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.

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.

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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