On August 13, 1970, LaFayette was in a positive spotlight when world-renowned musician Johnny Cash performed a benefit concert at the old high school football field.

Cash had visited town once before, during an infamous stay at the Walker County jail. That 1967 experience, later credited by the singer for turning his life around, was the reason he came back to town to headline a fundraiser for the LHS football team and marching band.

Cash’s appearance – accompanied by other musicians who regularly played with him on tour and on his weekly “Johnny Cash Show” for TV – raised thousands of dollars for the LaFayette Athletic Association and LHS Band Boosters. Those funds were used to build top-notch facilities for the school’s football team and marching band at the field where he played.

43-plus-years later, souvenirs, memorabilia, and even photos from the 1970 concert are still kept, and treasured, by some who were there. But those items are scarce and not readily available for those who want a reminder of a day, and an era, when LaFayette was great – and much of the physical facility where Cash performed has been demolished.

However, in a few weeks a modern reminder will be made available for anyone seeking a connection with the Cash appearance:

Designed by well-regarded Chattanooga artist Ron E. Ott from original photos and information compiled by Picnooga.org volunteers, this recreated, fictionalized version of a 1970 concert handbill will be available next month for “less than $20.”

Cash and many involved with the 1970 concert have since passed away, but their legacy of giving continues to help local kids: This imagined poster will be given away with donations to support LaFayette’s underfunded local library.

Wednesday morning’s planned hearing for Chattanooga Street Tavern never really happened. A significant crowd of supporters and interested observed gathered at City Hall at 11 AM, but city officials never joined them.

After nearly two hours Mayor Arnold announced that a permanent decision on the Tavern’s pouring license would be made in Superior Court, sometime before May 9th, and for now the business’s permit would be returned. The Tavern could have reopened Wednesday afternoon – but the Loveladys waited until 11 Friday to start back up.

Decision to hand the case off to Superior Court was made to “skip a step” because any decision made by the council would have been appealed anyway; there are simply too many members of the City Council who have ties to the Tavern for a local decision to be considered fair.

At least one councilman was at the Valentine’s Day party, one has been blackmailed by the owner, and the owner also opposed Andy Arnold in the mayor’s race… Another council member’s son was involved in the decision to pull their license. They might all have to recuse themselves, leaving nobody to actually make a decision.

Per this article, negotiations were held at City Attorney Womack’s office. Mayor Arnold (and presumably an outside lawyer the city brought in from Rome) sat in one room while Lovelady and his lawyers sat in another as the city attorney’s partner ran back and forth with messages.

A state judge will hopefully have more impartiality and a better grasp of state and city rules, which are admittedly a little bit convoluted. The city didn’t handle it directly, but they also didn’t drop it – which is definitely a sign of “progress.”                   

A rally of Tavern supporters was planned before the hearing began, but failed to happen when a few showed up and saw police cars parked nearby. The rally was to be held at Joe Stock Park, adjacent to the police station.   

Traffic in front of Saddle Ridge school was disrupted Thursday morning after an accident. Per a family member, the wreck was caused by a high school student pulling into the highway after dropping a younger sibling off for class.

This isn’t the first accident in front of Saddle Ridge; fortunately so far none have been serious. The school’s been open six months and still has no school zone signs or flashing lights. There are plans to install those “eventually” but GDOT will not approve a speed reduction through the area, and probably won’t until somebody dies.   

The goal of every community is “progress” – moving forward to give everyone a better life. However, some have different definitions of what “progress” actually looks like. Different visions of progress frequently lead to conflict as communities work out priorities and trade-offs.

Last Friday’s much-discussed closure of Chattanooga Street Tavern is a conflict over progress and how the term is defined for residents of LaFayette.

Tavern owners Mike and Gary Lovelady, and their supporters in the fight to illegally serve hard liquor, say that “progress” means changing the rules, allowing in hard drinks, bringing in new restaurants that represent jobs and economic growth. And while updating the city’s laws might deliver those results, that’s not what’s on the table today during a hearing about Chattanooga Street Tavern’s pouring license.

