Latest / Between the Headlines: Columbus / Aldi Buzz In Columbus PLUS Crime Lab Hire and Market Street Festival

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Aldi Buzz In Columbus PLUS Crime Lab Hire and Market Street Festival · Between the Headlines: Columbus

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know what he has come up with today to talk about.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not asking you to hide anything.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_01: No, put it out there.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: Let the people see it.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_03: I've never not worked in a hospital working environment.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_01: You can't argue with anybody when they're putting facts in your face.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_01: Zach, that's a hard question.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_01: I have no answer for it.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_01: From the opinion page of the commercial dispatch.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: This is Between the Headlines.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_06: This week on Between the Headlines, the City of Columbus makes a$65,000 bet on a new fingerprint analysis.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_06: We have a hire on deck for that role.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_06: Also, the RV guy.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_06: Is it okay to park an RV in the City of Columbus?
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_06: We have thoughts about that.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_06: Also, Scott Tollison perhaps will be the new interim president of MUW.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_06: And of course, Market Street, our favorite time of the year here in the friendly city.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_06: All that stuff coming up.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_06: But first, retirement looks different for everyone, so your plan should be built around you.
• 1:07
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• 1:24
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• 1:27
  SPEAKER_06: This episode of Between the Headlines is brought to you by Bank First, a bank headquartered right here in Columbus, Mississippi.
• 1:33
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• 2:02
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• 2:09
  SPEAKER_06: It is time for Columbus's favorite tradition.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_06: Join us Saturday, May 2nd from 9 to 5 for the 30th annual Market Street Festival in downtown Columbus.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_06: Enjoy over 200 arts, crafts, and food vendors.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_06: Enjoy fun activities for the kids, and catch live music on two stages all day long.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_06: Fun, food, friends, and festivities.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_06: Celebrate 30 years of fun at the award-winning Market Street Festival May 2nd in downtown Columbus.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_06: We'll see you in the streets.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_06: So, Zach, before we get into our main headlines today, I am pretty well persuaded at this point that we will have drum roll an Aldi.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_06: That's what I'm hearing.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_06: At Columbus Place.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_06: Yep.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_06: One of the outparcels.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_06: And this is a big freaking deal.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_06: I've got thoughts on it.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_06: You have thoughts?
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_05: I I mean, well, just a little bit of background.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_05: We've been tracking this for um uh uh several months.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_05: Um lots of rumored rumblings, but uh no one for our purposes yet who's been willing to say uh yes, on the record, it's it's this.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_05: As of this recording, we're still working on trying to get that and have been for a while.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, there's not a permit for an Aldi that has been filed.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_05: Aldi has uh responded every time we've asked for the last five or six months of you know, we're not ready to comment on that yet.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_05: So not yes, not no, but we're not ready to comment on that yet.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_05: And that's what we've essentially been getting from there.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_06: But enough rumors out there.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_05: Enough rumors out there that I think that it's um it's it's getting to the point to where it's pretty safe to say that you know.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_05: But definitely maybe we're getting an Aldi.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_06: Uh well Colin has said as much, and so there's that as well.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_06: Um I gotta talk about the implications of this.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_06: This is so underrated, okay.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_06: Uh those of our listeners who have shopped, boy, I hate to call places out by name, but there's only two of them, okay.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_06: Let the listener figure out what I'm talking about here.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_06: There's a certain grocery store where it absolutely looks like someone kicked the top off of an antbed.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_06: The building is too dang small to fit the amount of shoppers that go there.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_06: And then the other one is um just as problematic in other ways, okay?
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_06: Not wanting to trash a business here behind this microphone, but I'm simply saying to you, we've got more shoppers than we have aisles and carts and parking places in this town.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_05: Well, I mean, I'm not going to trash any store, but I will say this there's obviously a demand for more grocery.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_05: And they've been talking about that demand for more grocery for the 10 years I've been working in Columbus, that has been one of the main things that they have been talking about on the retail side, all the way from the link down to every time Dick and Harry that is griping about we need another grocery store.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_05: And I'm gonna tell you, there is an Aldi in Startville, and my my wife is a regular, and I'm very familiar with the Aldi in uh Startville.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_06: You gotta put a quarter in to get a car.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_05: They give you your quarterback when you're done.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_05: It's a good grocery store.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_05: I like it.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_05: And you'll I mean, it's it's it's um very economical and you get good stuff.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_06: So I mean I know it's not Whole Foods, but but what are we looking at?
