Sand Bags & Bullets/Ed Jenkins Update

John Smith lives with his family in Muscle Shoals. He paid a small fortune for his home, intending to live there for the rest of his life. When John first looked at the home, he asked the realtor about flooding. No worry, the savvy realtor replied. Muscle Shoals has that under control with retention ponds and other high-tech drainage methods.

Things went well for a few years; then the rains came, and with the rains, the floods. John contacted his councilperson and the mayor. Oh, they said, we're working on it. Another three years or so, and John's home was again flooded via the back door.  Now John had an epiphany. The government was working on it, okay, but either they weren't working on it the right way or their plans were taking too long to be of any help to John and his family.

John and his wife were artists by nature. Even the back entrance of their home was esthetically pleasing. Well and good, but if all their hard work was lost every few years, what did it matter? John purchased sand bags and now has them at the ready. When it rained torrents last spring, John duly produced the sand bags, ugly as they were, and no water entered John's home.

John still hopes the city will find a solution to the flooding problem, but in the mean time, he's found an answer that, while not attractive, works for him.

What does John's story tell us? We've recently stated, as much as we hate guns by nature, we feel there should be a trained and armed officer at each local school. It won't be pretty, but until someone in Washington comes up with the answer to school shootings, it's the best we can do.

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We recently commented on Edward Clarence Jenkins' sentence for assault on Rogers teacher/coach Chris Krieger. It wasn't lost on us that Judge Mike Jones required that Jenkins be immediately arrested and taken to jail, only a few days before Christmas. Jones had it in his power to allow Jenkins to begin his sentence after the holidays, but chose not to.

According to court records, Mr. Jenkins has posted an appeal bond and is now home with his wife and five children. Will he win his appeal? We think it's highly likely that he will. If he doesn't, Mr. Jenkins' next Christmas will be spent in prison.

We support swift and sure justice, but two things come to mind here. From news accounts, we're not sure Jenkins committed the crime for which he was convicted and sentenced--interrupting a teacher while doing his/her duty. Second, if Allan Wilson and others can receive a 90 day sentence for the same crime, why does Mr. Jenkins deserve 12 months with 48 months of probation to follow?

Again we say, justice in Alabama leaves much to be desired.



Shoalanda