Cloyd Boulevard is narrow, dark, heavily traveled, and with limited sight for those who drive on it. The speed limit is set intentionally low, and the city has debated for over 30 years (since the opening of what was then Regency Square Mall) on how to close it to through traffic. Yet, it's still there, and countless vehicles travel the street daily...and nightly.
On Friday night, Kevin Allan Doherty, a 57 year-old man from Florence, was traveling west on a motorized wheelchair toward Bellview Road when he met an eastbound SUV. There are no sidewalks, and according to police reports Doherty was traveling as pedestrians are instructed to do - facing traffic. Motorized wheelchairs are slow, and Doherty probably never had the chance to move out of the way of the speeding vehicle before it hit him around nine o'clock, knocking him into one of the five properties that dot the last block of Cloyd Boulevard. The driver never stopped. Witnesses say the small, light-colored SUV continued to Mall Road where it turned right toward Florence Boulevard. It's possible the vehicle then turned back toward the mall and Cox Creek Parkway, but it could just have easily continued to Florence Boulevard and turned either east or west toward a home base, never stopping.
The driver never stopped. We've had at least one reader suggest to us that the driver may have intentionally hit Mr. Doherty, who passed away at Huntsville Hospital. Our opinion is the driver of the SUV was impaired; it was a weekend - a time for many to relax with their drug of choice, be it alcohol or something even less socially acceptable.
The driver never stopped. Think about that. He (or she) knew their vehicle had hit something. As large as motorized wheelchairs and scooters are, it's not like running over a fast moving small animal. There was an impact. A body went flying - yes, a very dramatic visualization, but it is what happened and it is what the driver of the light-colored SUV had to have seen.
The driver never stopped. Help Florence police catch this person. The SUV supposedly has at least moderate damage to the front end, if not worse. Someone knows something. Someone knows who Kevin Doherty's killer is.
A killer who never stopped...
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One post accident scenario could easily happen Tuesday, Monday being a holiday. The driver of the hit-and-run vehicle will appear at the police station with an attorney. The driver, lying convincingly, will claim that the he or she didn't know what had actually happened until much later. All a tragic misunderstanding that shouldn't disrupt his or her life. By then, it's much too late to test for drugs. Even if drugs are suggested, a prescription will be produced if necessary. Friends of the driver will rally round and paint the victim as negligent, paint the driver as the actual victim. If there's a trial, the driver may exit the courthouse with only a slap on the wrist. Yet the driver is still just as much a callous killer. Let's not forget that.
Years ago we heard of a Colbert County woman who, while addressing a PTA meeting, stated: I told my son if he said "ain't" again I was gonna whup him. At least her intent was in the right place even if her diction wasn't. We're sure many have good intentions where language is concerned, but have no idea what is vulgar and what isn't.
Caution: Strong language ahead!
Instead of banning a friend a few hours ago, we simply hid his comment from our readers. What was his particular sin? He used the word "crappy." For those who may not know:
And from Dysfunctional Literacy:
In the hierarchy of profanity (or vulgarity), the word “crap” is
pretty low. It’s probably not quite as bad as “damn” but a little worse
than “hell,” depending on the context. Times have changed. When I was a kid, “crap” was higher up on the
list. It wasn’t as bad as “sh*t,” but it was still pretty bad. “Sh*t”
was what you said when you accidentally bonked your head against a
cabinet door. “Crap” was what you said when you forgot something but
could easily go back and get it. Either way, I would have gotten my mouth washed out with soap.
So there you have it. Is that particular word a little worse than "hell" as the author said? While we're not sure about that, we don't allow "hell" either.
Unless one has a brain injury, speech often betrays IQ levels. The next time you hear someone emit a string of profane and vulgar words, look them over. How are they dressed? What's their occupation or profession? Their educational level? Would you hire them to work with the public?
You say God understands? We're sure He does, but a prospective employer might not.
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Speaking of language and employment, a friend who works at a local dollar store recently told us a young man was fired from his job as cashier because, no matter how many times he was warned, he could simply not refrain from cursing in front of the customers he was checking out.
Oddly enough, it was in the same store where we heard a Lauderdale County special ed teacher spew forth a vulgar tirade against his students. Maybe we don't shop in classy enough dollar stores?
a. Audwin McGee's 2011 statuary premise b. Craig R. Wedderspoon's 2017 statuary premise c. Kryton of Red Dwarf
This photo depicts...
a. Audwin McGee's 2011 statuary premise b. Craig R. Wedderspoon's 2017 statuary premise c. Kryton of Red Dwarf
This photo depicts...
a. Audwin McGee's 2011 statuary premise b. Craig R. Wedderspoon's 2017 statuary premise c. Kryton of Red Dwarf
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We trust everyone was able to identify Kryton easily (he was in the third photo), but how about distinguishing between McGee's concept from six years ago and Wedderspoon's current repugnant offering? (Oops, sorry, we see that one out of ten thousand readers liked it...) The Florence statue was originally slated for Memorial Park on East Tennessee Street, but has now been relegated to the Bluff Street/Mitchell Boulevard intersection to scare Colbert Countians away. The next time you hear someone say Florence has too many fountains, be sure to ask if they want more statues? Oh, wait. We have it! When this terrible tooter (second photo) is in place, no one will bother to worry about the Confederate war memorial at the court house.
The Campaign Legal Center, usually referred to as CLC, has filed a second ethics complaint against Republican senate nominee Roy Moore. The CLC had previously filed a complaint in September claiming that Moore's non-profit moral law center had provided illegal funding to his senate campaign. Now the CLC has filed a second complaint charging that Moore's state and federal ethics disclosure statements don't match.