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_05: I mean it's it's German groceries.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_05: The company is German, and you can tell that when you go in there a little bit, especially with the cheeses, man.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_05: They've got the good cheese.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_05: They've got the good cheese and all kinds of good cheese.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_05: So that's my favorite thing at the Aldi is the cheese.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_05: But um they've got some neat stuff, but I'm just hoping the one in Startwill doesn't sell beer.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_05: I've been to Aldi's that sell beer.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_05: Um, to my pastor for myself as a beer drinker, but uh because I'm Baptist.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_05: But but uh I hope this one sells beer because German beer is excellent.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_06: Well, hey, I'll I'll just tell you this competition is good and um also parking places are good.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_06: Oh man, yes, they are.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_06: And um Das dot.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_06: Okay.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_06: Top headline that we talk about today comes out of Wednesday's paper, and it's has to do with a fingerprint analyst being hired.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_06: Okay.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_06: Um so we had they had someone in mind and uh Yes, that's that's correct.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_05: They had somebody in mind uh and made the hire, and they're gonna send them to uh uh uh training and with the lodging and gas and the training tuition and everything else.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_05: $65,000 and they're gonna be fully ready to go in 2027.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_06: The first thing that jumped out in this, of course, you can probably already know um$45,000 in lodging, meals, and travel expenses.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_06: That sounds a little highfalutin there, Zach.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_05: Well, I mean it depends on how long you're having to do it.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_06: Is it at the Hyatt Regency or I I don't know.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_06: I don't know.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_06: Basically, we didn't want to hire someone to the tune of$85,000 initially.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_05: It's a more affordable rate that they're gonna hire them at, and they're gonna they're gonna put the money behind them to train them.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_06: So what what is the pay package uh for this candidate?
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_05: Well, okay, so you've got sixty-five thousand dollars in training, which includes the lodging and all the stuff you were griping about a while ago, but uh you mentioned that it was gonna be eighty to eighty-five thousand dollars to uh to get one right off the street.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_05: Well, they're gonna pay they're gonna pay this person after they after their training um twenty dollars and eighty cents an hour.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_05: So they're saving on the salary, they're fronting sixty-five thousand dollars, sixty-five thousand dollars in training, and over time they're gonna uh taper that back off.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_05: And the idea is that they pay this the that they either can pay it back with their work over five years, or they can uh pay it back with their money if they leave before then.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_05: So they're gonna taper it off over five years.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_05: If they leave immediately, then they've got to pay that whole$65,000 back.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_05: If they leave after a year, it tapers down the next year, the next year, and if they stay five years, they're totally in the clear.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_05: And so what they've done is they've hedged their bets that the investment that they're going to make into this fingerprint analyst um is going to actually pay the city.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_05: And that's been something that they've had trouble with in the crime lab for some time with other positions.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_05: They get, you know, a the chemist in there, they get whatever they've got, they do their internship, and then they bolt immediately for the state crime lab or some private lab somewhere.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_05: And the city has trained them and invested in them, and they don't actually get anything from them in return.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_05: And so, you know, this is something that we've talked about on this show.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_05: This is something that they do sort of with the police department, is if we're gonna send you and train you, then you're gonna have to do some work for us.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_05: You can't just ride our backs to get your certifications and then bolt.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_06: Because the city of Columbus is not a jumping board, right?
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_06: This is not Mississippi State.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_06: Right.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_05: Well, sure.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_05: But I mean, every you've got to be realistic that people are gonna want to start here and then move up to bigger labs or or or more lucrative jobs, maybe, uh, as they as they get those opportunities.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_05: But I feel like the the people who train you, they they need to get something out of you.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_05: And especially if we're trying to monetize this lab uh and and make it into a regional um agency, then um or make it more of a regional agency than it already is.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_05: You've got to have capabilities, you've got to have equipment, and then you've got to have the people to man them that can actually do it.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_05: And so if all you've ever got over there is uh Claudette and a bunch of trainees, then Claudette's doing a bunch of work, training a bunch of people who then go off and work someplace else before Claudette gets anything in return, before the city gets anything in return, well, that's not helpful to the lab.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_05: So I think that this is very, very smart on the city side, and I think that it's something that they might can do for any open position that they get over there over time.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_06: So Zach uh Slim had found that there aren't many of these people.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_06: There's only like a thousand print analysis.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_05: So I mean this is gonna be a job that's gonna be in high demand, and after this person gets done with their uh with with their training here and their up to five years here, they're probably gonna be able to go anywhere they want to.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_06: I can't help but wonder, though, if latent fingerprints and and things of that sort are kind of falling by the wayside.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_06: I mean, if you look at the new forensic files, it all has to do with cameras and like DNA through ancestry.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_06: Like um there's some wild ways of solving crimes, but I guess if it's a local crime, the budget's not quite so big.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_06: Is that right?
