Thirty Arrests in Nine Years...Now This

 

Note: This parasite on society once broke into a home belonging to a friend. This commentary will in no way be without bias.

Michael Joe Kirkland Jr. - He's had 30 separate arrests in Florence/Lauderdale since 2015. That's arrests; he's had well over 100 charges. Now he's back in the news.

On Saturday, he broke into the home of two women. One was 76; the other was 79. We don't know their health status, but at 34, Kirkland could have easily overpowered them. He likes to prey on women. Perhaps there are those at the LCDC who like to prey on men like Kirkland.

Now he's specifically charged with Burglary, Theft, Assault, and Sodomy, all in the first degree. He's being held without bond at this time. 

As we've mentioned before, indictments often up First Degree Assault charges to Attempted Murder. We sincerely hope that's the case here. This man does not deserve to see the light of day for the next seventy-five years or so.

We don't have any updates on the conditions of Kirkland's two victims. The older woman is at UAB, and we're sure both will have hospital bills that Kirkland will never be able to reimburse. If anyone starts a GoFundMe for the victims, please let us know.

When the Night Comes Falling

 

Love a good murder? If you answered yes and have an extra thirty bucks, you definitely need to purchase Howard Blum's newest work. Most murders are sad, but the death of four young people at the hands of a monster defies words. 

We'll give you one hint: Blum thinks Kohberger did it, and many are comparing him to Ted Bundy. Yet many others think the Moscow, Idaho, police chose to make an arrest while under pressure and believe the doctoral student will be found not guilty.

The true crime best-seller will be released on Tuesday. If you purchase it, be sure to send us a review:

Order on Amazon

 

Florence District 2 Special Election?

 

While Dick Jordan has indicated his successor will be appointed, that is not the law. Three things can now happen:

1. There will be a special election.

2. Jordan can remain in office for two extra months, and his replacement can be appointed legally.

3. The council can flout the law and appoint a new representative (there are at least two who would then sue the city).

This will be interesting to watch...

*****

Thanks to Vote Em All Out and River Zurinsky for their input. According to Mr. Zurinsky, this issue may affect at least 2,811 who voted in the previous district election.

The law for a city of 40,000:

(2) VACATED TERM OF ONE (1) YEAR OR MORE. If the vacated term of the council member has one (1) year or more remaining, the council shall call for a special election to be held in the district of the vacated council position, within thirty (30) days of the occurrence of the vacancy. The election shall be held not less than sixty (60) days, nor more than ninety (90) days from the date the council called the special election. Special elections called pursuant to this subsection shall be conducted as provided by the general election laws of the state regarding municipal elections.

Jordan to Step Down July 1st

 

Florence Council member Dick Jordan has announced that he's stepping down on July 1st, over one year before the end of his term. He's promoting Party Pros owner Jackie Hendrix (pictured) to take his place.

Hendrix mentioned Jordan had been in city government over 30 years. Try 45: Back home in Florence after graduation from Auburn in 1966, Jordan began his career at the M.J. Carter Insurance Company. He first ran for and was elected to the Florence City Commission in 1979. When the commission form of government changed to a city council, Jordan was on the inaugural panel representing District 2 in 1984. - Shoals Tatler

However, just because Hendrix has Jordan's backing, don't assume he has the job. It will be interesting to see who else may be on the horizon.

*****

Speaking of the Tatler, we've been waiting on the second part of his article on how the Yankees took Florence.

Down on the Drag with Bare Facts and Even Barer Bottoms

 

The Florence city council meeting for 06/18 had what seemed like very “diverse” topics. First off, there was a request for a rate hike on utilities from manager Mary McDuffa at the work session. This was in conjunction with an item on the consent agenda titled “Resolution to approve the Retail Rate Schedule Substation Agreement”. She was quick to point out that this was “something the utilities committee approved and was necessitated by TVA. It would be approximately $5.00 a month more for commercial customers and $3.00 a month more for residential. The council all seemed to wholeheartedly agree it was the fault of “mean old TVA” that caused this rate increase. Nobody seemed to hear Ms. McDuffa state “something the utilities committee approved”. She further stated it could have been done all at once, but the utility department had decided to “phase the increase to the customers in stages”.

