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District 1 needs help. No one is denying that. Going backward to Dave Smith (who ideally should represent the Do Nothing Party) is not the answer. Is electing newcomer Stephanie Harvey? No, not when we can reelect Kaytrina Simmons.
Miss Simmons is always there when asked for help. It's impossible to get everything done, but Miss Simmons does her best - which is a lot. We wholeheartedly endorse her for another term on the Florence City Council.
(We hope a place can be found where Ms. Harvey can assist the council and boards. We believe she has a future with the City.)
Those 29 spaniel, poodle, etc. mixes are not quite available for adoption, but Lauderdale County District Attorney Chris Connolly is working on it. He's filed a civil suit against Teresa Counce and Steven Reynolds who were breeding the dogs.
What you can do is foster. Here's a link to the application...and good luck!
Several years ago, John Elkington let the domain name inspirationlanding.com expire. There was no reason given, but this lapse came to light just as the Sheffield office for the land development was closing. A few local wags suggested they should purchase the domain name - perhaps even host something using the name. The name is still up for grabs if anyone wants it. The current price on GoDaddy is $1,988.00.
At that point, it should have been obvious that Elkington wasn't going to complete his end of the bargain to build a mixed-use development at Furnace Hill. Oh, well, as Steve Stanley says, it's only the taxpayers' money.
Fairhope city councilman did a similar thing. After the 2020 election, Jack Burrell let his website JackForFairhope.com expire. Then this year, he reused some campaign designs which featured the web address - only to be told by some of the town's electorate that it now sent voters to a site called "Drag Story Hour." It seems Councilman Burrell and the Drag Story individuals had been at war over Fairhope library content.
1819 News picked up the story and used the word "hacked" in one paragraph:
On July 23rd, our mailbox began to receive some interesting queries about former Lexington High principal Todd Davis. It seems he had been arrested in Florence on a DUI charge.
You may remember that Davis' tenure as principal at Lexinton was short-lived due to two incidents, one in which he had to be escorted from the school's prom by the then superintendent. Since leaving Lexington, Davis has had quite a job trip around the state, changing locations approximately every two years.
He's currently the assistant principal and basketball coach at West Blocton High, but it's his previous position that's interesting. He's being sued along with the Montgomery Board of Education for sex discrimination in a complaint from December 2023. If you remember, he's been accused of similar actions before.
We'll update on the lawsuit when more information is available.
Home Stratosphere isn't one of those news sites which often gives subjective rankings of various towns, but a site that purports to help one purchase real estate. It's now ranked North Alabama towns on their claim to seclusion, and our area has made four entries out of 25.
Three towns come from Lawrence County: Moulton, Courtland, and Town Creek. The fourth? Lexington.
It's difficult to fathom how it left out Waterloo.
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Sheffield needs help now. We'll be polite enough that we won't say what Steve Stanley needs. (He actually has the cajones to run?)
We believe Penny Freeman is the person to turn Sheffield around. She now becomes the second of our endorsed mayoral candidates for the August 26th election:
We recently spoke to someone who works outside for approximately 50% of his day. He said he was "making it."
Tuesday and Wednesday should be the worst for us. If you feel like you're not "making it," please find a shady spot and slowly drink some cool - not cold - water. If you can't stand water, drink your non-alcoholic beverage of choice slowly.
If all else fails, move to Greenland; it may soon be the 51st state.
District 3 in Florence has been totally redrawn for this election cycle. It's become more diverse and even more in need of someone who will represent the people - not pander to their cronies.
Standing for this office is current mayor Andy Betterton and political newcomers Cory Richardson and Alisa Dickson. Betterton and his foul-mouthed wife have constantly disparaged the "Animal Army" and anything to do with animal welfare. That alone should disqualify him from this office, but if that isn't enough, his delegation of authority when there's a dirty job to be done should finish him off.
As for Mr. Richardson? We love that the made a video in front of E.F. Martin Park:
While we appreciate Cory's civic enthusiasm, we believe he comes in second in political savvy to his opponent Alisa Dickson.
Alisa promises to bring an air of caring and finesse to the council. We invite you to check her out: Alisa Dickson.
*****
The Martin Park dedication plaque appears to need cleaning. We suggest Florence Police officer Luke Green for the job.
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...or 31 days, if you live in an incorporated town/city, you will be allowed to vote on who leads you. Think carefully about your selections.