What IS on the table is ethical progress. Moving beyond a past of corruption and cronyism (or the “good ol boy system”) where misdeeds by some in the community are ignored because of last name, political position, social ties, or bank balance. Through the years LaFayette has been ethically lousy, developing a bad reputation for corruption and unfairness that has done far more to hold the city back than any restrictions on serving liquor.

This year LaFayette has its first new Mayor since 1991. The city also has three council members, an interim City Manager, a Codes Superintendent, and a police chief who have all come into their jobs within the last three years. The city has changed, considerably, since the dark days of Neal Florence, Tommy Freeman, Johnnie Arnold, Sam Parker, and Norm Hodge. New people put into positions of authority in LaFayette have made efforts to change, to reform the city both financially and ethically, but up until now they’ve not truly been put to the test.

The issue of Chattanooga Street Tavern and ALL the Lovelady-owned businesses being allowed to continue breaking city laws is that test, and a hard one. An opportunity for the city and its new leaders to decide if we’ll remain in those days of looking the other way or progress into a future where the law is applied equally to everyone regardless of who they are.

2:30 Friday afternoon, LaFayette Police Department suspended Chattanooga Street Tavern’s beer/wine pouring license. A few minutes later the Tavern and Mars Theater both closed in dramatic fashion, with signs claiming they were shut down “by order of the city.” Similar messages were posted on the organizations’ Facebook pages.

Temporary removal of the alcohol license came from reports a week earlier of hard liquor being served illegally at nearby Mars Theater on Valentine’s Day. LPD investigated the issue for a week before action was taken, speaking with employees of the Tavern and at least one individual involved with the Arts Guid, which supposedly benefitted from the V-Day fundraiser.

City sources say Chattanooga Street Tavern and Mars Theater were NOT ordered to close – the business just lost its pouring license temporarily until accusations of serving liquor illegally can be sorted out. A hearing on the issue is required within ten days, probably before the end of this week.

So why DID the businesses close?

Tavern owner Mike Lovelady has given two reasons : one is the business can’t make money without selling alcohol. However, the Tavern food isn’t terrible – some people would come in and eat. His supporters would come in and eat to back his fight against the city.

And by law, the Tavern must make at least 70% of revenue from food sales. That’s not just a LaFayette rule; even in towns where hard liquor is allowed, there are usually rules like 70/30 in place. So the owner’s claim that they NEED beer and wine sales to stay open could cost them their license permanently, and not because of what happened on Valentine’s Day.

The other reason Lovelady cited is a law saying alcohol cannot be in a business without an alcohol license even if it’s not being sold. That’s apparently true, but why didn’t he apply that same logic to having liquor at Mars Theater, which never had a pouring license to begin with? He seems awfully familiar with the law NOW but claims ignorance of the law, and the activities, of a week earlier.

That said, Lovelady’s real reason for closing down is to generate support. He needs to inconvenience his customers as much as possible, generate maximum sympathy for himself, and then use political pressure to force the city to ignore his violations of the law. He’s purposefully destroying himself, trying to become a martyr for the cause of breaking laws voters approved in 2009.

If Mike can’t do what he wants, how he wants, wherever he wants, he’ll take his ball and go home – employees and claims of community interest be damned. He’s hurting his employees, his vendors, people who perform in his restaurant. He’s also essentially destroyed the Arts Guild. All because he wanted to push the issue of liquor sales ahead of the law and can’t handle some minor punishment without throwing a hissy.

Neither Lovelady or his employee who served the alcohol have denied it was there, but have claimed the well-advertised party was a “private event” exempted from the law. They’ve also claimed the whiskey shots were given away free to those who attended the event, even though it cost $75 to get in and the “suggested” donation for each shot was $5. They’ve also refused to say who purchased the alcohol in the first place.

That may not matter: Georgia law holds building owners responsible for alcohol sales if they knew it was present. By most accounts, Lovelady knew of the liquor and plans to serve it ahead of time – meaning he could face misdemeanor charges under O.C.G.A. § 3-10-5.

