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Meeting of the Minds & A Very HAPPY, Happy Hour

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This Wednesday at 5:45-7:30PM, we will host Meeting of the Minds on Diversity & Inclusion at Pop UPtown (1234 Broadway). Join the community in a very important conversation, with a group of incredible panelists: Gail Burgos (Officer of Diversity at TSYS), Norman Hardman (Chair of Mayor’s Commission on Unity, Diversity & Prosperity) Carolina Rodriguez (Land Bank Authority), and Austin...

Sunday Q & A (Memorial Day edition): Brian Sikma, Armor Officer, Wisconsin Army National Guard

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Visits the Vietnam and Global War on Terror Memorial sites, National Infantry Museum, Ft. Benning, Georgia What inspired you to come visit this memorial today? “I have relatives who have served and gone before me. My wife had two grandfathers who served in Vietnam. Their prior service is a big part of the reason why I joined—to continue that tradition. So I thought today would be a perfect...

Sunday Q & A: Dr. David White

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Vice-Chancellor, Troy University-Phenix City Colonel, U.S. Army (Ret.) How did your military career help prepare you for becoming the head of a university? “The military spends a lot of time training leaders. That leadership and administration and supervision—which are all parts of higher positions at any organization—benefit from that type of training. I spent 26 years in the military. I got a...

Sunday Q&A: Paul Yarwaye

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Liberian, American, and (after Friday) Master of Public Administration Paul Yarwaye fled the violence of the Civil War that began 40 years ago in his native country of Liberia, the West African nation with deep historical and cultural ties to the Chattahoochee Valley. On May 17, Paul turns 59. On May 18, the United States citizen will graduate from Columbus State University with a Master of...

Sunday Q&A: Stephanie Payne

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Executive Director, Youth Orchestra of Greater ColumbusFounding Member, Wolf & Clover What’s a typical work day like for you? “It all depends on what season I’m in. Right now, I’m in the middle of recruitment season. So yesterday I was in 3 meetings: [Columbus Cultural] Arts Alliance, I had my board meeting, and partners meeting with the RiverCenter and [Columbus] Symphony [Orchestra]. The...

Sunday Q & A: Virginia Causey

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Professor emeritus of history at Columbus State University, Dr. Virginia E. Causey’s book Red Clay, White Water & the Blues: A History of Columbus, Georgia will be published May 15 by University of Georgia Press. A comprehensive 344-page chronicle of the city’s nearly 200-year history, the book’s release will be celebrated at the Columbus Public Library at 5:30 p.m. Friday, April 26 This...

Sunday Q&A: Jontavious Willis

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A Budding Blues Star and the Destiny of Success Baptized into blues stardom two years ago by the legendary Taj Mahal as “my wonderboy,” Greenville, Georgia native Jontavious Willis has already enjoyed a blockbuster 2019. His music drove the Kia “Just a Small  Town in Georgia” commercial aired during the Super Bowl halftime in February. Last week, he dropped the album Sophisticated Class...

Take a Walk on the Wild Side

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to the ArtBeat of Rick McKnight CSU offers free shuttle service on 15-passenger vans tonight for ArtWalk, Rick McKnight explains, however this personal tour of Uptown’s vibrant art scene comes courtesy of the open-air cart driven by Henry Carswell. A popular Uptown Ambassador (aka “the Purple People”), Carswell calmly navigates McKnight’s itinerary. The tour is a fun, frenetic, and free-wheeling...

Start Us Up

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(start us up and we’ll never stop)* Columbus is doubling down on the bet that entrepreneurship is the economic engine that will power the regional economy in the 21st century. In classic Electric City fashion, both private companies and public entities combine to form the full scope of recent local investments cultivating small-business start ups. StartUp Columbus Programs Director Ben...

Sunday Q&A: Mike Jones

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Head of Design / Aflac Co-Founder / Creative South Creative Director / Serve Studios Big and friendly  with genuine warmth, he explains that the Athens brewery commissioned the mural a replica of its Tropicalia can. Mike says he’s going to add “some flair” in homage to Monday night ping-pong league that plays on the table a few feet away. “How does one become Aflac’s Head of Design?”“That’s...