Warrant Issued for Burns' Arrest/If You Missed the Thuggery...

The Wayne County, Tennessee, news has reported that the sheriff's department issued a warrant for John Clark Burns Jr.'s arrest when he leaves the hospital. While this is very sad, it should dispel rumors that Burns was not intoxicated at the time of the accident that killed Brittany Marie Underwood.

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Ah, if you missed the brouhaha last night, we're afraid it's no longer available. We would have preferred to keep the Shoalanda page a friend type page rather than making "her" a public figure, but since some users...oddly enough not any who were our FB friends...have protested, we are now a "page" which one must fan or like. This was not our idea, but was done entirely by FB. Most of our friends made the transfer, but if you have been omitted, it was by FB and not us. We are very sorry for any inconvenience.

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Now to clear up some fallacious remarks concerning yesterday's blog. All but two or three came from commenters who were not our FB friends. We have always believed everyone should have a right to comment if they wish, as long as they can abstain from cursing, etc. Sadly, many can't. Apparently many also can't read:

1. Burns isn't the man's name. Yes, John Clark's surname is Burns. No one here made that up to add any excitement or irony to the story of the fiery crash.

2. Burns wasn't drunk. According to reports now released from Wayne County, he was legally intoxicated.

3. Burns is only 25, so he shouldn't be held accountable (we don't make these up, folks). At 25, a man is old enough to smoke, drink, marry, get a tattoo, serve his country, make legally binding contracts, have finished law school, or lack only one year finishing medical school. Yes, Burns should be held accountable.

4. Burns will suffer enough since he killed the woman he loved. That's not for us to decide. The State of Tennessee has already issued an arrest warrant for Burns. What if he had killed your relative? 

5. The Darby store/homeplace was in such disrepair it's no great loss (we're cleaning that one up quite a bit). We're glad that everyone who commented on this lives in Beverly Hills, but the old store was loved by the family that built it and owned it. Just because it may not look like something of value to you, that doesn't mean it wasn't priceless to others.

6. The Darby store was auctioned off about a month ago. According to family, it most certainly wasn't.

7. Shoalanda said the store was worth more than Miss Underwood's life (That little ditty was contributed by a man who said he's leaving Tuscumbia and the Shoals because he can't find a job that's worthy of him). No, we said more knew of and loved the store than Miss Underwood. That's simply mathematical fact. The store was 89 years old and had been part of thousands of lives. Those who are grieving for the store should be allowed to.

8. The store owners shouldn't care about the building since someone lost their life in the accident. The store owners have money invested in the building, as well as great sentiment. The family member who contacted us also stated he wanted to see Burns held accountable for killing Miss Underwood. They also have every right to want Burns to repay them for their monetary loss.

9. The Burns family will sue Shoalanda for "slander." We're pretty sure the word is "libel;" however, nothing published was untrue.

That about covers the untrue comments. Yes, we did delete comments that used profanity, etc. That's always been our policy. We're won't get into the comments on the blog that threatened innocent doves, friends of the blogging group, you name it. Sadly, we're pretty sure that once Burns is arrested, these same people will be yelling, "Off with his head."



Shoalanda