LHS graduation is tonight at 8 PM. Congratulations to all who reached the goal; we hope you are becoming, and become, adults whose lives honor both your family and your God. Don’t waste the blank slate of potential and opportunity that lies before you.

There are several other things going on today and through the weekend, including a Cruise In car show, a youth rodeo, the last day of school, and a kick-off party for the library’s summer reading program. There are also quite a few political meetings and candidate events coming up throughout June.

For a full schedule of upcoming activities and events, check out the new & improved LU Calendar.

Update on the vehicle thefts from Cagle’s Used Cars:

The Sheriff’s Office has made four arrests, two 18-year-olds and two juveniles, for stealing cars – but they’ve only been charged with stealing one Nissan XTerra before the Cagle robberies. Steve Wilson says there’s no “direct link” between the XTerra theft and the Cagle’s car thefts a week later, even though the cases have many similarities, and at least one of the suspects (we’re told) has admitted to both crimes.

No links. Except all the vehicles stolen were destroyed in the same way. Papers and personal items taken from the XTerra were found at the Pigeon Mountain cliff where four of the Cagle vehicles were destroyed later. The property where the XTerra was found, east of town, is owned by the same family that owns the property on the southwest side of town where Cagle’s destroyed cars were located. Also, the boys accused of stealing the XTerra were arrested by the officer investigating the Cagle thefts.

At the very least Wilson should have said “we haven’t FOUND a clear link” but he cannot rule out a connection unless there’s security video showing someone who ISN’T these kids stealing the cars, or fingerprints of six OTHER thieves in the Cagle’s vehicles.

But Wilson is completely confident that the four boys will never be attached to the Cagle thefts. If he wasn’t, he would have told the media something else. Why is he so confident in the outcome of the investigation when the mud on the cars is barely dry? Did the Sheriff’s Office make a deal with these four, charging them with one crime instead of seven, in exchange for information? Are they being protected for some reason?

It’s possible investigators just haven’t gotten enough information to tie the four arrested youth to the Cagle thefts, but if there was any possibility they might be charged for those in the future, Wilson would have been more careful in his choice of words to the paper.

Meanwhile, the Sheriff’s Office is spending more time trying to figure out how LU knows some of the case details than it’s spending to track down the thieves.

WQCH Radio, 05/31/2012:

“ANOTHER JOY-RIDING CRIME TO REPORT. THIS TIME IT’S IN THE CITY OF LAFAYETTE, AND THE VEHICLE TAKEN WAS A BUSH-HOG EQUIPPED TRACTOR. CITY MANAGER FRANK ETHERIDGE SAID LAST THURSDAY, THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT PARKED A TRACTOR NEAR THE LAFAYETTE AIRPORT AFTER A DAY OF MOWING. UNFORTUNATELY, ETHRIDGE [sic] SAID THE EMPLOYEE LEFT THE KEYS IN THE TRACTOR. AN UNKNOWN SUBJECT GOT IN AND TOOK THE TRACTOR FOR A SPIN. IN THE PROCESS A NEARBY PRIVATELY-OWNED AIRPLANE HANGAR WAS DAMAGED AS THE TRACTOR BRUSHED AGAINST THE SIDE OF THE METAL BUILDING. ETHERIDGE SAID THE CITY’S INSURANCE COMPANY WILL GET THAT BILL, SINCE THE TRACTOR WAS CITY-OWNED. THE TRACTOR WAS RECOVERED AND WAS NOT BADLY DAMAGED. NO ARRESTS HAVE BEEN REPORTED IN THE CASE.”

Another vehicle taken for a joy ride, with damage done. Based on the kind of equipment and where it was left, this doesn’t seem connected to the other vehicle thefts that happened on the same night – except maybe a shared attitude. So we can safely say there’s “no direct link” between the rash of car thefts and this tractor-jacking. Unless there actually is.

Tuesday night quite a few cars in the Hales’ Hill and Smallwood St. housing project neighborhoods were entered and stolen from. None of the vehicles were locked, no suspects have been named, and the burglaries are likely not related to the car thefts or tractor-napping.

Remember to lock your vehicles at night, especially if you live in an apartment or park on the street. And regardless of what you drive, try not to leave the keys in the switch.

This is why we can’t have nice things. STOP RUNNING INTO THE GARBAGE TRUCK!!@!

“The large white [LaFayette garbage] truck returned to duty, only to be rear-ended by a Chevy Equinox on May 22.

“The driver of the garbage truck was out of the vehicle collecting garbage that could not be grabbed by the hydraulic arm. Fortunately he was not behind the truck as the vehicle impacted the left rear corner. The impact moved the garbage truck nearly two feet and bent the rear axle.”

The garbage truck is huge, white, stops a lot, smells bad, has flashing lights on it. Kind of hard to miss. In case you forget, here’s a picture of several:

When you see one of these, put down your phone, then slow down or stop.

Somebody’s going to get killed if people don’t slow down and start paying attention.

In the next six weeks, prepare to be assaulted with a well-coordinated advertising campaign meant to sell you on the TSPLOST tax. Don’t buy it. Remember who’s pushing the tax, and who’s paying for the ads. The last thing we need is to lose another penny on every dollar we spend for things like groceries and diapers.

Who’s backing the plan? County and city governments. The local chambers of commerce, which are full of government leaders.. The construction companies that stand to benefit from the projects being done.

The opposition includes TEA Party groups, the Sierra Club, the NAACP, and average people who wonder why the government can’t fix roads with the huge chunk of money it already takes from their pocket.

Also remember that none of the Walker County projects on the TSPLOST list will help the citizens of Walker County. Not enough to be worth what they’ll cost anyway.

CatWalkChatt.com: “Skate N Play in LaFayette updating family fun with new attractions schedule”

If you use certain words in online discussions or messages, you’re going to get flagged as a person of interest worthy of investigation.. Weird part is, the words aren’t just things like “attack” or “terrorism” but include fairly tame terms like “pork,” “interstate,” and “snow.”

Based on the list, it’s safe to say that 99.99% of people who ever use the Internet have been flagged at one time or another.

WQCH Radio, 05/30/2012:

“FOR THE SECOND TIME IN RECENT MONTHS, A WOMAN HAS BEEN ARRESTED FOR ATTEMPTING TO SMUGGLE SUSPECTED DRUGS INTO THE HAYS STATE PRISON IN CHATTOOGA COUNTY. 21 YEAR OLD MIA WHEELER WAS CHARGED AFTER PRISON GUARDS DISCOVERED WHAT APPEARED TO BE MARIJUANA ON HER PERSON, AND LATER IN HER CAR. WHEELER’S BROTHER IS INCARCERATED AT HAYS. SHE WAS CHARGED WITH FELONY POSSESSION AND TAKING DRUGS ACROSS GUARD LINES AT THE PRISON.”

That’s what prison employees refer to as “job security.”

According to The Chattanooga Times Free Press, “A Connecticut fugitive suspected of sexual assault was found living in Calhoun, Ga., and has been arrested.

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