Is Andy Betterton a Yamn Dankee?

 

Andy Betterton has never, to our knowledge, claimed to be a Shoals native, but he has reportedly lived in this area for around five decades. That's a long time not to know place names in an area, especially a location that one serves politically.

Yet, when discussing the boondoggle that is the Ag Center, he has reportedly said:

”When it’s built [successfully], I think [it’ll] bring people into our community obviously. As I look at the components of this, widening the Highway 72 to the Shoals Creek Bridge is a wonderful opportunity to move our city forward,” 

Shoals Creek? Really, Andy?! We know our less than illustrious mayor attended UNA, but he must have never had the privilege of a class with the late Maureen Maness. Mrs. Maness often commented: Only damn yankees call it Shoals Creek.

In case anyone doesn't know (as in Smokin' Jalapeno), it's Shoal Creek. So why would Andy make such a mistake? He obviously doesn't care - rather like the promises he made during his campaign. Of course, remarks have been made about his physical health (Napping Nancy), so perhaps his decline is also mental?

*****

On a similar note, some fly-by reader criticized us as racist because we used the term swarthy. We immediately identified him as male. Why?

Anyone who has ever read a few romance novels knows about all those swarthy men out there, most of them apparently pirates just waiting to be tamed...or taught vocabulary and geography.

State to Sue USPS?

 

Does anyone with half a brain think the State of Alabama suing the USPS is a good use of taxpayer dollars? Apparently 1819 News does. 

You may ask what is 1819 News? We first saw it come to prominence early last year when an online advertising campaign labelled it the source of common sense news for the state. Absolutely no truth in advertising there. The online news magazine is an offspring of the Alabama Policy Institute and has never met a social program that it didn't want to quash.

Now this dubious news outlet is encouraging Steve Marshall to bring a lawsuit against the USPS. Why? The mail service is obviously in cahoots with the V.A. and others who support the work of Satan. Translated, that means the USPS is now a minion of the Dark Lord for sending boxes of medicine that might or might not be used in an induced abortion. We wonder if the 1819 News is aware of how many unlabelled packages of prescription medicine the V.A. sends each month to patients in this state?

It seems the powers at the 1819 News are also against expanding Medicaid. It posits that there are drawbacks. Gasp! Can this news service name any program, product, or course of action that doesn't have some drawbacks? Rest assured, the expansion of Medicaid has far more positives than negatives. Now if the state legislature would only get with the program to assist thousands of Alabama citizens. Or are our legislators too busy thinking up new candidates for lawsuits to diminish Alabama's coffers?

Note: If you're intelligent enough to prefer news media that presents the right, the left, and the middle of the road, you'll want to make the Alabama Political Reporter a staple in your daily Internet routine.

ALEA: Missing from NW Alabama

 

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency has an official page/case number of those listed as missing in the state. Not everyone missing is on the state list for various reasons. As of today, these individuals are officially missing in the Shoals and surrounding counties per ALEA:

William Glen Jones - 11/22/22 - Florence

Michael Eugene Thompson - 11/04/22 - Florence

Eric D. Mansell - 9/1/2021 - Florence

Teresa Shook Hendrix - 9/1/2021 - Florence

John Wesley Johnson - 7/1/21 - Moulton

Courtney Vivian Staggs - 8/10/20 - Florence - Waiting for identification of body

Jessica Hamby - 1/2/2018 - Hackleburg

DeShawn Childers - 9/17/2016 - Florence

Yu Chin Goodson - 4/1/2005 - Russellville

Robert Gene Weems - 6/5/97 - Florence

There are others missing from this area who are not on the official list; we will attempt to list them shortly.

Convicted Rapist/Murderer Shaun Shapley Seeks Parole

 

Pictured is Jennifer Helen Bragg. We don't know her age in this photo, but we do know she was no older than 17 - that was her age when her stepfather murdered her during an attempted rape. She died on February 8, 2008, at the hands of a man who should have protected her.

Shaun Glovis Shapley agreed to a plea of 25 years in Jennifer's death. That didn't stop him from appealing his sentence or attempting to sue both the attorney general and a prison warden. Along the way he even accused the Lauderdale district attorney of illegally using one of his Florida convictions to force him to plea.

