Meet the Man Who Wants to Take Down John Elkington

 

Carl Raff, like John Elkington, is a Memphis area wheeler and dealer. He currently owns at least two companies in that city, one of which is Business Enhancement Services. Our impression is that Raff and Elkington go back a long way and had, until recently, been friends of some ilk.

Now Raff is suing Elkington in Colbert County Circuit Court to the tune of $531,604,00 plus interest and various court costs. Raff contends that he worked many hours supplying Elkington with information and assorted services for the ongoing Inspiration Landing Project. Over a period of five years, Raff submitted invoices for this work, but has never received the first payment from the Sheffield Council's darling.

Sheffield mayor Steve Stanley has responded that he speaks with Elkington regularly and is not concerned. Read that last sentence again

Stanley speaks with Elkington regularly? Shoalanda speaks regularly with the girl at the drive-thru at Jack's. It's not exactly a major accomplishment. Stanley's not concerned? He should be first and foremost, he and his cohorts have used taxpayer money to promote this project, simply throwing the citizen's tax dollars at a man who makes Ashley (Three Socks) Morgan look like the proverbial choirboy.

Live in Sheffield? Show up at the next council meeting. Speak. Demand. Rinse and repeat at the next meeting. Above all, good luck!

THE FECES HAS HIT THE FAN AT INSPIRATION LANDING!!!

 

Sheffield's Next Mayor!

It's been the long con, but it's now coming to an end thanks to Sheffield attorney Bennett Lee Pugh. Bennett has frequently tantalized the public with hints that he may run for mayor of the City on the Bluff. If he does, he should be elected in a landslide.

Yes, Mr. Pugh has now filed suit against John Elkington, etal. In Mr. Pugh's own words:

Today I filed a lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Colbert County against John Elkington and his three LLCs that deal with Inspiration Landing. The plaintiff is a former business associate and the claim is over $250,000. He is the developer of Inspiration Landing. 20-CV-2023-9000444.00. The claims are breach of contract, quantum merit and account stated. I believe that when we enter the discovery process it will lead to more claims and more defendants.The city of Sheffield gave him the riverfront property with no compensation, they paid $2.9M for infrastructure and they pay him over $20,000 a month. It’s time. It’s time for new leadership.

This is obviously a breaking story. Our main commentary here is: About d**n time!

More to follow...

Florida Wants Bloggers to Register

 

There has been a bill introduced into the Florida State Legislature that, if passed, would require resident bloggers to register. We doubt that it would pass, but if it did, our own legislature might attempt a similar reining in of independent political pundits.

The most strange aspect of the bill is that political columnists for local news outlets would be exempt. We plan to keep an eye on this one.

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The Ides of March is approaching; do you know where your millions are? If they're missing, shall we blame Biden or Trump? Why don't we blame both of them for this financial collapse?

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We've had an interesting communication from Facebook. Remember our blog on the antics of Muscle Shoals baseball coach Blake Beck? As of this week, it's the blog with the highest number of hits in our history - 115K and still rising. People do love those Muscle Shoals comedies.

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It was a pleasant surprise today that our wrong order at Micky D's was at least something we eat. The downside was whoever ordered the sandwich hadn't asked for a tomato...

Waterloo Closes Free Library!!!

 

The Waterloo Free Library is closed. Actually. it HAS BEEN closed, as in the town council in its finite wisdom closed it. It's not like we need any more education, right?

We don't care what he said.

We don't care what she said.

We don't care who's not getting any if his wife doesn't get her way.

We care about the children of Waterloo, many of whom don't have Internet access and desperately need this library. After all, it's not the PUBLIC (City) library; it's a free library run by citizens. It doesn't take a Border Collie to understand that.

Yes, we understand there have been problems with the building that housed it. We're sure that's not the only edifice in Waterloo. We also understand there's a second problem now facing the town council - through absolutely every fault of its own avaricious members.

In other words, Waterloo, your optics aren't so great right now. Don't make Shoalanda have to come down there to talk to you in person...

Colbert Fossil Plant, Coal Ash, & Ecological Disaster - We Want Your Input

 

Fatal Beauty?

Over the years, we've been asked to discuss the environmental situation between Tuscumbia and Cherokee. There have been official reports, lawsuits, and feelings of hopeless resignation about the contamination of land in the western end of Colbert County. We've chosen not to address the contamination primarily because we're very ill prepared to and there have been no knowledgeable individuals who wished to comment.

Now a friend's family has been affected, and we feel a need to assist in continuing to expose what many are so oblivious to. For those not familiar with the decades long story of the Colbert Fossil Plant, commonly called the Steam Plant, here's a brief history from Ashtracker:

Tennessee Valley Authority’s Colbert Fossil Plant opened in 1955 and was located on the south shore of Pickwick Landing Lake in Colbert County, AL. The Colbert Plant had five units with a combined capacity of 1,204-MW until it was retired in 2016. It has one disposal area regulated under the CCR rule, Ash Disposal Area 4 CCR Unit.

Colbert Fossil Plant is among the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's list of potential damage cases, indicating that coal ash disposal at the site has potentially polluted groundwater or surface water at levels which threaten human health and the environment.

Colbert Fossil Plant has 32 groundwater monitoring wells, 27 of which have been polluted above federal advisory levels based on samples collected between April 26, 2010 and August 08, 2019. Groundwater at this site contains unsafe levels of molybdenum, arsenic, boron, cobalt, manganese, antimony, lithium, lead, sulfate, chromium and nickel.

We plan reporting on this in a long-term series of articles. If you have personal knowledge of health concerns in this geographical area or if you have expertise in general on this type of pollution and its aftermath, please contact us at Shoalanda.Speaks@gmail.com. All communications remain secure and anonymous.

Former P.O. Jay Steward Indicted for Murder

 

For those who said it wouldn't happen, it has. James Keith (Jay) Steward has been indicted for Murder in the death of Tuscumbia resident Terry Hinton whose only mistake was retrieving his mail while Steward was on the road. 

Steward's mugshot shows a man seemingly disengaged from the legal process that's taking place around him. Or to put it more bluntly, he looks neither good nor well. He certainly doesn't look like a 34 year old; he more closely resembles a late middle-aged man who sees the handwriting on the cell wall, his face puffy from...whatever.

The former officer currently has no bond. We feel sure that he lawyered up months ago and will soon be in court to demand a low bail amount. He legally has the right to bond, but there's no law to say it shouldn't be steep in this incident. 

The outcome? There seems to be so much evidence of willful indifference to life that, no matter the verdict/sentence, Steward will never work in law enforcement again. And after the criminal proceedings? Undoubtedly Mr. Hinton's family also has an attorney. We sincerely hope any settlement in that civil case will set records.

Previously: 75 mph on Hawk Pride Mountain Road

Rape Exception Bill Now in Judiciary Committee

 

State representative Terri Collins (R) has promised to file a bill to allow induced abortion in cases of rape. So far, she has not fulfilled her promise. Instead, a Democrat has filed her version of the bill, Senate Bill 35.

The bill is in the Judiciary Committee at this time. Here is a link to contact the individual members: 

Senate Judiciary Committee

If you are a female of child bearing age or have such a person in your family, the passage of this bill should be of your utmost concern. Alabama citizens are watching. How our legislature votes on this bill is a dramatic indicator of the members' regard for women. 

After you've contacted the committee/legislators? Begin praying for the bill's swift passage.