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GARDEZ, Afghanistan -- The US government routinely failed to give detainees at Guantanamo Bay access to witnesses who might have helped them prove their assertions of innocence, saying it could not locate the vast majority of the witnesses the terror suspects requested at special military hearings.
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But within a three-day span, a Globe reporter was able to locate three of those witnesses in the case of one detainee. The Globe found two of them in Afghanistan, and located a third in Washington, D.C., where he is teaching at the National Defense University.
In 2004, after a Supreme Court ruling, the US military was forced to give hearings to more than 500 prisoners being held without charge at the US detention facility in Cuba. At the time, the military pledged to try to locate defense witnesses to give testimony for those hearings, but later routinely reported that they could not be found.
A Globe review of the transcripts of the hearings, which were released to the public in March, identified 34 detainees who convinced tribunal officials that their overseas witnesses would provide relevant testimony.
But in all 34 cases, detainees were told at their hearings that their witnesses could not be found. Nearly all of those 64 approved witnesses were deemed ``unavailable" because the governments of the country where the witnesses lived did not respond to a State Department request for help in locating them.
Military investigators and State Department officials did not even contact witnesses who were well known to US authorities.
In one case, the State Department said that it could not locate Ismail Khan , the well-known minister of energy in Afghan president Hamid Karzai's cabinet, who meets frequently with American diplomats.
In another case, tribunal officials said they could not contact a prisoner in US custody in Bagram, Afghanistan, because the US officials holding him failed to respond to their inquiries. The tribunal records also show that the time period allowed by the tribunals to find the witnesses was often brief. In some cases, tribunal officials declared witnesses unavailable after two weeks.
In the vast majority of cases, detainees had to rely on the jailhouse testimony of fellow prisoners at Guantanamo, whose credibility is deeply in question, or on letters from family members.
Defense lawyers say the absence of witnesses at the hearings made it harder for any innocent detainee to prove that he was the victim of a mistake. Out of nearly 380 detainees who participated in the process, only 38 managed to win their release.
The status of the Guantanamo detainees received new attention following the suicides of three prisoners June 10, after months of hunger strikes by scores of detainees to protest the US military's refusal to grant them hearings under usual criminal procedures. The Pentagon considers the detainees to be terrorists or Taliban fighters captured in Afghanistan and elsewhere after the Sept. 11 attacks.Continued...
The military did not initially intend to allow detainees to challenge their status through hearings or to be able to call witnesses. But in June 2004, the Supreme Court ruled that prisoners at Guantanamo had to be given a chance to prove their innocence, either in US federal court or in special military hearings.
To satisfy the court ruling -- and to keep the cases out of federal court -- the military quickly set up ``Combatant Status Review Tribunals" in which detainees could challenge their status as ``enemy combatants" and call witnesses who were ``reasonably available."
The tribunals, which began in the fall of 2004 and concluded in early 2005, represented the only opportunity for the vast majority of detainees to call witnesses to try to prove contentions of mistaken identity or misinformation. (Only 10 detainees have been granted formal trials, which provide a second opportunity for a defense.)
Detainees' lawyers were barred from participating in the hearings. But Gordon England, then the secretary of the Navy, who oversaw the creation of the tribunals, pledged to reporters at the time that the US government would make good-faith efforts to find the witnesses, and that he would ask US embassies to help locate witnesses overseas.
``We will ask them to, and I expect people will do their jobs," England said, explaining that witnesses would either testify in person or be asked to submit written statements.
The State Department's role was merely ``to pass information to host governments," according to department spokesman Tom Casey. ``The US government did not physically go out and try to locate these witnesses," said a State Department official who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the press. ``We relied very heavily on the governments to run down these witnesses. Some governments were not as cooperative."
Another State Department official, who also asked not to be identified, said the US government would have paid for some witnesses to be transported to Cuba to testify, but that detainees failed to provide enough details to locate them.
The two State Department officials also said that some witnesses were found but that they opted to provide written statements instead of testifying in person. Yet, thousands of pages of transcript hearings reveal fewer than 10 such witnesses, most of them prisoners in US custody.
Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Commander Chito Peppler said the Defense Department did not keep track of how many witnesses were located. He acknowledged that no overseas witness had ever been brought to testify on the base.
The detainee whose witnesses the Globe located is Abdullah Mujahid, a former Afghan provincial police commander arrested by US troops in July 2003. The US military maintains that Mujahid ``was fired from his appointed position due to suspicions of collusion with anti-government forces" and that he later attacked US troops in retaliation, according to the transcripts. Mujahid's defense was that he was promoted to a highway security job, not fired, and that he had always been friendly to American forces.
He requested four witnesses in Afghanistan, including the country's Interior Minister at the time, but was told that none could be contacted.
``The Afghan government was contacted on or about 26 November, 2004," the tribunal president told him, according to the transcript. ``As of this date, the Afghanistan government has not responded to our request. . . . Without the cooperation of that government, we are unable to contact those witnesses and to obtain the testimony you requested."
But in Afghanistan earlier this month, a reporter for the Globe located three of the four witnesses in a matter of days. The fourth witness is dead.
A phone call to President Karzai's office quickly led to Shahzada Masoud , an adviser to Karzai on tribal affairs. Masoud led an official delegation in May 2003 to Gardez, Mujahid's hometown about two hours south of Kabul, the capital, to persuade him to step down as police chief, a post in which he had served at the request of local elders since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001.
Masoud said in an interview in Kabul that the move was part of a larger effort by the central government in Kabul to assert control across the country. Although Mujahid did not want to leave his post, and initially prevented his successor from entering the city, he eventually accepted and was given a lavish transfer-of-power ceremony attended by government dignitaries, Masoud said. American troops arrested Mujahid weeks later at his home.
A second witness, Gul Haider, the defense ministry representative who took part in Masoud's delegation, was found after the Globe obtained his phone number from a government official in Gardez. In an interview, Haider confirmed Masoud's account. He said that Mujahid had been promised a job protecting the highways in Kabul as a reward for leaving his post.
Haider, a former commander in the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance, described Mujahid as an ally of US troops, not a Taliban sympathizer. He recalled that Mujahid gave 30 of his own men to assist an American-led operation to clear Taliban members from a mountain cave in an area known as Shahikot in March 2002.
Haider said he had never heard any information that would lead him to believe that Mujahid turned on his former American allies, as was alleged at the hearings. Instead, he said, tribal and political rivalries probably landed Mujahid in Guantanamo -- with someone making false accusations. ``Afghanistan has many problems -- between tribes, communists, the Taliban," he said. ``That's why people like Abdullah [Mujahid], who are completely innocent, end up in jail."
