the fans!
MoJo
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REALSTORYPUBLIS
HING.COM
March14,2012
ENTERTAINMENT Project XWastes Ptential with Sexism, Idicy
Project Xseems mysterious, given itstitle, but the lm is about teens drink-ing, doing drugs, having sex and beingdegenerates, in general. What sepa-rates Project X from other teenmovies is its presentation. e movieis lmed by a character using a cam-era a technique popularized byeBlair Witch Projectand used in manyrecent horror movies, including
Clovereldand Paranormal Activity.Its not exactly novel for a teen com-edy to copy horror movies, and itwouldve been a mistake for Project Xto pass off its absurdities as real, withits camerawork. But director NimaNourizadeh doesnt fall into that trap.Project X cleverly resembles a horrormovie during its hilarious and excitingclimax. In doing so, the lm pokes funat the mockumentary style that hasplagued the horror genre, while point-ing out that teens can be monsterswhen it comes to having a good time.
One cannot deny the rampant sex-ism and homophobia displayed by the
male characters ofProject X. In fact,the lm has been widely criticized for
this. While it is true the male charac-ters ofProject X are not moral people,one must keep in mind theyreteenagers. It wouldve been dishonestto leave out the sexism and homopho-bia, which are, whether we like it ornot, prevalent in the culture of maleteens. And at least the main characterin Project X, played by omas Mann,somewhat comes to terms with his
own sexism.But, one can only defend Project Xso much. Its female characters are es-sentially meat. e lm is exploitative,with numerous shots of nude femalebreasts. e sexism is at its worst, andmost preposterous, when the main fe-male character, played by Kirby BlissBlanton, lets Mann off the hook forexploiting her sexuality and friend-ship. e lm portrays Blanton as aself-respecting girl until the resolu-
Courtesy PhotoOliver Cooper and Thomas Mann live it up too much in Project X.
See PRoJECT X Pg. 17
Check out our [email protected]
or facebook.com/rspublishingfor additional articles
and information!
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EDUCATION
Marc
h14,2012
REALSTORYPUBLISHING.COM
Porkchop brown-bagging it at work. This little pigaroo was tickled almost as muchby the gift bag as the recipient of the gifts.
Whats better than a weekly picture of Porkchop? Two!!!
Refrming Educatin: Let Mney Fllw StudentsJoel Klein, the education columnist
for the Washington Post, was Chan-cellor of the New York City Depart-ment of Education. His articles arealways insightful, with no particularpolitical agenda.
In a March 2, 2012 article, he criti-cizes the Presidential candidates forignoring education on the stump.
ey raise the issue, he comments, butthey offer no real solutions. In thisthoughtful article, Klein offers threesolutions, and I will comment on eachof them.
1. Accelerate common standards.Most of our industrial competi-tors have rigorous national stan-dards in education. e UnitedStates has a patchwork of largelyinadequate standards, whose ex-pectations for student learning
vary wildly, depending onwhether children live in Albany orAlbuquerque. e accountabilityregime set up by No Child LeBehind likewise le the design ofstandards to the states. e resulthas been what many consider arace to the bottom, as stateseased requirements to create theillusion of progress.
Klein recites the common joke in theeducational community concerningthe inability of Congress to pass a lawwhich sets national standards - theRight hates national and the Lehates standards. is, of course, isnot a joke at all, but is at the heart ofthe argument. Liberals feel that stan-dards will somehow shackle teachersand students both, focusing on nar-row, articial performance goals thatignore the many intelligences of stu-dents (artistic, musical, expression orexcellence in sports), dismantle thecooperative and collaborative learning
environments which restrict naturalrates of learning, and limit teachers byrestricting their own creativity.
Conservatives hate the idea of anyconsolidation of anything at the fed-eral level, assuming that once it getsmired in Washington bureaucracy, itwill be hopelessly lost. e states arecloser to the people the individualson whom the nal responsibility foreducation rests.
Although Klein recommends na-tional standards, given the ideologicalbasis for the disagreement, they areunlikely to be enacted. is dividedand extremely partisan Congress ap-pears unwilling to look at successeselsewhere, learn from experience, andapply the best x for America.
Compromises do not seem realistic,either. e No Child Le Behind Act,federal in design, le standards up tothe states; and the result, as Kleinstates above, is a hodge-podge of inef-cient and unaccountable programs.
