Columbus Ga News:  The Columbus High School Blue Devils have won the first GHSA Class AAA title.  The entire team rallied around pitcher Chandler Padgett to defeat Northside High School and claim the girls softball championship at South Commons in Columbus Ga.  CONGRATULATIONS TO THE LADY BLUE DEVILS,  the staff, and the student body at Columbus High.

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     Some of the best  Columbus Ga real estate,  is located along the banks of the Chattahoochee River.  This past weekend some 10,000 volunteers showed up, to clean up.  The Help the Hooch program has turned into a river, lakes, streams and local parks clean up party.   Columbus Ga,  Fort Benning and Phenix City are much cleaner thanks to soldiers, girl scouts, cub scouts, school kids, senior groups and environmentally concientious volunteers.
     Local divers will continue with the annual clean up in a couple of weeks when the Chattahoochee River recedes to normal levels.  Highwaters concerned Local Organizers who took special precautions along the river.  Parts of the Columbus Ga, fort Benning River Walk were closed to volunteers.  All in all the residents of the area ususally collect 100,000 pounds of litter, many of the volunteers were surprised by the staggering amounts of trash. 
     When Saturdays clean up ended, volunteers were treated to a thank you party complete with food and entertainment at Golden Park.  The park is located at the end of Broadway in Downtown Columbus along the Chattahoochee River.

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     The  Supreme Court had  once ruled that online sales tax did not need to be collected, if the seller did not have a brick and mortar or a warehouse in the state.  New York, Rhode Island and North Carolina are circmuventing the old law, by proposing that websites and affiliate websites should be treated as a physical presence because one or the other is hosted in their state.  I'm sure many more states are going to jump onto this bandwagon and consumers will be paying higher prices across the board.  Taxes are inevitable, if you are doing online business pay the tax, please.
     Let's plug some corporate tax loopholes while we're at it.  If everybody pays their share, then I won't feel so bad for not finding a loophole to serve my interests. 

      A local resident in Columbus Ga wrote a thank you note in the local paper.  He thanked the Atlanta PGA and FedEx Cup Tournament sponsors for a memorable day, and their generosity.  Military families were treated to free parking, shuttle rides to and from the tournament, free admission and food and beverages.  When the retired soldier thanked the tournament representative, she in turn thanked him for his service.
      There are a number of nice things happening in and around our community.  I am thrilled when I come across stories like this.  It makes me proud of our good neighbors everywhere.  I'm going to keep poking around the papers and internet so that I might share more good news. 

Columbus Ga, Fort Benning News:    Turner construction of Huntsville Al.  has been awarded a 335 million dollar bid to build the new hospital at Fort Benning.  The new facility will be nearly 750,000 square feet in size and will replace Martin Army Hospital.  The soldiers and retirees at Fort Benning will have a first class health care facility when the construction is completed approximately 3 years from now.

      Three hundred new pavers were dedicated at Heritage Walk at the National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center.  Nearly 2000 custom engraved granite pavers line Heritage Walk.  There is plenty of room for additional pavers,  whether your loved ones have served in the military or not, this is a wonderful place to honor their memory.  Proceeds from the paver sales benefit and help fund the operation of the Museum and Soldier Center.

     Columbus Ga - Fort Benning News:   The 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team is on the move,  back to Iraq.  In the next few weeks 3600 soldiers will return to Iraq, several hundred members of the Sledgehammer Brigade have already departed.
      This is the fourth deployment to Iraq for the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team.  No other unit has been deployed as often.  Kelley Hill, the home of the Sledgehammer Brigade at Fort Benning will seem eerily empty as the Brigade moves out.
     It has been hard on the soldiers and the families of the Sledgehammer Brigade, but the soldiers continue to serve and the families continue to wait.  I personally want to thank our soldiers at Fort Benning and all over the world.  Your families, friends and neighbors await your return home.  God Bless You!
    

   I have been a Realtor in Columbus Ga for twenty one years.  I try to keep my posts on a local level or real estate related.  I could not help writing about the Nobel Prize in economics.  All the fuss over the Peace prize left some very fine Americans under appreciated.  Thank you Jeannine Aversa, Karl Ritter and Matt Moore for publishing the names and story of the NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS IN ECONOMICS.

   Elinor Ostrom of Indiana became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in economics.  Oliver Williamson was also a winner in the field and the two shared the 1.4 million dollar prize.

   Thanks again to the Associated Press for printing their story where I could find it.

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     The new (Taj Mahal) on Macon Road in Columbus Ga, will soon be home to hundreds of Muscogee County School District staffers and educators.  The controversial construction is completed and School Board member Phillip Schley has come up with a name.  MUSCOGEE COUNTY PUBLIC EDUCATION CENTER sounds pretty good. The name fits and guess what, it is the Muscogee County Public Education Center.  If I may suggest to the rest of the Board Members, go with it.  Don't spend thousands of dollars hiring consultants to research the name.  It won't get any better.  Save the taxpayers a few bucks and yourselves some bad press.

     96,000 sq ft of space that once was part of the SEARS parking lot.  It is a good looking prime property with plenty of room to add on.  I am sure the Muscogee County School District will make good use of it.  I am also certain that it will serve the community for many years. 

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     Columbus Ga government officials felt it necessary to sue Expedia.com back in 2006.  At issue was the amount of taxes collected and the room rate that Expedia paid taxes on.  The city and their lawyers felt that expedia should pay city taxes based on the monetary amount that the customers paid.  Expedia paid taxes on a lower advertised room rate.  Sounds like a no brainer.  The courts thought it was a no brainer.  Even the Georgia Supreme Court upheld the city's right to collect taxes on the true room rate.  Columbus won, Expedia lost. 

     Now City attornies are again resorting to litigation.  A motion has been filed in Superior Court to force Expedia to Re-list hotels and motels in Columbus properly. The bad boys (expedia) who were caught with their fingers in the city coffers years ago, have resorted to pushing the envelope again.  Currently these forward thinking entrepreneurs at expedia are misleading customers by listing local Columbus hotels in Phenix City Alabama.  Agreed Phenix City is just across the river and on any map never more than a matter of centimeters, but really Expedia grow up.  This is a disservice to your customers and just down right rude to the business owners of Columbus Ga.  The city is reasonable in their demands, if you want to do business pay the tax, or find a tax loophole, there are no legal ones.  Better yet open up a shop here in Columbus and apply for the city tax exmption.

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