Who's Paying to Elect Roy Moore?

We're constantly hearing that Washington interests are financially supporting Luther Strange's bid to become Alabama's junior state senator. This may fall under the heading of supporting a known entity (evil) or it may be something more sinister...or it could be very few want to attempt to work with Roy Moore. So who's supporting Moore?

Here's a comprehensive list: Moore Donations

Any surprises? Not that we can see as far as individual donors; remember some business entities donate to each candidate in a race in an attempt to hedge their bets. We are surprised by the number of property management firms and related businesses. No, we have no idea what that might be about.

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Here's another little article about Roy Moore's previous behavior:

Copyrighting the Ten Commandments

This particular investigative piece offers more information than any we have yet read. Now we have to ask if the 7,000.00 removal fee was taken from Roy Moore's salary before he was chucked. 

If you're considering voting from Roy Moore, who pretends to love the law so much, why did he attempt to copyright something in free domain? Did he really hope to sell miniatures to finance future campaigns...or does he simply love his own name so much that he wanted to see it on a monument before he passed to his reward?

And if he does stand for the Constitution, why were no words from that pivotal document included in his infamous granite monument?

Inspiration Landing LLC Administrative Revocation in Tennessee

First we wish to thank a reader for sending us this. While it might take an attorney practicing in corporate law to understand all the nuances of the situation, it should still be very interesting to those keeping track of John Elkington's Inspiration Landing project.

1. In late 2015, John Elkington filed for an LLC under the name Inspiration Landing in both Alabama and Tennessee.

2. The Alabama LLC remains extant, while the Tennessee company does not.

3. The Tennessee LLC was "administratively removed" after one year in late 2016.

Are any of these facts important to those who support Elkington's Inspiration Landing project? It would seem it's very common to incorporate in all states in which one seeks to do business, so Elkington also incorporating in his home state of Tennessee seems prudent.

Now we come to the "administratively removed." We had no idea what that phrase actually meant and assumed Elkington asked for the LLC to be disbanded. No, we couldn't have been more wrong in our educated guess. It means that the State of Tennessee cancelled the LLC after one year. Another educated guess is that, since it was active for a period of 12 months, it was cancelled when Elkington didn't seek renewal or pay renewal fees.

Why wouldn't John Elkington wish to do business in his home state of Tennessee? We seem to have more questions than answers, but one possible rationale is that the Memphis property guru isn't seeking investors from Tennessee...where they know him best.

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A minor update on our bank sale blog. Several readers thought we might have been referring to the sale of First Southern a few months ago. No, this is a rumored sale that has not come to fruition. The interesting thing is that of those who commented on the correct bank all mentioned the continued downsizing in staff, offices, and customer service.

Customer service? How hard is it to be polite to someone who's throwing their money at you? 

Second Opinions on "Tuscumbia Landing"

First, short and sweet:

Bob Perry is not the spokesperson for Tuscumbia Landing nor Inspiration Landing.  I'm not sure where you got the misinformation from. Bob has distanced from the project that Sheffield decided to proceed with.

We took the information from a 2015 TD article. Obviously, since there is some conflict here, the TD would never update it and cause any readers to reflect on what's really going on.

Now some more pithy remarks:

Why should Tuscumbia have anything to do with "Tuscumbia Landing" since it's located in Sheffield? Is that town trying to create an overflow? Steal the glory from Sheffield? No wonder (Ian) Sanford didn't participate in any meetings with Hoskin and Underwood.

I doubt it gets much farther, but if it does, the town of Sheffield will have to deal with the tribes you mentioned in your blog unless a judge decides different. Then you're talking years of litigation and John Elkington ain't gonna live that long with his current trophy wife. In fact, does Sheffield have an insurance policy on Elkington? Might be worth it.

Finally:

 

Too many Indians there. Let's get Elizabeth Warren down here too. Indians can be 1/16 in some states, but have to be 1/8 in others. People like Robert Perry can just say they're Indian, but what if they're 1/4 Apache, 1/4 Chickasaw, 1/4 Cree, and 1/4 Navaho? 

People understand the difference between French and English and they live just 50 miles apart. What about Indian tribes that live 2,000 miles apart? Why do people lump them together and give people like Warren and Perry a pass on being "Indian?"

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Looking on the bright side, we now have room for a new scam to move into Colbert County...

 

Tuscumbia Tribal Wars 2017 or Know Your Cherokees

The State of Alabama recognizes the following indigenous Indian tribes: 

• Cher-O-Creek Intra Tribal Indians^[5][7][8]
• Cherokee Tribe of Northeast Alabama (formerly Cherokees of Jackson County, Alabama)^[5] Letter of Intent to Petition 09/23/1981;^[9] certified letter returned "not known" 11/19/1997.
• Cherokees of Southeast Alabama^[5] Letter of Intent to Petition 05/27/1988;^[9] certified letter returned marked "deceased" 11/5/1997.
• Echota Cherokee Tribe of Alabama^[5]
• Ma-Chis Lower Creek Indian Tribe of Alabama^[5] Letter of Intent to Petition 06/27/1983. Declined to Acknowledge 08/18/1988 52 FR 34319,^[5] Denied federal recognition^[9][10]
• 'MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians^[5] Letter of Intent to Petition 05/27/1983. Final Determination to Decline to Acknowledge published 12/24/1997 62FR247:67398-67400; petitioner requested reconsideration from BIA 3/23/1998,^[5] denied federal recognition;^[10] decision effective 11/26/1999.^[9]
• Piqua Shawnee Tribe^[5]
• Star Clan of Muscogee Creeks^[5] (formerly Lower Creek Muscogee Tribe East, Star Clan, Southeastern Mvskoke Nation, and Yufala Star Clan of Lower Muscogee Creeks)
• United Cherokee Ani-Yun-Wiya Nation^[5] (formerly United Cherokee Intertribal). Letter of Intent to Petition 11/08/2001.^[9]

