What Do Colbert Countians Think About Keller Pact?

During the past week, we've spoken with several Colbert County business people--individuals who live and work in Sheffield and Muscle Shoals. This was obviously a random and non-scientific poll, but we could find no one who favored the agreement between Helen Keller and Huntsville Hospitals.

The legally binding contract may no longer provide for Huntsville funding the salaries of Keller's top three executives, but there is much in the agreement that still worries many. In the words of one local physician:

I have read thru the agreement and anyone who is not convinced that the only reason HH wants to initiate this is "to control" healthcare in the Shoals is delusional. I refer you to paragraph 8.5 subsection (a)....in it, where HH reserves first right of refusal to buy HKH if they decide to sell, the people of Colbert County and HKH will have to give 25% of the net worth of the sale to HH, no questions asked. That is a pretty sweet deal if you ask me. The commissioners have a right to be concerned.

If today this agreement is signed, and next year HKH decides it is in their best interest to join forces and build a new facility to serve the Shoals, and sells it for $60M, they will owe HH the money they borrowed plus 25% of the net worth of the hospital. This is an effort to allow HH to buy HKH for pennies on the dollar. The people of Colbert county will be shafted, and the ONLY people coming out on top will be the hospital administrators (who have their state retirement packages in hand) and HH who will walk away either with the hospital or a large sum of the county's money.

As Forrest Gump said "stupid is, as stupid does." If they sign this agreement, they deserve everything that happens to them. the only reason it is even being pursued is because there is so much hate and deception that bridges that river, and from all I have seen lately, the majority of it is coming from that side.

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What is history? Those trained in recording historical events know that primary sources are always preferred for any literate research. We're lucky to have the Terrye Sledge-Terry Digital Archives in the Florence Public Library. The digital archives will be a work in progress for as long as the library exists, but it has made tremendous strides since its inception.

If you haven't yet visited the archives, we urge you to do so. If you'd like to familiarize yourself with this project, we encourage you visit their Facebook link.

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Remembering Rual Yarbrough: Link

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Rocky Hill Castle? Yesterday we mentioned Saunders Hall in Town Creek, constructed by Turner Saunders. Turner's son also built a mansion, albeit a much more dramatic one. James Turner's home, situated between Town Creek and Courtland, was dubbed Rocky Hill Castle--partially because of its elevated nature and partially because of its resemblance to a European castle. Abandoned in the 1920s, the structure was razed in the 1960s. If anyone has any photos of this architectural oddity, please e-mail them to us.


Shoalanda



Connecting October 7th. This time we mean it!

Robert Simone of G.H.O.S.T.

Most of us have at least seen the ads in the Courier-Journal and other newspapers, ads that tout the group G.H.O.S.T., short for Ghost Hunters of Southern Territories. The group was founded by Robert Simone, a former stage magician. Simone's current projects include Sweetwater Mansion (the Weeden Home) and the Saunders Mansion (Goode/Hall/Mauldin Home) in Town Creek. Simone also speaks at various paranormal conferences where he hawks his books, DVDs, and tee-shirts. The founder of G.H.O.S.T. uses the name Captain Magic for his e-mail moniker and works with a team of investigators, including his wife Karen. 

According to Simone, both he and his wife are psychic. While living in their former home in Muscle Shoals, Karen once reported seeing a little boy in Victorian garb. This seems logical since there are so many Victorian homes located in that beautiful city. 

Another member of Simone's team is John McWilliams, a local historian. McWilliams has invented a procedure in which he delves into digital photographs using a desaturation device in order to find the ghost lurking underneath the surface. Apparently college freshmen don't know what Kodachrome is, but we have reached the great frontier of photography where we can actually look beyond surface images, ala The Man who Fell to Earth. 

The team doesn't work exclusively with human ghosts, but once helped a Wiccan divest her home of a ghostly hawk she had called up during a cleansing ceremony. We are talking real renaissance talent here. 

Lest anyone think Simone's work is slightly less than scientific, one of the group's standbys is an EMF meter. These machine's measure electromagnetic fields, which, according to Simone, indicate a ghostly presence. According to prevailing scientific theory, these electromagnetic charges cover the universe. On our own non-astral plane, they may be responsible for determining the paths of tornadoes and helping cats find their way home. In other words, there probably isn't an edifice in the world that would not exhibit some degree of electromagnetic field presence. 

Rest assured, if Robert Simone should be unable to make it as a ghost-hunter, he can fall back on his other natural gift. He's a healer.

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Looking for some real (funny) ghosts? Try this:

 

Shoalanda 

Connecting October 7th. This time we mean it!