Columbus: no fines for breaking watering ban

Chattahoochee River (Columbus State University partially visible on left bank), during late afternoon water release. Dillingham St. Bridge to Phenix City, Ala., is in the distance. (Dave Bender)

The Columbus City Council on Tuesday decided not to levy fines for residential outdoor water usage – this, despite the stage four, total ban on such use in Muscogee Co.

Columbus Water Works Executive Vice President Bob Tant, who attended the session, says the motion to impose fines on offenders was tabled for future review by the Columbus Water Board.

The proposed fines would have ranged from $100 to $1,000, depending on how many citations the offender had received. Residential users now receive a warning notice for breaking the ban, a letter for the second infraction, and a possible water cutoff -- depending on circumstances -- according to Tant.

Tant says the total ban is unfair to Columbus:

"We feel that it's somewhat unfair that we have invested in our utility, so that a large portion of the water will go back to the river; and other communities in north Georgia -- under the same restrictions -- have developed on septic tanks, and have no sanitary sewer systems, and are not returning that water to the river, so, we think it's a problem."

Tant says city residents have largely followed the ban. He noted that overall usage dropped from 39 to 23 million gallons a day, since the ban went into effect at the end of September.

Latoya Moore, a Water Works customer service representative, said that, although the majority of clients were limiting their water usage, they were receiving approximately five complaints a week from disgruntled users dissatisfied with the ban, or requesting exemptions.

Tant added that Columbus, dubbed the “Fountain City,” has turned off all the decorative downtown waterworks. He said educational institutions, like Columbus State University and Muscogee Co. schools have followed suit, and are leaving some lawns and athletic facilities dry.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the drought.

Columbus: 2 dead, 2 wounded in hospital shooting (updated)

Columbus Police Command and Control van outside of the emergency room of Doctors Hospital in Columbus, GA., where one of the shootings took place, on March 27, 2008. (Dave Bender)

A Muscogee County man went on a shooting spree at Doctors Hospital Thursday afternoon, killing two people and wounding a third.



Columbus Chief of Police Ricky Boren talking with reporters at the scene of the shooting, Doctors Hospital, Columbus, GA., on March 27, 2008. (Dave Bender)

Columbus Police Chief Ricky Boren says 63-year-old Charles Johnston, reportedly a retired Muscogee County schoolteacher killed a male nurse who had taken care of his mother, who had died at the hospital from natural causes:

“The individual had carried a grudge against at least one of the nurses involved in her care from 2004 until today. He came here to the hospital carrying three weapons. He was carrying a nine millimeter automatic, a .380 automatic and a .32 revolver.”

Boren, who told reporters that police received a call for assistance at 2:17 pm, says Johnston then shot and killed a second person, and fled to the parking lot. There, he then shot and critically wounded a third individual traveling in a vehicle, as they pulled into the lot.


Law-enforcement officials confer near a Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime scene van in the parking lot of Doctors Hospital, Columbus, GA., on March 27, 2008. (Dave Bender)

Police say the suspect then opened fire on a Muscogee County deputy marshal and a Columbus police office who had been called to the scene. Both returned fire, and were unhurt.

A police detective who arrived on the scene fired at Johnston, wounding him. Johnston was operated on and is in police custody.

Information about family members who were at the hospital at the time of the shootings is available at 706-494-4057.

Massive fire demolishes historic Columbus mill

Five pumpers surrounding the Bibb mill in Columbus poured thousands of gallons of water into the smoldering rubble, Oct. 30, 2008. (Dave Bender)

In Columbus in western Georgia, an overnight fire gutted the historic Bibb textile mill and left fire officials and neighbors wondering as to the cause. There were no injuries, fire officials said.


Firefighters were unable to enter the smoking ruins of the Bibb Mill in Columbus the morning after the fire, due to heat, and falling debris, Oct. 30, 2008. (Dave Bender)

Almost 70 firefighters and eleven fire vehicles fought the inferno in the quarter-mile long, red brick structure after receiving an alarm after midnight, according to Deputy Fire Chief, Greg Lang:

“At this time, we're still extinguishing hot spots; we're going to be here throughout the day, late in the evening and through the night, from just the amount of fire we had.”

