Wild Bucks, Honky Tonks And Other Crazy Stories From The American South: Case Knives, The Sawmill and The Supervisior

Case Knives, The Sawmill and The Supervisor

This Is An On-Going Short Story Fiction Series

By Wild Bucks

     Sawmill supervisor Raymond Richards sat at his kitchen table in his brand, spanking new doublewide trailer in the south part of Muhlenberg County, Ky., after a long day at work. He was extremely proud of his new trailer as the all stainless steel kitchen appliances sparkled in the background behind him where he was sitting.

     A young insurance agent name Bill Lester who was fresh out of college from Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Ky., and was a very naive and gullible but a friendly fellow who was trying to make his way in the world by selling life insurance and cancer policies as his first job right out of college in 1988.  As Bill sat next to Raymond, Raymond held up his left hand and said to the young sales agent,  "You see this middle finger?

"Yes Sir, I do" Bill answered.

 "I lost half of it in a saw at the sawmill in Greenville," Raymond said.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, Sir," Bill said.

 "You don't have to call me Sir," Raymond said.

    Then Raymond pulled out a big clear plastic bag of marijuana out of a desk drawer next to the table and picked out of a large bud of weed with green and purple looking looking hairs sticking out of it.  It smelled heavily of Christmas tree pine needles.  Then Raymond pulled out some rolling papers from his front shirt pocket and began to roll a joint.

"Man, this stuff is sticky.  They call it skunk weed," he said as he began breaking off the bud into tiny pieces onto the paper laying flat on the table.  Then he began to roll it up.  As he stuck the joint in his mouth, he pulled out a Bic lighter, lit the joint and took at big hit with his mouth and lungs.

    All of sudden, a humongous cloud of smoke came billowing out of Raymond's mouth and he began choking and coughing. He face was turning red and he said to Bill, "You want some?"

"Nah, I'm good, Sir" Bill said.

"Come on, it's really good. It's kickass. And don't call me "Sir", remember?" Raymond said.

"No, that's okay. I'm good. Really. And sorry about calling you Sir," Bill said with a little and uneasiness and assertiveness in his voice at the same time.

   Bill had a young wife and baby in a small but fairly decent apartment back in Bowling Green which was about sixty miles southeast of the small-town of Greenville.  Greenville is the county seat for the good folks of Muhlenberg County.  Muhlenberg County was known as the king of coal producers of Western Kentucky back in its day or at one time, one of the largest coal producing Kentucky counties west of the Mississippi River.  And supposedly, there were more millionaires in this county at one time than anywhere else in the United States during the 60's, 70's and 80's.  Also, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Fossil coal burning plant is in Paradise, Ky., in the southeastern part of the county on Ky. 431 highway between Central City to Russellville where one of the largest electric steam shovel in the country was owned and used by Peabody Coal Company. 

    As Raymond continued to smoke the joint of marijuana, he eyes started turning glassy and red.  He reached over to stereo cassette deck player and put on some Pink Floyd's "The Wall" using a big set of  Hi-Fi speakers on the kitchen counter.  Young Bill was quite sure to make of all of this.  He was starting to get a little worried.  He didn't know where Raymond was going with this. Bill had seen some of his fraternity brothers back at college smoke weed at the fraternity house but he never really paid much attention to it because it was not his thing and was really never around it much.

   Then Raymond got up from the table and said, "Here, let me show you something. Follow me." He took Bill to a back hallway where he opened the door to a back bedroom where he had a big black pit bull dog chained to the floor.  The dog was growling and barking while showing his big white teeth.  He was guarding several big pound bags of weed on the bed and there stacks and stacks of Case knife sets everywhere in the room.  Case knives are known to be the Cadillac of pocket knives in the knife world.  But Raymond literally had hundreds and hundreds of Case knives in boxes everywhere in the room.  On the bed, under the bed, on top of the dresser, in the closet, in the bottom of the closet and top of the shelf in the closet.  He had some of the most expensive Case knives sets you'd ever buy.  Even some with diamonds in the bone colored handles. American and Patriotic knife sets, Christmas and Holiday knife sets, Halloween and Thanksgiving knife sets, John Deere knife sets, fishing and hunting life sets and even sawmill knife sets.

     When they got back to the kitchen, Raymond offered Bill a bourbon and coffee.  Bill declined the bourbon but took a cup of coffee with cream and sugar in it. After they started drinking their cups of coffee at the table together, Raymond looked Bill in the eye and said, "I am going to be honest with you.  Even though, I am a supervisor at the sawmill, I am also a drug dealers.  And with my profits, I invest in Case knives as a coverup.  Everybody thinks I'm part-time flea market dealer on the side"

   "I'll tell you what I will do for you.  I'll buy some life insurance from you and one of your cancer policies. But you have to buy a Case knife from me and I'll even give you a discount.  And also, if you tell anyone what I just told you what I really do for a living, I'll have you cut up into pieces at the saw mill!" Raymond told Bill in a dead serious tone of voice.