The council seemed to almost praise her for this action. Bill Griffin went as far as to give an example of how Florence utilities lost close to one million dollars in revenue when the city was caught in a snow event which had the area without power for 7 to 10 days. “TVA had raised rates, but Florence had not” he said. Ms. McDuffa backed this up and further stated that due to the heavy volume during the cold weather when the rates went up the utility department had to pay the difference between the TVA rate and what was charged to the Florence utility customer by paying out of “their own funds”. WHOSE FUNDS? Are they not ALL taxpayer money paid to the city. This was a very enlightening little conversation, and I would highly recommend that everyone reading this watch the recording of the live stream on the city of Florence Facebook page. Also, a reminder, Mr. Griffin wants to replace Andy Betterton as mayor. Kaytrina Simmons said while she understood the utility department’s position, she represented a district with many poor and elderly residents. She would vote no on the rate hike. She was the lone dissenting vote. Be prepared to pay “a little more” as Mary McDuffa sold it from the podium.

Two more points of interest in the work session. One was a “change order” from Bill Jordan, department head of parks and recreation. This was for an additional amount of $100,000 to be added to the cost of construction of the “tennis & pickleball” complex at Veteran’s Park to be paid to Craig construction. Mr. Jordan explained that a post that somehow would be obstructing the view from one of the courts needed to be moved. This was somehow going to obstruct vision while “playing” one of the “sports” and presented a safety hazard. I was confused as to why this was a problem and still do not know what blocked a player's vision. 

Nonetheless, the item was immediately brought up for approval of the council by Jimmy Oliver. It was seconded and passed unanimously. So, add another $100k to the $9,000,000.00+ that is being spent on this “project”. The second item of interest for me at the work session was really confusing. Andy Betterton sponsored a resolution to establish a “public education building authority” with UNA. The lawyer for UNA, Amber Fite Morgan came to the podium and explained this was an agreement with the city for UNA to create a “real estate” foundation named “1830” to fund the new stadium. No explanation was given as to where the name came from*. Ms. Morgan said this was a funding mechanism that would help with raising the capital for building projects at UNA, specifically the stadium. She further stated that a resolution from the city was necessary since the stadium was being built within the city limits. The bottom line for her “pitch” was that this resolution would in no way obligate the city to spend any taxpayer dollars to fund the foundation. Think Eugene Sak and his pitch at the last council meeting for the REVERB hotel. Once again, to this reporter the parable of the old woman and the snake come to mind.

The meeting itself sailed along smoothly with the council passing all the consent and regular agenda items without much discussion and controversy. That was reserved for the remarks from the public when David Carson came to the microphone. June is gay pride month. It is celebrated by gay people all over the world with parades and gatherings. For the past few years, it appears there has been some sort of celebration in Florence. On June 8th the Shoals Diversity Center had a gathering to celebrate “Pride” in Wilson Park. Part of the festivities was a drag performance in which a female impersonator performed. The “show” was recorded and posted on You Tube. In the video, the “drag queen” can be seen lip syncing to a song in front of the fountain at the park. In his remarks, Mr. Carson made it clear he did not approve of celebrating being gay period and “drag” shows in general. But, to him the attire the performer was wearing was the most offensive. In the You Tube video; it can be seen there was some type of see through cape revealing a prominent view of “the performer's” bare behind save for a “thong”. During the show several children were seen present in the park. Mr. Carson stated that while he did not approve of the gay lifestyle and “drag” shows, his main concern was that this performance by the drag queen was in public around children in the daylight in Florence. And dressed or lack thereof as shown in the You Tube video. To him a line had been crossed.

When it was Jimmy Oliver’s turn to make councilperson’s remarks, he stated that he had received several complaints from constituents about this performance at “Pride at the park” and agreed with some portions of David Carson’s remarks regarding this entertainer’s outfit. He further stated that there were city laws on the books regarding “how much of your clothing you can remove” in a building. Let alone in a park. Mr. Oliver went on to say that while it appears parents willingly took their children to this event, that does not mean there were not innocent children passing by who were unaware of what was “going on” and would “get an eye full.” He said the council had been made aware of the complaints he had received about this event and hopes to have further discussions about it.

