Colin Shropshire, missing since Friday, has been found deceased.

The 26-year-old LaFayette man’s remains were located Sunday near the Home Depot on Shugart Rd. in Dalton. His body was partially in a creek running adjacent to the shopping center.

He was last seen walking away from an apartment complex on the same road early Friday morning and was reported missing Friday night.

Dalton PD seeks information about the case. Investigators expect to find out how (and hopefully why) Shropshire died with an autopsy.   

Rome teens who murdered a convenience store clerk last year for a handful of cash, snacks, and smokes will likely spend the rest of their lives behind bars.

Zaykives Banard McCray and Dylon Dave Allen shot Chiragkumar Patel in the abdomen last January during a convenience store robbery. He survived nearly two months before dying of his injuries.

Last week they were found guilty on twelve charges each, including murder. Monday both were sentenced to life plus 35 years in prison.   

Saturday night Charles Garrett was killed in a tree cutting accident.

Garrett and two friends were cutting trees on Foster Mill Drive inside the city when one fell on him. He died en route to the hospital.

Services for Mr. Garrett are being held today at Wallis-Wilbanks.   

Friday was “crossover day” in the state capitol, the deadline for bills to be approved by at least one chamber of the legislature in order to become law this year.

Here’s a look at some of the higher profile proposals that passed and a few that did not.

What have Walker County’s three legislators been up to during their time in Atlanta?

John Deffenbaugh has done almost nothing, putting his name on six proposals that have little to no impact on his constituents

Jeff Mullis has been busy, endorsing or authoring dozens of bills and resolutions. Many of them are just resolutions to recognize various people by renaming highways or having days in their honor and things of that nature.

He’s also been involved in bills that would further remove accountability for police, keep new pain clinics from opening in most of the state, allow driverless cars on Georgia roads, and let counties make certain elected positions non-partisan.

Senator Mullis also voted against measures that would have expanded transparency in state government.

Rep. Steve Tarvin has (as this is written) been involved with eight proposals, about half of them meaningless to his district.

He worked to create an “industrial hemp commission,” endorsed a proposal recognizing pornography as a public health issue, pushed to have “non-citizen” printed on drivers licenses and ID cards of immigrants, and co-sponsored a (dead) bill that would end the state income tax.

A highlight of his time in Atlanta this year is HB 505, which would curtail law enforcement civil forfeiture. If it had passed by Friday (which it sadly did not), cops would be prohibited from taking property of a criminal suspect until after they go to trial instead of before.

Lots going on, but little of it meaningful.   

Friday night at 6:00, Walker County School Board was scheduled to meet and decide who will finish the uncompleted term of board member Charles Wilson.

Wilson, who was elected in 2014 with no opponent, stepped down in mid-February for health reasons.

Wilson’s replacement will be picked by the other four board members, two of whom are related by marriage. Under current state law, this appointee can run for reelection in 2018 and be marked on the ballot as an incumbent despite never being elected.

As this is published, no announcement for the board member has been made, and it’s possible that no decision was reached during the meeting.   

Rome teens Zaykives McCray and Dylon Allen have been found guilty of murder.

In January of last year, the two 18-year-olds shot Summerville convenience store clerk Chiragkumar Patel in the abdomen during a robbery. Patel initially survived the attack but died after nearly two months in the hospital.

McCray and Allen were eventually handed twelve sets of identical charges, including murder, felony murder (committing murder during another crime), armed robbery, and assault.

The boys’ trial for those crimes began Tuesday, and ended with twelve guilty verdicts for each on Friday.

They’ll be sentenced in the same Summerville courtroom next Monday.     

In June 2014, Haley Lloyd – then 18 – ran over and killed a 4-year-old child on Orchard Hill Road in Summerville. She did not stop immediately after the accident.

Prosecutors argued that Lloyd was on her phone and distracted when the child ran in front of her, and a witness claimed the child went onto the car’s hood and windshield. Lloyd ad her defense team said she thought she hit an animal.

Thursday a jury rejected the district attorney’s argument, acquitting the young woman of vehicular homicide and five other charges.   

Before the election last fall, Commissioner Heiskell allowed fifteen long-term county employees to take “early retirement” benefits, to the tune of about $770,000.

Those who received payouts in the six-figure range last fall include David Ashburn and Don Oliver (both were forcibly “retired” in January) and Randy Camp who “retired” in December and took an identical position in Catoosa.

Heiskell herself did not take the package.

The retirement buyout plan was, according to recipient David Ashburn, meant to save the county money long-term. By getting people out of the plan, it will theoretically cost less over the lifetimes of those who took the buyout. Something like paying off a mortgage early. But Walker County didn’t have the money up front to do this last year, and most of the beneficiaries happen to be long-time allies of the now former Commissioner.

Now that this is news, some suggest Heiskell should be charged with a crime – but she didn’t do anything illegal. As sole commissioner she had discretion to do it, and did. The problem isn’t the person in office but the county’s system of government, which gives full control over the county budget to a single individual.

Which is why Shannon Whitfield and Steve Tarvin should make ending that system their top priority, as voters demanded last year, instead of taking their sweet time with it.   