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_05: Well, right, there's that.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_05: And then never lose sight of the old ways now, David.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_05: There's more than one way to skin a cat.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_06: So they still have, I guess, the the feather dusters and go in there and powder things around.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_05: That I couldn't tell you.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_06: Yep.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_06: Later on in the same story, we get to this uh uh gym of a guy who um owns an RV in um one of the annexed areas of of Columbus.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_06: I believe it was um John Hancock Lane Drive Street, something like that.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_06: And um they were gonna tell him he had to move his RV and he did his homework and he came to city council meeting, yeah?
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_05: Okay, so my understanding of this, this guy's name is Kirk Sudeth.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_05: And uh after they were after his uh after his property was annexed into the city in the early 2000s, uh, he'd been parking his RV in his driveway, and it was perfectly legal when you were out in the county, wasn't so legal anymore when he was in the city.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_05: Um and so it was sort of that old j joke about you know uh how'd you get to Plymouth Rock.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_05: But uh he's parking his RV in his driveway.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_05: He goes to the council at that time and uh uh wants to be grandfathered in.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_05: And that's that's that's pretty common, you know, yeah for for building codes and and if somebody comes and rezones your entire neighborhood, well they're not gonna make you tear down your stuff and build new.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_05: Right, but when you sell it, but when you sell it or when you do make renovations or whatever, you've got to meet the new code.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_05: So he wanted to be grandfathered in similar to that.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_05: This is like 2004.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_05: He goes to the council, he says, Grandfather me in.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_05: And they do what with it?
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_05: Stop me when this sounds familiar.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_05: They tabled it.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_06: In 2004.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_05: This guy's had his RV out there since for 20 years.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_05: So they table it, they never revisit it, and for all the world, this Seth guy has sat here for 22 years thinking he was grandfathered in.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_05: Oh, they grandfathered me in.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_05: Well, Nathan Catona shows up at his doorstep and like, you can't have that in your driveway.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_05: He's like, No, I'm grandfathered in, I promise.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_05: And so they go back and back and back and they see the meeting, and they see, oh no, the council tabled this and just never brought it up again.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_06: Oh man.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_05: 20 years though.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_05: And so here he is again in front of the council Tuesday, 22 years later, is like, grandfather me in.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_06: That's persistence.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_05: And uh Wow.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_04: And you want to know what they did?
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_04: They tabled it again.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_04: I didn't know an RV would last that long.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_04: That's a good brand, right there.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, is it the same RV?
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_04: Is it a different RV?
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_06: It's probably had a paint job since then for sure.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_05: Surely it's had an oil change anyway.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, new tires, all the rest.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_06: Oh man.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_05: So what do you what do you think about all of that, David?
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_06: Oh, I well, first off, he's a champion.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_06: He went to City Hall.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_06: Um, like I would like to see the 2004 photo of him and then the the uh you know, have them side by side.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_06: RV guy before, RV guy after.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_06: If I'm on that council, I say leave him alone.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_06: I mean grandfather him in.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_06: Um boy, he's paid his dues.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_05: I I mean, well, I mean, has he?
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_05: I I I feel like he's just gotten away with something that wasn't legal for 22 years.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_05: No, and no fault of his own.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_05: I I completely understand why he just went on about his business and thought, oh, okay, well, I'm grandfathered in.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_05: No harm, no foul.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_05: I don't think he should have to pay a fine or anything.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_05: But No, I I have talked before on this show about being sort of a code enforcement absolutist.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_05: If you're not supposed to park your RV in your driveway in town, you're not supposed to park your RV in your driveway in town.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_05: And if you make an exception for this guy, although if anybody was going to get an exception, I would say that it is most reasonable to give uh Mr.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_05: Suttis some grace.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_05: But with something like this that isn't a permanent structure, what we were talking about a while ago, what gets grandfathered in?
