MIRABEAU: Fall of The Governator (5.27.09)

MIRABEAU B. LAMAR

Mirabeau bets you didn’t know that an adopted son of Columbus took down The Governator. Christopher Garland, husband of former Ledger-Enquirer government reporter Lesley Brown, managed the campaign that toppled California’s budget-balancing propositions, wounded the traditional power structure and embarrassed Gov. Arnold Schwarzengger. In the Los Angeles Daily News, Mirabeau read that the victory engineered by Garland “marked the end of an era for the once wildly popular governor.”

Mirabeau wishes he had been at The Loft Wednesday night to see indicted lawyer Mark Shellnutt on stage. (To answer what many may be thinking, Mirabeau points out Shellnutt did not sing Columbus Stockade Blues.) Just as he was the night before federal authorities delivered a 40-count indictment, the controversial lawyer competed in a songwriting contest at the Broadway night club. Mirabeau wonders what that hair that sits on Shellnutt’s head looked like in the glare of the spotlight.

Mirabeau never thought he would see Frank Thomas mark his 41st birthday as an unemployed baseball player — a celebration that must have been a Big Disappointment to Columbus High's Big Hurt.

Mirabeau reminds you that local writer Kelvin Redd will sign copies of his new book at the Columbus Public Library on June 18. In Stand Tall, Redd shares workplace stories that illustrate leadership good and bad. Mirabeau remembers the author as the son of James Redd, a Hall of Fame basketball coach at Central High.

Mirabeau wonders what kind of whoppers will be designed at Burger King’s unusual headquarters going up on Macon Road. Check out the building, Mirabeau suggests.

Mirabeau feels dumb sometimes. It took Mirabeau awhile to figure out that the Muscogee County School District’s new administration building wouldn’t be permanently pink. Mirabeau was glad to learn that marble goes on top of the layer of pink.

Mirabeau will set his dial at AM 1460 this fall. The city’s new sports station will carry Georgia Tech football and Mirabeau can’t remember the last time the Yellow Jackets were carried on local radio.