Neighbors stood and watched, as several pumpers and crews cascaded water on patches of fire within the smouldering four-story ruins. One of them was veteran Columbus resident, Dorothy Tate:

“Oh... I feel like the city lost a very ... very good family member, since it's such a wonderful landmark.”

(Dave Bender)

The 750,000 square-foot Bibb Mill was built in 1900, alongside the Chattahoochee River near downtown. It was later renovated into shops and housed a flea market. An events center alongside the main structure was undamaged.

As southerly winds wafted cinders for several miles towards downtown Columbus, according to a newspaper report, firefighters poured sheets of water into the heart of the rubble, Oct. 30, 2008. (Dave Bender)

Bruce Toole is a local businessman who owns property across the street from the mill:

“A lot of people from Columbus grew up here, made their living here. It's probably going to be a little bittersweet for a lot of older people that retired from here, and this was their life – to ride by and see this thing gone.”

The Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms and Tobacco will assist in investigating the cause of the blaze.

(Dave Bender)

Click here for more GPB News coverage about Columbus.

Local groups take aim at Supreme Court gun ruling

Phenix City, Ala., resident Michael Knighton fires his Ruger pistol at an indoor firing range at Shooters Columbus gun shop in Columbus, Ga. The gun emits a flash of light as the bullet leaves the barrel. June 18th, 2008. (Dave Bender)

The United States Supreme Court this week ruled that Americans have the right to bear firearms for self-defense. In Georgia, groups for and against a recent ruling allowing guns in more places are stocking up on legal ammo.

Alice Johnson of Georgians For Gun Safety says she foresees challenges across America in the wake of the five-to-four ruling:

"The decision is going to lead to lots and lots and lots of litigation around the country related to local and state statutes that are in place now, and we're a little worried, I think, about what the outcome of some of that litigation will be."

And she says some of that litigation will likely be over House Bill 89, which goes into effect this coming Tuesday.

The Georgia law passed in the last legislature. It allows gun owners with a concealed carry permit to bring their weapons on public transit, to restaurants -- owner permitting -- and state parks:

"Perhaps the Supreme Court may be implying that House Bill 89 has some constitutional issues... you know, they said, 'sensitive places where firearms don't belong,' and they left that open, and that may, in fact mean that that guns on public; guns in restaurants that serve alcohol -- may be subject to some judicial scrutiny."

One supporter of the federal decision agrees with Johnson that lawsuits may soon be ricocheting through the courts -- but in the opposite direction.

Rifles on display at Shooters Columbus gun shop in Columbus, Ga., as a customer and salesman discuss the merits of various pistols in the background. June 18th, 2008. (Dave Bender)

Jon McMullen owns the Shooters gun shop in Columbus:

"If anything, it will expand or obviate the need for HB89, because as this Supreme Court ruling grows roots and we start to determine how it affects a variety of laws across the nation, there'll have to be a lot of laws that will have to be repealed, quite frankly, as being unconstitutional."

The State Senate will also be soon considering the ramifications of the rulings:

A panel meets later this summer to take a comprehensive look at Georgia's complex firearms laws and, and may suggest legislation for the 2009 session.

A spent bullet shell spirals upwards from the pistol of Columbus resident, Benjie Balen, at Shooter's indoor practice range, Columbus, Ga., June 18th, 2008. (Dave Bender)

In the meantime, law-enforcement officials are scrambling to train officers in the fine points of HB89, before it takes effect.

Columbus Police Chief Rickey Boren, commenting on the Georgia ruling at a recent gun-control debate, seemed to almost have seen the federal decision coming:

"In any law, there's a lot of gray area. And this law has not been tried in the courts, there has not been an arrest, it has not been appealed and there's not been an oversight of judges that have reviewed it and said whether it is a legal process or not."

But that could all change very soon, as state representatives, politicians and pressure groups across the country take sharp legal aim.

