We're Going to Buy Lottery Tickets!

Why would we purchases lottery tickets? We must be clairvoyant! It seems that Robert Palmer, late of the TimesDaily, did go to work for Libby Jordan at the Rosenbaum home. So if you write something positive about the Jordan family, you too may be next in line for a job with the City of Florence.

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Apologies to the "Full Time Tuscumbian" for not publishing his rebuttal to our Midnight Rider. We were unable to transfer his document to Blogger, but rest assured that it's coming.

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Speaking of Tuscumbia, we've had some more reports of problems at Spring Park. If you have pics of any dangerous/antiquated equipment, send them to us.

Where Is Robert Palmer? Did Gun Control Do Him In?

Robert Palmer has written for the TimesDaily for a number of years. So where is he?

Recently we received some complaints on the TotallyDecatur not covering the problems at the Florence Animal Shelter. Several mentioned seeing Bernie Delinski at a council meeting, but never reading about the proceedings. Wait...Bernie Delinski? Wasn't this Robert Palmer's territory?

We did a quick check and his last published article was an editorial from March 4th. The editorial was critical of some efforts to counter gun control. Did local, or even non-local, NRA members protest? Of was it just a case of Palmer getting a better offer?

Is he now a toadie, er, roadie for a well-known Shoals rock family whom he helped immortalize in print at the TD? Or writing the bios of that Florence political dynasty he insisted was real? Or did the New York Times call? Or does anyone really care...except for the gun control angle that is?

TD Writers & Legislators...Not Too Bright

How hard is it to read a street sign? We’re guessing for the TimesDaily’s Jennifer Edwards and Robert Palmer, it’s pretty difficult. Twice in the past month, Irvine Avenue, one of Florence’s oldest thoroughfares, has been called a street. We’ll give Palmer his due, he did correct his error in the third article about a proposed round-a-bout. If such a simple concept of street v. avenue eludes these writers, how are we to expect them to convey the intricacies of bond issues and similar financial dealings? 

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In case you’re wondering, we don’t know of anyone who blogs here who supports the medical termination of pregnancy as a method of birth control. We do support implementing some common sense in our legislature.

According to the TimesDaily: "There will also be a bill protecting medical personnel from being forced to perform abortion procedures that violate their moral beliefs."

So, when’s the last time you read of anyone putting a gun to anyone’s head to make them participate in such a procedure? If a person accepts a job at what’s commonly called an abortion clinic, just what do these people think goes on there?

We were hoping that the upcoming legislative session would focus on a budget, new infrastructure, little things like that. Guess not…

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From 20 to six, here’s the short list of candidates to replace Alabama senator Jeff Sessions:

Congressman Robert Aderholt, Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange, head of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs Jim Byard, State Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh (R- Anniston), Rep. Connie Rowe (R- Jasper), and former Montgomery-area state lawmaker Perry Hooper Jr.

A final selection could come as early as Monday. Smart money is, unfortunately, on Strange. Note that none of them is from extreme north Alabama. What? You’re not surprised?

Angel Trees, Red Hair, & Nebulous Hospitals

A reader has informed us that Florence Mall will no longer allow the Salvation Army angel trees to be erected in the mall. Apparently they are allowing no charitable endeavors to establish any kind of base or event there.

This seems extremely draconian to us; however, we know that some years ago a Lauderdale County probate judge established the same rules for the courthouse. We're not sure who the new mall manager is, but we do welcome input from anyone connected to what was once Regency Square.

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It seems that a Muscle Shoals student has become disinterested in school since she may no longer sport red hair. This could be a good thing; the young lady can work her way through college as a sports referee. Do you think the word the TimesDaily education writer was seeking was uninterested?

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Ah, the TD will also be the subject of this topic. Robert Palmer recently wrote an article on a second microbrewery to locate in Florence--East Florence to be exact. Palmer first mentioned the proposed Entertainment District. The title is actually Arts & Entertainment District, and it's been official for some time. That doesn't mean that it won't be slow going or that our city council may not repeal their previous actions. We're pretty sure the owner of the Sweetwater Depot was not happy with Palmer's wording.

However, that is not why we're addressing Palmer's pitiful prose. He went on to say that much depended on if the new hospital is built. We have news for Palmer: Barring an ISIS terrorist attack on the Lauderale County seat or an unforeseen RegionalCare bankruptcy, the hospital will be built. We assume the word "if" was used to appease a few readers in Colbert County, but he scored no boy scout  badges with his wording on the Lauderdale side of the river.

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We're going to be addressing three ethics issues that our readers have brought up. These issues are unknown territory to us, so if any readers have expertise in these matters, we look forward to your educated comments. Note: That's "educated," not comments that suggest no one cares about ethics in local/state government or that we're picking on people unfairly.



Shoalanda

Who Will Stand Up For Alabamians?

It's nice to win awards. They make us feel good about ourselves and our work. They let others know we're special. Yet sometimes the awards we win say a great deal about us. We hear of frat boys winning drinking contests or of young women winning wet tee-shirt contests, and most of us don't think they've won anything of particular value. In fact, most of us probably think the winners should be ashamed to have participated in such a contest.

Today's TimesDaily lauded Scott Morris and Robert Palmer for a series of articles they wrote on, or perhaps we should say against, Alabama's HB156. It seems these two journalists have won the 2012 Carmage Wall Award. Who was Carmage Wall? We checked Wikipedia, and Mr. Wall so far has no entry in his name. Other sites tell us that Mr. Wall was a journalist whose career spanned seven decades; he fought for the rights of others--altogether a good thing as long as the rights of still others aren't trampled in the process.

The article didn't mention that along with the plaques honoring Morris and Palmer will come a thousand dollar prize. We imagine the two will split it 75/25...or perhaps the Wall family will be generous and offer each gentleman 1K.

But now we have to ask: Who will stand up for Alabamians? Who will put the needs of legal citizens first? We advocated dipping into the state's trust fund in order to keep Alabamians working. As long as such financial voodoo hoodoo is necessary in this state, we have no reason...or right...to advocate for illegal immigrants.

We're happy to publish opposing views of anyone who doesn't think Alabamians should come first.

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Shoalanda