Look Before You Slap/Hit/Punch

The middle aged woman pulled the cord, stood up, and walked down the aisle of the cross-town bus. As she passed a man well known for his eccentric behavior toward women, she saw him rise and begin to follow her. Quickly she exited the bus and began the short walk to her home near Peabody College. Now she heard footsteps behind her, and they were gaining. Never a timid woman, she removed the umbrella from under her left arm and placed it firmly in her hand. The footsteps were right behind her now, and her heart was racing.

She felt a hand enclose her right arm and she quickly turned. Raising the umbrella in her left hand, she lashed out...and hit her husband in the head. Yes, it was her husband who had left work early and had walked to the bus stop to meet her. In her haste to avoid the local masher, she hadn't seen her partner of over 30 years...and he had the goose egg to prove it.

Does the above story have a moral for us today? Perhaps it should have one for Steve Glover. Cherokee Councilman Glover has been accused of assaulting 72 year-old Helen Waldrep after Monday night's meeting. According to J. J. Ray, Glover acted to protect himself--not knowing who had taken his arm. Now he faces an assault charge.

Elected officials in Cherokee aren't known for their genteel manners, so we aren't too surprised at the evening's events. After all it could have been Battlin' Betty who had decided he needed to be slapped...

*****

Stevens Hall contamination: How interesting that (in all probability) fake toxin was mailed to a member of the education or nursing faculty. Who would the culprit be? Very likely a disgruntled student who either was dismissed from the school of education or nursing, or who was denied admittance. In either case, it shows the admission standards currently in place are working.



Shoalanda

Special Report: Assault at Cherokee Council Meeting Tonight

The March meeting of the Cherokee Town Council was held tonight at 6:00 p.m. Here is a link to the agenda:

March 1, 2011 Council Meeting Agenda

Item 10 looks particularly intriguing; however, tonight's meeting will undoubtedly be remembered for its mayhem rather than the theft of firearms. Here's our report from C.R.:

Meeting Abruptly Ends

The Cherokee City Council Meeting had twenty one agenda items and the meeting ended with item eleven. This agenda item called for all employees to make a daily activity report. Councilman Steve Glover made a motion to make all city employees except the city clerk, file a daily activity report. At this point, citizens started to state their frustration with the council. Betty McKinney, the left hand puppet of Mignon Willis, told one citizen, he was not on the agenda and Mayor Lansdell informed McKinney, she was not on the agenda either and to shut up. The council tied to quiet the crowd but could not. Councilman Glover made a motion to end the meeting.

After the meeting a women in her seventies approached Councilman Glover. The women, Helen Waldrep, told Councilman Glover cutting the benefits to the employees was wrong. Councilman Glover pushed this poor lady twice and grabbed his wife like a rag doll and left the meeting in a mad tirade. Miss Waldrep filed a police report with the Colbert County Sheriff’s Department. About thirty minutes after finding out the women filed a report; Glover called the Colbert County Sheriff’s Department and filed a report also.

Something is in The Water

While Councilman Glover was pushing down old ladies, Betty McKinney had her fill with a citizen and told him she should just slap his face. The gentleman filed a police report for Harassment against McKinney with the Cherokee Police Department.

Not to be out done, Mignon Willis had a flash back and thought she was still mayor. Mignon told the Cherokee Police Chief that he failed in his duties to keep order in the room. The Police Chief Frank Reagan listened to Mignon and then gave her a verbal tongue lashing. Nothing bad was said, the chief just let Willis know who the real police chief in town was. If Mignon was not wasting the chief’s time he could have stopped Glover from pushing the seventy year old lady.

The City is Broke?

In the last council meeting, the employee’s benefits were cut because of a lack of money in the cities accounts. Fuel was taken away from the rescue squad and fire department. During this meeting the council voted to award a construction bid just over eleven thousand dollars to Paul Harper to remodel the old senior citizens building. What was funny the council was not going to ask for a contract to be signed. The council never asked if Paul Harper was bonded and insured. The council never asked Paul Harper did he have a Cherokee, county or state business license. The council never asked any of these important questions. Why do research, it just takes too long.

The mayor had to point that out to them. The council then rescinded its vote and then voted to let the city attorney handle the contract and find out about Harper’s insurance and bond.

When did the council vote to take a construction bid? It was never voted on or posted anywhere.

Agenda Item 15

The council never reached a vote on this item but spoke about it in the work session. It appears that the Cherokee City Council is planning on laying off a Cherokee City Sewer/Street Worker. They do not have money to pay workers benefits and have to lay off a worker but they have the money to remodel a broken down building. The council also talked about making the police officers work for straight time. If one officer works for 64 hours one week he will get just straight time pay. So much for federal laws.

Well, there you have it. We're glad C. R. walked away unscathed. Stay tuned--there's sure to be more--a great deal more.

Shoalanda

Cherokee Mayor's Family Heads to Circuit Court?