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_05: Okay, well, so you've got a uh uh Hadite block building uh in your in your backyard that has a deep foundation, it's a structure.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_05: All right, well, you get end up getting rezoned into a place or annexed in into a town where it's not allowed to be that close to your house or allowed to be there at all.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_05: And um you say, well, I mean, I don't want to tear that down.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_05: It's uh that that it has value.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_05: That should be grandfathered in.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_05: Yes, I agree.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_05: Well, but I mean you can move an RV anywhere you want to, and I understand like that.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_06: I don't know that he can though.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_06: Uh does he have a place to put it?
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_06: I could like, but I mean he said he didn't.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_05: He said he didn't, he said he'd have to pay for the place to put it.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_06: But dude, this guy did not choose to move into a community with a homeowners association.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_05: He didn't.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_05: He didn't, and that's but but the city has the right to annex uh areas, and they annexed his area, and he lives in the city, and and I'm I'm really sorry about that.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_05: I really am, and I and I do think if you're gonna give grace, you give it to him.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_05: But the but the the downstream consequences of that are how many RVs do you end up with on uh John Hancock Road Street Drive, whatever?
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_05: How many how many RVs?
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_05: Well, oh well he can park his RV in his driveway.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_05: I just bought an RV the other day.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_05: I'm gonna park it in my driveway.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_05: Well, why does he get to park his in his driveway and I don't get to park mine in my driveway?
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_05: And it just it it you get to split in hairs and you get to making exceptions based on things that can get really, really nebulous when it's just if you if you use the principle of a rule is a rule, and if you don't like the rule, change the rule.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_06: Either way, but the rule is there until you annex these people, and then all of a sudden the rule is there.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_06: Ah listen.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_06: On a related note, I hear that the city of Starkville is coming up with a tomato garden ordinance.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_06: All right.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_06: What are you gonna do, Zach?
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_06: You've had that tomato garden for how long?
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_06: All right, are you gonna bring salsa to the city council and pass it around?
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_06: That'll change their their tone, I promise you.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_05: Um as as bad as it would hurt me.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_05: As bad as it would hurt me, and and and Lynn, I know you're listening.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_05: Please don't do this to me, but if they passed a law, if they passed a law that I had to take it down, I'd take it down.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_06: Oh boy.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_06: Well, at least you're consistent.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_06: We'll come back after the break and talk about what are we talking about after the break?
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_06: Scott Tollison.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_06: Scott Tollison, yeah.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_06: Since 1935, Lowndes Farm Supply has supported the Greater Columbus Trade Area with products and knowledge for the farm, ranch, and garden markets, along with lawn, hunting supplies, outdoor clothing, and boots.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_06: Go check them out at 69 Co-op Road in Columbus.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_06: So, Zach, last week we were talking about MUW and we were talking about um uh actually Miss Birch Field Doty was kind of being pigeonholed in there, it felt like, and we I had mentioned maybe make her an interim, but I pick up the paper and Mr.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_06: Scott Tollison, yeah.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_06: Who's been there a good while?
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_06: Um uh looks like he's up for the interim role.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_06: What is the implications here?
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_05: Uh uh very interesting because you know you've got Sally Birchfield Doty saying I want the job.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_05: You've got these legislators behind her saying she should get the job.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_05: You've got all of these people talking about expedite the search, expedite the search, and then IHL has a mechanism where they can expedite the search if they've got them a good candidate.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_05: And IHL's answer to all of that was come July 1st, you're gonna have an interim and it's gonna be Scott Tylson, the provost.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_05: Meaning we're not expediting anything.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_06: To expedite that.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_06: Very, very interesting.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_05: And so I don't know what that means.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_05: I don't know if uh if if uh uh Miss Birchfield Doty has uh lobbying to do yet with uh the IHL, but uh they evidently intend to make it a national search and and run it and run it to term.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_06: IHL is not particularly known for listening to the legislature and vice versa, I might say.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_05: And in the meantime, we've got Scott Tollison who is the interim.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_06: And I mean, is it a tryout?