Columbus Job Fair: Officials Optimistic, Despite Cuts

Applicants looking for work throng the hall of the Columbus Trade and Convention Center, on Thursday, Feb. 5, 1009. (Photo: Dave Bender)

More than 2,500 job-seekers attended a job fair held in Columbus Thursday. Employers from the area, as well as out-of-state and national firms were at the event, held at the city’s convention center.

Department of Labor officials say some 55 companies, from Aflac and local hospitals, to local and Atlanta MARTA police departments, to Georgia Power and employment agencies are taking job applications.


Miguel Flores (facing) of Fort Benning assists a job-seeker at the Columbus job fair, on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009. (Photo: Dave Bender)

Fort Benning's Warrior Transition Battalion has a representative here as well, to aid troops in making the sometimes complex conversion from uniform to civvies.

There are also representatives from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in nearby Lumpkin, and the Florida Highway Patrol.

The large-scale fair is held several times a year, and Labor Department officials say while the turnout by employers is a little more than half last year's showing – they’re optimistic that employers and applicants will be introduced to each other.


Applicants submitting resumes to company online websites. (Photo: Dave Bender)

To that end, they’ve set up a bank of computers for applicants to go directly to the companies’ websites, and set up interviews there, as well.

Many of the job-seekers are either in, or soon after college, and some have recently completed military service.

Celeste Edge of Columbus is looking has a degree in Communications and wants a position in her field:

"It’s been ok; I’ve talked to a couple of people who seem a little promising, like the hospital and one of the staffing agencies who thinks they might be able to place me – but, you know – I’m just hoping for the best."

There were many resumes and handshakes, and many people filled in applications online.

Jim Huntzinger of the DOL is one of the fair’s organizers, and says they’re trying hard to lower jobless rates:

"We have 55 employers here, with, as i say, with the economic situation, is, I think, fantastic. And it’s 55 employers that have jobs."

Some came away frustrated from the experience, though.

Eric Harris of Columbus recently finished the Army and is studying criminal law at Troy University; he got a lot of what he calls “headnoes”:

"...that’s everybody shaking their heads, saying, ‘No; go online; we don’t have any applications, we’re not hiring…so it’s like, I’m very discouraged at this point so I’m just thinking about dropping school and going back in the military – and I’m, not the only one feeling like this. There’s a lot of others in there stressing the same thing about their feeling the same disappointment at this job fair – they need to do better."

About 3,000 people turned out for last year's job fair, and Department of Labor officials say they’ll hold a similar job fair in May.

Kia Motors' tier-one supplier, Sewon American, will accept applications for 400 to 600 production workers for a car parts factory that will open in a few months.

They'll be taking applications next week in Lagrange.

The Kia plant in West Point is about half an hour north of Columbus, and is set to open its doors in the late fall.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the job situation.

Columbus job-seekers swamp job fair

Roadside sign welcoming job applicants, and car buyers at the former Bill Heard dealership in Columbus, Georgia, on Dec. 10, 2008. (Dave Bender)

State Senator Emanuel Jones is reopening a flagship Bill Heard auto dealership in Columbus, as a controversial 15 billion dollar federal bailout for automakers hangs in the balance.

Jones hopes to welcome car buyers into his showroom by Christmas. To do that, he'll need staff and mechanics. On Wednesday, close to 1,000 job seekers packed the showroom.

Torrential rain pounds down on the giant marquee, that reads in moving red letters: "Come Back To Your Legacy – Job Fair Today!"


Close to a 1,000 applicants tried out for 100 positions at the former Bill Heard dealership in Columbus, Georgia, on Dec. 10, 2008. (Dave Bender)

10 job seekers for every spot at the dealership took that advice.

Department of Labor officials say they're expecting close to a thousand to show up, vying for 100 positions.

Scarlet Barker of Columbus has been out of work since August, but worked at Bill Heard in the past. She wonders, however, if that's to her benefit:

“I know almost all of them, because I worked here for years; I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but I know most of them that are in here."

Many of them were among the several hundred laid off when Heard shuttered its doors in September.

The chain was 11th largest in the country, with over a dozen lots scattered throughout the southeast, Arizona and Nevada.

