Explosion and power outage in LaFayette late last night was a city transformer on Warthen St. going out.

At least it wasn’t another house fire…   

Commissioner Heiskell continues to show her dishonesty in posts about last week’s snow situation:

Not sure about the 11 trucks claim, but the photo attached isn’t from Walker County – it’s taken from a news report about weather in Michigan.   

In the week since Atlanta and much of the state were thrown into chaos by less than 2 inches of snow, many have called for better emergency planning at the state level. Some demand more funding for snow removal, which could be costly, while others insist the state should take control over emergency response at the county level.

Meanwhile Gov. Deal is launching a investigation into what went wrong at GDOT and GEMA. So far, much of the blame for being unprepared has fallen on GEMA director Charley English, who didn’t mobilize state emergency equipment in a timely manner. Deal has hinted that English is responsible for the problems, and he’s the person most likely to be removed of his job for all this if anyone is.

Dalton Mayor David Pennington, also running for governor, said the governor “failed miserably” to “protect the people” of Georgia.

The biggest HEROES of last week, at least in the Atlanta area, are people on social media who mobilized to help those trapped on the roads and find shelter, food, and supplies for thousands who couldn’t get home.   

Tomorrow is the final runoff vote for House District 2 special election, choosing between Steve Tarvin or Neal Florence to replace Jay Neal as State Representative. Polls will be open from 7 AM to 7 PM. You are NOT required to have voted in the January HD2 election to participate in the runoff. Voter Info.

An updated candidate Q&A with responses from Mr. Tarvin will be shared here tonight.

Power outage on the south side of town Friday evening was caused by a house fire on Highway 27 between South Main and Shattuck Industrial.

Channel 3 reports the home was destroyed; still no word on what started the blaze. Check LU Facebook today for the latest information.     

Lingering road issues from Tuesday’s snow resulted in class being canceled through Friday in most local schools. Meanwhile, discussion heats up on Times Free Press Facebook about school policies regarding snowy roads and early dismissal.

How does an inch of snow in the South result in day-long traffic jams and kids stuck in busses or huddled together overnight at school? Here’s some perspective from Birmingham, and here’s some analysis (from a commuter stuck in traffic) of what went wrong in Atlanta on Tuesday.

Politico argues that the whole mess could have been avoided if everyone in Atlanta lived in the city instead of the suburbs, and the state had more mass transit. Probable House District 1 candidate Tom McMahan is arguing the same thing in his Facebook group: the state should build more mass transit, trains, busses, etc. and then when it snows we can all just pack into our city or county or state vehicles and not worry about road conditions.

EXCEPT all that mass transit would have shut down exactly like the school busses. If Georgia dug up its roads and put in mass-transit trains and electric busses and unicorn-powered public taxis, everybody would have been stuck at work until Friday and the kids would be eating cold beans at school because nobody would have a car to pick them up.                     

Hutcheson leaders bizarrely accuse Erlanger of doing more than $20 million in damage during two years it managed the Fort O. medical facility. Seems they intend to not repay Erlanger loans and also get MORE cash from the Chattanooga nonprofit hospital in a counter-claim lawsuit.

If Hutcheson loses the case it will either be sold to pay back loans, or Walker and Catoosa residents will eat the $20 million owed to Erlanger (plus another $40+ million owed to Regions Bank) through higher property taxes. (Options to sell the hospital last year, rejected out of concern for losing control, are in hindsight looking better and better.)

Friday Hutcheson announced an operating profit of $182,044 in December. That doesn’t include what the hospital lost to interest accumulating on its massive debts.

Hutcheson Health Foundation, the hospital’s nonprofit fundraising arm, recently contributed $420,000 to purchase new equipment for a GI lab.

That’ll look sweet sitting out front in the parking lot during an auction after Erlanger wins their lawsuit in 2018.     

Tuesday most of North Georgia was hit with an unexpectedly strong, messy winter storm that shut down transportation all over the region and left children stranded on stuck busses or at closed schools.

Snow initially predicted to fall south of Dalton fell all over Northwest Georgia and Southeast Tennessee, quickly sticking to roads. Schools began dismissing around 11 but most couldn’t get busses back to take students home until after noon, and by that point travel in some places was unsafe.

Businesses and schools dismissing at the same time while parents rushed to pick up their children resulted in traffic tie-ups and wrecks that made a bad situation much worse, all over Georgia – resulting in a declared state of emergency. Walker County alone had over 100 minor accidents on Tuesday.

Dade and Chattooga schools both recalled busses, resulting in some children taken back to schools they don’t attend, with parents called to pick them up when possible. Some were eventually transported home by emergency responders or members of law enforcement.

Walker County busses didn’t turn around, but several were reportedly stuck like the one depicted below on Corinth Rd. Middle and high school students living on the eastern side of Taylor’s Ridge weren’t delivered home, ending up sheltered at Naomi Elementary until the last ones were picked up around 5 PM.

