Sheffield Flea Market/UNA Expansion

From the Midnight Rider:

Recently there was an article in the Times Daily Newspaper about a Sheffield resident, Tracey Southern, that was at odds with the City of Sheffield about selling items in front of her home/business. If you didn’t read the article, basically it said that she wanted to sell items but the City wouldn’t or couldn’t issue the appropriate License or Permit. Would this not be some type of Yard Sale Permit?

However, also mentioned in the article was the fact that there had been complaints from business owners about the Sheffield Flea Market. For you that don’t know, the Sheffield Flea Market is held in the parking lot of the Town Plaza. Town Plaza is where the Foodland Supermarket is located. This takes place on Friday and Saturday.

We hear that a certain business owner close to the Plaza is complaining because vendors are selling the same flower arrangements at the Flea Market as he sells at his business. We have only been through the Sheffield Flea Market once or twice and have seen vendors selling these flower arrangements. Does this hurt the Flower Arrangement Business Owner’s business? I guess it could. But let’s go one step further. We have seen a gentleman selling guns out of his vehicle. Does this hurt the Gun Shop located in Town Plaza? Furthermore, if someone is selling drugs at the Flea Market does that hurt the Pharmacy located in the Plaza? Well, we are talking about Sheffield.

Another complaint we read about is that the City of Sheffield is not collecting any money off the Flea Market. Okay, let’s break that down. The City may not get tax money off the Flea Market but what about the money that visitors spend at the other businesses and restaurants while they are in the City of Sheffield. That should be a plus. We don’t know if the owner of the Plaza charges by spot, day or hour to the vendors but maybe there could be a “donation” to the City of Sheffield to help with the compliant.

So going back to the original point of this article, why can’t Tracey Southern sell her stuff at her place? Beats me. Kinda seems like Double Standards. Maybe if she paid tax money on the items she sold, she would be allowed.


I am and always will be, the Midnight Rider.

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Selling guns out of vehicles? My, my! So if it could be proved one of these guns was used in a crime, would the owners of Town Plaza be held accountable? How about the City of Sheffield itself?

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We see the University of North Alabama is being careful to state it doesn't want to tear down a stately Wood Avenue Victorian home it plans to purchase. The university will be paving the back garden to create 40 new parking spaces. 

However, we have to wonder when the university became so caring about the "integrity of the neighborhood?" It's been only 15 years or so since the university purchased the stockbroker Tudor at the corner of Pine and Irvine to tear down for a parking lot. 

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Knight-Humphries Donut

The Tennessee Street improvements continue...and continue. We recommend avoiding the area if possible. We did place our life and radial tires on the line last week to drive down the area under construction. It would appear to stop just before the Knight-Humphries realty corner. In other words, the ugly donut is still standing.

And the small eatery next door on South Poplar remains vacant. We've lost count of the restaurants which have come and gone there over the years. Perhaps it's the curse of the donut?

The Petition/Brady Ann Irons

We’re handling this in the best way we know how—with no names. There is a petition being circulated online, and we’re providing a link to it. We encourage our readers to view the petition and sign if you so desire. We will be signing. Some points about the petition:

1. Don’t be surprised if the petition has no effect on the judge. We’ve begun only one such petition since we’ve been writing this blog. We asked for a maximum 20 year sentence for a man who shot dead a young husband/father. The judge gave the miscreant a total of two years to serve, even though our petition had hundreds of signatures.

2. Before you add comments on the petition or elsewhere, it’s good to do some research if you’re not familiar with the law. The defendant in this case was indicted for Manslaughter. This charge came from the grand jury, so if you have a problem with it, don’t blame the judge or district attorney. The maximum sentence when no gun is involved is 15 years with Correctional Incentive Time; in other words, the defendant would serve only five years (60 months) at best. When you ask for some ridiculous sentence, the judge may infer your lack of knowledge is a reflection on your intelligence and indicative that you probably don’t even vote. Remember—the more voters who sign the petition, the better.

3. Yes, we know the story on both parties/parents. We, and others, have received criticism from both sides of this issue since the day after the accident.

4. We are terribly disappointed in Chris Connolly. His wording quoted in the petition was abominable and totally uncalled for. The young woman he put down in the TD quote is one who falls into the category of someone actually turning her life around, as we mentioned in our blog on the sex trafficking victims. She is diligently seeking custody in this case.

