Times Daily not immune to economic woes

It's no secret the print newspaper business is sinking and sinking fast. One only has to read the national headlines to see newspapers across the country are going out of business by the bushel.

The Chicago Tribune, LA Times, Baltimore Sun, have all filed for bankruptcy protection this past month. The New York Times, parent company of the Times Daily, has had to mortgage its' building to stay afloat. Millions of people are going to the internet, instead of print, to get their news. Why buy the cow when the milk is free?

The Times Daily's financial woes have been well hid from its' readers. The first sign came a couple of weeks ago when T. Wayne Mitchell, Executive Editor, mentioned in his weekly column that the Editorial Page Editor, Robert Palmer, is retiring. Palmer is not the only one. Gary Messner, Operations Director is retiring too. According to folks in the know at the Times Daily, the brass have been offering retirement packages to employees for quite some time. Palmer is not at retirement age. Messner is.

A couple of months ago the Times Daily started to farm out the PrePress department. The PrePress department builds ads and lays out the newspaper, creates graphics, etc.. The department went from seven to one employee. From what we gather, Tuscaloosa will do some of the work.

One of our writers contacted Wayne Mitchell about the PrePress jobs. He said "What is the Shoals Insider? No comment."

Our boss has several friends at the Times Daily. We wish them all the best.

Some people at the TD have told us they foresee a day when they will be online only with a weekly condensed version.

We hear a lot of complaints about the TD. I'm sure they hear some about us, but, it would be hard to imagine the Shoals without a daily newspaper.

Colbert County home invasion: Sign of the times?

Early last Tuesday morning, a man was murdered in his own home by three thugs looking for money.

41 year-old, Harry James Ricks Sr. was murdered in cold blood because he attempted to run away from his captors. This in front of his tied up family. In a house not too far from yours. The murder occurred on Gate Six Road in Muscle Shoals, just passed Wise Alloys.

Mr. Ricks leaves, through no fault of his own, a son that looked up to his father, a wife, friends, and co-workers.

Some have suggested this is just a sign of the times. I don't know, but, I do know the Shoals has suffered great loss this year, tragic losses.

Jennifer Lee Hampton, of Lauderdale County, was taken from us by a monster that just so happened to be an illegal alien.

Mason Scott, a young boy from Russellville, was allegedly burned alive by his mother in a house fire.

A man beaten to death in Florence.

A Sheffield man shot by his sister in a drunken brawl.

Colbert County District Attorney, Bryce U. Graham Jr., has made it clear that he aims to get the thugs that killed Ricks off of the street. Anyone that has talked to or seen Colbert Sheriff Ronnie May lately, know he is dead serious about apprehending these thugs too. We are lucky to have dedicated public officials in Colbert County that will pursue this.

Some people have suggested these deaths are just part of living in cities this size or sign of modern times or, amazingly, the economy. I have actually heard people say the economy is to blame for the sharp increase in crime. I think not. Shoplifting, yes, but not murder.

The Shoals is our home , for better or worse, and we would like to think all of these deaths are anything but ordinary. This is not D.C. This is not Birmingham or Memphis. This is our home.

We must show these people that this will not be tolerated.

When the murderers are caught and sitting in a Tuscumbia courtroom, I hope they are made to see the faces of Mr. Rick's family. I hope they see the hurt. The whole community is feeling it right now.

Dollar General Stores ordered to pay $2.2 million to an injured worker they fired

It is a sad day when an employee of a dollar store is fired for reporting an injury. And we wonder why people vote Democrat instead of big business Republican. This is a good case in point.

Ms. Burbank, the employee, worked for Dollar General in Florence, Alabama. She was injured on the job by a cash drawer that fell and hit her hand. The cut became infected and Ms. Burbank had to have her arm amputated.

Instead of approving workman's compensation, Dollar General fires Burbank. What in the world were these people thinking? It came out in court that Dollar General fines the managers $7,500 of their bonus for every injury they report. This policy is practiced in all 8,000 Dollar General stores throughout America.

I totally agree with the $2.2 million judgment against Dollar General.

Her attorney, Joey James, did an excellent job presenting the truth in this case.

I wonder how many people Dollar General has done this to in the past.

Our prayers are with Ms. Burbank in her fight for justice.

I hope this case will serve as a warning for others. Be careful how you treat the least of these.

The signs are gone but emotions still linger in local campaigns

The elections are all OVER. We are still a bit amazed at Deborah Bell Paseur for not conceding her defeat, but, I guess if people had spent millions of dollars trying to get me elected, I would hang in there like a long hair in a cold biscuit. The sad thing is Deborah Bell would have been good for our area, at least for the attorneys here in the Shoals. You can ask any local attorney. It is good to have a friend in Montgomery.

