August 1, 2025 • 47 mins
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We've got a mixed bag this week with a breaking investigative story and two interviews!
A shocking cover-up attempt rips through Columbus as we uncover disturbing details of police deception following a high-speed crash. Investigation files reveal a police officer was traveling at a staggering 77 mph down College Street when he struck a civilian's car, causing injuries serious enough to require helicopter transport for a brain bleed.
The evidence is damning. Body camera footage shows the officer flying airborne over railroad tracks with no seatbelt, one hand on the wheel, before losing control and T-boning a citizen's vehicle—which contained the man's wife and children. Yet what followed was even more troubling: two officers provided false statements, claiming the citizen pulled out in front of the officer. A sheriff office investigation disputes that claim. While the citizen was drug tested (results clean), the department mysteriously canceled the officer's toxicology screening, claiming they'd "handle it internally."
Beyond this explosive story, we explore the upcoming Possum Town Book Festival featuring more than 30 authors, including Wright Thompson, and chat with Vanessa Poteet who moderates popular Facebook group Columbus MS (what's going on), which has 20,000 members. Discover how this digital gathering place has become a force for good, raising thousands for local charities while keeping residents informed.
We want to hear your thoughts. Follow us, share this episode, and join the conversation as we continue to shine light on stories that matter in our community.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
From the opinion page of the Commercial Dispatch.
This is Between the Headlines.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
This is Peter Imes, publisher of the Dispatch.
One of our hosts of Between theHeadlines is the managing
editor of our newsroom.
Typically we try to keep newsand opinions separate, but
reporters have a unique insightinto the workings of local
government and their analysiscan be helpful for readers and
listeners.
The dispatch remains committedto journalistic integrity and
(00:37):
our reporting will alwaysreflect that.
And now between the headlines.
Speaker 4 (00:43):
A cover-up within the Columbus Police Department.
We have late-breaking news herein Catfish Alley Studio 78
miles per hour on College Streetthat is how fast the officer
was traveling when he hit avictim who was apparently parked
behind a stop sign.
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You are listening to Betweenthe Headlines with Mr Zach
(02:34):
Player, who's the managingeditor of the Commercial
Dispatch Also a guy with reallygreat genes when he actually
chooses to wear them.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
More of a khaki pants type of guy.
Speaker 4 (02:44):
And my name is David Chisholm.
So we've got a big story herethat's about to bust wide open
and it is it's developing, sowe're going to navigate this as
carefully as we can.
In this setting, officer JeremyHarris of the Columbus Police
Department was driving east onCollege Street at 78 miles per
(03:07):
hour.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Officer elsewhere had requested assistance from other
officers.
Yeah, backup.
Speaker 4 (03:13):
And there were two cruisers headed that direction
Right and the cruiser driven byOfficer Harris, going at such a
rate of speed, veers off theroad and T-Bones civilian,
deveon, bankhead yes, andinjures him pretty badly, pretty
badly and had to be airliftedto Jackson for a brain bleed.
(03:37):
Well, okay.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
So here's our understanding of what happened
and let me first tell you how wegot the understanding.
Dispatch submitted a publicrecords request to the sheriff's
office, which is investigatingthis wreck.
We got body camera footage, wegot the report of the crash and
the narratives associated withthe investigation and a couple
(04:03):
of things here associated withthe investigation and a couple
of things here.
When the wreck happened, thepublic was told, you know, by
the police department, thesheriff's office was told by the
officer who collided with thecivilian vehicle.
Okay, officer Harris, officerHarris and one other and then
one other officer corroboratedit that they were in response
(04:27):
lights and sirens going.
And that Bankhead actuallypulled out from 22nd Street into
the road and got in the way.
Speaker 4 (04:37):
So the original story is that Bankhead was at the
stop sign and then proceededforward, proceeded forward, got
in the way, got hit.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
But but let's talk about what the report says and
what the body camera footageshows.
Harris was going 78 miles anhour.
Dude.
He launches airborne when hehits the railroad tracks.
He's not wearing a seat belt.
You can see he's got his lefthand just one hand on the bottom
(05:08):
of the steering wheel as he'sdriving down the road 78 miles
an hour, launches, goes airbornewhen he hits the railroad
tracks, loses control of thevehicle.
Now, that's what you can see onthe video and what we know from
the sheriff's officeinvestigation is that when he
lost control of the vehicle hehits Bankhead with his family in
(05:32):
the car.
There's a wife and kids in thatcar.
Dear Lord Hits him while hestopped at the stop sign.
There's no evidence in thisreport.
As a matter of fact, the reportconcluded he was stopped at
that stop sign and had notpulled out.
The sheriff has said on therecord that the officer
(05:52):
statement that was corroboratedby another city police officer
that those statements did notline up with the evidence that
the investigation revealed.
After the accident, city policereleased a statement.
You know, no life-threateninginjuries to the officer, no
life-threatening injuries to thecivilian.
They're both hospitalized withnon-life-threatening injuries.
(06:14):
Come to find out that wasn'ttrue either.
A couple of days later thefamily's on Facebook going he's
in pretty serious condition inJackson.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
There was a helicopter involved.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Well, he was flown out from Baptist, from Baptist
To UMMC and had a brain bleed.
They didn't revise thatstatement.
They didn't come back when wecalled them.
And when other media calledthem, they said well, when we
said it was non-life threatening, that's what we knew at the
time.
And information changed afterwe made that statement.
Well, they didn't revise thestatement.
(06:47):
They waited on other people tocall and dig into it before they
said oh well, yeah, I guess hedoes have a brain bleed.
And now we're finding out notonly that, but now we're finding
out that not one officer, buttwo officers lied to
investigators when they weredoing the initial crash
(07:10):
investigation and the narrativenow is no, bankhead didn't pull
out in front of them.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
Before I dig any further into this, is everybody
okay?
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Bankhead has been released from the hospital.
I think the officer was treatedand released pretty quickly.
He did havenon-life-threatening injuries,
from what I understand, butBankhead is out of the hospital
and he's lawyered up.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
Okay, yeah, imaginably.
So.
Now Officer Harris and theother guy, are they on
administrative leave or anything?
Speaker 1 (07:46):
At the moment.
I think that what we were toldin the beginning was that the
officer that was injured isrecovering from his injuries and
there would be no impact on hisemployment while the
investigation was ongoing.
The investigation is nowconcluded, so that information
may change as the truth startsto come out.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
Now, what makes this story even more stinky is Mr
Bankhead was charged, right.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
So yeah, Mr Bankhead, or ticketed, yeah he was
ticketed, he received a citationfor no insurance and no
driver's license while he was inthe hospital.
He did not receive a citationfor causing the wreck in any way
, but he did receive citationsfor no driver's license and no
insurance.
To me, the stinkier part stillis that there was a urine test
(08:40):
for toxicology orderedoriginally for both Bankhead and
the officer.
Well, bankhead had to take histest, which came back clean.
Cpd canceled the urine test atthe ER for Harris, said they'd
handle it internally and there'sno evidence in the
(09:02):
investigation.
Sheriff's office has nothingindicating that that was ever
actually done.
Interestingly enough, officerharris has a dui from 2024 on
his rap sheet oh, boy, okay, andthat's not to say that he was.
I'm not.
I'm not implying that he wasdrunk at the time that this
(09:23):
happened.
I'm saying that it seems likeit would be standard procedure
for your insurance or for thedepartment policy or the city
would expect.
Oh, officer involved in a wreck?
Yeah, we're going to need toget that urine test just for due
diligence.
Cpd canceled it for.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
Harris, and that's the glaring question why we
don't know, we don't know.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Well, I think I know and I'm going to go out on a
limb here.
First of all, obviously, harrisand the officer that
corroborated the lie.
In this situation they need tobe gone.
I challenged the city councilTuesday night to relieve them of
their employment with the cityof Columbus.
That's egregious because yousay, oh well, you know he was
(10:07):
responding and it was, you know,it was in the line of duty and
all of this stuff.
This man launched over arailroad track.
It was bring it down.
He launched over a railroadtrack not wearing a seatbelt
something that he could ticketme and you for loses control of
the vehicle, hits a stopped carthat wasn't in his way in the
(10:29):
roadway, could have killed theguy, and then he chooses
self-preservation.
He chooses to lie about harminga civilian for
self-preservation, and thenanother officer driving behind
him corroborates the lie.
Then another officer drivingbehind him corroborates the lie.
So let's talk about police, apolice officer or two police
(11:02):
officers that are willing to dothat, who are willing to choose
themselves or their colleagueover the civilian that they're
being paid by the taxpayers toserve.
And another thing that it saysis that you've got one doing it.
That's an outlier, fine, you'vegot two police officers who
have the hubris and theconfidence that they can lie to
an investigator about nearlykilling someone.
Mm-hmm.
(11:24):
But there's a belief and aconfidence that they're going to
get away with that, that theycan't.
There's an entitlement that theycan do that because of the
badge and the gun, potentiallyand there's a belief that
they're going to get away withit.
That's systemic and that'scultural, and that culture of a
police department where twoofficers just casually lie to an
(11:44):
investigator about harmingsomeone, then they tell an
untruth about the situation,they don't wait to know the
truth about the situation orcondition of the victim that
(12:05):
they created, then they blamethe victim for creating the
collision.
They think they're going to getaway with it.
That's coming from somewhere,man, and I'm not pointing
fingers, I'm not saying thatit's Daughtry or it's this
person or it's this person, butsomebody more than just these
two officers need to beanswering for this and the city
(12:26):
council needs to make themanswer the question.
Because here's the deal they'rehaving a national night out
next Tuesday and they're havingnational night out.
