Dick Jordan Speaks...on Tourism...Surprise

In today's TimesDaily, Lisa Singleton-Rickman's article on the latest Florence-Lauderdale Tourism news is informative...as far as it goes. We've commented before that any local official could state to the TD that they've just returned from a lunar vacation and no writer would even blink. Perhaps these writers have been told not to veer from the script, but when the interviewee makes, shall we say, a very odd statement, wouldn't it be in the readers' best interest to follow up?

First, let's see what Florence City Councilman Dick Jordan said on the tourism board issue. Mr. Jordan's comments are in red; our take on the remarks is in green:

Florence City Council President Dick Jordan said he’s aware of the public backlash since the meeting. He also said Morris’ sentiments aren’t representative of the council as a whole.

Morris' remarks are representative of most Florence citizens who are in favor of more transparency in local government. Obviously, they are not Mr. Jordan's sentiments.

He said the council will abide by state law and not remove either of the two men, Abramson and Muhlendorf, who are appointed by the city. “We appointed these board members to act on their own and our intention is not to micromanage,” Jordan said. “They are appointed for four years, and when their terms are up we’ll re-evaluate and at that time either reappoint or choose a successor.”

And just how were these board members selected? From a WAFF story: "Everyone tells us, including Tourism, that they're number one in the state. If you're number one in the state, adding someone is not going to make you any better. I picked the most qualified and that's what I did. I went through the applicants and regardless of what committee they're on or where their (sic) from, I picked who I felt was the most qualified." said Jordan. So Mr. Jordan picked them, did he? He now says "we," but in October he used the personal pronoun "I"--very interesting. Just which one was it?

Anything else left out of the story? Ahem...yes. Dick Jordan's wife Libby Watts Jordan is currently the curator of the Rosenbaum home; before that she was the director of cultural tourism--the only one the board ever had. She was the first to hold that title, and apparently when Ms. Jordan left the position of cultural director, the board felt there was no need to replace her. 

As far as we know, there is still an ongoing lawsuit concerning L. Jordan's appointment as Rosenbaum home curator:

New Director of Rosenbaum Home

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There have been a great number of comments online supporting Adam W. McKinney, the Rogersville man accused of physically abusing his girlfriend's 13 month-old son. We will address one of them: Were the child's injuries definitely intentionally inflicted?

Nothing is 100% in such a case, but we're going with the medical personnel on their take of the situation. We sincerely doubt that Athens Police have any grudge against McKinney.

We know that Limestone DHR has the victim in their custody. We would like to know if McKinney's partner's two older sons have also been placed in their care. McKinney is now out of custody on bail.

Shoalanda