Two subjects that have been in the news lately were not mentioned by a council member or the public at this meeting. The approximately $2.5 million the city has been reported to owe the county in back taxes from retail package alcohol sales and the $70 million price tag as stated to a WAAY 31 television reporter by Tad Cole, water and sewer manager, regarding the cost to remove PFA’s from the drinking water that would be passed on to the consumer in the form of rate hikes. You must have priorities!

* As for the name 1830, that is the year Lagrange College was founded. For sketchy reasons, the University of North Alabama has always claimed that date as well.

Dead Because of Gambling?

 

You have to wonder:

* What were two unrelated Shoals teen boys doing in a motel room rented by a 30ish male early on a Sunday morning?

* Where did the 16 year-old get a gun?

* Was a gambling debt seen as something worth two lives?

*****

According to Google, kids now start to gamble between the ages of 10 and 12. They're addicted by the age of 16. 

Are we living in a St.Trinian's movie?

Father's Day 2024

 

If you have children, your most important job is that of parent. Young ones need both parents; fathers, hang in there. You'll get your payback when you're a grandfather.

Happy Father's Day from all of us at...

Shoalanda Speaks

Sheffield Down in the Dumps with Last Place

 

The retention component of the Alabama Literacy Act, passed in 2019, becomes effective with this year's third graders. In simple terms, it means a third grader could be retained, or held back, if the child is not reading on grade level before August 2024.

So how are towns in the Shoals/Northwest Alabama doing? Here's a rundown of passing rate percentages:

Florence - 93

Muscle Shoals - 96.7

Russellville - 92.4

Sheffield - 76.9

Tuscumbia - 95

How do you think Sheffield parents will react if 23.1% of this year's third grade is held back? That's 23 out of every 100 students who are failing their simplest academic subject.

At least Sheffield still has Inspiration Landing...

Once Again, Andy is Wrong

 

The owner of Florence Mall is tearing down the end anchor slots, the former Sears and J.C. Penney stores. While this is an interesting story in itself, a comment by Mayor Andy Betterton is newsworthy for other reasons.

Betterton told the TimesDaily: The mall opened in the early 1970s.

While most people may not remember when every major local event happened, they can at least place most fairly accurately by associating them with other events in their lives. According to his LinkedIn bio, Betterton attended UNA from 1971 until 1976. What year did the mall open?

It opened its doors in August 1978, two years after Andy says he left UNA. Most of us would have remembered not having a mall during our college years if that had been the case, but not our mayor. Still others would have invested the five or so minutes to have looked up the date if unsure. Not Andy.

Betterton doesn't seem too concerned with the handwriting on the retail wall at Florence Square. Now there's less revenue for city, county, and state as far as property taxes, and no hope for new tenants in stores that no longer exist.

How are those surprise liquor taxes going, Andy?

Who Dropped the Lauderdale Ball in 1990?

 

The above law has just "come to light." Several Lauderdale towns owe the county money dating back to 1984 when Florence legalized alcohol sales. Indeed, they owe A LOT of money. 

But wait, here's a copy of a short news story from 1989:

So, did our guys in Montgomery at that time fail to follow through? Looking at the current law, it appears that's the case.

We have to ask why Judge Hanbery didn't follow up with this? If it remained law all these years, why didn't Hanbery, or at least someone in the county, want it enforced?

There's a strange odor here...

John Wahl Supports Hunter Biden?!!!

 

Limestone's John Wahl, head of the state Republican Party, has stated that as much as he dislikes the Biden family, he supported Hunter in his recent trial. The charge of an addict securing/possessing a gun was simply to hurt the Second Amendment. Really?

Wahl apparently hasn't been paying attention to arrests around the state. Pictured above is a Franklin County booking record; note the third charge. We doubt there was anything political about Underwood's arrest. (It was the most recent example that we found online.)

Wahl never seems to engage his brain before he speaks...

*****

A Southern Baptist spokesman stated today after the historic anti-IVF vote that it might take 50 years to make IVF illegal, but that was the group's aim. That statement comes at a time when 78% to 86% of the population supports the procedure.

