Friday morning flames claimed another LaFayette manufacturer and put two people in the hospital.

Fire broke out at Buy The Truck inside the old Ronile plant off South Chattanooga St. a little after 10 Friday morning. Twelve employees working for Buy The Truck were injured – eight of those were sent to the hospital for treatment, and at last update two were listed in “critical condition.”

Fire crews from Summerville, Trion, Walker State Prison, Catoosa, Fort O, and Rossville joined LaFayette Fire Department, LPD, and city utility workers to get the blaze under control.

GA Department of Natural Resources and representatives of Georgia EPD were also called to the scene to help limit environmental damage; this fire doesn’t compare to the Barwick Mill blaze last fall, but smoke from this one is still being considered toxic and those living nearby were advised not to go outdoors until the air clears.

An alert LU Facebook commenter points out that Buy The Truck (and the Ronile building) is owned by Tim Toole, whose Quality Carpet Cushion mill burned in 2008 during a similar situation.

That fire cost about 70 jobs, and eight years later the factory site on McCarter Rd. still sits empty, abandoned, and only partially cleaned up.

Neither fire is suspicious, accidents resulting perhaps from unsafe work conditions or sloppiness but not arson. [The state fire inspector will be on site today to verify that conclusion.] However, if the QCC blaze is any guide, Buy The Truck will never reopen and the building will probably be a falling-in eyesore for decades.           

Retired teacher and former Trion mayor Lanny Thomas wants Jeff Mullis’ job in Atlanta, and needs your vote in May to take it.

Here’s some background on Thomas, who grew up in Walker County and taught at LHS for three years decades ago before moving his home (and career) to Trion where he’s been for the last quarter century.   

Another structure fire on Saturday destroyed a home in Rock Spring.

A young couple and older man escaped from their Pinewood Drive home unharmed, but two dogs were lost along with everything the three owned.

Per relatives the young woman is pregnant, due in about two months. NWGA Red Cross has stepped in to provide them with temporary assistance and neighbors are collecting donations to help get them back on their feet.   

Lookout Mountain Drug Task Force says they’ve made a number of arrests around LaFayette to break up a drug ring focusing on high school students.

 

Three unnamed Hixson TN natives living in Hillcrest Subdivision have been charged, along with 18-year-old Shelby Jo Hendrix of Trion Highway and 19-year-olds Jaimey Louise Thompson [left] and Kyle Andrew Bloodworth [right], both of Bandy Rd. All face charges related to marijuana possession and distribution.

Regardless of your thoughts on whether or not marijuana should be legal for recreational use, it’s not legal now – to use, buy, sell, or grow. And they weren’t just selling pot – reports say the task force also found hash and xanax on some of the suspects. Busting a drug ring targeting teenagers is exactly what law enforcement is supposed to be doing.

Too bad all the suspects will be back in the street in a matter of months.   

The county primary election is about 90 days out, however Walker County’s election office says they’ve yet to hear anything from Commissioner Heiskell regarding her plans to run or not. Despite having a strong “challenger” the incumbent has made absolutely no move to defend her position.

Months ago candidates interested in replacing Heiskell were strongly encouraged by political heavies not to run, as too many candidates would (supposedly) guarantee a win for the incumbent. That, combined with much arm twisting and thinly veiled threats, caused some who might have run to sit the race out.

Now instead of the jam-paced scramble election some predicted, we only have two pre-registered Republican candidates for commissioner – and neither of them are Bebe Heiskell.

Official registration is March 7-11. Hopefully some of the candidates pushed not to run will change their minds by then and jump in anyway, else the 2016 election may turn into nothing but a glorified change of power from one “Bebe” to another.

(That’s not the only race with few candidates. Outside of a challenger for Jeff Mullis and a couple for Bebe, there’s nobody challenging the incumbents in other offices at all at this point. So far nobody’s show an interest in competing for Sheriff, coroner, school board, or a number of other key jobs. You can bitch all you want about voter turnout, but why should voters turn out when there are barely even any candidates?)   

Tuesday during the 4 PM hour an accident in Walmart’s parking lot sent a woman to the hospital.

According to a witness, the driver didn’t brake and slammed into a pole; an ambulance crew worked on her for approximately ten minutes then took her away. The driver’s name and condition aren’t known at the moment.

Another wreck happened in front of Walmart a little after 1 PM Wednesday, this time in the road instead of the parking lot.

Per reports, this red Chevy truck failed to stop at the red light and slammed into the back of a car which DID stop, pushing the car into another vehicle turning from Walmart.

A nine month old in the back of the car sustained minor injuries; his car seat is credited for avoiding a more tragic situation.

