Some wild guesses about what 2017 might have in store

Last week, I was charged with putting together the top stories of 2016.

It’s an exercise in reflection and, at times, frustration.

You knew some of the big stories were coming. If anyone was surprised that John Darr lost the sheriff’s race, they were not paying attention to the events around it. Now, if you saw sheriff’s office Capt. Donna Tompkins resigning, challenging Darr and becoming the county’s first woman sheriff, you are smarter than I am.

I would not have bet $1 on that Jan. 1, 2016.

Now, as we sit here a year older — and a year wiser — what will 2017 hold?

Here are some guesses — some of them educated and others as wild as a Fort Benning boar.

▪  Well, make the first one the easy one. There is no doubt W.C. Bradley Co. has major plans for the 8 riverfront acres it owns in downtown Columbus between the 13^th Street and 14^th Street bridges.

Mat Swift, president of W.C. Bradley Co. Real Estate Division, alluded to it in an earlier story when he predicted that 2017 would be the largest downtown construction year since the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts was built.

▪  Here’s a wild guess for you. The city, as its budget tightens, will look for ways to save money or outsource services. If you watched the 2017 fiscal budget process back in May, it was obvious things are getting tight.

When things get tight, they usually get tighter unless something changes. That’s how it works with your personal budget, and that is how it works with a city budget.

It would not stun me to see the city explore ways to privatize golf courses, aquatic centers, ice rinks and other revenue-generating recreational facilities. There is no question something needs to happen to Golden Park, and it needs to happen sooner rather than later.

I bet that trial balloon gets floated the closer they get to doing a new budget.

▪  Another wild guess. As Columbus State University’s athletic department continues to grow and have success under director Todd Reeser, someone is going to bring up football.

We are in Columbus, and football is and always will be king. Previous Presidents Frank Brown and Tim Mescon did not have an appetite for it. And with good reason.

What about Chris Markwood? I haven’t asked him, have you?

It would take money, and lots of it. But when you look over at Macon and see the success Mercer is having with its football program, that could happen here. It would add to the student quality of life.

OK, but it is worth the guess.

▪  I think you will see the Georgia General Assembly and Gov. Nathan Deal’s office fund the construction on the CSU main campus.

About $8 million in funding was yanked at the 11th hour of the budgeting process in what appeared to be Speaker of the House David Ralston and Deal’s displeasure with Columbus Sen. Josh McKoon, who has been at odds with Republican leadership since he was elected six years ago.

This story was originally published December 31, 2016 at 2:54 PM with the headline "Some wild guesses about what 2017 might have in store."