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_06: Great guy, but he's getting roasted on Facebook because he's a male.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_06: Well, you know.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_06: I mean, like, who was the last male president was?
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_05: Jim Borsig.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, he's got his And I didn't hear any I didn't hear anything about that.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, his picture is in the hallway up at uh right outside Nora's office.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_05: His painting.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_05: Just yeah, just a painting of Jim Borsig sitting there.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_05: So they didn't mind it when it was him.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_05: So I don't know uh what the issue is with uh Scott being a male.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_05: I'm pretty sure there'd been other male presidents at that university as well, uh along with uh female presidents in its history.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_05: So I, you know, rage baiting or faux outrage or noise, you know, Christopher Columbusing the W.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_05: I don't I don't know.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_05: But uh we wish Scott, well, maybe he maybe this is a tryout where he shows himself.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_05: Um maybe this is him saying, I want to be the provost, I don't want to be the president, but I'll keep I'll I'll keep the trains running until you get me a new boss.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_05: I don't know.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_05: But I think that we can say with certainty that the Argument for an expedited search.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_05: IHL said no, thank you.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_06: Well, and and I tell you what, I'll be consistent with what I said last week in national search.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_06: It's just the way to go.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_06: Nothing against Miss Birchfield Doty, but um a member of the legislature, a senator, uh when you consider uh an alumna, you always leave that out when she's an alumna.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_06: I know, but I I I can't prove to you that Miss Birchfield Dodie is not a Trojan horse, Trojan horse for what?
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_06: Uh whatever the Senate wants to do, whether it be defund, shut them down, I don't know.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_05: So how are you gonna get Chuck Younger and how you gonna get Dana McLean to sing your praises from the highest hill when you know they don't want to shut the place down or change anything?
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_05: Right?
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_05: They want to change the name maybe, but that's it.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_05: They don't want to they don't want to merge with MSU, they don't want to move MSMS.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_05: So how is it that this lady has their endorsement, but she's a Trojan horse?
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_06: Very fair.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_06: I'll just say to you, I hope that they are right because uh I smell a rat.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_06: I just do.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_06: We'll see how it goes.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_05: Okay, well I wish them all luck.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_05: I I will say that giving uh making it a national search and giving air to like giving oxygen to the uh idea that an outsider or someone without MUW ties might end up being the best competitive candidate and allowing that competition to take place, I think that can only help the W even if Miss Birchfield Dodie is ultimately hired in that role.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_05: If she has to go up against everybody and they pick her, then I think that that is a much better endorsement for her capability to do that job or her um I I think that that puts her in a much better position and gives her a much greater mandate to do that job than if she's just handpicked and put into that role because I think at that point you start talking about things like cronyism and you start asking yourself things like the Trojan horse questions.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_05: But if she becomes the president after a nationwide search when she has to go up against people from everywhere, we'll feel better about it.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_05: I think so.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_05: I will.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_05: I will.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_05: And so I think that's I think that's the right play.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_05: And if she loses, if she's a finalist and they hire somebody else, then that person that they hire beat a highly qualified alumna.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_05: So either way you go, I think the W wins with this particular decision, and uh hopefully Scott Tilson will keep the trains running in the meantime, starting July first.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_06: Well, we certainly have reason to be nervous about this stuff, just given the history of things.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_06: But uh be that the case, we've got something lighter to talk about.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_06: Let's bring in our guest and talk about Market Street.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_06: All right.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_06: Here in Catfish Alley Studio today, we are just over one week away as of recording time for the 30th annual Market Street Festival.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_06: That right there sounds like a big deal, and we are pleased to have in the studio today Miss Barbara Bigelow, who's the Main Street Director, and Miss Amber Brislin, who is the festival coordinator.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_06: Thanks to both of y'all for being here today.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_02: Glad to be here.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_02: Excited to be here.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_06: So what do we have in store for the 30th festival?
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_02: 30th year.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_02: Can you believe that?
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_02: That's awesome.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_02: We've got a lot of great things.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna let Amber actually go over all the details because she handles that much more closely than I do.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_02: But we're excited to be here and to uh invite everybody to come out to the festival in just nine and a half days.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_02: But who's counting?