But Heard filed bankruptcy after a quadruple whammy of high gas prices, poor sales, a credit crunch, and a state lawsuit charging Heard with 16-years of deceptive sales practices.

Emanuel Jones and Georgia Department of Labor team during the intake of new applicants at the former Bill Heard dealership in Columbus, Georgia, on Dec. 10, 2008. (Dave Bender)

Jones owns two other dealerships, and says he isn't fazed the prospect of General Motors going bankrupt:

"One thing that I know: General Motors is as big a part of America as any other corporate entity, and there's no doubt in my mind that Chevrolet and Cadillac as a brand will always be here."

Jim Hunsinger of the Georgia Department of Labor says he values Jone's optimism.

Georgia Department of Labor's Jim Hunsinger and staff signing in applicants at former Bill Heard dealership in Columbus, Georgia, on Dec. 10, 2008. (Dave Bender)

He's here with a team from the DOL streaming hundreds of applicants into private interviewing booths:

"We appreciate the senator taking that chance in a dire economy."

Jones says there'll be another wave of hiring before a grand opening on December 19th.

Meanwhile, as the line of applicants slowly snakes forward, the rain washes the dust off hundreds of still-unsold cars that fill the parking lot.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of unemployment issues in Georgia.

Columbus: Water Works filing suit against Corps of Engineers

The City of Columbus may join a federal lawsuit against the US Army Corps of Engineers. At stake are water use rights in the Chattahoochee River.

The City of Columbus's Water Works is asking the city council to join its case. It contends that the city isn't getting it's fair share of water. The plaintiffs say the corps is mainly looking after Atlanta's interests, at the expense of other downstream users.

Clifton Fey, an attorney for the City Council, says they will discuss the issue: “The Water Works and the City Council here in Columbus are going to take all necessary steps to protect the interests of all Columbus water users, and those of people downstream. It will be on the Columbus City Council agenda next week.”

Georgia, Florida and Alabama filed four similar lawsuits in US district Court in March. But the Water Works say those suits do not adequately represent Columbus's interests.

Columbus police: No leads in missing kids case

Columbus Police say they have no leads in the disappearance of three Columbus children and their father, Eddie Harrington, as of early Wednesday morning.


Eddie Harrington. (Columbus Police Department)

CPD Lt. Mark Starling, who is leading the investigation, says the statewide Amber Alert is still in effect.

Starling said Harrington left his cellphone at his home, limiting their ability to track his whereabouts. He says that Harrington's credit card use is being tracked, in an effort to zero in on his whereabouts.

Investigators are interviewing Harrington's brother and family, and are working with the as children's mother, Agena Battle.


Agana and Aliyah Battle, Cedric Harrington. (Columbus Police Department)

Starling said several tips have been called in by people who said they'd either seen Harrington or the vehicle they are traveling in, but said that the leads proved erroneous.

Starling said that Harrington is driving a dark green, 2002 Chevrolet Impala, with Indiana license plate No.: 93-L-4740. The vehicle has a crack in the front windshield.


The car the four are traveling resembles the vehicle above.

The GBI, and law-enforcement agencies in several southern states are taking part in the search, as well as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Billboards in Columbus are showing photos of Harrington and the three children.

Columbus Police are urging anyone who has seen the vehicle or its occupants to call them at 706 653 3231 / 3000 (switchboard).

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the case.

Bradleys and Baghdad on the 'Hootch'

Maj. Shane Sims goes through a final checklist with the driver of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle on the testing pad at Fort Benning, a day before trucking the 25-ton tracked vehicles into Columbus on Thursday, June 5, 2008. (Dave Bender)

Two Bradley Fighting Vehicles – tank-like personnel carriers – clanked along in downtown Columbus traffic on Thursday, in order to test out hi-tech camera gear.

