Ledger-Enquirer from Columbus, Georgia • B1

Thursday, January 5, 2012 METRO EDITOR CHUCK WILLIAMS: 706-320-4485SECTION Blog post of the day Online comment of the day stories about parents and technology involve tales of embarrassing tweets and the perils of auto-cor- rect. But sometimes, technology can bring you clos- er together. I loved this piece from Slate: My Mom Joined Twitter and It Brought Us Closer. Turns out you can learn a lot about people in 140 Center for Excellence, I drive a Tank, get out of the From on sto- ry about nine-car pileup on Fort Benning. Excerpted from Sara 20 Something blog at www.ledger-enquirer.com Add your voice! Story commenting is available on most stories at www.ledger-enquirer.com Chattahoochee Chatter Looks like soon be able to chat with WLTZ news anchors at the grocery store without traveling to Dav- enport, Iowa.

One knock on the sta- tion, which has local re- porters, is its news anchors are in a studio in Iowa, and have been since NBC news department was res- urrected in 2007. Apparently about to change. The local affiliate soon will produce local news- casts in its Columbus stu- dios. Former WTVM an- chor and Columbus native Dee Armstrong will be the anchor, sources say. WLTZ General Manag- er Drew Rhodes said premature to discuss the pending moves, but he does not deny in the works.

The station has not aired a nightly newscast from Columbus since 1993. Its weeknight newscasts cur- rently air at 6 and 11 p.m. More details at 11 or when available. Now, for the news: The lone protester charged with trespassing onto Fort Benning during annual SOA Watch vigil apparently has more pressing plans and appear for trial to- day in federal court. What trumps a date with U.S.

Magistrate Ste- phen Hyles? A job inter- view, for one thing. Denver resident The- resa M. Cusimano, 43, persuaded Hyles to de- lay her misdemeanor tri- al until Jan. 13. Cusimano, who be reached Wednesday, wrote Hyles a letter saying she get legal counsel or have her mother cared for until next week.

further complicate things, a job I have been pursuing since October in- vited me in as a finalist to interview on Jan. Cusi- mano wrote. have been unemployed since July without the benefits of re- ceiving unclear whether the prospective employ- er knows Cusimano faces up to six months in prison if convicted of trespassing onto the post. Speaking of Benning Some married soldiers with the 3rd Heavy Bri- gade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, got to spice up their relationships last month with a trip to Panama City Beach, Fla. Spc.

Erik Anderson, a public affairs officer for the brigade, said 30 couples at- tended a Dec. 2-4 retreat where the guest speaker was Pastor Mark Gungor of Your Way To A Better was a really nice said Anderson, who also attended. was a lot of Couples at the retreat have been married from two months to more than 10 years. Some have been deployed to the Middle East as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The program was put to- gether by Maj.

Geoff Bai- ley, the 3rd Brigade chap- lain, and his assistant, Sgt. Donovan Eaddy. The event made a differ- ence for some couples. said Ka- tie Richardson, wife of Spc. Joseph Richardson of Company 3rd Squad- ron, 1st Cavalry Regiment.

like this that bring us away from post and Armstrong coming back to news? By SARA PAUFF Columbus State University will begin hosting public interviews for the four finalists vying to be pro- vost and vice president of academ- ic affairs next week. The four finalists include Nat Frazer, former dean of the College of Natural Resources at Utah State University; Dale Ostlie, former dean of the College of Science at Weber State University in Utah; Peter Mil- let, dean of the College of Educa- tion at Tennessee State University and Tom Hackett, interim provost and vice president for ac- ademic affairs. David Lanoue, dean of College of Letters and Sciences and chair of the search committee, said the four candidates were cho- sen from a pool of 51 applicants in a national search. had an outstanding pool of he said. The com- mittee was looking for applicants with a record of leader- ship, a vision to help move us for- ward and a successful academic re- he said.

Lanoue said the chosen finalist should also be respected by the fac- ulty, work well with the president, Tim Mescon, and have a vision of where they would like to CSU to Two of the applicants Frazer and Ostlie are both from Utah, but Lanoue said that was a coin- cidence. Frazer, Hackett and Millet have Georgia ties. Frazer has two degrees from the University of Georgia and has taught at UGA and at Mercer University. Hackett has two degrees from CSU and has been at the uni- versity since 2006, when he retired from his post as superintendent of Phenix City Schools. Millet, who has a doctorate in clinical psychology from Ohio State University, completed a pre-doc- toral residency at Medical College of Georgia.

