Makes me wonder what they’re hiding
In the Light
True story.
My father owned a machine tool retrofitting business in Madisonville.
That’s why my family relocated back to Tennessee.
My father attended Lake City High School. My paternal grandfather was a bridge engineer for L&N Railroad and he and my paternal grandmother settled in Etowah.
I’m just filling in some background here — about how a Leinart family “came back” to Tennessee.
Anyways ... Way back in the day when I worked for The Monroe County Observer-Democrat for Dan Hicks Jr. there was a big storm.
Oh yeah .. Imagine that. A big storm in East Tennessee.
This particular storm ripped off the roof of my father’s business: Set this big square, metal thingy right on the ground about 100 yards from the building.
Being eager and all that good stuff I shot some pictures and turned the film into our darkroom guru, Helen Newman, and lo and behold I had a decent front page picture.
But before I landed a photo on the front page my mother, fearing some dark and sinister force that might consume the world, called Mr. Hicks and asked him not to run the photo that I, her dearly beloved son , had taken.
Neither of my parents had heard back from the insurance company and they didn’t want to throw a monkey wrench in any “insurance-type” proceedings. Mr. Hicks informed me that he had a “discussion” with my mother and informed her that his newspaper would run what it (and I do quote) “Damned well pleased.”
My father’s business was on private property, so if pressed I don’t think he could have run those without my parent’s permission ...
If not for the fact that I took the danged things as: 1) A working member of the press; 2) and ‘cause it was really neat looking.
Which is a round-about way of getting to my point.
Mr. Hicks, as related by my mother, also asked during his “discussion” with my mother, “Are you hiding something out there? Is that why you don’t want that picture published?”
Or words to that effect.
Cut me a little slack, it’s been 30-plus years.
So I’m asking: What are you hiding?
Information concerning the Friday, April 29, shooting in the Walmart parking lot has been scarce to the point of almost being nonexistent
And I’m not blaming Clinton Police Chief Rick Scarbrough. He’s been as open about this incident as he can be.
But somewhere between being “open” about an ongoing investigation and “let’s get our ‘facts’ from Facebook and Twitter,” The Courier News readers — the public — is left in the dark.
Or worse.
We’re left with speculation and fog and a perception that is not based on facts.
Yes, I’m saying Facebook and Twitter are not news sources.
If that were the case then this whole incident wouldn’t have to be investigated. We could chalk it up to a “road rage” incident.
But there is a story here.
But while the official line is it is “under investigation,” then the “truth” may never come to light.
There are two teens from Anderson County who were detained in connection with last fall’s wildfires in Sevier County.
And that is all anyone apparently knows. That incident has been shut down to the public.
Of course the aforementioned social media outlets have all the news, the latest updates, etc.
Meanwhile there are grieving families who want answers.There are also two teens who may not have done anything wrong other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time. And if you want to know their status, well ...
It’s under investigation.
So ... Is somebody hiding something?
We demand our elected officials — those decision makers who sit in high (or low) places —and dictate who gets what from public coffers.
We demand they be available and open to the public because the public pays for the decisions those officials make.
When elected officials make decisions to spend $200,000 on ... Whatever — it’s not their money, it’s our money.
Public officials — and that includes law enforcement officials — are paid, earn their money, butter their bread, etc... from public funds.
That’s our money, my friends. Don’t we deserve some answers?