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_02: No, y'all are counting.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_02: We're counting.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_05: Y'all got the calendar and y'all are marking up darkness.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_05: That's right.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_05: That's right.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_02: But things are moving along great.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_02: Planning is great.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_02: We're very excited, excited in the office to bring it again to the community.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_05: Well, so so Amber, give us the specifics here.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_03: The specifics.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_03: First of all, I want to say, you know, 30 years is such an accomplishment.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_03: Um a lot of events kind of lose their luster over a while, and this one's been going strong for 30 years.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_03: So Barbara and I are both proud to be a part of it, and we work each year to make it bigger and better.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_06: So you say bigger and better.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_06: It's definitely bright, it's definitely shiny, but is it shorter now than it used to be?
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_03: Well, you know, last year we condensed the footprint of the festival.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_03: We didn't take anything away.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_03: We just utilized all the space that we were already blocking.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_03: And and it with the those changes are very well received because you're not having to walk 12 blocks from one end to the other.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_03: Everything's right there.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_03: So we really liked that change last year and definitely consider it a positive improvement.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_03: But as far as the details go, gosh, there's so many.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_03: So many.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_03: We have children's activities, we have 152 arts and crafts vendors.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_03: We have a waiting list.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_03: With a waiting list, calling hourly.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_03: Um we have 20 food vendors.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_03: That's more than we've ever had.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_03: And thank goodness we have that new location for the food court because we have room for them all.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_06: We all know that there just needs to be more food and particularly more fried foods at this event, right?
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, what is a festival without funnel cake, chicken on a stick, chicken on a stick, those turkey legs that everybody's walking around with.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_03: Oh man.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, any anyway, we've got some great food lined up.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_03: And um, you know, many of our vendors are return vendors.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_03: And we love that because they enjoy coming year after year.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_02: And people look for them.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_02: The community comes back to a certain booth every year to purchase certain things because they know that's where they can find it.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_02: That's really good.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_02: That's a good thing.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_03: And we do have new vendors too, so that are excited to be here.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_03: We have local vendors, and then we have I think ten different states represented this year.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_03: As far as away as Pennsylvania for one of our arts and crafts.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_05: That's a pretty good draft.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and he's been here like four years.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_03: So it's great.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_03: Um music stages, we have our main stage, and then we also moved a stage to Catfish Alley this year.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_03: So you can just walk out the front door right here.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_03: All right.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_05: Enjoy the music.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_05: Enjoy the music.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_05: Well, who are who are the big headliners?
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_03: Well, we have all of our music this year is local.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_03: And let's see, do you want me to run down the line up here?
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_03: Sure.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_03: We have on the main stage, we have Mason Honnell, we have the Don Barum band, one of my personal favorites.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_03: We have the Mojo, Artistic, and Midnight Radio on the Catfish Alley stage, the Suzuki Strings, which, fun fact, they have played every Market Street for the past 30 years.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_03: The only musical act that's played every year.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_03: But we we try to change it up every year, but that's always a crowd favorite.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and then I also love watching the Catfish Alley studio students.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_03: That's one of my favorite parts when you walk.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_03: They're so cute.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_03: You walk by and see 30 kids playing Sweet Child of Mine.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_03: It's it's a good it's a good moment.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_03: Um, the Golden Triangle Theater.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_03: We have Goodlow and Kaylee Chilcutt, Jordan Tilley, and Bill Cook.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_05: Okay, that's a that's a great great lineup.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, fabulous.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_05: Well, I'm gonna tell you uh my children every year, and you'll be happy to hear this, Barbara, they ask about two things every year.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_05: When's Wasselfest and Wins Market Street, and then the second question is are we going?
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_05: And we and we try to make it every year to both of those.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_02: Good deal.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_02: You know, Market Street and Wasselfest, but Market Street especially is a year-round planning.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_02: We never stop.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, this one's over and the next day we're already talking about the next year.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_02: And so it's just a constant planning thing, and I think that's one of the things that makes it so good.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_02: We have people involved who love the festival.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_02: They take pride in being involved, whether it be as a volunteer or a sponsor or any of the numerous things, uh other entities that help us put the festival on.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_02: So it's really an ongoing process.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_02: We're very thankful to the dispatch.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_02: They've been a loyal sponsor for many, many, many years since day one, I would say.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_02: So we're super grateful to them and all of our other sponsors as well.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_06: I have one question about the planning.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_06: When you think about vendors and and try to attract vendors, do you just kind of set up policy and like I'm wondering how you keep the vendors interesting and appropriate and what goes into your thought process for that?
