This week’s top stories from the Ledger-Enquirer | April 1 - April 7
1. Mayor Teresa Tomlinson announces city closing in anticipation of Wednesday storms
Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson on Tuesday proactively ordered the closing of the Columbus Consolidated Government on Wednesday, “except for all emergency and essential personnel,” and encouraged local businesses to take into consideration whether or not they should remain open. The National Weather Service in Peachtree City, Ga., released a hazardous weather outlook statement Tuesday afternoon calling for scattered to numerous severe thunderstorms Wednesday during the day and into the night.
2. Trump bets on Uptown casino
Columbus taxpayers got some good news over the weekend: They won’t get stuck with a multimillion-dollar tab to demolish and rebuild the Columbus Government Center. Council in a specially called meeting Saturday sold the property to Trump Casinos, which plans to fully renovate the complex for a Trump Tower casino and resort. (Editor’s note: This is Tim Chitwood's annual April Fool's column. Happy belated April Fool's Day!)
3. The Bottle Shop closes in legal feud with rival liquor store operator
The Bottle Shop, a liquor store off Bradley Park Drive in Columbus, has closed its doors following legal rulings in a civil case brought by a competitor liquor store company. “Due to an unfavorable decision by the court from a lawsuit filed by Uptown Wine & Spirits' owner, P & J Beverage through its owner, Pat Daniel, The Bottle Shop is temporarily closed,” the store at 101 Southern Way, in the Bradley Park area, said late Tuesday in a post on its Facebook page. “We are in the process of evaluating our options and appealing this decision. We will continue to fight to remain open.” The liquor store has been in a legal fight with Daniel since early November, when attorney Steve Hodges, the husband of Daniel, filed for an injunction in Muscogee County Superior Court to keep the new liquor store from opening.
4. Columbus family describes ordeal from sexually explicit social media posts
After the Muscogee County School District notified parents and guardians last week that the Columbus Police Department is investigating reports of “inappropriate postings” on the social media site Instagram, one of the high school students accused of being depicted in the sexually explicit images and her mother agreed to an interview Friday with the Ledger-Enquirer. They said more than 20 local minors are identified in these pornographic videos, photos or comments, and they want to help as many people as possible avoid such an ordeal.
5. A father’s anger, a lawsuit against Harris County and lingering distrust
For Greg Dyksma, the story of his son’s death began with a trip home from the dentist. It was around 8:45 a.m. on Aug. 31, 2015. He and his daughter made early appointments so they could share the ride and get to work on time. They were returning to the Dyksmas’ home off Double Churches Road when they saw the Harris County coroner’s car out front, with a Columbus police escort. That’s when Dyksma knew Nicholas was dead. Harris County Coroner Joe Weldon gave Dyksma the bad news: Nicholas got into a chase with police and died during his arrest.
This story was originally published April 7, 2017 at 5:41 PM with the headline "This week’s top stories from the Ledger-Enquirer | April 1 - April 7."