Times Daily, bought again?

Some of us at the Shoals Insider have been mystified by the Times Daily's apparent refusal to cover any aspect of the recently passed Alabama patient safety bill.

The bill requires hospitals to collect data on the number of hospital acquired staph infections.

We have received several e-mails from patient safety advocates from across the state of Alabama, asking us why the TD refuses to run anything, even the mere mention of the bill.

Maybe we should connect the dots. The Times Daily's largest advertisers are Helen Keller Hospital and ECM. Don't believe me? Open the newspaper any given day. You will see what I mean.

One employee confirmed the figure Keller spends with the TD is close to one half a million dollars in advertising.

We at Shoals Insider feel the Shoals area is very blessed to have the three great hospitals we do. They are all full of hard working men and women dedicated to patient care. One hospital has garnered an award for patient safety.

In a recent Times Daily column, written by a senior editor, he used words like the "sacred" and "trust" in regards to journalistic integrity. This is probably true. Unless it deals with big spending advertisers.

We have several friends at the Times Daily. We are sure their lack of coverage on the safety bill is just an oversight.

Colbert Heights hit hard this past week

It is with great sadness, I write this column today. Hearts are just broken all over the Shoals area, with news of two teenagers dying this past week on Hwy. 43 near Littleville. The two accidents happened within a mile of each other.

The latest death was that of the young man to the left, 14-year-old, Stephen Hunter Moore, a student at Colbert Heights High School. He was crossing Hwy. 43 with three of his friends, when a car struck and killed Hunter.

I can say this, some local politicians have taken note of the deaths. Two have expressed their grief over these recent deaths.

Five people have died in the past ten years, where, 14-year-old, Dalton Stewart and his mother died, this past Wednesday. There is an obvious lack of a guard rail on that section of Hwy. 43 North. One can only speculate. Would they have died if if the guard rail was in place? If the drainage was better or if the road more level, would they have slid off to their deaths. We will never know.

I think it would be in the public's best interest to fix the road and erect guard rails on that section of road.

We know words could never describe or ease the pain felt after a young person's death. But we will keep these families in our thoughts and prayers and ask that you do too.

Decatur Daily comes to town, T.Wayne not getting on a plane

When we first reported a couple of weeks ago The Decatur Daily was in talks to buy The Times Daily, my first thought was, is it making a profit? Of course, cutting the four senior-most positions must be a large cost saving measure. In all likelihood, more cuts will be necessary. Last I heard, there were over 100 employees at TD. And we are all aware of the plummeting ad sales in print media, hundreds of papers across the nation are going out or under, as we speak.

From media accounts of the transaction, the new owners seem very focused on local news. So I can't see many more cuts in the newsroom. But you better believe they are going to want a return on their multi-million dollar investment. Financial analysts recently estimated the New York Times Regional News Group value to be around $100 million. With the Boston paper accounting for most of that, that leaves just a few million dollar value on the rest of the newsgroups papers, five to ten million a piece. Rest assured, the new owners have close to this invested in the Times Daily.

The new owners have mentioned the high dollar presses at the TD. This will save money on print cost for the Decatur paper.

We at Shoals Insider extend our welcome the new owners and new staff to the Shoals area.

We really hate to see T. Wayne Mitchell leave the TD. I have to admit, I have read several of T. Wayne's columns. I once asked him if T. Wayne was yankee for Dewayne. We both laughed.
In his last column, Mitchell seemed to imply he is sticking around. He can always come work for the Shoals Insider. The check would be the same minus a few zeros.

Who is Denny Belew?

The Shoals Insider has received several requests for information on Denny Belew.

Belew, the teacher Allen Wilson allegedly assaulted in a brawl at Allen Thornton Vocational School, heads up Lauderdale County School System's alternative programs.

He and Wilson were both suspended from work, after the incident.

Aside from teaching, Belew is part owner of Select South Group Inc., an auction and realty company in the Shoals.

A graduate of Wilson High School, Belew is a licensed real estate agent and auctioneer.

Of particular note, Belew is also a member of the World Tang Soo Do association.

This leads one to believe that maybe, just maybe, he was sucker punched by Wilson.

We have not seen the tape, but sounds possible.

Belew has a Bachelor of Science in history and political science and a Master's in secondary education, both from UNA.

From what we have been hearing, Belew comes from a good family and this is not something he would instigate.

All parties have to admit, this whole fiasco sets a poor standard of professional behavior.

Not to mention, Wilson going to jail, WOW. What are the students thinking?

Just another day at the office for Lauderdale Superintendent Billy Valentine.

We at Shoals Insider feel Valentine will do what's best for the school system.

He should get a raise after all of this.

What's the biblical proverb say? Slow to speak?