"TimesDaily" Motto? "Our Priorities Are Always Skewed"

 

A critic of Florence government has also recently been highly critical of our local rag the TimesDaily. We agree; we've never seen the news outlet question those in control of local governments or institutions. Since we've been writing this blog, we've seen two writers quickly leave the scene when they wrote something that didn't reflect well on the area.

When citizens should be encouraged to attend the next Florence Council meeting, what do we get? A fluff piece on a group that wants to kill gays, demean women, and create a vast financial empire both here and across the pond while the poor suffer. Yes, TD readers have just been treated to another article on the woes and wonders of the Salvationists.

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We used to worry about Mitt Romney becoming president because he wore Mormon "holy" underwear. Ahhh, those were the days...

Dead People Vacating in Florence

 

Get Your Steve the Otter Merch Here: https://www.etsy.com/market/steve_the_otter

It may not be quite as amusing as "Sex Clams," but a recent TimesDaily story is certainly worded in the worst possible way. According to the TD writer: 

The Florence City School Board met Thursday morning to nominate and approve the new District 5 board member who will fill the seat vacated by the late Laura Hardeman. 

We're pretty sure the late board member didn't vacate her seat or anything else. The correct wording would have been:

The Florence City School Board met Thursday morning to nominate and approve the new District 5 board member to fill the seat made vacant by the death of Laura Hardeman.

What will the TD do when Bernie Delinski and Russ Corey are gone?

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Hi, I'm Hercules, a six year-old male Staffordshire Terrier mix. I may be strong, but I'm twice as cute. Come see me at the Florence shelter in the industrial park:

Once Again, TimesDaily is on Top of It

 

For a calendar with only 12 months in the year, we have a myriad of celebrations: Black History Month, Women's History Month, Pride Month... You get the idea.

Unless it's sports related, the TimesDaily doesn't seem to cover anything pithy, much less what could be considered offensive to some. Let's not offend those advertisers.

That brings us to Pride Month. How many events will anyone who writes here actually attend? We haven't taken a survey, but a good guess is zero. Yet, if someone actually wanted to attend, how would they know about these festivities?

It certainly wouldn't be from the TimesDaily. That rag posted a schedule of several Saturday events - on Sunday. How did the editors make that mistake?

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While on the subject of advertising that misses the mark, why is the symbol for the new Seven Points monthly market a maple leaf?

Sorry, TD, Stewart Cink Isn't a Florence Native

 

On rare occasions, families do move to Florence. That's what happened with Stewart Cink's family about the time he started school. This past week, Cink's name was in the news due to finishing relatively well in a golf tournament. 

It's been quite a while since we've noticed anyone at the TimesDaily misidentifying Cink, but the sports writers more than made up for it in the past few days. Why not refer to the golfer as a "Bradshaw grad?" 

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Alabama - One of a handful of states with three holidays honoring the military, but less than ten percent of the population can tell you why.

This Is What the TimesDaily is Good For

 

To us, the recent ballot screw-up in Lauderdale is one of the biggest stories in Shoals history so far this century. Most people don't care. The TimesDaily has hardly mentioned it. This is what one of our Lauderdale County friends has said:

The ballot screw up had to have happened at the top level. Clearly someone did not pay attention to the new maps and left entire neighborhoods in their old district. Now whether intentional or accidental, who can say? If legislators can hand pick their districts to win, anything is possible. 

Interestingly, the two biggest polling places, St. James and Atlas COC were affected the most. 

Then there’s the issue of people getting the wrong ballot given to them. All good and well if you picked it up, but most folks probably did not. I have no idea how you would even begin to prove that mess, unless you analyzed the ballots given out and to whom, and frankly, I think it’s too late to do anything anyway if major irregularities were found. Our local press certainly made it clear they did NOT want sunlight on this issue, so most folks are clueless as to what’s happened. 

On the Pettus/Black/Melson issue, how tragic that many in our community feel that we don’t have candidates to vote FOR but rather lesser of two evils to pick from instead

Who wants power in Lauderdale? Obviously those who control the Ag Center. Is that what some of this was about? It's certainly possible. How is that bilious green elephant coming along?