     So Bill agreed and hurriedly pulled out the paper work and applications to be filled it out. Then he had Raymond to sign them.  Bill picked out a Case knife which acted like he liked. It was a "Texas Jack Toothpick" with a red bone handle and then paid Raymond for it by pulling out some cash out of his wallet after he received a 10% discount.   Then they both stood up from the kitchen table, shook hands and Bill was out the door.  Later on he delivered the polices but decided not to go back inside. Bill just stayed on the front porch.

     32 years later, the Case knife that Bill bought from Raymond still sets in a little stand on his desk in the office at his home.  Bill no longer sells life insurance but works at Ace Hardware as a manger in Bowling Green where they sell Case knives. As for Raymond, Bill read in the Bowling Green Daily News several years ago, that he was murdered at a saw mill in Greenville and cut up into pieces.  Obviously, Police suspect foul play.  But no arrests have been made in the case to this date.

“This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.”

     

I Remember Fox News Anchor Shepard Smith Well While At Ole Miss In The Early 80's

    I recently read a wire article by The Washington Post that was published last month in our local newspaper (Bowling Green Daily, Ky., News). The article was about Fox News anchor Shepard Smith, 54, and his long career in television although he is openly gay on a network that espouses Christian conservative values.  After all these years, I'm still intrigued that I know Shep personally and about his humongous success at a major television network that is watched throughout the world.  Although, I am not a fan of Shep's, nonetheless I am happy for him and his success in broadcast journalism.

A frat pic of Shep in the 1983 Ole Miss annual

     I think most of us who he knew Shep while attending the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) in Oxford, Miss., in the early 80's are proud of his major success in the big city of New York along with his incredible world-wide fame and his long career in broadcast journalism with a reported net worth of $20 million and making a $10 million a year.  I sent him a long e-mail once probably in the late 90's congratulated him on his new position and some other things and all he was wrote back was two words-"Hotty Toddy!" Lol.

     Smith joined the network in 1996 when it was founded and just came out of the closet of being gay several years ago.  I think a lot of people suspected it a long time ago. I had no idea he was gay while in college.  I figure it's his life, let him do what he wants to do.  It's his choice of lifestyle. Also, he was even married a while to a woman after he left Ole Miss when he began working in his broadcast career in Florida and California and then eventually landed at Fox in NYC.  He has no children though. I remember Shep who was from Holly Springs, Miss., as always friendly and smiled. He always spoke to me when we crossed each other's paths on campus or while we were in journalism classes together at Farley Hall.  He always wore an Izod golf shirt with the alligator emblem on it, blue jeans and Nike tennis shoes.  He was a tall, skinny young fellow then with dark brown hair and thick eyebrows.  We went through orientation together and went to some of those initial frat parties geared towards the incoming freshmen during those three hot and muggy days in the Summer of 1982 in the "Mississippi Deep South."  I was amazed how Shep knew my name even before I officially introduced myself to him.  He acted like he had known me my whole life.

Our freshmen pics in the 1983 Ole Miss annual (Shep on far left and me on far right)

Sigma Pi Frat at Ole Miss, Homecoming, Fall of 1982 (me holding the beer can)

     I also took a broadcast journalism class under his late mentor and professor at Ole Miss, Dr. Jim Pratt.  And I was Dr. Pratt's work-study student in the Summer of 1983. Dr. Pratt didn't feel he needed a work-study student
and I don't think he was too happy with me that summer either. Regardless, I made it through that rough period with him and I was given a certificated for being a "Tel-Ole-Miss Pioneer" when the summer terms were over with.  I helped out and worked at Ole Miss' first journalism television studio which was brand new then.  I saw Shep in action one time after anchored the college news program.  He had blue jeans on with a shirt, tie and a blue blazer coat on. He was upset about something because the broadcast did not go quite the way he wanted it to and he slung his tie and coat off after it was over with.  Apparently, he took his broadcast journalism very seriously even back then and had a bit of a temper too.

My freshman year frat pic, Fall 1982, Sigma Pi

      We had both joined fraternities (we were not in the same fraternity) and even dated the same sorority girl once momentarily also.  I was jealous of him and I couldn't believe she had a date with him earlier in the evening prior to her date with me later on during Homecoming night. However, nothing came of it and it wouldn't have mattered anyway as we all know now.

The Story Behind The Story: 'Metros' Cars And Center Street In Bowling Green, Ky.

BOWLING GREEN, KY _ I had been working in the newsroom at the Bowling Green Daily News for almost two half years by the time, that former Managing Editor, Don Stringer and Roger Jones, former advertising director, decided to create a local car section tabloid insert loaded with car stories and advertising for our popular daily newspaper.

