Tombigbee Tales
A Podcast about Columbus, Mississippi - Its scandals, eccentric people, and our version of Southern Hospitality...which ain’t always so hospitable. Pull up and let me tell you about Mama and them. Bring you some tea because we are going to sit here a spell and catch up.
Episodes
William Paul Odom WWII Aviator and Race Pilot
William Paul Odom flew cargo planes prior to World War II across The Hump between China and India. During the war he flew heavies including bombers. After the war he began setting distance flight records before fatefully entering the Thomps…
20th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina with Rod Davis and Julie Liddell Whitehead
Today marks the 20th anniversary of the landfall of Hurricane Katrina. The catastrophic impact on the people living in its path and its periphery is still part of our collective memory in the Deep South. Authors Rod Davis and Julie Liddell …
The Ossipoff Family Saga From Russia to Japan to Columbus, MS
What does the FBI, the CIA, Daniel Boone, and the fated Russian Czar Nicholas II have to do with Columbus, MS, and Friendship Cemetery? Let me take you on an old-fashioned Mississippi bird hunt.
Hale and Murdock - Early Columbus Industrialists
Today, we're diving into the fascinating world of Harrison Hale and Abraham Murdock, two entrepreneurs who transformed iron production in the antebellum and Civil War South.
The Murder of Sharecropper Alfred Borders, Crawford, MS
In the sweltering heat of a late July evening in 1881, a dark tale of murder was about to unfold on the Nick Hairston plantation near Crawford, Mississippi. This is a story of domestic tension, betrayal, and a crime that would shock the loc…
An Unsung Story of Freedom: Peter Motley's Journey
A Tale of Courage and Education This episode aims to not just recount the Motley family's history, but to explore the intricate mechanisms of resistance, love, and hope that existed within the brutal system of American slavery. The Motley f…
We Will Be Heard - The Jaryan Cox Story
A 13 year old child, Jaryan Cox was pistol whipped by a 17 year old last Sunday night. The victim's family wants the world to know what happened. I have an exclusive interview with Jaryan's aunt, Laquila Shinn. Their story MUST be heard. …
Columbus Community Housing Development Organization and the K12 Grant
The Columbus Community Housing Development Organization (CCHDO) sure is fast and loose with their money and HUD's money too. Where is the money? Can anyone figure out where it has gone? Or has Robert Greathree just decided not to get the re…
Columbus Housing Authority Audit and Non-Compliance Issues
The CHA has significant audit issues...issues so large and significant that their auditor fired them as a client.
Bullying and Abuse of Power by a Columbus City Employee
What do you do when a city employee uses their position to abuse power and bully private citizens? Stand up, refuse to be bullied, and FOIA!
The 2023 Columbus Housing Authority Audit and Financial Compliance Issues
The Columbus Housing Authority Audit shows significant issues with internal control compliance issues. Some issues are so bad the auditors were required to report the issues directly to HUD.
Follow the Columbus Housing Authority Money to the Columbus Community Housing Development Organization
So many questions and so few answers. Why are they purchasing all that property and not using it to fulfill the mission of the Columbus Community Housing Development Organization or the Columbus Housing Authority?
Columbus Housing Authority - Felons and Credit Card Abuse
Columbus Housing Authority has hired violent felons with no business license, no bond, etc. to work on their properties...and about that credit card use by the Executive Director Robert Greathree Jr...woo hoo...someone is living high on the…
Columbus Housing Authority Financial Mysteries at the Non Profit CCHDO
Columbus Housing Authority and the Complicated Money Movement
Why are large amounts of money being moved between accounts at the Columbus Housing Authority? Why is the movement of hundreds of thousands of dollars not mentioned in their meeting minutes? Who is managing the money and why are they so cav…
The Case of the Columbus Housing Authority $75,000 Check Made to Cash
Why was a check for $75,000 made to Cash by the Executive Director of the Columbus Housing Authority, and it is not reflected in any meeting minutes to the board of commissioners before or after the event? Where did that money go? To the no…
How to Search: Non-Profit Negative Revenue and MS Secretary of State Business Listings
Follow along as I examine the Columbus Community Housing Development - (The Columbus Housing Authority's Non-Profit) Negative Revenue Balances. We will learn how to search the Mississippi Secretary of State Business Listings for Businesses …
How to Search Non-Profit Financial Records - 990 Forms
When it comes to nonprofits, there's a lot that you need to know. You can ask for it in a public records request, but it's not really considered a public records request because nonprofits are guided by their nonprofit status. What you can…
Public Records Requests and Searching Land Records
Public records are just that: Public! You are entitled to have information from government officials in the form of bank ledgers, meeting minutes, contracts, bids, emails, etc. Public Officials' and Private Individuals' Land and Property Ta…
Ep 14 CHA Consultant and Money Management Questions
Rusty Walker is earning $ 4,295 a month from Columbus HA. He is also receiving fees from Natchez, Hattiesburg, Brookhaven, and McComb Housing Authorities, as well as having some contracts with the City of Gulfport, in addition to his salary…
Episode 13 Columbus Housing Authority and Futurespec
Gulfport's City Council President and Futurespec's Rusty Walker have been playing a shell game with money and land for some time in Gulfport while consulting for various housing authorities in his spare time. Why? According to HUD and ar…
Episode 12 Columbus Housing Authority: CHA and CCHDO Financial Red Flags
Unravel the financial irregularities in this community housing organization. Let's take a deep dive into the financial transparency, or lack thereof, and the organizational accountability that is missing at the Columbus Housing Authority. …
Episode 11 Columbus Housing Authority and The Rubber Stamp Board
This comprehensive investigative report exposes deep-seated governance challenges within the Columbus Housing Authority (CHA), revealing a complex network of potential systemic failures that compromise organizational integrity, financial ac…
Columbus Housing Authority Ep #10 The Executive Director and Board Attorney and Non-compliance
Today we examine the Mississippi Ethics Commission rules related public access to public records information and how the Columbus Housing Authority Executive Director and Board Attorney are in non-compliance.
Ep. 9 Columbus Housing Authority and the Case of the Bumbling Bids
The housing authority uses federal grants or gifts to help pay the housing cost of its customers. Federal money is given to the housing authority to cover all the normal costs of maintaining a place to live. As a result, the housing author…
Columbus Housing Authority Ep. 8 Outrageous FOIA Bill and Continued Lack of Transparency.
My most recent FOIA request has been described as requiring 160 hours of work and cositn over $7000 to complete. What hogwash! Is nothing in the CHA digitized?
Columbus Housing Authority Ep. 7 Foxes and Henhouses
What started with looking into a truck that CHA purchased and got scammed on has made me look more carefully at how they conduct their business. It makes me question a lot of things they do and makes me wonder who else is scamming them. Fo…
Columbus Housing Authority and Their Bed Bug Problem
It would appear that most of the service providers to the Columbus Housing Authority are from out of town, adding to the cost of their services. Was the Cook Pest Control account ever put out for bid? Is it rebid each year? Why does the C…
CHA Ep. 5 The Executive Directors $52,000 in Travel Expenses and $100,000 in Credit Card Bills
Since October 13th, 2023, Executive Director Robert Grathree has spent $52,000 on conference travel and per diem. In that same period, over $100,000 has been charged to the Columbus Housing Authority's credit card. None of that is spent o…
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 m…
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 De…
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 transparen…
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…
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 economi…
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 t…
The Fossil Park Funding Controversy and Nancy Luke Carpenter
Our story centers on Nancy Carpenter, CEO of the CCHF, and a web of financial allegations that raise serious questions about grant management and public accountability based on a recent Memorandum of Agreement between the city of Columbus a…