That's the whole deal wherethey they go out and they have
water balloon fights with kidsin the neighborhoods, at
Simscott Park or wherever, andit's the police going out there
and showing in good faith thatthey want to build rapport with
(12:48):
the public.
Well, you know when your policeofficer will slam their car into
somebody and then lie toprotect themselves.
National Light Out is agaslight and that's what it is.
So miss me with your waterballoon.
Fight until you get yourdepartment under control and
(13:08):
your people tell the truth toinvestigators and you don't try
to cover stuff like this up,Because this cover-up went
beyond these two officers.
It absolutely did.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
And just so our listeners know, this body cam
footage will be released oncdispatchcom.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
That's correct.
We're going to have that on ourwebsite.
Speaker 4 (13:25):
I can't.
We definitely need to belooking at that.
But so I'm a fan of lawenforcement, I'm a fan of law
and order, I'm a fan of fundingthe police well, so that we can
have law and order.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
By the way, I agree with all of those things 100%.
Speaker 4 (13:41):
I'm sitting here and I'm listening to you and I'm
developing a preponderance ofthe evidence based on the
reports the cancellation of theDUI test, this and that it just
looks ugly.
Nothing about this passes thesmell test and I'm trying to
(14:02):
think of a way to defend theseactions and I can't.
And they definitely failed toprotect and it sounds like they
only protected their own.
It's a developing story.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
I can't say and thank God for the sheriff's office.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
Yeah, I mean.
So I guess the one positivethat I can bring out of this is
we are thankful that theColumbus Police Department did
opt to hand this over to EddieHawkins to create a report on it
, otherwise we wouldn't reallybe talking about it right now.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
I mean, or we wouldn't know as much as we do.
And see to me, that's theproblem.
You know, we, we talk about allthe time and police officers
talk about the time about thehigher level of accountability
with their responsibility, andthis showed at least a belief,
if not a culture of powerwithout responsibility,
(15:01):
authority without accountability, and that's not what we need
from police officers.
We just don't.
And that's not what we needfrom police officers.
We just don't?
Speaker 4 (15:09):
So, Zach, we definitely need to have a really
, really deep and real sense oftrust for our police officers.
It's going to help them to dotheir job better and more
efficiently, but I mean beforewe even get into the cover-up
(15:30):
and all that.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
I'm looking at this story and the number that stands
out is 78.
Speaker 4 (15:32):
That is on College Street.
That is swift.
I would not trust Dale Jr in aLamborghini to go that fast on
College Street.
That's crazy.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Well, I mean, that goes to a deeper thing.
I mean so even well-meaningpolice officers, right,
well-meaning law enforcementagents state, county, local and
I think this is probably abroader issue than just here,
but certainly here there's beenplenty of examples Can we be
done with the era of thehigh-speed chase?
So in this case with Harris,when he hits the bankhead guy,
(16:10):
he's just responding to anotherplace where an officer had
called for assistance.
He's not chasing a perp downthe street.
But even if you're chasing aperp down the street, if it's
(16:31):
not one of those Dick Tracysituations where you've got some
damsel in distress dangling outof the back passenger window
and somebody's got a Tommy gunto her head, can we call ahead?
Can we get the?
Speaker 4 (16:38):
plate and call ahead.
I mean, can we work smarter,not harder on?
Speaker 1 (16:40):
this Because and I get it Well, we've definitely
got the cameras.
Yeah, that's what I was sayingCameras, you've got cameras,
you've got all kinds ofdifferent things.
When you run a plate, you canget the address where it's
registered.
There's all kinds of ways thatyou can avoid and you're out on
the open highway, okay.
But when you're going throughtown like why are we?
You know, why are we going 80miles an hour down Fifth Street,
(17:00):
65, 70 down Military Road?
Because somebody's throwingdrugs out a window I understand
the single-mindedness of, andthe adrenaline of, oh, that
guy's breaking the law, I've gotto get him.
If I'm sitting in my living room, on whatever street, and a
cruiser or the guy being chasedcomes through my living room and
(17:24):
kills me or my family, it'skind of cold comfort to me that
the guy had some crack cocainethat he was throwing out the
window.
I feel like there's commonsense here that needs to be used
and it's not being Well, onething you know again.
Speaker 4 (17:39):
I'm going to have to look at the video, but you tell
me there was one hand under thewheel.
That's almost like a relaxedstate if it's down there.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
He was just cruising along that guy not wearing a
seat belt or what was the otherhand doing?
Speaker 4 (17:53):
we don't.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
That's not in the video.
But again, that to me is aseparate issue from the broader
issue of these chases, thesehigh-speed chases that go
through residential areas, thatgo through commercial areas, and
it's just sort of acceptedpractice when there are so many
other ways.
And we're not talking about badofficers here, we're talking
about people who have beentrained to get the guy that's
(18:17):
breaking the law and using theirvehicles to do it.
That's not necessarily badpolicing or lying to that.
That's that's people.
Officers can make mistakes,acting in good faith in these
situations, because there's nota system built on.
Hey, we got cameras.
Hey, we can call ahead.
Hey, there needs to be speedlimits.
(18:38):
If you're, if you're chasing aguy and you're going down
military, as soon as you hit 60miles an hour, you need to, you
need to call in the plate, callin the direction.
And we need to make anotherdecision on how to get this guy,
because the juice isn't worththe squeeze, the risk is not
worth the reward of getting thedrug dealer on the traffic stop
or the guy who failed to yieldbecause his taillight was out
(19:01):
and oh, there must be somethingelse going on.
Let's go 70 down Fifth Streetand find out.
Speaker 4 (19:08):
That's dangerous, it's dangerous, it is dangerous.
I would be in favor of maybecontracting with Medivac or
somebody.
Just get somebody to do airpatrol for these type situations
, because you're going to end upcalling it helicopter
regardless if you're doing thehigh-speed chase sounds like.
(19:29):
However, one thing I do want tosay is there has to be fear of
the law.
There does, and there has to bethis idea that I can't just
stomp the gas and go away andnot get caught, because not
everybody has a tag, noteverybody has the right tag on
(19:49):
their vehicle.
If they can find a way to getaround the law, they'll do it,
and so I don't think that highspeed chases need to be off the
table.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
I don't think they need to be in residential or
commercial areas.
Speaker 4 (20:02):
But 78 on College Street is way out of hand.
Yeah, way out of hand.
Okay.
Well, zach, there's more aboutthis story that is to come.
We thank you for listening andI tell you, if you're not a
regular subscriber to theDispatch, go to a rack and pick
one up.
This will be in it for theFriday edition.
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Today in the studio we arepleased to have Ms Emily Leiner,
who saved the city of Columbuswhen Books 100 decided to
disgrace us by moving out ofhere.
(21:09):
She is the owner of FriendlyCity Books, is that correct?
Speaker 5 (21:13):
That's right.
Speaker 4 (21:14):
All right, and she is here to tell us about the
Possum Town Book Festival.
Speaker 5 (21:19):
Welcome to the show.
Second year for it, second time.
Yeah, we did it for the firsttime last year, had no idea what
to expect, and then a thousandpeople showed up.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Yeah, it was a pretty big deal.
We came with our kids andAmelia and I came with our kids
and we enjoyed it.
Speaker 5 (21:34):
Oh, great, saw Dog man.
Yes, so this year Clifford iscoming for the kids, oh, I think
I might actually nerd out onClifford.
That's in my wheelhouse.
Yeah, yeah, yeah and um, wealso have marshall ramsey doing
story time.
So you know a great uh, youknow newspaper columnist and
(21:55):
cartoonist for a fee will hedraw you a cartoon on the spot
we didn't put that in hiscontract, but you know.
so he's got this really cutebook and the reason why we
invited him is his new bookSaving Sam is kind of an ode to
military aircraft he is a bignerd with military aviation.
(22:16):
And I was like you've got tocome to Columbus.
You know this is the perfectplace for you.
Speaker 4 (22:22):
One of my goals is actually to make him just mad
enough to produce a cartoon withmy likeness in it.
Speaker 5 (22:28):
Oh, then you've made it.
I have Like, then you will be.
You know, like you've peakedonce you've gotten in a Marshall
Ramsey cartoon.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Well now, as far as other authors that are coming,
how many have y'all got lined up?
Can you tell us a little bitabout who's coming?
Speaker 5 (22:48):
Yeah, we've got over 30 authors who are going to be
speaking on panels during theday, and then we also have 20
local authors who are coming, sothe morning will be dedicated
to the local authors.
They're going to have tableswhere they can share about their
books, and they'll be sellingtheir books too and signing
their books, from starting at 9am until 1145.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
And this is August 16th.
Speaker 5 (23:09):
August 16th at the Columbus Arts Council, the
Rosenzweig building.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
Yes, okay, and is there going to be other
programming, other places,throughout the day.
Speaker 5 (23:19):
It's all going to be at the CAC, with the exception
of story time.
We're going to do story time atFriendly City Books.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Okay, that's right down the street.
Speaker 5 (23:27):
Exactly Just a couple of doors down.
You know we are on Main Streetnow.
Every once in a while we stillhave people go to our old
location on Fifth Street.
I've done it, but yeah, we'reon Main Street and that's where
we'll do story time at 10 am.
We've got a great new kidssection.
We actually worked withpediatric dentistry on Columbus
(23:48):
to renovate it.
We painted a mural, we addedseating and we're really excited
to do the kids events there andthen we'll all walk over to the
CAC together.
There will be panels going onall day long and we'll also have
a big book fair.
So kids and adults likesomething for everyone.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
So if I'm interested in attending some of these
panels, what are?