In fairness to Moore, the state form excludes personal mortgages, while the federal form does not. No problem there that we see. No, the problem lies in Moore stating in his federal statement that he had received no income from public speaking, while stating on his Alabama form that he had received between 50K and 150K for these talks during the same time period.
Is the federal form important? From a senate website:
Public disclosure of a public official’s personal financial
interest is often considered the key component to an effective code of
conduct. The drafters of the original Senate Code of Official Conduct
in the 95th Congress considered “full and complete disclosure” to be the
heart of the Code of Conduct. Pursuant to statute and Senate rules, Members, officers, certain
employees of the Senate (including fellows and government employees
detailed to the Senate), and Senate candidates are required to file
comprehensive public financial disclosure reports. The Senate has required public reporting by statute and by Senate
Rule since 1978. The Ethics Committee develops forms and instructions
for financial disclosure, gives advice regarding compliance and reviews
the completed Reports. The Secretary of the Senate’s Office of Public
Records is responsible for making the forms available for public.
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Below is a link to former judge Roy Moore's federal ethics statement:
All right, single ladies, let's take the boyfriend quiz no. 97 - Will He Kill You?
1. My boyfriend was arrested for domestic violence before I met him...
a. My boyfriend? Never b. Once c. Two or more times d. I don't believe the stories about him. Lies, all lies. Even public arrest records.
2. My boyfriend does drugs...
a. Are you sure you have the right person? b. When he's stressed c. Yeah, so what? d. I'm trying to get him help. Please pray for us.
3. My boyfriend blames me...
a. Nope, not my boyfriend b. He's just upset when he says things like that c. You're misjudging his actions d. Yes, but it's always really my fault. I accept that.
If you answered "a" to all questions, you probably won't become a statistic. If you answered "b" or "c" to some or all, you need to step back and take a long hard look at his life...and yours. If you answered "d" to any or all, you need to run as fast as you can, particularly if you answered "d" to question number one. No innocent man is falsely accused four times or so by separate women.
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Over the years we've banned several from our FB page for using inappropriate language or making libelous statements. We've banned only one person for threatening another commenter - that was Ryan Kent Pollard who threatened a former girlfriend who had mentioned one of his arrests.
Now it seems that Pollard is back in jail. Approximately two months ago, Pollard was in Lawrence County, Tennessee...obviously on some very important business. When he realized he'd been spotted by local police, he discarded what our officer friends are saying was either oxycodone or heroin. Pollard was ultimately charged with possession of drug paraphernalia (we're told needles, but haven't verified that with the official record) and tampering with evidence and given 90 days in the Lawrence County Jail. He'll be out just in time for Halloween, but we hear his probation officer in Lauderdale will be waiting for him.
Now we're sure we'll hear that the Lawrenceburg police have joined the ranks of those who fabricate evidence against this upstanding member of society...and some will actually believe in his innocence.
Let's hope no one thinks politics in Alabama can't get, pardon the expression, stranger. Because they certainly can.
Unless you've been living under a rock or bridge, you know that Doc Larry Stutts unseated Roger Bedford in the last state senate race. You also know there's a distinct possibility that he won't be a member of that sometimes less than august body after the next election. That brings us to longtime North Alabama pol Johnny Mack Morrow who will be running for the seat on the (curses...) Democratic ticket.
Perhaps the worst criticism we've heard of Morrow's long political career concerns his habitual blowing off meetings, and an offshoot of this behavior may have led to this relatively under-covered event. On March 6th of this year, Morrow was presiding over an unofficial fact finding public meeting concerning proposed walking trails in Marion county that would run parallel to existing railroad tracks.
The exact sequence of events may be unclear, but what is clear is that Morrow was already packing up to leave the meeting when former Marion County clerk Odis Garrard rose to speak. Garrard leases part of the land the proposed trail would cross and spoke to oppose the project. When Morrow simply thanked the former clerk for his input, Garrard took umbrage and added that he wouldn't be above stopping the project with guns if necessary.
What would we have done? If we had been Morrow, we hope we would have attempted to defuse the comment and taken a few moments of our time to assure Garrard that no decisions were being made that night. What did Morrow do? He had Garrard arrested for making a terrorist threat.
Yes, Garrard was carted off to the Hackleburg city jail and allowed to bond out within a few minutes. Three charges were pressed in total, the specific terrorist threat being the only felony. Odis Gerrard was formally indicted ten days ago and will now face a jury trial with Johnny Mack Morrow being the primary witness against him.
Shall we chalk that up to being at least one person who won't support Morrow in his bid to unseat Doc Larry?
Labels are not set in concrete, but most of us wear them from time to time. Only last week our blog was called, for the second time in its history, "liberal." Why? We don't support nutter Roy Moore.
Does supporting a moderate Democrat make us liberal? We sincerely doubt it. We've lamented before that taking a middle of the road stance means being attacked from both ends. So be it.
Not only have we been called liberal, but we've also had conservative friends brought into the critical mix who don't write here and probably couldn't care less about the election, been called a snowflake, had a dead sister vilified, and the list goes on.
The salient point now is: Can Doug Jones win in December? We're told he can if those who claim the mantle of Independent vote. Jones is currently six points behind Moore in most polls, meaning that if the election were held today, Jones would garner 47% of the vote...at least among those surveyed.
Can Jones make up that difference in ten weeks? We're betting he can. If he doesn't? Then we'll be seeing Roy Moore and our entire state portrayed on Saturday Night Live...and it won't be pretty.
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