Dislike the TimesDaily Forum since it became Tennessee Valley Talks? Then you just might feel at home at The Alabamian. The forum is lightly moderated and welcomes new members. It's also new enough that it's still evolving, so feel free to send the administrators comments and suggestions if you have them.
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Refurbishing the old golf pro shop at McFarland and turning it into a visitor center seems like a prudent idea. We would suggest that the City of Florence attempt to do something about the WVNA sign that now rusts and rots in the immediate vicinity. It was one of the first items on our Shoals Eyesores list...and definitely isn't improving with time.
WVNA is currently owned by URBan Radio Broadcasting. From Wiki:
URBan Radio Broadcasting, LLC, (typically written with the first three letters of the word 'urban' capitalized) is an American media company that specializes in radio stations. The markets where they own radio stations include Toledo, Ohio, Muscle Shoals, Alabama, Tupelo, Mississippi, Columbus, Mississippi, Meridian, Mississippi, and Alexandria, Louisiana. The company was formed in 1999 in Mobile, Alabama, by radio entrepreneur Kevin Wagner and its headquarters are currently located in Miami, Florida.
In other words, there's very little local about the radio station at this point, so maintaining the Florence sign is probably very low on its list.
Shoalanda
We doubt that we have to tell any of our readers that things change...with great regularity. One of the most interesting (read: huh?) changes in any business are the hirings, firings, and constantly changing priorities. Since some editors of the TimesDaily have lasted only a year or so, we've certainly seen enough changes in our local rag over the years.
As soon as the Shelton family purchased the TD, its forum was divested of any regular administration or moderation. Now that the old forum has been replaced by Tennessee Valley Talks, there's an admin on site almost 24/7. Of course, he or she must be bored owing to the small number of posters who have made the move with the new software. Nevertheless, the appointment of an admin signals growth and prosperity. Or does it?
Late last week Cathy Wood announced the TD had chosen to delete her weekly column as a cost cutting measure. When any job is eliminated there will always be various theories as to the real reason. We can certainly rule out any negative comments concerning the area; Miss Wood has always been a regular Pollyanna of the published page. Could it be the powers that be see Wood as something less than the breadwinner in her family? Or...big gasp...because she writes an extracurricular blog on local activities of note?
According to Miss Wood, the TimesDaily will be "dropping some things." That means we should all be anxiously awaiting the other axe, er, shoe to fall.
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Do you know a retail establishment or other business that has gone out of its way to help those left in distress by last week's storms? If so, send us the business name and we will dedicate a blog to these commercial angels. We need to patronize those who have helped the area's victims of a fickle Mother Nature.
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With less than 24 hours left to vote, Florence is running 60 votes behind Richmond Hill, Georgia, as America's favorite fishing town. Richmond Hill had a population of under 7K in the 2000 census, yet it is leading our area--what a sad commentary. Assuming Florence can win round one, it will then compete in a second round to win a prize of $25,000.00. That's quite a bit of green for our area, and we encourage everyone to vote before the end of the contest tomorrow:
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In the "Humor is Where You Find It" department, various news outlets have released pictures of Navy Seals as they would have appeared in the Sunday raid on Bin Laden's compound. Judging from their grab, we're surprised any shots needed to be fired. Couldn't they just have announced, "Resistance is futile. Prepare to be assimilated?"
In the end, the most wanted man in the universe died hiding behind a woman's skirts. We're only sorry there will be no marker on which to inscribe that.
Shoalanda
Farewell to the TimesDaily Forum as we knew it. It departed Shoals cyberspace yesterday after a relatively short run of four years and five months. When it was born in November 2006, the New York Times syndicate announced it as a glowing replacement for the crude forum that had then been in existence for approximately 18 months. Now, according to the Decatur powers that be, this second incarnation was no longer state of the art and badly in need of an update.
Judging by the name of this latest forum, we may now be sharing the new site with Decatur and Moulton readers. Is this a bad thing? Not in itself, but no longer would it be a forum dedicated to local Shoals news. One might even call it a distraction from local news. The jury is out...
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A friend recently called us hyper-local; is this a bad thing? If you've been reading our blog long enough, you know that our premise is to fix what's wrong in the Shoals first--then work on state and Federal problems. Yet, are we not part of the Tennessee Valley?
Yes, we are...but just because the Tennessee Valley is prospering, it does not mean the Shoals is prospering. Just because the Shoals is doing well or improving in various areas, it does not mean Sheffield is doing well or improving. Just because Sheffield is improving doesn't mean Baptist Bottom is looking fantastic. Feel free to insert other names into this paragraph.
We all know that 100% of any population is not going to function at what one could term normal levels. Similarly we know even fewer of the population is going to excel. That doesn't mean a majority can't function at or above normal levels, or that many in this college town area can't excel. Let's stop waiting for the state and Federal governments to intervene. If they give us aid in whatever form, we can take it, but let's not wait for it...
Shoalanda
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