What Does It Take?

Those of you who follow our blog know that our group also writes Shoals Crime. For some time we've been researching a murder that took place on a Lauderdale beach in the summer of 1965. One news article from that era stands out: E. W. Wadsworth, then principal of the now defunct Coffee High School, chastised the Florence Times newspaper for stating a girls' social club was officially connected to the school. Of course, there would never be violence in our schools, or even any organization officially connected to them.

Flash forward 45 years and we have more school shootings than we can enumerate. Three killed in Pulaski, Tennessee, a decade ago. Today a young man's life tragically ended in the corridor of a school that many of us have at least passed on our visits to Madison.

Most of us can remember the first time we entered a local courthouse, only to have to pass through a metal detector. Rather irritating, wasn't it? Well, welcome to the 21st century where schools should automatically be fitted with such detectors. If that's what it takes to prevent another child's death, let's do it.

Schools may soon look like something from the SciFi Channel, but if it saves one life, it's worth it. Perhaps we can even get Kurt Russell to make a guest appearance...


The United State's only surviving World War I veteran Frank Buckles was 109 last Monday. Let's all sign his guest book, and, more importantly, continue to lobby for a World War I memorial in Washington, DC.

Shoalanda