On a similar note, how is Inspiration Landing progressing? We've heard grass is four feet tall all around the infamous Slag music venue. Whoever technically owns the property won't even keep it mowed.

Our prediction there is that construction may start on some private homes when material costs come down. Even that's a big maybe. Did John Elkington think that people from all over the U.S. would flock to Sheffield?

"Hey, hon, I got the company jet this weekend. Where shall we go? L.A., Austin, New Orleans? Oh, I know. Let's go to Sheffield."

Similarly, no festival organizers are going to exclaim: "Aren't we tired of Nashville? Let's have our big do on the outskirts of Florence next year."

85% of the citizens don't care, 10% want in on it, and the remaining 5% just aren't enough to correct the local illegal situations.

Would You Miss the TimesDaily?

We're now ten days away from a pay per view local newspaper. Shelton Publishing tried this concept before, and it didn't seem to work out for them. Will it this time? 

A reader has sent us this pithy commentary:

In a recent Op/Ed in the most popular locally printed fish wrapper, the writer brought up the idea of stimulus money going to support local newspapers.

If this local, “newspaper”, and I use that in the most inane sense of the word, would bring back some journalistic integrity, report local news( all sides), and use spell check, people in the Shoals would be more interested in reading it. I see events happening around me every day that go unreported. What I do read leaves me thinking, something’s missing from this story!

With Daily in your name you would think they publish a daily paper, On a good week they can barely manage enough misspelled words and botched headlines for five. If you try to read their paper on line using a Mac product you're risking a brain hemorrhage.

We don’t need stimulus money going for this kind of nonsense, someone someday will be responsible to pay back these loans. News sources should be able to stand on their own without government support, government interference, or political bias.

We suggest the Quad-Cities Daily and Pen-N-Sword for local news...

TimesDaily: So Little News, So Much Wrong

Welcome to the world of the TimesDaily where nothing of any great import ever happens - at least if it’s bad. Want local crime news? Click on the drop-down news menu for crime and you’ll discover the last entry in that section was January 27th. Two months without any serious crime?

Sure, some crime stories have been published under the general heading of news, but no “Law & Order” reports have been made available since Tom Smith left the daily disappointment. Why? Is it just too much trouble to call and ask local authorities or does the TD simply want only good news these days?

What is wrong with a newspaper that considers the non-demolition of a long vacant building to be worthy of headline news? It’s sad when the Lawrenceburg newspaper has more to offer than our local one.

If you want real news, if you want real opinion, you’re not going to get it from the TimesDaily.

Shoals Retail:

Hibbett Sports is set to close almost 100 stores before the end of the year. The chain that once called Florence its corporate headquarters is keeping mum on locations, but any town with a Sports Academy or a Dick’s for competition is a very good guess.

While the Hibbett chain is spread out over 30 states, we’re going to predict the Shoals will see at least one closure. There are currently three stores in our area, and a source close the company has told us the Florence Mall location has been underperforming for some time. Yes, we know, you’re shocked...

Not My Circus - Not My Monkeys

Ta Ta TD Two Times a Week

The most surprising thing about the announcement is that it was so long coming. The TimesDaily will cease publishing on Saturdays and Mondays. 

Now the pressing question is what the poor parakeets will do on Sundays and Tuesdays...

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Inspiration Landing? It's been six weeks since the Sheffield City Council voted basically to fund/assist in funding two projects related to the much touted Tennessee River project. 

Surely no one now thinks the first phase will be completed on schedule? But John Elkington has failed to offer a new schedule for the amphitheatre. We're guessing that's because it's still unknown, and that it's unknown since no one can predict when the funding will arrive. What if the funding never materializes? 

Has anyone considered a local group to fund the project? What? Everyone was asked and said no? That would be a very good guess.

Our "Hometown" Newspaper/Probate Judges

Did you read the article in Saturday’s TimesDaily about young Muslims growing up outside Chicago? Opinion is fine—it’s what we dispense here, but facts should be just that, not concocted anecdotes to prove some kind of point.

