Still Driving Forward More than 60 years after a Columbus police officer began teaching adults to drive, Barber’s Driving School is serving a fourth generation of local families while reaching students across Georgia and beyond. By Monica Jones Ask almost anyone who grew up in Columbus about driving school, and there is a good chance the name Barber’s will surface before the question is finished. Some remember the marked training cars on city streets. Others…
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Why Columbus Chose to Invest in Local Journalism By Monica Jones When a community decides local journalism is worth investing in, it’s making a statement about more than newspapers. It’s saying that informed citizens matter. That local stories matter. That understanding what happens in city hall, our schools, our neighborhoods and our businesses is essential to the health of the place we call home. That is exactly what happened this month as the Georgia Trust…
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Cold drinks. Serious food. Familiar faces. And a local bar with plenty of bite. By Monica Jones There are places in Columbus that don’t need much explaining. You either know them, know somebody who knows them, or have driven past enough times to wonder what all they’ve got going on in there. The Dawg House is one of those places. It’s a sports bar and grill, sure. There are pool tables, darts, cold drinks, karaoke…
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By Andy Carpenter Do you ever feel like you’re stuck in an eddy just upstream from a waterfall, where you ain’t got any business testing the water? That is how marketing a movie feels to me; flailing around, trying to keep my feet downstream, doing my best not to panic or go under, all the while thinking to myself, “bail out, bail out!” They say an honorable captain goes down with the ship, but when…
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Cover Image: B.B. Palmer and Sammie Saxon- Image by Charley Windham By Monica Jones On May 9, Rose Hill Heights Park will be a little louder, a little brighter, a little stranger—in the best way. The second annual Crossroads Folk Art Festival isn’t designed to be explained. It’s designed to be experienced—where people aren’t just viewing art, but becoming part of it. Whether you show up knowing exactly what folk art is or whether you…
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By Monica JonesContributor: Josh, Columbus Georgia Eats Let’s just go ahead and say it. Some of y’all have been driving past Lemongrass for years and still haven’t tried it. And that’s fine… until it’s not. Because at some point, you realize you’ve been missing something that’s been sitting right here the whole time. Lemongrass Thai & Sushi has been part of Columbus for years now. The food is fresh, balanced, and authentically Thai. The kind…
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By Monica Jones There are plenty of ways to throw a music festival, and Columbus is about to try one of the most charming. On Saturday, May 2, Uptown Columbus will debut the inaugural Columbus Porchfest, a day-long, free, family-friendly music festival that turns the Historic District into a walkable celebration of live music, neighborhood pride, and community connection. From noon to 6 p.m., front porches along Broadway and throughout the district will become stages…
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Ahead of the band’s May 3 stop at RiverCenter, bassist Tad Kinchla talks groove, road miles, brotherhood, and why Blues Traveler still hits. Cover Image: left → right:Chan Kinchla – Tad Kinchla – Brendan Hill – John Popper – Ben Wilson. Credit: TMC By Monica Jones Blues Traveler didn’t come and go. They stuck. Their songs are tattooed into the collective brain of America — the kind you don’t realize you remember until they’re already…
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Neal Lucas returns to Talbotton for an intimate full-band performance inside one of the region’s most remarkable historic spaces. By Monica Jones On Saturday, April 18 at 6 p.m., songwriter Neal Lucas will take the stage inside Historic Zion Church in Talbotton, Georgia for an evening that feels less like a typical concert and more like the start of something powerful and new. For Lucas, the night carries a personal significance. “Getting to play in…
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The 18th Amendment’s Bootlegger’s Ball Is the Place to Be This NYE By Monica Jones There’s something about The 18th Amendment that separates it from every other bar in Columbus—and it’s not just the dim lighting or the polished wood or the fact that it’s a speakeasy hiding in plain sight. It’s the way the place feels when you step inside, like you’ve slipped past the noise of the world and into a pocket of…
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