Rep. Ernie Yarbrough: Lacking in Biology

 

According to Rep. Ernie Yarbrough, life begins at fertilization - in other words, when a spermatozoon fertilizes an ovum. Yarbrough seems so sure of this, that he's attempting to pass a law in Alabama that declares it to be so:

Recently filed legislation in the Alabama House of Representatives would authorize prosecutions for homicide or assault if the victim is an unborn child from the moment of fertilization at any stage of development. 1819 News on HB518

Sorry, Ernie; did you sleep through biology class? Just as all Gaul is divided into three parts, conception is divided into two parts - fertilization and implantation.

In the entire history of the human race, no fertilized ovum has ever grown into a fetus/child/anything else without it being implanted into the body of a female. In case you think otherwise, we'll be happy to wait for you to look it up.

If you're wondering why our own Dr. Tim has failed to make Ernie aware of this, we're guessing he likes to snicker at Yarbrough.

If you're wondering how many fertilized ova never make it through the second phase, we were taught at least 51%, but that was in the last century. We've recently read this:

Research Variability: Studies on this topic show a wide range of estimates, from around 40-60% of fertilized eggs failing to implant.

What happens to the fertilized ova that don't implant?

If implantation doesn't occur, the fertilized egg exits the body during the next menstrual period.

Now we'll wait for the 2026 legislative session when Rep. Yarbrough will attempt to prosecute women who have a uterine environment that's inhospitable to implantation.

In case you haven't guessed by now, Ernie Yarbrough is also against IVF. Yes, really!

Rep. Ernie Yarbrough: Lacking in Vocabulary

 

Alabama legislator Ernie Yarbrough has introduced HB518, a proposed law calling for women who seek and possibly receive an induced abortion to be charged with assault or murder. Here is a direct quote from Yarbrough:

“[T]o fulfill this equal protection requirement, the lives of preborn individuals must be protected with the same criminal and civil laws protecting the lives of born individuals.”

Does Yarbrough think he's God? How does he know which fetuses will be born? Pictured above are ten happily married and pregnant women, but statistics tell us at least one will lose her fetus before her second trimester due to natural causes.

Just where does this word "preborn" come from? We've found two citations. One suggests a 1962 New York Times editorial, while another mentions the novel Dune published in 1965.

No, Rep. Yarbrough, preborn isn't the same thing as unborn...even here in Alabama. 

Previously: Pre-Born or Just Unborn?

Tomorrow: He's not so hot in biology either.

The Cafeteria Lady Got Unlucky

 

Amy Nicole Wigginton is listed as a cafeteria worker at Lauderdale County High School in Rogersville. She's 41 and "dating" a student under the age of 19. Court documents indicate that she took him to her home and "dated" him twice in March.

Wigginton may or may not be married. If she was earlier in the week, she probably isn't now. She's certainly lost her dream job.

As we write this, she has left the Lauderdale County Detention Center after posting a 100K bond. If convicted, she'll be a registered sex offender for life. Her boyfriend? He's probably getting pats on the back. Was it worth it?

*****

Earlier this week, we posted that our youth should be reminded always to follow the law. One local woman replied that this was a s**tty thing to say. 

This is what's wrong with rural Alabama.

(We used a photo of the alleged cafeteria worker with her husband that appeared in the Daily Mail. We understand that it has been removed, and we are removing it from this blog.)

"Hands Off" Protest in Florence on Saturday

 

There is to be a "Hands Off" protest in Florence on Saturday. Time and location? We haven't been able to determine that, but we advise avoiding major shopping areas.

While many groups are behind this protest, it appears that labor unions are the main supporters in Northwest Alabama. The protest has both good and bad points, so beware. We assume that the FPD will be monitoring the situation, but, as always, we advise a hard pass on these kinds of situations. Whatever you do, please don't drag any children into this mix.

*****

Billy Ray says something big is coming in two weeks concerning our Florence Police Department. We can hardly wait...

Billy Ray Simpson Asks If FPD Chief Holt Needs to be Fired

 

Billy Ray Simpson is running for mayor of Florence. For years, Mr. Simpson has called himself a "reverend," whatever that may mean. The term certainly isn't in the Bible. 

Then Simpson morphed into the Apostle Billy Ray. Does someone who doesn't know the meaning of the word "apostle" need to be elected to any city or other office?

At some recent point, Simpson began calling himself "Ambassador." We have no idea where this came from, but apparently it refers to the Florence Police Department. Perhaps it's because he knows the name of Martin Park?

Earlier this week, Simpson made a Facebook video criticizing the very department he professes to represent. He mentioned the possibility that some officers and even Chief Michael Holt needed to be fired. Obviously, Simpson knows more about the sad events at Southern Oaks Village than the police do...ahem.

We have two questions for Candidate Simpson:

1. Have you asked the Florence Police if the 13 year-old Colbert Heights student had any previous encounters with law enforcement in our city?

2. As for the 17 year-old being falsely incarcerated, are you not familiar with the law? Anyone taking part in a felony which results in a death may be charged with murder.

Simpson has twice run for mayor and once stood for the District 2 council seat. He lost all three races and he will lose this August. The sad thing is he's now sowing seeds of discord in the community with a false narrative. 

If he really wanted to help, he would ask the public to assist in finding any more youths who took part in the alleged triple-cross crime.