A Bradley Fighting Vehicle pulls into traffic in downtown Columbus for a test run. The tank is sandwiched between two of the test team's pickup trucks to minimize the chance of hitting a civilian vehicle , June 5, 2008. (Dave Bender)

Cpl. Jason Wade of Columbus State University police watched as the vehicles rolled by his post near a parking garage on Front Street:

“That's something downtown's never seen before. It's pretty neat! Couldn't imagine being stopped at a red light and seeing this big 50-caliber gun stuck in my rear view mirror (laughs).

He's watching an army test to better protect soldiers out on patrol from bombs, bullets and the mayhem on Iraqi streets.

They want to keep soldiers safely buttoned up in an armor plated, 25-ton Bradley Fighting Vehicle. The steel and aluminum-hulled heavyweight runs on treads, carries a three-man crew and up to seven infantrymen.

Fort Benning officials are here to acid test a new camera vision system that's supposed to transmit a 360-degree color and infrared view of what's going on outside to the crew's tv-screens inside.

But the system's camera and infrared scanners – which translate degrees of heat and cold into a black and white image – are blinded by southwest Georgia's scorching 100-degree heat reflecting off walls, cars and people.

Spc. Kyle Jolley and another crew member take a break on the Bradley Fighting Vehicle's ramp, between sorties through downtown Columbus to test camera systems, June 5, 2008. (Dave Bender)

Specialist Kyle Jolley, who monitors the cameras is having a tough time interpreting what's on his screen:

“It's kind of overwhelming at this point, because there's so many noncombatants that are there, and a lot of them have cameras, so it's hard to distinguish an actual video camera or something like that. Also, you're trying to pick people apart in groups, and by the time you do, you're already passed them and moved on to the next group.”

Interviewer:
What about the infrared signatures?

Jolley:
“Infrared's difficult during the day, because the sun heats up the surrounding areas so much, that people don't stand off against the background as well as they do during the nighttime.”

Jolley has to pick out eight soldiers who are wearing street clothes, and posing as insurgents. They're brandishing long black tubes as make-believe weapons, and hiding in the deep shadows of windows and doorways, and behind bushes and foliage.



Second Lieutenant Alfred Spiteri, posing as an insurgent, points a mock anti-tank rocket at the Bradley Fighting Vehicle as it drives by a parking garage, June 5, 2008. The maneuver is meant to test the vehicle's on-board camera system in real life situations, similar to those encountered in Iraq. (Dave Bender)

Infantry Second Lieutenant Alfred Spiteri quickly points his mock anti-tank rocket out the window of a parking garage, and then pulls back:

“Our job here is to work as an enemy for this exercise, so that they can see if the new camera systems they're trying to incorporate into the Bradleys' are effective. Other people out here have mock rifles, so that the Bradley crews can differentiate between what weapons we're using.”

But despite the snafus the army says it wants all the feedback – positive and especially negative - from the camo-clad troops, so they can fix the bugs before the system is deployed in Baghdad's back alleys.

I ask Major Shane Sims, who's in charge of the field testing, about other possible battle scenarios:

Interviewer:
“You're running through downtown Baghdad; a kid runs up with spray paint, gets two cameras out; someone throws a grenade on it – you can blow out a camera...”

Sims:
“You're very attuned into what some of the issues are. those are very good questions, and those are issues we're all addressing in this experiment.”

After the Bradleys are trucked back to Fort Benning, and the field reports are filed, Sims says additional system testing and adding improvements will take place at the Army's armor center at Fort Knox, Kentucky.

Crewmember undergoes an inspection before deploying his vehicle on a test sortie in downtown Columbus, June 5, 2008. (Dave Bender)

Click here for more GPB News coverage of events at Fort Benning and the post's effect on Columbus and the surrounding area .

2008 State budget earmarks $21M for Columbus projects

Two Columbus projects got a serious financial boost when Gov. Sonny Perdue signed the 2008 Georgia budget into law late Wednesday.

Just over $16 million dollars went to Columbus Technical College's health sciences building, and five million was set aside for the National Infantry Museum. The $85 million project is under construction at Ft. Benning.

"We are very lucky that we have $21 million coming to Columbus," said state Rep. Richard Smith, R-Columbus told the Ledger-Enquirer newspaper. "If you look at the numbers, Columbus did quite well."

