The War over Spring Creek Golf Course

 

Want to play nine holes of golf in Colbert County? Try Spring Creek Golf Course in Tuscumbia. It's nearby, affordable, and...still open for the moment.

Do Mayor Underwood and some council members want to shut down this popular course to make way for an RV park? Why would you eliminate a city perk popular with citizens to cater to outsiders? Oh, more money...okay.

One story is that Tiffin Motor Homes supports this. The company's customers have far too few places to stay while waiting their turn for repairs. Of course, these tourists will spend big bucks while in Tuscumbia. 

There's a council meeting tonight in Tuscumbia to discuss future plans for the course. Want to bet Mayor Underwood isn't too popular right now with his city's duffers?

An even more interesting tale is that Underwood has rattled a murder hornet's nest of potential candidates to run against him in the next legislative election. You can be sure there will be much more on this later.

Labor Day 2021

 

Yes, it's time for our readers' favorite segment - the annual Labor Day Beauty Contest. Spring Park was filled with stunned onlookers as the contestants took their turn on the runway and offered up a smattering of their talents. It just doesn't get any better than this. Here's a short rundown of the lovely participants for 2021:

Sunshine Raines - Miss Raines represented the Parks & Recreation Union. Employed at Spring Park itself, Sunshine was a crowd favorite. At 5' tall and 4' wide, there's a lot of Sunshine to go around. Her specialty is herding the park ducks, and the Colbert County native took advantage of her unique ability by incorporating the waterfowl into her act. Raines led the goosesteppers as they performed a perfectly in sync march to It's a Long Way to Tipperary. 

Ponticia (Ponie) Taylor - Miss Taylor is a member of the Street Photographers' Union and gives hope to old timers that the art will be carried on to future generations. Ponie's talent segment took street photography to a new lower level as she presented snaps of actual pavement. Never have the potholes of Sheffield been so beautifully showcased. One onlooker stated that he actually saw John Elkington moved to tears.

Suzan Sturfriar - Miss Sturfriar represented the College Sex-Workers Guild. Unfortunately, she was disqualified before the actual judging when she and one of the male judges couldn't be located for pre-contest check-in.

Jeannie Baird - Jeannie was the surprising entry of the Animal Workers' Association. Taking the stage in a swirling kilted skirt to the tune of haunting bagpipes while performing a Highland Fling, it took audience members several seconds to realize that the breathtaking Miss Baird was actually a border collie. According to her entrance application, Jeannie identifies as human and was allowed to enter the annual competition. 

Seamus O'Reilly - O'Reilly was this year's only male contestant. Representing the League of Public Employees, the Nova Scotia native read excerpts from Das Kapital as buttons burst from his shirt. At the end of his performance, he begged the judges to declare him the winner, stating he planned to leave his wife and desperately needed the prize money for a bus ticket home.

There you have it for this year. You really shoulda been there.

 

The Winner!      

Do You Live in a Basement Apartment?

 

If you keep up with the news at all, you've read about the New York couple who, along with their two-year old child, drowned in their own apartment during flooding caused by Ida. Think it couldn't happen here? Think again.

Know why most basement apartments are illegal? They have no windows or other emergency exits. In other words, if you can't open the one door, you're doomed to die in the flood, fire, poison gas attack, or whatever else is enveloping your home. 

While some basement apartments are perfectly legal, many are hidden away in the Shoals. Does your basement apartment come with "free" electricity? That's pretty much a giveaway that the landlord doesn't want any inspections of "his" basement...or even worse - he's tried to have a meter installed, but was told the location didn't pass inspection.

We've been told the ratio of renters to available apartments is now evening out in this area. If all you've found so far is that basement no one else wants, keep looking. if you're unsure of the apartment's safety, ask the landlord to provide a city inspection report. The results, or lack thereof, just might surprise you.

Fall is Coming; So are the Squatters

 

Sociologists identify five kinds of squatters. Usually the only ones squatting in the Shoals are those who have no immediate shelter from the elements, or Type One. We're going to break this type into two subtypes: Those have the reasoning ability not to set their shelter on fire and those who don't. Unfortunately, you can never tell what a desperate person will do for comfort.

