02.23
Hutcheson leaders blame state law, Erlanger, impoverished patients, and whatever else they can for the hospital’s poor financial condition. Some of that may be a factor, but HMC’s biggest problem is quality and poor reputation.
Quality problems haven’t gone away, as shown by this dried blood a patient’s parent recently found on a supposedly clean hospital bed. Hutcheson put somebody’s child in this bed with another person’s gunk still on it.
If they’d stop wasting money on pro-hospital-leadership advertising and legal battles, and focus that money and energy on getting the basics right, we might not see stuff like this.
You want the community to rally and “save Hutcheson” ? Work on this basic stuff and we might consider it.
Meanwhile, Bebe Heiskell, Don Oliver, and the Hutcheson boards have a NEW plan: open a federal VA hospital in a section of the building no longer used. Per news reports, they have petitioned US Senator Isakson to have a new VA facility for the Chattanooga area move into one of Hutcheson’s abandoned wings.
Terrible idea – combining two bads to somehow make a good – that will thankfully never move forward. 
Absconded local sex offender brought into custody after a chase through two counties.
- WQCH Radio, 02/20/15: “LAFAYETTE POLICE ARRESTED A 41 YEAR OLD MAN ON TWO WARRANTS, INCLUDING ONE FOR ‘FAILURE TO REGISTER AS A SEX OFFENDER’.
- “MELTON ANDREW PADGETT WAS ARRESTED AT HIS LAKESITE DRIVE RESIDENCE, OFF PLEDGER PARKWAY, MONDAY [2/16]. THE OUTSTANDING WARRANTS WERE ISSUED BY CHATTOOGA AND WALKER COUNTIES, ACCORDING TO POLICE.”
Per other news reports, Padgett was spotted in Floyd County and ran from deputies who pursued him in Chattooga. That added to the stack of outstanding warrants related to his non-registering.
Padgett was originally convicted in 1996 on two counts of child molestation and two counts of aggravated sexual battery, per the GA Department of Corrections. He got a 20 year sentence but was released in July 2011.
ANOTHER local lawyer arrested.
Attorney Morgan Adams of Lookout Mountain charged with aggravated child abuse for spanking his 11-year-old over 100 times (in one session) during January.
Morgan has a law office in Chattanooga. Law firm Web site describes him as “THE SOUTH’S LEADING LAWYER FOR TRUCK & BUS ACCIDENTS.” He may need to brush up on his knowledge of laws regarding domestic violence and child abuse.
UPDATE: Charges against Adams were dropped in August 2015. A Meigs County TN judge threw out the case and ordered Adams’ record cleared, for reasons not made clear.
Friday the Georgia Senate approved Senator Mullis’ bill increasing punishment for killing a police dog or police horse. But not in the way he first presented it.
As originally proposed by Mullis, Georgia law would have equated the murder of a police dog to the murder of a human being, with jail sentences up to 30 years.
After the bill was ridiculed all across the state (and pointed out to probably be unconstitutional), it was reworded to simply increase the maximum fines, jail sentences, and compensation required from those who commit the crime – something a bit more reasonable.
Here’s the actual law as approved. Two earlier versions are linked from the page, and there’s a big difference. The first two only redefined what a police dog is, and then said killing one is the same as killing a person. The final version has multiple sections about harming, injuring, or killing the animal with specific punishments. Maximum jail time with the final law would be ten years, not thirty – but still twice the current max of five years.
A few comments from The Political Vine, a well-read Georgia political blog/newsletter:
- “You six senators should resign, effective immediately. You’ve lost your sanity. No one can or should trust you to represent them.” [02/06/15]
- “..Senator Mullis is, literally, insane to propose that the life of a dog designed to sacrifice its life for its police agency is as important as the life of a human being.
- “And….seriously….you other Senators….you folks who have this kind of person in charge of the Rules Committee…you need to remove him by any means necessary, as soon as possible.” [02/09/15]
We STILL can’t find anybody who asked Mullis to do this, outside of Steve Wilson.
Food service health inspection scores from the last week look terrific.
- Big John’s BBQ and Majestic Manor assisted living both received a 95.
FBC Wee Care got a 97.
Pruitt Health / LaFayette Healthcare nursing home got a near-perfect 99.
A few miles south of town, a 114 acre farm is for sale at $475,000.
The former Eddie Mullinax property, up for sale by his widow. Prime farm land, which means it’ll either become a tacky subdivision or the county will buy it for another industrial park.
This month’s Walker Co Emergency Services “lunch and learn” session will focus on road rules and safety for sharing the road with bicycles.
Meeting will be held Wednesday at 11:30.
Rock Spring Elementary’s Robo Rockets team went to Atlanta last month for a Lego robot competition. The group didn’t win best overall, but was recognized for its excellent design.
And the kids learned, so we all win.
Hope Rebirth shelter in Summerville announces they’ve raised enough money to buy their building.
The closed elementary school Hope Rebirth occupies went into foreclosure last year because of a landlord’s financial problems; buying the property should keep them open where they are for years to come.
This is the only shelter for Chattooga and Walker County’s homeless.