We're supporting better biology instruction in schools.

Head of Southern Baptist Seminary Says IVF is "Immoral"

 

We once read an article that mentioned Southern Baptists at one time laughed at the Catholic Church and its teaching on induced abortion. We know that the Baptists' own literature up until the end of the 1980s declared that such things were up to the individual. 

Now the head of the Southern Baptist Seminary, Dr. Albert Mohler, has declared IVF to be an "assault upon human dignity" and "immoral." Mohler also mentions his belief that fertilization is tantamount to conception. Is it?

From Rachel Gold: The question of when life begins is an eternal one, debated by philosophers and theologians for centuries, and likely destined to forever elude consensus. However, on the separate but closely related question of when a woman is considered pregnant, the medical community has long been clear: Pregnancy is established when a fertilized egg has been implanted in the wall of a woman's uterus.

Unless they're doing something down at UAB that we don't know about, absolutely NO embryos are going to progress to a fetus unless they're implanted in a uterus. Nada. Zilch.

We don't know if Dr. Mohler does much pulpit preaching, but we can only imagine how hurtful it would be for a child who owed its existence to IVF to have to hear that they should never have been born. Our advice to those children? Mohler probably couldn't find a uterus on an OB/GYN's office wall, so don't worry about it.

Did Sheffield Violate the Open Meetings Act?

 

1. All multi-member governing bodies are covered by Alabama's Open Meetings Act.

2. A meeting is defined as a gathering of an elected body with over half the members present.

3. Preliminary agendas must be posted in the same location and manner as that of the meeting itself.

If the City of Sheffield has followed the rules, obviously no violation occurred. Yet has the City behaved ethically? Two entirely different things.

Mayor Steve Stanley recently commented to the TimesDaily that the council was under no obligation of inform Meal Barrel director Penny Freeman that it would be discussing that organization's lease. Surely Ms. Freeman had a right to speak on the issue?

Stanley, like Florence mayor Andy Betterton, must know that his days in office are numbered. Does he not care that he came across as a vengeful tyrant?

*****

J. Redmon Asks "All of Them?"

Lauderdale License Commissioner's Office is a Clown Show

 

From a Lauderdale reader:

I'm going to try to stick with the bad treatment I've seen directed at other citizens, but I HAVE to mention this incident. Years ago (long before Pettus) I tried to get a title on a vehicle I had inherited from out of state. The clerk asked if my relative planned on driving it again. I had to reply that I was pretty sure my cousin planned on remaining dead.

On to Rodney Pettus, who I'm told is the brother of that skalawag Philip Pettus, I've recently seen the following in his office -

It took two clerks to run the reception desk. Who's paying them? Oh, yeah, us.

A clerk told a customer his tag was due on Sept. 31st.

A clerk asked a customer to bring his vehicle up under the "awning" since she didn't feel like walking all the way to the parking lot. Then, I swear, she couldn't get out of her chair without help.

A clerk walked away from a customer and didn't come back. Finally some pioneer looking person came to help the couple.

This isn't a government office, it's a clown show. 

Sigh...that's sad, but just look at the photo of Pettus. He's a county department head and he's dressed for polo. Maybe it was casual Friday?

Before we place all the blame for an inferior state on our legislature, perhaps we should take a look at our counties.

What to Do When You Get Bad Service

 

The past few months we've had readers ask us what to do about:

1. Bad construction from a Florence window company

2. Bad service from a Colbert hardware company

3. Unbelievable service from a Florence florist

We've always heard that the gold standard is a bad review sent to the Better Business Bureau. Here's some other ideas that may work for you:

If the seller does not resolve the issue, a government office, a consumer organization, or the legal system may be able to help.

File a complaint with government or consumer programs

• File a complaint with your local consumer protection office.
• Notify the Better Business Bureau (BBB) in your area about your problem. The BBB tries to resolve complaints against companies.
• If you think you may have experienced a scam, report it to the FTC. They may not resolve your problem, but they use complaints to help them investigate fraud.
• Contact econsumer.gov if you are complaining about items you bought online from a seller outside the U.S.