National Infantry Museum Foundation Executive Director Ben Williams: "[Perdue] knew we were attempting to not only raise money here, but also nationally," adding, "Having the state of Georgia support the project at this level is a wonderful stamp of approval for us."

The museum installed a Bradley Fighting Vehicle among the facilities' steel construction girders in a ceremony on Friday.


Crane hoists vehicle into place
(Dave Bender)

Benning BRAC Planning Group Meets

(Courtesy Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce)

A coalition of ten Chattahoochee Valley counties met today to hammer out details of a massive program to bring tens of thousands of soldiers and their families to Fort Benning and Columbus.

The army's Base Realignment and Closure program – BRAC for short – will transfer some 40,000 troops from Ft. Knox, Kentucky by 2011.

A consortium known as The Valley Partnership is planning the infrastructure for the influx that will affect ten counties in Georgia, and three across the Chattahoochee River in Alabama.

Officials began working on a Regional Growth Management Plan just after the New Year. They're examining a 35-mile radius around the army training base to coordinate and assess the projected effects of the move on the area over the next 20-years. They include new highways, housing, schools, utilities, and a score of other issues.

Columbus Chamber of Commerce President Mike Gaymon, speaking to the Chattahoochee Valley group, Jan., 23, 2008. (Dave Bender)

Mike Gaymon, president of the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce:

“Highways, for example; buildings, for example. Where are these houses going to go, where do these subdivision need to go? Is the water and sewer there? And we know that there are a lot of areas, where there's no water and sewer... so, it's big. It touches every fabric and part of these counties we'll be working with.”

Local officials say the Department of Defense move – the biggest such peacetime personnel and materiel transfer in army history – will bring an estimated two billion dollars in capital investment to the area. In addition, the DoD is assisting the funding of the effort.

Ron Roth, vice president of Science Applications International Corporation, is in charge of the project's planning and integration:

“The Department of Defense – The Office of Economic Adjustment provides funding for communities that are affected by BRAC decisions. Columbus and the surrounding area has revieved the largest grant ever: 3.3 million dollars - so that's a pretty big deal.”

J. Mac Holladay, CEO of Market Street Services consultants, is crunching the research numbers:

“We are going to be specifically looking at the housing needs that this is going to bring to the region; we're going to be helping out on the educational needs, in terms of K-to-12, and higher education and what that's going to mean. The whole team is really working on about 16 different tasks.”

The project will affect Chattahoochee, Harris, Muscogee, Marion, Stewart, Talbot and Taylor counties in Georgia, and Barbour, Lee and Russel in Alabama.

“It has the largest regional impact I've ever seen. So I think it's that need for really looking at it in total, that's an important part of the project,” according to Holladay.

Projected BRAC growth timeline. Click on graph for full-size image. (Courtesy Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce)

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the BRAC project.

Columbus: Third shooting victim dies

Law-enforcement officials confer near a Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime scene van in the parking lot of Doctors Hospital, Columbus, GA., on March 27, 2008. (Dave Bender)

A person who was shot in the head and critically wounded in Thursday afternoon's shooting spree at Doctors Hospital in Columbus, died of their wounds this evening.

The individual was shot in the hospital's parking lot by a man who police said bore a grudge against staffers who had treated his mother several years earlier. The man shot and killed the other two victims in the hospital a short time earlier.

The three have not been identified as this update was posted, pending notification of their families.

Columbus Police Chief Ricky Boren said 63-year-old Charles Johnston, a retired Muscogee County schoolteacher killed a male nurse who had taken care of his mother, who had died at the hospital from natural causes:

“The individual had carried a grudge against at least one of the nurses involved in her care from 2004 until today. He came here to the hospital carrying three weapons. He was carrying a nine millimeter automatic, a .380 automatic and a .32 revolver.”

Larry Sanders, CEO of Columbus Regional Hospital released a statement over the slaying:

"On behalf of the board of directors, medical staff and all the employees of Doctors Hospital and the entire Columbus Regional family, I extend our heartfelt condolences to the families of the vicitms in this shooting. We are deeply saddened at the tragic loss of these three lives. We are reminded of how a tragedy can strike without warning and that life is precious. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of their families. We ask that everyone in the community keep them in their thougts and prayers as well."