2. Professionalize teaching. ere isalmost universal consensus thateffective teaching is the mostpowerful way to improve studentperformance. But, were not seri-ous, as a nation, about makingteaching an attractive career. Fin-land, Singapore and South Korearecruit 100 percent of their teach-ers from the top third of highschool and college students. eirteachers train in prestigious insti-tutions that accept only one ofevery seven or eight applicants. Bycontrast, only 23 percent of newU.S. teachers come from the topthird (14 percent for high-povertyschools). Our teachers are trainedmostly in open-enrollment insti-tutions seen as second-rate; poorpay and working conditions com-
pel the best to leave the classroomwithin a few years. A trade unionmentality makes it hard to rewardexcellence and promote account-ability.
Once again, this is a great idea, butit is unlikely to be implemented. Notonly does the trade union mentality towhich Klein refers make it hard forschool districts to insist upon teacheraccountability, the unions and theirschool board patrons have, for toolong, looked on teaching positions aspolitical appointments. Secondly,teachers are drawn from the schooldistricts in which they live. In citieslike Washington, DC, the publicschool student body comes almost ex-clusively from poor, disadvantagedneighborhoods; and the only teacherswho will even consider working inbad schools, are from those neigh-borhoods themselves. irdly, supplyand demand the supply of poorteachers exceeds the demand, thusforcing down prices. In summary, no
amount of federal mandates is goingto change this.
3. Promote choice and innova-tion. Whether a public schoolperforms well or badly, it basicallykeeps students in that neighbor-hood, because most families haveno other choice. is monopolyleaves no incentive to innovate toimprove performance and effi-ciency inducements as vital topublic schools as they are else-where. Families with more meanscan choose private schools, canmove to another town or can oth-erwise navigate the system. osefamilies who are least powerful,however, remain trapped. To sup-port choice and innovation, weneed to provide real funding eq-uity and ensure that money fol-
lows children, not schools. Child-centered funding would give en-trepreneurial educators the abilityto re-imagine how teachers andstudents do their work, and tocompete to serve families withbreakthrough pedagogical toolsthat creatively tap new learningtechnologies.
Now, this is an idea that can work.Give parents free choice, through a
voucher system that allows them tochoose whatever school they want. Itis really not a x to the existing publiceducation system; it is a way out of it.To the critics who say that this brightight will leave a hardened, seriouslydysfunctional core of hard-to-educatechildren, I reply that this will stream-line the public school system and giveit real focus. Only a few specialschools with special teachers will beopen, and they will receive high-in-tensity focus. Not only that, theschool board will be given expandedresponsibility to work with the local
community engaging religious andsecular leaders to take responsibilityfor the education of their children andto reform the social environment inwhich they live a good balance be-tween public investment and individ-ual responsibility; a good balancebetween Le and Right.
Ron Parlato is a writerliving in Washington, DC.
He has close ties with
Columbus which he visitsfrequently. His writings on
literature, politics and culture,travel, and cooking can be
found on his own blog,uncleguidosfacts.com.
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REALSTORYPUBLISHING.C
OM
March14,2012
CU
LTURALLYSPEAKING
Tunes, Tunes,and Mre Tunes!
Do you enjoy listening to live music?Would you like to be among the rstpeople in the area to experience somelocal, undiscovered talent?
If the answer to either (or both) ofthe above questions is yes, then youshould visit Caf Aromas (404 MainStreet | Columbus) for one of theirmonthly open mic nights, which areentitled Words & Music: An Eveningof Spoken Words and Songs.
ese events, which are sponsoredby Caf Aromas and e Real Story,usually offer an even mix ofpoetry/spoken word and songs. How-
ever, this months incarnation, whichwas held on Friday, March 9th, con-sisted entirely of songs and music.e appreciative crowd of over thirtyculture lovers didnt seem to mind thisfact, as they applauded each per-former vigorously and with enthusi-asm.
Kicking off the nights songfest werelocal xtures e Saint & the Priest.is talented duo didnt disappoint, ei-ther.
Next up, was local singer/actor/all-around great guy Shane Tubbs, whostopped by on his way to an out-of-
town getaway with his wife, and re-galed the audience with a fewnumbers.
e low-key, but very talented AlexHinton was next to take the stage.Alex is a fan favorite at Caf Aromas,and he certainly showed why, on thisFriday evening.
Closing out the evening, the duo ofBryan Roberts and Hayden Allen,who comprise part of the bandAtomic Toast, mesmerized the crowdwith their soulful renditions. ey in-corporate Mississippi themes, as wellas references to Greek mythology, intotheir original lyrics.
e next installment of this very-popular series, which is coordinated
by Random Acts of Culture, will beheld on Friday, April 13th, at 7pm.
