Wednesday night Hutcheson’s board said recent reports of deteriorating quality inside the almost-closed hospital are false, and Walker County attorney Don “LSD” Oliver claimed a state inspector gave it a “clean bill of health.”

(One hospital insider who spoke to LU on conditions of anonymity said an inspector told them personally that conditions are fine and reports of quality problems are “false.” But another employee said the inspector is always sunny in person, then lays out the bad news in a report typed up later on. Most recent reports on the state hospital inspector’s Web site are from 2013. So who knows.)

Lawyer/trustee Ron Glass said the problems are all generated by media reports. Then CEO Hayes said they don’t have any financial numbers for the last month, and the board worked on plans to transfer county-owned property to the hospital’s board in preparing for an upcoming property liquidation. Because of the quality!

Reflecting on that quality and financial stability, Friday in court a judge ordered Hutcheson’s remaining services, including the ER and cancer center, closed within the next month due to lack of funds.

Hutcheson’s building on Battlefield Parkway will remain open for now. Parkside Nursing Home will also remain open, but the judge gave permission for the facility to be auctioned off; so far they have at least two bids on that property in the $7-million range.

Walker County has agreed to buy the closed Chickamauga Family Practice building for $350,000 and hopefully lease it to Memorial Hospital.

Various parties are picking over the bones, assets like Parkside or the outpatient clinics that might have some remaining value, but there’s no clear direction or really much interest in the main hospital.

The community takes no pleasure in the death of what was, years ago, a decent hospital. But this has been inevitable for about two years.

Everything done to prop Hutcheson up and keep it going since Erlanger was pushed out has been a waste, only delaying the unavoidable fate while racking up debt and enriching leaders whose visions for the place stopped at their own wallets.

The hospital DID somehow manage to pay its remaining employees on Friday, but likely for the last time.     

Be on the lookout for Jonathan Buie Williams. He’s from Calhoun and has family in Ohio, but was last seen on Hwy. 151 in LaFayette. He’s wanted for aggravated child molestation.

If you see Williams call the Sheriff’s Office or 911.   

Around 7 Wednesday morning a woman was struck by a vehicle in the dark trying to cross a parking lot at Roper.

Per reports, Lindsay Eleam was hit by a truck driven by Justin Goodridge. Goodridge was going slow but didn’t see her in time to stop.

Eleam sustained minor injuries. It’s rumored she was pregnant.   

Happy Falloween!

How was Scare(y Long Lines) on the Square this year?     

Speaking of scary..

The Ramblers left Cartersville Friday night, tails betwixt legs, after another huge defeat: 49-0. Most of that score, 42, was reached in the first quarter.

Hurricanes remain undefeated for the year at 9-0, LHS is now 1-8. Ramblers will finish their season this Friday at home vs. the 3-6 Ridgeland Panthers.

Will this be the final season for Chad Fisher?   

Stormy Gail Johnson, age 30, arrested for allegedly trying to steal from (guess where) Walmart.

Per reports, Johnson paid for several items but tried to get out of the store with others in her purse. The police were nice enough to put the stuff she DID buy in her car as she was taken into custody.

Nick Jackson arrested for meth after a routine traffic stop. He manned up and claimed all the drugs as his own; his friend behind the wheel was not charged as a result.

Richard Lively, age 39, arrested October 6th for meth.

Plus: all Walker County arrests, October 22-28.         

LU has heard from a few people who are interested in running for county commissioner next year, but hesitant because of the amount of money needed to run and defeat the incumbent Commissioner.

Unpopular as Bebe Heiskell is now, it’ll still take more than wishful thinking to defeat someone who has county resources and money from government vendors and wealthy friends (over $50,000 banked in July) to use in a campaign.

If a worthy opponent to Bebe Heiskell was to surface in the next month, would YOU be willing to put your money where your mouth is and invest in their campaign so they have a fighting chance?

A thousand people giving a hundred dollars can match a hundred people giving a thousand dollars. We don’t have to be mighty, just many.   

US Department of Justice says Electrolux’s efforts to “settle” its pending antitrust case by selling certain assets to another company have been rejected.

The two sides, DOJ and Electrolux, will be in court during November to argue about the Swedish company’s plans to buy GE Appliances, including Roper, for $3.3 billion.   

If you like bicycles on local roads, you’re going to LOVE this news.

An association of state transportation agencies has designated Georgia’s first “Bicycle Route” stretching between Atlanta to Rome and then through Walker County into Tennessee. Some of the route uses bike-only trails but a considerable stretch of it (including all the portions through Walker) involves public roads, with cars.

The finished “USBR 21” route, which will be marked with signs like the one here, will eventually stretch 160 miles from Atlanta to Cleveland Ohio. Two “spurs” will cut through Chickamauga Battlefield and.. –wait for it– ..to Mountain Cove Farms.   

What do you think about a legalized gambling operation moving into Walker County?

An unofficial poll on Chattanoogan.com, answered by over 2,000 people, shows a majority in opposition.   

Berry College has been named the most beautiful college campus on earth by a group of online voters.   

Five years ago a supposed tourism draw, the Georgia-owned “Go Fish Education Center,” opened in the middle of nowhere – in the hometown of former governor Sonny Perdue.

Perdue pushed the multi-million-dollar fish museum saying it would bring 200,000 visitors a year to impoverished Houston County. It has, instead, brought in handfuls of people and cost the state about a million dollars a year to keep open three days a week.

Sounds like the kind of tourism crap Walker County gets into. Promise big, deliver small, and spend a ton of money in the process. Government!   

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