The only endorsement that we have made so far is Billy Hudson for mayor of Muscle Shoals. In the days to come, we'll be making more in Florence, Sheffield, Tuscumbia, Muscle Shoals, and Killen. It will be a very interesting election.
Eric Wayne Boyd died five months ago on February 23rd. If you're wondering how you missed it in the TimesDaily, it wasn't there...or in any other news source with the exception of Blunt Force Media, a small independent news organization dedicated to prison reform.
When Eric's younger brother Nathan passed away in December 2021, the Alabama Department of Corrections simply announced that his death wasn't suspicious or a suicide. Many's first thoughts were a natural death brought about from less than ideal health care, but an autopsy by the ADOC suddenly reversed course and pronounced it a suicide.
Nathan was the admitted murderer of Florence restaurateur Danny Sledge who had also accused his older brother Eric. The then 19 year-old Eric had always denied his guilt and was sentenced to Life with Possibility of Parole since no physical evidence tied him to the scene.
Eric was last up for parole in August 2024, but had been put off until 2029. The ADOC stated at the time of his death, Eric was in protective custody in St. Clair Correctional Facility in a private cell and was regularly checked on. Was Eric despondent over his parole denial or hopeful that an attorney from an innocence project was looking at his case, becoming the object of hate by an inmate not as lucky?
Unfortunately, the ADOC ruled Eric's death a suicide as they had his brother's. It was an expedient ruling for a system where more than one inmate a month dies at the hand of a fellow inmate or person unknown.
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Was Muscle Shoals mayor Mike Lockhart proved a liar at the Tuesday council meeting? According to several, he was. Why didn't the TimesDaily cover the story? Interesting question isn't it.
Attorney Billy Underwood (pictured) is suing the city over flooding and other issues. If questions from regular citizens fail to get answers, a lawsuit should succeed.
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Original photo used was identified in Max Preps as Phinizee. Changed out at 5:30.
His name has now been released: Cameron Leonard Phinizee. He had enough sports accolades to sink the Titanic. Yet he threw his future away.
Phinizee has been indicted for Felony Murder. We have to ask why not Capital Murder since the crime he planned cost Ryland Calvert his life.
Will he attempt to get youthful offender? Undoubtedly. Will he get it? We're doubtful.
If you feel too sorry for Cam, just remember the Calvert family.
This is the third in a series of articles from inside the Muscle Shoals street department. These are opinions of the author, and all questions will be forwarded to him:
Butch Fleming, aka (“Flimsy”), is the department head for the Muscle Shoals Public Works Department. This department is in charge of ALL the city’s curbside drainage, water runoff drainage, right-of way drainage, drainage piping, etc. Butch is in charge of listening to the residents' critical requests to remove/redirect damaging floodwaters from all roadside areas. He then is SUPPOSED to budget, plan, and execute these critical aspects of being a Department Leader. But instead, he hides, isolated in his red “She Shed Office”, to avoid public adversity. We believe he is still deeply upset about Lockhart denying his request to obtain 480 hours of “Comp Time”. All essential workers for the City, (Police, Fireman, Park/Recreational employees, and Golf course employees) can retire with 480 hours of comp time, which is paid out in a lump sum retirement. Butch can only retire with 240 hours. Remember Flimsy, running around crying about your Comp time hours doesn’t help fix the taxpayer’s flooding issues. Over the past few years, Butch has been observed running to a particular Tuscumbia lawyer, crying about how sorry Lockhart is, and babbling about all his issues with the current administration. If any public citizen has spoken to him about having drainage issues resolved in the past 5 years, please feel free to contact us so we can stand corrected. Flimsy and Lockhard are best known for hiding behind closed doors, avoiding contact with the general public. Always remember folks, “Like Father Like Son”…
God Bless the poor souls who have been given the sad opportunity to converse with the Public Works assistant director Ryan Kennedy, aka “Tipsy”. His father, who is a retired assistant Fire chief for Muscle Shoals, helped the poor kid rise to the top. Ryan is best known for his contributions to our local Mexican restaurant’s margarita nights, using his city truck as a cheap taxi. He has been spotted on multiple occasions leaving liquor stores after work in his unmarked city truck. When Ryan isn’t at the Mexican restaurants, or at the liquor stores, he is busy working on the clock to investigate city employees calling out with sick leave, stalking each call out’s house to ensure that they stay home, or risk being written up the following day. Talk about a privileged “Daddy’s Boy” with Stalker vibes. He is supposed to direct the Street Departments crew to install/maintain water runoff pipes on city right of ways. Under his poor leadership, you will NEVER see any Street Employee doing preventative maintenance on any of these pipes. In turn, causing blockages in most pipes leading to FLOODING across most areas in this city when down pours occur. Causing wrecks, risking the safety of motor traffic, and potentially leading to fatalities. Also, 1 of the 4 Street Department’s Equipment Operators,
Street Department employee Heath Willis is busy getting tips from Gina Clark(Muscle Shoals Realtor, and current City Council-woman), about Muscle Shoals house foreclosures. TOTALLY ILLEGAL AND ABUSE OF POWER FOR PERSONAL GAIN!!! His family then buys these foreclosures and renovates them. He “guts the houses”, leaving massive piles of curbside pickup garbage. During the slow work schedules, Heath gets permission from Ryan or Butch to use city backhoes to dig up bushes/trees on his newly acquired foreclosed houses. He sets materials out for city pick up that aren’t supposed to be picked up by the Brush Trucks (outside building materials). He tells Butch where the large piles from the gutted house are and Butch directs the Sanitation crew to pick those piles up as "specials" so no questions are asked. This is done on Fridays when most of the men in that department are not working due to the 4 day/10 hours work schedules. Once he flips the property, he then shares the profit with his informant, City Council-Women GINA CLARK. Talk about disgraceful.
