By WB FranksStaff Writer

The city council may have taken a wrecking ball to a plan to demolish the parking deck at the corner of Tennessee and Pine streets Tuesday night when the council voted to turn down a contract for the project.By a 4-2 vote, the council denied [...]]]>

NEWS ALERT FLORENCE

By WB Franks
Staff Writer

The city council may have taken a wrecking ball to a plan to demolish the parking deck at the corner of Tennessee and Pine streets Tuesday night when the council voted to turn down a contract for the project.
By a 4-2 vote, the council denied a $774,260.85 bid from Tomlin Excavating and Demolition, of Birmingham, which was the low bidder for the project.
Those opposing it said they learned during a Monday meeting that the structure is not at risk of collapsing, but does have issues with problems such as sections of concrete falling.
Several said if it is dangerous enough to demolish, the city should not allow anyone to park there while they decide on the deck’s future.
A new deck was opened earlier this month at the corner of Pine and Tombigbee streets.
The plan had been to tear down the old deck and using it for staging for construction of a new city hall, which was to be build in the parking lot of the current city hall across Tennessee Street from the old deck.
Since then, the council has voiced concerns that the bids for the city hall project are expected to exceed the $48 million bond issue Florence obtained to pay for the project. Now, the future of that project is uncertain.

Garcia was found to be in [...]]]>

A Muscle Shoals man, Victor Hernandez Garcia, 32, of 2219 East 6th St., is in jail after a drug bust by a multi-agency drug investigation comprised of the following departments:
Colbert County Drug Task Force
Colbert County Sheriff’s Department
Muscle Shoals Police Department
Russellville Police Department
Madison County Narcotics Unit
ALEA
DEA

Garcia was found to be in possession of 22 pounds of cocaine, 2 pounds of methamphetamine, various drug paraphernalia, two firearms, and $29,000 in US currency. He has been charged with two counts of Trafficking Drugs.
Authorities tell the Shoals Insider the total value of the drugs seized exceeded $375,000.
MSPD is giving special recognition to its K-9 Officer Bane for his role in helping Drug Agents and Officers locate these dangerous drugs.
Garcia is being held in the Colbert County Jail on a $50,000 bond. Federal immigration agents have also placed a hold on Garcia.

With Vivity lenses, you could minimize the need for those pesky reading glasses.  And now, if you live in the Shoals area, you won’t have to travel to have the procedure performed.

Danny Lee, MD, a board certified ophthalmologist has brought Vivity High Tech eyes to the Shoals. “It is as [...]]]>

With Vivity lenses, you could minimize the need for those pesky reading glasses.  And now, if you live in the Shoals area, you won’t have to travel to have the procedure performed.

Danny Lee, MD, a board certified ophthalmologist has brought Vivity High Tech eyes to the Shoals. “It is as close to your sight before cataracts that I have seen,” explains Dr. Lee. Dr. Lee is the first doctor to perform the procedure in North Alabama at Laser Eye Center in Huntsville. “Vivity gives most patients excellent vision at a far distance and great vision at arm’s length or computer distance. It also gives most people good vision for reading distance.”

The Vivity lens is designed with a new, non-diffractive technology that gives optimal vision in both bright and dim lighting. The Vivity offers protection against the sun’s damaging UV rays and filters harmful blue light rays from digital devices.

One of the disadvantages of other multi-focal lenses is that patients often complain about visual disturbances. These include halos, starbursts, and glare after having cataract surgery. The non-diffractive technology in the Vivity lens reduces or eliminates these visual disturbances. This is a major advantage for night driving.

Registered Nurse, Terri Sue Crittenden from Muscle Shoals is the first person to have received the Vivity Lens in North Alabama. “I am astounded every day when I can see the smallest writing and see at a distance,” she says.

The Vivity Lens allows users to see far away, at medium distances, and up-close – generally without glasses or contact lenses. Plus, the new lenses reduce nighttime glare that some non-Vivity patients have experienced.

“Driving is the number one benefit for me, especially at night. Entering heavy traffic or just changing lanes, I felt unsure. All I could see was glare around all the lights at night. I’d look around carefully and still never felt confident or safe. If I ever looked at oncoming traffic, I was blinded by the lights. Now, I can see at night while looking forward to oncoming traffic. I’m so grateful to have my vision back, every day and every night!” Crittenden exclaims.

