A 22-year-old man lives to see another day thanks to the efforts of a friend and 40+ responders from Walker County’s cave team, Georgia DNR, and Hamilton County cave rescue.

The Auburn senior and one friend ventured into Ellison’s Cave on Friday, but realized about 1 AM Saturday he couldn’t get out. The friend escaped and contacted authorities; rescue began around 7, and he was out a little after noon.

The unidentified caver was able to walk with assistance and refused hospitalization.       

Sunday night an incident in Catoosa County put a deputy in the hospital.

Five officers attempting to arrest James Adam Sherlin on outstanding warrants ended up wrestling with him over a gun inside the shower at his mother’s house.

A single .22 bullet fired during the scuffle hit Deputy Keith Cantrell in the finger, then ricocheted into Sherlin’s own arm.

Sherlin and the officer are both doing fine, considering.   

BlueBird is growing. Unfortunately it’s not growing in Walker County.

In 2010, BlueBird North Georgia turned out its last bus and left LaFayette for good.

At the time, the company was in trouble and shrinking, with its future prospects dark. The decision to close in LaFayette was based on projections of slower sales and (according to one former plant leader) lack of support from county government: [Video Part 1 | Video Part 2]

5-1/2 years later BlueBird is back on its feet, making money and expanding. The company is looking to hire 200 new workers for its remaining facility in Fort Valley.

BlueBird was an established manufacturer, and a damn good one, employing 350 people – but Bebe couldn’t or wouldn’t do what it took to keep them here.

But she’s spent $24 million (of your dollars) on the Audia plant that might employ 100 people, brought in from elsewhere, once it’s done – and it’s probably not going to be totally done until the end of the year. That’s about five years we’ve been neck deep in that project to replace less than a third of the jobs BlueBird took with it six years ago.   

Tuesday afternoon Commissioner Heiskell delivered her annual “State of the County” speech to the Chamber of Commerce during a meeting at LaFayette Golf Course.

Heiskell’s talk was shorter than in years past, about two minutes long, and was mostly just going through the motions. She continued to blame her failures on the number of kids in poverty and lack of an interstate through the county.

Her plan to fix what’s broken is the same plan she’s had for sixteen years: tourism and vague job growth initiatives.

She blamed her 85% tax hike over the last few years on the county’s dwindling sales tax revenues, even though the county’s take from sales tax (and the number of kids in poverty) is average for NWGA outside of Catoosa.

At this point it’s like she’s not even trying…   

When you send a legislator to Atlanta, you expect them to at least cast their own vote – right?

That’s not always the case in the Georgia House. Some Representatives in that body violate their own rules (and general decency) by letting others vote for them while they’re unavailable.

House Speaker Ralston says it’s no big deal, legislators have “legitimate, justifiable reasons” for letting someone else vote in their place, and the voters wouldn’t appreciate seeing their elected representatives vote absent too often even if they ARE absent from the legislature.

(No word if Rep. Tarvin or Rep. Deffenbaugh have done this. Like it matters – Deffendum just does whatever Jeff Mullis tells him to anyway..)

Early this morning the 2016 legislative session came to an end. With that foolishness done, the state’s senators and representatives can now legally begin their actual jobs: begging for money and running for reelection.     

So you want to meet candidates running for several local offices?

There will be a “Town Hall Forum” tonight at 7 PM in the Civic Center, put together by WAAK Radio of Ringgold. Scheduled to appear are commissioner candidates Peardon, Whitfield, and Lamb, plus Senate 53 candidate Lanny Thomas.

Senator Mullis has declined to attend due to, he says, continued business in Atlanta; Commissioner Heiskell hasn’t said if she’ll be there or not but isn’t expected to show her face since hasn’t been to an event like this in years and hates interacting with the public.

This was originally promoted as a “debate” but seems like they backed down from it being debatey in order to get more candidates there. You should bring your hard questions and cameras, but don’t expect anything hard to be presented.

For those who cannot attend the free forum, it will be carried live on WAAK over the air at 94.7 FM and online.   

