Special: Attorney Tim Case Suspended...Again

 

Florence attorney Tim Case was originally suspended from the practice of law in Alabama in 2005. He appealed the decision at that time, but the bar's decision was eventually upheld:

Now a second suspension has been enacted. Rumors are just that - unverified accounts of what may have been the impetus for the suspension. If more information is forthcoming, we will publish it.

Special: Florence Gunman Identified

 

Lauderdale Sheriff Joe Hamilton has identified the Florence Police Department shooter as Jackson Paul Jones of Florence. Jones was 33 and, according to his online bio, attended Central High School. Jones is survived by his wife, whom he married in 2017, and two young sons. 

Authorities have stated the officer who shot Jones has been placed on administrative leave, as is department policy, but no charges are anticipated. More information is expected to be released at a later date.

UNA Train Wreck Part I - Kitts

 

Kenneth Kitts, the president of the University of North Alabama and the man who attempted to steal Braly Stadium and the old Coffee High School property from the City of Florence, is not anyone for an honest person to emulate. Yet the university trustees fawn over the mop-top educator. 

The trustees have often commented the prexy is such an asset that he requires various bonuses. Does the average person know how much Kitts makes in a year?

Let's look at 2024...

How many of our readers, no matter their degrees, make even close to $600K annually? Don't forget the Kitts family mansion, mortgage and property tax free. What is wrong with this picture?

*****

Interestingly, the more money the City gives UNA, the more guarded and distant that institution becomes from the community. 

Tomorrow: Hidden crime.

Career Felon Arrested in Courtney Staggs Death Case

 

The body of missing Courtney Vivian Staggs remained unidentified for three years:

Courtney Vivian Staggs Death

Then in June of last year, forensics matched a body found in a Leighton field to the Florence woman. How did it get there?

Colbert County authorities this week have arrested Orlando Javier Whiteside, 57, in connection with the abuse of Staggs' corpse. Whiteside has a record of Domestic Violence, Theft, Drug Possession, and Drug Distribution dating back years.

It's also believed that Whiteside used Staggs' EBT card after her death. More charges could be forthcoming after an indictment. The career felon is also awaiting trial on various drug charges in Colbert County and remains in the jail at this time.

Sheffield Faces New Lawsuit

 

Yes, the City of Sheffield is being sued...again. If you're keeping count, this makes six lawsuits, or is it seven? The latest suit has been filed by VP of Muscle Shoals.

VP alleges that she was forced to remain in a cell with a backed up toilet, human waste on the floor, bed bugs, no mattress, and was then denied medical care for a wound which became infected. VP further alleges that she was later harassed by at least three Sheffield police officers who bullied her and threatened her life while she was working near the police station.

The injured woman's attorney is Bennett Pugh who is also handling suits against Inspiration Landing. VP is asking a total of $600,000.00. Perhaps the City needs to set up a GoFundMe page?

THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME (IN FLORENCE CITY HALL)

 

The special called meeting to discuss the plans for a new city hall building, 01/14, started a little differently. The seating arrangement did anyway. The chairs were not centered in the room in a circle. They were arranged around 3 tables pushed together in a square.  Well, sort of. The bottom line is: circle or square, this meeting ended in almost the same way it started. There were no firm plans for either the old parking deck or city hall building.  Maybe next time Kaytrina Simmons can have the group meet and sit in a triangle shape. 

They all did agree to stay under the $50 million dollars that had been borrowed to build a new city hall building. 

There was a new element in the mix: an annex building. On this, yours truly is truly confused. It was never fully explained, at least to me, whether they were talking about buying a lot and building a new annex building on it or they had a constructed building in mind. I think they were talking about buying a lot. It would cost anywhere from $2 million to $6 million.

With this, the discussion between Bill Griffin and Jimmy Oliver got a little heated. For Griffin, the $6 million figure was a proposal killer. Oliver acted like this upset  him. This exchange was enlightening and put Bill Griffin way up the register on my respect meter. 

Jackie Hendrix had done his due diligence regarding the city hall building and had an engineer inspect the building and assess that it would cost more to remodel than to demolish and build a new structure. He had gotten this done for free according to him. I give him props for that, but somehow though, he is tied up with the “annex” proposal. Another thread to unravel.  

The other point that is really unclear is what they plan to do with the property after they demolish the original parking deck. It seems nobody got an independent engineer to inspect it and the wrecking ball is in its future for sure it appears. But the other new point is now they are planning on tearing down one parking deck and building another? 

And even more confusing than this was the different figures that were being discussed. I did not receive a high enough grade in accounting to keep up with that and something tells me all but maybe one on the council didn’t either.

I truly do not know how to describe this meeting. Whether he gets kudos or not, the one who should be wearing the cape in this whole affair is David Carson. He hits every meeting, be it city council or one of the different committee meetings, and records every one of them for the citizens to see. He does not receive a dime for his work, does this on his spare time, and has stated he started doing it and continues to do it because he wants the citizens of  Florence to have transparency in their government. Just watching this meeting was enough for me. Sitting through it, he should have received some kind of reward. I am adding it to this blog posting below. If your eyes glaze over during the meeting, make sure to skip to the last 10 minutes or so. You will get a good look at the shape the City of Florence government is in.

Editor's Note: To us, the words between Mr. Oliver and Mr. Griffin couldn't compare in drama to Jivin' Jackie Hendrix being an arrogant ass to Council President Simmons. He needs to realize he's not speaking to the Big Dombrowski, but to his superior.

Are the Zurinsky Florence Districts Better?

 

River Zurinsky is a one-time candidate for the Florence City Council, as well as a current member of the Beautification Board. Mr. Zurinsky has created a version of the six Florence districts that many feel are a superior answer to this decennial problem. He has presented his vision for redistricting to the council, but will they actually consider his well thought-out plan? We should find out at the January 21st session.

The basics: