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From Grenades to Panhandling · Between the Headlines: Columbus

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: From the opinion page of the commercial dispatch, this is Between the Headlines.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_05: This is Peter Imes, publisher of The Dispatch.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_05: One of our hosts of Between the Headlines is the managing editor of our newsroom.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_05: Typically, we try to keep news and opinion separate, but reporters have a unique insight into the workings of local government, and their analysis can be helpful for readers and listeners.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_05: The Dispatch remains committed to journalistic integrity, and our reporting will always reflect that.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_05: And now, between the headlines.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_02: This week on Between the Headlines, it is a free-for-all for the Columbus Panhandlers as the City Hall rejects the idea of requiring a permit for vagrants.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_02: But before we talk about that, as you've heard, a very interesting toy showed up to the Lowndes County Sheriff's Office, and Zach and I will not let that story pass us by.
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• 1:50
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• 1:54
  SPEAKER_02: This episode of Between the Headlines is brought to you by Bank First, the locally owned bank that makes decisions right here at home by people who understand the needs of our community.
• 2:03
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• 2:30
  SPEAKER_02: Hello to all you are listening to Between the Headlines with the man whose office is between Larry's and Mo's, and he's also the managing editor of the Dispatch, Mr.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_02: Zach Player.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_02: And my name is David Chisholm.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_02: Today we're going to talk about that hand grenade that y'all read about.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_02: That is quite something.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_02: So let's go back to that story, Zach.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_02: Let's just kind of let's let's take our time just piece by piece and tell the listeners in case they didn't read what happened.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_03: Well, Sunday morning.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_03: It happened on a Sunday.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_03: So that was on a Sunday morning.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, good grief.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_03: And it was a a worker with a construction company, and evidently this property where it was found, it was a place where construction material goes to be dumped.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_03: So it was That wasn't the necessarily the original location of this grenade.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_03: So he finds the grenade, and um of all the things he could have done, he loads it up in the pickup and carries it to Lowndes County Sheriff's Office.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, stop.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_02: Before we jump in there, I just have to say to the listeners that if you think on this program we are going to stoop down to the level of making fun of this guy, you've come to the right place.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_02: First off, I just learned today he was breaking the Sabbath.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_02: All right, so there's that.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_02: You know, have to throw that in there.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_02: So instead of calling, he takes it to the sheriff's office.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_03: To the sheriff's office, delivers it to them to say, Hey, I found this.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_03: Figured that y'all might want to defuse it.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_03: I would love to have been a fly on the wall when that thing walked in the door.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_03: I'm glad I wasn't there filling out like an incident report or something.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_02: Do we know any details, like other than just what the report says, it was brought in?
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_02: Like, did he was it a bailiff?
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_02: Was it a secretary?
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_03: I know that the sheriff wasn't there at the time.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_03: It was a Sunday, but he got a call to come up there.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_03: And so did the Tupelo Bomb Squad.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_03: They they came down, did what they normally do to defuse it.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_03: It was definitely live.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_03: They I mean they blew it up to dispose of it in in their safe quarters the way that the bomb squad does it.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_03: But it's just a bizarre, you know, sort of slice of life local story.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_02: Well, it's definitely bizarre.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_02: I guess he got the idea, you know, if you have pills in excess in your home, like narcotics, that that they say to bring them and turn them in.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_03: They have whole days where they're like, if you've got a gun and you want to surrender it, bring it to us.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_03: But this was a hand grenade.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_02: And I I'm pictures.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_03: Pin at all.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I'm sure they were glad the pen was in it.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_02: But I picture this guy, he's like he's like Billy Bob Thornton.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: Here's a grenade.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_01: I found it in the construction debris.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I'm not gonna make fun of the person outright.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_03: But I will say that uh it's um it was an interesting little public service announcement opportunity.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_03: Uh what do you do in that situation?
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_03: Well, now we know.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_03: You call 911 and you let them come to you.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_03: Um because uh here's the deal the uh that grenade was old, like it was it was rusted, it was weathered, it was, I think, um, pineapple grenade.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_03: I think it was World War II era or somewhere in there.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_02: I do expect it needed some WD-40 spray on.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_03: And you don't know what's gonna happen when you're carrying something like that, you know, in your hands and a pickup, you know, putting it in evidence at the sheriff's office.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know, but um, you know, I think that it was a good opportunity to to let people know, hey, if something like this happens, this is what you should do, and then this is obviously what you should not do.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_03: But um What would you have done?