Shapley will be eligible for parole on March 1st. As of today, no exact date has been set, and such hearings are often as much as one month late. Whatever the exact date, it's too soon.

We're asking everyone to write:

Alabama Board of Pardons and Parole

Re: Shaun Glovis Shapley AIS#00263566

100 Capitol Commerce Boulevard

Montgomery, AL 36117

You can read more about this grifter/rapist/murderer here: Murder in Lexington

Who Shot Darrious Smith?

 

“On June 30, 2022, at approximately 9:15 PM, officers responded to a shooting at 214 Holt Ave in Florence.

Darrious Marqua Smith was located at the residence. Smith had been wounded and he was transported to the North Alabama Medical Center where he was pronounced deceased. His death has been ruled a homicide and detectives are currently working the scene.

This is all the information we can release at this time due to this being an ongoing investigation. If anyone has any information about this crime, please contact the Florence Police Department at: 256.760.6583, dispatch at 256.760.6610, text a tip to 274637 using keyword FPDTIP plus your message, or Crime Stoppers at 256.386.8685.”


The above is a statement from the Florence Police Department issued on July 1, 2022. Since that date, there have been no updates on the case.

Friends of the victim have been left in the dark. Now they're asking the public for help.

If you have any information on this murder, contact the numbers listed above. Let's get this killer off the streets.

Let's Help Make Kaiden Safe

 

This is Kaiden. He was recently removed from his biological mother's custody after receiving a beating from his stepfather. The mother, stepfather, and two or three supporters have denied Kaiden's injuries. If you find this as nauseating as we do, read on for a comment from Kaiden's father:

January 23rd, 2023 I got a phone call that no parent should get. DHR was removing my son from his mother & step father's care due to a report on child abuse regarding my son, Kaiden. On my way to pick Kaiden up the mother called me & told me that DHR was there due to a “small bruise”. 

Kaiden opened the door for the police & DHR investigator & then he proceeded to run out the door with nothing on but underwear in 50 degree weather, so he could ride his bike unsupervised while the mother was in the back of the house vacuuming. Upon our arrival at the Fountain household Kaiden was placed in mine & my wife’s care. 

At first we didn’t know the extent of the “bruising” until digging deeper into the report. At first, we were not going to hold the mother accountable due to her claiming she was at work during the time of the incident. Since then, she has been protecting Ricky Fountain (the abuser) on social media & making a joke out of all of this as if it’s a normal occurrence for them. 

We have decided to pursue custody of Kaiden due to the unsafe nature of the Fountain household. I’m coming to my community to ask for help to pay for a lawyer & get Justice for Kaiden. If you can’t donate then please consider sharing his story. 

Despite what Mr. & Mrs. Fountain would have you believe, Ricky Fountain currently has six arrests on his RAP sheet, including two for drug charges and two concerning this episode of abuse. Mrs. Fountain has contacted us...and taught us some new words. 

Kaiden needs to be with his father and his hopefully new mother. One thing we can all do is pray for this child that he'll grow up happy and have no lasting memories of the abuse.

A final word: The Fountains say anyone who shares pictures of this child's wounds is disseminating child pornography. Just think about that for a few minutes...

Where Is William Glen Jones?

 

It's been ten weeks since the last known sighting of William Glen Jones. The 24 year-old's official information is sketchy at best. A press release mentions he was at Cypress Place Landing; we're left to assume it was at the apartments of the same name on the short street off Cloverdale Road. It was at 11:30 on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, but was it a.m. or p.m.?

So far, no family has come forward to plead for any information, nor have the Florence police offered any updates since the initial missing person's report. There's no mention of school or work. Surely someone cares if he's found.

If you have any info, call the FPD at 256-760-6610 or 911. If anyone has additional data on Jones, we'll be happy to publish it.

*****

On September 1, 2021, Teresa Shook Hendrix, 53, and Eric D. Mansell, 31, both disappeared from Florence. If there is a connection, law enforcement has not reported it. If anyone has information on either or both of these cases, we will publish with more detail.