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_03: We uh definitely want to we have uh worked to raise the bar on our vendors over the years.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_06: And how so?
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_03: Well, we're very we're selective with who we accept.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_03: Just because you send an application in doesn't mean we necessarily accept you.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_03: Not that you don't have great products to sell, but it may not fit within our guidelines.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_03: Um this is an arts and crafts festival, and we want to keep it such.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_02: And we also don't want to have too many of the same type of vendors.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_02: It's not, you know, really fair to the vendors, and it's it's we don't want to be able to do that.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_02: Enough competition without too much.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_02: That's right.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_02: We want it, we it has to be good for our vendors.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, and and if you get those people that like to chop off the cypress knees and paint them, tell them they can't come.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_06: That's right up there with elephant tusks.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_03: I'll make a mental note right here.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_02: We'll add that to our guidelines.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_05: Well, now I want to ask you the question that you don't want me to ask you, Barbara.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_02: Don't ask.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_02: Don't ask her.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_02: I know it.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_02: If it's inclement weather, we're gonna be able to do that.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_05: I'm assuming you got Matt Lopon on speed dial.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_05: Here it comes.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_02: We go rain or shine.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_02: Rain or shine.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_02: Unless it's it's not safe.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_02: If there's lightning, storms coming through, we watch it very closely.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_03: People ask, what are you gonna do about the rain?
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I don't know about you, but I'm gonna bring an umbrella and my rain boots and go walk around the streets.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_03: But it's gonna be a sunny, bright day.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_03: That's why I wore my sunshine boots.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_05: There we go.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_05: There we go.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_05: Is anything you guys want to add?
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I want to thank everybody for Yeah, and I want to mention uh, you know, the activities we mentioned.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_02: We do also have a car show that uh is very popular each year, so we invite people to participate in that if they've got some cool vintage cars or new cars.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_02: We're not too choosy.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_02: And just invite people out for a great day.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_02: It's gonna be a lot of fun, and uh we're just very grateful to everyone who continues to support every year.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_05: Well, we uh appreciate you guys coming in.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, we're all we're all looking forward to it.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_05: I know me and my family are looking forward to it.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_03: We're gonna be looking for you.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_03: We'll see you in the street.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_06: The 30th annual Market Street Festival, the first weekend in May.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_06: And what's that website or Facebook page?
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_03: Market StreetFestival.com.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_06: All right, Zach, before we leave here today, three things I need to know.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_05: All right, closing the circuit on this news item.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_05: Number one, Shawada Jones, the city's contracted public information officer, resigned Monday, a day before the city council was scheduled to discuss terminating her contract four months early.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_05: Jones, who is not related to Mayor Stephen Jones, um, had chafed with city officials over several issues, including who she needed to report to, as well as uh a little heartburn over the fact that she wasn't given the full-time position and remained on contract uh for the duration of her tenure.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_06: I tip my hat to that lady.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_06: Number two.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_05: Fire destroyed a building this weekend at Chanticleer, apartments off Military Road, displacing more than forty residents.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_05: The fire is believed to be accidental, though investigators have not identified its source.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_05: It is the second fire to destroy a building at that same complex since 2022.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_05: Number three, Columbus is sponsoring a job fair from 9 a.m.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_05: to noon April 30th in the upper level of Trotter Convention Center.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_05: Between 25 and 30 businesses have registered for the event so far, including representatives from city departments, Fort County Electric Power Association, Steel Dynamics, and Baptist Memorial Hospital Golden Triangle, among others.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_06: Cool.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_06: Reach out to us, tips at cdispatch.com.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_06: You can also follow me on Facebook or X at D Chisholm Double Zero and leave a public comment.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_06: Keeping it real here in Catfish Alley Studio and Historic Downtown Columbus, your host has been Zach Player, and I am David Chisholm.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_06: Y'all stay friendly out there.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just a simple old country boy, but um I think that makes sense.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_01: I've stepped out and I've said what I had to say.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_06: You've been listening to Between the Headlines with Zach and David.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_06: That's what old people do.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_01: That is.