Tombigbee Tales

CHA Ep4 The Missing Truck Title, Scammers, and Meeting Minutes

Looking through the board minutes on the truck and the scammer, I found other anomalies that caught my eye…big dollar anomalies and still no mention of the scam. Interesting! 

Columbus Housing Authority Ep 3 Missing Truck Emails & Scammers

My recent FOIA request related to the Columbus Housing Authority (CHA) Truck and the 60K scam has raised even more questions about the activities of the director and board at CHA. 

Columbus Housing Authority Ep. 2 - The Case of the Missing but Not Missing Truck

Tonight, I am going to tell you a story that was told to me by people in positions of authority with the Columbus Housing Authority…a strange, convoluted story…and then I will read you three emails I was handed in a meeting. I should have much more on Friday as a result of a FOIA request and a couple of hundred dollars to get said public documents…but here is the story. Bear with me as I may struggle to keep it all straight—it is a doozy!

Prohibition and the Murder of Wales Land in Lowndes County, MS

Wales Land embodied the archetypal small farmer - hardworking, unassuming, and deeply rooted in the agricultural traditions of the American South. He farmed with his father and the sharecroppers who worked the land beside them. The Great Depression and the Prohibition era had transformed quiet rural communities into complex battlegrounds of legal enforcement, social tension, and economic survival. This is the setting of how three federal Prohibition agents gunned down an innocent, hard-working 27-year-old farmer in front of his father's house. 

Mayoral Candidate Stephen Jones Columbus, MS

City Councilman and Mayoral Candidate Stephen Jones answers questions generated by Columbus, MS, citizens. 

Interview with Darren Leach Mayoral Candidate Columbus, MS

Columbus Mayoral Candidate Darren Leach answered questions generated by Tombigbee Tales followers living or owning businesses in Columbus, MS, city limits.

Columbus Housing Authority and the Pursuit of Public Information

 This episode is a continuation of my series about the Columbus Housing Authority and my pursuit of public information.
Let me give you a little context about public accountability. In an era of increasing demand for governmental transparency, the pursuit of public information represents a really critical aspect of civic engagement. The narrative of this podcast explores the complex interactions between me and the Columbus Housing Authority, revealing some systemic challenges and their lack of transparency.

The Case of the Missing Columbus Housing Authority Truck Money

The Columbus Housing Authority (CHA), a critical public service organization responsible for managing affordable housing and community development, is at the center of a potentially significant procurement scandal. This investigation delves into a truck purchase's intricate details that expose potential systemic vulnerabilities in public sector financial management.Don't Worry! Tombigbee Tales is ON the Case!

The Lynching of D. H. Smith, Artesia, Mississippi 1889

The post-Reconstruction era in Mississippi represented a complex tapestry of economic manipulation and racial subjugation. Sharecropping emerged not as an opportunity for economic mobility, but as a sophisticated system of continued economic bondage for recently freed African Americans.
In this environment, labor agent D. H. Smith began recruiting farm laborers to move to Arkansas. Smith, a Black man from Forrest City, Arkansas, is first said to visit Artesia and the local sharecroppers in early Fall of 1887. He visited Starkville, West Point, and Artesia at least two more times before his final visit.

Fishing for the Future - Marine Resource Management and Mario Ruiz

In a departure from history and current events, I interviewed my friend Mario Ruiz, a competitive sport fisherman. Come learn about his sport and how he is using it to shift the mindset of fishing in the Pacific waters of Mexico! Follow them on Facebook Team Tex Mex 
Follow them on Instagram at Team Tex Mex