The e-mail address for the third witness, former Afghan Interior Minister Ahmed Ali Jalali, was found with one call to the Interior Ministry. A quick Google search would have also located him: He is in Washington, D.C., teaching at the National Defense University.
Jalali, the man who made the decision to remove Mujahid from his post, said he wanted him ousted because of corruption and ``bullying," not sympathies with the Taliban or Al Qaeda. He said he had been on the verge of appointing Mujahid chief of a regiment of highway police, but that he changed his mind after he learned that Mujahid had stolen some police equipment.
Jalali said he learned months later that Mujahid had been taken to Guantanamo Bay because he was suspected of an attack on a provincial reconstruction team.
``I heard this, but I do not know the details," he said. ``I cannot pass judgment on this."
Mujahid's home in Gardez, a single-story building inside a high wall compound beside a field of swaying wheat, is well-known and easy to find. His relatives there are eager to show visitors a videotape of the ceremony during which he handed over power shortly before his capture.
The videotape, viewed by the Globe, shows the governor of Paktiya province at the time, Raz Muhammad Dalili, praising Mujahid in front of uniformed police officers and dignitaries, including Haider and Masoud.
``We have respect for Abdullah Mujahid, who brought peace and security to our province," the governor tells the audience. ``We are very grateful to him."
Other senior officials in Afghanistan's government support Mujahid's account.
The director of the Interpol Section of the Afghan National Police, General Ali Shah Paktiawal, said: ``He is innocent . . . Some people have given false information about him and that's why this problem has come up."
Taj Muhammad Wardak , who served as governor of Paktiya in 2002, said Mujahid ``had no contact with any terrorists or insurgents."
Wardak, who also served as interior minister, said that lies and rivalries had sent many innocent Afghans to Guantanamo Bay.
``I can tell you that most of the Afghans there are innocent," he said. ``You can investigate these people here. There is no need to send them to Guantanamo. It is a great sadness between our countries that will last for many years."
Walsh reported from Afghanistan and Stockman from Washington. Charlie Savage of the Globe staff also contributed from Washington.
? Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company.
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Behind the Hauler Chat with Jeff Burton, No. 31 Cingular Wireless Monte Carlo SS
On your father:
"My father is a very strong-willed, opinionated, confident person and he will pretty easily convince himself that he knows more about a subject than a person who really should know more about that subject. I do that all the time. When I do that, I think 'that's John Burton coming out right there." Certainly around the kids I find myself, my son is almost five and racing quarter midgets, my father, when I was seven, the way he spoke to me I find myself speaking to my son. A lot of things I see similar. I think "that's John Burton right there." My daughter is, personality-wise, a lot like me. Her behavior about certain things, her demeanor is a lot like me. I'm not only noticing it, a lot of people notice it. There's no question that behavior is genetic. She definitely has a lot of me in her."
Does racing make raising children more difficult?
"I think my children have experienced more than most children their age do. A lot of it has to do with me not being a "nine-to-five father". The other side of that is that my children been exposed to things, have had to deal with issues, they've had to mature at a higher rate. So I think in most ways it's about the sport. This sport has a way of helping you. I think that how I as a father respond to things that aren't going well is a great opportunity to teach the kids something. They see good days, they see bad days. My job is out in the open where everyone can see it. I'm not in an office and come home and I can leave it at the office; it's with us all the time. In fact, I think it's better because it has exposed them to so much of what we have to deal with and that will help them when they have to grow up and deal with issues. I happen to think that my job helps me be a better father. I really do."
On MIS:
"To be quite honest, we look at it as a big short track. A real big short track. We don't need to think about straightaways. We need to think about getting around corners. I don't think it being a small racetrack. I think about it as a real big short track."
On racing video games:
"I'm real concerned because my five-year-old can beat me, and if my five-year-old can beat me then how good am I really at this?"
Is this race more important than a lot of other ones?
"I'm not a guy that believes any one race is the pivotal race before the race starts. When the race is over, circumstances can make that race more important. You can't look at one race track and say, 'without a doubt, this race track means a whole lot because.' It's all about circumstances and things that happen. Going into the race, this week's race is just as important as last week's race or next week's race."
On Jeff Gordon struggling:
"I don't need to make comments on another team. I can tell you that they work hard and you've got to have everything working to be successful. Jeff Gordon knows how to drive, Hendrick Motorsports knows how to build a good race car, but right now, if you're off a little bit, it shows up. I don't know enough about the insides of their program but I still consider them to be an exceptionally good race team."
"We've done very well on a road course and our expectation is to go there and run in the front. It seems like we're always running in the top five or six. Our expectations are up there but we need to do a better job of finishing. At Sears Point last year we were running in the top ten and we had a top-five car but got wrecked."
On video games as a training method:
"My five-year-old can beat me so if my five-year-old can beat me, than how good am I, really? I don't have the highest-tech technology to get an advantage by playing a video game. My engineer is looking into that. Right now when I'm sitting with a joystick in my hand I'm not quite convinced."
Why are some guys so convinced that it works?
"You convince yourself on anything. This sport has a way of monkey see, monkey do being the thing to do and if you are doing something that's working for you, that's working for you. The problem is that a lot of people look at what's working for somebody and they think that's going to work for them. I'm sure, without a doubt, that using a video game is effective for some people. For me, I've been to Pocono enough times and played the video game and I find everything just wrong with the game. I don't find stuff just right. I'm a little confused to how effective this can be. Is it an excuse like 'hey, boss. I can't go do an appearance or I can't come to work because I've got to play video games all day.' I mean, how much beer do you drink when you play these video games. I'm just a little confused."
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Editor's note: This concludes an occasional series profiling students who are remaking themselves, finding a second career to overcome personal or economic hardships.
Mark "Bo" Marshall: "Making a new start"
Sixteen quarters into his schooling, Bo Marshall is getting anxious to finish.
He's nearing the end of his quest to remake his career, nearly four years after a debilitating injury and a life-changing decision. In December, he will graduate from Lower Columbia College as a registered nurse.
Marshall, featured Oct. 17 in The Daily News, is slogging through his last courses and working for St. John Medical Center, where he hopes to work full time after graduation.
"The best part of college is that you walk away with something," said Marshall, 37. "There are some lessons in there that I will never forget."
Marshall traded a hammer for a stethoscope four years ago after he hurt his back building cabinetry at Northstar Yachts at the Port of Kalama. He knew his physical labor career was finished, and his wife urged him to try his hand at college. The end now is in sight, said Marshall, who has three children with his wife, LeeAnndra.
"The thing that excites me the most is not only becoming a professional and getting the opportunity to work in the field, but my wife has been doing some extraordinary things for me the last four years, and I'm looking forward to telling her she can work, not work, go to school or do whatever," Marshall said. "Now it's my job to support her like she supported me."