(We'll pause in our narrative here to ask for public comment; we have no idea how these tribes compare. Which ones are just in it for the gambling? Which ones for federal funds? Which ones for whatever glory the name "Indian" might bring? We'll publish all comments.)

Why are these tribes important now? Some or all of these tribes have at least partial control over Tuscumbia Landing. In fact, some or all may have total control. We'll take comments on that also.

We have removed a photo of Robert Perry who does not wish to appear here even though we did not comment on who might be correct in this war party. We can see that any negotiations with him will go well.

Robert Perry is a local who's on the Tuscumbia Landing Authority board. He's also a member of the Chickasaw Tribe and has worked as a lobbyist for various other tribes. From past news accounts, we may infer that Sheffield and John Elkington have accepted him as a spokesperson/liaison between Tuscumbia Landing and the Inspiration Landing project. 

But talk about your chiefs...there's a new one in town, or at least he was here some days ago. The TD gave his visit less space that a UNA rape du jour.

Secretary of State Chuck Hoskin Jr.

So we hope all our readers are now clear on who's dealing with Sheffield and Inspiration Landing? No. Neither are we. And where was Sheffield mayor Ian Sanford while Tuscumbia mayor Kerry Underwood received all the press?

More legal battles if this project ever gets off the ground? We may never get a finished Inspiration Landing, but we certainly see a reality show coming out of all this.

What Guidance Do School Boards Need? Sex Education, Maybe?

If any school boards need guidance from the public, it's not in decreasing the administrative reach of the principals and similar staff. No, it's pertaining to teacher/student sex.

Yes, that was teacher/student sex as in a story could break any minute. So, let's see, an employee loses a job. If that employee is licensed, he or she loses that license. The school board is possibly sued. 

What were they thinking?

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Other rumors? We can at least answer a question from a reader. No, we haven't heard of any sale of a major Shoals banking institution, but that would be the norm. Stocks often split as a result of the sale, so everything is hush-hush until the ink is dry on the contract.

Do we expect it? The Shoals has always been a volatile market for banking, so while "expect" may not be the word, it wouldn't surprise us. Thirty years is about average for most brands.

Too Good to Speak a Certain Language? One Boy Was!

We had one persistent critic from yesterday who said that those of us in Lauderdale County were too good to listen to (or apparently speak) another language besides English. We were reminded of this charming true story...

A five year-old boy lay ill at home; his parents called the local physician who in that era made house calls. The physician began to speak to the Cajun child who looked perplexed. It finally dawned on the old country doc that the little boy couldn't speak French.

Why, it was child abuse he told the boy's parents. A boy that age who speaks only English? Outrageous. 

The little boy's parents told the physician that they would teach their child French after he had started and become acclimated to school. So how did the child turn out?

He was Jimmy Yves Newman, who performed professionally as Jimmy C. Newman - the "C" was for Cajun. If you've sadly never heard of him, you've missed something. One of the things most people in life miss are the right priorities. Jimmy's parents didn't.

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Remember when high school language teachers fought over Latin or French being the most useful? We'll give you a hint...it really is Latin.

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"An Increasing Hispanic Population"

"(Russellville) school district has an increasing Hispanic population, currently about 40 percent."

The above quote came from a recent TimesDaily article. Is it disturbing? Assuming the author of the article knows what Hispanic means, yes. It means that new immigrants are arriving faster than they're being assimilated. 

We may also infer that work visas aren't being given these immigrants to toil at local chicken processing plants. In order to receive one of those highly coveted visas, the immigrant must have specialized skills.

It also means the task for local educators will become harder each year. More money will be spent on remedial education, and less on college prep courses. 

Franklin County has always been poor. Removed from any major traffic artery, Russellville has only a modicum of industry. 

Try this experiment: Google the term Franklin+County+Alabama+New+Industry, then specify an entry within the past 12 months. Unless you really want to try it for yourself, the only new industry was 11 months ago and it was a company dedicated to fracking, or extracting oil from sand deposits. Most counties would cast voodoo spells to keep this kind of "industry" away. And remember, this new industry wasn't located in Russellville, just Franklin County.

Should we be concerned about this? No one who blogs here lives in Franklin County; therefore, any concern we have is from a humanitarian slant. Those who have chosen to remain in Franklin County and stick it out will see their children leave for college and never come back except to visit. Physicians and attorneys may practice in Franklin County, but they'll reside in Colbert or Lauderdale.

Is there an easy answer? Unfortunately...no.