Attention, Artists: Random Acts ofCulture, which presents the Art inColumbus series of monthly art ex-hibits, in partnership with ReneeReedy Studio, is accepting submis-sions for both Emergence (deadline 3.21.12) and Postcards to Colum-bus (deadline 4.23.12). Details onhow to enter these, or any of theirother shows, can be found by visitingwww.randomactsofculture.biz.
Go out andget your culture on!
Dr. Seuss, Mother Goose andFriends Visit Students at
Fairview Elementary School
Dr. Seuss and Mother Goose entertain students at Fairview Elementary School.
A group of Fairview Elementary students blow out candles on Dr. Suess birthday.
Mother Goose, Glenn Lautzenheiser, Dr. Martha Liddell, and Dr. Suess.
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Relay fr LifeCmmittee Meeting
On Monday, March 5th, Relay forLife Committee members met at Bap-tist Memorial Hospital OutpatientPavilion to discuss these topics: team-building, sponsorship, entertainment,survivors, team activities, mission de-livery, luminaries, publicity, gate dec-orations, on-line donations and theweb site.
I spoke to Mott Ellis, LowndesCounty Team Development Chair.She explained to me that this yearsevent will be held on April 27, 2012 atthe Columbus High School SoccerField, and will run from 6pm-6am.She also hopes to have 55+ teams by
then, and their goal is to raise$150,000.
Every team member who raises 100dollars will receive a Relay for life T-shirt. ey also earn a personal badge,as well as the satisfaction of knowingthey have helped ght the battleagainst Cancer.
If you would like to register a team
or for more information, contact MottEllis @ 662- 574-1104.
Christy [email protected]
Christy is a wife and mother of four children andwants to capture Columbus one photo at a time.
Front row:Mott Ellis, Jane Lee, Gail Cooke, Jeanette Norman, Mevela Andrews, and AlicePounders. Back row:Wayne Ellis, Angel Whittington, Lenny Ring, Amanda Mordecai,Pam Brownlee, Donna Walker, Bessie Tate, Mary Belinda Duckworth, Becky Brown,
Jason Brown, and Mary Moore. Not pictured:Eddie Chapman, Emily Johnson Wheeler,Jennifer Barnett Chapman, Michelle Woods, Teresa McGregor, Scott McGregor, TinaPerry, and Yvonne Barron
COMMUNITY
March14,2012
REALSTORYPUBLISHING.COM
ProtectYourselffrom
ViolentCrimeA list of tipsfor adults,on staying safeFrom the National Crime Prevention Council
Dont walk or jog early in the morning or late at night, when
the streets are deserted. When out at night, try to have a friend walk with you.
Carry only the money youll need on a particular day.
Dont display your cash or any other inviting targets, such aspagers, cell phones, hand-held electronic games, or expensivejewelry and clothing.
If you think someone is following you, switch directions orcross the street. If the person continues to follow you, movequickly toward an open store or restaurant or a lit house.Dont be afraid to yell for help.
Try to park in well-lit areas, with good visibility and close
to walkways, stores, and people. Make sure you have your key out, as you approach your door.
Always lock your car, even if its in your own driveway; neverleave your motor running.
Do everything you can to keep a stranger from getting intoyour car or to keep a stranger from forcing you into his or hercar.
If a dating partner has abused you, do not meet him or heralone. Do not let him or her in your home or car, when youare alone.
If you are a battered spouse, call the police or sheriffimmediately. Assault is a crime, whether committed by a
stranger or your spouse or any other family member. If youbelieve that you and your children are in danger, call a crisishotline or a health center (the police can also make a referral)and leave immediately.
If someone tries to rob you, give up your property - dont giveup your life.
If you are robbed or assaulted, report the crime to the police.Try to describe the attacker accurately. Your actions can helpprevent someone else from becoming a victim.
Your Ad Could
Go Here!Call Cindy Today!
