Brooks, Arc, & Child Molesters: We Aren't Doing Our Job!

We plan to have more on the termination of Muscle Shoals baseball coach Jonathan Knight in the next few days. For now, let's look at Brooks school in Killen. A teacher, who has been named in many online sites, has been accused of mental, emotional, and physical abuse. The current charge against this teacher involves some chemical damage to a child.

No, it should not have happened. Yet, we understand this woman has been reported over the years and nothing done. Now the parent of the injured child has reported the matter to DHR. We have absolutely no idea if this state department will help or not. Has anyone ever reported the woman to the Killen Police? Assault is assault. Police have to follow through on all reports. Let's hope now that the "Facebook Police" are on the case, this woman, if guilty, is barred from teaching in Alabama.

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Our parks, at least some of them, have been threatened. Now much of the mental health system is in peril of reducing or even eliminating services. Arc in Lauderdale and Colbert Counties has been extremely verbal about their shortfalls. Make no mistake, Arc has numerous programs, but just to the south in Franklin County, we have the Sarah Dinsmore Center. There may be, and probably are, other programs run by the Franklin Arc, but the Dinsmore Center in Red Bay is certainly the most well known.

We asked the parents of one Dinsmore client how the center was faring financially. The reply was no problems had been reported to them. Does Franklin Arc have better financial management or simply fewer clients? There are currently 29 chapters of Arc covering 67 counties. Why do some fare so much better than others financially? We usually support less centralization, but at least some overall auditing of finances might reduce some local Arc problems.

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Our friends at The Quad-Cities Daily dropped quite a bombshell in their article on Florence businessman Kneeland Hibbett Jr. yesterday. In case you missed it:

Kneeland Hibbett Arrest

This article (be sure to read to the end) leaves many questions unanswered, but it certainly is thought provoking. Apparently this was not a one time incident. Someone in Baldwin County was prepared to make this arrest, but more importantly, Hibbett was monitored in some very sophisticated manner after his first release. We're sure there will be more to follow.

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What do these three separate news items have in common? We're not doing enough to protect our children. There's no simple answer. We live in an age where child molesters expect us to support them. Black is white and vice versa. Don't rely on others to protect your child. We hope they do, but in the end, it's your responsibility.



Shoalanda

Russellville Killers/Math Challenged at Arc?

If you missed it, Jason Dewayne Green was sentenced earlier today to 19 years for the shooting death of Shay Ledlow.

Green Cops a Plea

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Hershel Graham, the killer of Red Bay husband and father David Andrasik, has finally made it out of the Kilby Infirmary where he had been held for weeks. He is now in general receiving at Kilby and should be transferred to his permanent location soon.

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Arc and mental health programs? We support these tax-funded programs 100%, or at least usually do. We realize some funds from city, county, and state revenue are ear-marked and just can't be handed out in any direction. After all, the world also seems to need more plazas with fountains and bell towers (insert Charlie Whitman joke here.)

What would Arc do if funding is cut? We hope it doesn't have to find out, but we also have quite a bone to pick with Murray Townsend, state and local Arc board member. He recently stated:

The mental health funding rates have increased by 4 percent in the past 15 years, while in the same time period the rate of inflation has been 41 percent.

Really? 41%? Just how did you come up with that figure, Mr. Townsend? We're going to say that after checking, the highest rate mentioned by any watchdog site was 36%. That was somewhat higher than we had anticipated. So, Townsend just fudged by 5%? Or is Arc not getting enough bang for its buck. Plus, the 36% is an average that includes everything from a gallon of milk to a Cadillac to a McMansion. 

In other words, some items purchased by Arc might have even gone down in price over the last 15 years; in fact these staples would not be subject to the same inflation found in the automotive or construction world. Not only that, the rate of inflation also includes precious metals; we sincerely hope that Arc is not indulging in those purchases.

Here's a very thorough article that compares inflation between 1999 and 2009:

10 Years of Inflation

We have always supported Arc in the past (and still do--just not some of its leadership at this point), but somehow we're sure those Minnesota orphans are looking better by the moment to many. Much more attractive confabulation...

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It can be said that Percy Sledge put Muscle Shoals on the map...or not. No matter, no history of Shoals music is complete without several paragraphs related to Sledge and his greatest hit, "When a Man Loves a Woman." 

Don't miss our friend Dino's tribute to Sledge: Percy Sledge

Was his signature song one of the greatest love songs in history? Another friend is doing a guest blog on that, but in the mean time, here's one sent personally from Shoalanda:

Shoalanda