   Back in those days, the Bowling Green Daily News and local television station, WBKO, dominated as the top media outlets in our community.  It was long before the days of the internet, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter and other forms of social media. Although, I was probably one of Don's least favorite writers or employees of the newsroom, he did actually utilize my writing skills from time to time.  This story "'Metros' Man's Fascination Of Bowling Green" was an easy story to write.  It was simple, clean, cut and dry.  It was written in November of 1993, so that was 24 years ago this month.  But I can't remember if I interviewed the main subject in person or on the phone.  Most likely it was over the phone because that's how we wrote most of our stories at the time because of a "lack of time."  We had a noon deadline in our newsroom.  But with the special insert tabloid sections, we always had a lot more time to get our stories done.
    Looking back now, I think this how I wrote this story. I interviewed Mr. Ken Marshall, the main subject, over the phone and then he had invited me to his wholesale and salvage warehouse that was located on Center Street at the time near Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green.  One of our newsroom photographers drop by and took some pictures for the story.  We used the best shot of Mr. Marshall using his elbow to lean up against one his blue and white Metro cars.  His warehouse used to be across the street from the old, former Jr. Food Store on the corner where the new High Tops Sports Bar and Grill is now located.  Of course, all those old houses and buildings have been torn down in the last few years and new fine brick structures have been rebuilt such as a hotel, a WKU alumni center, fraternity houses, apartments, restaurants and storefront shops.  And if I remember correctly, I did take up Mr. Marshall's invite to drop by to sneak a peek at his 'Metros' cars.  They weren't running but he had some really cool ones under covers and a couple stored up on some racks inside his warehouse.  Mainly, I just remember all the junk he had stored in his warehouse and that he was a real friendly fellow with a big smile.  I bet it took forever for whoever to get all that junk and cars out of that warehouse before they sold and tore down the building.
    Besides being an easy to write, it was a fun story with some interesting facts regarding the unusual cars and Mr. Marshall and his the junky warehouse. Also, reading the story over again, makes me take a trip down memory lane, remembering those long gone days of what Center Street in Bowling Green used to look like back in the early 90's. Very cool!

The Citizens And Taxpayers of Bowling Green and Warren County In Kentucky Have A Right To Know The Absolute Truth Of The Downtown Parking Structure Wrap Financial Disaster

"We the citizens of Bowling Green and Warren County charge our political leaders and law enforcement officials to get to the bottom of this financial disaster regarding the downtown parking structure wrap. We trust that they will fulfill their obligations to do so and find whoever is guilty of misuse of public monies whether by indictment and jury trial or other means. On the other hand, we depend on the legal system to find those accused not guilty if that be the case. Regardless, we the taxpayers deserve the absolute truth."-Galen A. Smith Sr.


Suit outlines alleged effort to appropriate tax dollars (A Top Front Page News Story Published By The Bowling Green Daily News)


By WES SWIETEK wswietek@bgdailynews.com
Sep 13, 2017





Clinton(from left), Chris and Ed Mills pose for a photograph June 21, 2012, on the downtown parking garage. The city filed a federal civil lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court in Bowling Green regarding the development. It names as defendants Mills Family Realty and its predecessor MR Group; the officers of that group, Ed Mills, Chris Mills and Clinton Mills; and Bowling Green businessman Rick Kelley. The lawsuit seeks a jury trial and unspecified damages.Miranda Pederson/Daily News

A lawsuit filed by the city of Bowling Green regarding the initial development of the wrap around the downtown Bowling Green parking garage, then known as Hitcents Park Plaza, paints a picture of businessmen looking to pad their pockets with taxpayer money.


The defendants, however, call the suit frivolous and a waste of taxpayer money.

The city filed a federal civil lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court in Bowling Green regarding the development.

It names as defendants Mills Family Realty and its predecessor MR Group; the officers of that group, Ed Mills, Chris Mills and Clinton Mills; and Bowling Green businessman Rick Kelley. The lawsuit seeks a jury trial and unspecified damages.

A civil complaint represents only a plaintiff’s claim, and the defendants have the right to file a response in court. No formal responses had been filed as of Wednesday morning, according to court filings.

The suit accuses the defendants of “fraud, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, civil conspiracy and conversion. Defendants, engaged in – and conspired to engage in – a pattern of racketeering activity intended to defraud the Plaintiff out of millions of dollars. Defendants also committed fraud, violated their fiduciary and contractual duties to Plaintiff, and engaged in a civil conspiracy to enrich themselves at the expense of the Plaintiff.”