Many small fires go unreported in the news, but two that come to mind are the small, but expensive, fire at the North Florence post office branch (read: You and I paid for this) and the large fire in Russellville that destroyed an empty art deco landmark and much of the hardware store next to it.

Squatting picks up on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights when itinerant construction workers have no paid motel rooms. Obviously, it also increases during storms of any nature.

The Shoals has a multitude of vacant rental properties, some in even the most upscale neighborhoods. In other words, squatting can occur almost anywhere. 

Florence has attempted to cut down on these interlopers, but many persist. If you think you see squatters in your neighborhood, don't hesitate to call police. Authorities are much better able to sort it out than you are.

If you let these squatters remain, the house they burn down may very well be yours...

The Slag: Limited Payroll & No Notice

 

It's been reported by a highly placed source that perhaps as many as half of the employees at the Slag venue have not been paid. At least one band says the promoters owe them money, as do some vendors.  

Very sad, but even sadder is that all of the employees we spoke to found out via Facebook that they no longer have jobs. That's right; there were no phone calls or e-mails. 

Now, we'll venture from hard facts to some speculation. Both Scott Michael and Chris Ewing are friends of John Elkington. Couldn't the Memphis mogul have headed off the Ewing lawsuit against Michael? Surely it's not good publicity.

Back to hard, cold reality, those who have ventured onto Inspiration Landing property this past week tell us that, aside from the music venue, there has been absolutely no sign of future construction.

Elkington once blamed an economic downturn for the failure of the Forge in Birmingham and Saddlebrook in Germantown. Will it be amazingly easy to blame the failure of IL on the double tap of COVID and a lawsuit?

Obviously any new business will garner complaints, but one we received about the Slag was especially touching. A young man wanted to take his wife to see Lucero/Pine Hill Haints. This man had been laid off due to various factors, and the sixty dollars was hard to come by, especially if he wanted to take his wife out to eat after the concert.

Upon arrival, they discovered that they had to rent lawn chairs for the concert. He also felt the need to tip the golf cart driver that took the couple to the venue from some impromptu parking. He didn't report the exact amount spent, but did relate that their dinner at Vertillo's turned into a bite at McDonald's. He went on that both he and his wife were very disappointed with Lucero, but he really couldn't blame the venue for that. 

Obviously, you have to pay to play, but we're a firm believer in all costs being upfront. Is anyone else reminded of The Producers?

Lawsuits Brought The Slag Down?

 

Is The Slag gone for good? If anyone brings it back, we sincerely hope it's with a new name that doesn't demean women. The current question is why the music venue closed after only two weeks. 

There are certainly enough rumors floating around. First, the venue mentioned two cancelled shows. Then a later post said it was closing for good. A member of the Outlaw Apostles claimed that their band had been given the shaft, ostensibly for out performing other local or regional bands. (We would like to know more about this if any band member would be willing to get in touch with our blog.)

Financial troubles were mentioned, as well as lawsuits. The most prevalent rumor concerning lawsuits seemed to indicate legal action from Rivermont citizens; however, it now appears to be much closer to the venue's home.

First, who owns the land The Slag sits on? Is it still John Elkington or did he deed it to his friend "Rooster Feathers?" Neither one seems to be management; that job is claimed by Chris Ewing of Memphis (pictured below). 

We'll inject our own two cents at this juncture. There seemed to be managers all over Tennessee and Mississippi, but none in the Shoals. Even job interviews were conducted over the phone. We've never seen that work out that well for any business, especially one that would logically require a hands on approach.

Now Ewing is suing Rooster (Scott Michael) and demanding closure of the venue. That was after first claiming the abrupt closing was due to COVID. How many changes of stories does this make for The Slag? 

