Monday's Lauderdale Commission Meeting

It may rival a Cherokee Town Council Meeting, or it may just be a recitation of number crunching, but at this point we're urging everyone who possibly can to attend the Lauderdale County Commission meeting tomorrow morning. The meeting will begin at 9:00 a.m. in room 301 of the courthouse.

From information provided by sources close to the current brouhaha over Lauderdale's EMA office and director, there will be continued discussion of George Grabryan's job performance. After an investigation spanning over two years, District 1 Commissioner Rhea Tays Fulmer shocked the audience two weeks ago by revealing Mr. Grabryan had lent traffic cones to an organization that provides driving instruction to various county emergency agencies. Yes, that was sarcasm.

At best the issue should be laid to rest tomorrow. At worst, we'll all get to see a witch a few days early.

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From today's TimesDaily: (Tammy) Irons...said her record speaks for itself. We agree; a vote for Dr. Gerald Freeman is a vote for returning honesty to our State Senate.

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A reader has forwarded a criticism of our blog. It seems a local Facebook member asked why we haven't addressed the proposed UNA land purchase from the City of Florence. In fact, we did comment on the issue in a previous blog: Link

The blog focused on two issues; neither of which we have an answer to as yet. Our Facebook critic may rest assured we will have updates on the issue.

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Don't forget that this week marks the annual Ghost Walk downtown: Link

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Here's some witches we can all love...

Shoalanda

Sunshine Week

Today is the first day of Sunshine Week, an annual event designed to focus on not just transparency in government, but accountability as well. The emphasis of this year's campaign is local records, particularly those posted online. So how does the Shoals stack up?

If you live in Franklin County, not technically a part of the Shoals, you have absolutely no online access to public records. Neither Franklin nor its county seat of Russellville has an official site where records are available for public consumption. This survey (see link below) did not consider privately funded websites or sites erected by such public entities as fire and police departments.

Looking north to Colbert County, we find a website for the county, but not for the county seat of Tuscumbia. The city of Muscle Shoals does provide a site at which some of its records may be obtained; it is the only municipality within Colbert to do so.

Moving on to Lauderdale County, the availability of online records increases, but is still found to be wanting. For instance, the website connects to one offering court dockets, but once there we find only the most recently completed docket, with no information concerning future trials. Inside Lauderdale, only the county seat of Florence provides a website where any such records may be easily obtained.

Obviously, this area has far to go. I think it's safe to say it won't improve until we call our elected officials accountable and demand an increase in easy access to these public records.


To see how other Alabama counties stack up, check out this year's Sunshine Project from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa: http://chrisrob.com/sunshine

Florence-Lauderdale Government Building

When changes in the economic climate necessitated that First Southern Bank move to smaller headquarters, both Lauderdale County and the city of Florence viewed purchasing the multi-storied building then housing the bank. Situated immediately to the north of the courthouse and east of the Municipal complex, this building was a natural choice for an addition to either entity. Unfortunately, neither the county nor the city could afford to purchase the building on its own.

Combining funds to make the purchase seemed the ideal compromise. Cities and counties working together is not a new idea, but it has unfortunately been a rare occurrence in northwest Alabama. Now the building is ready for occupancy, but apparently not without some throwbacks to past rivalries.

It seems that in a effort to distribute space fairly, county and city governments will alternate floors. While this is an equitable settlement, one has to wonder how such an arrangement will look to outsiders seeking an area in which to locate new industry. As someone who visits the courthouse frequently, I can attest to the fact that this arrangement does not make it easier for citizens to conduct county business. Hopefully the rest of the transition will go smoothly, and all Lauderdale/Florence residents will be able to enjoy better services from these two entities.


What's up with this: Speaking of Florence public buildings, anyone conducting business in the Municipal Court offices on South Seminary Street will be met with some very disorganized and even filthy conditions. This building does not speak well of Florence.

The Keith McGuire Rape Case - Part II

"He stated he had a problem." - Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely speaking of Keith McGuire

It was early in 2002 when Robin Greene’s 12 year-old daughter came to her with a story of being touched by her physical education teacher. Coach McGuire had touched her breast while they were playing one-on-one basketball and she knew it wasn’t right. Soon a 16 year-old girl came forward with a similar story concerning the Clements coach.

Clements, a rural school in western Limestone County, was a tight knit institution. Such things didn’t happen at the sprawling school where Keith McGuire had access to girls in the 7th through 12th grades. The school board called a special meeting and convened behind closed doors on March 7, 2002, to accept McGuire’s resignation.

The board stressed that McGuire, who had not retained an attorney, had taken a polygraph with inconclusive results. No charges were filed against the teacher even though according to Sheriff Mike Blakely, McGuire stated that he had “a problem.” The board also agreed to take no further action on the Clements coach’s teaching license on the condition he agree to counseling. Keith McGuire attended one session.

McGuire soon returned to the hamlet of Lexington where his father was a member of the town council. The town’s water department was in need of a meter reader, and Bobby McGuire made sure the job was offered to his son. Keith McGuire’s salary at the financially strapped water department was barely enough to meet his basic needs, and he began searching for another teaching position.

