Paradise Drive Doesn't LIve Up To Name

Since a fatal accident on Paradise Drive in Waterloo, discussion of what repairs are needed to make this road safe have increased. From a reader:

The death that occurred in Waterloo is on the same road the county commission has refused to make safe. The county commission voted 3-2 to leave the road as a 1981 resolution had said with minimal maintenance only. Fay Parker and Rhea Fulmer voted to eliminate or change the resolution, but D.C. Thornton and Larry Irons voted to leave the 1981 resolution in place and the tie was broken by Dewey Mitchell voted to leave it in place.

I also sent the commission and the road engineer a Notice of Defects on February 10th 2012, and they have taken no action to correct. One of the defects is lack of adequate signage and guard rails. Both may have prevented this accident from occurring.

We realize the commission cannot turn all Lauderdale County roads into a California freeway; however, one needless death is one too many. Kudos to Fulmer and Parker for at least attempting to rectify the problem and sour lemons to the Thornton, Irons, and Mitchell.

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On Monday, our friend Amy Collins wrote her last regular blog. We will leave the link in our sidebar for those who would like to look back over her profound and humorous observations.

In the mean time, she will continue with Brave Mable on Fridays. The Brave Mable line is available at several outlets in the Shoals. As Mable would say, "Buy Local!"

Note to Amy: We just wish we had thought of your "wordless" catch phrase before you did...

Shoalanda

Local News: A Lost Cause Says Rheta Johnson

Do you love to read Rheta Grimsley Johnson? We do. No, we don't always agree with her ultra liberal politics, but we deeply appreciate her down home writing. After all, she hangs her hat in Iuka, so she has to be someone worth reading. Her column this week concerned the loss of printed news four days a week in Mobile, Birmingham, and Huntsville. Like Ms. Johnson, we lament the actions of the Newhouse group that owns these former bastions of print.

What we didn't agree with was her take on lost local news. She compared news gathering via Twitter to sending a cocker spaniel to purchase groceries. We say: Thank God for blogs and local Internet magazines. Let's look at some local stories the TimesDaily either failed to cover or dropped the ball on.

* Most recently, our local rag failed to mention the UNA candidate in the Miss Alabama contest. How does something like that happen? Wait...we know. The one-size-fits-all article was written in Decatur where they apparently think the Shoals is some mythical parallel universe.

* Local Colbert County Commission candidate Troy Woodis was recently profiled in The Connection concerning his wage garnishments. After the online magazine leaked the story, the TD did something of a follow-up and referred to the original source as "social media" while leading readers to believe the garnishment was totally for unpaid business purchases. Didn't they think it was important that Woodis also owed thousands in back child support?

* Former Lexington resident Keith McGuire lost his teaching license last year after the Alabama Board of Education declared him guilty of rape, among other things, and morally unfit to teach. You would have thought since his rape trial had been held in Lauderdale County that the TD would have covered this. Nope.

* The death of acclaimed local writer Margaret Phillips? No, nothing on that from the TD.

* The death of former TD editor Fred Dillon? We believe you're smart enough to have guessed no TD coverage on that one either.

The above are just some examples of the TD's failure to report. There are many more of the TotallyDecatur's production of some highly sanitized versions of important news stories. In other words, if you think cheerleading is only present in athletic venues, think again.

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We've added Brave Mable to our sidebar today. Mable is the artistic offspring of Amy Collins. If you missed Amy's blog on Walmart, be sure to check it out: Link

We've also added a Flickr link to some very telling photographs of the Sweetwater ruins taken 14 months ago.



Shoalanda

Have a Wild Weekend! (And a Date with Mable...)

Would you like a date with Mable this weekend? Say no more. We can fix you up.

"Brave Mable" is the creation of Shoals artist/writer Amy Collins. Amy (along with Mable) will be at the 2nd Annual Jack O'Lantern Farms' Arts & Crafts sale this Saturday. The farm is located on Garage Road in Sheffield just off Hatch Boulevard; the sale hours are 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

We recently added Amy's blog to our list and have been extremely impressed with her work. The show will also feature other local artists as well as cooking demonstrations. See you there!

(If you don't make it to the show Saturday, you can buy cards featuring Brave Mable at The Yellow Door, the Wine Seller, and the Spa at the Shoals Marriott.)

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If the art sale wears you out, don't worry. You have a week to rest up for Rodgeapalooza.

Yes, it's the latest brainchild of our friend Daniel Horton, so you know it will be entertaining. Here's the link for more info:

Rodgeapalooza

Shoalanda

"Bastard" is Verboten, but "Bitch" is Copacetic?

Alas, if you have a hankering for "Dirty Bastard" ale, you'll have to purchase this gourmet sounding alcohol outside the state of Alabama; however, if you will settle for "Fat bastard" wine, you're in luck.

It seems some former embodiment of the Alabama Beverage Control (ABC) previously approved "Fat bastard." An older version of the board also approved "Raging Bitch" beer.

We don't know who intended to distribute "Dirty Bastard" beer, but it looks like they may have adequate grounds for a lawsuit if they wish to pursue one. We also question why a beer with the name "Bitch" in its title was ever approved. Welcome to Alabama the beautiful...and mentally deranged.

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Thanks to our friend Phillip Oliver (Dirt Therapy), we discovered another fantastic Shoals blog--Amy C. Collins. We're linking it starting today. Enjoy!

Amy C. Collins

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We've also added a section at the bottom of this blog with links to The Connection's "Shoals Sex Offender" articles. It's directly above Shoals Crime, and we'll be adding to it each week.

Shoalanda