Smoking in Sheffield & Random Thoughts

Smoking in Sheffield and Random Thoughts

By: The Midnight Rider

Today my sons and I were riding the back 40 acres checking on the herd. You know my sons, Easy Rider, Cool Rider and Circuit Rider. My Dad was with us, Ole Ghost Rider, himself. We even had our dog, Festus with us. Anyway, we decided to take a break and grab some lunch. Stopping at a small restaurant in the County, we sat down for a meal.

While waiting for our food, my youngest son, Cool Rider, said “Dad, you might want to read this” as he handed me a copy of the Times Daily. I read an article about the banning of smoking in the City of Sheffield. That got me thinking.

First of all, let me start off by saying I don’t smoke. I think it is a nasty habit. However, I believe that there is a bigger issue here. The last I checked, this Great Nation of ours was built on Freedom. I believe that the Sheffield City Council has overstepped its bounds with this City Ordinance. I think they are infringing on the Rights of Citizens.

Let’s look at this scenario. I own a business such as a restaurant in the City of Sheffield. 65% of my clientele come to my business because they can smoke. The City pulls this City Ordinance and I lose 65% of my customers because they go to another City that allows smoking. So do I send the Bill of my losses to the City Council since they started this problem? No, probably what I would do is pull up my business and move it to say Tuscumbia which is actively recruiting business. So in the end, the City of Sheffield has lost another business, which seems to be a growing trend. At least two members of the City Council had the sense to vote no to this City Ordinance.

My thought is this is an infringement of my Rights. Again, I don’t smoke, but I still feel the same way. So, how are they going to enforce this? Are the Police officers going to write tickets? Oh, that’s right, they can’t keep police officers in at Sheffield. I bet the police officers are real enthused about having to write tickets for smoking. That’s going to go a long way on Community Relations.

So this brings me to my first random thought. I wonder if there will be a variance for Inspiration Landing on the smoking ordinance. We know that Inspiration Landing is going to bring all this tax revenue in, because that’s what we have been told. But alas, the Inspiration Landing Fiasco, which should have opened this year still hasn’t broke ground.

Just another reason for people not to come to the City of Sheffield

Random Thoughts

-UNA Graduation. UNA was going to limit attendance by giving out tickets. From my understanding, there was an uproar from parents. How many thousands of dollars has these parents spent at the University to get their child’s education? I know that if I was graduating from UNA, I would want my whole family there including my dog, Festus. So the University decided to have three Graduation ceremonies. Was it because of their understanding of the need or the fear of a mutiny uprising of the parents?

-It will not be long before the new Hospital will be opening in Florence. Will Shoals and Keller Hospital feel the loss of patients?

-There seems to be a rash of missing teens lately. What has changed in our Society that this is happening?

-It's Halloween month. The Cities of Tuscumbia and Sheffield are having Trunk or Treat events for the kiddos. Support these events if you have children.

-Street Paving. There has been some grumbling at the street paving project in Tuscumbia. I spoke to an inside source who told me the money is there, they are trying to figure out a plan to maximize the paving of streets. Be patient, it's coming.

Well the Family has to go back to work and Festus has to go outside and potty. On a side note, I have been using the same photo at the end of my articles for years. I figured it was time to get a new one. What do you think?

I am and always will be, the Midnight Rider...

While we really like the Rider's new logo, we thought considering the season, we'll give him a second one. While both riders are legend, the one below has been legendary for just a little longer...over 200 years longer.