Petition to Reject Plea Deal 

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Here is the deal which Brady Ann Irons signed on June 1st:

Brady Irons Plea

We’ve been asked about her restitution in other cases; we know that Irons has many cases in Lauderdale County and some in Mississippi. We’re assuming that after at least two years, she is no longer on probation in these cases; however, she is still required to pay restitution in theft cases.

Any victim still owed money by Irons, or anyone else, should call the county probation office to make sure details are properly recorded. It’s not a bad idea to call regularly to let them know you’re still waiting to be repaid for your losses.

If Irons fails to make it in rehab and is sent to prison, she will in all likelihood go to work release. In that case, you definitely need to make sure you’re on the repayment list since her income will go directly to the state before any reaches her.

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Our legal system? If you want to complain about the muddled outcomes of our legal system, think about this. In the first case mentioned today, we discussed a man shooting dead a stranger in Franklin County and getting 24 months, but an impaired man accidentally kills his own child and gets the same, or perhaps more. Still a third man in Lauderdale County shoots a man who attacked him and gets 20 years. How about a man killing his toddler daughter and getting only 12 months in Community Corrections? Rhyme or reason?

In the second case a woman with multiple felony convictions may be allowed to go free on a drug trafficking charge, while her mother with not even 1/3 the convictions of her daughter is sentenced to over eight years (some in community service) for a lesser crime. Rhyme or reason?

Muskrat Musings/Tim Staggs has Cojones

Late last night news broke on the conviction of Alabama House Speaker Michael Hubbard on 12 Felony Ethics Charges. Attorney General Luther Strange (whose office prosecuted Hubbard) said in a statement --"This should send a clear message that in Alabama we hold public officials accountable for their actions."

With the local mayoral election heating up in Tuscumbia, maybe the candidates should adopt "accountability" as their new slogan. Would you vote for a mayoral candidate who would hold city employees and officials accountable for their actions or non-actions? I sure would!!!

Case in point, who is accountable for Spring Park? The recent unearthing of the old Spring Park Fountain left engineers scratching their heads. Majority of the 150+ light heads (sockets) were shot and/or badly patched together. Now that's not a shock since the fountain hasn't worked properly for years. What's puzzling is why the broken light heads were never replaced? If the light heads were replaced timely and consistently then would there be a need for a complete fountain overhaul?!? Bad management is costing the city a lot of money! 

Also a couple of years ago Tuscumbia needed to replace the two man-made waterfall pumps that had been in service for 6-7 years. The newly installed pumps burned out in less than 6 months. Apparently the new pumps were installed incorrectly. Once again more money down the drain due to incompetence. 

Both mayoral candidates would be smart to learn from the current mayor's failures and faults. Our present mayor (Shoemaker) would rather look the other way and thrust blame for present park issues on muskrats and other scapegoats. And don't be shocked when Shoemaker approves that the Depot Museum be named after his right hand man and park director, Joel Kendrick. This type of buddy-favor system is what got Michael Hubbard convicted on ethic violations. (You scratch my back and I'll scratch your back.) 

Speaking of ethic violations ... Can a city employee use a city vehicle with city gasoline to transport family members? Can a city employee transfer city lawnmowers to the scrap metal recycling yard then turn around and buy the lawnmower back for personal use? Can a city employee use city maintenance labor to repair personal property? Whoever is elected as the new mayor better have a big mop because there's a big mess in Tuscumbia!

The Tuscumbia Muskrat

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We've recently received two communications via Facebook which were unanswerable due to the senders' settings. One concerned the Matthew Tidwell plea bargain, and we will address that tomorrow. The second concerned one of our regular critics who has apparently just come out of the closet. We can assure our reader that any criticism we have focused on this young man had nothing to do with his sexual orientation. We've never met the man, had no idea he was gay, and have never made any criticism in any of our blogs which relate to anyone's sexual preference.

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Timothey Wylie Staggs, soon to be 84, is looking at what may be for him a life sentence if convicted of human trafficking charges. He obviously needs a good attorney. We understand he has hired two good attorneys--John Saylor and Rodney Slusher; however, both these Florence lawyers specialize in civil litigation, not criminal.

Now Staggs is seeking to have his 300K cash bail reduced. This motion comes after the Attorney General's office produced evidence that Staggs was planning to skip the country for a more peaceful life in the Philippines. We don't know if Staggs' request has been ruled on yet, but as one of our favorite readers said, "Pass the popcorn."

Victims & Sympathy

We once had a friend who lost her father in a horrible traffic accident when she was just three years old; the same year she was raped—yes, literally raped. She soon saw her mentally challenged brother placed in a home when her mother could no longer care for him. Her childhood and teenage years were filled with poverty and even verbal abuse when she “wore other people’s clothes.”