The article referred to a Muslim mother who was accosted in the grocery store check out line. It seems a woman approached the mother from behind and pulled her head scarf. The article goes on to relate that the woman was later charged with a hate crime.

Really? First, while we don’t have firm data on Illinois laws, if this incident had happened in Alabama, it would have been Third Degree Assault—a misdemeanor. The designation “hate crime” is added at sentencing and doesn’t come into play in misdemeanor cases.

So did this incident happen in the way it was portrayed? We doubt it.

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While on the subject of this Saturday article, the TD used to publish inspirational stories from around the area in this weekly space. For some time now, the articles have had a social activism slant and most originate in the Chicago area. Perhaps this is a result of the TD’s cost cutting measures that have recently substituted comic strips and advice columns without even a word of introduction or explanation.

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There's been quite a bit of discussion concerning a bill being considered in the legislature allowing anyone the freedom to refuse to perform a marriage ceremony. One comment from Al.com stated that most probate judges in the state weren't juris doctors. 

In this area we are extremely fortunate to have Will Motlow and Daniel Rosser. Both these gentlemen are extremely qualified attorneys and underpaid. We know Daniel much better than Will, but we're greatly impressed by both gentlemen. Props to Daniel and Will!

Shoalanda

What Does the TD Know? or Who Owes Whom?

The much awaited SEC Primary is now over; you may breathe easy for a moment. Okay, the moment’s over. Municipal elections are in August. Florence already has two candidates for mayor and several more running for the council. It’s bound to heat up now that there’s a breather in county and state races. We’re already received one candidate’s bio; as always we request any candidates to send us their press releases.

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Anyone out there read yesterday’s TD editorial? We’re not sure which staff member wrote the article (perhaps the elusive editor himself?), but it contained one statement that applied to only Lauderdale County elections…and it was a doozie.

From the TD:

Judges and license commissioners should be defined as largely nonpolitical courthouse functionaries who carry (out) policy or administer the law. Sadly, they have attracted increasingly large political donations, and in some cases the endorsements of political action committees.

What about the four candidates for two circuit judge positions? The five who ran for license commissioner? Is the TD privy to some inside info, or simply making a blanket statement?

We received many private comments concerning one candidate for judge who was very openly supported by at least two local “businessmen” whom many feel are unsavory. We’re hopeful enough concerning all winners that not one of them will be swayed by any financial contributions, no matter how large.

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A local political commentator, known for his Democratic sympathies, has proclaimed that Donald Trump is immoral. We don’t disagree, but strangely enough we’ve never heard him comment on the Clintons.

One of Queer Willie’s ex-paramours has written a book…yes, imagine that. She claims that during the time Bill was governor of Arkansas, she was a regular in his bed while Hillary was out of town. It seems that Bill lamented Hillary preferred women to men. As if that wasn’t bad enough, she proceeded to relate that after-play consisted of Bill donning her discarded lingerie and playing the saxophone.

We feel much sympathy for the poor saxophone…

Shoalanda

Is the TimesDaily Depressed?

We understand that several e-mail addys for the TimesDaily are returning any communication sent to them. Well, it does cut down on negative comments.

Along that line, we understand the TVT forum is still not taking new members. Just a personal opinion here, but it’s now so boring we’re not sure why anyone would want to join, but if anyone does, they should be able to. Either allow new members or take down the forum. For those who miss long time forum member Bill Gray, his commentaries occasionally show up on Pen-N-Sword.

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Any property crime victims out there? Contact us with your county information and the status of your restitution. We understand that these procedures give new meaning to the expression “blood from a turnip.”

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A very big correction: Sheffield Street Superintendent Bradley Bump’s wife does work for the Parks and Recreation Department, but in Tuscumbia, not Sheffield. Our apologies to Mrs. Bump. We understand that Mrs. Bump does not know the new secretary in the Sheffield Street Department, has never worked with her, and is not friends with her. In other words, there was no cronyism at work in the new hire for Sheffield.