Now “Flimsy and Tipsy’s” main objectives as public servants is to work together to redirect all this water runoff from the streets to the retention ponds. The Retention Ponds Director is Ken Grissom, aka “Water Boy”, who is in charge of REMOVING THE WATER from the retention ponds, and redirecting it to the river. The reason these retention ponds hold large amounts of water, for extended periods of time after large rains, is because Water Boy doesn’t instruct his men to perform preventative maintenance on the retention pond’s “discharge pumps”. If any resident rides by any of these retention ponds, notice how much garbage lies around in them. And notice how rusty all these pumps are at the bottom of the ponds that need replacing. After years of abuse, and incorrect water flow pump engineering, they simply can’t handle the amount of rainfall Muscle Shoals receives. Muscle Shoals needs newer, larger, cleaner pumps to accommodate this discerning issue.
It's simple folks, Butch and Ryan are in charge of getting the water off the streets and out of people’s yards, while redirecting it to the retention ponds. Ken then takes this water from the ponds, and pushes it out of the city to the river. Instead of using the taxpayers money for updated “water drainage infrastructure”, Lockhart would rather give MILLIONS to payoff Beacon Point lawsuits, MILLIONS to his part time city engineer buddy/business owner overseeing the solar farm, and MILLIONS to a team of “project managers” overseeing a project that can never be paid back fully by the taxpayer. If the current Mayor, Department Leaders, and City Council remain in office to much longer, Muscle Shoals will be the epitome of the YellowHammer State’s sorriest cities…Mic Drop!
It is six months until qualifying for the 2026 state elections officially ends. Any number of candidates might come forward to announce before January 23rd.
These candidates could be Republican, Democratic, Independent, or even the ghost of Ronald Reagan. It's not going to matter to ALFA. That group of scalawags has already made its choice.
Yes, on Thursday, ALFA officially endorsed current U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville for our next governor. Tuberville was naive enough to admit he had met privately with the lowlifes from ALFA. What promises were made is anyone's guess.
Isn't it time to toss ALFA in the dustbin with AEA?
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Florence mayor? You have multiple choices. Sheffield and Tuscumbia? Ditto. But what about Muscle Shoals?
With slightly over one month until the mayoral elections in the Quad-Cities, it's time for choices. It should be extremely easy in Muscle Shoals.
Do you want four more years of spend, spend, spend, with a dose of "the money doesn't really belong to the taxpayers?" Or do you want a viable alternative?
The only alternative is Billy Hudson. You may not support him on every issue, but he's certainly much preferable to Mikey Lockhard and his sidekick Britony Walrus.
Vote Billy Hudson on August 26th!
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There are currently several reasons that nearby residents to the Cotton Flats area are opposed to the new solar farm supposedly being built adjacent to Highway 43. All have merit save one: Visual pollution.
Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder; however, we can't say that a cotton field is superior to a solar farm in looks. No matter, if the owners desire to construct the farm in a county without home rule, there's not much that can be done.
We do question the proposed combined sheep farm. The owners do understand that Colbert doesn't exert any kind of animal control, don't they? Let's hope the sheep know self-defense.
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