The suit alleges that “as a direct result of Defendants’ tortious and fraudulent conduct, Plaintiff has suffered and continues to suffer several million dollars in damages.” The suit alleges that the defendants “wrongfully diverted and illegally used bond funds ... to establish and operate their own private businesses.”

Mills Family Realty was chosen in 2012 as the developer of the project, which was financed by about $22 million in county bonds.

Mills Family Realty hired Kelley, the former owner of Mariah’s restaurant, as a consultant for the development. Mariah’s eventually moved into Hitcents Park Plaza.

The suit alleges that Bowling Green Mayor Bruce Wilkerson in May 2013 asked members of the Mills family whether Kelley was involved in the restaurants in the development, with Wilkerson expressly stating “that the bond funds are not a ‘Rick Kelley Bankruptcy Bailout Fund,’ ” according to the suit. In response, Wilkerson was assured that Kelly wasn’t involved in the project, according to the suit, but that “in fact, upon information and belief, Rick Kelley eventually earned as much as $2.07 million dollars from his involvement with the Project.”

The suit alleges that the defendants improperly commingled various revenue in the project, altered an operating agreement without the city’s knowledge to operate their own businesses and used and overspent Tax Increment Financing District revenue “on working capital for their own benefit, resulting in the project’s collapse.”

Ed Mills and his sons Clinton and Chris Mills are also affiliated with the project’s initial namesake tenant, the Hitcents technology firm.

Mills Family Realty had a subsidiary subtenant known as MR Group to operate restaurants in the development.

“MFR ultimately spent over $12.7 million on tenant improvements for restaurants and banquet space leased and operated by its subsidiary, MR Group. (An amount over $9 million more than the total allowance in the construction agreement, and over $7 million more than that allowed in the sublease agreements.) This was done for the sole benefit of Mills Defendants, who are all owners and operators of both MFR and MR Group,” the suit alleges.

The alleged mismanagement led to the project’s troubles and the city “did not discover – nor could it reasonably have discovered – this fraudulent conduct ... until sometime in 2014-15, when the Project unraveled and Defendants’s fraudulent conduct came to light.”

The defendants’ actions, the suit argues, amount to a violation of the federal racketeering statutes, common law fraud, breach of contract, conspiracy and five other related offenses. It asks for damage amounts to be determined, but says damages are “believed to exceed $500,000” on each of the nine counts.

Clinton Mills said Tuesday the Millses feel “confident that the city’s basis for the claim are inaccurate.”

It is “unfortunate that the city is wasting taxpayer money on such an exercise. We look forward to defending our position,” he said.

Kelley’s attorney, Alan Simpson, called the suit “frivolous” and “an outrageous waste of taxpayer money.”

The suit stems from issues related to the development of the wrap around the downtown parking garage, which became public when contractors filed more than $2 million in liens in February 2015 on the almost-complete project, saying they were not being paid for their work. Restaurants in the building also closed and several lawsuits followed. Ultimately, the county issued a new $30 million bond to pay contractors and finish the project with a new developer.

A review conducted by then-state Auditor Adam Edelen and released in December 2015 concluded that there was overspending on the project of $9.7 million, resulting in a $4.5 million deficit; poor oversight on the project by elected officials; and numerous, often contradictory, agreements guiding the project.

“The city, especially the mayor, have been trying to vilify Rick Kelley for years now. This is the latest attempt to do so,” Simpson said Tuesday. “This lawsuit is frivolous and they know it. Every one of the expenditures was approved by the bond counsel ... there is no mistake in that. Why wasn’t the city’s bond counsel sued? The city all along knew bond proceeds were being used for working capital.”

Warren County Commonwealth’s Attorney Chris Cohron said in December 2015 that his office is reviewing the state audit, but he has not since provided an update on the status of his investigation.

Simpson said Tuesday that the FBI had also reviewed the case “and has taken no action. For the city to file (a suit claiming violation of federal laws) flies in the face of law enforcement.”

Last month, the Bowling Green City Commission in a 4-1 vote approved allowing the Keating Muething & Klekamp law firm of northern Kentucky to file the civil action, with only Commissioner Brian “Slim” Nash voting no. Nash said he did not believe the city could recoup any money through the suit and that it would place a black cloud over continuing downtown development.

The case was assigned to the docket of U.S. District Court Chief Judge Joseph H. McKinley Jr., according to court records.




– Follow News Director Wes Swietek on Twitter @BGDNgovtbeat or visit bgdailynews.com.

The Total Solar Eclipse 2017 Will Be The Biggest Thing That Hits Bowling Green, Ky., Since American Idol Came To Town

     

Reading Sunday's Bowling Green Bowling Green Daily News, it appears that our state, county and city is again making some last minute preparations for the onslaught of hordes and throngs of people predicted to arrive and stay to our local hotels and eat at our local restaurants bringing in thousands of dollars for our local economy to view the total solar eclipse which is due to be here one week from today.  Although, emergency responders from the state, county and city did actually start making plans for the big event in the early Spring according to the Bowling Green Daily News which is a good thing.

