An Ol' Broad's Ramblings
Local Doin’s
It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted a wrap up from the local fish wrap, a paper that comes in the mail every Thursday, like clockwork. Why? Well, because it’s mostly just boring stuff, which is fine by me! I like living in a rather boring area! 
This past week, however, things have gotten a wee bit lively. No, no murders or murder convictions this week, and yes, we have had a few since we moved here a 5 1/2 years ago, and no, I didn’t do it! 
By the time the paper comes out, it’s mostly old news that, through chats at cafes, diners, and churches, most folks know about already. Every once in a while, this area even makes the local news out of Jackson! Special, ain’t we! Heh.
With a total county population of about 26,000, as of the 2010 census, you can imagine not a whole lot goes on…. other than the local fair for this or that, a gospel concert at one of the churches, and the occasional meth lab bust. Yeah…being a rural area, we have our share of morons who think cooking up meth in their 1960s trailer back in the woods, with the kids running around is a good idea. Lord…there are some seriously STOOPID people in this world! And a good chunk of ‘em live around here. sigh…
So, here are a few highlights from this week’s paper, the more recent first.
Fire forces evacuation of Praxis plant (8/24/12)
Praxis, a local business that manufactures plastic plumbing fixtures and tubs, was forced to evacuate all employees when a fire broke out at around 2:20 p.m. today.
Ambulances were at the scene in the Savannah-Hardin County Industrial Park, but according to Praxis Regional Operations Manager Sid Warner, no one was injured.
Although heavy black smoke billowed into the sky, Hardin County volunteer firefighters were able to contain the blaze to a small, northeast section of the building.
“Only a small 30 by 20 foot section of the building was damaged,” said Warner.
He was unsure of the cause of the fire but said operations would be back on track in a matter of days.
That pretty much covers the basics, but when you compare this story to the one from the Jackson’s WBBJ, you find there is a bit of information missing. I’m glad no one was hurt, but the fact that one of the firemen was treated for heat exhaustion being left out, says a lot.
GOP panel to hear challenge in local House race (8/21/12)
The state Republican Party is setting up a special panel to hear an election challenge in a legislative primary race.
Shirley Curry, a member of the party’s executive committee, is challenging her four-vote loss to incumbent Rep. Vance Dennis of Savannah in House District 71.
State Republican Party Chairman Chris Devaney on Monday appointed a subcommittee to hear the dispute this week. A full panel is scheduled to meet about Curry’s and any other potential challenges on Sept. 5.
I gotta tell ya…this one annoys me! I know Vance, and his lovely bride Ashley. Good people, and conservative! Shirley….well, she’s of the ‘old school’ Republicans…to my mind, a bit more moderate, and the fact she even challenged in the primary was more than surprising. No one I spoke to had any idea why she decided to run in the primary, and the paper, of course, isn’t very forthcoming with such information,…at least not that I saw. It was an extremely close race, which was also surprising, but she lost. I understand the challenge because it was REAL close….single didgit, and that’s ok. But in the WDEF (Chattanooga) story, it claims she wants to ‘overturn’ her loss. HUH? A recount, ok…but overturn? Hmmm… If the count comes out the same, will she bow out gracefully?
What I find amusing here, is the exact same story, pretty much word for word…published on 8/20/12, can also be found in, of all places, Tampa Bay Online. Seriously? The local paper gets the local news from a website out of Tampa Bay, Florida? *shakes head* Obviously, they are charging way too much for that once a week paper, since it appears they don’t actually employ any reporters. 
And….here’s the BIGGIE!
Arrest made in theft of 54,000 narcotic pills, 11 gallons cough syrup from hospital (8/17/12)
A pharmacy technician at Hardin Medical Center was arrested Thursday, accused of the theft of more than $11,000 of narcotics from the county-owned hospital’s pharmacy.
Savannah police said today a hospital pharmacist on Aug. 10 reported to a supervisor that 89 bottles of hydrocodone each containing 100 10 mg. pills had been discovered missing.
Subsequent investigation determined a total of 25,411 tablets of the painkiller were unaccounted for, along with 28,694 tablets of a generic version of the tranquilizer Xanax, and nearly 11 gallons of the narcotic cough syrup hydromet, said city police Chief Donald Derr.
Bond for the suspect, Olive Hill resident Tonya Branner, 35, xxxx Xxxxx Xxxxx Xxxx, has been set at $50,000. (unlike the paper, I’m not going to be putting this woman’s, or anyone else’s, address out there for the world to see…. kind of rude if ya ask me)
“It was very surprising,” said Charlotte Burns, the hospital’s chief executive officer. “As soon as it was discovered she was terminated.”
Once again, a rather important fact was left out….like the fact that the drugs had started going missing….LAST JULY! I’m not sure why they left that important tidbit out, but there you have it! That’s a whole lot of drugs going missing, even over a years time. Why didn’t someone notice before? Do they not do inventory? A few pills here, a few pills there, and it’s possible to overlook the loss. But seriously people….GALLONS of a narcotic cough syrup? Over FIFTY THOUSAND pills? And no one noticed? The word ‘incompetence’ comes to mind, and I’ll leave it at that!
So, there you have it. Exciting life in Podunk Tennessee. Sadly, the online version is usually out of date, only has a couple of front page stories, and is generally useless for my purposes.
Haha, my county only has 17,000 people.
Oh, and about the stupidity of people around here, I’m getting ready to write a book about that.
“Working at a Gas Station: Why I Lost Hope for Humanity”
Oh, the stories to tell…
Chester, right? Really? Now THAT is truly rural. LOL
Oh, I’m gonna look forward to reading THAT book! Working with the public, you realize just how stoopid people really are! Heh
You think that’s rural, you should see where I grew up. When I came to Henderson for school, it was BIG to me.
My game back home was to see how many amish buggies I could pass on my bicycle on my way to and from work. When my wife visited for the first time, she was in culture shock.
Oh, and when we walked down the road, the Amish kids stopped and stared at us.
LMBO Yep…that’s rural alright! I’m a city girl, so anything less that 30K, I’m lovin’, and it’s SMALL! I don’t think I could EVER live in a city again. Shoot, I don’t like people THAT much! Heh.