Karen Willmon murder case update: Alabama investigators say 68-year-old Willmon, formerly of LaFayette, died of multiple gunshot wounds and “blunt force head trauma.”

Willmon’s adult son Larry Bodily was arrested for the murder, and also charged with stealing a guitar and credit card from his mother. (Bodily was previously arrested and released on drug charges days before she disappeared.)

Mr. Bodily’s bond has been set at a half-million dollars. He’s still behind bars and not likely to go anywhere for a while.   

LaFayette City Hall will soon get a new roof and a makeover, despite a shortfall in city funds.

WQCH Radio, 02/17/17: “IT’S NOT IN THE BUDGET, BUT LAFAYETTE CITY HALL NEEDS A NEW ROOF, AND THE COUNCIL APPROVED A NEARLY 100-THOUSAND DOLLAR LIST OF IMPROVEMENTS TO THE FACILITY MONDAY NIGHT [2 weeks ago].

“CITY MANAGER DAVID HAMILTON REVEALED THAT ‘SPLOST’ SALES TAX REVENUE IS ABOUT 600-THOUSAND DOLLARS LOWER THAN ANTICIPATED – AND THE CITY HALL ROOF WAS ON THAT LIST.

“THE COUNCIL APPROVED HIS RECOMMENDATION TO GO WITH FRYAR CONSTRUCTION’S BID OF $98,652 TO PUT A NEW PITCHED ROOF ON THE BUILDING. FACADE MATERIALS ON THE SOUTH AND WEST-FACING WALLS WILL ALSO BE REPLACED TO IMPROVE THE APPEARANCE OF THE BUILDING, AND THE MAIN ENTRANCE WILL GET A NEW GABLED ROOF. THE PLANS CALL FOR A SHINGLE ROOF, GUARANTEED FOR 25 YEARS. IT WAS POINTED OUT THAT REPLACING THE EXISTING FLAT ROOF, WHILE LESS EXPENSIVE, WAS GUARANTEED FOR ONLY 10 YEARS.

“THE CITY MANAGER SAID HE WILL DO SOME ‘SWAPPING’ IN THE CURRENT BUDGET TO MAKE FUNDS AVAILABLE FOR THE CITY HALL PROJECT.”

One thing a remodeled City Hall won’t be getting is modern online bill pay, as the city helpfully reminded everyone a few days ago:

In case you thought we had entered the current century.     

Thursday night at 6:30, Commissioner Whitfield held his first public meeting since January 29th.

During the business meeting, Whitfield abandoned county efforts to seize private land to finish the Lookout Mountain walking trail, adopted a rule temporarily blocking fracking, and banned “tiny houses” from being built or brought into the county for at least six months.

He also dropped insurance benefits for part-time county employees and raised rates at the garbage dump.

Saying (accurately) the county has no money to finish building or maintain the old Durham Railroad bed walking trail on Lookout Mountain, Whitfield agreed to drop an eminent domain lawsuit against landowners whose small tracts kept the project from completion.

Building the trail was a bad idea to begin with, driven by Bebe Heiskell’s loyalty to a family with control of acreage along the road. But abandoning the project now may cost the county more money than Whitfield saves by not finishing it.

All state grant money involved in building the trail will likely have to be returned, to the tune of a half million dollars – and the EPD fines racked up will still have to be paid. (Whitfield in his meeting gave unclear answers about the grants, and claimed he had no knowledge of the EPD fines associated with the trail.)

There’s no good way to finish OR abandon the trail – but it has to be asked, did Shannon Whitfield make the decision to give it up on what’s best for the county as a whole, or was it based on repaying landowner Jill Wyse who was one of his strongest backers during the election?

Whitfield seemed unprepared to answer many questions, and responded to several by saying he would have to check into matters further – despite having already made decisions about them.

Whitfield’s lack of knowledge and experience with the landfill was highlighted during the meeting. He justified a 300% rate increase there by saying it should help the dump make money instead of operating at a loss – but couldn’t defend his decision when challenged by a Tennessee garbage hauler who said the county will actually lose more money at the dump by driving away business.

Whitfield’s six-month ban on tiny homes and container houses comes down to taxation. The county has no rules and guidelines for them and doesn’t want any built until they can figure out how to make money off the buildings coming in. (Not exactly the libertarian approach to local government some had hoped for.)

He left further details on that subject to the planing and zoning board which will meet every 3rd Tuesday at 7 in the Civic Center. Hopefully THAT body will work out some light restrictions that allow property owners to use their land as they see fit without harming the property values of their neighbors.

Days before the meeting, Whitfield vaguely said he’s already cut $700,000 off the county’s budget since taking office and hopes to save $2 million for the full year. How that will be done is not yet determined.

He’s banking on new companies coming into the industrial park (good luck with that one) and has “met with” the CEO of Erlanger to discuss the county’s ongoing lawsuit over Hutcheson debt – but did not settle the expensive legal battle Walker County has no hope of winning.       

Unrelated to Whitfield’s tiny house ban, but coming from the same thought process, LaFayette’s council has taken a brave stand against unsightly rooftop solar power cells.