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_03: What would I have done?
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, I would have I know you would have called and all that, but it let's say that wasn't an option to you.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_02: What would be your second choice?
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_02: Actually, I don't know what I would have done.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_03: What would you have done?
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_02: I would have taken it down to the creek, put it on the bank, and I would have got a long string, and I'd have pulled that thing and I'd have jumped in the hole.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_02: And then after I found out it was a dud and didn't go off, I would have been scared to go to the creek until the next flood, just saying so.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_02: You know, they deal with this stuff in Europe all the time.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_02: I bet they do.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's like they'll be out there in the garden, it's like, oh, I found another Willie Pete, gotta call the folks.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_03: Mm-hmm.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_03: So I imagine they're everywhere.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, we haven't we haven't been a war-torn country.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_03: We haven't had anything like that in modern, you know, in modern munitions time that is that is taking place on our ground here in the United States.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_03: But it it it is interesting to think about, okay, well, there was a live grenade somewhere.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_03: I wonder where it came from, because it didn't necessarily come from the place where it was found.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_03: And I wonder how often, you know, folks do run into that here in Columbus or just you know, around in the Golden Triangle.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_03: Oh goodness.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe he got it off of eBay.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_02: Oh I mean, I do wonder where he got it, because it's a relic.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, he uh it was obviously contraband that was brought back in.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_03: And it could have been a veteran, it could have belonged to a veteran at one time that took it off a German or something.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_02: My grandfather actually knew quite a bit about hand grenades.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_02: He was in World War II and he fought over there, and he was out on the outer posts one night and he told me the story.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_02: He said there was a German soldier walking back and forth on an embankment, and and he told me the story.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_02: He just he just said, I I got tired of looking at him.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_02: I think I'm gonna go over there and kill his ass.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_02: And so he he started to and he went over there and he went in this building of sorts, tried to sneak up on him, and he heard something hit the ground, and the next thing he remembered there was this iron door laying on top of him.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah, it was a grenade.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_02: And uh he told me if it wasn't for that iron door, you wouldn't be here.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_02: And so man, you're right.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_02: I'm glad we don't have to deal with that stuff.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I guess the most we'll find over here is like a Civil War shrapnel or something.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, maybe.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_03: And that's probably not likely to still blow up.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I'm glad everybody's okay, and next time call it in so we don't have to block off Martin Luther King Drive.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_02: That's uh that's a festive day right there.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_02: Glad nobody was hurt.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_02: I kind of hate they had to blow it up, though.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, that's a you know, like a if you could like to do with it.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_02: You talking about like decommission it?
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, if you could like soak it with water or something so that you know that you're that job?
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_03: You volunteering for that job?
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not a munitions expert.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_02: I'm just thinking it could probably be done.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, surely it can be done.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_03: You have them in museums.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_02: You sneeze on a firecracker, it'll be a dud, you know.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_02: So I don't know.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_02: Any thoughts on that?
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_02: Feel free to opine tips at cdispatch.com.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_02: We'd like to know your experience with hand grenades.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_02: Next up we'll be talking about the um the city's decision to reject the Mississippi panhandler's law.
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• 11:22
  SPEAKER_02: So next up, Zach, we uh learned that the City of Columbus by 5-0 decision uh can and did opt out of the Mississippi House bill, whatever the number was.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_02: It was the um basically the law required.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_02: The Safe Solicitation Act is what it's called.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_02: And it required a permit of up to$25.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_02: And and I didn't know until I read the story on it, that permit only allowed them to solicit for one day.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_02: So it's not like a fishing license where it's good till spring.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_02: You had to get one every day from the way I read it.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_03: Aaron Powell Well, I mean, I think that that was sort of back-ended into it.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_03: It didn't the permits themselves didn't necessarily have a a dictated time, but the intersections where you could where you could do it had to have a individual permit per day.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_02: Gotcha.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_02: Um But regardless, it's it's obviously a bogus law in the sense that it's just uh making an excuse that was designed to it was it was designed to rid to rid your town of panhandlers.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_02: If you're a city and you don't want those guys out there, tell them they have to go get a permit, and because they're not going to be going to get a permit, just take them away.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_02: It is what it is.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_02: And by five to nothing decision, uh city council said no to that.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_02: So, uh what do we think about that?
