monicaljones | The LocaL Magazine

These Puppies Won’t Hush: Chickasaw Mudd Puppies Return to Stage and Studio

Posted on October 10, 2022October 10, 2022 by Editor - the Local

The stage at a Chickasaw Mudd Puppies show looks more like the setting for a play based on a Faulkner novel than a backdrop for a band melding country blues, rockabilly, and punk.In their early 1990s prime, Brant Slay, the stringy-haired singer, percussionist, and multi-instrumentalist, perched himself in a ratty ladder-back rocking chair. He teetered with nervous energy throughout songs, dragging a rhythm with spoons on a washboard around his neck, or playing harmonica, dancing…

The World (Cup) Comes to Columbus

Posted on October 4, 2022October 4, 2022 by Editor - the Local

The swirling rapids of the Chattahoochee have wound their way through our home for hundreds of years, but only recently have they become a worldwide phenomenon. These waters are a magnet, attracting some of the best rafters and kayakers from around the globe. It’s taken a lot of work, from the engineers and dreamers who made the rapids happen to the businesses and local leaders who realized the potential of the river and worked to…

Springer Opera House Receives Grant from Georgia Council for the Arts

Posted on August 26, 2022September 2, 2024 by Editor - the Local

The Springer Opera House was awarded a grant by Georgia Council for the Arts (GCA), a strategic arm of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, as part of its initial disbursement of grants for fiscal year 2023. A total of 213 organizations were awarded 253 grants that provide more than $3.1 million in funding to arts organizations throughout the state. The Bridge Grant will provide operating support funding to 134 organizations, the Project Grant will…

Nationally Acclaimed Art Exhibition, Alma W. Thomas: Everything Is Beautiful, Celebrates Homecoming at the Columbus Museum

Posted on July 22, 2022July 22, 2022 by Editor - the Local

Following a 12-month, multi-city tour along the east coast, the acclaimed exhibition will make its final stop in Thomas’ native Columbus, where it will be on view from July 1 – September 25, 2022. This amazing exhibition, offers a compelling overview of Thomas’ trajectory from childhood to international recognition. With more than 150 objects, from her rarely seen marionettes to her well-known abstract paintings. “Sharing Alma Thomas’ passion for fostering education and creativity and for…

“From Church Director to Cannabis Queen”

Posted on June 1, 2022June 1, 2022 by Editor - the Local

The Well – Owner, Debbie Spear She looks like a friendly neighborhood soccer mom, but Debbie Spear’s mission to help Columbus with CBD makes her anything but ordinary. After serving nearly 20 years in education and ministry, Debbie read a blog post that would change her life. The post, which was about the benefits of CBD, intrigued her immediately, since her husband Eddie had been dealing with chronic pain. A natural, alternative way to deal…

From the ‘Ground’ Up: Local Playwright, Natalia Temesgen, Shoots for the Stars – and Makes It

Posted on May 9, 2022May 9, 2022 by Editor - the Local

Some people are born to be storytellers. They have it in their blood – the ability to thread language and image into new worlds. It’s not impossible to learn this art; even the best artists will tell you their hard work and dedication got them farther than any birthright talent. Yet it would be hard to describe Natalia Temesgen as anything other than a born storyteller. A playwright, actor, screenwriter, newspaper columnist, parent and teacher…

Local “Chicken Lady” Creates Award-Winning Recipes

Posted on March 2, 2022March 2, 2022 by Editor - the Local

Here in the South, Southern Comfort food is an art form, and local food expert Melinda Newton has created some tasty masterpieces. Known around these parts as “The Chicken Lady,” and for good reason. Her first experiences with food, and especially, chicken, began in the iconic Minnie’s restaurant, which was opened by Melinda’s grandmother “Minnie” in 1986. In 1991, Melinda’s mother, Rose, became the manager of Minnie’s, and in 1999, Melinda decided to join the…

The Deep, Musical Magic of Wolf & Clover: twelvemonth and a day

Posted on February 5, 2022February 5, 2022 by Editor - the Local

A whistle, a banjo. A guitar and a washboard. A fiddle, an accordion, and a beautiful voice singing from beyond the world. Highland jigs and ghostly woods, a lover’s quest and a good day’s work, and another morning coming after rest. This is the soul of Wolf & Clover, an “Irish-ish” band that dives deep into traditional Celtic music before surfacing again with new tweaks and twists and interpretation to share. The Columbus band’s new…

Columbus’s “Journey Toward Justice” Tour the Civil Right Movements We’ve Made

Posted on February 1, 2022March 2, 2022 by Editor - the Local

Cities such as Atlanta, Albany, Montgomery, and Birmingham often dominate discussions of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. However, the Chattahoochee Valley has been the site of regular cycles of civil rights activism, allyship, and backlash throughout the past century. Advances in civil rights that proved significant at the national and state levels happened from the 1940s through the 1970s, and vibrant activism continues in the community today. Journey Toward Justice, a new exhibit…

The Joint Redemption – Christi Burdeshaw

Posted on December 6, 2021September 2, 2024 by Editor - the Local

By age 24, Christi Burdeshaw had been arrested for shoplifting, possession of a controlled substance, probation violations, and even car theft. She used and sold drugs, oxycodone and methamphetamine. She lost custody of her three children. Christi remembers seeing her reflection in the glass of a sheriff’s car window. She remembers thinking how awful she looked, how unlike herself she seemed. Christi never used drugs as a kid. She was a cheerleader in high school,…

« 1 … 12 13 14 15 16 »