Nearly two years ago, in April 2015, LaFayette imposed a “temporary” ban on installation of solar cells anywhere inside the city. Installation was put on hold so the council could study the issue – studies that apparently took the same length of time as earning a college Associates degree.

That ban was lifted a week ago, replaced with rules technically allowing solar panels on houses, but only if they can’t be seen from the street. That makes them non-viable for buildings with southern or western roof surfaces facing the roadway.

WQCH Radio, 02/17/17: “THE CITY OF LAFAYETTE HAD A MORATORIUM ON INSTALLING SOLAR PANELS, BUT THAT HAS ENDED WITH THE ADOPTION LAST [Monday] OF A NEW ZONING ORDINANCE.

“IT ESSENTIALLY FORBIDS PLACEMENT OF SOLAR PANELS ON ROOFS OR IN YARDS WHERE THEY ARE VISIBLE FROM THE STREET, A NOD TO AESTHETICS. WITH THE NEW ORDINANCE APPROVED, HOME OWNERS AND BUSINESSES IN THE CITY OF LAFAYETTE MAY NOW APPLY FOR PERMITS TO INSTALL SOLAR PANELS.

“THERE IS ONE MORE BRIDGE TO CROSS FOR THE CITY: NEXT, THEY WILL HAVE TO ADOPT NEW RULES FOR PURCHASING EXCESS POWER FROM SOLAR-EQUIPPED CUSTOMERS, AND WILL HAVE TO DETERMINE HOW TO PAY FOR AND INSTALL THE TWO-WAY METERS THAT WILL BE REQUIRED.”

And the city still has no plan for buying excess power back from those panels, which is the main financial draw for those who put them in.

(If you have a solar panel on the street side of your house, would it still be “visible” if you just pile the trash in your yard high enough so nobody can see it?)   

Big changes for Walker County School Board.

Board member Charles Wilson, who was elected in 2014 without an opponent, has resigned from the board without explanation. His term would have lasted through 2018.

WQCH Radio, 02/23/17: “CHARLES WILSON, A MEMBER OF THE WALKER COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, RECENTLY SUBMITTED HIS RESIGNATION FROM THE BOARD AS OF FEBRUARY 14th. WILSON, WHO REPRESENTED DISTRICT TWO, GAVE NO REASON FOR HIS DEPARTURE IN HIS LETTER OF RESIGNATION.

“DALE WILSON, SCHOOL BOARD CHAIRMAN, SAID THE BOARD HAS 45 DAYS FROM THAT DATE TO APPOINT A NEW BOARD MEMBER FROM DISTRICT TWO, TO FILL THE TERM WHICH EXPIRES IN 2018.

Charles Wilson’s replacement will also join the school board without an opponent, as he or she will be appointed by the board’s remaining four members – two of whom (Dale Wilson and Karen Stoker) are related by marriage.

Maybe Dale Wilson has another in-law or cousin they can put on the board and make it a 3/5ths family affair.   

Over the weekend Walker County lost four people in two separate traffic accidents. Two of those killed were children.

Saturday evening around 5:00 a minivan heading west on Highway 136 near Cantrell Road – approaching Taylor’s Ridge from Villanow – left the roadway and slammed into two substantial trees. (This is within a half mile of where a car and manure truck wrecked in early January.)

Killed immediately were 51-year-old Christopher Adam Rowles and 5-year-old Blake Hunt. First responders removed 10-year-old Brandon Hunt from the wreckage and sped him to Erlanger, but despite best efforts of doctors there he was declared dead early Monday morning.

Reports say Rowles, who was engaged to the boys’ mother, was heading to a hardware store in LaFayette when the accident occurred.

Of the three, only Brandon was buckled into his seat.

Investigators say the Chevrolet minivan Rowles was piloting contained a number of empty or open beer containers, and one report said a cooler full of open beer was seen at the crash site. DUI is strongly suspected as a cause of the accident, but that won’t be determined until tests come back from the state crime lab.

The community sends its thoughts and prayers towards the mother of the boys who perished, their surviving family members, and fellow students/staff at Naomi Elementary where Blake and Brandon Hunt attended school.

(Naomi will be giving its ice cream profits this week to the Hunt family to help with funeral expenses, and will accept donations for them at the front desk. 100% of what you give this way will get to them.)               

A day earlier, Derek Kash Hancock died after an accident on LaFayette bypass in front of the post office.

Hancock was killed when another vehicle pulled out onto the 27 bypass from Grant Street. His Suzuki landed upside down in the ditch. Hancock was taken to the hospital via LifeForce from the Civic Center, but did not survive his injuries.

The driver of the other SUV, Marsha Renee Harris, has been charged with failure to yield and vehicular homicide.           

State Senator Jeff Mullis has never adequately represented his constituents, and over the years has played a role in making Georgia government less transparent while raking in truckloads of campaign donations and free dinners from out-of-state companies.

Last week Mullis’ political career hit a new low when he bullied a citizen with a camera, using ten police officers to keep the man from recording what was supposed to be an open meeting in the state capitol.

Jeff Mullis is a disgrace both to the district he’s from and the state as a whole. The time for him to be forcibly retired from politics has long since arrived.