Business Owner Announces Suit Against Sheffield

If you don't want to read the small print, Mr. Joseph Mitchum is demanding $50,000.00 in damages from Sheffield, accusing the town of fraud when the city told him it was supportive of a cigar lounge he planned to build. Mr. Mitchum is now out 50K and would obviously like to be reimbursed.

This shouldn't be a problem since the money from Inspiration Landing will start rolling in shortly. Year five and counting. 

New Colbert Animal Control Budget?

Commissioner Tommy Barnes took the time to answer our blog on problems with the commission. He has consistently been the only commissioner who has seemed responsive to the citizens' needs in quite a while. Thank you, Mr. Barnes.

Commissioner Barnes states that he's working on a new funding scheme for Colbert Animal Control. Some private citizens have told us that Ms. Rillie Winkle is also working on securing more equitable funding for the shelter. 

We'll have more on this later, but for now we want to thank both Mr. Barnes and Ms. Winkle for taking on a much needed task, a task that is unfortunately unpopular among some groups of people who care only for themselves and see nothing wrong with kicking animals to the curb.

While on the subject, props to Mayor Steve Holt and all the Florence City Council for finally making that city's new animal shelter a reality. We can't say enough good about the shelter or thank our officials enough for following through as promised.

More props to the city on the new Florence Middle School. The mayor and council fought against UNA's bid to wrest the old Coffee property from the school children of Florence, and every caring citizen should be forever grateful. 

If you haven't taken an up close and personal drive-by to look at the school, do it this weekend. It's another jewel in the city's crown!

We're Doing Our Best To Get You Some

Colbert County Commission Twiddles Thumbs as Frankfort Road Slides Away

Is everyone happy with how the new Colbert County jail is coming along? Oh, wait, we forgot. It's not coming along, is it? Well, the commission has other pressing matters.

Animal control is serious business, and the commission is on top of that, right? No? Afraid not. The county won't even consider updates to an almost 20 year old budget.

Well, roads! Yes, they're on top of the road conditions, right? What do you really think?!!!

Our blogger J. Redmon recently published a short article on the difficulties New Bethel School is experiencing due to its main access road being closed. We certainly got complaints from readers who seemed to think we blamed New Bethel for the problem. No, we can blame the flooding from last February...and the Colbert County Commission.

Approximately 300 feet of Frankfort Road was washed away or slipped from its base during the heavy floods from last winter. That section of road has remained closed to all traffic since the third week in February. After the flooding cleared, the county engineer announced that his department was "aggressively assessing" the damage. Just how does one aggressively assess something? Does one do a Maori war dance while viewing the damage? We're going to surmise that John Bedford meant "thoroughly," but for some odd reason thought "aggressively" sounded more gung ho. 

Bedford also announced that the county was attempting to secure emergency relief funds from the state department of transportation in order to do the work. We understand that asphalt/road work is comparable in cost to platinum, but the county doesn't have the emergency funds on hand to repair 300 feet of a two-lane road?

So here we are over three months later and the county is now beginning to consider bids on the project. Think about that. Your county commission in action. We sincerely hope that every resident of the Frankfort area, as well as every parent/teacher of New Bethel School, votes District 6 commissioner Charlie Hovater out of office...and that the rest of Colbert County follows suit with the other commissioners.

Who Needs a Border Wall When You Have the Colbert County Commission?

Prince Threatens to Bite Mayor Underwood

Hi, guys. Shoalanda asked me a few questions about the dog situation in Sheffield and I was only too glad to fill her in. In fact, I volunteered to do a blog and to bite whoever needed it starting with Tuscumbia mayor Kerry Underwood.

Yes, the shelter is full. Just because not all the animals who have to camp out there are listed on the website, it doesn't mean they aren't actually there taking up those luxurious suites and dining high on the Purina pig. A lot of them are strays that the shelter has to hold or are undergoing medical treatment that prevents them from being on the active adoption list. Also, there aren't enough employees to keep the list up to date. 

In fact, the shelter may have to reduce the number of employees even if it's currently understaffed. The budget hasn't been redone since 2000. Yeppers, 19 years since anyone has had a raise or increased funding.

Funding? Tuscumbia has consistently failed to come across with its share of doggo dough. So I'm here today to offer a grrrrreat solution. I'll bite anyone free of charge in order to help the shelter out. I'll start with Mayor Kerry Underwood and then work my way up to the Colbert County Commission (otherwise known as that pointless pile of do-nothing puppy poop).

So let's get together and demand that Tuscumbia pays its fair share. Then let's elect a new commission that will act alive enough to keep the fleas off them. How about it?

Biting for Justice Since 2015

Legislature Takes Up Sex Ed & Divorce

(Sorry to disappoint, but the legislature failed once again.)

The most recent legislative session has ended. While induced abortion was basically banned, the legislators didn't see fit to make time for a bill that would have improved the sex education curriculum in this state. Apparently this august body doesn't comprehend that a better understanding of the reproductive system is the first step toward preventing unwanted pregnancies. Be sure to thank them. 

Divorce? No. That was also a tongue in cheek comment. Which is the larger problem in this state: Divorce or induced abortion?

In Alabama in 2014, the last year for which statistics in these two areas are readily available, we find some interesting numbers:

Induced Abortions             8,020

Divorces                          18,504


Some more interesting numbers from the Bible:

Times abortion is mentioned                                            0

Times divorce is mentioned (condemned, etc.)                 17


If our legislature really cared about family values, why doesn't it come up with something to counter the state's rising divorce numbers? J.D. Crowe with AL.com called our legislature a rather vulgar term, but he did hit the nail on its pointed little head. It's "Bass-ackward and proud of it!"

Who's Your Lawn Boy? Let's Hope It's Not Ryan

We recently blogged about lawn care/landscape workers, tree trimmers, etc. Many of those working in these trades have felony convictions, usually for drugs and theft (no white collar crime here). Our friend who was robbed by workers employed to put down new sod after the recent flooding still hasn't been reimbursed by his insurance; his total loss now stands at around $6,000.00.

Shortly after that, a reader stated she wanted to give these men a second chance. Second chances are great, and we believe in them. What about eighth and ninth chances? That gets a little more problematic, doesn't it? We want former addicts to succeed, but we also don't want them robbing any of us blind if they fail. Isn't that just common sense?

According to an alert reader, an arrest this past week brought this point home. On May 25th, probationer Ryan Kent Pollard wrote on his FB page:

On May 29th, he was arrested. His primary charge was a DUI, but a source has told us that he's a suspect in some other "petty" crimes in Lauderdale County. Petty crimes or major crimes, don't be a victim. You work hard for your money, don't simply sit back and say "Oh, well..." when it's stolen from under your grass allergy afflicted noses.

If You Vet Your Office Employees, Why Not Your Landscapers?

Problems at New Bethel School

This is a GREAT school, 'up on the mountain', in Colbert County. However, last winter's floods washed out a section of county road that parents/buses used to get students to school. Parents from the extreme outer, west end of Tuscumbia have been forced to detour through Cherokee in order to get to school. This added 1 HOUR to the drive. Now the kicker: Colbert County Road Department is apparently relying on grant money to fix this issue. Grant money. Are there no contingency funds for things like this?

How about it, Colbert County Commission? Isn't this just a little bit of an emergency? Hey, here's an idea: If the grant falls through, perhaps you could ask Santa Claus. It seems in line with your game plan...

Colbert County Plan B