      When I found out that all of our local hotel rooms were booked up from a customer who works in our hotel industry last week, I posted something about it on Facebook and the next thing I know, word is getting around in our community that we are going to be loaded down with people coming to our town on Aug. 21.  It's even all over the news now. I think for a lot of us here in Bowling Green, reality is just now setting in on how big this thing is going to be for us since American Idol came to town seeking local talent.  Or the time President Ronald Reagan came to town at the last minute in 1988 to stump for Vice President George H. Bush at Diddle Arena at Western Kentucky University or the time President Bill Clinton came to town in 1984 to attend longtime Congressman's William H. Natcher's funeral.  Natcher was from Bowling Green. 

      However, I think American Idol was a bust for Bowling Green because they only showed a disappointing couple short second clips of our hometown on the show.  Our city and county government spent hundreds of dollars providing security for the American Idol crew for the couple of days while they set up downtown on Fountain Square with their roped off areas and tour bus.  Yes, hundreds of singers showed up but was it worth it?  I think the city and county thought that we were going to get some good publicity out of the deal which did not happen as we all know now. 

     

 But no, this total solar eclipse thing appears that it will be much, much larger than American Idol will ever be.  I don't we really can imagine how big it's going to be.  Bowling Green is in the 100 mile wide band that runs across the nation where you are suppose to be able to see the total eclipse and it will start locally at 1:27:23 p.m. and end at 1:28:39 p.m.  So for just a little over a minute, this will be a historic, once in a lifetime event for a lot of us.  Supposedly, everything will go dark, just like it will be night time during this short time period frame  I would think if it's cloudy or raining, it will still go dark outside for this amount of time. Be sure to have your iPhones plus eye protection, to video the event, so that you can post it on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube or Instagram!

     Remember also, experts are saying to keep your vehicles fueled up, have plenty of water on hand (Huh? I'm not sure about this one. Maybe if you get stuck in traffic?) and be prepared for heavy traffic.  Also, have the right eye protection.  I am just a little concerned here.  I'm starting to think maybe I should take the day off work and wait it out on my front porch with my vehicles parked in the driveway, safe and tucked away.  Of course, I'll make sure that I have plenty of water, food and supplies.  But I don't have a generator.  Will I need a generator?  I hope not. But I will probably just work in the morning (if I can get around town in the Bowling Green heavy predicted traffic), come home, eat lunch and then go outside to view the total solar eclipse with my wife and Aussie dog. After the celestial event occurs and if I am bewildered enough or totally in awe, I just may take the rest of the day off until traffic dies down before I venture out into the streets of Bowling Green.  Because I surely do not want to get caught in traffic!

The Murder Of A Vitamin and Herb Doctor At His Office By A Bowling Green, Ky., Man

Dr. Juan Sanchez Gonzalez

   I think it's a tragedy all the way around.


I did not know either man. The only thing I know about it is what I have read on-line and on Facebook. It looks like both of our local major news outlets, the Bowling Green Daily News and WBKO Television have done a good job of reporting about the murder.


Apparently, Omer Ahmetovic, 35, of Bowling Green, is accused of killing naturopathic doctor Juan Sanchez Gonzalez. At the time of Gonzalez’s murder, a lawsuit was filed by Ahmetovic against Gonzalez in Warren Circuit Court stating that Gonzalez guaranteed he could cure the man’s wife of cancer.

Omer Ahmetovic

In a Bowling Green Daily News newspaper front page article published, March 9, 2017, written by the fantastic crime reporter, Deborah Highland, states that Ahmetovic was charged with murder in Gonzalez’s death, according to his arrest citation and says that the citation doesn’t list a possible motive in the death.

Highland writes, "Ahmetovic’s wife, Fikreta Ibrisevic, died Feb. 27, according to the Warren County Coroner’s Office. Ahmetovic is being held in the Warren County Regional Jail in lieu of a $1 million bond. A hearing is set in the case for Wednesday in Warren District Court. The Natural Health Center for Integrative Medicine was open Friday evening when someone walked in and found Gonzalez unresponsive inside his business, Bowling Green Police Department spokesman Officer Ronnie Ward said. Gonzalez operated the center at 1022 U.S. 31-W By-Pass. His official date of death is listed as Friday, Warren County Deputy Coroner David Goens said."


Highland also writes, "Ibrisevic (Ahmetovic's wife) was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, a soft tissue cancer, in late 2015 to early 2016, according to the lawsuit. The couple were interested in natural therapies while Ibrisevic waited to be scheduled for the beginning of traditional cancer treatments."