In my years in the Shoals, I can't remember a more heated race than this past Colbert County Supt. of Education race. The election between Goode and Hudson pitted family member against family member, friend against friend, etc. etc. It was like the Auburn vs. Alabama rivalry times 10.
In the past couple of months, I had two or three people ask me if I was for Obama or McCain. I had no less than 10 ask me about the Supt. race.

I wonder, now that it is over, where will all of that momentum go.

Fight for Bud Cramer's seat gets down and dirty

The Shoals Insider got to sit down with Gov. Bob Riley last week. After his endorsement of Wayne Parker, the Gov said he knew both men and that is why he endorsed Parker. I asked Riley if he was surprised by the negative campaigning in this race. "Not at all" said Riley. "There is so much at stake here. It's more than most people know." Riley was referring to the Democratic controlled congress and our future with a possible Obama presidency.

It does appear Democrats have the momentum now. Political insiders are still waiting for a video or audio tape to surface on Michelle or Barack Obama.

We feel a vigilant press would do far better than negative campaign ads. I think most would agree, the negative campaign ads do more harm than good. The sad thing is they do work. Experts say negative campaign ads, while unpleasant, work to inform voters about the candidates.

Democrats and republicans agree Gov. Bob Riley has been and is still the best governor Alabama has seen in years. He, with the help of the legislature, has brought more jobs and industry to Alabama than anyone I can remember .

An endorsement from Riley should help Parker. However, there will be record turn out for the presidential race. This could work in Parker Griffith's favor.

We also talked with Parker Griffith. He is a conservative democrat.
Griffith is pro-life and seems dead set on bringing new jobs to North Alabama.

We at Shoals Insider are not going to make an endorsement in this race. We feel the voters should decide. Unlike other media outlets, the Shoals Insider is not going to tell you how to vote.

Honeymoon over for Florence City Council

Sources close to the situation tell the Shoals Insider that the honeymoon is over for the Florence City Council. At the last council meeting a straw poll was taken for who would be the next city council president. We would like to remind the council of Mr. Barnhart's long statewide public service. Mr. Barnhart has worked under two governors as Labor Commissioner. Out of all those involved and especially the new members of the council, Barnhart has the greatest amount of knowledge, pertaining to state and local government.

Let's hope this city council will be less divisive than prior ones. We have a very talented group this time.

Do us all a favor and leave your egos at home.

Another jailor arrested at Colbert County Jail

It was somewhat shocking this week to see another jailor, Justin Franks, arrested for promoting prison contraband at the Colbert County Jail in Tuscumbia, Alabama. Around thirty days ago another jailor, Tony Chaney, was arrested on similar charges. That, we feel, should have been a big warning to other employees. It is quite possible that Mr. Franks was out of town or did not see any of the media coverage.

The one difference is that Chaney's case involved drugs and this case involved cell phones and Kentucky Fried Chicken. One could almost say this makes for good comedy, but, it seems the consequences are very serious. We at Shoals Insider hope the court system has a little mercy on Mr. Franks. He couldn't be all that bad of a guy.

Maybe they could put fried chicken on the menu at the Colbert County Jail. . . .

What's up with the Shoals having higher gas prices than surrounding areas?

The Shoals Area's gas prices are consistantly higher than all of our neighboring communities. According to gasbuddy.com, we are paying up to 40 cents more than everyone else. Today, Karl Owens, one of our investigative reporters attempted to contact some of the owners of our local gas stations. He was met with hostility and hung-up on more than once. We are beginning to wonder what it is these people are hiding. His story will appear on the Shoals Insider this week.

Sheffield mayoral campaign finally over

The citizens of Sheffield have spoken and Ian Sanford will be the next mayor. We were the first in the Shoals to report the victory. I can't say that I remember a local mayors race getting this heated. Emotions have run high. One could probably argue that is a good thing, but, I can't say that. At the end of this whole election fiasco, it seems a lot of people got their feelings hurt. While we at Shoals Insider never endorsed anyone, we did try to bring fair coverage to you, our readers. We at Shoals Insider get up early in the morning scanning news feeds and the news wire to bring you a broad spectrum of coverage as it effects us here in the Shoals.