574-3893
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REALSTO
RYPUBLISHING.COM
March14,2012
POLITICS Return f the Living Fetus
Saturday began with an outlook notunlike one of a blank slate. I rose, thatday, with pure intentions to let the daywrite itself upon my blackboard. Imounted my digital steed, the Internet,early for some quick headlines beforetrading my thirst for knowledge for mypoisonous rie and mystical bodyarmor to ght the hordes of daemonon the borders between Hell and Earth
with some video games. oroughlysatised, I wiped the sweat from myheroic brow and followed the grumbleof my stomach, which was quiteempty. (Fighting demons on an emptystomach wears a guy out, let me tellyou.) But rather than jump back intothe fray aer a few slices of last night'spizza, I decided to check my usualemails and social media, and soonfound myself reading the second (orperhaps third) wave of news for theday. en, all of a sudden, like a foul
javelin hurled forth by the minions ofwretched beasts constructed of re andbrimstone, the stench and sinewy de-meanor of National Right to Life(NRL) felled my day.
Not too long ago, Mississippi resi-dents joined together against the infa-mous Prop 26, along with communityleaders of both the religious and med-ical doctrines, and defeated the pro-posal to declare unborn children ashaving equal rights as anyone elseunder the law of the state. As each sidebattled, an entire nation held its breathin anticipation of Mississippi's conclu-sion. When the smoke cleared, Prop 26was defeated, and a nation rejoiced.But today, the corpse of Prop 26 has
been re-animated, taking a page fromour federal adversaries and construct-ing a three-headed beast from thecorpse of the old proposal in the formof three bills: House Concurrent Res-olution 61, House Bill 857, and StateConcurrent Resolution 555.
First, House Concurrent Resolution61 (HC 61), authored by Andy Gipson,seeks to "provide that the word 'person'applies to all human beings from con-ception to natural death". Sound famil-iar? As argued previously, this changewould affect a multitude of laws anddeclarations by the State of Mississippi
authored in the past, present, and fu-ture. By itself, HC 61 also makes thedistinction that it does not include in-stances of "contraception, in vitro fer-tilization, or other methods ofreproduction, medical treatment in-tended to preserve life, or miscarriage,and for related purposes." As one cansee, the language of this bill becomessomewhat vague. But it doesn't stopthere. e second portion of the Per-
sonhood masquerade is a bill knownas Senate Concurrent Resolution 555(SC 555). Introduced by Joey Filligane,SC 555 would make the policy of Mis-sissippi "to protect every unborn childfrom conception to birth, to the extentpermitted by the federal constitution."Pairing this with a third bill, broughtto the table by Alex Monsour, callede Pain-Capable Unborn Child Act,
results in a web that seeks to outlawabortion regardless of any ruling bythe U.S. Supreme Court (See Roe vs.Wade) and the U.S. Constitution (i.e.the 14th Amendment). To be fair, SC555 does allow abortion if the mother'slife is in jeopardy, but House Bill 857removes the ability of an instance hap-pening aer 20 weeks. According toseveral sources, however, Filliganestated that he doesn't expect SC 555 topass, and that he wrote the bill as aplace-holder for anyone who wantedto push it through.
In January, National Right To Life
(NRL) announced its agenda for 2012."It should not be a surprise to anyonethat the top priority for National RightTo Life's Political Action Committee,this year, is defeating Barack Obamaand electing a Pro-Life President" saysNRL President, Carol Tobias. Versionsof Mississippi's House Bill 857 have al-ready been introduced and enacted inseveral states, including Nebraska,Oklahoma, District of Columbia, NewHampshire, Virginia, Florida, Ala-bama, Idaho, and Kansas. In somecases, there are no differences betweenthe text of the legislation and Missis-sippi's own House Bill 857. NRL Leg-
islative Director, Douglas Johnson,notes the advances in medical science,citing improvements in ultrasoundtechnology, but fails to distinguish therelationship between vaginal ultra-sound and whether or not the unbornfeel pain. But the NRL wastes no timein taking the offensive against the op-position, stating "there has been no se-rious legal challenge mounted to anyof these laws" and claiming [pro-abor-tionists] are the ones who insist thatsociety must remain locked in theDark Ages of ignorance regarding thecapacities of unborn children."
e rst step to overturning Roe v.Wade is to redene common under-standing. HC 61 redenes what a per-son is to be. House Bill 857 has alengthy list of items that it redenes orotherwise species with particular re-denition. e second step to over-turning Roe V. Wade is to abuse and/orcreate law and legislation in an attemptto destroy due process or distort itsfunction and appearance. In 1973, e
United States Supreme Court ruledthat there exists a "right to privacyunder the due process clause in theFourteenth Amendment to the UnitedStates Constitution [extending] to awoman's decision to have an abortion."But the NRL does little, if anything, toaddress the relationship between theextension of the right to privacy ofmothers in the 14th Amendment and
whether or not unborn children feelpain. House Bill 857 attempts to pro-vide the method by which a pregnantwoman is to alert her doctor who thenis to report the age of her fertilized, un-born child to the State Department ofHealth. is directly dees the 14thAmendment as shown byRoe V. Wade.e third step in overturning Roe V.Wade is subversion. Prop 26 washighly publicized. ese three bills?Not so much. While Prop 26 was na-tionally televised, the same sort of fer-
vor of the NRL's movement hasn'treceived the same sort of attention.