It turned out the natural medicine remedies did not work out for Ibrisevic. She ended up with seven large tumors according to the newspaper article. Then when she finally went to a traditional medical cancer doctor, the tumors were shrunk to just one. But by then, it was too late.


Also, in the newspaper article, it states, "Gonzalez’s office website shows he was a graduate of the Trinity School of Natural Health in Warsaw, Ind., and a U.S. Army veteran who retired in Fort Knox. He also held an MBA from Western Kentucky University, according to his website."


Personally, I have tried vitamins and herbs for different ailments throughout my lifetime. I have found what works best for me is just a daily dose of a plain multi-vitamin and 500 mg. of Vitamin C. They seem to be doing a good for me in my life at this point. However, I am strong believer in Western traditional medicine all the way around and I am one to run to the doctor like millions of other Americans and try to nip an ailment or sickness at the bud before it gets out of control. Especially, since I have health insurance through my employer. Yes, I can understand why someone might want to take the natural path of vitamins and herbs first especially if they do not have or cannot afford health insurance.  Maybe, Ahmetovic did have health insurance but wanted to try the natural remedies first like the newspaper article said.  But then again, I read where Ahmetovic paid $7,000 to Dr. Gonzalez's out of his own pocket to try to help his wife. Maybe that $7,000 could have gone a lot further in the treatment of the cancer with traditional medicine in the first place.  I don't know for sure.  I'm just saying.


But as far as Dr. Gonzalez's murder is concern, again, I think it's a tragedy for all parties involved. However, I don't have an opinion on the fate of Ahmetovic because I think it will be up to a jury during a trial to decide or there might be a plea bargain coming.  Who knows? Either way, nobody wins in this situation.

A&E's 'Live PD" Lands In Bowling Green, Ky., Featuring The Warren County Sheriff's Office

   Warren County Sheriff Jerry "Peanuts" Gaines posted a comment on his Facebook page this past Friday night that he was proud of his deputies being featured on Live PD on the A&E network for the first time.

    "Proud of my deputies being featured on Live PD on the A&E station tonight for the first time.  The production crew will be with us through March.  If you haven't tuned in, check it out,"  Gaines posted.

(This was the first time I'd heard about it. I only take Wednesday's and Sunday's Bowling Green Daily News these days.  And I tend to listen to a lot of Sirius Satellite radio and Spotify in my work truck.  And it seems the rest of the time, I am either on Facebook, Youtube, Twitter or channel surfing.  So I get most of my local news from either Facebook or Twitter.)  Then cracker jack, crime beat reporter for the Bowling Green Daily News, Debi Highland, also tweeted, "You can see some familiar sheriff's deputies right now on A&E network's Live PD. Warren Co. SO is being featured through March."

   

I had written a blog this past April about a possible police reality show should come to Bowling Green to film because we've have had so much usual criminal activity this past year and local police have done incredible job fighting crime while making headlines in our local newspaper.  Also in that blog, I wrote about a car chase with police that had been reported by Debi Highland in the BGDN where a young guy was chased from Portland., Tenn., all the way to downtown Bowling Green where he was finally stopped by Kentucky State Police and local authorities. I made the suggestion that it would have a made an awesome segment for "America's Dumbest Criminals" and I wondered if their had been cameras recording the chase.http://acriticfromthesouth.blogspot.com/2016/04/recent-bowling-green-ky-police-chase.html

 

Highland also recently wrote a story for the BGDN that was published in yesterday's newspaper. "A film crew began riding along with Warren County sheriff's deputies earlier this week and will continue filming through March."  And then she quotes Warren County Sheriff "Jerry" "Peanuts" Gaines, "It just shows what we do and what different departments do."  Highland wrote that Gaines informed her that the series includes both live and previously filmed segments, along with commentary about what is being shown.  The show follows several departments in each episode. Highland also quoted Deputy Chris Shelton, one of the deputies to be featured on the show and he said he is "looking forward to giving the public real life, front-seat access to police work."

   "From a lot of folks, especially here lately, law enforcement has been painted in a negative light, and this will show that the Warren County Sheriff's Office is very transparent in everything we do, and it gives everybody a chance to see it, not only here but across the country."

    I think it's a great idea to have a national show from a major cable network of this caliber such as A&E to come to our town to set up production and film.  Just think about all of the national and international exposure that Bowling Green and Warren County will receive.  Like Shelton said, the Warren County Sheriff's Department will not be shown in a negative light, but in a transparent way where the world will see where our boys have been doing a damn good job in law enforcement by fighting crime and keeping our county safe here in Southcentral Kentucky!  They already have been making the headlines in our newspaper to prove it thanks to Debi Highland's excellent reporting for the Bowling Green Daily News.  Mainly though, I can't wait to see my first episode of "Live PD" featuring the Warren County Sheriff's Department next Friday night on A&E!