Sarah Jasmer: "Welding her life together"
Two years ago, Sarah Jasmer's 1988 Honda Accord forced her into the classroom. Now that it's gotten her through college, she's looking for a replacement.
For two years, Jasmer tucked away money from her minimum-wage service job to buy the car, which developed a $600 problem shortly after the purchase. It was the last straw for Jasmer, who was weary of living paycheck to paycheck. She went back to school.
Jasmer, featured Dec. 1 in The Daily News, now has finished her associate's degree in welding from Lower Columbia College. She wrapped up her studies after the winter quarter and netted a job at Rightline Equipment in Rainier, where she's welding parts for fork-lifts. She's making about $5 an hour more than her previous minumum-wage job.
"I have a feeling I'm just beginning," said Jasmer, 27, the single mother of a daughter. "It's cool I have an opportunity and the training to go somewhere different -- other than gas stations."
The day before LCC's graduation, Jasmer, who lives in Ridgefield, said she was feeling all aflutter about Friday's ceremony. "I've got butterflies in my stomach," said Jasmer, who had earned her high school equivalency. "It's my first graduation. This is 10 years after I should have graduated from high school."
"It feels pretty good."
Gary Spears: "Answering the voice of change"
His first love won't be replaced, but Gary Spears may have found a second affection.
Spears spent two decades capturing special moments on film, working as a photographer and owning a photo business. But the advent of digital photography pushed him to search for a more reliable and better-paying occupation.
The Longview resident started two years ago at Lower Columbia College, studying computer science. This spring he took 23 credits (12 credits are considered full time) to muscle through to the end.
During the spring, he and four others redesigned a student computer lab as a project, making it more user-friendly. Helping people will spark the same brand of passion he has for photography, said Spears, who graduated Friday from LCC.
Next up are studying for a certification exam this summer and beginning the job hunt in computer networking, "where I can start solving problems," said Spears, 42, who was featured Feb. 9 in The Daily News.
"I have a new outlook on this now," said Spears, who has a daughter with his wife, Debbie. "Next time you see a full-time college student, give 'em a pat on the back, because it takes a whole lot of discipline and commitment to do this."
Kathleen Wirtz: "A dream is reborn"
Kathleen Wirtz is one step closer to fulfilling a dream she abandoned more than two decades ago.
Wirtz, 50, finished her nursing prerequisites this spring at Lower Columbia College. In August, she will attend Linfield College's Portland campus to study nursing. Afterward, she plans to pursue a master's degree in midwifery.
More than two decades ago, Wirtz had dreamed of becoming a midwife and had been accepted to LCC's nursing program. But after her first son was born prematurely, she decided to tend her own children instead of welcoming babies into the world.
The Kelso resident found fulfillment raising five kids, along with her husband, Steve, and in volunteering her time, most recently as the director of Cowlitz County Habitat for Humanity.
But with the birth of her first grandchild two years ago, her long-slumbering dream was reawakened. So in January 2005, Wirtz went back to the classroom.
This summer, Wirtz, featured April 27 in The Daily News, plans to spend time with her family before taking on the next four years of schooling.
"I have two more graduations ahead of me," she said. "I'm just really excited to continue through the whole process."
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The son of Sumter desegregation leader, Rodney Rocker heads a school for troubled youths
By CHRISTINE GIORDANO, DAILY SUN
WILDWOOD ' A mob of black teenagers collected in the parking lot outside their high school with fists bared, seeking justice. It was 1971, two years after Wildwood schools were fully desegregated. But racial tension still cut through the school's hallways, tainting the teenagers' school days, reminding them of brutal prejudices that still existed.
The all-black mob of some 150 students was gathering to defend one of its own. The day before, an eighth-grader was brutally beaten in his physical education class by a gang of older white boys.
The school bell rang and the mob began to walk toward the school. Eighth-grader Rodney Rocker was in the pack, even though his father was the assistant principal of the high school. He knew he'd face his father's belt at home, but to him, the cause was well worth the punishment.
June Rocker's office window faced the schoolyard. Seeing the mob, the hulking 6-foot-10-inch, 320-pound assistant principal walked outside and faced down the riotous horde.
'My dad walks out in front of all of us and stops us, tells us what we're not going to be doing, what we're not going to have,' said Rodney, now a principal himself.
June sympathized with the teenagers' feelings of injustice, told them that he knew the beating had been unfair, but warned them that violence was not the answer.
'The situation that happened yesterday shouldn't have happened,' June said, 'but what you are wanting to do now is not the right way to deal with it.'
Then he told the teens to 'go to class,' adding 'you better not get into any trouble.'
He calmed and disbanded the mob.
'We knew what 'or else' meant,' Rodney said.
By acting out, the teens would be risking a spanking by one of the school's teachers, who carried the paddle as they walked the halls. It also meant that their parents could be notified.
'School was a nice corporal punishment,' Rodney recalled. 'If he would call your parents, good gracious, you'd rather get it at school than at home.'
It wasn't the first or the last conflict.
But as the first assistant principal of Wildwood High School after the schools were integrated, June Rocker knew parents in the black community and often used his ties to 'smooth over' conflicts during the transition period, Rodney said.
'He was kind of a neutralizer,' Rodney recalled.
More than 30 years later, June's son is the principal of Sumter County's West Street School ' a school that helps some 50 children manage their behavioral problems.
Like his late father, Rodney has found a way to navigate turmoil and lead youths to a better life. Like his father, Rodney stares down racism and anger, and turns challenges into success stories.
In Gadsden County, he helped transform a failing school by asking the students what would inspire them to pass.
Their answer? A trip to Six Flags Over Georgia amusement park.
Rodney recalled his response: 'I don't have the money, but I'll find it.'
'If testing is what you're being judged by,' he said, 'then you've got to find a way to motivate and get some buy-in from the kids.'
The children attended school on Saturdays in order to improve their test scores and reading grades soared from 64 percent to 88 percent, which lifted the school from three years of consecutive 'F' grades to a 'C' grade.
In Bushnell, Rocker, now 47, eases the behaviorally challenged through a positive incentive system. He takes kids out to the movies or to McDonald's, and tries to teach them about the real world.
'Other principals think it's easy because I don't have 500 kids, but when you have kids that may curse an adult out, they're a handful,' Rocker said. 'No kid wants to come to this school.'
The school of second- through 12th-graders has four levels that measure a student's improvement. The children are taught life skills from simple hygiene to anger management.
'They may have severe outbreaks. We try to teach them that just because they get mad, you can't do what you feel,' Rodney said.
