The Opossum Fire & Who's On First (Responder)?

National Alabama Corporation - Building for Tomorrow; how apt a logo, since they don't seem to be building for today. Our source inside the plant feels an order for rail cars is inevitable, but can place no time frame on the much anticipated event. Apparently one thing management is not anticipating is a second fire, since our source has determined it was by management's order that the 50 plus fire hoses were removed last December.

The previous fire at National Alabama occurred in the early hours of Saturday, September 12, 2009, when an opossum invaded the plant's electrical sub-station. Gasoline powered generators kicked in when electrical power was interrupted, but vapors from the elevated equipment caused a ceiling/roof fire that damaged a 20 foot by 20 foot section of the plant. Per protocol, a 911 call went out to first responders, at that time the Barton Volunteer Fire Department.

Per our source, management at National Alabama was so disappointed in the leadership of the Barton force that it designated the better trained Cherokee department as the new first responder. While Barton would undoubtedly assist in the event of a major conflagration, Cherokee is indeed the fire department that would lead the other teams in attempting to quell the blaze. We doubt this is anything the Barton VFD announced in its newsletter.

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In the "For What It's Worth in Cherokee" department, a reader writes:

Thought I would let the good citizens of Cherokee know that Friday night when Melinda Malone was moving things out of her office to the new downtown city hall, Mignon was at the Middle School helping Melinda pack and move. Hummm, so she had access to all of the city documents that have been locked up, that even the mayor himself couldn't get into.

Our take? If ever a town needed a city manager, it's Cherokee.

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According to his blog, pedophile/sex offender advocate Derek Warren Logue has now finished relocating to Cincinnati. Until Logue's appearance on the scene, we were unaware of the existence of such advocates; the fact that they exist should reinforce our need to be ever vigilant of our children. We doubt that anyone is sorry to see Logue go...



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