Dr. Lee has been a pioneer in new high-technology care bringing several new techniques to the area. “I have a special desire to bring the best to North Alabama. This is my home, and these people have been my friends and neighbors since childhood.” Dr. Lee was born and raised in Haleyville, Alabama. The Florence office is located at 2530 B Florence Boulevard.  For more information visit www.dleemd.com or call 256-712-0337.

The accident occurred around 9 pm at the intersection Tennessee Street and Pine Street.

The victim was taken to a local hospital by ambulance. We’ll have more details as they become available.

STAFF REPORTS

The public is invited to meet [...]]]>

FLORENCE– The Renderings of Youth art exhibit opened recently at Kennedy- Douglass and will continue through the end of the month. This exhibit features the work of students grades 7-12 from Colbert, Lauderdale, and Franklin counties, and was founded by Florence art educator Jerry Foster 30 years ago.

The public is invited to meet the artists this week from 4-6 pm and will be asked to observe social distancing.

The schedule includes:

Wednesday: Russellville High School, Russellville Middle School, Colbert Heights High School, Colbert County High Schools and Cherokee High School.

Thursday: Muscle Shoals Middle School, Muscle Shoals High School, Sheffield Middle School, Sheffield High School, Deshler Middle School, Deshler High School and Covenant Christian School.

Friday: Florence High School, Florence Middle School, Florence Freshmen Center, Shoals Christian School, St. Joseph’s School, Brooks High School, Mars Hill Bible School, Rogers High School, and home school students and independent entries.

By Elizabeth Reeder – Staff Writer

Lauderdale County Investigators say, Thomas Wayne Mitchell, 27, of 114 N. Main Street, Florence, was arrested for child abuse after he was indicted by a Lauderdale County Grand Jury in August.

Mitchell was released from the Lauderdale [...]]]>

FLORENCE- Lauderdale County authorities have arrested a Florence man on felony child abuse charges.

Lauderdale County Investigators say, Thomas Wayne Mitchell, 27, of 114 N. Main Street, Florence, was arrested for child abuse after he was indicted by a Lauderdale County Grand Jury in August.

Mitchell was released from the Lauderdale County Detention Center on a $15,000 bond.
Mitchell is set to be arraigned on September 29 at 9 am in Judge Will Powell’s courtroom.

The crash occurred at 10:53 pm Saturday. Novak was critically [...]]]>

FLORENCE – An off-duty Florence police officer died in a wreck overnight, officials said.
Officer Jason K. Novak, 51, died in the hospital almost two hours after the wreck on Pine Street at approximately 12:30 a.m. today, Police Chief Ron Tyler said.

The crash occurred at 10:53 pm Saturday. Novak was critically injured when the car he was driving, a 1986 BMW 528, collided with a 2014 Nissan Altima, being driven by 26-year-old Laiken Paige Owen, of Florence, Alabama. Owen was taken to the hospital for non-life threatening injuries.

“It’s certainly terrible news,” Tyler said. “Everybody lost a good friend, a great police officer and colleague and a true professional.”
He said Novak was the only one in his vehicle and nobody else was seriously injured.
“Our guys responded to the wreck call and when you realize who it is it shakes you up,” Tyler said.
He said police contacted the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency(State Troopers) to assist in the matter since it involves a Florence officer, Tyler said.
“This is a great loss for us and the department and community,” he said. “It’s just horrible news to receive. We’ll lean on one another and do what we can to help. He was a great guy and true professional police officer.”

****Our thoughts and prayers are with Jason’s Family and friends at this time. He was a great guy and will be sorely missed by all.****

According to police, Matthew Martin Johnson, 46, of 800 Duncan Lane, Leighton, was arrested Saturday for first-degree theft.

Johnson was formerly employed by a large Shoals area heating and cooling firm.

Court documents [...]]]>

FLORENCE- Authorities arrested a Leighton man over the weekend for theft from a heating and cooling firm.

According to police, Matthew Martin Johnson, 46, of 800 Duncan Lane, Leighton, was arrested Saturday for first-degree theft.

Johnson was formerly employed by a large Shoals area heating and cooling firm.

Court documents say Johnson reportedly kept money from contracted jobs instead of turning in the funds to his former employer. Investigators said it was “unusual act” for Johnson to be handling money as this “was not in his job description,”

Law enforcement sources say more charges could be forthcoming in Colbert County.

Theft of Property 1st degree is a class B felony which carries a possible sentence of 2-20 years imprisonment.

Johnson was released from the Lauderdale County Detention Center on Saturday.

Staff Reports

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