Montgomery Avenue Railroad Crossing

The Montgomery Avenue railroad crossing in Sheffield is well on its way to having to be torn up and 'repaired'...again. I believe this will make the 4th or 5th time this has been done in the past 10 years. Why can't the crews tasked with repairing railroad crossings 'get it right' at this particular location? As an example of a 'properly' constructed crossing, simply look at the crossing on Veteran's Drive in Florence. I cross more than my share of railroad crossings daily in my travels. I have yet to see one with as many issues as this one. For starters, the crews apparently don't see the need for concrete or steel transition strips at this crossing, preferring to rely solely on asphalt which has the annoying habit of being compressed and forced out of location due to traffic.

'Who's on first?' Or more importantly, 'Who's manning the store?' In a very recent trip to the 'new' Florence Mall (December 27) to return an item at Belk's (the Home Goods/Men's and Children's) store, we couldn't find any employees. Finally, after several minutes of searching in every department, we located 2 employees...both working in the same general area, leaving approximately 90% of the store unmanned.

If you get a chance to try the '2nd and 13' Sports Grill on Montgomery Ave. in Sheffield, please do so. They have a limited menu due to kitchen limitations, but what they do serve is great, and their service has always been especially good.

*****

Regular readers know that we consider illegal immigration a thorn in the side of northwest Alabama, indeed all of Alabama. Here's a great example of why:

Athens Shooter is Illegal Immigrant

If the Limestone D.A. can charge Joel Moyers with Capital Murder, why not this man? In our opinion, he's much more deserving of the charge. We're going to add that while we have no problem with letting a healthy child remain up to see in the new year, what kind of parent takes a five year-old to an adult New Year's Eve party? We know that DHR looks into all children's deaths; lets hope they pay especial attention to this one.