Is it just these authorstalking about their process, or
what types of panels will therebe?
Speaker 5 (24:18):
Little bit of everything Again.
That's what we really try tostrive for is to have something
that everyone's going to enjoy.
So we are starting with somenonfiction panels.
The first one is going to beabout Choctaw culture.
I'm really excited about this.
We have Jay Wesley and EddieJohnson and Ray Vaughn coming up
from the Mississippi Band ofChoctaw Indians.
(24:39):
They have two new books aboutChoctaw folklore and Choctaw
traditions and fun fact, jay wasin the Sinners movie.
Everyone is that.
Everybody's like been soexcited about.
He has a cameo in it and he wasa consultant on it.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
So, we actually have a movie star, somebody who's
probably met Michael B Jordan.
Yes, yeah.
Speaker 5 (24:59):
So that that means we'll be two degrees of
separation, right, right.
So that's our first panel at915.
And then at 10, we'll haveWright Thompson, our keynote
speaker, to talk about his bookthe Barn.
This is going to be thecommunity read in Columbus.
This is something we starteddoing with the W, the public
library, msms and the city ofColumbus a few years ago and
(25:22):
this is going to kick off ouryear of programming around that
book.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Okay, all right.
Well, anything you want to add?
Speaker 5 (25:30):
Well, you know, okay, I do have to tell you because
David mentioned this in theintroduction.
I don't know if you guysrealize this, but the dispatch
is one of the reasons why Istarted the bookstore, because
there was an editorial afterBooks A Million closed that said
that Columbus needs a bookstore.
And when I read that editorialI was like, well, let me see if
(25:53):
anyone else is going to do itfirst.
And a few months passed by andI was like, well, I guess I got
to do it.
Speaker 4 (26:00):
We're certainly glad you did One of the many benefits
of reading the dadgum paper.
That's awesome.
I got to tell you just realquick.
A kind of a friend of minepassed away and I didn't know it
and I went to the obits andthere he was.
This is a shared obit fromSulligent Alabama, so the
(26:21):
dispatch thanks you for thatplug very, very much.
Speaker 5 (26:23):
Oh yeah, it's a public service.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Thank you, and Bookfest August 16th starts at
10, runs through or starts at 9,sorry.
Speaker 5 (26:31):
Starts at 9,.
Ends at 5.
Columbus Arts Council.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
Okay, all right, be there, I will.
Speaker 5 (26:37):
All right, thank you.
Speaker 4 (26:39):
All right, that was Miss Emily Leiner of Friendly
City Books.
Next on the program we haveVanessa Petit of the Columbus
Mississippi what's Going OnFacebook page, but first stuck
on the road.
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The podcast is based right herein the Golden Triangle
community.
Speaker 4 (27:25):
In the studio.
Today we are pleased to havethe moderator of the Columbus
Mississippi what's Going OnFacebook page, also known as the
referee of the city of Columbus.
If you thought that ChiefDaughtry was the referee, or
Eddie Hawkins, you might be alittle bit mistaken.
(27:45):
Today we have Ms Vanessa Poteet, who is a fire suppression
specialist at State Systems, andalso you and your husband are a
little bit of a river ratfamily, aren't you?
Speaker 6 (27:58):
We are.
We do love the waterway, whichI grew up in Mobile Alabama, so
there was plenty of water downthere as well, and that's what
kind of attracted us to Columbuswas the waterway, for sure.
Speaker 4 (28:11):
Great, great.
Well, we're glad to have you onthe show today, and we want to
talk about this Facebook pagethat you put together and, at
this point, has, if I recall,20,700 members, some of which
are probably passed away, butthat's quite a showing
nonetheless.
Talk to us.
Speaker 6 (28:30):
So actually there's a couple functions with the group
so I can go in randomly and Ican remove inactive people, and
so if their Facebook is nolonger up, I remove those.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
So those 20,700, those are active members.
Speaker 6 (28:49):
Yes, so there's actually, like they give you an
analysis of it and so there'sactively 15,000 people in the
group.
Speaker 4 (28:58):
So you purge people.
I do Kind of like theyhopefully do at the register
yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Yeah, so tell us a little bit about how this got
started, how you even got mixedup into this.
Speaker 6 (29:12):
So when we were first residents of Columbus you know,
like I said, I'm from Mobile,so I came from a big city.
There's not much to do hereFacebook started getting pretty
popular.
There was a couple groups goingviral in town, but you had to
be in the hearsay and I wantedsomething for people, not
(29:34):
necessarily in the hearsay, andthe only way I really remove you
is if you're just disrespectfulor you're just not abiding by
the rules, and so then you getpurged.
The rules and so then you getpurged.
Um, but other than that, Iwanted a place for everybody to
kind of be able to post, andword of mouth is top dog, yeah.
(29:56):
So it was a great thing to justkind of start, um, that to where
people could come and getreferrals.
I work somewhere where ifyou're a new business, you have
to have a fire extinguisher.
You come to me so I tell youabout the groups so that way you
can post and get out there.
(30:16):
There's a lot of kids that arein college with the newspaper.
They're always doing articleswith them, so it was just kind
of a good way to help businessesstay and grow.
Speaker 4 (30:29):
If I recall, when it first started out, it was kind
of a wiki format.
Anybody could just come in andpost and whatever.
But it kind of got out of handat one point.
When did you decide that, hey,I should probably moderate this
content?
Speaker 6 (30:45):
So I guess when the spam started really happening,
when Facebook was in, all thegroups were getting out there
and it was.
And then you have so manypeople that do home businesses
not that it's wrong, but youhave a lot of fake too.
So it was like, where do youdraw the line to try to keep
(31:06):
this to grow but keep peoplesafe?
And that's why I did the brickand mortar.
A lot of people give me a lotof negative feedback on it.
I can't help it.
It's to protect you, whetheryou see it or not, and I don't
feel like I have to explainmyself.
Every thousand people that joinyou know.
(31:28):
So it's a brick and mortar andthat's because one they're
paying lots of taxes to havethat brick and mortar.
Why not give some freeadvertisement out there to them
and be able to post and sharetheir events and whatnot?
And people ask every day who cancut my grass?
(31:51):
There's thousands of people onthere that cut grass.
If you're top dog in it, you'regoing to get referred.
So, um, you know, that's justkind of, I feel like if people
do their home business, it's areferral base.
I'm not stopping people fromreferring you, whether you do
photography or whether you'remaking cookies or cakes out of
(32:13):
your house, or whatever it maybe, you know if you're good at
it, people are going to referyou.
They ask every day.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
Well beyond businesses.
I mean this has sort of becomecommunity message board level.
I mean this is you know theevents that are going on?
I lost my dog.
You know, sometimes I lost mykid.
You know where can you help me?
Speaker 4 (32:37):
My aunt's car is on fire at the Walmart parking lot.
I mean, that's what gets peopleto come over.
They say what?
Speaker 1 (32:45):
I mean, have you been surprised at how big this has
grown, how diverse this hasbecome, and what's kind of been
the challenge for you keeping ahandle on it?
Speaker 6 (32:55):
for you keeping a handle on it.
Well, I had to add somemoderators to help.
For sure, I am the only adminon there, but I do have, I think
, 15 moderators and they've donea great job in helping and
keeping what I've kind of builtand the structure of it the same
(33:18):
, and so sometimes they let somecrazy stuff bypass and I'm like
guys come on.
Speaker 4 (33:26):
I think most of the people are out there are okay
with that decision.
Speaker 6 (33:32):
Yeah, so it's sometimes challenging.
I had to stop reading stuffbecause I'm like you wouldn't
say that with your lips.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
Well, I mean going into that.
I mean Facebook, social media.
Facebook in particular has kindof become that sort of place
where you know you've got thatsort of keyboard cowboy
mentality, where I'm not lookingat you, you can't reach me with
your fist, so I'm going to callyou what I want to.
I mean, how do you manage that?
(34:03):
Is that something that?
Speaker 6 (34:05):
Well, I think a lot of people know now that I'm not
going to tolerate any of that.
I don't mind that you haveconversation, and you can do it
maturely, or you can just golike I don't.
Like I don't mind cussing, Idon't like it.
If you direct it at someone,though, that will get you either
(34:25):
a time out or removal from thepage.
So it's just, I try to givepeople their free speech.
You, you know, to a limit, youknow, and some call me Hitler or
whatever else, and I'm justlike you know that was another
guy.
Speaker 1 (34:42):
I mean, like you're, you're kind of now the face of
it.
How much, how much fire do youtake in an average week from
your users?
Speaker 6 (34:50):
Um, sometimes it's more.
It depends on what the topicsare that way.
How about that?
Because most of them just getremoved.
I had a lady a while backmessage me and I do have a lot
more supporters now and she wasjust like do like Kenny Rogers,
know when to fold them, knowwhen to walk away.
(35:10):
You don't have to argue withthese people.
And I was like you know what,you got a good point, so there's
the mute button or the buybutton, and then, when they get
removed, it's why did you removeme?
Speaker 1 (35:24):
and I'm just like and what's the?
Do you have like a, uh, aprobationary period where you'll
put them back, or yeah?
Speaker 6 (35:31):
so sometimes, um, you can do 24 hours, you can do 72,
you can do a, you can do a week, you can do a month and time
out, or I can just remove andban them.
And they can't even find thegroup anymore, so it just
depends on what it is they did.
Speaker 4 (35:50):
And Queen Bee is the judge and jury when that comes
up.
Speaker 6 (35:53):
Well, no, a lot of times I do ask my moderators too
, because I'm like look, guys,guys, I don't want to just be
this queen bee that's right youknow, but I do accept it.