Seek legal help for your complaint about a company

If contacting the company, a government agency, or a consumer organization does not work:

• You may be able to resolve your problem through the legal system. Find free or low-cost legal help.
• Consider an alternative dispute resolution process, such as arbitration, conciliation, or mediation.

We recently purchased a horrible product from an eBay seller. It was so unlike the description/photo that we felt we had to give a bad review. We were contacted by the seller who offered a 50% refund if we would remove the unflattering critique. If after trying all these methods and still not reaping results, just remember that these businesses won't be open very long to cheat others.

Tomorrow: A lackadaisical county government office

Where Were the Weather Sirens?

 

Sitting in our Florence office Wednesday afternoon, we heard the mesmerizing sound of rain drops. It was a minor inconvenience at worst.

Slightly to the south of the Shoals, the weather brought something else - an EF-1 tornado in Marion County (pictured above). Unfortunately, weather sirens didn't put in an appearance.

This has gotten to be all too common - especially in Colbert County, we hear.  During a busy day, not everyone has a chance to check online for alerts or is close enough to their cell phones to hear the warnings.

Many of us remember the 1974 tornadoes, as well as the more recent 2011 disastrous outbreak. Let's hope everyone is more prepared when the next bad weather arrives. 

If you didn't hear your neighborhood sirens, contact your county commission. Better a disgruntled commissioner than a dead child.

*****

Experiencing bad customer service? Send us your stories.

Loo the Rock Snake Has a New Home

 

The Waterloo Fire Department has now adopted Lou the rock snake. Children will still be able to add their painted rocks to Lou's body and get a thrill when they point theirs out to their friends.

We hope everyone thanks the Waterloo fire chief for his kind heart and interest in helping the kiddos. Perhaps he'll run for mayor next year?

*****

If you're hearing rumors about Florence's Red Lobster, we haven't seen a list of the next round of closings. Interestingly, news reports say 100, 135, 150 stores may close. Don't they know themselves?

Stanley Hides Behind Sanford; Ian Contradicts Himself

 

An Actual Sheffield Pothole from March 2018

Did Steve Stanley defend himself at the latest town council meeting? No...he had Ian Sanford speak for him. This is a new one on us. Who will be speaking at the next meeting? Andy Betterton?

The powers that be knew to circle the wagons at the meeting; Sheffield citizens would be attending in record numbers. Their solution was to have a former mayor speak to calm the natives? Where was Steve Stanley during all this? Hiding in the men's room?

Sanford at one time stated the current Meal Barrel location was being used rent free. Then he announced it was actually being rented out at $100.00 a year. Which is it?

While we admit that a C-note isn't much these days, the next time we see Ian with his latest squeeze (they come and go) at a local restaurant, we're going to pretend to be his server just for the tip.

Then Ian really put his foot in his two-sided mouth when he stated the Meal Barrel served many who didn't live in Sheffield, so the City government shouldn't be expected to provide or help search for a facility. In case anyone doesn't know, Sheffield has the lowest yearly income and highest unemployment of any of the Shoals' four largest towns.

Sheffield, your leadership is non-existent. How many lawsuits does it now have filed against it...and the police department?

Make some noise!

Our Heart's in Kalamazoo, but Our Hand's in the City's Pocket

 

TURN UP THE REVERB

by

The Florence Detective

According to google definitions: Reverb is created when a sound occurs in a space, sending sound waves out in all directions. It is also the name given to a “project” spearheaded by Eugene Sak to remodel and reopen the old “Downtowner Motor Inn” at the corner of Court and Alabama Streets in downtown Florence. If anyone notices that this sounds familiar, it is. But we are not in summer reruns of city council meetings. This is a repackaged proposition that has been brought before the council twice already. Once for the city to pay for $70 million of the project and another time for the city to pay $9.5 million. At the work session for the 06/04/2024 meeting of the Florence city council, Mr. Sak stated the “Reverb” by Hard Rock Hotel is to employ 140 employees of the entity “PCH hotels” under the direction of the Retirement Systems of Alabama. It would be one of only 2 destination hotels that will be built in a city with a population of under one million people. The sound waves that were generated from this “sales pitch” before the council had occurred before. It was rerun programming.