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L. Stone has a suggestion for Florence’s new music sculpture: If they put the statue in Florence next to the tourism office will they select a Canadian artist to be memorialized?

He also has an inspired idea for the new tourism office jingle:

Shoalanda

Reporters/Readers/How Many Others Don't Know the Law?

We received this from a reader:

Click to Enlarge

Unless strangulation is involved, the incident referred to is a misdemeanor. This coach, whom we have heard has been involved in many domestic altercations, has unfortunately never been arrested before. No arrests, no priors. If a woman or her family don't report a crime, in the eyes of the law, it didn't happen. Judge Medley gave the appropriate sentence for a first offense.

What will happen now? If we had to guess, spots are hard to change...

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Recently Tom Smith of the TimesDaily reported on an upcoming Capital Murder case; he said Capital Murder is subject to 2 years to Life Without in prison or death. Uh, no. He always says this, and we can't fathom why.

Capital Murder has only two possible sentences: Life Without or Death. That's it. Mr. Smith doesn't understand the difference between Capital Murder and (Felony) Murder.  

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A conversation at a recent Thanksgiving gathering reminded us of another "law" that we have heard all our life here in Alabama. In this state a couple can't marry and divorce each other more than three times. As a child/young person, we thought nothing of this when we heard it repeated, but as an adult, this sounds utterly inane. Still, it's Alabama, so we asked our favorite legal eagle friend.

No truth to that old tale, he said. If anyone knows where this fallacious notion may have originated, please let us hear.

Shoalanda

TotallyDecatur Has A New Editor!

There's a new editor in town. Gary Maitland is now the head editorial honcho at Shelton Publishing's local branch of the TotallyDecatur. So where's Scott Morris?

Morris' last appearance in the TD seems to be on March 8th. Since that time, he's been missing in action. Considering how often the New York Times group changed editors, Morris had a long run. Was he liberal? Yes, but we thought he was usually fair and had no hidden agendas.

How long will Maitland stay? He came from the Miami area; he may not last one winter here...

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Want to contact anyone at the TD? Here's the link:

Contact the TimesDaily

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We had one reader who seemed upset that anyone cared about the kill rate in local shelters. Why? There are fetuses being aborted every day. 

Fair enough. The next time he takes a member of his family to the emergency room for a broken bone perhaps someone will tell him they choose to do nothing since they can't cure patients with terminal cancer.

Shoalanda

Local Obits? Try the Quad-Cities Daily

The TimesDaily obituary policy has changed. From a very disgruntled reader:

Now, if I want to view an obituary in the freaking Times Daily online, each obit. counts as ONE of the NINE articles I am allowed to read per month!!! Is this fair? I have no interest in subscribing to their newspaper, but a lot of people I know in the Shoals and really care about deeply have died, are dying, and will die, conjugate away. IF the family pays for an obit., why does the website penalize me for reading it? I am beyond aghast at this extremely punitive new policy, if it is not just a site glitch ( what are the chances?) I just thought you should know about this new form of oozing slime. All for the money, honey.

We suggest the Quad-Cities Daily for obits and birth announcements. BTW, Shoalanda just found out via the local gossip hags that she's married to Steven Wiggins...not sure how to break it to Sheri.

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DreamVision? From a reader:

From what I have been told by 'insiders' on the project, the 'funding' IS there, with several U.S. billionaires purportedly backing the project. AS for 'support': This could be a reference to convincing area residents that the proposed park is a GOOD thing, rather than to allow nay-sayers to continue to bad mouth something that could bring renewed prosperity and opportunities to the area. Far too many area residents view ANY change as negative.


We await DV's next move.

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This blog has two sets of stats. Statcounter which measures both our page hits and unique hits was implemented about eight months after we began publishing. Google Blogger provides numbers of page hit since our inception in October 2008.

Earlier this week we passed two million page hits according to Blogger. Thanks to everyone for reading!



Shoalanda

Anonymous Alabama?