School leaders have been thoroughly criticized for their decisions leading up to the early dismissal and dangerous situation on Tuesday, but schools have in turn criticized weather forecasters who failed to deliver adequate warnings in time to dismiss school. Noted Chattanooga meteorologist Paul Barys admitted they got it wrong, but schools still take some blame for the amount of time it took them to dismiss students once the danger became clear.

Unprepared, poorly trained, and under-equipped road crews attempted to clear main thoroughfares Tuesday evening and into Wednesday, but as this is written around 5 AM Thursday some roads are still unsafe. Drivers are warned to be careful, drive slowly, and be aware of possible black ice as the snow melts and refreezes over the next few days.

All local schools, including public K-12, private, and colleges, were closed Wednesday and remain closed Thursday. Some government offices such as Walker Transit and GA Department of Labor will be closed all day, while others plan to open around noon if conditions permit. For the latest closings check LU on Facebook or Twitter.  

Commissioner Heiskell said earlier this week she’s not yet seen Erlanger’s lawsuit filed against Walker, Catoosa, and Hutcheson, but knows the county will fight it. Catoosa County says defendants are working together on a countersuit – which will do nothing except drag things out longer and cost the counties more money. (Or we could just give Erlanger the hospital like we should have done to begin with.)

Hutcheson later announced it will “vigorously” defend against the Erlanger suit. In response to the case, HMC leaders accuse the Chattanooga hospital of breaking its management agreement, trying to send patients to Chattanooga, and credits progress seen during the last three years to Hutcheson employees – many who no longer have jobs due to HMC leaders.    

After years of mismanagement, hatefulness, and borrowing funds with no means to repay, it’s time to pay the piper: Erlanger is suing Hutcheson, Walker, and Catoosa for the $20+ million it’s owed from the 2011 hospital bailout.

What’s that old proverb about poop and fans?

Over the weekend, Erlanger made an official statement about the pending lawsuits, listing accomplishments and contributions made to Hutcheson. Per Erlanger, legal action was forced after a mid-January payment deadline wasn’t met.

Worst case scenario this COULD result in bankruptcy for Hutcheson and even for the two counties involved. Most likely, the counties will only lose control over Hutcheson – which would be fine if Erlanger ends up owning and running the place as it should have been all along.

Either way, this is likely to result in a change of hospital leadership (desperately needed) and more public access to Hutcheson’s financial records, something that could have kept the hospital from getting into such terrible shape to begin with. Unfortunately the legal process could take years to accomplish anything significant.     

LaFayette City Council has asked the state legislature to raise local hotel/motel tax from 5% to 8%, with the money designated to promote tourism. WQCH Radio reports the funds will be sent through Walker County Chamber and THEN used for LaFayette tourism promotion.

The Chamber has done nothing in the last twenty years except eat lunch, celebrate itself, and engage in political advocacy, so funds being channeled through that agency is a bit discomforting. According to Councilman Bradford, there’s no other agency legally allowed to handle the money and it will be kept in a separate trust designated solely for city use.   

An overnight fire on top of Taylor’s Ridge in Chattooga County temporarily closed Highway 27 between Summerville and Gore. The highway reopened with only one lane usable for several hours, but was fully accessible by Monday morning.

The fire is possibly related to a controlled burn set over the weekend by US Forestry Service.

Another controlled burn (actually under control) is being conducted by the same agency at Keown Falls in Walker County. That fire is sending smoke into Whitfield County and Dalton.     

Due to forecasted frigid temperatures, school is delayed today by two hours in Walker County, Dade, Chattooga, Catoosa, Whitfield, and Chickamauga.

NGEMC and TVA have both asked customers to reduce power usage during the peak of winter and encourage industrial customers to cut back production or close. As a result, Roper has canceled both first and second shift today. Normal operations will resume Saturday.

Electric power issues are a concern, but a shortage of propane gas is reality; Hot Mama’s UPG in LaFayette has been delaying deliveries to residential customers and has reportedly refused to make deliveries at all to commercial propane users like chicken houses due to nationwide supply issues stemming from cold weather blanketing much of the country.         

Rev. Melvin Bridges, former LaFayette City Councilman and Mayor of Linwood, passed away Wednesday morning at age 79.

Bridges was pastor of Gospel Light Church for nearly sixty years and a Walker County school bus driver for about twenty. He served in Linwood as fire chief for decades, was mayor of that community for four years, and then spent twelve years on the LaFayette council after Linwood was annexed into the city. He ran for council again in 2011 but was ultimately defeated in a five-candidate race by Chris Davis.

Services for Bridges will be 2 PM Saturday at Wallis-Wilbanks. Visitation for family will be tonight, also at Wallis-Wilbanks, from 4 to 9.     

Last week on UCTV, Commissioner Heiskell claimed money raised through new SPLOST bonds had been given to the library so long delayed renovations of the LaFayette branch could be finished.

Library insiders say the funds weren’t turned over. Rather, the county has banked library SPLOST money and will cover invoices related to renovation work as they come in. That leaves the library liable for unpaid work if the county continues its long streak of broken promises.

That also means spending on this project will, as usual, be glommed in with the county’s other unaccountable, non-transparent expenses.