Rocker began his career as an assistant principal in Gainesville in 1988. But on his first day of work, his father died. The superintendent offered him his father's assistant principal job at Wildwood High School. He turned it down.
'I wanted to be my own person,' Rocker said.
But after seeing that the job in his hometown paid $10,000 more than the one he had, he stepped into his father's shoes at 29.
The fear that he'd forever be in his dad's shadow never materialized, but he still wonders why he hit a ceiling when he applied for the principal position at the school. He was one of three finalists, but after the two others dropped out, Sumter County schools 'readvertised the position,' he said.
The principal they chose was Caucasian.
'That's when I went to Tallahassee,' he said. 'I felt like the assistant principal position at Wildwood High School was the black position.'
He left his hometown, worked three years for the Department of Education as a team leader for school improvement, the point person for four school districts, but decided his passion was in working with children. He headed to Thomasville, Ga., where he worked as an assistant principal, then took on a school of his own.
'I felt like it was time I turned some of my ideas into practice and made things better,' he said. He described turning the school from an 'F' to a 'C' school as the hardest job he's ever had.
Then he headed back home to Sumter County, where he took a job as principal of Wildwood Middle School for the 1997-1998 school year.
Echoing his father, Rodney said, 'A lot of those kids, I knew their parents because I graduated from Wildwood High School.'
Then, after test-driving a position as curriculum director, he took the principal's job at West Street to again get back to the children.
With three years left in a 30-year career, he says he's satisfied.
'When I see a kid who is troubled, and I see a change in their behavior, that's rewarding to me. That's what drives me. Because I know somehow we've had an influence,' Rocker said.
At West Street, he has an opportunity to effect change, to break the cycles of prejudice that are often handed down from older generations.
There have been times when hateful, racist terms have been spat out of the mouths of the troubled youth. At times the 'N-word' has been flung his way. But like his father, Rocker beats it back by giving it no power.
'I see their bare anger when they first come here,' he said, describing an incident when a student had to be physically restrained and the teen hurled racial insults at those who held him down.
The principal told the youth, 'Well, I've been called worse. You're still going to do what we are telling you to do.'
After the student calmed down, the boy rethought his actions.
Rocker recalled, nodding slowly, 'Later that day, he came back to me and said, 'I apologize for using the N-word.'
'And I said, 'No problem, but I want you to know that when you use that word, it kind of raises the anxiety levels in a lot of people. Be careful.'
That same day, the student made it a point to ask forgiveness of each of the teachers he had insulted.
To Rocker, the student's apologies made all the difference.
'It's just things like that that kinda keep you going, that put another log on the fire. They keep you motivated,' he said.
Christine Giordano is a reporter with the Daily Sun. She can be reached at 753-1119, ext. 9071, or christine.giordano@thevillagesmedia.com.
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THE world's richest man is giving up his day job to give away billion of dollars.
Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, will quit the day-to-day running of the software giant to work full-time on his charitable foundation.
The former university dropout with an estimated personal fortune of US$67 billion announced yesterday that by 2008 he will only be working part-time with the company that made him mega rich.
"Obviously, this decision was a tough one for me to make. I have one of the best jobs in the world. I love software and I love working," Gates said.
Gates started Microsoft in 1975 with friend Paul Allen and turned the company into the world's software goliath. Today, Microsoft software is used in 90 per cent of all personal computers and the company has a market value of $302 billion.
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"People need to know what we are doing," said Koenig, who with his wife Angelina runs the administration and programs at the Salvation Army. "It's good PR. They want to know what we are doing. It's so people can say 'we saw you'. I put a couple of magnetic shields on the van and when people see the big white van they know we are working in the community."
From this small step the Koenigs took on a greater mission - most significantly increasing the budget and programming at the non-profit agency located at Center Avenue and McMurray Boulevard.
After serving the needs of the community during their tenure in Casa Grande, the Koenigs are pleased with what they have accomplished. On Thursday the Salvation Army was recognized by the United Way of Pinal County as the Agency of the Year and Program of the Year for a computer program at the Campaign Achievement and Recognition Reception held at the Paramount Theatre.
The computer lab was honored for its community outreach. "He (Koenig) secured the donation of laptops, but United Way was happy to step in to provide the salary of the lab coordinator and the software," said Executive Director Bill Ludeke of the United Way of Pinal County. "It fits right in with the United Way's literacy focus. We think the world of the Casa Grande Salvation Army and the Koenigs in particular.
On June 25 the couple will turn the reins over to Capt. Turnie and Evadne Wright from California and leave for their next assignment in Chandler. Every three years Salvation Army captains and their families across the country are sent to an unfamiliar town at the end of June.
"I am sad to see them go," Ludeke said. "They have done a lot to restore the vitality of the Salvation Army Corps in terms of regular service and from United Way's point of view, resource management and record keeping and all those things important for the United Way's participation."
The Koenigs have a 5-year-old daughter, Natalie, and a 7-month-old son, Peter. They had been dispatched from California to Washington to Arizona and when they arrived in Casa Grande they were astonished by the oppressive heat.
"We had never lived in this state and we were notified by our divisional commander we had six weeks to move. We learned in summer time it doesn't cool down. We were unpacking for 20 minutes in the garage and then had to go back inside to cool off." The family is running through the drill one more time and will be moving from their Salvation Army-paid home to another at the end of the month.
"There is a lot to adapt to in the first few months - how this Salvation Army functions in the community, being a new resident of the state, the different laws, the school calendar...," said Jason, who also ran a Salvation Army Corps in Southern California. "A month after we got here, the Wal-Mart opened, more housing, Johnny Carino's, IHOP, lots of new stuff has constantly been coming in."
In Chandler he said they face a lot of challenges - a bigger operation and transition to new programming. "It's good we are sent where our skills and talents will be used," he added.
Newcomer Capt. Terrance "Turnie" Wright has been in the Salvation Army Corps for most of his life as a church member. His wife, Evadne, has also been with the Salvation Army all her life but has a different perspective, said her husband, as she has been an officer's daughter who lived in overseas appointments such as Chile and New Zealand. The Wrights have two children ages 1 and 6.
Casa Grande will be Turnie's fourth appointment and Evadne's sixth. Some of the activities instituted by the Wrights in their current post include strengthening the number of participants in the youth programs by Turnie and Evadne's involvement in the women's ministry and expanding the Home League.
Turnie has traveled to Arizona to visit family in Scottsdale and has visited the Grand Canyon, while Evadne has never been here. "But the heat should not bother her as she was born in the Atacama Desert area of Chile," said Turnie, via e-mail.
He added, "We both are always looking forward to new challenges and new adventures. At the moment we don't have any expectations - we are in a wait and see mode."
