New Judges/WLAY Gone for Good?

You’re in need of surgery; which physician would you choose: Doc A who has five or less years experience; Doc B who has 15 years experience; or Doc C who has been practicing for 25 years?

Certainly there are more variables in any employment equation than just years of experience, but years on any job count for much. What about judges? What should you consider when you elect a new circuit court judge?

Lauderdale County is facing elections in two of its three circuit court judgeships, and the primary is now less than three months away. Do your homework.

We’ll be making endorsements in January or February, but as always we happily publish comments/blogs in favor of candidates we don’t support. Let us know what you think!

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Is Muscle Shoals radio station WLAY now gone for good? The old sign of which most of us have fond memories, is...well, we hear it's somewhere rusting away. Could it have been saved? We have no idea. The interesting thing is that we have received no mail asking about saving WVNA--its sign still rusting away on Mitchell Boulevard.

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Shoalanda

Shoals Radio Daze?

A guest commentary that asks some surprising questions:

Shoals residents should be questioning this situation. Have you tried to listen to WLAY or WVNA in the last few years? They have both been getting Special Temporary Authorities (STA) from the FCC to operate on "temporary" antennas at low power (after both were off the air for a protracted period). 

I question the use of the word temporary since this has been going on for years now. I think in the case of one of the stations they were renting property for the antenna and the landlord raised the rent. I'm not sure if that happened with the other, or if they just decided to sell the property to make a quick buck. 

It's possible that they are working on getting facilities to broadcast as licensed, but my suspicion is that they're just keeping something on the air so they don't have to turn in the licenses, either in hope of selling the license to someone who will really use it or (my real suspicion) they don't want to turn in the license because someone else might get it and bring some competition to the market. 

Stations are supposed to meet the conditions of their license. An STA is for a temporary emergency, such as a tower collapse or station fire. WYLE-TV had its license revoked by the FCC because they were not operating as licensed.

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Anyone have any ideas on the current situation with these two stations? Comments welcome.



Shoalanda

Shoals Suzuki & James Michael Self

If you purchased a new automobile from Shoals Suzuki, you are automatically part of a class action suit against the Sheffield dealership and its general manager James Michael (Mike) Self. Self is no stranger to the court system, having been indicted last year for embezzling $70,000.00 from Tom Jones Financial Services of which he was Chief Operating Officer. After Self's partner James Harris agreed to drop the criminal charges, Self then sued Harris for malicious prosecution.

The son of the late broadcaster D. Mitchell Self inherited Self Broadcasting, a company that included the historic WLAY radio station in Muscle Shoals. After selling his interest in 2000, Mike Self helped found Odyssey Broadband and Supernet Services, as well as buying into what was then known as Tom Jones Insurance Agency in Tuscumbia. The 1979 graduate of Muscle Shoals High School is also Muscle Shoals' representative on the Airport Authority Board, his term expiring in March 2010.

It remains to be seen if this class action suit will actually recoup any of the money lost in warranties purchased through Shoals Suzuki. Legal eagles say such a victory would be extraordinarily rare; however, if you are the unlucky holder of such an agreement, don't toss the document just yet. You could win a victory based solely on the court's past experience with Mike Self.


What's up with this: Engineers for the Avalon Avenue construction project say the end is in sight. One extra lane, two miles long, three years in the making--sounds about par for any state project.

Note May 31st correction to this article.