If you did not attend the meeting in person, or even if you did, and did not go online or in the door at 3:30 pm instead of the usual time for the work session of 4 pm you missed seeing and hearing Eugene Sak give the first of his proposal. When I went online, thanks to an instant message on my phone from someone who was at the meeting in person, the last part of Sak’s speech was all I heard. It had a “twist” from his previous “spiel”. Sak said THIS TIME what he proposed to the Florence city council involved, “no risk, no commitment of funds, no forwarded funds, no capital outlay, no contribution by the city "of any kind. What he was asking for was a “15-year commitment to rebate taxes that are earned by this hotel and its operations” He went on to quote the usual “third party” economic impact study showing hundreds of millions of dollars would be generated by this project. These seem to be the same studies that are done whenever taxpayer money is involved to show that funding a tourism project is worthwhile. Jimmy Oliver seemed so excited you could tell he could barely stay in his seat.

From this point there were several representatives from different entities who addressed the council. As David Carson put it in his remarks from the public at the end of the meeting: “the gang of guys in suits” The first one to come to the podium was Steve Forsburg from the “Reverb” division of the Hard Rock hotel chain. He explained that the Hard Rock corporation was looking to locate “Reverb” hotels in areas with a rich musical heritage like Florence. He said he had been to the previous meeting where Eugene Saks had asked for funding before and went straight to asking for questions. (cut to the chase) Michele Eubanks asked where the other hotels would be located, and he said Atlanta. Atlanta? Mrs. Eubanks stated that Atlanta was very different from Florence. To this he said they had several recording studios in Atlanta. They have several EVERYTHING in Atlanta, but it certainly is not Florence. (The last sentence comes from yours truly and NOT Michele for the record.) She did question the placement of the hotel and his touting Atlanta as comparable. She further stated that the recording industry in Atlanta was primarily of artists who were living in the area and recording now, not to mention the obvious differences between the type of tourist that is attracted to the two different cities. 

At this Mr. Forsburg stated they were planning other sites also with musical heritage like Kalamazoo, Michigan. What? Evidently, they have a Gibson guitar factory in Kalamazoo.* Forsburg did seem to stumble a bit in that reply. He went on to say that Kalamazoo had under one million people to which Ms. Eubanks replied that we do not have 200,000 here in the “Shoals” with the entire area lumped together. Do you think the rest of the council, especially Jimmy Oliver, was listening? Nobody else on the council asked this gentleman any questions. He sat down.

Michele Eubanks asked the only other questions except for a few from Kaytrina Simmons to any of the “gang in suits” as they came to the podium. What seemed to be the case with this proposal from the others from Eugene Sak is the city will give a tax rebate of 50% to PCH properties for the next 15 years or 5 million dollars whichever comes first. This seems to be much more agreeable than the other two. It seems like this group wanted some answer immediately concerning their proposal. But it was Michele Eubanks who did not jump immediately. And it wasn’t as if she and the council did not seem pushed. Despite all the “urgency” requests, Mrs. Eubanks and Kaytrina Simmons appeared to be the only two who wanted to be able to study the proposal more and be able to get input from their constituency. Jimmy Oliver seemed incredulous. What was there to discuss? For someone who had seemed leery of this proposal the first and second time it seemed like third was charm for Oliver. The bottom line to this whole presentation from Sak and “associates” was to see if it was worth the time to pay lawyers to draw up an agreement with the city. What was there to lose? The parable of the old woman and the snake comes to mind.

The council meeting itself was not very eventful. The fire chief had a display of the new stations for District 2. He also had a list of the improvements that all the stations needed and when he was through it sounded like he wanted new stations in every district. Well, it worked for building for lawnmowers. After that it just seemed like more of the same from the department heads. Request for taxpayer dollars bouncing off the walls.

* Kalamazoo, aka 'Zoo, has just under 75K in population. It's generally considered to be a beautiful city.