Koenig brought ideas with him to Casa Grande from his previous post in Washington state such as "back to school" haircuts. He said he waited a year to see what other organizations in town had established for children before the start of each school year.
"There was a gap - a service others didn't think about. Kids don't want to go to school with a 'bowl on their head-haircut' from mom. It's about self-esteem. When they get a professional haircut and are going into a new school or middle school, it helps kids feel good about themselves," said Koenig, also a pastor with the corps.
The first year he sent out letters to every hair salon in the city and received two responses. Koenig then contacted the J.C. Penney salon, and its manager Mary Olson gathered eight stylists for the event. One other person volunteered her time also. Last year 13 stylists pitched in to help.
"It saves major dollars for the family," he explained. "Some of the families we serve have eight kids, that is $10 to $12 a haircut."
The first haircutting event brought in 66 kids, while last year 150 youngsters had their locks shorn. Among them were two 18-year-old young ladies who'd never had a haircut. "They had hair down to here," he said while gesturing to his calves. "It took 45 minutes to cut their hair." The Salvation Army also set up a school supply drive to accompany the efforts of St. Vincent de Paul Society and other non-profits in town.
Koenig said this was a turning point for the center. Administratively they had their hands full. The couple had to set up a system of accountability for the non-profit funds. It was unpopular, but the Koenigs phased out employees to save money and attempted to help the non-profit recover financially. "We came into this and had to make changes. We charged the advisory board with giving support to the corps officer. People said 'what are they doing? Are they in touch with the community?" he said. "We came here to do a lot of fixing."
After Sept. 11, 2001, donations went down dramatically for several years. Koenig had to determine the most effective way to raise money. "We had to get things in line financially and make us self-sufficient, strengthen the foundation. We could have been on the chopping block," he said. "It was not beneficial to the community and we needed to do something."
When the Koenigs landed in Arizona for the first time they encountered a meager $14,000 budget for programs. They leave with $63,000 in the coffers.
Among the most well-known activities is the annual kettle drive that allows volunteers and area stores to assist in raising funds for the Salvation Army Corps Christmas efforts as well as year-round services.
In previous years volunteers were stationed at local businesses only on weekends. Koenig changed this to Monday through Saturday, with volunteers and paid hires working eight-hour shifts. "As the founder of the Salvation Army and the Bible says, 'You have not because you ask not'," Koenig said.
"We started out with Wednesday to Saturday to try it out," he explained. "One day a gentleman at Fry's asked why we weren't out there on Mondays and Tuesdays. A lot of people make a commitment and they make sure to put money in the kettle. We needed to maximize the time spent."
The first year the corps raised $14,000. The next year Koenig set a goal of $25,000.
He hired bell ringers at minimum wage but some advisory board members were unhappy with the decision. "You have to spend money to make money," Koenig told the naysayers. He offered clients who utilized the social service aspects of the Salvation Army the opportunity to earn money. "If they come in for rent assistance, we can help them. But if we can get them a job supporting themselves and giving back to the community, while obtaining a job reference, it's a win-win-win situation."
Some employed bell-ringers obtained full-time positions at the stores where they were stationed. "Managers see them and know if they are friendly and on time and how many breaks they take. They are almost a greeter for the store," Koenig said.
Last year he instituted the Gold Bell competition. Organizations such as the county Sheriff's Office, Kiwanis, Rotary, RV parks and others compete for the award by trying for the most money in their designated kettles. When an organization or business wins, it is given a gold bell with the name and the year engraved on the plaque of the wooden stand.
"It's much better when you have a group to run the kettles. When you have different organizations and groups involved, they like the friendly competition," he said.
Most civic groups in the second year told Koenig his goal of $25,00 was too steep. Former Pinal County Sheriff Roger Vanderpool and his department won the first gold bell. Vanderpool, now director of the Arizona Department of Public Safety and a member of the Salvation Army advisory board, last year had DPS officers manning the kettles while off duty. Vanderpool also assisted in counting change and bills in the kettles, a time-consuming task also done by volunteers.
"We at the Sheriff's Office have helped the Casa Grande Salvation Army during the Christmas season manning their kettles in front of Wal-Mart," said current Sheriff Chris Vasquez. "In doing so we won their gold bell award two years in a row."
In 2004 the Salvation Army netted $28,000, surpassing the goal set by Koenig.
Dave Storie said Koenig visited RV parks to recruit volunteers. He offered a free two- to three-hour karaoke night for the group if they would come out and ring the bell at a kettle or count change.
This past holiday season Koenig said there were seven kettle locations occupied Monday through Saturday and even with a $5,000 payroll they brought in $48,000. Another way to raise money is by asking for specific donations for each program. "Can you sponsor one day at $200 for a 'wild and wacky Friday' trip?'" Koenig used as a pitch. This enables activities to take place without using regular funding. "It helps people see exactly where their money is going."
Besides Christmas, the Thanksgiving dinner is an enormous undertaking for the community. The Salvation Army along with Seeds of Hope, Teen Challenge's Home of Hope, St. Vincent de Paul and others put together the annual meal for those in need. "We work with the groups, coordinate the volunteers and help distribute food," said Angelina, who started the Salvation Army Junior Brass Band in Casa Grande.
Angelina, an accomplished musician who plays baritone horn, flute and other instruments, gathered kids from Casa Grande and Maricopa to start the band. The program grew from 10 to 15 this year. Rick Moore, a Central Arizona College professor, periodically assists with the group by having one-on-one sessions teaching students their chosen instruments.
The band performed at several events such as fundraising dinners and festivals held by the Salvation Army. Angelina also is an instructor at the Salvation Army music camp, where she teaches intensive classes on performing.
Koenig applied for a Beaumont Foundation of America grant to put a computer lab into the center. Usually, he said, the only people notified about the opportunity for computer hardware are those organizations that have already been given funds. Koenig had applied for the grant in Washington and decided Casa Grande needed equipment too.
The local Salvation Army received a $22,500 "Equip for Success" computer lab and learning center consisting of 10 laptops, one LCD video projector, a laser printer and two digital cameras. The center offers training to children and adults including basic computer skills, budgeting, typing, job skills, resume writing, homework help for youth and other related topics. They also transport the laptops to the county juvenile detention center once a week so kids there can benefit from computer training.
"Wild and Wacky Fridays" takes 20 or so kids to events or venues outside of Pinal County. "Some kids have never been out of Casa Grande or Pinal County," Koenig said. Trips to the Phoenix Science Center, rock climbing, bowling, Waterworld, roller skating and others are at no cost to participants.
Other community events and programs include "Breakfast with Santa," spring-break day-camps, youth drop-in and after-school homework sessions, Angel Tree, Adopt-a-Family, free eye exams as well as continuing the many social services generally offered by Salvation Army Corps.