Information about family members who were at the hospital at the time of the shootings is available at 706-494-4057.

Click here for more GPB News coverage about the shootings at Doctors Hospital.

Columbus: Amber alert for three missing children

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation put out the Levi's Call alert Wednesday morning for the trio - a male toddler and one-year-old twin girls.

Eddie Harrington. (Columbus Police Department)

The children's father, 29-year-old Eddie Harrington reportedly took them from their mother's home in Columbus in the early hours of the morning, according to Columbus Police Department officer, Lt. Mark Starling:

“They left this morning around 01:30; it's going to be involving a family domestic issue, and because of information left at the home, [there's] some concern on our part for the safety of the kids.”

Agana and Aliyah Battle, Cedric Harrington. (Columbus Police Department)

Starling says there were no signs of violence at the home, and the children's mother was not present when they were taken. Starling described the vehicle:

“He's driving a 2002 Chevrolet Impala, dark green in color, bearing an Indiana tag: 93-L-4740; it has a cracked front windshield.”

The car the four are traveling resembles the vehicle above.

Columbus Police are urging anyone who has seen the vehicle or its occupants to call them at 706 653 3231 / 3000 (switchboard).

More details of the case are available at the GBI website.

Tourism up in Columbus

The bad economy didn't prevent a banner year for tourism in Columbus. WGPB's John Sepulvado explains.

One point one million visitors came to Columbus in 2008, according to a Columbus State University study. on average, the visitors spent almost 365 dollars ---It is the first time the area has cracked the million visitor threshold.

Peter Bowden, with the Columbus Convention and Visitors Bureau says local leaders were able to see the poor economy coming and adjust it's strategy.

"I think one of the key things we did is getting out in front of gas prices," says Bowden. "We were doing staycations before anyone knew what a stay cation was. "

Tourism is the second largest industry in Georgia, key to keep arts and cultural and even recreational enties strong as a way to draw people.

Many other caluclations around the state are not out yet. As for Bowden, he says if the same number of visitors come to Columbus this year, he'll be happy. After all, he adds---in this economy flat is the new up.

Police pleased as Columbus gets LOST

In western Georgia, an important vote easily passed last night that would significantly beef up police and public services.

Columbus voters at 48 polling stations across the city gave the thumbs up for The Local Option Sales Tax – LOST by a 61 percent majority.

City officials estimate that the one-percent tax will generate some $36 million dollars annually.

Police will receive about 70-percent of the funds. They say they plan to use it to add 100 beat officers, raise pay and add precincts.

The remaining 30 percent is slated for roads and related public works projects.

An insurance industry survey in April said car thefts dropped statewide in 2007 -- except in Columbus -- which topped the state in per-capita auto theft.

Read more about that survey here. Columbus Police Department crime statistics are here.

A similar tax proposal was voted down four years ago.

Columbus City Manager Isaiah Hugley told the Ledger-Enquirer newspaper that Tuesday's victory was largely due to the backing of Mayor Jim Wetherington, who served as chief of police for over a decade.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of events in Columbus and western Georgia.

Columbus, Phenix City accord: a river runs through it

Columbus and Phenix City have agreed to share water resources, despite the ongoing water war between Georgia, Alabama, and Florida.

Officials from both cities held a ceremony on Thursday on a bridge over the Chattahoochee River, marking the accord. A pipe siphoning water from the river just north of Columbus connects both cities’ systems.

Columbus uses about 30 million gallons of water daily. Phenix City uses far less daily – about six to eight million gallons.

The accord is meant to allow mutual aid in an emergency situation, like Katrina or terrorism.

Billy Turner, President of the Columbus Water Works, says that while the agreement has no bearing on the ongoing water war between the two states and Florida, it does show mutual goodwill.

”In some ways, people think the river divides us; but in Columbus and in Phenix City, we believe it’s what connects us.”