Ostlie has a doctorate in astrophysics from Iowa State Uni- versity and has worked at Los Ala- mos National Laboratory. Each of the finalists will visit the campus participate in two open fo- rum sessions one on the main campus and one on the RiverPark campus downtown. a two way commu- Lanoue said. is a chance for the community to lean about the finalists, ask questions and raise Frazer will visit the campus Jan. 11 and hold open forums at 1 p.m.

in One Arsenal Room 114 on the RiverPark campus and at 4 p.m. CSU PROVOST SEARCH DOWN TO 4 FINALISTS Three of the four finalists have ties to Georgia James, 39, shot at four men April 10 By ALAN RIQUELMY A man accused of fatally shoot- ing a man outside a downtown Co- lumbus club last year was indicted Tuesday by a Muscogee County grand jury, records state. Gregory James, 39, was in- dicted on two counts of murder and four counts of aggravated assault in connection with the April 10 shooting that took the life of 49-year-old Felton Dyous, a man who his intended target, authorities have said. Police say James shot at four men outside of 1010 Broad- way, about 2:55 a.m. Dyous died a week after the shooting.

Sgt. Ken Hudson testified in Columbus Court that James saw a man had a pre- vious altercation with, grabbed his gun and fired. Dyous and a 35-year-old man were struck in the abdomen. A 27-year-old was hit in the left thigh and a 47-year- old was hit in the right hand. James was arrested about a block away after the shooting.

Dyous was in the hospital for a week before he died. Dyous had four surgeries. He began to deteriorate after the last one, his wife said. James remains in the Muscogee County Jail with no bond. Man indicted for downtown slaying MIKE By BEN WRIGHT Except for planting grass and other landscaping, improve- ments on a five-mile section of road at Fort Benning are 99 percent complete, an offi- cial said Wednesday.

Construction on Lindsey Creek Parkway, 1st Division and Dixie roads completed for the Sept. 15 deadline for the Base Realignment and Closure improvements. The $35 million project also included widening of Marne Road Bridge and im- proving on and off ramps used by soldiers and employees to reach Martin Army Commu- nity Hospital, the Post Ex- change and headquarters of the 3rd Heavy Brigade Com- bat Team at Kelley Hill. The major road improve- ments were aimed at easing congestion as BRAC relocat- ed some 20,000 soldiers, fam- ily members, civilian employ- ees and contractors to the post with the U.S. Armor move from Fort Knox, and other changes throughout the post to create the Maneuver Center of Excellence.

Col. Frederick Wolf, deputy garrison commander of trans- formation, said the project is substantially completed, but landscaping will continue into the spring. Crews already have planted 1,000 trees and shrubs along the roadway. Soldiers and civilians who use the roadway have noticed the difference in traffic flow on the road which was widened from two to four lanes and in- cludes turning lanes. Skip Caldwell, the range man- ager on post, used to travel Di- xie Road weekdays before his office moved to 8th Division Road two weeks ago.

like it just Caldwell said. seems to be fine. I use it oc- casionally to get to headquar- ters and this morning going to a meeting. tremendous- ly Traffic flow on the road has improved greatly, said Maj. El- lis Gales a public affairs offi- cer for the 3rd Brigade.

Soldiers use Lindsey Creek Parkway and Marne Road to travel to Kelley Hill. can tell it has improved traf- fic Gales said. are actually smoother as $35M post road project almost done Police say Gregory James shot at four men outside of in downtown Columbus. SEE CSU, B3 SEE CHATTER, B3 FLOOD ABATEMENT PROJECT Construction workers lower a large beam into place near the intersection of Sixth Avenue and Ninth Street in Columbus Wednesday. The flood abatement project in on schedule to be completed in the early fall, according to Deputy City Manager David Arrington.

Work is currently being done on the 800 block, after which the project will have to go under the Ninth Street railroad tracks and then proceed on up Sixth Avenue eventually to 14th Street. The project is designed to alleviate flooding problems in the Liberty District. Just $1.25 million shy of set goal By SANDRA OKAMOTO Springer Opera House ar- tistic director Paul Pierce announced Wednesday that the capital cam- paign has reached $10.25 million in pledges. just $1.25 million shy of the $11.5 million goal. Money raised during this the campaign has already been used to build an education cen- ter with studio classrooms and offices for the Springer Theater Academy, an edu- cational theater program for children.

The rest of the mon- ey raised will be used to make improvements to the Springer, which is list- ed as a National Histor- ic Landmark theatre; to expand the Springer en- dowment fund for ongo- ing historic preservation and maintenance; and to build a 300- to 350-seat theater dedicated to chil- theater. Pierce hopes to break ground on the theater building this sum- mer. looking Pierce said. telling the sto- ry of how the theater acad- emy is impacting our com- munity as a Campaign chairman Sam Wellborn and co-chair Mat Swift have been said Pierce in their efforts to raise money by going to individual donors and fam- ily foundations. nice to celebrate this kind of he said.

Pierce: Springer Opera House passes $10 million mark in campaign pledges.