I feel all of the coverage of this mayors race has raised the public's awareness of the issues in Sheffield. All of the newly elected officials would do well to remember the people are watching them now, more than ever. We hope to keep you informed on the issues that effect your lives. Some say what is the big deal about all of these little city races. We say they are big because the decisions that they make will have an impact on your lives. As one Fox News television host says "We're looking out for you" Shoals Insider

Is there any punishment fit for this crime

I am looking at this screen literally through tears as I write this post. I do not see how this woman could harm this little boy. If she is convicted, which is very possible, she could receive the death penalty. Franklin County District Attorney Joey Rushing would not have charged this woman with capital murder, if he didn't have good evidence. We at the Shoals Insider are grieved. We do not understand this tragedy. How can this happen here?

She is entitled to a fair trial. We are hoping on hope that his woman did not commit this monstrous act.

What kind of monster could burn their own child up in a house for money?

This precious child, Mason Scott, could have very possibly been taken from this world for the want of money.

Please join us in prayer for this child's father and family. Please join us in prayer for the judge and jury and prosecutor that will have to handle this case. We also pray for Christie Scott. May the truth come out and conclusively find her innocent or guilty. Either way the community has been hard hit. Her family, the father's family, all involved, and the Russellville community have suffered a great loss

We in the Shoals Area have been hit hard this week by two tragedies. First, the loss of Jennifer Lee Hampton in Knoxville, Tennessee. Now, the senseless loss of this little boy.

Our hats off to the law enforcement agencies that have arrested the suspects.

We have thrown journalistic objectivity out the window on this one. We are human too.

Shoals mourns loss

It was a week ago this morning we broke the news to the Shoals Area about Jennifer Lee Hampton's disappearance. Things like this seem to be reserved for bigger cities, not our small community. When something like this hits the Shoals, it effects us all. It makes me wonder what kind of monster or monsters could do something like this. It is extra painful to see someone so young struck down like this. We at Shoals Insider pray that the individuals responsible are brought to justice. I don't know much, but, I do know what goes around comes around. Jesus said "Woe unto the man that offends my little ones." That's our story and we are sticking to it.

Well "the foot" turns out to be that of a bear

Today, we have word that "the foot" belongs to a bear, not a human. It is still very amazing how far and wide the news spread, as I mentioned in an earlier post. I wish I could have seen "the foot" than maybe I could have made my own deductions. I will now wait and see if the corrected word travels as far as the human story has traveled. I did not realize there were that many similarities
between the human foot and the foot of a bear. Hmmmm. Well, we at Shoals Insider will still continue to report the news. I still can't believe we had to send "the foot" to UAB for identification.
I now wonder about the medical personnel in Franklin County. Did a physician examine the foot?
Did he have gross anatomy? These questions will haunt me for some time.

Shoals Insider

Word of "the foot" travels around the world

One only has to look at any internet news service to see word of "the foot" has spread all over the globe. It is being reported in Australia, Canada, all fifty states by the Associated Press, Great Britain, etc. We have heard people say that it is Andrea Gonzalez's foot. We have heard that it is from a body in an unvaulted grave that dogs dug up. We hope the UAB doctors and law enforcement personnel do find out it origins. Those that remember the Andrea Gonzalez case, know it was a very heart-breaking story about the death of a precious little child. We pray the mystery is solved. It would bring closure to one of the Shoals Area's greatest heart-breaks.

Jennifer Lee Hampton

Early last Sunday, we broke the Jennifer Lee Hampton story to the Shoals Area. Since then, we have been in daily contact with the Knoxville Police Department seeking answers for you our readers. We are very proud to see Shoals Area citizens coming together for this very special cause.

We talked to a few members of the news media in Knoxville. One reporter told us "You guys must be a tight knit community over there in Florence, Alabama. It seems your whole community has come together behind this with support and concern. It's not that often we see that here in Knoxville."

At times, we seem to hear a lot of negatives about the Shoals. It's good to hear positives, even from out of towners.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Jennifer's family in this difficult time.

Florence Electric Department vote of no confidence

Last week, we reported on the Florence Electric Departments' vote of no confidence. We feel this was poorly planned. We contacted several people on the list of signatures. None would speak. We even promised anonymity. This, we felt was very surprising. This proved one of two things. Either Richard Morrisey is so tyrannical and intimidating that all feared retaliation or most felt they had made some mistake. It was quite weird to be honest with you.

It is public knowledge there is an on-going sexual harassment lawsuit against FED. It is evident there are problems at FED that need to be addressed. But, until someone files a grievance, they gave the appearance, at least to the Times Daily of "disgruntled employees", to use their words. It is difficult to write this whole thing off as a few angry workers when around fifty people signed this document. Surely they were not all driving city cars.

Shoals Insider will list Shoals Area Blogs

Effective immediately, the Shoals Insider will provide links to Shoals Area Blogs. If you have a blog or know someone that has a blog, please e-mail us and let us know. We have set up a special e-mail address shoalsinsider@bellsouth.net for this task. We will list the links on the left hand side of this blog.