Turner says either city would be willing to supply the other with up to eight million gallons of water a day, in an emergency.

Phenix City plans to draw off about one million gallons a day in coming weeks, while they work on their water system.

Columbus school tops state list

Georgia's No. 1 elementary school is Britt David Magnet Academy, according to the 2007 Report Card for parents, published by the Georgia Public Policy Foundation.

Britt David topped a list of 1,176 grade schools statewide, while Columbus High School came in third place out of 369 public high schools. Columbus's Midland Middle School came in at 89th place, the report says.

Many Columbus schools rated below median levels, according to report, which appears in the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer.

Nursing center breaks ground in Columbus

Perdue and officials at the groundbreaking ceremony. (Dave Bender)

Governor Sonny Perdue turned the first shovelful of earth for a planned medical sciences technical training center in Columbus Tuesday.

Perdue was joined by a host of state and local officials at the festive ceremony, which was held under a large tent in a field near the Columbus Technical College.

Perdue touted the timing of building the Dr. Robert L. Wright, Jr. Health Sciences Center, in conjunction with nearby Fort Benning's expected expansion, and influx of soldiers and families in the next few years:

"It means the spouse of a soldier who relocated to for t benning will have the opportunity to earn a degree and possibly find a nursing job right here."

The State of Georgia is paying $16 million of the estimated $21 to $25 million dollars the nursing and health sciences training center will cost.

Artist's rendering of the planned Dr. Robert L. Wright, Jr. Health Sciences Center. (Courtesy)

Officials expect the 84,000 sq.-ft. facility to double Columbus Technical College's current 1,100-student enrollment.

Construction on the center is to begin in the fall, and officials expect to finish by mid-2010.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of events in Columbus and at Fort Benning.

US Army Sec'y attends Columbus event

Fort Benning Commanding General Walter Wojdakowski, Columbus Mayor Jim Wetherington, and US Army Secretary Peter Geren at the "Army Community Covenant" signing ceremony in Columbus, April 17, 2008. (Dave Bender)

US Army Secretary, Peter Geren, and officials from Fort Benning, Columbus and Phenix City, Ala., took part in a dedication on Thursday supporting the bond between soldiers' families and the surrounding civilian communities.

An infantry soldier and family members of service personnel took part in the signing the "Army Community Covenant" document.

Some 200 soldiers, families, local and state officials attended the ceremony, which was held at the Columbus RiverCenter complex.

Fort Benning and the surrounding community are the first in a series of such signings at bases and surrounding areas across the country.

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Multi-million dollar donation to CSU music school

Sixty-eight Steinway pianos onstage, as seen from the balcony of the Bill Heard Auditorium of the Columbus RiverCenter For The Performing Arts. (Dave Bender)

A single multi-million dollar donation to Columbus State University in southwest Georgia has allowed Columbus's Schwob School of Music to purchase no less than 68 new Steinway pianos for their students.

(L-R) Fred Cohen, director of the Schwob School of Music, Maxine Schiffman, Rex Whiddon, director of major gifts and university stewardship and former director of the music program at The Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University, onstage with the Steinway pianos. (Dave Bender)

Donor Maxine Schiffman joined CSU officials and Steinway representatives at a ceremony Tuesday, held onstage at Legacy Hall in the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts. 44 upright pianos and 24 grand pianos, valued at more than $2.5 million were on hand, and will be purchased as a result of the gift.

"Steinway pianos are the standard, according to Fred Cohen, director of the Schwob School of Music.

"Offering all our students Steinways – and nothing but Steinways – to practice with and to perform upon throughout their years at Schwob prepares them best for their musical careers.

"Experience with and exploration of the well-maintained Steinways in the RiverCenter will set the level for professional expectations in piano sound throughout the lives of Schwob faculty, students and in the Columbus community," Cohen said in a statement released by CSU.

In 2007, CSU named Maxine Schiffman an honorary alumnus, according to the statement.

Stage spotlights gleam off the polished wood of several of the Steinway grand pianos onstage. (Dave Bender)

The University of Georgia, Kennesaw State University and Spelman College previously became all Steinway schools.

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