ere seems to be a really hard pushin state and federal government to re-strict or remove the rights of womento make a choice about their own bod-ies. We can't really take this with theexpectations that one law is going tooutlaw or repeal the right to vote orchoose by women. Rather, we musttake these things in the context ofover-regulation to ensure that thosewho violate oppressive laws becomefelons. Felons cannot vote, and onceyou are a felon, then you are a felon forlife. A womans voice is just as powerfulas any man's voice, and while BarackObama may not be pro-life, it does not
mean that electing a President that ispro-life is the best choice for everyoneto address all the concerns of a nation.You must make that sort of decisionbased upon what is important foryou,and not what you believe is importantfor others. at's fascism. We certainlyaren't ever going to have a Presidentwe agree with on every point of his orher platform. at is a fairy tale. Now,whether you agree or disagree, go outthere and let these men, these legisla-tors, know how you feel rather thanhow you thinkother people should feelor behave.
Invino [email protected]
Attempting to make sense of his universe,Invino Veritas bubbles outward from the chaos,sometimes submitting to its innite whirl, and
other times raging against its disregard for its ownelements. His writings incorporate multiple stylesand energies which can be found on his own blog
of random things athttp://musingsfortheinsane.blogspot.com/
MississippiBranchLaunchesHERoESCampaign
Celebrating March as NationalRed Cross Month, the AmericanRed Cross of Mississippi islaunching a statewide HEROEScampaign.
For almost 130 years, volunteers
with your local Red Cross Chap-ter have been heroes to peoplethroughout Northeast Mississippicommunities, lending aid duringtimes of disaster, supporting mil-itary families and training citizensin lifesaving CPR and rst aidskills.
Heroes for the American RedCross is a grassroots campaignwhere local businesspeople,school groups, church groups,civic clubs and individuals pledgeto raise $1,000 for their local RedCross chapter. is year, theNortheast Mississippi Chapter
hopes to raise $50,000 during thiscampaign, to support Red Crossservices, including disaster relief,assistance for re victims, emer-gency military communications,rst aid and CPR training, anddisaster preparedness informa-tion for our community. Allmoney raised will support yourneighbors in Mississippi.
is campaign is open to all forinvolvement, and those who areinterested should contact theirlocal Red Cross Office at:
Tupelo: 662-842-6101Columbus: 662-328-5710West Point: 662-494-9599Starkville: 662-323-4621Tishomingo: 662-438-7061New Albany: 662-534-5023
Special to e Real Story
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Fur Clumbus Citiens Hnredby Mississippi Histrical Sciety
Mississippi School for Math and Sci-ence teacher Charles M. Yarboroughis this years winner of the MississippiHistorical Societys award for Out-standing History Teacher. Yarboroughreceived the John K. BettersworthAward on March 3, at the MississippiUniversity for Women in Columbus,during the societys annual meeting.
e prize carries a $300 cash awardand a years membership in the Mis-sissippi Historical Society.
For over seventeen years, Yarbor-ough has taught U.S. history, Ameri-can government, and economics. Heis the director of the award-winning"Tales from the Crypt" research/per-formance project, and develops lessonplans and workshops for teachers. Hehas also presented local and state his-
tory programs for civic organizationsand the general public, across Missis-sippi.
"I'm particularly pleased to be recog-nized by the Mississippi Historical So-ciety, said Yarborough. is is agroup of people who work for a betterfuture for our state, by promoting theunderstanding of our past. I can'tthink of a group I would more like tobe associated with."
e Mississippi Historical Societyalso honored three citizens of Colum-bus with Awards of Merit. e awardswere presented to: Samuel H. Kaye, for
his work in preserving the history ofColumbus and Lowndes County;Bridget Smith Pieschel, for her workwith the Center for Women's Researchand Public Policy and the WeltyWriters Symposium and in docu-menting the history of the MississippiUniversity for Women; and MonaVance, for her work with the archivaland history programs of the Colum-bus-Lowndes Public Library.