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Coach Joe Gibbs walks among team members while they complete stretching drills during minicamp at Redskins Park. (By John Mcdonnell -- The Washington Post)
VIDEO | Ken Harvey on Redskins' Minicamp
Adam Archuleta uses unusual training methods to help him prepare for the season.
Sean Taylor is able for the first time in a year to focus completely on the football-related aspects of his life.
Notebook: Warrick Holdman holds the early lead in the starting linebacker competition.
The Redskins will get a look at some new pieces during minicamp.
Sean Taylor avoids jail time after entering a plea of no contest to misdemeanor charges stemming from last year's arrest.
Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell is working hard to become the backup.
On the draft's second day, the Redskins select four defenders among five picks.
The Redskins trade up and take linebacker Rocky McIntosh with the 35th overall pick in the draft.
Brandon Lloyd agrees to a long-term extension with the Redskins.
The Redskins will open the 2006 season with consecutive primetime games, including a Week 2 visit to Dallas.
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A FILM producer who admitted his role in a cocaine ring that allegedly supplied a famous rock star and negotiated to sell the drug to a Hollywood film crew has escaped jail.
Barry Wayne Hall, 54, a Melbourne father of two, avoided any financial penalty after a judge yesterday accepted he had already "suffered a considerable financial penalty" as a result of a media report.
Hall, who pleaded guilty this year to supplying a commercial quantity of cocaine, claimed a report about his crime had an adverse affect on him getting work in the film and television industry.
NSW District Court judge Colin Charteris agreed "the story certainly has been given prominence" and said a letter tendered to the court confirmed a job opportunity for Hall "fell away" because of the story.
The court heard Hall was part of an interstate drug trafficking operation that was foiled after police officers intercepted phone calls.
Hall was yesterday sentenced to 16 months' jail, with a non-parole period of eight months.
But Judge Charteris suspended his sentence and put him on a one-year good behaviour bond. He said Hall, who the court heard had become a dishwasher, was a good husband and father and had no criminal record.
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Dad escapes prison term
Square screen switch-off plan
Pastor plan for pet owners
A pokie-holic state
Car fire tragedy for tots
Donate a blanket
$4b toll of road trauma
Go nuts and roll all the way home
Probe into work death
Kokoda delivers a leaner legend
School cops a hit
Tougher rules on licences
Telemovie trauma tip
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Clampdown on fine dodgers
Women bear the brunt of raising babies
Pupils schooled in calmer karma
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Massaro Response: I have looked at our corporate sponsors and I would like to develop several different tiers of sponsorship levels. The sponsors who give the most money would be eligible for parking passes and various other perks during the course of the athletic year. If you do have parking needs, please contact Mark Meadows who oversees our marketing department.
Fan: Terry Burgess (Murray, KY)
Question: Has there been any progress on who is going to replace Dick Palmer as the radio voice of the Blue Raiders?
Massaro Response: No, right now we are in the process of bidding out our multi-media rights which will be a company who will handle our radio broadcasts, advertising, signage, etc.... When we announce that company, then they will help us pick the new voice of the Blue Raiders.
Fan: Stephen Wiley (Murfreesboro)
Question: I just wanted to say you are doing a fantastic job here. The things you have brought to our university so far are surreal. I can speak for many fans and students when I say that getting things like $800,000 field turf, home football opponents like Virginia and Georgia Tech, and getting the wheels in motion for a state-of-the-art baseball facility seemed impossible. It's only a matter of time until the BCS schools start contacting you and I hope that you plug your ears and continue to elevate our university. Keep up the good work and let's go blue.
Massaro Response: Thank you for the kind words. We have a great staff here and a solid fan base. These accomplishments are totally a team effort and I am fortunate to be a part of this great Blue Raider team. As for the BCS comment, I want to make you aware that I already work for a BCS school. This is a great opportunity to let me say that all 11 I-A conferences are members of the BCS and can play for the National Championship. There is no separation between the ACC and the Sun Belt any longer as far as BCS or Non-BCS. If our BCS ranking is high enough then we will have a spot in one of the BCS bowl games. We take a lot of pride in this and will brand ourselves as such.
Fan: Daniel Keele (Wartrace)
Question: Mr. Massaro, I know you have said in past issues of Ask the AD, about fundraising for Blue Raider sports and how alumni need to take action. A great example of how alumni take action would be at the University of Evansville. U.E. has an On-line Alumni Pledge Campaign (Save Ace) that is very clever. Evansville's loyal mascot, Ace Purple, has gone into hiding and he will only come out of hiding if alumni pledge participation increases. I think Middle Tennessee could do something similar to what the University of Evansville is doing. Thank you for your hard work.
Massaro Response: I agree that what Evansville is doing is very clever and unique. These ideas are not in a vacuum and whether we incorporate the idea with our alumni association or our BRAA campaign will be something that I will discuss with members of our administration team.
Fan: Aaron Todd (Murfreesboro)
Question: We paid a lot of money to host the Sun Belt tournament last winter. Can you tell us if we came out ahead financially? I'm sure we saved some on travel expenses, and got a lot of good publicity?
Massaro Response: Yes, we did pay a lot of money for the Sun Belt tournament last winter and it was a great event that helped out the city of Murfreesboro and the local community by bringing numerous visitors to town. No, we did not finish ahead financially even though our teams did not have to travel. However, the publicity we received with two national telecasts and a regional telecast coming from the Murphy Center was very valuable. On top of that, our women's basketball team won the championship in front of a regional television audience to earn a third straight trip to the NCAA Tournament. Overall, it was a success but if you look at it only in financial terms then it was not a success. Thanks for your question, and I hope you are doing well.
Fan: Marc Rogers (Franklin)
Question: I was blessed last year to be able to attend every football game -- home and away -- and hope to be able to do the same this season. Can the athletic department negotiate some kind of sponsorship deals with e.g., Southwest Airlines and Comfort Suites, that would provide a discount for traveling Blue Raider fans?
Massaro Response: Thank you for attending every football. It is great to have fans like you and one thing that has impressed me at Middle Tennessee is the loyalty of our fans. What we need to do is have more Marc Rogers'. Right now we simply do not have a large enough fan base to leverage a deal with the airlines or hotels. However, our conference does have arrangements with Choice Hotels and I want to encourage our fans to use their facilities and mention the Sun Belt Conference.
Fan: Drew (Murfreesboro)
Question: I think you have done a wonderful job over the past year, and made some changes that were badly needed. Also, I read recently in a pre-season football magazine that Middle is getting new uniforms along with the new field turf. I just wanted to know if that was true, and if so, what the new uniforms looked like?