Commissioner Heiskell claims she’s running as an independent this fall because Walker County’s Republican Party has abandoned her.

She should worry less about the party and more about the voters, since their opinion of her is all that really matters. Those voters seem prepared to abandon her in droves.

Her claim of party abandonment is a stretch, considering the party itself has no legal authority to reject candidates – even if some of its members have pushed for her time in office to end.

The GOP has happily waved her banner for years and would do so again this year if she registered. They have no choice, even if they had to hold their nose while doing it. She’s done them a favor in her decision to break affiliation with them, because it allows other candidates for various offices to distance themselves from her stink.

More piddle paddle from Bebe here via her local mouthpiece, if you’ve got an empty stomach.   

Even without Bebe’s participation, Walker County’s Republican Party held its convention this morning, to elect delegates and handle regular party business.

Attendees were bribed for support with free donuts, which party leaders want everybody to know were provided by Senator Mullis. (Screenshot from an e-mail sent to all party members.)

We’re not sure if it’s legal for a candidate in a competitive race to give “donations” back to potential voters at a political meeting. Even if it’s legal, it’s not ethical.

Senator Mullis knows all too well how easy it is to persuade people with food. Look at all the free meals HE gets in return for screwing his constituents in favor of large business interests.   

Thomas says he should get your vote in May to replace Jeff Mullis because Mullis doesn’t listen to voters.

He notes that Jeff has still completely ignored the demand for a change in the sole commissioner system, suggesting he would be more responsive.

Thomas adds that he has a better understanding of educational issues as a retired educator than the thick Senator from Chickamauga.     

Tuesday night around 11, firefighters were called to a large blaze inside a home on Grant Street, at the corner of South Main across from the recreation department and Emmanuel Baptist Church.

The unpowered, unoccupied home on an overgrown wooded lot was a total loss by the time fire crews arrived, and tree-high flames threatened to spread to another house nearby. The occupant of THAT home had trouble getting out, but fortunately for her the second structure was spared by intervention from LFD and Walker State Prison firemen.

Neighbors feared fire spreading not just for the safety of the woman living next door but for the potential size of a fire tearing through three cluttered buildings. The house that burned, at least one of the adjacent homes, and several vehicles on three lots owned by the same family [see below] are piled full of material collected by one of the residents.

Fire inside a house packed with flammable material is more difficult to put out and much more dangerous for any responder going inside to rescue trapped residents. Likewise, a burning house on an overgrown junk-strewn lot is much harder to access in the first place and much more likely to get out of control.

LaFayette’s government has gotten complaints about the site before. One neighbor recently wrote a letter to the City Manager and Council, describing the compound as “a health or environmental hazard” and an “eyesore” due to “all the debris and trash [resident] hoards.”

The letter concluded by asking the city to hold this homeowner and resident(s) to the same stricter standards other LaFayette property owners are now being held to.

A body found on Pocket Rd. in Villanow Wednesday has been identified as 41-year-old Jeremy Douglas Kephart of Dalton.

Kephart went missing Tuesday of last week after telling his family he was upset. Dalton investigators found his vehicle Sunday near Keown Falls inside Chattahoochee National Forest, and Wednesday his remains were uncovered nearby.

Sheriff Wilson has declared the death a suicide; GBI’s crime lab will do an autopsy to verify the sheriff’s premature conclusion.     

Tuesday night about 11, LaFayette fire crews were called to an empty home on a heavily overgrown lot at the corner of South Main and Grant.

The flames caught nearby trees on fire and risked spreading to another house, but were contained. The unpowered house appears to be a total loss.     

Tennessee man arrested in LaFayette, charged with raping a 15-year-old at Queen City Lake after picking her up at LHS last December.

Police say 48-year-old William A. Waggoner Jr. initially met the girl online. He was arrested when he tried to visit her again in March.

Reading between the lines, it seems the victim didn’t tell anyone what happened in December until Waggoner threatened to come back.