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I'm interested in what you think, David.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I think it was the right call.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_02: I do.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_02: I think that um for one, that this law, I mean, I know it was a Republican bill, and I'm supposed to sit here and support what Republicans do, but that particular bill wasn't really in good faith and in the sense that I agree.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_02: I agree that what it what it aimed to do is not what the language within it says that it was doing.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_02: And so there's that, and and here's the hard part about this, okay?
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_02: There are problems out there.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_02: But when when we talk about panhandlers, um, first off, panhandler is not the same as a homeless person.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, they can be the same, but they're not always, right?
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_02: But you've got all these different types of folks that you might see out there.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um some of them are fake.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_02: That's a problem.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um, some of them are on drugs, some of them are veterans, they might be missing a limb.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_02: Uh some of them just have really bad look, some of them are mentally ill, some are violent, some are just plain old hungry, some have made bad choices, some of them have diseases or just unpleasant to be around.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_02: So there's all these different types out there.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_02: And so there's there's not really one flat statement where I can come in here and say this or that.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I think that you just I think that you just nailed the issue.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_03: It is very complex.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_03: There is a spectrum, and there's a um there's a balance to be had between compassion for downtrodden people and protecting the the the safety of business owners, safety of shoppers, safety of just uh d citizens that that aren't on the other side of that.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_03: And and I think that's where the the I think that's where the problem has come in for uh cities like Columbus and I mean Startville's dealt with it.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_03: You know, other cities do it, big cities deal with this all the time.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that there's two things that you can do that are absolutely wrong.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_03: Um I think that the right answer has not been identified fully.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_03: But I think that there are two absolutely objectively wrong answers.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_03: One is ignoring ignoring the problem, like letting it ride.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_03: And then the other is trying to relocate the problem to a place that is more palatable for you.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_03: Now, don't ask me where you go in the middle there to try to be effective, but I think that there's got to be some effective solutions.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_03: It's not gonna be a panacea, but there's gotta be some effective solutions.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_03: And honestly, I think that um the issue here, you can't arrest your way out of this, you can't relocate your way out of this, because they gotta go if you relocate people out of downtown or out of your city, they're going somewhere, they don't cease to exist.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_03: They didn't get in that fake rapture from last week.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_03: And then they're no they're no one else's problem now.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_03: Well, we wouldn't know and you can't, and then the other thing is, you know, if somebody who is mentally ill and is labeled as dangerous, you can't look at that person with a straight face and say pull yourself up by your bootstraps.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_03: They cannot.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_03: So they shouldn't be just let to be a danger, but they shouldn't be let to, you know, die in a creek either.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_03: And where I think that the problem is with stuff like this law, this law is a lot like a lot of laws that come out of that Mississippi legislature that uh completely lacks compassion, empathy, sympathy, whatever word you want to use here.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_03: And and it just really flips the bird to the issue.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_03: Um meanwhile, you've got local officials that are like, okay, we've got we've got homeless people, we've got vagrants, we want to have compassion.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_03: We don't want to try to re just relocate or arrest our way out of this issue, but we don't have the resources to do much more.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_03: So what do we do?