Free Classifieds for Shoals Insider readers

We are very proud to announce that we now offer FREE classifieds to our readers. We did this to offer more services for our readers. To place a free classified simply click on the free classified icon in the left-hand menu of the front page of Shoals Insider. This is for our readers. Businesses can contact us for ad rates. Our advertising rates are almost half of the other guys and are very affordable.

We In the months ahead, our front page will be changing some. Our new system will allow more dynamic content and a lot more reader options.

Last Friday, Sept. 19th, we had our biggest day in unique visitors, over three thousand. We have seen tremendous response to shoalsinsider.com. We want to thank you for the hundreds of e-mails and the so many e-mails of encouragement. We do not want to report negative stuff all of the time. That is not our aim. Our aim is to give Shoals Area residents another source for late-breaking news. Thank you so, so much for your overwhelming support.

Steve Price endorses Mayor Anderson

We reported yesterday that, former Sheffield mayoral candidate, Steve Price has endorsed Mayor Billy Don Anderson. We at Shoals Insider are the first in the Shoals Area to announce this endorsement. Mayor Anderson has worked tirelessly the past four years. He has been a mayor that all of the citizens of Sheffield can be proud of. Mayor Anderson has made some tough decisions that no person would want to make.

Steve Price who ran for Mayor of Sheffield was viewed by many as an outsider. It seems this was his drawing card. Several Sheffield citizens have told the Insider this is a good thing. Price says Anderson brings years of knowledge to the office. He has a very keen insight into the inner workings of government and industry. As a bank President, Anderson oversaw millions of dollars. He had to deal very directly with business owners. He knows how to make something work. Anderson also serves on the UNA Board of Trustees. He has held that position for some time and the University has seen exponential growth. We at the Shoals Insider feel that the mere fact that the City of Sheffield is still open for business is testimony to someone. Councilwoman Verna Brennan tells the Insider that Sheffield was a "hair away from going under, we worked hard collectively to keep the City afloat."

We at Shoals Insider are not endorsing either candidate. Unlike other local newspapers, we believe the voters should decide who they vote for. Voters should weigh the facts and decide for themselves. Like Dick Biddle of WOWL used to say, "Be a good American, be an informed American." We believe the citizens of Sheffield are very capable of deciding who the next mayor will be.

Some of our staff members at Shoals Insider have known the two candidates all of their lives. They feel that each candidate has merit. We try to bring a real "fair & balanced" approach
to our news coverage. We consider it a great honor and a privilege to bring news and information to 40,000+ Shoals Area residents per month.

Please feel free to comment on this or anything else, by clicking on the comment icon.

We have a new readers forum on the Shoals Insider

We would like to thank all of our readers for the tremendous response we have received on our Reader Forum. 1,400 people have already given it a test as of this morning at 7:00AM, 9/11/08.
We have several forums within our Reader's Forum, News, Politics, Sports, Food, Article Suggestion, and a Legal forum that is monitored by three lawyers throughout the week. Our forum is ad free and dedicated to our Shoals Insider readers. You can go to our forum by clicking on the icon in the left-hand side of our front page or on the left-hand side list of links on this page.

Once again, thank you for your support and tremendous response to Shoals Insider and our Reader's Forum. We are certain that you will not find our discussions anywhere else in the Shoals Area.

We will continue to provide you with exclusive news and topics. Also, we would love to hear from you about any suggestions that you might have.

Evacuees stress some in Shoals Area

Evacuees in altercation with Helen Keller Hospital

In the spirit of community and helping others, we think it is so awesome how the Shoals rose to the occasion to help so many of the evacuees from New Orleans recently.

All in all, we continue to believe the Shoals Area is one of the best places to live and work. Some of us get ill when we see some being taken advantage of(nurses, hospital staff, students, etc..) We at the Shoals Insider wrote an article about the incident at HKM hospital, not to stir hatred or discord, but to inform our readers of news they are not receiving elsewhere. We want to provide another lens for our readers, another point of view. We feel we are doing just that.

Technorati Tags: Shoals Insider, Helen Keller Hospital, Sheffield, Alabama, Times Daily, Florence alabama

Shoals Insider now has a news blog

We at Shoals Insider now have a News Blog for our readers to suggest topics and to leave news tips. Shoals Insider has experienced tremendous growth in the past few months. shoalsinsider.com provides the Shoals Area with late-breaking news. We offer news that is not found everywhere else. We try to provide insight and a close-up look at what is going on in the Shoals Area. We hope this blog will provide an exchange for our readers.

Thank You our readers,

Shoals Insider