e Mississippi Historical Society,founded in 1858, encourages out-standing work in interpreting, teach-
ing, and preserving Mississippi His-tory. e society is a non-prot mem-bership organization that worksclosely with the Mississippi Depart-ment of Archives and History. e so-ciety also publishes the onlinepublicationMississippi History Now. Itprovides annual grants to support pro-grams of the Junior Historical Societyand publishes books, maps, and othermaterials aimed toward the educationof the general public. Membership isopen to anyone; benets include re-ceiving the quarterlyJournal of Missis-
sippi History and the quarterlyMissis-sippi History Newsletter. For informa-tion on becoming a member, call601-576-6849 or visit the MHS Website, www.mdah.state.ms.us/admin/mhistsoc.html.
MHS Bettersworth award committee chair Tom Watts (L)and Charles M. Yarborough.
Mona Vance, Columbus Lowndes Public Library, Award of Merit;Bridget Smith Pieschel, Mississippi University for Women, Awardof Merit; Samuel H. Kaye, Columbus and Charles M. Yarborough,
Mississippi School for Math and Science.
Special to e Real Story
AWARDS
March14
,2012
REALSTORYPUBLISHING.COM
Jed Pressgrove is a technical writer and mastersstudent in sociology at Mississippi State University.
PRoJECT Xcnt. frm pg. 10ion. Its even more insulting thatourizadeh treats this moment as
sweet, rather than idiotic.Project X does approach sanity andaturity when Mann must confront
his dad, played by Peter MacKenzie,bout the destruction he and hisriends have caused to his home, the
setting of the party. MacKenzie is
stunned by Manns immaturity andasks him how many people attendedthe party. Mann answers, andMacKenzie is impressed by the num-ber, as Mann says it was awesome.MacKenzie then delivers the best lineofProject X: Well, youre still f***ed,omas. IfProject X had ended there,it wouldve been funny and tting. In-
stead, the lm ends on a positive notefor Mann, and features obligatory andstupid Where are they now? seg-ments for the male characters.
Todd Phillips produced Project X, soit doesnt surprise me that the lmshirks responsibility and comedic tim-ing. Phillips was the director of eHangover, a terrible movie about ter-
rible people. Project X is better thane Hangover, but thats a mighty lowstandard for entertainment.
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G.COM
March14,2012
CONSUMERCORNER
by Mo & No-Mo
Observation:On March 1st, we werewarned of the severe
weather headed ourway. As a matter of fact,we had warnings forseveral days in advanceof the storm. Gratefully,the storm did not comeas far south as was rstexpected, so our weatherwas not as bad as hadbeen predicted. With allof this advance notice,you would think the au-thorities would have awell-thought-out plan tohandle any and all pos-sibilities. It seems thelocal authorities havenot given any thought tothe Bypass off-ramp, atHwy. 50. On this night,when the lights were out,it seems cars were exit-ing the bypass in totaldarkness, skidding andsliding, because therewere no lights and no of-cers at the intersectionto assist; all the whilethere was a squad car,
blue lights ashing,posted at the LehmbergRoad-Hwy 50 intersec-tion, where lights fromthe Nissan parking lothelped in visibility. Maybe the people thatplan for these emergen-cies need to ride aroundin the dark some nights,to see where emergencyhelp is needed.
If you have a local business or establishment you would like us to consider for review,please e-mail us at: [email protected].
You will get our honest opinion of the business, their personal customer service, and the services offered.We strive for fair, unbiased reporting, so we hope to hear from you.
As stated last week, we have been gettinga lot of phone calls and e-mails about localestablishments, and we have saved eachand every one of them. We are still work-ing on using all of these comments in onegiant Consumer Report; however, aerreceiving so many complaints about oneparticular business, we felt it imperativethat we share this information with ourreaders. I have picked two of the most re-cent complaints, one a call and one an e-mail, with pictures included. We feel thatwhat these customers have to say kind ofsays it all, so we really don't need to addmuch, only the name and location of thebusiness. I will tell you it is a local pizzashop - the name and location will be pro-
vided at the end of the story.
e rst complaint came via a phonecall: While sitting outside, waiting
for my order to be prepared, itdisturbed me to see a youngmale employee with not-so-short curly, blondehair shaking his head,laughing and havinga good time. efact that there wasno hair net or cap tocontain any loosehairs bothered me.Before my concernover the loose hairdiminished, I noticedtwo young employeesstanding close to the cashregister, playing keepaway with dollar bills. en,without slowing down to wash theirhands or wipe their hands off, one goesand starts making pizzas, while the otheryoung man moves to the back of the pizzaparlor and starts cutting and boxing uppizzas that come out of the oven. Nasty -
just plain nasty!!!
