Students protest, club closes, startup succeeds, and more: top Columbus stories
A riverfront club closing, high school students protesting and a startup business succeeding — they are among last week’s top stories in Columbus.
Here are key takeaways from the five most-read Ledger-Enquirer stories about Columbus in the past seven days:
Road closure: A 500-foot stretch of 35th Street will be closed for about 60 days as part of the 19th Street Flood Abatement Project. The closure runs from Ninth Avenue to the Highland Terrace apartment complex entrance. The flood abatement project on the west side of Veterans Parkway was about 60% complete as of last month. Click this link to read the full story.
Club closes: After 34 years in business, the Chattahoochee River Club has closed, ceasing operations May 1. In a letter to members, club leadership blamed dwindling membership, economic pressures and costly repairs after a water heater failure and flood damage in March. Leadership also said the members-only club never recovered from the shift to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Click this link to read the full story.
Students protest: Dozens of chanting Carver High School students walked out of the building this week to protest the transfer of assistant principals Chasity Boyd and Latavius Watts. The Muscogee County School District called the moves routine lateral transfers that happen regularly this time of year. The district didn’t say whether students who walked out would face any consequences. Click this link to read the full story.
Startup succeeds: Columbus-based startup VentorLux has produced the Soulis X1, a UVC LED device designed to clean the air in hospitals, military barracks and other high-traffic buildings. Founder Nathan Carr said testing shows a 90-95% drop in airborne bacteria within 15 minutes and 99.9% within four hours. The company is pursuing FDA clearance and has deployed units at St. Francis Hospital and tested the technology at Fort Benning. Click this link to read the full story.
First-time endorsements: For the first time, the Muscogee County Democratic Committee has endorsed candidates in Columbus nonpartisan mayoral and city council races. The committee announced its support for Isaiah Hugley in the mayoral race along with four council candidates ahead of the May 19 election. The Muscogee County Republican Party declined to endorse, with its chairman saying nonpartisan candidates shouldn’t get party endorsements. Click this link to read the full story.
These summaries were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. All the Ledger-Enquirer articles linked in this recap were reported, written and edited by journalists.