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_03: And honestly, I feel like the mental health crisis is something that the state has flagrantly ignored and not funded solutions for.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that vagrancy is something that they're now saying we'll just relocate it and to hell with it otherwise.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_03: And I feel like that the state needs to be partnering with communities to try to get shelters in communities that need them.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I'm gonna I'm gonna tell you something else.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_03: There's not one of us out there, and I think a lot of people forget, especially people who pass laws like this, they forget the reality of something, and it's but for the grace of God go I.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_03: I I I would posit right now that there's not a single person.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_03: Now, some of this may need to be very severe for it to apply to you, but um I don't think that there's a single person that's more than two or three major life events in a row happening where they'd be out on the street too, or living.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_03: So, I mean, there's nobody above it.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_03: Uh one of the reasons that cities are opting out, one of the practical reasons that cities are opting out of this law is because asking somebody for money is protected speech under the first amendment.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_03: They don't have to give you any.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_03: But you're basically telling if you're standing right here, there are certain things you cannot say.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_03: And that's a that's a free speech issue.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_03: And that's what the lawyers have kind of seized on.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_03: But there's also a compassion issue that I think we need to be looking at here.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_02: Aaron Ross Powell Well, uh Barbara Bigelow's complaint, if I recall, was that basically if if you've got someone who's panhandling right in front of the door of a business, then just from a business standpoint, the customer is likely to just skip that particular shop and go to the next door, which is a legitimate complaint.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_02: Trevor Burrus, Jr.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_03: She has legitimate complaints.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_03: I don't uh I don't entirely agree with her stance on it, but she has the job that she has and the responsibility that she has to downtown.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_03: So it's perfectly understandable and it's perfectly reasonable to want what she wants out of this.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_02: Well, you you mentioned a couple of things that I I think are worth chewing on.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_02: First is the safety issue and and safety and shelter.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_02: Let's talk about safety first.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_02: Do you remember um Heidi Van Tassel?
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_02: All right, story out of Los Angeles.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_02: Um awful story.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_02: Some uh vagrant person dumped a hot bucket of fecal matter on this woman.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_02: Oh and um all over her head, and she went to the hospital, was treated for infectious disease, and and that obviously scarred her for life.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, awful situation.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_02: That's terrible.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_02: All right, an update on that.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_02: The city of Los Angeles, in response, more public toilets.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_02: You see what I'm saying?
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not saying we don't need shelters because I think we do, right?
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_02: But you gotta think about this.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_02: Well uh and that's unfortunate.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_02: I I kind of wish our churches would do more, to be quite frank with you.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_02: But I guess what I'm saying is, and and I doggone it, I know it's it's not it's not pleasant to say uh Slim Smith is probably gonna rant on me for saying this, and that's okay.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_02: But they have to have some skin in the game, okay?
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_02: Who does?
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_02: Uh the the the people who are either panhandling or homeless, that they've got to do something, okay?
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_02: I know that's tough.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, here's the thing, and and I'll tell you, this is what a lot of conservatives and and and folks that think somewhat like I do get in a twist over is you go to benefits.gov and there's an entire massive website dedicated to how you can survive in these blessed United States of America if you have a disability, a mental illness, um, are impoverished, don't have a home.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not saying all that stuff is living high on the hog.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_02: It certainly is not.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_03: Well, certainly not.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_02: But it's there.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_02: And and and the reason and we fund these resources, and it's frustrating when these resources don't get effectively used and don't get effectively placed.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_02: I agree with that.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_02: And then we end up creating this giant apparatus that people live off of, and and the old cliche, we've got to teach some of these folks how to fish instead of just handing the fish to them.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_03: I'm repeating myself from before, but you've got a severely mentally ill person who's identified as a danger, right?
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_03: How in the hell is that person gonna go on the internet and sign up for benefits?
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_03: The person is doing what they instinctively can do in the moment, what they're mentally capable of doing, and yes, they're dangerous, and yes, they need to be removed from that situation, but there needs to be another adult in the room.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_03: But you're throwing responsibility on people who have been abandoned in many cases, because they don't have they obviously don't have any personal support system or they wouldn't be in the situation that they're in.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_03: And so now we're saying, well, if you don't have any personal support system, whether you have the faculties or not, whether you have the resources or not, figure it out.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_03: Before you look at somebody who maybe doesn't know where they are, can we at least first look at the legislature and ask what their skin in the game's gonna be?
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I mean, as I sit here and listen to you, it almost sounds like you're in support of this bill.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_02: It almost sounds like you say, okay, make them have to get a permit so that I don't think that they should have to get a permit.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_02: Follow me here.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_02: So that they can be picked up and they can be taken to the jailhouse where there are computers, where there are is the internet, where there are um officers and um well what's uh uh uh help me out.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_03: What's the the I'm not talking about incarceration and people from a space.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, well, I get that.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not really talking about incarceration, I'm talking about getting them to a building, okay, that has a roof, that has an air conditioner, um, that has the internet and has social workers that can plug them into these programs that we're already paying for.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_02: It's not about punishing them.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_02: It's not about sending them to jail.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's saying, hey, look, um, come on in.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_02: Uh you're not in trouble, but but I need to take you in so we can help you out.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_02: Because I mean, you gotta start.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, but you have to have somewhere to take them.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_03: That's the issue.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_03: Like you and I agree on that point that you just said.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_03: But the the problem is there's nowhere to go.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_03: That's the problem.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_03: There's nowhere to go.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_03: And so instead of the Safe Solicitation Act, which is like, well, they can just go somewhere where we can't see them.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_03: What can the state do to be more productive and proactive in creating that place for them to go, partnering with cities and and counties to for them to have that place to go?
