Part II in our series on Tony Logan:
As April 2007 came to a close, Deputy Chief Tony Logan's situation in Florence unexpectedly reversed. Police Chief Rick Singleton announced that Tony's problems with the department had been resolved and the veteran officer from Tuscumbia had been reinstated. Logan had not taken his dismissal lightly and had been on administrative pay during the three week period. Singleton refused to answer specific questions, but praised his deputy chief's performance while with the Florence Department. Neither did Logan's attorney Tim Case comment on the reasons for such a swift resolution to the situation. Surely, most saw Logan's quick reinstatement as an end to the matter, but that was not the case.
Less than a year later, Logan was in trouble with the Florence Department again, this time accused of allowing unlawful access to city police records. Singleton once more placed Tony Logan on paid administrative leave on February 6, 2008, and Logan, acting on advice of his attorney Tim Case and family members, stated one week later that the had chosen to resign rather than again face charges. The matter was investigated by the Alabama Bureau of Investigation, and Chief Singleton quickly announced there was also no illegal or criminal action involved in the second set of charges against his former Deputy Chief. Singleton immediately replaced Logan with Captain Tim Shaddix, another long-term department veteran.
After his resignation, Tony Logan announced he was happy the trials of the Florence Police Department were behind him. The now divorced Logan stated he planned to continue his work as an adjunct instructor at the University of North Alabama and to open his own consulting business, LAD. Logan also did not rule out his return to Florence Police if certain situations were to change. Whether the former Deputy Chief was referring to Chief Singleton or other matters is not clear, but it was not to be the city of Florence that called for Tony Logan.
Tomorrow: Tuscumbia needs a new police chief, or Tony meets Carol
Shoalanda 
Tuscumbia Police Chief Tony Logan spent 12 hours in the Florence-Lauderdale Detention Center, being released sometime after ten o'clock this morning. Immediately after his release, he requested a leave of absence of indeterminate length from the Tuscumbia department. Logan has been chief of the small Colbert County town for only a year, and now leaves the Tuscumbia Police Department again rudderless.
Ironically, Logan began his career in law enforcement in Tuscumbia in 1983. Two years later, Logan became part of the Florence Police Department were he once served as one of two Deputy Chiefs, even teaching law enforcement classes at the University of North Alabama. A 2003 article from the TimesDaily called Logan the most important man at the Florence Police Department; how Florence Chief Rick Singleton felt about this remark is anyone's guess.
Tony Logan and fellow Deputy Chief Pete Williford served without complaint until 2005 when a Florence businessman filed charges of police harassment against his family. Logan and Williford investigated the allegations and found them to be without merit. When the family took their complaints to the District Attorney's office, the Florence City Council became involved. While Logan and Williford's handling of the complaint was never officially censured, Chief Singleton announced the policy for investigating such complaints would be completely revised.
On April 1, 2007, Chief Singleton announced that Chief Deputy Tony Logan had been terminated. The press release took some by so much surprise that they assumed the story was an April Fool's prank. Singleton could not have been more serious.
While stipulating that Logan had not committed an illegal or criminal act (and we're not sure of any difference in the two), Singleton refused to further comment publicly on Logan's termination. Privately, Singleton is said to have stated the situation had been building for some time. Deputy Chief Tony Logan, while claiming surprise at his dismissal, immediately hired Florence attorney Tim Case to defend him before the Florence Civil Service Board.
Tomorrow: What Tony did next... (With apologies to Katie Price.)
Shoalanda
...
Since we have an identical computer-generated billboard on Woodward Avenue.
We understand the three anchors from this Mobile based NBC affiliate are taking the jumbled ad from late November with good humor, but that heads have already rolled at the station. Monroeville? Don't we know an "exonerated" rapist from that area?
Ah, well, time for a certain football game. Carry on...
What's up with this: Gov. Bob Riley by his own admission is involved in illegal gambling, yet has made a bet on the SEC Championship Game with the governor of Florida. Why has he not been called on the carpet, especially in light of his anti-gambling/bingo agenda? (Thanks to Greg Richardson of Florence for our today's What's Up.)
Shoalanda
Helen Howard, a 1979 graduate of the University of North Alabama, worked at Channel 31 in Huntsville for five years before going on to bigger and better projects. From 1980 until 1985, Helen was a familiar face to Shoals viewers, many of whom fondly remember her era of broadcasting in the Rocket City.
Now, Helen is returning to her roots. She has several projects lined up that will enable her to best use her degree and experience in Communications and Journalism.
It's the Shoals' loss that we no longer have a local television station. Perhaps some entrepreneur would be interested in starting one up now that the economy is on the mend. We think you now have the perfect person to manage it.
Speaking of: Not only does the Shoals lack its own television station, if any of us wish to watch Avatar at its best, someone needs to put a rush on that new IMAX.