SOMETIMES IT REALLY DOES STINK

 

There were 3 main issues for discussion at the Florence city council meeting held on Tuesday, April 1st. And no this is not an April fool’s joke. Well, maybe just one. Look for it at the end.

Anyway, the first thing to get my attention was the last-minute addition of 2 agenda items pertaining to the tax abatements for Eugene Sak and his remodeling of the old Downtowner Motor Inn into a “ReVerb” hotel. At the last meeting he presented a rather complicated plan to somehow renew the amount of tax abatement he would get for the next 20 years if the hotel is built. This assessment may be wrong but honestly, I think that even the council did not know what was going on. Sak said he had petitioned the state of Alabama to get some kind of additional tax break from a new program toward the cost of construction. Sak stated he needed an answer by March 31st. As usual, Michele Eubanks was the one to catch the “inconsistency” and question why this was being put on the April 1st agenda at the last minute. One of Sak’s lawyers came to the podium and said that a few days would not count. Now anyway. City attorney Billy Musgrove tried to do some lawyerly clarification, but the explanation seemed lacking. Confused yet? That may be how it was planned. Anyway, Ms. Eubanks was the only no vote and Kaytrina Simmons abstained on immediate consideration. This tabled the item. If an agenda item comes before the council again by Sak, it takes it well past the “supposed” deadline. But look for another bite at the apple. After all, the snake did not give up the first time he tried to tempt Eve.

The second issue was brought up by David Carson in the citizen’s remarks section concerning the consent agenda items. For those unfamiliar with the city of Florence agenda, there are two sections of items. One is called consent where request from department heads and other payments such as reimbursement for trips by the mayor are listed. These require no discussion and are voted on together with a yea or nay vote. Then there are the regular agenda items. These are supposed to be either for non-budgeted items which involve a significant amount of taxpayer money or for zoning and other regulatory changes. But there have been times when a department head would request an agenda item which involved millions of taxpayer dollars, and it is placed on the consent agenda. It has never really been clear to me if this is by mistake or on purpose. This was the case with the $9+ million-dollar remodel of Veteran’s Park into a Tennis and Pickleball complex. These are usually caught by a councilperson or by an attentive citizen to the business of the city of Florence. Such as David Carson. He has been responsible for several multi-million-dollar items being moved from the consent agenda without discussion to the regular agenda with LOTS of discussion. Every now and then he finds one that slips under the radar. He did in this meeting. Item (k) on the consent agenda read as follows: Resolution to file a settlement of the liability claim filed against the city for property damage sustained at 2200 Berry Ave, Florence, Al, for an amount not to exceed $160,000, sponsored by Bill Musgrove. When it was time for remarks on agenda items David asked if a city dump truck ran into a house. Why the large amount? And why did some details of the liability claim not at least be presented somewhere in a resolution or even discussed in the meeting? With this Billy Musgrove just said it was attorney/ client privilege rules that apply but a follow up question from me would have been is not the defendant in this case to some extent be the taxpayer in the city of Florence? Mr. Carson’s question was never addressed by the city council.

Then we come to the malodorous part of the meeting. There has been a raw sewage leak in the 1100 block of Wood Ave at 7 points for several days now. I was first made aware of it on Facebook postings but smelled the odor myself firsthand when I went to Peck Hardware. Let me just put it this way, it was not the smell of jasmine in the air. There was an article in the Times Daily from Bernie Delinski in Saturday’s edition which I think captured the situation very well. The sewer pipe in that part of North Florence is at least 50 years old and made of clay. The city says the leak is not from the pipe but from a conduit that is linking the pipe to the 5 businesses in the block. The business owners, or at least those interviewed in the article, feel the city should take care of replacing the conduit or the feeder line. At the work session Tad Cole, department head of solid waste and recycle, says it cannot be fixed by the city without a special resolution. And that was how it was left at the meeting. There has been much discussion on social media concerning the city of Florence not updating the city sewer and drainage pipes. These past few days many jabs taken concerning this situation have been aimed at the city and particularly District 1 councilperson, Kaytrina P. Simmons. Some of them have seemed over the top. But some have been funny. One that was posted on April 1st seemed to be an April Fool's Day joke that said: “Kaytrina Simmons is running for her “TURD” term on the Florence City council.” I thought it was clever although kind of gross but evidently Kaytrina Simmons was not amused. She said she had been personally attacked when the time came in the meeting for remarks from the council were. Anyway, it seems the crap is in the streets even if it has not hit the fan yet. And it still stinks.

The Plot Thickens at Harlan Elementary

 

From an informed source:

and it continues....

Principal Casteel’s actions at Harlan have continued to raise serious concerns about misconduct, intimidation, and cover-ups. And of course Shaw and the rest of the Florence City School board is all about joining in to sweep this under the rug.

During an incident, Casteel physically interacted with an officer—an act that could and should have led to an arrest. all on school campus and in the hallways (camera footage anyone??)

Instead of supporting law enforcement, the principal attempted to take control, even trying to seize evidence from the officer.

A few days later, the principal sent a carefully crafted email to staff, seemingly meant to discourage future contact with anyone if it wasn't him. The timing raises serious questions: Was this an attempt to suppress reports and protect the school’s image over student safety? yet again.... 

This incident isn’t just administrative overreach—it’s about the safety of students, the integrity of the school, and whether the administration is actively suppressing crucial information. 

Who is the administration really protecting—the students or the school’s reputation?

This demands further investigation.