Massaro Response: Thank you, Drew. Like I said earlier, we have had a lot of fun this year and it all could not have been accomplished without our great staff. We are getting new uniforms and Nike will be the supplier which is a change from Reebok. The look will be very similar to what Southern Cal has worn the past few years in terms of the striping around the shoulder pads. This is probably the most notable change to the uniform.
Fan: Tim Fleischmann (Cassellbury, FL)
Question: Are there any plans in place, and is it possible, to implement viewing of this year's football games via the internet? Your out-of-state Blue Raider fans are seeking a solution to this challenge?
Massaro Response: They will probably be more on a tape delay basis. Bradley Lambert, our internet director in the media relations office, does a terrific job and they are currently working on a re-design of the Web site and part of the new look will include a subscription service. This will be for fans who want a little bit extra. Fans will be able to get audio, video, watch games from the past, coaches shows, Blue Raider Weekly, games, special video clips, press conferences, and much more. It will be a nominal fee around $60 a year which is a great bargain to have access to so much information. We feel this will be a valuable service to our alums all over the world. The fee will allow us to hopefully break even on the venture so stay tuned to GoBlueRaiders.com for all the information.
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The evidence becomes more clear almost every day.
Columbus, like so many towns before it and surely more to come, is in the throes of potentially dramatic change. And it has some people scared.
That's understandable.
But change should not be feared. In Columbus' case, it should be embraced.
Last Monday night, a large group of Holly Hills area residents turned out to oppose a Tuscaloosa, Ala. developer's plan to put 55 zero-lot line homes in a new subdivision in their neighborhood. The homes - 1,200 to 1,500 square feet and costing from $90,000 to $150,000 - would have been starter homes for many young families and individuals.
The developer withdrew his proposal.
While much of the attention to the county's current housing shortage has focused on larger, more-expensive residences, the market targeted by the Tuscaloosa firm, which has extensive experience in its home community, are going to be in serious demand here sooner than later.
Residents attacked the plan on two fronts - traffic and devaluation of their property. Drainage also was a concern.
The arguments are heard almost universally in communities on the verge of an economic boom.
I appreciate the residents speaking up. We need that kind of community involvement, but it needs to go beyond just protection for their neighborhood. Some of those residents are involved in other parts of community and civic life, but many others aren't. I hope they will take their new-found activism into other arenas.
One would be pushing the city to continue to upgrade its planning and zoning standards.
The fact is, the proposal on the table Monday night was not a bad one. Traffic is going to be an issue in Columbus, no matter where development occurs. It's that simple.
That's why the Highway 45 North bypass is on the drawing board and pushing toward becoming a reality during the next 20 years. That road will alleviate some of the very concerns the residents raised Monday night.
Furthermore, the 55 homes proposed for the development wouldn't have been built at once. That's an impossibility. Traffic will have an opportunity to take care of itself as new homeowners work into the flow. Signage and other things can mitigate some of the dangers.
In addition, if the developer had requested R-1 single-family zoning rather than planned unit development, the Planning Commission would have had little choice but to approve the plan. In fact, the developer could have built just about as many homes.
And finally, the city's planning requirements, as scant as they are, would have required the developer to take care of the drainage issue.
A planned unit development designation actually would have given the city more leverage to require greenspace, demand other modifications and even push the developer to contribute to improvements - a turn lane would have been one idea - to Holly Hills Road to address some of the safety issues.
Again, I applaud the residents for getting involved and speaking out. Their passion is laudable.
But as Planning Commission members so aptly noted after the residents left, Columbus can't survive as long as it continues to live by a 'not-in-my-backyard' mentality. With growth and prosperity comes some growing pains, but we can work through them.
We must.
The Planning Commission is the first stage. It has do what it said and carefully analyze development proposals and approve the good ones, even in the face of withering pressure from the public.
Unfortunately, the commission has wilted under that pressure three times this year.
They are right to be concerned about the message they are sending potential developers, both residential and commercial.
But they hold the cards.
Second, the commission must encourage the City Council to move forward as quickly as possible with developing a comprehensive plan for the city and implementing stronger planning and zoning regulations, from subdivision rules to site plan reviews.
We have lost valuable time, using costs as an excuse. We can't wait any longer. Upgrading the city's planning and zoning processes are at least as valuable a long-term investment as roads and will have a more-lasting legacy.
All we have to do is look around and see other cities are catching on. Starkville has done it, Tupelo is doing it and its existing land-use plan is much newer than Columbus'. Lee County is doing it. Even Macon is doing it for recently annexed areas.
If it's going to cost $100,000, then let's spend it. And if that means city residents have to pay a little more to foot the bill, then members of the Planning Commission - and residents like those from Holly Hills who said they want planning - should lead the way in spreading the message concerning the need.
Similarly, the Planning Commission's leadership should extend to the city's proposed sign ordinance. Tuesday night, a different group of residents - in this case, business owners - paraded to the microphone during a public hearing to decry some of the proposals toughest standards. Fortunately, a handful of residents recognize the concept's value and spoke in favor of it.
In my mind, some of the provisions could have been tougher. But compromise is the name of the game. I'd rather have something than nothing.
I've seen good sign ordinances work in many, many places. Some business owners said it would make the city business-unfriendly. Others have said the same thing about tougher planning and zoning standards. They cite Starkville as an example.
The last time I checked, Starkville has had one of the state's highest percentage increases in sales tax revenues in the state in the last year. That doesn't sound anti-business to me.
Good sign ordinances, while reflecting change, don't hurt business. Instead, they increase business, promote development and improve quality of life.
Can this proposal be tweaked? Certainly. The five-year compliance provision can be revised and we've got some ideas for doing that.
But we can't turn our backs now. Frankly, I don't buy such arguments that huge signs and fluttering banners make that big a difference. I know almost no one who drives down the road and sees a sign for a car dealership and says, 'That's what I meant to do today, buy a new car. I think I'll rush right in.'
Signs have their place in marketing, but we can and should do it better. The sign ordinance on the table is a good starting point. It will get better, but the Planning Commission must not cave by removing many of its teeth.
The same goes for the City Council.
We can't fear change, we simply can't. Otherwise, all the things we're so happy about - a growing business climate, an improved job market, increased prosperity across the economic spectrum - will be all for naught. Instead of promoting those benefits, we'll choke them off.
Different kind of fear
The Pentagon now has suggested it may be July before it announces the winner of a $2 billion contract to build more than 300 light utility helicopters for the National Guard and U.S. Army.
American Eurocopter is thought to be the prime contender to win the contract. If so, it would mean a major expansion and between 150 and 250 additional jobs at the company's Lowndes County facility, where the choppers would be made.
