From deadly tornadoes to the loss of a Columbus icon, here are our biggest stories of 2019
Over the last year, Columbus and its surrounding areas have seen heartache, growth and change.
Each year, the Ledger-Enquirer looks back at the biggest headlines and most impactful stories from the Chattahoochee Valley.
Here are nine of the biggest stories of 2019.
Tornadoes kill 23 in east Alabama
Two tornadoes devastated east Alabama on March 3, killing 23 people in the rural community of Beauregard.
President Donald Trump visited the area to survey the damage, and volunteers came to help in any way they could. The strongest of those storms crossed into Georgia’s Muscogee, Harris and Talbot counties and caused damage.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp visited some of those affected.
Tomlinson leaves, Skip Henderson becomes mayor
B.H. “Skip” Henderson was sworn in as the 70th Mayor of Columbus in January. Henderson spent the previous 21 years as District 10 at-large councilor. Henderson was first elected to the 10-member council in 1996 and won five at-large elections over two decades of service.
He succeeded Teresa Tomlinson, the city’s first female mayor. She served for eight years. She is seeking the Democratic nomination in Georgia’s 2020 U.S. Senate race to challenge Republican incumbent David Perdue.
Dinglewood icon Lieutenant dies
Dinglewood Pharmacy icon Lieutenant Charles Stevens died of natural causes in January. He was 87.
He was the legend who created the chili that covered the popular scrambled dogs. He spent 56 years working at the pharmacy. Dinglewood Pharmacy has been around since 1918 on Wynnton Road and remains one of the oldest eating establishments in the city.
Stevens was recognized as a local celebrity by the Columbus Council when he retired on June 8, 2002.
Issues at The Ralston
Longstanding issues at The Ralston continued in 2019. Residents worried they would lose their apartments if owner PF Holdings of Newark, New Jersey, didn’t pay the water bill. Elevators at the facility didn’t work for about 36 hours in April.
In July, a Muscogee State Court jury granted a $125 million award to Christina Thornton, the daughter of a 62-year-old Ralston resident who died in his 98-degree room on July 6, 2017.
U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Ga., U.S. Rep. Drew Ferguson, R- Ga., and Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson toured The Ralston in August. They said conditions were unacceptable and called for immediate action. The building failed an inspection by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, earning a score of 42. It failed a re-inspection in October.
If The Ralston shuts down, there aren’t many places its residents could go. The building is under a Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance contract with HUD, where HUD issues vouchers to help make up the difference between the rent and what the residents can afford.
Residents could be issued different vouchers and provided with other housing relocation assistance.
What will happen to the Government Center?
Debate over the future of Columbus’ Government Center was a big story in 2019. In January, the Columbus Council was presented with four options to renovate or replace the complex.
A series of public meetings were held in February to gather input from residents on which replacement option they preferred. Deputy City Manager Pam Hodge presented resident voting results to the council. A little more than half preferred new buildings on a new site.
The council has since voted to initiate studies on how much it would cost to demolish the complex and replace it with two new buildings and a parking garage, as well as how much it would cost to construct all new buildings on a new site, and how much it would cost to renovate the center where it stands.
The council also is moving forward with plans for a November 2020 sales tax referendum that would pay for the construction of a new Government Center, along with other capital projects to be determined. The Muscogee County School District is planning a similar sales tax vote in March 2020.
Now ex-cop faces trial, allegedly killed EMT
William Talley, a former Columbus Police Department sergeant, allegedly shot and killed Kelly Levinsohn before stealing her truck, wrecking and threatening suicide in a standoff with police in May, authorities have said.
Personnel reports the Ledger-Enquirer obtained through an open records request revealed Talley had been involved in an alcohol-fueled conflict at Levinsohn’s home, where he was armed, suicidal and “experiencing a personal crisis,” according to the initial incident report.
So far no tentative trial date has been set.
TSYS, Global Payments merger
Columbus-based electronic payments company TSYS merged with Atlanta-based Global Payments. The move was announced in late May and finalized in September for more than $20 billion. The deal was dubbed “an all-stock merger of equals.”
The new company retained the Global Payments name and features dual headquarters in Columbus and Atlanta. It’s unclear how many jobs in Columbus will be eliminated or how many new jobs could come here as a result of the merger.
Columbus dad stabs girlfriends, 3 kids to death
A Columbus dad admitted to fatally stabbing his girlfriend and their three kids in an apartment at Elizabeth Canty Homes in July but pleaded not guilty to the killings.
Travane Brandon Jackson confessed to police and sent handwritten letters to the victim’s family, admitting that he killed Jerrica Spellman and the three kids: King Jackson, a 2-year-old boy; Kensley Jackson, a 1-year-old girl; and Kristen Jackson, a 1-month-old girl, police said. Jackson had been arrested before for allegedly abusing Spellman.
Jackson was sentenced this month on a probation violation stemming from his arrest on drug charges in 2013. He was to go to prison to await trial for the killings.
He died by suicide Monday after deputies found him unresponsive in his cell at the Muscogee County Jail, said Sheriff Donna Tompkins.
MCSD releases controversial video
The Muscogee County School District released the surveillance video showing a 2016 physical confrontation between a 13-year-old student and a behavior specialist that allegedly caused the teen’s right leg to be amputated below the knee.
Muscogee County Superior Court Judge Bobby Peters on Aug. 1 ordered the school district to release the video to the Ledger-Enquirer. The L-E sued the school district in January 2018, arguing the video is a public record.
Montravious Thomas’ leg allegedly was broken and “unstabilized” from being body-slammed five times, according to the $25 million lawsuit his mother filed in March 2017.
The lawsuit is still pending in Muscogee County State Court. The parties have been ordered into mediation.
This story was originally published December 31, 2019 at 6:00 AM.