Speaker 4 (36:02):
Um by a jury of your peers.
You have been banned here withyeah.
Speaker 6 (36:08):
So I mean it's.
Speaker 4 (36:09):
I try to give people their say, but sometimes it's
just like okay, you don't getsay I think probably one of the
instances that brought your pageinto stardom was the
altercation at the Hibachi.
Have there been some?
Really is it okay to call thatfunny?
I thought it was funny.
(36:29):
Funny moments that have kind ofjust went crazy out there.
Speaker 6 (36:34):
Crazy out there.
Went crazy out there, crazy outthere.
The hibachi closed down in themall.
Yeah, because they purchasedryan's old building across the
street and so they were closedduring renovations.
For what?
Two, three months, maybe alittle longer, and everybody was
just missing, I guess theirlovely um buffet, and so well,
(36:56):
it was a.
Speaker 4 (36:57):
We all had to cook and stuff.
I guess Find somewhere else togo and you can get a lot of food
from that place.
That's right, and you went livewhen they finally did open.
Speaker 6 (37:06):
I did.
I was like I'm going to go inhere and go live and walk
through.
They looked at me like I wascrazy.
I was like, look, I'm lettingthese people know you're open
and if y'all don't sell out thiswhole month, abandon everybody
from the group.
Speaker 1 (37:23):
Now I've been seeing some deep fakes posted by one of
your members.
David Chisholm has been postingsome deep fakes related to the
MSMS situation.
I've been seeing them justabout every week after a certain
podcast.
What are we going to do about?
You know him.
Speaker 6 (37:43):
Him.
Well, his podcasts aredefinitely allowed.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
Well, I was talking about, like the picture of Sid
with.
Sid's head on top of the regal,whatever that was.
Speaker 6 (37:55):
I did see something about that.
I thought that was, you know, alittle funny there.
Speaker 1 (38:02):
Well, okay, everybody talks about the drama.
Really, when people talk aboutColumbus, what's going on?
Some people, honestly, they goto it for the tea, they go to it
for the juicy stuff, they go toit for the comments and the
different things like that.
But I mean a page like thatalso does some good.
It helps people with problems,it helps air out things that
(38:24):
need to be seen and said.
So give us just a few examplesof people that that page and
being a part of that page hashelped and in what ways so, um,
for example, the warman shelter.
Speaker 6 (38:41):
Uh, when it first started, um, they needed pillows
and blankets and such, and Ijust posted, hey, I'm going to
buy.
This is, if you guys want tosend me some money or help or
bring supplies, you can bringthem to the shop and I will get
them to whom they need to go to.
(39:04):
And within 30 minutes I had$600 sent.
I bought every Pella andWalmart, every blanket they had
that they were using.
So that just touched my heart.
The Columbus Humane Society, msTrudy, will message me and she's
like we're out of cat food andI posted look, they're out of
(39:29):
kitty food.
Can you guys help me?
I'm going to make a run and$800 is sent.
And $800 is sent, you know, andI'm filling a truck up, you
know.
So that stuff to me is like wow, like I can't believe you
people you don't even know mebut like you trust me and it's
(39:54):
just an honor to be able to dothat in the Salvation Army.
The same way, I filled barrelsup of food.
People bring it or they send memoney and I go buy it and just
fill it.
So that's pretty awesome.
Speaker 1 (40:02):
Well, and I mean what does that say?
I mean it's easy to.
It's easy on a drama filledpage and you know people who are
coming for the table to sort ofcharacterize communities as
that's what they value.
But what does it say to youabout the community and the
community members, that youcould post something like that,
or an organization can postsomething like that?
(40:23):
And here we are with jobreferrals, here we are with
money, here we are withresources that the community and
the members of that page areproviding.
Speaker 6 (40:33):
Well, I say that we have a great community,
regardless of what people sayabout Columbus.
I didn't move here because Ithought it was a horrible place.
I moved here because it was abeautiful place.
It was slower than the big city.
It was a great place to raisethe family, and when people do
(40:55):
that, it just proves that we dohave a great community.
We just need to smile more.
Speaker 4 (41:00):
We do and to your point, especially in the case of
these social media outfits andfor what you said earlier about
you know you're not going to saythat actually to someone's face
.
A lot of people complain, a lotof people out there are the
squeaky wheel, but they're alsonot the ones showing up with the
cat food and the food cans whenthe time arrives.
(41:21):
So it's those silent people.
You know the ones that creepacross the page, very rarely
like or comment, but whenthere's a need, the good people
of the friendly city stepforward.
Speaker 1 (41:33):
Absolutely Well.
What's next for the Facebookpage and how long are you
sticking with it?
Speaker 6 (41:39):
well, I guess, as long as I'm here, as long as
people still come to it, um, asfar as what's next, I have no
idea.
I guess that depends on whatpeople are going to ask, okay,
and what happens in columbus butyou see it rocking along in the
context that it exists now.
Oh, absolutely.
(42:00):
I don't see it going away, andI mean a lot of people don't
even watch the news or any ofthat.
Some people come up to me inthe public and are like I just
go on your page and find out thenews, I don't even turn it on
anymore.
Speaker 4 (42:14):
Well, let me push back on that.
A lot that happens on there,you know we catch up on and we
say, hey, let's check into this.
And so the unfortunate thingabout your page is that it does
have that gossip tendency.
You know, people just kind ofwilly-nilly put stuff on there.
So yeah, go to the Facebookpage.
(42:35):
It's Columbus, mississippi.
So yeah, go to the Facebookpage.
It's Columbus Mississippi.
What's going on?
Parenthetically?
That's the name of the page.
But also read the dadgum paper,because we've got the
peer-reviewed stuff and we'reasking the right questions to
the right people.
Speaker 6 (42:47):
So we've got kind of both arms going here, and that's
what I expect people to do isto actually go and investigate
and check it.
Don't always believe everythingyou see, or?
Speaker 5 (43:02):
read on there, please don't.
Speaker 6 (43:04):
Please don't, Because some of it and some of it does
get removed if it's a little farfetched, and you know.
And as far as people postingwrecks, I don't mind that you
say, hey, there's a wreck atintersection, whatever.
Let's not post videos or photos.
That's just disrespectful.
Speaker 4 (43:23):
Yeah, it's very, very tacky.
Let me ask you this kind of inclosing here has anybody gotten
into a relationship or gottenmarried because they met you?
Match made on ColumbusMississippi.
Speaker 6 (43:37):
No, as far as I know, no, but that doesn't mean that
it didn't happen.
I don't think there's anybodyout there.
Speaker 1 (43:45):
They can let us know, Post on the Facebook page today
if you met on Columbus,Mississippi.
What's going on?
Yeah, definitely Because therehas been gatherings.
Speaker 6 (43:54):
There's people that do the little group gatherings
and stuff that post on there.
Speaker 4 (43:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (43:59):
I think there's been a couple flower trading spots
and just getting up walking downthe river walk, and so there's
been meet and greets of people.
So that would be interesting.
Speaker 4 (44:12):
So if you formed a meaningful relationship through
this Facebook page.
Speaker 3 (44:17):
tips at cdispatchcom we'd like to know about it.
Speaker 4 (44:20):
Now I ask that question because someone in
Starkville posted.
You know, I just witnessedsomebody getting married in the
Love's parking lot and that wentwild.
I don't know if it was true ornot, but I'm like dude, I've
seen a glimpse of that.
Who needs a wedding cake whenyou can get those torquitos?
Speaker 1 (44:40):
there you go there you go, and if you can make it
to a bucky's, it's even betternot even touching that well, is
there anything you want to add?
Speaker 6 (44:50):
um, no, just thanks to everyone that's in the group
and helps participate, and Iappreciate you, that's for sure,
because without all 20,000 plusof you, we wouldn't have
Columbus, mississippi.
What's going on?
Speaker 1 (45:08):
Well, thank you very much for joining us.
Speaker 6 (45:10):
Absolutely.
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 4 (45:12):
All right, zach, three things Three things to
know.
Speaker 1 (45:15):
OK, so drainage improvements across Columbus are
slated to begin soon, probablysometime in August, according to
Wagner Engineering.
That's the firm managing theproject.
Cullum Construction andMeridian is the contractor for
the roughly $6 million project,which targets 10 flood-prone
areas in the city.
Funding's through ARPA.
It's got to be spent by the endof September of next year and
(45:36):
they're supposed to be on paceto finish it up.
Speaker 4 (45:38):
Got to happen, got to happen, got to happen.
Speaker 1 (45:41):
Sad news.
A Jackson man died Monday afterfalling from the roof of
Painter Hall at MississippiUniversity for Women.
He was a member of a crewreplacing the roof on that
building and it's believed hissafety equipment failed.
Osha is investigating.
Speaker 4 (45:53):
Very, very sad.
Our thoughts and prayers withthat family, all those involved.
Speaker 1 (45:58):
Ending on a happy note, Pickleball Courts at
Probst Park will finally be openFriday as today.
This is part of the $4.4million park improvement plan
underway.
Mayor Stephen Jones will faceCity Attorney Jeff Turnage for
the ceremonial first match ofthe grand opening at 5 30 pm.
Stephen Jones is 10 yearsyounger than Turnage, but I
(46:19):
think Vegas odds still givesJeff the edge because he's the
more experienced player.
Speaker 4 (46:24):
That will do it.
You've been listening toBetween the Headlines and we
thank our listeners for joiningin today.
Please be sure to follow theshow, rate and share and send us
your comments.
We'd love to hear from you Tipsat cdispatchcom.