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_03: To where you've you've basically served all masters here.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_03: You've you've you've provided compassion and assistance to the people who need it, and you've also cleaned up downtown.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_03: You've also helped merchants be safer, feel safer.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_03: You've also uh done what you can do not to uh deter uh uh shopping.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_03: You've also done what you can do to keep uh to mitigate people getting uh accosted by you know dollar and and and quarter seekers.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_03: That's that's what I'm talking about.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_03: And it's expensive and it's still complex and it's still not a panacea.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_02: So right.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_03: There's only a certain amount of cells in a jail, and I feel like they they there's a very specific population of folks that ought to be in there.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_03: Clogging up the jail with solicitors or vagrants is is i that's not an effective or efficient use of that space when you've got people who have committed crimes and felonies and such that that need to be in there.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, that's a that's a you're you're basically having mission creep in a jail if that's what you're using it for, is to fill it up with vagrants.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_03: Mm-hmm.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I guess I guess in my mind I'm thinking of it more as in as like a triage type deal as opposed to keeping them in there long term because uh the prison system is a miss.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_03: Aaron Ross Powell Prison S.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_03: And jails are expensive too.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_03: I mean it costs taxpayers money to put Eddie said Eddie Hawkins said it was sixty-five dollars a day or so is what it cost to house a prisoner in in Lowndes County jail, or an inmate, I'm sorry, in Lowndes County jail.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_02: And that's like devoid of like canteen money and all that.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_02: That's just what it cost you and me to do it.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_02: Well I think here locally we um we know most of our our vagrants, like we we recognize them.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_02: They're around.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_02: You've got the uh you've got the the one guy on a on a bike that that's quite recognized.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_02: Remember, he actually was hauling a casket around town that time.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_02: Do you remember that?
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_02: What was that about?
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_03: I do not know.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_02: Like was and it wasn't even around Halloween.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_02: It was like he just like maybe that was his place to take a nap or something.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_02: I I don't know.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_02: And we've also got that guy at Dutch Village.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_02: You seen him?
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know if I have.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_02: He he's pretty spooky, like if you don't know him, but he's so nice.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_02: Like it it's so harmless.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_02: I guess what I'm saying is is here it's not like it is in other towns, it feels like.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_02: I was on Bourbon Street one time and and somebody bummed me up for some money.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_02: He actually had a riddle, and to his astonishment, I solved the riddle, and so I didn't owe him the money, but I gave him a five dollar bill anyway.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_03: Did you cross the bridge?
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_03: What?
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_03: Did you get to cross the bridge?
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_02: He wasn't a troll.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_02: He was just a but I hand him a five-dollar bill and he got mad at me.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_02: What he called me a a a a cheap ass.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, and I just walked away.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, I didn't know that if you're a a panhandler or or a bum or whatever you want to call it, that you can get mad if the contribution is underneath a requisite amount.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_02: I don't understand that.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_02: But around here, I think our homeless population is nice.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_02: Um I don't I haven't I mean, you've got the guy, the people that set up at Lowe's, and and they don't even want to ask for money.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_02: They just put up a sign that says, I need prayer.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_02: And and you know, when I see that, I I'll roll the window down, help them out a little bit, because that's you know, that touches me.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_02: It's like that they don't want to put themselves out there.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_02: They don't want to be in that situation.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_02: So again, just going back to what I said early in the show, they're all different.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_02: The situations are all different.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_02: The question is, what do we do?
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_02: What can we do?