Shoalanda
A number of years ago we read an article on shame in the United States. The exact title and name of author have long been lost in the cobwebs of our memory, but we vividly recall the article's premise. Today we're glad to stand in a public place and use vile language for all to hear, but we're ashamed that we carry an extra twenty pounds around the middle. We're happy to ostracize the penitent person who committed a victimless crime, but we laud those who have broken up multiple homes and bring endless heartache to innocent wives, husbands, and children. In short, our sense of shame is twisted.
We recently published a column entitled Guerra & Konig: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs. The theme of the blog was irony: One man who should have been successful in a tried and true business failed due to conditions beyond his control, while a second man made a success of an unorthodox endeavor against all odds. Now the former works for the latter.
A few of our faithful readers misunderstood the point of our article. Lest any doubt our admiration for such a man as Bernard Konig, let us offer this sad codicil. Last week, Brigitte J. Guerra filed for divorce from her husband Francisco, owner of Snowmasters and several other prosperous companies in the Lexington, Alabama, area. Bernard Konig remains married to the wife of his youth, continuing to be an example to us all. To paraphrase Bobby Bare, that makes him the winner.
What's up with this: Lauderdale Judge Jimmy Sandlin has obtained a $12,000.00 grant for his RAP program. Just think how much more he might have received had he thought of a longer acronym.
Shoalanda
First, we'll weigh in on Tiger Woods. (Well, why not? Everyone else has.) Considering the number of media reports on the golf champion's infamous auto accident of last Friday night, we're sure we missed a few. The problem is that all we've managed to read or hear have focused on the millions of dollars in endorsements that the super-star athlete will lose if rumors of his infidelity prove true. We have yet to encounter one that mentions the possibility of Woods losing his two children, of losing any love or respect they now or may ever have for him. Our priorities do say much about us, don't they?
That brings us closer to home. What do you see in the top right corner of this blog? Did you say a small black dot; if you did, we're sure you're in the majority. Anyone see the large expanse of white space in the square? Oh, now you see it, but the small black dot is still the focal point you say? That, gentle readers, is a morality lesson--sometimes lost on a small number of Killenites.
No matter how much good we do in life, we cannot erase the bad from either legal records or the public's memory. Maturity is great; everyone should try it. If we listen to those who are attempting to sell us the proverbial bill of goods, it can come upon a teenager very quickly. Fantastic. We're glad at least one among us has matured beyond his chronological age, but...big but here...that doesn't erase the black dot in his life.
Still, cheer up, young sir. We think with your dramatic flair for palaver that President Obama is certain to have a place for you in Washington. As Slick Willie would have said, "Playahs not only welcomed, but encouraged to apply."
Thanks to Stan Dean for the parable of the dot.
What's up with this: If you missed the Florence City Council meeting last night, be sure to read about it in today's TimesDaily. There are good points on both sides of the city v. county issue. Common ground has to be in there somewhere.
Shoalanda
Lera slammed down the phone, but she knew the Athens police had told her the truth--there was nothing they could do. In the kitchen, Lera's 30 year-old son Lew was throwing flatware onto the floor as he looked for a knife to kill his stepbrother; Lew was schizophrenic and had an IQ of 65.
Lera finally manged to calm Lew with promises of a new radio to replace the one his young stepbrother had broken, but what about next time? The Athens police were familiar with Lew, as were the Limestone County judges. Her oldest child had been committed before, but now there was no more room in the Decatur hospital where such patients were admitted. Lera was afraid that incarcerating Lew for twelve hours in the Athens City Jail would only worsen her son's condition, so she did nothing.
Lera has since passed away, and Lew lives in a group home where he receives the help and support he needs. No one knows what would have eventually happened if Lew had remained with his family in Athens...
Like Lew, Farron Barksdale was schizophrenic and familiar to the Athens Police Department. The basic difference between Lew and Farron was that the latter's intelligence fell within a normal range, and this made him even more dangerous. Apparently no one thought twice about selling Barksdale a gun, a gun that he used to kill two Athens police officers. No one was concerned that this known schizophrenic was left alone during the week to sit and brood in his mother's small west Athens home, a house ironically located only three blocks from the home of Lew's uncle.
Some have blamed Barksdale's mother Mary for allowing her son to live alone during the day, but perhaps she, like Lera, felt frustrated by the system. The same system eventually paid Mary Barksdale $750,000.00 in her son's death, while still denying all responsibility.
If one can believe the official autopsy reports, Barksdale died from hyperthermia (tempertures in his segregation cell in August reached 100 degrees) exacerbated by the three anti psychotic medications being administered by prison physicians. Currently, at least 18 anti psychotic medications bear a warning not to administer unless air conditioning is available during summer months. Why Kilby doctors ignored these warnings is beyond comprehension.
Now, the Barksdale family will return to court seeking more punitive damages--damages that will come from taxpayer dollars. All because state doctors didn't care, because the Barksdale family had grown too frustrated to act, because state judges and law enforcement authorities had too little power to commit a mentally ill man, because...because it might infringe on our freedoms?
The names of Lera and Lew have been changed.
What's up with this: Sarahpalooza--Palin for president; now that's a scary thought.
Shoalanda
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