Without any official black marks on his record and a still valid teaching license, McGuire found work in the nearby Haleyville school system. He began coaching at the Winston County school in September 2002, but the problem of his mounting debts remained. Not eager to give up his job with the town of Lexington, but unable to fulfill his obligations on his free weekends, he sought an assistant to help with meter reading and related duties. Soon his friend Lloyd Hayes, a former Florence City Fire Marshal and convicted sex offender, joined McGuire in the field. It wasn’t long before residents realized the two men spent an inordinate amount of time working around one local entity--Lexington High School.

To be continued...

Murder in Lexington - Part I

"I couldn't think of a better place to raise children. We have no crime in this town." - Clint Freeman

When Jennifer Helen Bragg and her family moved to Lexington, Alabama, friends say she finally felt she had found a home. On the night of February 7, 2008, 17 year-old Jennifer died at ECM Hospital, ostensibly the victim of her stepfather, Shaun Clovis Shapley. The 44 year-old Shapley is currently being held on $500,000.00 bond in the Lauderdale County Detention Center; his trial is scheduled for February 9, 2009. At his arraignment November 13th, Shapley pleaded not guilty.

Shaun Clovis Shapley, sometimes referred to as Shaun Glouis, was no stranger to the judicial system. Before moving to Alabama, Shapley lived in the Polk/Hardee County metropolitan area of Florida. The oft-married Shapley was regularly in court as both defendant and plaintiff.

While still living in Florida, Shapley had been in prison three times for various crimes including felony assault, the victims usually women. On the night of May 8, 2000, Shapley was intoxicated and began to follow a black couple who managed to contact police. Having been informed that the pair was being pursued by "a crazy man," police gave chase and attempted to arrest Shapley when he pulled into a parking lot. Shapley, whose pickup was adorned with Confederate symbols, told arresting officers that he was chasing his girlfriend and another man.

Doubtful of his story, officers attempted to arrest the obviously intoxicated Shapley, who resisted. Shapley, already married to Jennifer's mother, claimed numerous violations of his civil rights and sued the arresting Polk County officers. A judge subsequently dismissed the suit as frivolous.

The next year Shapley brought suit against the State of Florida for violations of his civil rights in conjunction with several child support cases that had been filed against him. He included ex-wife Kathleen White of Winterhaven, Florida, in the suit for sixty-four million dollars. This suit was also dismissed, and Shapley told sources at the local NewsChief that his record had worked against him. The Polk County paper stated at that time, "Shapley admits he has married his own cousins in the past."

In late 2001, Shapley and Jennifer's mother Kimberly left Florida for Huntsville, Alabama, where they hoped to find jobs. After more arrests in Huntsville, the Shapleys decided to move again, this time to Florence, where they found Section Eight housing. Mary Kennedy, director of the Section Eight program for the Florence Housing Authority has declined to discuss the reasons for the Shapley family's eviction, but Shaun Shapley again saw an opportunity for some quick cash and filed suit for two million dollars against the Authority and HUD. This suit was also dismissed as frivolous, leaving the family broke and looking for a place to stay. They soon found a new home in Lexington, Alabama.

To be continued...

Scott Carrier's Last Stand

Lame duck Florence Councilman Scott Carrier voted against both the 2009 budget and proposed utility rate increases. His was the only negative vote on either issue, both sure to pass at the next council meeting. Carrier's objection to the budget was based on its lack of cost of living raises for city employees. At least this was Carrier's stated objection.

Carrier's recent letters to various area newspaper editors have shown the mayor-wannabe to be disgruntled and blaming voters' bad judgment for his loss in the recent Florence City elections. His votes against these issues obviously resulted from his negativity and have cost the city two weeks in preparation for the coming fiscal year. The next council meeting will be Carrier's last, and I'm sure many feel as I do--good riddance to his theatrical shenanigans.

Will Scott leave the Florence political scene for good? That remains to be seen, and even if he should do so, guy pal Matt Osborne is waiting in the wings to assume the mantle of bad boy council critic. Mayor Irons may finish his second term wondering why he sought an encore in the city's highest office.


What's up with this: Sources at a local District Attorney's office have indicated we can expect the imminent arrest of a Florence restaurant owner/manager for First Degree Theft.

October 20, 2008 - Meet Shoalanda Speaks

Beginning today, conservative political pundit Shoalanda Speaks will be discussing issues facing the Shoals area. While Ms. Speaks is a true Southern conservative, she will attempt to present all facets of the issues discussed herein. Please feel free to contact Shoalanda at Shoalanda.Speaks@gmail.com if you have any questions about the Shoals area, its politics, or noted citizens...or if you have an idea for future columns.

What better way to begin than with a toothy issue--that's right--the proposed Tuscumbia dog ordinance. That city has certainly been lax in its enforcement of current animal control laws. Perhaps Tuscumbia needs only to make a concerted effort to enforce the existing laws before enacting an ambiguous code that could be easily overturned. "Barking for no reason?" Sorry, guys--dogs don't bark for no reason. If the city feels it needs a stronger ordinance, I would suggest that it look to current laws in neighboring cities. Florence has long been adept at animal control without such draconian edicts. Spot and Rover don't need a maximum security prison--just a little guidance now and then.


Today's What's Up with This: Speaking of Tuscumbia, what local artist with the initials P.W. was recently escorted from Coldwater Books by local police?