During last year’s murder trial, LaFayette Police Sergeant Sam Parker and his attorneys built their defense around the possibility that Theresa Parker was still alive. Shortly after being arrested Parker told GBI officers that Theresa had possibly gone to Florida, to Gatlinburg, or run off across the border with a singer named Elvis, a story that was brought back up during the trial and has been mentioned over and over by the few friends Sgt. Parker had left after his murder conviction.

Turns out Theresa was near the border, but not the one in Mexico. For the last few years she’s been near the Alabama-Georgia border where some of her remains were found last week by a Chattooga County farm hand.

Farmer David Ross Ledbetter took a break from loading corn last Monday and stumbled on a human jawbone near the Chattooga River in the Holland/Lyerly community. Chattooga County deputies found additional bones and clothing on Tuesday (but no sign of Elvis) while GBI forensics experts quickly matched the jawbone to Theresa Parker’s dental records, confirming what many had feared: Theresa never made it out of Georgia and won’t ever be coming home.

As a public service to the community, The Underground presents point-by-point coverage of the September 13, 2010 LaFayette City Council meeting. WQCH Radio does a good job of attending and covering these meetings (Walker County Messenger usually makes no mention of them), but their coverage is usually limited by the short amount of time they have for reading news. This is a bit more in-depth, with our commentary following in italics.

Even with the budget “tight” the council still set aside $620,000 for the golf course. A majority of that money will come from playing fees and clubhouse sales, but the golf course never breaks even. The city would have an extra hundred-thousand dollars on hand each year without that unneeded expense.

From CatWalkChatt and Walker County Messenger, 08/31/2010:

“The Barwick LaFayette Airport is seeking a $500,000 grant for fencing to secure the airport runway. Airport officials have sought a fence for several years, the primary reason being that deer are frequently seen on the runway. Ron Westbrook co-manages the airport and claims that deer are seen on a weekly basis. ‘We have had a few close calls, but fortunately haven’t had anyone hit one,’ Westbrook said.”

That article went on to say how the $500,000 grant would pay for a ten-foot high fence nearly two-miles-long around the airport, keeping out deer and “wild children.” Funding would have to be approved by the Georgia Department of Transportation, but would actually be provided through OneGeorgia Authority, a state agency providing loans and grants to underpopulated rural communities and their neighbors.

One week after BlueBird closed and took 350 jobs down the drain, LaFayette’s city fathers announced plans to revitalize the city’s economy by begging the state for money to install a fence around the airport next door. They, in their infinite wisdom, realize that keeping deer and “wild children” away from the landing strip will do more to help this community and draw in new businesses than anything else they could be focusing their energy on.

…or they don’t really care and are resuming business as usual, taking care of their own friends and personal interests while everything else in town goes to seed.

In existence since the Nixon Administration, LaFayette Housing Authority is an entity of the city government that owns, operates, and rents apartments to low-income, handicapped, and elderly residents. Housing Authority apartments are not provided free, however rent is adjusted based on occupant income with the remainder subsidized by funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Rental income and federal funding keep the Authority running without a dime of city money, giving the agency autonomy and independence outside of the City Council’s control.

With 300 apartments capable of housing nearly a thousand people, LaFayette Housing Authority provides residences to a significant portion of the city’s residents. But soon 30 of those apartments will bite the dust as part of a project to upgrade all of the authority’s properties and revitalize a long-forgotten neighborhood.

A week ago Tuesday Blue Bird North Georgia completed its 77,254th and final school bus, closing the doors after 23 years of production. The award-winning assembly plant is being consolidated with a larger facility south of Atlanta, pulling millions of dollars and another 350 jobs out of Walker County.