Most of us don't care if a person with a disability uses a standard (read: not modified for street use) golf cart to complete a journey of a few blocks any more than we care if a motorist is traveling 46 mph in a 45 mph zone. Apparently 72 year-old Betty McKinney, a resident of Forest Lane in Cherokee, does care if her neighbor Tina Lansdell uses such a cart on their suburban street. Why does McKinney object so vigorously and why does the 42 year-old Lansdell, wife of Mayor Chuck Lansdell, insist on continuing this illegal activity? At this point, we're not sure if even the participants in this ongoing legal battle remember their initial motivations.

Chuck Lansdell was first elected mayor of the small Colbert County town in 1992. After serving three terms, Lansdell decided that the part-time job was interfering with his care of wife Tina who suffers from Leber's Optic Neuropathy Plus. Besides blurred vision, this rare form of neuropathy also produces muscle weakness that is similar to that found in patients with Multiple Sclerosis.

From 2004 until 2008, Mignon Willis, a close friend of Betty McKinney, served as mayor of Cherokee, but chose not to run in the last election. While Mayor Lansdell has not publicly criticized Willis, he has stated his goal in returning to office was to unify the town. So far, he's batting zero.

When McKinney first complained of the use of the illegal cart last September, Chuck Lansdell was quick to label the charges as being politically motivated. The case first reached Cherokee Municipal Court in October 2009 when Tina Lansdell, Charlie Lansdell (the Lansdells' 16 year-old son also known as Char-Char) and Councilwoman Thelma Lambert pleaded not guilty. Judge Bill Marthaler finally heard the case earlier this month, after Cherokee Municipal Judge Chad Coker recused himself. Coker was appointed by former Mayor Willis and is currently seeking the office of Colbert County District Judge.

We haven't heard the official verdict on charges brought against Lambert, but Marthaler found Tina and Char-Char Lansdell guilty. Now, defense attorney Tim Case plans to appeal the verdict in Colbert County Circuit Court, ostensibly because the town of Cherokee has not officially adopted the Alabama state laws against such unmodified vehicles being allowed on public roads. Obviously, along with safety issues, the state seeks to force the owners of such carts to purchase licenses for their vehicles. In the eyes of the state, it's just as illegal to drive an unlicensed golf cart on public roadways as it is to drive an unlicensed Ford or Chevy.

Why do the Lansdells not simply pay their fine, modify their cart, and drive to their hearts' content? Why indeed? Most individuals would jump through hoops in order to avoid being tried in circuit court; yet the Lansdells are seeking to waste Colbert County tax dollars just to win a victory over Betty McKinney. Let's hope there are alternatives in the 2012 Cherokee mayor's race.


A rose by any other name: With Chuck, Charlie, and Char-Char, someone has to be named Charles somewhere...

Shoalanda

Battlin' Betty Belts Tyrannical Tina? Or Was It the Other Way Around?

Let us return now to that idyllic town of Cherokee. No, wait, that was Camelot. Cherokee is hardly idyllic; in fact, it's hardly a town, but more of a group of motley miscreants attempting to win their own reality show.

First, let us consider Mayor Chuck Lansdell, pictured at right. Look closely and you, dear readers, will note that Lansdell is a man in uniform. That's right--he's also the town's fire chief. How he governs himself is a question worthy of any ethics class final, not to mention those worrisome words--double dipping.

It seems that Lansdell's wife Tina suffers from Multiple Sclerosis, a debilitating disease, but also an ailment that often goes into remission. In other words, your best friend may suffer from this condition without your ever knowing about it. The gravity of Tina Lansdell's condition has been debated, but in recent years she has taken to riding up and down her narrow suburban street in a neighbor's golf cart--an illegal action similar to riding on a public street in a four-wheeler and dangerous to both her and her driver.

Enter Betty McKinney, a neighbor and critic of Mayor Lansdell. McKinney reported Mrs. Lansdell's illegal activities to the authorities and brought the small town of Cherokee more publicity of a type the rural community didn't need. Now, Tina Lansdell, who is apparently in a state of remission, has accused McKinney of attacking her after a town council meeting. McKinney has countered that Mrs. Lansdell called her a bitch, claiming her only action was to touch her detractor's arm while chastising her for such unladylike behavior in public. Both women agree that at some point the Lansdell's sixteen year-old son joined in the melee, attacking McKinney and receiving some injuries of his own. All three were treated and released at local hospitals.

Betty McKinney has retained Tuscumbia attorney Billy Underwood, who has called Tina Lansdell "potty mouthed." We agree that it is best for the mayor's wife to describe her enemies in the privacy of her own home, but using the b-word in public may not qualify in 2010 as potty-mouthed.

Chuck Lansdell has so far not commented. Regular readers will remember that Lansdell was partially responsible for the hiring of Paige McWilliams as the town's librarian. Mrs. McWilliams is currently under indictment for theft and forgery, and the town clerk has faced questions as to her supposedly blindly notarizing a document for McWilliams that has not as yet been identified, but was worthy of Lansdell and the town suing the former librarian for 40K.

Who needs the real housewives of Washington, D.C., when we can have the real shrews of Cherokee, Alabama?


For more on Cherokee and Mayor Lansdell: Link

Shoalanda