    

Who Can Save The Hitcents Park Plaza In Downtown Bowling Green, Ky?

      Now what?

It's always something when you're dealing with big government money and spending especially when it comes to a "TIF" a (Tax Increment Financing) district I understand. So guess what?  We have one in our own backyard so to speak, in the beautiful Bowling Green downtown area which looks like it might be heading into some rough waters.  The latest red flag is the big front page story in today's Bowling Green Daily News which I posted below.

     Believe or not, I thought the Hitcents Park Plaza and the Bowling Green downtown TIF might eventually turn into a a financial fiasco. Sounds like the Mills brothers or family just needs to pay up for their bad business decisions and losses for their venture into the tough, BG restaurant market that didn't quite pan out like they thought it would originally.
      I wrote about the new "Mariah's Restaurant"  http://acriticfromthesouth.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-new-mariahs-restaurant-in-downtown.html on my (I posted a paragraph from the blog below) and the Hitcents Park Plaza in my blog this past year, in May of 2014.  So really, it has not even been a year yet since the plaza opened and they have run into major financial problems already. Apparently, there wasn't enough business or poor business and management decisions? You think?

"But then of course, the devil's advocate side of me has had this curious thought lingering in the back of my mind. I'm sure as taxpayers of Bowling Green and Warren County, we will all help pay for the TIF (Tax Increment Financing) which includes the building of two new parking structures (Downtown and Western Kentucky University) and several buildings and projects in one form or fashion that I have seen being built in the downtown area lately. Too many for me to recall right now. According to my mortgage company, I know that my city taxes are going up a little next year . I'm not complaining, I'm just saying. But the county taxes, may not have not have anything to do with the TIF and the downtown redevelopment. I don't know for sure or how all of this is working out is all I am saying. But on the other hand, I do know that there are people here who are investing tons of their own money also into these private ventures which is a good thing for Downtown Bowling Green and our local economy."-Galen A. Smith Sr.

Nearly $2 million owed on Hitcents Park Plaza
City investigating how money for Hitcents Park Plaza has been spent



Miranda Pederson/Daily News


Posted: Sunday, February 22, 2015 5:00 am

By KATIE BRANDENBURGkbrandenburg@bgdailynews.com |0 comments


Financial problems plague a development in the downtown Bowling Green Tax Increment Financing district even as city officials negotiate with another organization to potentially take over management of that development.

Mills Family Realty Inc. owes the contractor and subcontractors that built Hitcents Park Plaza nearly $2 million for work done on the project, according to a letter obtained by the Daily News. Hitcents Park Plaza is a commercial wrap on the parking garage in Block 6 of the TIF district and includes restaurants and office space.

Bowling Green city government is investigating how money to finance the project has been spent.

A letter dated Feb. 11 from attorney Michael Shull III of Frost Brown Todd LLC, representing Alliance Corp., said $1,974,463.05, as well as accruing interest, is past due to Alliance for work done on the project.

“As you know, Mills Realty is severely behind in payments to Alliance for its work on the project,” the letter said. “This has, in turn, caused the inability for Alliance to forward said payment to the subcontractors who also performed work on the project.”

Mills Family Realty has yet to “adequately explain” how money for the construction of the wrap has been spent, according to the letter.

Clinton Mills of Mills Family Realty said in a text message Saturday that Mills Family Realty is “engaged in discussions to explore options to provide for the payment of any amount owed to Alliance Corporation.”

He said in the text message that the company declines to comment further on the matter at this time.

Alliance attended a meeting Nov. 24 with some of the larger subcontractors on the project, representatives of the city of Bowling Green and Warren County, the Warren County Downtown Economic Development Authority and others, according to the letter.

“Subsequent to that meeting, we have heard nothing from Mills Realty as to why payment has not been forthcoming, or where funds which should have been used to make payment to Alliance were spent or directed,” the letter said.

Bowling Green Mayor Bruce Wilkerson said bonds should have been sufficient to cover construction costs of the wrap.

The project is financed through a temporary bond anticipation note, which covers the entire amount of bonds prior to those bonds being sold, he said.

Attorney James Parsons of Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP has been investigating how bond proceeds have been used, Wilkerson said. He was initially hired by the city in January to handle negotiations between the city and Bowling Green Hot Rods owner Jerry Katzoff about taking over management of the parking garage wrap.

“We have certain questions about the spending practices with regard to the wrap,” Wilkerson said.

He said he doesn’t believe the city would be liable for unpaid money for construction of the wrap, but that is also part of what Parsons has been retained to determine. The city is serving as a backstop to cover bond payments if they aren’t covered by other revenues, including TIF revenues from some blocks of the TIF district.