Atlanta Magazine visits Central State Hospital in Milledgeville, the state’s almost-closed 178-year-old mental hospital/prison.
Institutionalizing mentally disabled or unstable people isn’t always wrong, but the way they were treated there was. The reputation of that place first led to needed reforms, and then too far to dismantling programs that actually helped people in need.
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Still no reply from Jeff Mullis about why he chose to ignore the petition to let us vote on the sole commissioner issue. May be because I mentioned him being on her payroll.
I have been observing Lafayette for awhile now as a possible place to settle and I have to tell you, the tid bits found on this site are priceless. Here’s an outsiders observations.
Georgia, like America in general, is loaded with folks who absolutely work, play, plan, and live off other tax payers. While this is NOT unique to Lafayette it’s more disturbing than usual due to the POTENTIALLY great quality of life of folks could quit bickering, stealing and finding ever more creative ways to filch every public dollar.
Based on your stories, there are an abnormally large amount of meth heads, thieves, swindlers, and corrupt officials to finally give Camden county a run for its money. Why must every LEO entity insist on corruption through the ranks? Why would you EVER have a school board who was anything but and allows one man to control it with NO recordings or opening rebuttals by the very people who pay for it?
Why must the place be soaked in govenment subsidized apartments? Why must there be a tacit acceptance and understanding to allow meth? The town is a breeze to navigate. How hard could it be to catch the meth heads and put them away for a long, long time. Look for the kid, mom, dad scratching his face and voila?
Why must the medical facility be a grab bag for incompetent business people?
You are not that big. Everyone who is up to no good must be a breeze to identify and even old gentry can no longer be above the law. It’s not their playground any longer. There are only so many county, city, and state dollars they can misappropriate?
And tragically, it’s a beautiful, quaint town with soooooooooooo much potential. Beautiful downtown but, the way you describe the cops puts the fear of god into all. Who wants to get pulled over at night by that? Sounds like they would toss you in the can for fun just because “you ain’t from round here, is ya?”
The best part is when folks are able to manipulate a medical facility for personal gain. With a decent mean income level, it’s going under? I get the indigent who won’t work for Shiite but, plenty have insurance. I’m sure all those government folks do and they never miss a Bennie, do they?
Am I wrong or, is every petty meth head, car thief, child molester, crooked cop, and nefarious government member corrupt? To be fair, Camden county is legendary but, your underground site really puts it out there.
What say you citizens of Lafayette? Do we burn it down starting with the free worlds annunciation of Lafayete as Lah Fi ette once and for all or, would that hurt? It seems this town would have smoked Summerville, Trion, the Spring, etc, just based on curb appeal. But, to read this site, it seems the town belongs in a movie.
Tis to be a shame should it not find its dignified course. The old guard will change but, that doesn’t mean change for change’s sake but rather, change to improve. To optimize, to enhance, to draw quality business without every a$$ clown in office trying to cut up the tax loot like most towns in rural Georgia and I’ve worked them all.
If the taxes were cut people would be marching like zombies on I-75, I-16, I-85, and I-95 with their palms up looking for free handouts. One of the most egregious examples I’ve seen is that gorgeous highway 300 going from I-75 to Albany. One of Georgia’s many towns of bad debt and malfeasance. There is NOTHING on that 40 minute drive but cops in 14mpg tahoes all blacked out waiting to pounce on that 2 miles over the speed limit criminal element trying to unload revenue in that hopeless cause of a city. Gorgeous highway Atlanta could use serving the nothingness of Albany.
Right up there with that beautiful 4 lane divided highway 27 from Columbus to the Florida line, nothing but trashy trailers the whole way. Nice route for lumber trucks but, don’t tell me don’t have money when we blow it in areas like this.
Is it me or, does Georgia’s Senators looooove to build multi-million dollar highways to no where to serve no one but those who live primarily off subsidies and basically don’t even have the money, or cars, to traverse it?
I implore you to ride hwy 300 into Albany. Leaves one speechless. The cops are active if for no other reason than to pay for those boots, paramilitary overalls, as well as their paychecks. God knows the citizens can’t chip enough in. Time for another flood.
But, I digress…..
Times are rough but, nothing evokes the feeling of being on the Titanic like a ship, cast adrift with weekly releases on this site of a drunk police captain, detective Sargent fired for beating his wife, some yahoo convicted child molestors “seen in the area” and yet escapes, some POS meth head crashing a truck and not enough assets to pay for the damages…..it’s only 10,000 citizens and 20% of them no longer buy green bananas if you get my drift.
Makes one want to drink.
So tell me La Fi Ette, is this the place to drop the anchor? Or, is it another Georgia town where the highest paid employees are too busy looting the county and state set asides for themselves?
Believe it or not, despite the tone, I am optimistic. It’s a beautiful throughout but, I don’t want to be found mysteriously dead behind a store with a hastily, and poorly written note saying I clipped myself complete with illiterate grammar and syntax. Just sayin’
Please help. It can be soooo much more. The foundation is in place, land is plentiful. And for gods sake, stop the unending good ol boy looting of public dollars.