You can also follow me onFacebook at the Chisholm 00,
also on X.
So signing off until next weekfrom Catfish Alley Studio here
(46:48):
in historic downtown Columbus.
Your host has been Mr ZachPlayer and I am David Chisholm.
Until next time, y'all keep itfriendly out there and we'll
keep it real.
Speaker 3 (47:06):
Opinions expressed on this show are those of the
speakers and not necessarilythose of the Commercial Dispatch
.
From the opinion page of the Commercial Dispatch.
This is Between the Headlines.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
This is Peter Imes, publisher of the Dispatch.
One of our hosts of Between theHeadlines is the managing
editor of our newsroom.
Typically we try to keep newsand opinions separate, but
reporters have a unique insightinto the workings of local
government and their analysiscan be helpful for readers and
listeners.
The dispatch remains committedto journalistic integrity and
(00:37):
our reporting will alwaysreflect that.
And now between the headlines.
Speaker 4 (00:43):
A cover-up within the Columbus Police Department.
We have late-breaking news herein Catfish Alley Studio 78
miles per hour on College Streetthat is how fast the officer
was traveling when he hit avictim who was apparently parked
behind a stop sign.
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You are listening to Betweenthe Headlines with Mr Zach
(02:34):
Player, who's the managingeditor of the Commercial
Dispatch Also a guy with reallygreat genes when he actually
chooses to wear them.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
More of a khaki pants type of guy.
Speaker 4 (02:44):
And my name is David Chisholm.
So we've got a big story herethat's about to bust wide open
and it is it's developing, sowe're going to navigate this as
carefully as we can.
In this setting, officer JeremyHarris of the Columbus Police
Department was driving east onCollege Street at 78 miles per
(03:07):
hour.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Officer elsewhere had requested assistance from other
officers.
Yeah, backup.
Speaker 4 (03:13):
And there were two cruisers headed that direction
Right and the cruiser driven byOfficer Harris, going at such a
rate of speed, veers off theroad and T-Bones civilian,
deveon, bankhead yes, andinjures him pretty badly, pretty
badly and had to be airliftedto Jackson for a brain bleed.
(03:37):
Well, okay.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
So here's our understanding of what happened
and let me first tell you how wegot the understanding.
Dispatch submitted a publicrecords request to the sheriff's
office, which is investigatingthis wreck.
We got body camera footage, wegot the report of the crash and
the narratives associated withthe investigation and a couple
(04:03):
of things here associated withthe investigation and a couple
of things here.
When the wreck happened, thepublic was told, you know, by
the police department, thesheriff's office was told by the
officer who collided with thecivilian vehicle.
Okay, officer Harris, officerHarris and one other and then
one other officer corroboratedit that they were in response
(04:27):
lights and sirens going.
And that Bankhead actuallypulled out from 22nd Street into
the road and got in the way.
Speaker 4 (04:37):
So the original story is that Bankhead was at the
stop sign and then proceededforward, proceeded forward, got
in the way, got hit.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
But but let's talk about what the report says and
what the body camera footageshows.
Harris was going 78 miles anhour.
Dude.
He launches airborne when hehits the railroad tracks.
He's not wearing a seat belt.
You can see he's got his lefthand just one hand on the bottom
(05:08):
of the steering wheel as he'sdriving down the road 78 miles
an hour, launches, goes airbornewhen he hits the railroad
tracks, loses control of thevehicle.
Now, that's what you can see onthe video and what we know from
the sheriff's officeinvestigation is that when he
lost control of the vehicle hehits Bankhead with his family in
(05:32):
the car.
There's a wife and kids in thatcar.
Dear Lord Hits him while hestopped at the stop sign.
There's no evidence in thisreport.
As a matter of fact, the reportconcluded he was stopped at
that stop sign and had notpulled out.
The sheriff has said on therecord that the officer
(05:52):
statement that was corroboratedby another city police officer
that those statements did notline up with the evidence that
the investigation revealed.
After the accident, city policereleased a statement.
You know, no life-threateninginjuries to the officer, no
life-threatening injuries to thecivilian.
They're both hospitalized withnon-life-threatening injuries.
(06:14):
Come to find out that wasn'ttrue either.
A couple of days later thefamily's on Facebook going he's
in pretty serious condition inJackson.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
There was a helicopter involved.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Well, he was flown out from Baptist, from Baptist
To UMMC and had a brain bleed.
They didn't revise thatstatement.
They didn't come back when wecalled them.
And when other media calledthem, they said well, when we
said it was non-life threatening, that's what we knew at the
time.
And information changed afterwe made that statement.
Well, they didn't revise thestatement.
(06:47):
They waited on other people tocall and dig into it before they
said oh well, yeah, I guess hedoes have a brain bleed.
And now we're finding out notonly that, but now we're finding
out that not one officer, buttwo officers lied to
investigators when they weredoing the initial crash
(07:10):
investigation and the narrativenow is no, bankhead didn't pull
out in front of them.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
Before I dig any further into this, is everybody
okay?
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Bankhead has been released from the hospital.
I think the officer was treatedand released pretty quickly.
He did havenon-life-threatening injuries,
from what I understand, butBankhead is out of the hospital
and he's lawyered up.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
Okay, yeah, imaginably.
So.
Now Officer Harris and theother guy, are they on
administrative leave or anything?
Speaker 1 (07:46):
At the moment.
I think that what we were toldin the beginning was that the
officer that was injured isrecovering from his injuries and
there would be no impact on hisemployment while the
investigation was ongoing.
The investigation is nowconcluded, so that information
may change as the truth startsto come out.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
Now, what makes this story even more stinky is Mr
Bankhead was charged, right.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
So yeah, Mr Bankhead, or ticketed, yeah he was
ticketed, he received a citationfor no insurance and no
driver's license while he was inthe hospital.
He did not receive a citationfor causing the wreck in any way
, but he did receive citationsfor no driver's license and no
insurance.
To me, the stinkier part stillis that there was a urine test
(08:40):
for toxicology orderedoriginally for both Bankhead and
the officer.
Well, bankhead had to take histest, which came back clean.
Cpd canceled the urine test atthe ER for Harris, said they'd
handle it internally and there'sno evidence in the
(09:02):
investigation.
Sheriff's office has nothingindicating that that was ever
actually done.
Interestingly enough, officerharris has a dui from 2024 on
his rap sheet oh, boy, okay, andthat's not to say that he was.
I'm not.
I'm not implying that he wasdrunk at the time that this
(09:23):
happened.
I'm saying that it seems likeit would be standard procedure
for your insurance or for thedepartment policy or the city
would expect.
Oh, officer involved in a wreck?
Yeah, we're going to need toget that urine test just for due
diligence.
Cpd canceled it for.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
Harris, and that's the glaring question why we
don't know, we don't know.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Well, I think I know and I'm going to go out on a
limb here.
First of all, obviously, harrisand the officer that
corroborated the lie.
In this situation they need tobe gone.
I challenged the city councilTuesday night to relieve them of
their employment with the cityof Columbus.
That's egregious because yousay, oh well, you know he was
(10:07):
responding and it was, you know,it was in the line of duty and
all of this stuff.
This man launched over arailroad track.
It was bring it down.
He launched over a railroadtrack not wearing a seatbelt
something that he could ticketme and you for loses control of
the vehicle, hits a stopped carthat wasn't in his way in the
(10:29):
roadway, could have killed theguy, and then he chooses
self-preservation.
He chooses to lie about harminga civilian for
self-preservation, and thenanother officer driving behind
him corroborates the lie.
Then another officer drivingbehind him corroborates the lie.
So let's talk about police, apolice officer or two police
(11:02):
officers that are willing to dothat, who are willing to choose
themselves or their colleagueover the civilian that they're
being paid by the taxpayers toserve.
And another thing that it saysis that you've got one doing it.
That's an outlier, fine, you'vegot two police officers who
have the hubris and theconfidence that they can lie to
an investigator about nearlykilling someone.
Mm-hmm.
(11:24):
But there's a belief and aconfidence that they're going to
get away with that, that theycan't.
There's an entitlement that theycan do that because of the
badge and the gun, potentiallyand there's a belief that
they're going to get away withit.
That's systemic and that'scultural, and that culture of a
police department where twoofficers just casually lie to an
(11:44):
investigator about harmingsomeone, then they tell an
untruth about the situation,they don't wait to know the
truth about the situation orcondition of the victim that
(12:05):
they created, then they blamethe victim for creating the
collision.
They think they're going to getaway with it.
That's coming from somewhere,man, and I'm not pointing
fingers, I'm not saying thatit's Daughtry or it's this
person or it's this person, butsomebody more than just these
two officers need to beanswering for this and the city
(12:26):
council needs to make themanswer the question.
Because here's the deal they'rehaving a national night out
next Tuesday and they're havingnational night out.
That's the whole deal wherethey they go out and they have
water balloon fights with kidsin the neighborhoods, at
Simscott Park or wherever, andit's the police going out there
and showing in good faith thatthey want to build rapport with
(12:48):
the public.
Well, you know when your policeofficer will slam their car into
somebody and then lie toprotect themselves.
National Light Out is agaslight and that's what it is.
So miss me with your waterballoon.
Fight until you get yourdepartment under control and
(13:08):
your people tell the truth toinvestigators and you don't try
to cover stuff like this up,Because this cover-up went
beyond these two officers.
It absolutely did.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
And just so our listeners know, this body cam
footage will be released oncdispatchcom.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
That's correct.
We're going to have that on ourwebsite.
Speaker 4 (13:25):
I can't.
We definitely need to belooking at that.