Originally, the contract was to be awarded in early May, but that date was pushed back until June.
The new delays have some observers speculating that military decision-makers may be taking some heat from members of Congress to award the contract to a more 'American' company. American Eurocopter is a subsidiary of EADS - the European Aeronautics Defence and Space Co. - which is based in France. Another of the four firms vying for the deal also is based overseas. Two others are largely American with strong ties to the influential California, Arizona and New Mexico congressional delegations.
I don't think the delays are based in politics but having worked in Congress, I wouldn't be surprised. But I suspect the postponement is just a factor of the Pentagon. In the best of times, the military doesn't move quickly on decisions. And with everything going on right now, the processes are even slower.
Besides, American Eurocopter in general and its Columbus plant in particular, with its well-earned 'Made in the U.S.A. designation awarded by the U.S. government, is about as American as any of the other companies.
And if you don't think so, ask the more than 130 hard-working Mississippians who earn their paychecks their each week what they think.
Steve Rogers is the city editor of The Commercial Dispatch. Write or phone him at The Commercial Dispatch, 516 Main St., Columbus, MS 39701, 328-2471, or e-mail him at srogers@cdispatch.com.
One would be pushing the city to continue to upgrade its planning and zoning standards.
The fact is, the proposal on the table Monday night was not a bad one. Traffic is going to be an issue in Columbus, no matter where development occurs. It's that simple.
That's why the Highway 45 North bypass is on the drawing board and pushing toward becoming a reality during the next 20 years. That road will alleviate some of the very concerns the residents raised Monday night.
Furthermore, the 55 homes proposed for the development wouldn't have been built at once. That's an impossibility. Traffic will have an opportunity to take care of itself as new homeowners work into the flow. Signage and other things can mitigate some of the dangers.
In addition, if the developer had requested R-1 single-family zoning rather than planned unit development, the Planning Commission would have had little choice but to approve the plan. In fact, the developer could have built just about as many homes.
And finally, the city's planning requirements, as scant as they are, would have required the developer to take care of the drainage issue.
A planned unit development designation actually would have given the city more leverage to require greenspace, demand other modifications and even push the developer to contribute to improvements - a turn lane would have been one idea - to Holly Hills Road to address some of the safety issues.
Again, I applaud the residents for getting involved and speaking out. Their passion is laudable.
But as Planning Commission members so aptly noted after the residents left, Columbus can't survive as long as it continues to live by a 'not-in-my-backyard' mentality. With growth and prosperity comes some growing pains, but we can work through them.
We must.
The Planning Commission is the first stage. It has do what it said and carefully analyze development proposals and approve the good ones, even in the face of withering pressure from the public.
Unfortunately, the commission has wilted under that pressure three times this year.
They are right to be concerned about the message they are sending potential developers, both residential and commercial.
But they hold the cards.
Second, the commission must encourage the City Council to move forward as quickly as possible with developing a comprehensive plan for the city and implementing stronger planning and zoning regulations, from subdivision rules to site plan reviews.
We have lost valuable time, using costs as an excuse. We can't wait any longer. Upgrading the city's planning and zoning processes are at least as valuable a long-term investment as roads and will have a more-lasting legacy.
All we have to do is look around and see other cities are catching on. Starkville has done it, Tupelo is doing it and its existing land-use plan is much newer than Columbus'. Lee County is doing it. Even Macon is doing it for recently annexed areas.
If it's going to cost $100,000, then let's spend it. And if that means city residents have to pay a little more to foot the bill, then members of the Planning Commission - and residents like those from Holly Hills who said they want planning - should lead the way in spreading the message concerning the need.
Similarly, the Planning Commission's leadership should extend to the city's proposed sign ordinance. Tuesday night, a different group of residents - in this case, business owners - paraded to the microphone during a public hearing to decry some of the proposals toughest standards. Fortunately, a handful of residents recognize the concept's value and spoke in favor of it.
In my mind, some of the provisions could have been tougher. But compromise is the name of the game. I'd rather have something than nothing.
I've seen good sign ordinances work in many, many places. Some business owners said it would make the city business-unfriendly. Others have said the same thing about tougher planning and zoning standards. They cite Starkville as an example.
The last time I checked, Starkville has had one of the state's highest percentage increases in sales tax revenues in the state in the last year. That doesn't sound anti-business to me.
Good sign ordinances, while reflecting change, don't hurt business. Instead, they increase business, promote development and improve quality of life.
Can this proposal be tweaked? Certainly. The five-year compliance provision can be revised and we've got some ideas for doing that.
But we can't turn our backs now. Frankly, I don't buy such arguments that huge signs and fluttering banners make that big a difference. I know almost no one who drives down the road and sees a sign for a car dealership and says, 'That's what I meant to do today, buy a new car. I think I'll rush right in.'
Signs have their place in marketing, but we can and should do it better. The sign ordinance on the table is a good starting point. It will get better, but the Planning Commission must not cave by removing many of its teeth.
The same goes for the City Council.
We can't fear change, we simply can't. Otherwise, all the things we're so happy about - a growing business climate, an improved job market, increased prosperity across the economic spectrum - will be all for naught. Instead of promoting those benefits, we'll choke them off.
Different kind of fear
The Pentagon now has suggested it may be July before it announces the winner of a $2 billion contract to build more than 300 light utility helicopters for the National Guard and U.S. Army.
American Eurocopter is thought to be the prime contender to win the contract. If so, it would mean a major expansion and between 150 and 250 additional jobs at the company's Lowndes County facility, where the choppers would be made.
Originally, the contract was to be awarded in early May, but that date was pushed back until June.
The new delays have some observers speculating that military decision-makers may be taking some heat from members of Congress to award the contract to a more 'American' company. American Eurocopter is a subsidiary of EADS - the European Aeronautics Defence and Space Co. - which is based in France. Another of the four firms vying for the deal also is based overseas. Two others are largely American with strong ties to the influential California, Arizona and New Mexico congressional delegations.
I don't think the delays are based in politics but having worked in Congress, I wouldn't be surprised. But I suspect the postponement is just a factor of the Pentagon. In the best of times, the military doesn't move quickly on decisions. And with everything going on right now, the processes are even slower.
Besides, American Eurocopter in general and its Columbus plant in particular, with its well-earned 'Made in the U.S.A. designation awarded by the U.S. government, is about as American as any of the other companies.
And if you don't think so, ask the more than 130 hard-working Mississippians who earn their paychecks their each week what they think.
Steve Rogers is the city editor of The Commercial Dispatch. Write or phone him at The Commercial Dispatch, 516 Main St., Columbus, MS 39701, 328-2471, or e-mail him at srogers@cdispatch.com.
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