We, along with scores of others, recently received a press release from a group called "We Are Anonymous." We're not going to publish it here, but the release stated that it was the first with more to come.

Looking on FB for such a group, we did find: Anonymous Alabama

We're posting the link for any who might be so inclined.

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The flashing light on Cave Street in Tuscumbia that cautions motorists school traffic is entering or exiting? Apparently it's been out for some time. A reader has inquired; however, we're not sure whom to contact. If it's not working at all, it would indicate a wiring/contact problem. We suggest you try the Tuscumbia Utilities first and they can direct you further if needed.

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TotallyDecatur strikes again: Our local newspaper has a section for "State News." Apparently, whoever has been picking items to include in this section has also been including articles from Alaska. Our concerned reader states there is often more Alaska news found than Alabama news.

Observant editors, aren't they?

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Several readers have asked if DreamVision is connected to a former theme park outside Birmingham called Vision Land. No...two entirely different animals.

The DV press conference is slated for February 11th; at that time, more concrete plans will be announced for this proposed new theme park. How do we feel? Mehhh. Don't hold your breaths waiting for this one.

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May the Shade be with you tomorrow!

Shoalanda

Local Censorship? Just Who Does it?

Does this area have much censorship? Perhaps we should define censorship. Have you seen the "Buddy Jesus" or "Buddy Christ" memes? Here's one:

Is it in bad taste? Certainly, if you're a Christian. (We at least didn't post the one referring to Catholicism.) While no one knows how Christ looked, we're pretty sure he didn't have long hair or wear gold medallions; still, we're not about to shoot anyone over it. So how many memes do you see referring to the Muslim faith?

Is the lack of Muslim memes censorship? If a publication is afraid of being fire-bombed, we would say it might better qualify as self-preservation, but it's still censorship.

How about other areas of news? How about censorship of government cronyism, student favoritism, or even this blog? Think no one would want to censor our blog? Think again. While we're sure many may see their sacred cow mentioned here (hey, we're even inadvertently getting in Hinduism!) and mentally wish we'd just disappear from Shoals cyberspace, most don't openly advocate that.

Over the years, we've seen only two do so; one the father of local career criminal and one more recently who was a very misguided supporter of Muscle Shoals High School. Both thought someone should "shut us down." Who or on what legal grounds, we're not sure. We've also heard of a few instances in which some have wished to censor the (defunct?) ShoalsInsider, Pen-N-Sword, and Quad-Cities Daily.

Just remember, if they can censor us, they can sensor you...

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Eaten somewhere recently and just loved it? Just hated it? Tell us about it. Send your reviews to shoalanda.speaks@gmail.com and we'll publish them here:

Quad-Cities Cuisine

This week we have a review of PoBoy's in its new transplanted Tuscumbia location.



Shoalanda

Angel Trees, Red Hair, & Nebulous Hospitals

A reader has informed us that Florence Mall will no longer allow the Salvation Army angel trees to be erected in the mall. Apparently they are allowing no charitable endeavors to establish any kind of base or event there.

This seems extremely draconian to us; however, we know that some years ago a Lauderdale County probate judge established the same rules for the courthouse. We're not sure who the new mall manager is, but we do welcome input from anyone connected to what was once Regency Square.

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It seems that a Muscle Shoals student has become disinterested in school since she may no longer sport red hair. This could be a good thing; the young lady can work her way through college as a sports referee. Do you think the word the TimesDaily education writer was seeking was uninterested?

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Ah, the TD will also be the subject of this topic. Robert Palmer recently wrote an article on a second microbrewery to locate in Florence--East Florence to be exact. Palmer first mentioned the proposed Entertainment District. The title is actually Arts & Entertainment District, and it's been official for some time. That doesn't mean that it won't be slow going or that our city council may not repeal their previous actions. We're pretty sure the owner of the Sweetwater Depot was not happy with Palmer's wording.