But so I'm a fan of lawenforcement, I'm a fan of law
and order, I'm a fan of fundingthe police well, so that we can
have law and order.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
By the way, I agree with all of those things 100%.
Speaker 4 (13:41):
I'm sitting here and I'm listening to you and I'm
developing a preponderance ofthe evidence based on the
reports the cancellation of theDUI test, this and that it just
looks ugly.
Nothing about this passes thesmell test and I'm trying to
(14:02):
think of a way to defend theseactions and I can't.
And they definitely failed toprotect and it sounds like they
only protected their own.
It's a developing story.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
I can't say and thank God for the sheriff's office.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
Yeah, I mean.
So I guess the one positivethat I can bring out of this is
we are thankful that theColumbus Police Department did
opt to hand this over to EddieHawkins to create a report on it
, otherwise we wouldn't reallybe talking about it right now.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
I mean, or we wouldn't know as much as we do.
And see to me, that's theproblem.
You know, we, we talk about allthe time and police officers
talk about the time about thehigher level of accountability
with their responsibility, andthis showed at least a belief,
if not a culture of powerwithout responsibility,
(15:01):
authority without accountability, and that's not what we need
from police officers.
We just don't.
And that's not what we needfrom police officers.
We just don't?
Speaker 4 (15:09):
So, Zach, we definitely need to have a really
, really deep and real sense oftrust for our police officers.
It's going to help them to dotheir job better and more
efficiently, but I mean beforewe even get into the cover-up
(15:30):
and all that.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
I'm looking at this story and the number that stands
out is 78.
Speaker 4 (15:32):
That is on College Street.
That is swift.
I would not trust Dale Jr in aLamborghini to go that fast on
College Street.
That's crazy.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Well, I mean, that goes to a deeper thing.
I mean so even well-meaningpolice officers, right,
well-meaning law enforcementagents state, county, local and
I think this is probably abroader issue than just here,
but certainly here there's beenplenty of examples Can we be
done with the era of thehigh-speed chase?
So in this case with Harris,when he hits the bankhead guy,
(16:10):
he's just responding to anotherplace where an officer had
called for assistance.
He's not chasing a perp downthe street.
But even if you're chasing aperp down the street, if it's
(16:31):
not one of those Dick Tracysituations where you've got some
damsel in distress dangling outof the back passenger window
and somebody's got a Tommy gunto her head, can we call ahead?
Can we get the?
Speaker 4 (16:38):
plate and call ahead.
I mean, can we work smarter,not harder on?
Speaker 1 (16:40):
this Because and I get it Well, we've definitely
got the cameras.
Yeah, that's what I was sayingCameras, you've got cameras,
you've got all kinds ofdifferent things.
When you run a plate, you canget the address where it's
registered.
There's all kinds of ways thatyou can avoid and you're out on
the open highway, okay.
But when you're going throughtown like why are we?
You know, why are we going 80miles an hour down Fifth Street,
(17:00):
65, 70 down Military Road?
Because somebody's throwingdrugs out a window I understand
the single-mindedness of, andthe adrenaline of, oh, that
guy's breaking the law, I've gotto get him.
If I'm sitting in my living room, on whatever street, and a
cruiser or the guy being chasedcomes through my living room and
(17:24):
kills me or my family, it'skind of cold comfort to me that
the guy had some crack cocainethat he was throwing out the
window.
I feel like there's commonsense here that needs to be used
and it's not being Well, onething you know again.
Speaker 4 (17:39):
I'm going to have to look at the video, but you tell
me there was one hand under thewheel.
That's almost like a relaxedstate if it's down there.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
He was just cruising along that guy not wearing a
seat belt or what was the otherhand doing?
Speaker 4 (17:53):
we don't.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
That's not in the video.
But again, that to me is aseparate issue from the broader
issue of these chases, thesehigh-speed chases that go
through residential areas, thatgo through commercial areas, and
it's just sort of acceptedpractice when there are so many
other ways.
And we're not talking about badofficers here, we're talking
about people who have beentrained to get the guy that's
(18:17):
breaking the law and using theirvehicles to do it.
That's not necessarily badpolicing or lying to that.
That's that's people.
Officers can make mistakes,acting in good faith in these
situations, because there's nota system built on.
Hey, we got cameras.
Hey, we can call ahead.
Hey, there needs to be speedlimits.
(18:38):
If you're, if you're chasing aguy and you're going down
military, as soon as you hit 60miles an hour, you need to, you
need to call in the plate, callin the direction.
And we need to make anotherdecision on how to get this guy,
because the juice isn't worththe squeeze, the risk is not
worth the reward of getting thedrug dealer on the traffic stop
or the guy who failed to yieldbecause his taillight was out
(19:01):
and oh, there must be somethingelse going on.
Let's go 70 down Fifth Streetand find out.
Speaker 4 (19:08):
That's dangerous, it's dangerous, it is dangerous.
I would be in favor of maybecontracting with Medivac or
somebody.
Just get somebody to do airpatrol for these type situations
, because you're going to end upcalling it helicopter
regardless if you're doing thehigh-speed chase sounds like.
(19:29):
However, one thing I do want tosay is there has to be fear of
the law.
There does, and there has to bethis idea that I can't just
stomp the gas and go away andnot get caught, because not
everybody has a tag, noteverybody has the right tag on
(19:49):
their vehicle.
If they can find a way to getaround the law, they'll do it,
and so I don't think that highspeed chases need to be off the
table.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
I don't think they need to be in residential or
commercial areas.
Speaker 4 (20:02):
But 78 on College Street is way out of hand.
Yeah, way out of hand.
Okay.
Well, zach, there's more aboutthis story that is to come.
We thank you for listening andI tell you, if you're not a
regular subscriber to theDispatch, go to a rack and pick
one up.
This will be in it for theFriday edition.
Yep, do you have knee pain,muscle weakness, swelling or
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Today in the studio we arepleased to have Ms Emily Leiner,
who saved the city of Columbuswhen Books 100 decided to
disgrace us by moving out ofhere.
(21:09):
She is the owner of FriendlyCity Books, is that correct?
Speaker 5 (21:13):
That's right.
Speaker 4 (21:14):
All right, and she is here to tell us about the
Possum Town Book Festival.
Speaker 5 (21:19):
Welcome to the show.
Second year for it, second time.
Yeah, we did it for the firsttime last year, had no idea what
to expect, and then a thousandpeople showed up.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Yeah, it was a pretty big deal.
We came with our kids andAmelia and I came with our kids
and we enjoyed it.
Speaker 5 (21:34):
Oh, great, saw Dog man.
Yes, so this year Clifford iscoming for the kids, oh, I think
I might actually nerd out onClifford.
That's in my wheelhouse.
Yeah, yeah, yeah and um, wealso have marshall ramsey doing
story time.
So you know a great uh, youknow newspaper columnist and
(21:55):
cartoonist for a fee will hedraw you a cartoon on the spot
we didn't put that in hiscontract, but you know.
so he's got this really cutebook and the reason why we
invited him is his new bookSaving Sam is kind of an ode to
military aircraft he is a bignerd with military aviation.
(22:16):
And I was like you've got tocome to Columbus.
You know this is the perfectplace for you.
Speaker 4 (22:22):
One of my goals is actually to make him just mad
enough to produce a cartoon withmy likeness in it.
Speaker 5 (22:28):
Oh, then you've made it.
I have Like, then you will be.
You know, like you've peakedonce you've gotten in a Marshall
Ramsey cartoon.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Well now, as far as other authors that are coming,
how many have y'all got lined up?
Can you tell us a little bitabout who's coming?
Speaker 5 (22:48):
Yeah, we've got over 30 authors who are going to be
speaking on panels during theday, and then we also have 20
local authors who are coming, sothe morning will be dedicated
to the local authors.
They're going to have tableswhere they can share about their
books, and they'll be sellingtheir books too and signing
their books, from starting at 9am until 1145.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
And this is August 16th.
Speaker 5 (23:09):
August 16th at the Columbus Arts Council, the
Rosenzweig building.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
Yes, okay, and is there going to be other
programming, other places,throughout the day.
Speaker 5 (23:19):
It's all going to be at the CAC, with the exception
of story time.
We're going to do story time atFriendly City Books.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Okay, that's right down the street.
Speaker 5 (23:27):
Exactly Just a couple of doors down.
You know we are on Main Streetnow.
Every once in a while we stillhave people go to our old
location on Fifth Street.
I've done it, but yeah, we'reon Main Street and that's where
we'll do story time at 10 am.
We've got a great new kidssection.
We actually worked withpediatric dentistry on Columbus
(23:48):
to renovate it.
We painted a mural, we addedseating and we're really excited
to do the kids events there andthen we'll all walk over to the
CAC together.
There will be panels going onall day long and we'll also have
a big book fair.
So kids and adults likesomething for everyone.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
So if I'm interested in attending some of these
panels, what are?
Is it just these authorstalking about their process, or
what types of panels will therebe?
Speaker 5 (24:18):
Little bit of everything Again.
That's what we really try tostrive for is to have something
that everyone's going to enjoy.
So we are starting with somenonfiction panels.
The first one is going to beabout Choctaw culture.
I'm really excited about this.
We have Jay Wesley and EddieJohnson and Ray Vaughn coming up
from the Mississippi Band ofChoctaw Indians.
(24:39):
They have two new books aboutChoctaw folklore and Choctaw
traditions and fun fact, jay wasin the Sinners movie.
Everyone is that.
Everybody's like been soexcited about.
He has a cameo in it and he wasa consultant on it.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
So, we actually have a movie star, somebody who's
probably met Michael B Jordan.