Our second complaint arrived by e-mail, with pictures included. On Tues-day, March 6th, I decided to treat myhusband, and surprise him with pizza forsupper. I called Papa John's to order ourpizza at 5:37 P.M. It was clear from the
very start that the young woman that an-swered the phone wanted to be anywherebut there. Aer struggling to give myorder, in between her conversations withothers around her, and being very clearabout the pizza being extra-extra light onthe sauce, we hung up. (My husband isdiabetic and the sauce is what drives hissugar up, so ordering extra-extra light on
the sauce allows him tohave pizza as a treat,
from time to time.)My order con-
sisted of onemedium meatlover's pizza andone personalpan pizza withm u s h r o o m s ,onion and black
olives. Both piz-zas were sup-
posed to be extra-extra light on the
sauce.) Onehour later, I
call to nd outwhat the delay is in myorder being deliv-ered, and was told itwas on the way.Twenty (20) min-utes later, thepizza arrivesbarely warm.When the youngman walked upwith the pizza, Iasked him why ithad taken so longand he was almostrude stating he had sixstops to make before hemade my run. No apology, nooffer of a discount nothing, but atti-tude. I paid my $27 for these two rathersmall pizzas, and went in the house. Atno time should it take one- hour-and-
twenty-minutes to receive a pizza order!
e meat lover's pizza had maybe veslices of pepperoni, and we never did ndany of the other meats. e sauce wasslopped on and pouring out the sides.e personal pan pizza was a small pizza,not personal pan size; there were noonions or black olives and the sauce wasthick under the cheese. Both pizzas weresoggy and stuck to the box. My husbandattempted to eat his pizza, but my smallpizza was not edible and went to thegarbage. I am enclosing pictures of thepizzas, so you can see how they looked.
Needless to say, we won't be doingbusiness with this company,
again.
e name of thisbusiness is Papa
John's Pizza onHwy, 45 N.,across thestreet fromKmart.
We want tothank these two
contributors forhelping us to
keep our localrestaurants ho-nest
and clean. Maybewhen the managers read
this, they will start taking a lit-tle pride in their places of business and
realize that customers and how they aretreated determine whether they have a jobor not.
Papa Johns Pizza located on Hwy. 45 North.
Visit
Our
Web
Site
for
Our
NewPolls!
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MEDICAL
March1
4,2012
REALSTORYPUBLISH
ING.COM
Dont Injure Your Backumping Through Hoops
Im sorry, but your doctor rejectedour referral request for acupuncture.know its taken two weeks, and yourack is hurting so bad. Do you havenother doctor we can call?
Unfortunately, this is a commononversation that happens betweenotential acupuncture patients andheir soon-to-(hopefully)-be acu-uncturists in Mississippi.
Acupuncture, by a licensed acu-uncturist, became legal in Missis-
sippi in 2009, with the caveat that youust have a referral from your doctor.nywhere else in the country, you canalk through the doors of any
cupuncturists clinic and get treatedmmediately. But, in Mississippi, thenly state with such a requirement,
seeing an acupuncturist for the rstime is a hassle for the patient, thecupuncturist, and, ultimately, theoctor, too. Even more restrictive, itas to be a doctor, not a nurse practi-ioner or chiropractor - and that doc-or must be licensed in Mississippi andractice within 60 miles of thecupuncturist.
Did you know that a licensedcupuncturist has a four-year master's
level degree in acupuncture? at'seight years of school, all told, since you
ave to have an undergraduate degreeo get a master's degree. On top of
hat, they have to do thousands oflinical hours before they graduate,
and then have to sit for their nationalboards. en, they must be licensedby the MS State Board of Medical Li-censure - like doctors - and, like doc-tors, carry malpractice insurance. Itseems odd that, aer all that, youdneed to have a doctor's referral foracupuncture.