An early marriage was hardly the one she had dreamt of. Her husband was verbally abusive and at times resorted to physical violence. She saw her not quite three year-old son’s body lying in a pool of blood only seconds after being run down by a teenage speeder.

Do you have sympathy for our friend? We hope you do, but let’s continue with this story. The young woman sought solace in the wrong place and began an affair with a second abusive man. She later shot him—seven times. She was arrested and convicted of murder. If you’re wondering how my friend is now doing, she later killed herself.

So looking at the above sad tale, just when did your sympathies diminish for our friend? We’re betting it was at the point she murdered a man by shooting him seven times.

It took a while, but we eventually realized that no one to whom we told this sad story had any sympathy for our friend. Why? Because they didn’t know her. Yes, our sympathy for this lovely young woman will never diminish because we know what a wonderful kind, caring, and witty person she was.

Yet most people are quick to point out that others have endured hardships as great as hers and never resorted to violence of any kind, much less murder. The same can be said for Chip Dillard’s six victims.

We recently made a remark about a photo of one of the six victims in the sex trafficking case, and a reader took great exception to it. Was our remark snarky? We’ll plead guilty. We’ll also remind our readers that many women have come from abusive homes (one of these young women was actually recruited into a life of crime by her own father), have been raped, have come from the most heart-wrenching circumstances imaginable and still managed to leave their past lives behind. They’re not thieves, drug addicts, or prostitutes. Why are some successful in leaving this lifestyle and others are not? We don’t have the answer to that one.

Rest assured, our sympathies are with these six women…up to a point. We hope all six can come through this and turn their lives around. Are we betting that they will? We’ll let you answer that one for yourselves.

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From the Stanford rapist to Matthew Tidwell to the six sex trafficking victims to local thieves/druggies, we’re seeing many who choose to overlook their friend’s/relative’s total unwillingness to accept responsibility for their actions. The Brown Recluse addressed this very issue in her blog earlier today; it’s well worth reading:

Personal Responsibility

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Tomorrow is the last day of the Lauderdale Rabies Clinic. Don’t miss the chance to have your little ones vaccinated for only $12.00 each. Click on the ad in our left sidebar for times and locations.

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Would Tim Staggs be so stupid as to ask for bail reduction? Tune in tomorrow for a most interesting account of his latest court shenanigans.

New Info in Brett Mitchell Case

Mitchell Looking Amused at his Booking

There is new information in the Reginald Brett Mitchell case. Mitchell, 51, was arrested on Saturday, May 28th, on the felony charge of providing a false statement to law enforcement and also the misdemeanor charge of tampering with evidence. The ECM employee was released on ten thousand dollars bail a short time after his arrest. His defense attorney Tim Case has stated that Mitchell is innocent of the charges, and a Lauderdale County judge allegedly remarked the case against Mitchell was weak.

The false statement? At this time we have no firm idea what that might have entailed. The evidence tampering? Now this is where it gets interesting.

While the indictment specifically states that Mitchell destroyed evidence on a cell phone, we’ve learned that he was observed by a member of the Lauderdale Drug Task Force as he tossed a cell phone into a dumpster. Yes, we said drug task force. Apparently Mitchell, Chip Dillard, and Tim Staggs were under surveillance, and not simply because of the human trafficking allegations.

Obviously this would tie in with earlier allegations that Dillard was supplying Lauderdale Detention Center inmates with drugs. So why haven’t drug charges been filed against the trio? Or at least Dillard? Again, we can only speculate, but the human trafficking charges were investigated and initiated by the Alabama Attorney General’s office; the allegations of drug/contraband smuggling were obviously being investigated by county law enforcement. In other words, these charges may be forthcoming at any time.

Brett Mitchell’s arraignment will be Thursday, June 23rd. John Louis Kachelman III, assistant attorney general, will be prosecuting. The Kachelman family is well known in the Montgomery area, both for their civic endeavors and Christian outreach. If Mitchell doesn’t enter a plea, the trial should be quite interesting. What would someone like Mr. Kachelman make of someone like Mitchell? Hmmm, we may even print tickets.

Sheffield/Questions about Sex Trafficking Case

Yes, we’ve heard it all before: Shoals area officials say (fill in the blank) will be the economic salvation of the area. Yet for the past 40 years, whether it be TVA’s Yellow Creek or a DreamVision scam, nothing major has ever prospered in the area, if it even arrived in the first place.