Yes, yeah.
Speaker 5 (24:59):
So that that means we'll be two degrees of
separation, right, right.
So that's our first panel at915.
And then at 10, we'll haveWright Thompson, our keynote
speaker, to talk about his bookthe Barn.
This is going to be thecommunity read in Columbus.
This is something we starteddoing with the W, the public
library, msms and the city ofColumbus a few years ago and
(25:22):
this is going to kick off ouryear of programming around that
book.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Okay, all right.
Well, anything you want to add?
Speaker 5 (25:30):
Well, you know, okay, I do have to tell you because
David mentioned this in theintroduction.
I don't know if you guysrealize this, but the dispatch
is one of the reasons why Istarted the bookstore, because
there was an editorial afterBooks A Million closed that said
that Columbus needs a bookstore.
And when I read that editorialI was like, well, let me see if
(25:53):
anyone else is going to do itfirst.
And a few months passed by andI was like, well, I guess I got
to do it.
Speaker 4 (26:00):
We're certainly glad you did One of the many benefits
of reading the dadgum paper.
That's awesome.
I got to tell you just realquick.
A kind of a friend of minepassed away and I didn't know it
and I went to the obits andthere he was.
This is a shared obit fromSulligent Alabama, so the
(26:21):
dispatch thanks you for thatplug very, very much.
Speaker 5 (26:23):
Oh yeah, it's a public service.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Thank you, and Bookfest August 16th starts at
10, runs through or starts at 9,sorry.
Speaker 5 (26:31):
Starts at 9,.
Ends at 5.
Columbus Arts Council.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
Okay, all right, be there, I will.
Speaker 5 (26:37):
All right, thank you.
Speaker 4 (26:39):
All right, that was Miss Emily Leiner of Friendly
City Books.
Next on the program we haveVanessa Petit of the Columbus
Mississippi what's Going OnFacebook page, but first stuck
on the road.
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it, whether it's a breakdown ora lockout.
(27:01):
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Speaker 2 (27:07):
The Good for Business podcast features interviews,
tips and tricks from owners,operators and innovators.
Hear the inspiring stories ofgrowth and life lessons from
guests in Mississippi and aroundthe world Hosted by
entrepreneur, fundraiser andreal estate broker, colin
Krieger.
The podcast is based right herein the Golden Triangle
community.
Speaker 4 (27:25):
In the studio.
Today we are pleased to havethe moderator of the Columbus
Mississippi what's Going OnFacebook page, also known as the
referee of the city of Columbus.
If you thought that ChiefDaughtry was the referee, or
Eddie Hawkins, you might be alittle bit mistaken.
(27:45):
Today we have Ms Vanessa Poteet, who is a fire suppression
specialist at State Systems, andalso you and your husband are a
little bit of a river ratfamily, aren't you?
Speaker 6 (27:58):
We are.
We do love the waterway, whichI grew up in Mobile Alabama, so
there was plenty of water downthere as well, and that's what
kind of attracted us to Columbuswas the waterway, for sure.
Speaker 4 (28:11):
Great, great.
Well, we're glad to have you onthe show today, and we want to
talk about this Facebook pagethat you put together and, at
this point, has, if I recall,20,700 members, some of which
are probably passed away, butthat's quite a showing
nonetheless.
Talk to us.
Speaker 6 (28:30):
So actually there's a couple functions with the group
so I can go in randomly and Ican remove inactive people, and
so if their Facebook is nolonger up, I remove those.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
So those 20,700, those are active members.
Speaker 6 (28:49):
Yes, so there's actually, like they give you an
analysis of it and so there'sactively 15,000 people in the
group.
Speaker 4 (28:58):
So you purge people.
I do Kind of like theyhopefully do at the register
yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Yeah, so tell us a little bit about how this got
started, how you even got mixedup into this.
Speaker 6 (29:12):
So when we were first residents of Columbus you know,
like I said, I'm from Mobile,so I came from a big city.
There's not much to do hereFacebook started getting pretty
popular.
There was a couple groups goingviral in town, but you had to
be in the hearsay and I wantedsomething for people, not
(29:34):
necessarily in the hearsay, andthe only way I really remove you
is if you're just disrespectfulor you're just not abiding by
the rules, and so then you getpurged.
The rules and so then you getpurged.
Um, but other than that, Iwanted a place for everybody to
kind of be able to post, andword of mouth is top dog, yeah.
(29:56):
So it was a great thing to justkind of start, um, that to where
people could come and getreferrals.
I work somewhere where ifyou're a new business, you have
to have a fire extinguisher.
You come to me so I tell youabout the groups so that way you
can post and get out there.
(30:16):
There's a lot of kids that arein college with the newspaper.
They're always doing articleswith them, so it was just kind
of a good way to help businessesstay and grow.
Speaker 4 (30:29):
If I recall, when it first started out, it was kind
of a wiki format.
Anybody could just come in andpost and whatever.
But it kind of got out of handat one point.
When did you decide that, hey,I should probably moderate this
content?
Speaker 6 (30:45):
So I guess when the spam started really happening,
when Facebook was in, all thegroups were getting out there
and it was.
And then you have so manypeople that do home businesses
not that it's wrong, but youhave a lot of fake too.
So it was like, where do youdraw the line to try to keep
(31:06):
this to grow but keep peoplesafe?
And that's why I did the brickand mortar.
A lot of people give me a lotof negative feedback on it.
I can't help it.
It's to protect you, whetheryou see it or not, and I don't
feel like I have to explainmyself.
Every thousand people that joinyou know.
(31:28):
So it's a brick and mortar andthat's because one they're
paying lots of taxes to havethat brick and mortar.
Why not give some freeadvertisement out there to them
and be able to post and sharetheir events and whatnot?
And people ask every day who cancut my grass?
(31:51):
There's thousands of people onthere that cut grass.
If you're top dog in it, you'regoing to get referred.
So, um, you know, that's justkind of, I feel like if people
do their home business, it's areferral base.
I'm not stopping people fromreferring you, whether you do
photography or whether you'remaking cookies or cakes out of
(32:13):
your house, or whatever it maybe, you know if you're good at
it, people are going to referyou.
They ask every day.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
Well beyond businesses.
I mean this has sort of becomecommunity message board level.
I mean this is you know theevents that are going on?
I lost my dog.
You know, sometimes I lost mykid.
You know where can you help me?
Speaker 4 (32:37):
My aunt's car is on fire at the Walmart parking lot.
I mean, that's what gets peopleto come over.
They say what?
Speaker 1 (32:45):
I mean, have you been surprised at how big this has
grown, how diverse this hasbecome, and what's kind of been
the challenge for you keeping ahandle on it?
Speaker 6 (32:55):
for you keeping a handle on it.
Well, I had to add somemoderators to help.
For sure, I am the only adminon there, but I do have, I think
, 15 moderators and they've donea great job in helping and
keeping what I've kind of builtand the structure of it the same
(33:18):
, and so sometimes they let somecrazy stuff bypass and I'm like
guys come on.
Speaker 4 (33:26):
I think most of the people are out there are okay
with that decision.
Speaker 6 (33:32):
Yeah, so it's sometimes challenging.
I had to stop reading stuffbecause I'm like you wouldn't
say that with your lips.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
Well, I mean going into that.
I mean Facebook, social media.
Facebook in particular has kindof become that sort of place
where you know you've got thatsort of keyboard cowboy
mentality, where I'm not lookingat you, you can't reach me with
your fist, so I'm going to callyou what I want to.
I mean, how do you manage that?
(34:03):
Is that something that?
Speaker 6 (34:05):
Well, I think a lot of people know now that I'm not
going to tolerate any of that.
I don't mind that you haveconversation, and you can do it
maturely, or you can just golike I don't.
Like I don't mind cussing, Idon't like it.
If you direct it at someone,though, that will get you either
(34:25):
a time out or removal from thepage.
So it's just, I try to givepeople their free speech.
You, you know, to a limit, youknow, and some call me Hitler or
whatever else, and I'm justlike you know that was another
guy.
Speaker 1 (34:42):
I mean, like you're, you're kind of now the face of
it.
How much, how much fire do youtake in an average week from
your users?
Speaker 6 (34:50):
Um, sometimes it's more.
It depends on what the topicsare that way.
How about that?
Because most of them just getremoved.
I had a lady a while backmessage me and I do have a lot
more supporters now and she wasjust like do like Kenny Rogers,
know when to fold them, knowwhen to walk away.
(35:10):
You don't have to argue withthese people.
And I was like you know what,you got a good point, so there's
the mute button or the buybutton, and then, when they get
removed, it's why did you removeme?
Speaker 1 (35:24):
and I'm just like and what's the?
Do you have like a, uh, aprobationary period where you'll
put them back, or yeah?
Speaker 6 (35:31):
so sometimes, um, you can do 24 hours, you can do 72,
you can do a, you can do a week, you can do a month and time
out, or I can just remove andban them.
And they can't even find thegroup anymore, so it just
depends on what it is they did.
Speaker 4 (35:50):
And Queen Bee is the judge and jury when that comes
up.
Speaker 6 (35:53):
Well, no, a lot of times I do ask my moderators too
, because I'm like look, guys,guys, I don't want to just be
this queen bee that's right youknow, but I do accept it.
Speaker 4 (36:02):
Um by a jury of your peers.
You have been banned here withyeah.
Speaker 6 (36:08):
So I mean it's.
Speaker 4 (36:09):
I try to give people their say, but sometimes it's
just like okay, you don't getsay I think probably one of the
instances that brought your pageinto stardom was the
altercation at the Hibachi.
Have there been some?