Beyond the fact that acupuncturistshave extensive education (two years ofthat education is in Western Medi-cine), the law takes away a patient'sright to choose the type of care theywant to receive. I don't need to go tomy doctor to see a massage therapistor chiropractor. Not only that, manypeople who want acupuncture (likeme) have a nurse practitioner as theirprimary care provider.
en, there's the fact that it's a hard-ship on patients. Now, since my nursepractitioner can't refer me, I have to goestablish care with a doctor. at's an-other $100 or so out of my pocket,since I don't have insurance (and Iknow there are many others like me inMississippi), not to mention the timeit will take out of my schedule and thatI won't even know if that doctor willbe willing to write me a referral. en,I have to spend even more money es-tablishing care with my local acupunc-turist (in Columbus, we're luckyenough to have an acupuncturist who
charges really low rates - partly tocompensate for all this, she says).
And then, there's the business side.It takes an acupuncturist a lot of timeto fax referral requests, usually repeat-edly, so that a patient can be seen.Oen, it can take up to ve differentattempts just to get a referral signed -while the poor patient waits to beseen. According to the eight acupunc-turists in the state of Mississippi, over50% of patients give up when theycant get a referral, and business is thuslost for the small business owner.at's not good for the community.As one doctor (who supportsacupuncture) said, 100% of patientcomplaints about acupuncture are re-lated to the fact that they have to get areferral. Wow. He also added that100% of doctors' complaints about
acupuncture are that they had to writethe referral.seems like a good caseof the few not representing the many.
ere is also the fact that, since thedoctor has to be Mississippi licensed,it stops money coming into our statefrom surrounding states, since mostpeople in Alabama and Tennessee -who are seeking acupuncturists - don'thave Mississippi-licensed doctors. Idont think that is good business forour communities or our state.
One last thing: According to the Na-tional Certication Commission forAcupuncture and Oriental Medicine,
acupuncturists have a malpracticetrack record that is leagues above that
of physicians, proportionally. But,they still have to make sure it's "safe"enough for us plebeians. (By the way,acupuncturists can actually be pri-mary care providers in some states.) IfI want a tattoo, why dont I have to geta referral for that? ey also use nee-dles.
I know, rsthand, many people whohave actually le their doctors, aerthey refused to refer them foracupuncture. Perhaps more of thathas to happen before the legislatorswill be willing to listen to the generalpopulation, as opposed to the MSMedical Association (whose whisperscan be very loud.). is year, theMississippi Oriental Medicine Associ-ation (MOMA) tried to get the law
amended, to remove the referralclause. Unfortunately, the head of thePublic Health Committee (in the MSHouse) had a keen ear to the MSMA,which did not want to budge an inch.MOMA even offered a compromise,wherein the referral clause would re-main, but be expanded to include out-of-state physicians and MDs morethan 60 miles away - to help with thebusiness side and make it easier forpatients to get care. MSMAs responsewas that this law was too young tochange and that not enough peoplewere being affected by it to warrantthat.
See HooPS Pg. 20
Christine Petty, JoAnna Lanier, and Delinda Boler attend ladies nightMonday, March 8 at Fashion Barn.
Ladies Night Out at Fashion Barn
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SEE SUDOKU PUZZLE ON PG 22
Is Demcracy the Best System?As reported in the Washington Post
(Simon Denyer, March 4, 2012), Indiais challenging one of our basic as-sumptions that democracy, in thewords of Winston Churchill is theworst form of government except forall the others; and we have to wonderat the successes of China, which hasfocused on economic development,
and where the right to economic well-being and social cohesion is more fun-damental than civil liberties.
We also wonder at Russia, whereRussians have not only toleratedPutins arrogation of power and abusesof democratic principles, but haveelected him overwhelmingly for an-other term, because he represents sta-bility. Perhaps Russias long Tsaristhistory and the dictatorships of theSoviet Union are the reasons; but per-haps Russians have understood thatone-size-democracy does not t all.
At times, democracy seems like
Indias greatest handicap. In therace to catch up with China, tounleash Indias economic and en-trepreneurial potential, Indiansare increasingly worrying aboutthe costs of democracy, or indeedwhether the country simply hastoo much of it to function effec-tively.
As economic growth slowed lastyear and corruption scandalsmounted; as crucial legislationstalled in a fractious Parliament, adeep sense of political malaise set-tled over Indias middle class, said
a member of Parliament. ere isa widespread belief that the kindof democratic system in which weoperate is failing us.
In a recent survey of 25-to-50-year-olds from the urban middleclass, a third of respondents saidIndia should be run by a strongleader who does not have to con-test elections, and a quarter optedfor leadership by experts and pro-fessionals not answerable to polit-ical leaders.
e problem, however, is not withdemocracy, but the application ofdemocracy. In India, the lack of astrong central government with au-thoritarian powers has allowed cor-ruption to ourish; and thedemocratic