Murder a Golden Retriever, Go to Jail

"Linda" last saw her cherished golden retriever safely shut in her back yard on Spout Springs Road in Tuscumbia. At least that's the last time she saw him alive. After hearing gun shots and wails, Linda found her family member dead, shot by a SIG Sauer 9 mm handgun. Arrests records indicate the 5'6" shooter weighs a whopping 165 pounds, so we'll theorize his super macho handgun provides him with a greater sense of manhood.

Canine Killer Demastus

After taking a police report, Colbert County investigators arrested the diminutive Justin Aaron Demastus. The 31 year-old neighbor has claimed Linda's docile retriever entered his property and growled at him. Law enforcement doubted his story, and took Demastus into custody on October 21st, charging him with Felony Cruelty to Animals. 

Demastus is married and has a young son. Apples, monkeys, sons; animal cruelty is a vicious way of life among some families. Let's put a stop to it now.

Putting the Lauderdale County Commission on Notice

When presented with a problem, there are three kinds of governing styles:

1. This is definitely a problem. We will work until we solve this issue to the satisfaction of our citizens and will do so with all permitted haste.

2. This looks like a problem to us, but we are not experts in the field. Therefore, we're appropriating $30,000.00 for a study that should be completed within the next year. Good luck to our citizens in the meantime.

3. This might be a problem. Thank you for bringing it to our governing body's attention. Now we'll adjourn and have coffee in the reception area.

Shall we all now take a stab at identifying which style the Lauderdale County Commission follows? 

The new Florence animal shelter is partially owned by the county. Does the county provide its fair share to maintain the shelter? In one word, NO!

Yes, it's easy to put animals on a back burner. If the commission isn't in any hurry to remedy deadly situations on Paradise Drive in Waterloo, why should the public think the elected officials would care more about the lesser creatures?

Elections are coming up. Let's say that again, shall we? Elections are coming up!

If the current commissioners and chair, no matter how much we may like them personally, do not start to remedy the financial situation at Florence-Lauderdale Animal Services, we will make sure the public is reminded of every questionable and just downright bad decision made by these gentlemen. We will actively campaign for those who support the shelter, as well as much needed repairs to dangerous roads.

What say you, Lauderdale County Commission?

To Those Who Want to Sue Tony Hughes

Since the arrest of Florence attorney Tony Hughes hit the headlines, we've had several contact us with tales of malfeasance and outright theft perpetrated by the disgraced lawyer. To those we suggest:

Never Trust a Man in a Clown Tie

1. If you just want your story told, there are currently two individuals who are behind movements to "expose" the attorney or to report on his alleged malfeasance. 

a. The Expose' - This involves a custody case. We take such cases with the proverbial grain of salt. If you wish to help the young man in this case, contact us and we will give you details on how to contact him.

b. The News Story - This involves an attorney and a private detective who have been working on a case in which Hughes represented the defendant. We have been aware of this case for some time and have been expecting the story to be published for several weeks now. If you simply want to discuss your problem with one of these two gentlemen, we'll be happy to give you contact details.

2. If there was actual theft, you should contact the district attorney in your county or the county in which the crime occurred. It's just a personal opinion, but contacting the bar association does little good unless there is legal paperwork to back it up.

3. No Criminal Case - If you feel you may not have a criminal case against Hughes, but that his lack of action hurt you financially, you are not alone. While we cannot give out the name of Reader A to Reader B, etc., we can take your contact info and forward it to a gentleman who wishes to initiate a civil suit against Hughes. Would you get your money back? Our guess would be no, but you might derive some personal satisfaction.

Good luck!

Thanksgiving Turkey Tony Hughes?

Turkey No. 1

Turkey No. 2

Over the years, we've had several friends who told us of being victimized by Tony Hughes, either when he was a police officer or later when he was practicing law. In fact, when we once told an unnamed someone in this blog that he should consider us the blind man on the corner, we were speaking to Hughes.

Today Anthony Baxton Hughes was arrested on three counts of insurance fraud, and we hear more charges could be in store. We've already had readers ask about his law license - that is something we don't have a clue about. Hughes could voluntarily surrender it or the bar could remove him from practice. We'll try to keep everyone up to date.

Google regularly publishes reviews of attorneys and other professionals, as long as they aren't libelous. Let's look at some that the Internet giant has previously published:

1, Dirty lawyer I fired Toney because I did feel that he had good intentions for my case try to milk me of money after that he called my landlord and informed them of my charges and tried to get me put out my apartment building he told all my information and put the Florence Police Department on me and tried to help them lock me up.. not a good lawyer to deal with

2. The staff was kind and friendly but didn't return phone calls and we were told our paperwork had been submitted, when in fact, it was lost in a stack of other file folders. It seemed to me, that once they had our money we were ignored and put on the back burner. I will not be using their services, ever again.

3. I am a veteran and he make jokes and thought it was funny...... the bar won’t find it as funny I don’t believe

Warning stay away from this “attorney” he currently works part time as a prosecutor for rogersville al
He has several complaints with the Alabama State Bar regarding unprofessional behavior in the court room and stalking
Rude unprofessional unethical

4. blocked his number to leave a voicemail and was very rude

5. He seems like a very nice man but I have tried for a month now to get with him about possibly hiring him. Every time we schedule an appointment he calls and cancels or I get there and he has left the office for the day. Today was the fifth time he had rescheduled me for 7 this morning and I sat outside his office for 45 minutes and he never showed only to text and say he thought we were meeting tomorrow. When tried to reschedule he never responded. Just really let me down.

6. Very unhelpful & rude !! Don't call

7. Rather not...

These are obviously from disgruntled clients, so you may take them however you wish. We'll update our readers when the Alabama Attorney General releases more information.

Halloween 2019

We hope each of our readers has a terrific Celtic New Year's Eve!

If You Value Your Life, Stay Out of Those Places!

The rain hadn't stopped in two days, and the college football coach decided to show first aid films rather than have his team scrimmage. When he noticed his star fullback wasn't paying attention, he asked:

"Biff, would you know what to do if you got your nose broken in two places?"

"Sure, Coach. I'd stay out of those two places."

Those with a vested financial interest in a certain business may say what they wish about the club incident of last Saturday night. We've seen the photos and the wounded employee certainly appears to have a gunshot wound. We've also talked to a police source who says the victim was definitely shot.

The absolute miracle of the whole thing is that no lives were lost. Our best to the young man for a rapid recovery.

Certainly there have always been shootings at clubs and even shopping venues. Better news gathering aside, we're still sure the number of these shootings increases each year.

One or two critics feel the whole shooting should be swept under the rug. Regular readers know our stance on that. Just how does not talking about something make it go away? If you can explain that to us, we'll never mention a violent act again. 

The truth is just the opposite. The more who realize the danger of any situation, the more who will avoid it.

Florence Shelter to Raise Kill Rate?

For some time the Florence Animal Shelter, aka Florence Animal Services, has been a low-kill facility. That may change if staffing quotas aren't met.

If you can volunteer, you need to do so now. the shelter may have 200 animals on any given day, with only three or so employees to maintain the facility. 

Like most towns and cities, Florence has a problem with an overabundance of dogs and cats. If you care, you will help in some manner. If you don't care, we know what kind of person you are.

(256) 760-6676