1. The venue will be ready in July. Only it wasn't.

2. The Marshall Tucker show was sold out within days of its announcement. Only it wasn't.

3. The Outlaw Apostles will open for Marshall Tucker. Only they didn't.

4. The Slag is still the area's premier venue. Only it's isn't by a long shot. Compare event photos of the The Slag to those taken at Singin' River Brewery.

If anyone thinks this lawsuit is simple or will be taken care of speedily, you're prime candidates to invest in Shoalanda's Hoverboards. 

A Political Pundit on The Slag/Inspiration Landing

 

The Slag at Furnace Hill is closing.  As Gomer Pyle would say, Surprise, Surprise, Surprise.

Who will ultimately own the streets that go nowhere? Who paid for those streets? The public deserves and should demand to see the contract on this embarrassing debacle. When do we get our bellies full of these scams and politicians that can't do the jobs they were elected to do?

Just recently the Colbert County Commission voted in a 4-2 vote to give a group in Montgomery $600,000.00 out of a federal stimulus grant of around 10 million dollars, so they can tell the county commission how to spend the remaining money. Most citizens would ask, "WHO IN MONTGOMERY KNOWS MORE ABOUT OUR NEEDS THAN THE ONES WE ELECTED? NEWS FLASH - 4 of your elected County Commissioners say they do!!! Let that sink in - SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS. That's a lot of zeros - and a lot of money that could have been used for roads, trash collection, internet in the county areas and many other services to US, the TAXPAYERS and not to yahoos in Montgomery!!!!! 

We can't stop at the county commission and Elkington, we have enough stupidity and inept elected officials to go around.

Sheffield mayor and city council aren't the only ones that have egg in their face with this Elkington shister. Tuscumbia mayor Bubba Underwood gave the previous Sheffield mayor Ian Sanford $6000.00 out of the mounds of money Tuscumbia has for a "study" to see how fast people could get from Hwy 72 through Tuscumbia to Sheffield. Now, that doesn't take a real smart fella to figure out that ain't real smart. But then again, after reading a lawsuit filed against Bubba Underwood, CPA and mayor of Tuscumbia, he obviously doesn't pay much attention to little details like finances, budgets and such. Wonder how many other lawsuits are in the works on Mr. Underwood for his shoddy accounting and services?

Muscle Shoals keeps buying portable pumps to move flood waters from one neighborhood to another while "The" mall is still standing under water and flooding after FIFTY YEARS and counting. Any old timer can tell you stories of riding a canoe and fishing boat through the floodwater from McBride Elementary to the Shoals Hospital location back in the 60's and 70's. Sink holes abound across the city while the new mayor thinks filling them with a little trash picked up along the roads and putting a fresh coat of asphalt over it will solve the problem. And, of course, the infamous golf course, aka country club redneck style. That's another sink hole that sucks away the dollars. Not much changes except the cost of corruption and the level of unqualified people that are elected and appointed to make these genius decisions.

Tuscumbia with all the potholes throughout the city is second to only Sheffield in the poor streets and infrastructure throughout the city, Both towns have a nice street going through the downtown, but you will have to schedule a front in alignment if you get off the main drag for the abuse your poor car gets from all the potholes. Neither city has any money to squander. Maybe Florence will pick up more real estate on the south side of the bridge when the mayors bankrupt all these little towns.

If it were not for Sheffield Utilities deep pocket and a tax and spend utilities manager that loves to travel, the money rate payers spend on services will continue to be thrown at get rich quick schemes. Muscle Shoals just raises fees and taxes on the snobs that live there, Tuscumbia cuts services and the police and fire departments, and Sheffield, well, it's Sheffield. 

History lesson - Ford plant and Slyman, Railcar Plant, Dream Vision, Inspiration Landing and a few more won't be alone cause there's one thing for sure, the only thing we learn from history is that we don't learn from history.

Colbert County: coming soon - Lauderlin. A cross breed of Lauderdale and Franklin Counties when they take over Colbert. Sounds a little like "La Land" - Kinda has a ring to it doesn't it?

More to come, cause some people just haven't figured it out ,"when you're in a ditch, quit digging".