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_03: Well, uh I'm one of these that I feel like that long-term solution is going to have to be the state with money behind it, partnering with communities to uh uh get some structures up and get some mental health help that is more robust, get some uh homeless shelters that are more permanent, more robust, and staffed.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_03: Um so long term, on the short term, you know, that again, that's a hard question.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_03: That's what everybody's dealing with right now because nobody's taking seriously the idea that the state is going to do the thing that I just said.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_03: So they're looking at what it is and like, well, you know, you do have uh places like the homeless coalition that are doing yeoman's work and trying to get these uh get get people who need it uh temporary shelter, especially in uh inclement weather.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_03: Uh you've had uh nonprofits and public agencies that have partnered with uh you know the the that temporary shelter at Genesis Church uh that they did.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_03: But if but if you're wanting to have some sort of uh daily impact, I don't know.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_03: I mean the nonprofits are tapped out doing their their normal stuff.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that what we can remember as people that but for the grace of God go I uh mentality and understand that um you know in some cases in some cases this type of thing exposes you more.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_03: And I understand and realize that.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_03: But there are a lot of cases that you know, as you are dealing with people who are downtrodden, the way that you treat them is going to resonate with them in a lot of cases.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_03: A really good example of a guy in Starbucks, he's passed away now, but he was the quote sheriff of downtown.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_03: He was somebody who just kind of slipped a little everywhere and um walked in and handled all the folks and and and whatnot.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_03: And uh and and he had he had some things going on with him.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_03: But uh the community kind of in different in different ways.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_03: The sheriff at the time gave him a little badge from the Dollar General and said, uh, I want you to watch what goes on downtown and just tell me what you see.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_03: And that's your job.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_03: You gave him a purpose and he took that seriously.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_03: I would see him every once in a while.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_03: I was like, hey Richard Haskone.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_03: He's like, can't talk right now, I'm on duty.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_03: Seriously, and that's kind of like there were people though, there were people that took him and said, Okay, do you need a place to go?
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_03: We'll take you to we'll take you to hotel.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_03: There was like different families that basically adopted this cat and made sure he was where where he was needed, where he needed to be when it was too cold or too hot.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_03: And to him about, you know, when you're approaching people, this is how this is how you do it, this is what you don't do.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_03: And everybody loved Richard.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_03: Like downtown people would come say, You need anything like Richard, he wouldn't answer again or answer like me.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_02: A crispy like a nice churchy counter.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_03: Richard was already mad, you know.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_03: If uh if you asked me for something, and he didn't make it, he's like, I'm already taking care of today, boss.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_03: I'll see you tomorrow.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_03: In every case, but just the fact that there were so many people in that situation that were willing to show him compassion in that way and treat him that way.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_03: His behavior back.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_03: And it was a terrible situation.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_02: We are the friendly city, and uh I just hope that uh all of us, myself included, will um just keep in mind that the poor you shall always have, and not be like the leaf high priest and just walk past him right and be more like the good Samaritan because that's what it's all about.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_02: We've got mail today, but first, Zach tell me three things that we have.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_03: All right, brothers will host a six angle Octoberfest this weekend.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_03: Other events will include a five way for an adult.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_02: Helling way for adult.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, here that's your first order.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_03: Our indulgences that's a serious one.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_03: Our indulgences to the family very good on the local attorney and columnus means one judge.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_03: Tuesday for health applications and though I guess he was doing with those health applications ahead and uh in his place on the bench.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we'll talk more about that position in the weeks to come, but for now, place this time.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I have to look at it.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_03: All right, and number three, despite the fact that there have been shootings in the city over the past 12 months, including one that's weekend spotlight.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_03: According to the police department, there has been Columbus over the past 12 months.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_03: From I guess October to October.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_02: That's a good deal.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_02: That's a good deal.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_03: Columbus Police Department already.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_02: And we got some public comments, man.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, let's read a few of them.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_02: Ralph Hill says, we are the Bible bill.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_02: WWJP.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_02: Uh he says, the new mag of Christianity wants a fee.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_02: What was Sunday's sermon about?
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_02: Carl Ulmer.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_02: He says, I dislike panhandlers that are making it their full-time job.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_02: I don't mind at all giving to someone who's down on their lug and needs a mail or gas to get them by.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Tony Woodkin says they should definitely make permits.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_02: They can stand on the sidewalk in the blazing hot sun for eight and twelve hours a day, and they can work an actual job.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_02: And this one here comes from from Leah Keys Gray.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_02: I wish homeless could go to jail.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_02: They would get meals and a bed.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_02: We pay for criminals to eat and sleep.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_02: So folks who are down on their look.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_02: We thank you for participating in today's podcast.