A date for the hearing has not yet been decided, but an announcement will likely be made before Tuesday. So far there are no details of exactly how such a meeting will be conducted and what kind of punishments might be handed down IF accusations are substantiated, but the hearing could feature testimony from multiple witnesses, party guests, and Tavern employees. It might also feature a crowd of worked-up emotional Lovelady supporters screaming about changing the city’s alcohol rules, which is an entirely separate issue that will likely be addressed later on.

UPDATED 02/25: Hearing on this issue will be held Wednesday Feb. 26th at 11 AM.

More, much more, on this as it develops.           

Hutcheson has responded to Erlanger’s lawsuit with a countersuit, claiming Erlanger did $133 MILLION in damages during a now-ended two year operating agreement that left HMC and its county owners owing the Chattanooga hospital over $20 million.

Hutcheson and Walker County have together hired ex-governor Roy Barnes as legal counsel. Commissioner Heiskell describes attorney Barnes as “very, very good” – but he’s also very very EXPENSIVE. His legal fees could end up costing hundreds of thousands in a case the county and hospital are almost guaranteed to lose. (Catoosa County has hired its own attorney, while Dade was not included in the lawsuit.)

WQCH Radio, 02/21/14: “AMONG THE ‘BREACHES’ ALLEGED, BARNES WRITES THAT ERLANGER ‘OPERATED HUTCHESON AS A TRANSFER FACILITY, WITH THE ONLY BENEFICIARY BEING ERLANGER’ AND CLAIMS THAT COST HUTCHESON 54-MILLION DOLLARS

“FURTHER CLAIMS INCLUDE: FAILING TO HIRE A QUALIFIED CEO UNTIL 9-MONTHS INTO THE AGREEMENT, FAILING TO HIRE HOSPITAL-BASED PHYSICIANS, FAILURE TO RE-FINANCE LONG-TERM DEBT AT AVAILABLE LOWER INTEREST RATES, AND FAILURE TO PAY IRS WITHHOLDING TAXES.”

The hospital says a total of $133 million in damage was done over two years, but Hutcheson will settle the case for only $75 million (the total amount of debt to various entities) plus debt forgiveness from Erlanger.

Erlanger describes the lawsuit as “silly.” Lawyers for the Chattanooga hospital say most Hutcheson issues they “failed to fix” would have been addressed if the Hutcheson board had been more cooperative.

If $133 million in damage really WAS done, it was done by the idiots in charge at Hutcheson – not anyone at Erlanger.       

Walker County public school students will make up for recent snow days by staying at school an extra 20 minutes each day for the rest of the school year. The change begins March 3rd.

The state has decided schools are NOT required to make up nine snow days, but local school leaders were apparently concerned about lost teaching time.   

Shortly before closing Monday night, thieves stole an estimated $19,000 of phones and other electronics from LaFayette Walmart. The same pair of apparent professional robbers also hit the Trion/Penville store a few minutes earlier, swiping about $12,000 of the same merchandise.

Reportedly, the male suspect broke glass out of a display case as his female partner pretended to be a Walmart employee cleaning up his mess. The two fooled customers long enough to slip out and leave in a silver minivan with Florida tags. Police presume the thieves aren’t local since they didn’t bother to hide their faces, and think they’re likely professionals who travel store to store doing the same thing.

Anyone with information about the incidents at either store should call LaFayette PD (706 639 1540) or Chattooga Sheriff’s Office (706 857 0719).     

As expected, Hutcheson’s board rejected two of Catoosa County’s three nominees to join hospital leadership. The only man accepted was one who served on the HMC board before, when it made a series of terrible decisions.

The sitting board has a right to veto any nomination from the counties, which means they’ll never have anyone on the board willing to make necessary changes.

As LU reported earlier today, the same board now plans to reopen the Women’s Center they voted to close back in December.     

This year LaFayette Freedom Festival will be held on Friday June 27th, an entire week before July 4th. The reason? Fireworks (or, to be exact, companies to set them up and fire them off) cost half as much a week before Independence Day. Plan will save about $5,000.

City council approved the June date, 4-1. Councilman Bradford was the only “no” vote.