Really is it okay to call thatfunny?
I thought it was funny.
(36:29):
Funny moments that have kind ofjust went crazy out there.
Speaker 6 (36:34):
Crazy out there.
Went crazy out there, crazy outthere.
The hibachi closed down in themall.
Yeah, because they purchasedryan's old building across the
street and so they were closedduring renovations.
For what?
Two, three months, maybe alittle longer, and everybody was
just missing, I guess theirlovely um buffet, and so well,
(36:56):
it was a.
Speaker 4 (36:57):
We all had to cook and stuff.
I guess Find somewhere else togo and you can get a lot of food
from that place.
That's right, and you went livewhen they finally did open.
Speaker 6 (37:06):
I did.
I was like I'm going to go inhere and go live and walk
through.
They looked at me like I wascrazy.
I was like, look, I'm lettingthese people know you're open
and if y'all don't sell out thiswhole month, abandon everybody
from the group.
Speaker 1 (37:23):
Now I've been seeing some deep fakes posted by one of
your members.
David Chisholm has been postingsome deep fakes related to the
MSMS situation.
I've been seeing them justabout every week after a certain
podcast.
What are we going to do about?
You know him.
Speaker 6 (37:43):
Him.
Well, his podcasts aredefinitely allowed.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
Well, I was talking about, like the picture of Sid
with.
Sid's head on top of the regal,whatever that was.
Speaker 6 (37:55):
I did see something about that.
I thought that was, you know, alittle funny there.
Speaker 1 (38:02):
Well, okay, everybody talks about the drama.
Really, when people talk aboutColumbus, what's going on?
Some people, honestly, they goto it for the tea, they go to it
for the juicy stuff, they go toit for the comments and the
different things like that.
But I mean a page like thatalso does some good.
It helps people with problems,it helps air out things that
(38:24):
need to be seen and said.
So give us just a few examplesof people that that page and
being a part of that page hashelped and in what ways so, um,
for example, the warman shelter.
Speaker 6 (38:41):
Uh, when it first started, um, they needed pillows
and blankets and such, and Ijust posted, hey, I'm going to
buy.
This is, if you guys want tosend me some money or help or
bring supplies, you can bringthem to the shop and I will get
them to whom they need to go to.
(39:04):
And within 30 minutes I had$600 sent.
I bought every Pella andWalmart, every blanket they had
that they were using.
So that just touched my heart.
The Columbus Humane Society, msTrudy, will message me and she's
like we're out of cat food andI posted look, they're out of
(39:29):
kitty food.
Can you guys help me?
I'm going to make a run and$800 is sent.
And $800 is sent, you know, andI'm filling a truck up, you
know.
So that stuff to me is like wow, like I can't believe you
people you don't even know mebut like you trust me and it's
(39:54):
just an honor to be able to dothat in the Salvation Army.
The same way, I filled barrelsup of food.
People bring it or they send memoney and I go buy it and just
fill it.
So that's pretty awesome.
Speaker 1 (40:02):
Well, and I mean what does that say?
I mean it's easy to.
It's easy on a drama filledpage and you know people who are
coming for the table to sort ofcharacterize communities as
that's what they value.
But what does it say to youabout the community and the
community members, that youcould post something like that,
or an organization can postsomething like that?
(40:23):
And here we are with jobreferrals, here we are with
money, here we are withresources that the community and
the members of that page areproviding.
Speaker 6 (40:33):
Well, I say that we have a great community,
regardless of what people sayabout Columbus.
I didn't move here because Ithought it was a horrible place.
I moved here because it was abeautiful place.
It was slower than the big city.
It was a great place to raisethe family, and when people do
(40:55):
that, it just proves that we dohave a great community.
We just need to smile more.
Speaker 4 (41:00):
We do and to your point, especially in the case of
these social media outfits andfor what you said earlier about
you know you're not going to saythat actually to someone's face
.
A lot of people complain, a lotof people out there are the
squeaky wheel, but they're alsonot the ones showing up with the
cat food and the food cans whenthe time arrives.
(41:21):
So it's those silent people.
You know the ones that creepacross the page, very rarely
like or comment, but whenthere's a need, the good people
of the friendly city stepforward.
Speaker 1 (41:33):
Absolutely Well.
What's next for the Facebookpage and how long are you
sticking with it?
Speaker 6 (41:39):
well, I guess, as long as I'm here, as long as
people still come to it, um, asfar as what's next, I have no
idea.
I guess that depends on whatpeople are going to ask, okay,
and what happens in columbus butyou see it rocking along in the
context that it exists now.
Oh, absolutely.
(42:00):
I don't see it going away, andI mean a lot of people don't
even watch the news or any ofthat.
Some people come up to me inthe public and are like I just
go on your page and find out thenews, I don't even turn it on
anymore.
Speaker 4 (42:14):
Well, let me push back on that.
A lot that happens on there,you know we catch up on and we
say, hey, let's check into this.
And so the unfortunate thingabout your page is that it does
have that gossip tendency.
You know, people just kind ofwilly-nilly put stuff on there.
So yeah, go to the Facebookpage.
(42:35):
It's Columbus, mississippi.
So yeah, go to the Facebookpage.
It's Columbus Mississippi.
What's going on?
Parenthetically?
That's the name of the page.
But also read the dadgum paper,because we've got the
peer-reviewed stuff and we'reasking the right questions to
the right people.
Speaker 6 (42:47):
So we've got kind of both arms going here, and that's
what I expect people to do isto actually go and investigate
and check it.
Don't always believe everythingyou see, or?
Speaker 5 (43:02):
read on there, please don't.
Speaker 6 (43:04):
Please don't, Because some of it and some of it does
get removed if it's a little farfetched, and you know.
And as far as people postingwrecks, I don't mind that you
say, hey, there's a wreck atintersection, whatever.
Let's not post videos or photos.
That's just disrespectful.
Speaker 4 (43:23):
Yeah, it's very, very tacky.
Let me ask you this kind of inclosing here has anybody gotten
into a relationship or gottenmarried because they met you?
Match made on ColumbusMississippi.
Speaker 6 (43:37):
No, as far as I know, no, but that doesn't mean that
it didn't happen.
I don't think there's anybodyout there.
Speaker 1 (43:45):
They can let us know, Post on the Facebook page today
if you met on Columbus,Mississippi.
What's going on?
Yeah, definitely Because therehas been gatherings.
Speaker 6 (43:54):
There's people that do the little group gatherings
and stuff that post on there.
Speaker 4 (43:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (43:59):
I think there's been a couple flower trading spots
and just getting up walking downthe river walk, and so there's
been meet and greets of people.
So that would be interesting.
Speaker 4 (44:12):
So if you formed a meaningful relationship through
this Facebook page.
Speaker 3 (44:17):
tips at cdispatchcom we'd like to know about it.
Speaker 4 (44:20):
Now I ask that question because someone in
Starkville posted.
You know, I just witnessedsomebody getting married in the
Love's parking lot and that wentwild.
I don't know if it was true ornot, but I'm like dude, I've
seen a glimpse of that.
Who needs a wedding cake whenyou can get those torquitos?
Speaker 1 (44:40):
there you go there you go, and if you can make it
to a bucky's, it's even betternot even touching that well, is
there anything you want to add?
Speaker 6 (44:50):
um, no, just thanks to everyone that's in the group
and helps participate, and Iappreciate you, that's for sure,
because without all 20,000 plusof you, we wouldn't have
Columbus, mississippi.
What's going on?
Speaker 1 (45:08):
Well, thank you very much for joining us.
Speaker 6 (45:10):
Absolutely.
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 4 (45:12):
All right, zach, three things Three things to
know.
Speaker 1 (45:15):
OK, so drainage improvements across Columbus are
slated to begin soon, probablysometime in August, according to
Wagner Engineering.
That's the firm managing theproject.
Cullum Construction andMeridian is the contractor for
the roughly $6 million project,which targets 10 flood-prone
areas in the city.
Funding's through ARPA.
It's got to be spent by the endof September of next year and
(45:36):
they're supposed to be on paceto finish it up.
Speaker 4 (45:38):
Got to happen, got to happen, got to happen.
Speaker 1 (45:41):
Sad news.
A Jackson man died Monday afterfalling from the roof of
Painter Hall at MississippiUniversity for Women.
He was a member of a crewreplacing the roof on that
building and it's believed hissafety equipment failed.
Osha is investigating.
Speaker 4 (45:53):
Very, very sad.
Our thoughts and prayers withthat family, all those involved.
Speaker 1 (45:58):
Ending on a happy note, Pickleball Courts at
Probst Park will finally be openFriday as today.
This is part of the $4.4million park improvement plan
underway.
Mayor Stephen Jones will faceCity Attorney Jeff Turnage for
the ceremonial first match ofthe grand opening at 5 30 pm.
Stephen Jones is 10 yearsyounger than Turnage, but I
(46:19):
think Vegas odds still givesJeff the edge because he's the
more experienced player.
Speaker 4 (46:24):
That will do it.
You've been listening toBetween the Headlines and we
thank our listeners for joiningin today.
Please be sure to follow theshow, rate and share and send us
your comments.
We'd love to hear from you Tipsat cdispatchcom.
You can also follow me onFacebook at the Chisholm 00,
also on X.
So signing off until next weekfrom Catfish Alley Studio here
(46:48):
in historic downtown Columbus.
Your host has been Mr ZachPlayer and I am David Chisholm.
Until next time, y'all keep itfriendly out there and we'll
keep it real.
Speaker 3 (47:06):
Opinions expressed on this show are those of the
speakers and not necessarilythose of the Commercial Dispatch
.
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