Be careful out there.     

Last Friday a federal judge dismissed Walker County’s flimsy legal defense against paying its share of money owed to Erlanger by Hutcheson.

District Court Judge Harold Murphy said the county’s “sovereign immunity” in Georgia doesn’t mean it can break contracts without penalty, and the $10 million debt Walker owes to Chattanooga’s Erlanger is “absolute and unconditional” – which means it must be paid.

The Commissioner’s expensive hired-gun lawyer, paid by the hour from your tax bill, apparently plans to appeal and drag this out as long as possible despite having zero chance of winning in the end.

The linked article also clarifies, again, that ApolloMD has not yet bought Hutcheson. It says they “have to first satisfy some complicated legal requirements” before actually buying the Fort Oglethorpe hospital.

If they don’t “satisfy” those requirements, they’ll probably sent the counties a multi-million-dollar invoice for services they’ve provided to the dead hospital since the end of December.   

A close examination of Senator Jeff Mullis’ campaign finance reports reveals that he’s underreported his donations AND his spending, violating state law, for years.

Since 2002 Mullis has raked in tens of thousand dollars more than he’s reported, and spent at least a hundred grand on.. something.. more than he included in his spending reports.
In late January a Mullis spokesman said it’s all due to clerical errors, shortly before they turned in ANOTHER false report to the state.

(Almost as bad, what Mullis DOES report shows that almost none of his financial support comes from individuals living in his district. At least 85% of every dollar Senator The Hutt rakes in is coming from out-of-district, frequently out-of-state, businesses.)

You want government transparency and honesty? Stop voting for this goon, or anybody else representing the Chickamauga Mafia.   

Jeff Long was responsible for 45 miles of road maintenance in Fort Oglethorpe. Now he’s managing Walker County’s road barn and has responsibility for (per the county) over 700 miles – but because the county wastes its money on other things, he’ll only be paving nine of those a year using state grant money.

At a rate of nine miles a year, he’ll have all 700 miles repaved in a little under 78 years. (Too bad there’s not some special sales tax meant for road maintenance.. Oh wait, there is. And we don’t use it for that.)

Long is working on a brine system to treat county roads for future winter weather, and recently got a separate grant to restripe about nineteen (presumably very short) county roadways.   

A convicted sex offender and a relative busted for drugs last weekend in LaFayette, plus another LaFayette woman picked up for the same in an unrelated traffic stop…

WQCH Radio, 02/18/16: “THREE PEOPLE WERE ARRESTED ON DRUG CHARGES AFTER LAFAYETTE POLICE MADE A COUPLE OF TRAFFIC STOPS ON SUNDAY [week ago].

“FOLLOWING UP ON A TIP ABOUT AN ‘IMPAIRED DRIVER,’ POLICE STOPPED WENDY LABELLE ESPY OF LAFAYETTE, ON NORTH MAIN. THEY NOTICED SIGNS OF IMPAIRMENT, INCLUDING SLURRED SPEECH.

“HER PASSENGER, MICHAEL PETER ESPY, APPEARED TO BE HIDING A PILL BOTTLE, ACCORDING TO THE REPORT. HE WAS CHARGED WITH POSSESSION OF A SCHEDULE-2 DRUG, NOT IN ORIGINAL CONTAINER. THOSE PILLS WERE IDENTIFIED AS OXYCODONE.

“ANOTHER PILL BOTTLE WAS RECOVERED FROM THE DRIVER’S PURSE, CONTAINING XANAX. MS. ESPY WAS CHARGED WITH DUI-DRUGS, POSSESSION OF A SCHEDULE-4 SUBSTANCE AND FAILURE TO MAINTAIN LANE. HER VEHICLE REGISTRATION HAD ALSO BEEN SUSPENDED.

Mr. Espy is a convicted child molester and registered sex offender in Catoosa County. Ms. Espy has a prior arrest from Catoosa, reasons not listed.

“IN ANOTHER TRAFFIC STOP ON COLRAIN STREET, ON A DRIVER AND PASSENGER WITH NO SEAT BELT, TABETHA MAE MOON WAS CHARGED WITH POSSESSION. SHE WAS A PASSENGER IN THE PICKUP TRUCK STOPPED BY POLICE.

“POLICE NOTICED HER ‘PALMING’ SOMETHING, WHICH TURNED OUT TO BE HYDROCODONE PILLS. A BAGGIE CONTAINING MARIJUANA WAS LOCATED IN THE WAISTBAND OF HER PANTS, ACCORDING TO POLICE.”   

A bad wreck shortly before 7 Wednesday morning on 27 south of town at Shattuck Industrial Blvd sent one woman to the hospital via LifeForce.