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_02: Continue to do that.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_02: Um, thank you for joining us every single program and uh just helping us get the word out to make our hometown a better place day by day, week by week.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_02: As always, send us your comments, tips at cdispatch.com.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_02: You can also follow me on Facebook or X at the Chisholm DoubleZero.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_02: Leave us a public comment.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_02: Signing off until next week from Catfish Alley Studio in historic downtown Columbus.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_02: Your host has been Zach Player, and I am David Chisholm.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_02: Y'all keep it friendly.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_02: We'll keep it real.
• 1:00:00
  SPEAKER_02: Tell me three things I need to know for this week.
• 1:00:02
  SPEAKER_03: All right.
• 1:00:03
  SPEAKER_03: So school accountability ratings are back and it's a mixed bag.
• 1:00:06
  SPEAKER_03: Lowndes County School District maintained an A rating for the seventh straight year.
• 1:00:10
  SPEAKER_03: Columbus Municipal School District dropped back down to a C.
• 1:00:15
  SPEAKER_03: Number two, the Golden Triangle Development Link has hired a search firm to help find its new CEO.
• 1:00:22
  SPEAKER_03: Jorgensen Pace, based in Greensboro, North Carolina, specializes in recruiting leaders for nonprofits, economic development, and community development organizations, and has assisted clients from all over the country.
• 1:00:34
  SPEAKER_03: Number three, Lee Park's getting a facelift, and it's community driven.
• 1:00:39
  SPEAKER_03: Lee Park.
• 1:00:40
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's over there Park Circle.
• 1:00:43
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, Park Circle near 7th Street North.
• 1:00:47
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, they've uh City's renovated the bathrooms as part of its uh parks plan, but the uh thank goodness uh community is coming together, fixing up the playground, cleaning up the place, security cameras, picnic tables, new art.
• 1:01:01
  SPEAKER_03: I just think it's kind of neat to see uh the community uh identify that need and then throw in with their money and their time, and they're having a cleanup day there uh Saturday, 9 to 11 a.m.
• 1:01:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, you can you can clean the park and still make the ball game.
• 1:01:19
  SPEAKER_02: So that's a good thing.
• 1:01:21
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I've got a special place in my heart for Lee Park.
• 1:01:24
  SPEAKER_02: My granddad used to take me there to play when I was a young, young child.
• 1:01:28
  SPEAKER_02: And um, yeah, just just thinking about it.
• 1:01:31
  SPEAKER_02: Number one, please fix the restroom because you know, if if the restroom is locked, other things happen.
• 1:01:38
  SPEAKER_02: Just just saying that's that's a problem in and of its own.
• 1:01:42
  SPEAKER_02: The place really wasn't that ugly last I saw it.
• 1:01:45
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it I just hope they don't go overboard with cutting the trees, right?
• 1:01:50
  SPEAKER_02: Because it's a nice little shady area.
• 1:01:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, well, I mean, and we need shade.
• 1:01:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, pop parks are hot.
• 1:01:57
  SPEAKER_02: That's like that's the only reason I don't want to take my kids to it, is because it's a hundred degrees outside and the trees are very, very limited.
• 1:02:04
  SPEAKER_02: So, but hey, hats off to the people who have uh who have stepped forward to make that place shine.
• 1:02:11
  SPEAKER_02: We thank all of you for joining today.
• 1:02:13
  SPEAKER_02: Be sure to follow the show and share it and help get the word out, help make the hometown a better place.
• 1:02:18
  SPEAKER_02: As always, send us your comments about anything we've talked about today.
• 1:02:22
  SPEAKER_02: Tips at cdispatch.com.
• 1:02:24
  SPEAKER_02: You can also follow me on Facebook or X at Dchishm Double Zero.
• 1:02:29
  SPEAKER_02: Leave us a public comment.
• 1:02:30
  SPEAKER_02: Signing off until next week from Catfish Alley Studio in historic now town Columbus.
• 1:02:36
  SPEAKER_02: Your host has been Zach Player, and I am David Chisholm.
• 1:02:40
  SPEAKER_02: Y'all stay friendly.
• 1:02:42
  SPEAKER_02: We'll keep it real.