LaFayette native Dimitri Miles, age 21, was arrested Sunday in Troy, Alabama, accused of murder.

Local TV in Alabama reports a police search of Mr. Miles’ home recovered a likely murder weapon, along with marijuana and digital scales for weighing same. PD in Troy say he confessed to the crime, for what that’s worth.

Dimitri was originally from Alabama but moved to LaFayette when coach Perry Swindoll (also from Alabama) took over the Ramblers. He was a football star at LHS, named Best of Preps in his junior year (2009), and later joined the Troy Trojans – but did not play college ball this season due to academic ineligibility. He was arrested this October in Cobb County GA for marijuana possession.

Since the murder arrest, Miles has been formally kicked off the Troy football team, expelled from the school, and his name has been scrubbed from Troy University’s Web site.     

Last night Hutcheson confirmed what LU first began reporting on Social Media late Monday: The struggling hospital’s respected Women’s Center (OBGYN/Labor & Delivery/NICU) will close down by the end of the year.

Per hospital leaders, the center was losing $2 million a year due to decreasing numbers of births each month. 37 jobs will be impacted, but it’s not yet clear how many of those 37 will be working in other areas of HMC and how many will end up unemployed.

But not to worry: babies will still be born. Somewhere else.

“As there are four hospitals with labor and delivery service in the region, [Interim CEO Farrell] Hayes said the community will not experience a gap in delivery and neonatal service.”

Couldn’t the same be said about anything Hutcheson provides now? People can always go somewhere else, and they will as long as HMC’s terrible reputation for care, billing, and service continues to decline.             

More on Hutcheson announcement from LU

Early voting for House District 2 election (Steve Tarvin, Doug Woodruff, Neal Florence competing to replace Jay Neal in Atlanta) is now open.

Registered voters living in District 2 can vote 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM at the Courthouse Elections Office, this week through Friday, next Monday (23rd), next Friday (27th), Monday Dec. 30th, and Thurs-Fri January 2nd and 3rd. (The schedule is chopped all to bits because of Christmas, New Years, and county furlough days. This is why we don’t normally vote in December.)

The actual election will be held Tuesday January 7th. LU Q&A’s with all three candidates are forthcoming.   

Another commercial vehicle falls victim to business friendly downtown LaFayette:

(This photo taken before noon on Monday.)

Previously this year we’ve had a school bus or semi tangled up in the new traffic signals on the square, got a semi truck stuck against a utility pole trying to turn from S. Chattanooga Street onto McLemore, and had a stolen school bus knock over the new crossing signal at the corner of S. Chatt and West Main.

Plus the regular complaints of trucks vs. cars vs. pedestrians at Chattanooga Street Tavern.

The council’s plan now is to mostly force trucks to use other routes. Unfortunately the back side of town is about as bad:

LaFayette will never grow without convenient access for commercial vehicles. The city needs industries and trucks more than the industries and trucks need to be here.     

Monday LPD issued warnings about a man suspected of trying to steal packages being delivered in the Dogwood Circle area off North Duke Street.

The suspect, described as a “white man wearing a gray sweatshirt and knit hat” wasn’t located. Residents are warned to keep an eye out, and be careful about deliveries being left when nobody is at home.   

Webb/Mayo shooting from last month has been picked up by Gawker. LaFayette’s in the news all over the place – for all the wrong reasons. (Be sure to check out their comment section. Gawker commenters are almost as good as the Peanut Gallery on LU.)

The shooting was also mentioned briefly on last weekend’s Saturday Night Live.   

In January, the former location of One Eleven will become a Mexican Restaurant. Another El Pueblito, which already has locations in Trion, Summerville, and Calhoun. (Sorry, Trion closed.)

Post election, Mr. Lovelady (One Eleven owner and defeated candidate for mayor) transitions from landlord/entrepreneur to just landlord.   

District Attorney Buzz Franklin still won’t say if Fred Youngblood will be charged with shooting Dalton McConathy in Catoosa County on November 11th, but one man has stepped up to defend McConathay’s character and several are painting Youngblood as a trigger-happy nut.

Not sure what else is out there for Franklin and investigators to consider, this case or the later shooting of Ronald Westbrook. If they don’t have enough for a charge by now then just say there will be no charges, then deal with the political consequences instead of letting this drag on forever.   

US Senate candidate Paul Broun (currently a US Representative) visited LaFayette Tuesday and shook hands with breakfast customers at Susie’s.

Rep. Broun’s office e-mailed LU a week prior saying he was coming, stating he was meeting with public officials at Susie’s. LU e-mailed back and asked if he would be meeting with the public or just officials and they never answered, so the event wasn’t shared here. Those serious about running for office (be it county coroner or US Senator) should check their e-mail on a regular basis.   

In other non-local political news: GA State Senator Don Balfour, once the most powerful man in state legislature, has been found not guilty on multiple charges of fraud and theft against the state. That means he avoids fines and jail time, plus he automatically gets to go back to the State Senate for at least one more year.

Another blow for ethics in Georgia.

Apparently the standard for conviction was that he had to “intentionally” sign off on false expense reports, and prosecutors (guided by GA Attorney General Olens) couldn’t convince a grand jury he did the crime intentionally. (As noted, it’s too bad they don’t apply the same standard to other crimes. I didn’t intentionally speed, I didn’t intentionally shoplift, I didn’t intentionally kill him, etc.)   

Two more wrestling victories for the Ramblers Tuesday in Fort Payne. LHS wrestlers are now 13-0 for the season.   

Members of the Commissioner’s inner circle are claiming more than 1,000 people showed up at Mountain Cove Farms over the weekend for a Christmas event:

Seems like the community would have noticed if that many people had paid Walker County a visit. More dubious claims from one of the main SPLOST tax cheerleaders, James A. Jones.

Those who actually attended the small Christmas activity say there might have been 200 people there, at best, including county employees and vendors.   

Gainesville GA school board votes to allow SRO’s to keep a rifle in each district school. Guns (basically an AR-15 available in full- or semi-automatic versions) would be accessible only by approved officers and wouldn’t be kept on campus when officers were away.

The argument for this plan (first proposed last winter) is a rifle would be more effective against an armed intruder/shooter than the pistols normally carried by school resource officers.   

Recent bookings at the Walker County Jail – from a Chattanooga news source.   

2014 race for governor heats up: A state employee working for Gov. Deal sent candidate David Pennington’s campaign chairman a text message Pennington’s people consider “threatening.”   

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