Now that could change. Big things are reportedly happening in Sheffield. Yes, Sheffield. Is it too good to be true? We hope not. If proposed plans come to fruition, Sheffield could indeed become the real center of the Quad-Cities. If you’re a praying person, now’s the time to do it.

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Has there ever been a human trafficking case in the Shoals? If there has been one before Florence residents Chip Dillard and Tim Staggs were charged last month, we can’t recall it. Obviously the nature of the case and the high profile of one of the arrestees have created much interest in the proceedings. It’s also provided fodder for the rumor mill which has been in overdrive since the announcements of the indictments and arrests. So what’s true and what isn’t?

* Some of the female victims were underage? False. The current ages of the victims range from 21 to 31.

* Tim Staggs is a licensed bail bondsman? False. There’s no record of Staggs being licensed to act as a bondsman. In other words, he provided cash to bond the victims out from both Lauderdale and Colbert County correctional facilities. As to who came up with this lovely scheme, we don’t know.

* Dillard, Staggs, and co-defendant Brett Mitchell will undoubtedly be found guilty? False. While we hear the Lauderdale DA’s office says the case against Dillard and Staggs is a slam-dunk, a local judge has commented that the evidence against Mitchell won’t hold up in court. We can probably expect a plea on some sort of misdemeanor in that case.

* Staggs, if convicted, will get probation due to his age? False. It’s true that Staggs will be 84 in two weeks; however, the severity of his crime mandates a prison sentence. The state prison system has room in the Hamilton Aged and Infirm unit for at least one more, and the Attorney General’s office will fight any request for probation.

* Dillard threatened one witness with “assault or murder?” True. At least that is the wording in the indictment against the Florence attorney. He’s not accused of some oblique statement that it wouldn’t be in her best interest to testify, but in actually threatening at least bodily harm if not worse if she provided a statement to the grand jury.

* There will be more indictments in the case? Making an educated guess, that statement is true.

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Don’t forget the Lauderdale Rabies Clinic continues through Saturday. Click on the ad in our sidebar for dates and times.

Florence City Council District One/Russellville City Schools

Next to the mayoral race, District One may be the most hotly contested bone in Florence. Here are the players:

* Dave Smith - Current council member, Smith easily won the position four years ago after a campaign in which he arranged a news conference for his opponent's ex-husband to accuse her of bigamy. At the time, Smith denied malice and pleaded ignorance. During his current term, Smith has done all he could to derail plans for a new animal shelter on Fairgrounds Road, playing the race card. Smith has also done nothing to assist in building the new shelter. He is frequently seen throwing candy in parades. Yes, we believe him when he proclaims his ignorance. No campaign page at this time.

* Yolanda Verna Johnson (Falk) - Smith's opponent four years ago, Johnson is a doctoral student. One of her prioriites is a new College Street Bridge to connect West Florence with more facilities in that end of the county. Johnson has never held elected office. No campaign page at this time.

* Kaytrina P. Simmons - Simmons is a Florence businesswomen with her fingers in several business and social pies.This is Simnons' first entry into the political foray and she has heavily papered her district with campaign handouts. No campaign page at this time.

We'll be doing more in depth articles on this election in the future and request each candidate to send us their platforms, preferably in Google.doc format. We'll add that this district includes not only West Florence, but a large part of North Florence which seems to receive little or no attention. Comments?

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We've had several readers ask about Brady Ann Irons' most recent arrest. We don't have any specifics at this time. We do know her pretrial had been set for May 31st and that she was taken  into custody on the afternoon of June 1st. She was most recently arrested on drug charges on April 6th; she remains in the Lauderdale Detention Center at this time.

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From a Russellville parent on new school district rules:

The out of school zone ordinance passed was nothing but a tool given to the RHS principals to decide who's good enough to attend their schools. Yes I have an axe to grind. My son is a 504 plan student with Tourette's and ADHD, he was supposed to be grandfathered in under the rules. But he has been denied no matter if we can pay or not.

The new principal Jason Goodwin has all authority in these selections. I wonder if he ever thought that a student with health and medical conditions might be absent more than the average. Or one with ADHD might forget to turn in his doctor's excuses within the required 3 day period. After finally getting a return call from Goodwin, he cited absenteeism and a poor grade as his reasoning for denying my child. The biggest disappointment we have is our son will be a senior next year. And due to the cleansing going on he had to pickup and start over his final year!

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We're also still getting a large number of questions about the recent sex trafficking case involving at least one Florence attorney. We're making a list of questions and attempting to get answers. Look for a new blog on this extremely interesting case soon.