Eppy Lee Says Use Plan B

 

We've recently had a new commenter on our blog - Eppy Lee. Eppy falls into the category of possible troll, but she (we believe it's actually a he) has asked why all rape victims can't use Plan B birth control. Many women are too upset to report their rape or so young that they take their rapists threats against reporting seriously. Therefore, not all go to a medical provider who prescribes the birth control.

Remember: If you're a victim of rape and of child-bearing age, you need to take Plan B as soon as possible.

Where do you find the product? Only CVS shows up on Google Shopping as a local brick and mortar store for the product. A more thorough search indicates that Walmart Pharmacy does carry it and at a lower price. Plan B has a 1% to 2% failure rate, even if taken within 24 hours.

The states of Idaho and Missouri have expressed interest in banning the med (say what!), but so far no U.S. states have placed any limitations on the drug which has been around for decades. As of now, one can purchase it for $50.00 or much less. Let's hope no one reading this has to use this contraceptive.

One caveat is timing. We've known of several women who have been held hostage by sadistic men (see our most recent Hidden Shoals on Richard Franklin Gooch). While it's worth a try, the chances of success with Plan B after that length of time fall dramatically.

Where Will Meal Barrel Go?

 

From Penny Freeman:

We wanted to give you all a quick update on our search for a new location. Despite our best efforts and looking everywhere, we have yet to find a suitable place for our new premises. We know how important our services are to many families, and we remain fully committed to providing food and personal items to those in need.

We are still open and here for you! Your support and trust keep us going strong.

We kindly request your prayers as we continue our search. Additionally, we invite you to attend the council meeting this coming Monday to show your support for The Meal Barrel Project. The work session will begin at 5 PM, with the meeting directly following.

Meeting Location:
Sheffield City Hall
600 N Montgomery Ave
Sheffield, Al 35660

Thank you for standing with us during this challenging time. Together, we can continue to make a difference.

Capt. Jack Has Passed Away

 

Jack Worley, of Florence, more affectionally known as “Captain Jack” as the host of the “Captain Jack Show” which aired on WOWL-TV from the late 50s to the late 60s, passed away at the age of 94.

A graveside service with military honors will be June 1, 2024 at 3:00 pm in Greenview Memorial Park.

Jack is survived by his daughter, Jackie Hyde (Bill); his son, Tony Worley (Doris); 1 granddaughter, Ashley Herring (Shawn); 2 grandsons, Cody Hyde (Jodi), and Jake Worley (Brittany); 5 great-granddaughters; 1 great-grandson; and 1 step-granddaughter. 

Jack was born in Mobile, AL, the son of a railroad executive. He was raised in Atlanta and Chattanooga. He began his career at the old WAGC Studios atop the Patton Hotel in Chattanooga. Jack attended the management course at Havard University in Boston under the auspices of the National Association of Broadcasters.

He was a veteran of the Korean Conflict and served with the US Navy. He was stationed in Keflavic, Iceland. Jack received a Presidential Commendation from President Dwight D. Eisenhower for establishing the first US Naval Radio Station in Iceland. He also served in Hawaii and Scotland.

From Chattanooga, Jack moved to Gadsden, AL WGAD Radio as a sales executive. From there, Jack moved to WOWL Radio in Florence where he managed the station from a #6 rating to #1 in the marketplace. He later bought a percentage of ownership in WOWL TV which he managed for several years before being named President and CEO.

In Jack’s capacity as a talent, he traveled extensively around the world interviewing various celebrities including: Keenan Wynn, Gary Cooper, Michael Landon, David Hasselhoff, Tony Randall, Richard Chamberlain, Don Johnson, Barbara Eden, Phyllis Diller, Rock Hudson, Charles Durning, and Vincent Gardenia. He also interviewed most of Alabama’s governors, state senators, and many other dignitaries. He had dinner with George W. Bush, VP, and Bob Hope. He got to shake hands with President John F. Kennedy. Jack even appeared on “Hee Haw” with Roy Clark and Buck Owens. He was named Alabama Broadcaster of the Year in 1988. Jack served as president of ABA from 1979-1980. He was president of Shoals Advertising Federation in 1975. In 1984, Jack received the “Silver Medal Award”, American Advertising Federation’s highest honor.

He will surely be missed by all. God speed “Captain Jack”.