However, that is not why we're addressing Palmer's pitiful prose. He went on to say that much depended on if the new hospital is built. We have news for Palmer: Barring an ISIS terrorist attack on the Lauderale County seat or an unforeseen RegionalCare bankruptcy, the hospital will be built. We assume the word "if" was used to appease a few readers in Colbert County, but he scored no boy scout  badges with his wording on the Lauderdale side of the river.

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We're going to be addressing three ethics issues that our readers have brought up. These issues are unknown territory to us, so if any readers have expertise in these matters, we look forward to your educated comments. Note: That's "educated," not comments that suggest no one cares about ethics in local/state government or that we're picking on people unfairly.



Shoalanda

Why Was Jorge Servin Deported?

Yesterday we blogged on the newest illegal activities of Evelyn Servin, a sometime Russellville resident who spends a great deal of time with the Hispanic community in Etowah County. In a TimesDaily article on her latest illegal protest, she mentions that her husband Jorge has been deported. Really? Why?

Was it because he had a job? Because he was a model citizen? No. We're pretty sure it was because he ran afoul of the law in some manner. How about it, Mrs. Servin, care to tell us why your husband was deported?

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Did you read Wayne Smith's TimesDaily article on the Etowah County protest. It contained 286 words and not one of them was the word "illegal." Amazing...

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Want to know what really happened at this illegal protest? You can read it HERE. If you're in a hurry, just rest assured the seven arrested were given plenty of chances to leave peacefully and didn't. The article goes on to mention that no illegal immigrants have been deported for minor offenses. That brings us back to good ol' Jorge. We're waiting to hear his tale of woe.



Shoalanda

Naming Names?

The TimesDaily is one publication that makes no secret of its love for Hispanic immigrants, yet it never fails to get their names wrong. Why? One simple memo to writers should take care of the problem...

John Jones marries Mary Smith. They soon produce little Billy. In the English speaking world, Billy would usually be called "Billy Jones." In the Spanish speaking world, Billy would be called "Billy Jones Smith" and addressed as "Mr. Jones," as well as referred to as simply "Jones" in news accounts.

We were looking at accounts of a local Hispanic pedophile in two publications. Pedro Ramirez Rocha has been arrested in Franklin County for sexually abusing a young child. One online publication called him Ramirez, while another called him Rocha. If you guessed it was the TD who named him incorrectly as Rocha you would be right.

Perhaps the TD writers aren't as cosmopolitan as its editor would like for us to think?

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Sexual abuse is everywhere...unfortunately. Percentage wise, more immigrants seem to commit this crime than locals. It could obviously be just a case of these abusers being too obtuse to cover their tracks, but it could also be part of a larger culture. Something to think about...

(Lest any readers see the above item as bigoted, the age for marriage of girls in Mexico is 14 in the majority of states, and many indigenous tribes allow marriage at the first sign of puberty. Bigoted? No. Culture Clash? Definitely.)



Shoalanda

What's "An American Test?"

How the U.K. Handles It

Both liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans have claimed victory in the recent settlement of Alabama's new immigration legislation, a fact that has precipitated much press. Some of the ideas put forth, along with inane rhetoric, are laughable. Some news presented to the citizens of Alabama should give us all pause for thought.

While we have the greatest respect for Cliff Wright, a Florence attorney who handles immigration affairs, he might do well to request silence from his receptionist Diana Wilmes. In a recent TimesDaily article, Wilmes reported having to pay $4,000.00 in legal fees in her quest for citizenship. We have news for Ms. Wilmes: Four thou is very little compared to what many of our friends have paid to gain citizenship. How much would we have to pay to become citizens of her native Columbia? We would also like to know just what "an American test" is. Wilmes stated she had to take one.

The TimesDaily article went on to lament how deportation of breadwinners caused remaining family to turn to food stamps and other state and federal programs. How sad that as Veterans Day approaches, we see out tax dollars wasted on those who have no love for our county, much less citizenship.

No, we can't support everyone. Let's support Alabamians first. It shouldn't be a hard choice.

Related posts:

What Illegal Immigration Has Cost the Shoals

An Open Letter to Cliff Wright

Who Should Come First?

Annali Vasquez--See Second Entry

Shoalanda