Per reports, 50-year-old Helen Janice Rollins of Summerville drove her car into a van after turning off 27 heading towards Roper. She was sent to Erlanger via LifeForce, five men in the van only received minor injuries.

At last update she was still in critical condition at Erlanger.     

The murder case against Clara Edwards has ended, for now, with a split verdict.

Clara Edwards’ lawyer needed only three hours Monday to present her defense. His main witness was a forensic pathologist from Arizona who testified that the almost-2-year-old child who died in Edwards’ case could have been killed from a fall – despite all evidence suggesting otherwise.

That hired expert said Sahara Weatherspoon’s cause of death should have been marked as indeterminate.

Two other witnesses said the child was happy in the Edwards home and Ms. Edwards at one point did ask for a helmet for the accident-prone baby.

Tuesday lawyers for Edwards and the DA’s office prosecuting her both gave their closing arguments. Her lawyer said the idea of the child falling was suggested by police, not Edwards herself, and the child was accident prone.

District Attorney Franklin argued in closing that the child’s frequent “accidents” only happened while she was at the Edwards home, not out in public, and Edwards has two personalities she can switch to as needed.

The jury began deliberations Tuesday afternoon and came back with a verdict early Thursday. They found Clara Edwards guilty of child abuse, but could not reach a unanimous verdict on the charge of murder.

Edwards will be sentenced for abuse in late March. Since the jury reached no verdict on murder charges, the DA’s office could still opt to retry her again in the future.     

Six months after the site was first promised to open, and a year after the first fake “job fairs” were held, Audia’s plastic plant in Noble is still not finished.

People are there, but they’re still working on the building itself – not making product.

County Development Director Liar Brooks has claimed at various times the mill would begin production in August, early September, late September, November, December, and again in January:

WQCH Radio, 01/07/16: “AS THE NEW YEAR OPENS, WALKER COUNTY’S DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY IS BUSY WITH NEW PROSPECTS AND THE HOPE OF MORE NEW JOBS FOR THE ECONOMY.

“EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR LARRY BROOKS SAID MONDAY, THAT THE NEXT ANTICIPATED ANNOUNCEMENT IS EXPECTED FROM ‘PROJECT LUNA’ – A CODE NAME FOR AN AUTO PARTS MANUFACTURER. BROOKS SAID THE METAL STAMPING COMPANY, A SUPPLIER FOR THE VOLKSWAGEN PLANT, HAS NARROWED THEIR SEARCH BETWEEN A LOCATION IN CHATTANOOGA, OR IN THE BUSINESS PARK AT NOBLE IN WALKER COUNTY. THE DECISION IS EXPECTED TO BE MADE IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS, ACCORDING TO BROOKS.

“HE SAID ‘PROJECT LUNA’ WOULD HAVE ABOUT THE SAME ECONOMIC IMPACT AS AUDIA INTERNATIONAL, WHICH IS EXPECTED TO START PRODUCTION THIS MONTH IN THE NOBLE BUSINESS PARK.

“BROOKS SAID THERE MAY BE GOOD NEWS FOR ROSSVILLE AS WELL, AS TWO COMPANIES, A MANUFACTURER AND A CUSTOMER SUPPORT CENTER, ARE LOOKING AT LOCATIONS IN THAT AREA.”

Brooks’ predictions for Audia to open in January once again fell apart, along with this “project luna” which doesn’t seem to have materialized.

So far all the Audia plant “Project Eagle” has done is burn through county tax dollars – about $20 million from SPLOST and at least $5 million more from loans backed by the recent tax increase. All for maybe sixty jobs. If “Project Luna” would bring the same economic impact as THAT, pray we never get it.   

  

Fire broke out Saturday afternoon atop Lookout Mountain. A quick response from Walker County Fire and the Forest Service kept damage to a minimum. No reported damage other than burned leaves.   

A Chattooga County resident will appear in at least one of the next seven episodes of The Walking Dead.

No, not the actor – the horse.

Tommie Turvey’s horse “Nicolas” has been prominently featured in promo images for the top show’s return, which began last night. (Nicolas was not in last night’s episode but his prominent use in promos means he will appear sometime between now and mid-April.)

Turvey horses have been on the show several times before, including in its iconic pilot episode, and Mr. Turvey himself has worked as a stunt actor on a few occasions. (Animal characters never last long on the GA-filmed show, so don’t get your heart set for recurring appearances.)

Mr. Turvey is also responsible for training horses used in Budweiser commercials, among many other known animal performances – and he lives right across the Walker/Chattooga line in the Villanow area.