During an interview about Dr. Kenneth Barngrover's long legal battle with the city, Barngrover's attorney James Patrick repeatedly made reference to "Mayor Teresa Kardashian."
"I think that's just one of those things that people say when they're highly emotional," Mayor Teresa Tomlinson said.
Patrick's comments came in the wake of a Georgia Supreme Court ruling in the city's favor. The mayor took the comparison to pop-culture celebrity Kim Kardashian in stride.
"I'm sure this has been a tough blow for him. He's invested a lot of time in this and a unanimous thumbs-down from the Georgia Supreme Court is tough," she said. "So, it doesn't surprise me that someone would say something that's emotional and disrespectful. It sometimes happens in the heat of battle. I take no offense."
Patrick also referred to her as the "queen of Columbus."
In Tomlinson's defense, four kings -- Frank Martin, Bobby Peters, Bob Poydasheff and Jim Wetherington -- have also sat on the throne during the 20-year saga.
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From the mayor's office to the library restrooms …
During last week's Muscogee County Library Board meeting, Owen Ditchfield expressed concern that among the budget cuts were the addition of diaper-changing stations in the men's restrooms.
"That could open us up to a lawsuit," Ditchfield warned.
Claudya Muller, then-Chattahoochee Valley Libraries director who retired later that day, explained those stations in the women's restrooms cost about $375 to be installed, and they aren't considered critical in the men's restrooms with funds so tight. John Wells chimed in, "I'll pay for one of them. … That way, you won't get sued."
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From the library to the cemetery …
A cemetery might seem like a strange place to have a wedding but Jane Brady, executive director of the Historic Linwood Foundation, doesn't think so. She said some are already planned for the lovely Lummus Chapel at Linwood Cemetery.
Why not have it there, she said, after all, the wedding vows do say "until death do us part."
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Let's close this trip to Chatterland with a trip to the Columbus Airport …
With American Airlines planning to leap out of the Columbus market this June, is there any other carrier that might be a good fit for the Columbus Airport, aside from
longtime tenant Delta Air Lines?
Coming to mind immediately is Southwest Airlines, which like American, flies heavily throughout the western United States.
Not so fast, says Columbus Airport Director Mark Oropeza.
"I won't say it will never happen," he said. "But the kind of aircraft Southwest is flying, unless we can entice them to go to another hub other than Atlanta, it just doesn't make sense to fly 737s from here to Atlanta. Economically, it doesn't work."
United or Continental, anyone?