Contractors and subcontractors are seeking a resolution to the situation, and Wilkerson said he has been involved in those negotiations, though he isn’t aware of any direct contact between city officials and the Mills family. That contact would occur through the Warren County Downtown Economic Development Authority.

“I will say negotiations have intensified of late, and I’m optimistic that we’ll have a positive resolution,” he said.

Doug Gorman, chairman of the Warren County Downtown Economic Development Authority, said the authority has been working with all involved parties to come to a resolution.

Those negotiations have been ongoing for four or five months, he said.

“Most importantly we are working with the city and the county in assisting with negotiations with Mr. Katzoff,” Gorman said.

He said he expects that Katzoff could be a “giant” part of a resolution with his extensive restaurant and commercial development experience.

The Bowling Green City Commission in 2012 approved a number of agreements to finance the garage wrap.

The city leased the parking garage, with payments for the garage set to be equal to bond payments for the wrap.

Agreements at the time also set aside money to help cover the cost of the parking garage lease, including lease revenues from the wrap, TIF revenues generated by one of the tenants of the wrap and TIF revenues generated in blocks 4A, 5, 8 and 10. Any revenue beyond the lease payment would go to the city and could be used to pay off other bonds.

The city is responsible for covering whatever portion of the bond payment isn’t covered by specified revenues. The subdeveloper has to pay the city back for any payments it makes, but only if the company wants to buy the wrap after bonds are repaid.

In 2013, the City Commission approved issuing $5 million more in bonds for a project in which $22 million had previously been approved so that Mills Family Realty could further develop the wrap.

Five restaurants – Tres Molinos, Brick & Basil Pizzeria, 6-4-3 Sports Bar, Pagoda Asian Cafe and Mariah’s – opened at Hitcents Park Plaza in the spring of 2014. MR Group, which is owned by Clinton, Chris and Ed Mills, bought Mariah’s restaurant in February. Rick Kelley, former owner of the restaurant, was hired as a consultant to help with the new development.

The Mariah’s property had been part of ongoing litigation dating back to 2011, when Citizens First Bank went to court to attempt to collect repayment of loans extended to Bowman-Kelley Total Office Systems.

To secure the loans, Kelley put up Mariah Moore House and another downtown property, the Pushin Building, as collateral. Citizens First took legal action after Kelley defaulted on the loans.

Tres Molinos, Pagoda and Brick & Basil closed suddenly Sept. 27.

Clinton Mills, co-founder of Hitcents and president of MR Group, said at the time that the three restaurants didn’t fit in with the “downtown destination” atmosphere Mills and Hitcents co-founders Ed and Chris Mills want to create.

The letter from Shull serves as a pre-lien notice. It states that if the outstanding amount is not paid within five days of the date of the letter, Alliance will begin to exercise its lien rights on “any right, interests, or assets of Mills Realty or any other available or attachable asset, interest, or right of any entity on the project.”

“Alliance reserves any and all rights and causes of action in relation to any misuse or mishandling of fund due Alliance by Mills Realty,” the letter said.

However, it said Alliance will participate in mediation proceedings to find a settlement arrangement as a “gesture of good faith and cooperation with the city and county leaders who are working pro-actively with Alliance.”

Shull on Friday afternoon said no liens have been filed against Mills Family Realty.

“We want to work with the parties involved here to find a solution for this outside of any liens or litigation, if possible,” he said.

However, Alliance filed a notice and statement of materials and labor to be supplied with the Warren County clerk on Dec. 23.

The document said Alliance originally executed a construction contract with Mills Family Realty on Aug. 8, 2012, with a guaranteed maximum price of $19,325,000. That amount was modified.

Alliance anticipates it will supply in excess of $21.6 million to the project, according to the document. It notes that the amount is subject to amendment.

“This statement does not constitute a claim of lien, but rather a notice to any prospective purchasers of any interest concerning the project of Alliance’s work on the project and its reservation of all rights, including its rights under KRS 376.010 et seq.”

That portion of the Kentucky Revised Statutes deals with mechanics’ and materialman’s liens.

Warren County Attorney Amy Milliken said placing a lien on the Hitcents Park Plaza structure might be complicated because it was created through a partnership between government and private entities.

“This is a very difficult situation because it is a public-private partnership, and so I don’t know that the statutes adequately cover how liens can be placed on that type of building,” she said.

Milliken said the companies owed money need to be paid, and she is hopeful that ongoing negotiations will yield a positive result.

“It’s very important that that area succeed, just because it’s really transformed downtown in my opinion,” she said.

Warren Judge-Executive Mike Buchanon said county officials have also been involved in negotiations, but that the county ultimately doesn’t have any fiscal responsibility for the project.

He said county officials want the Hitcents Park Plaza development to succeed. At the same time, contractors have put a lot of work and product into the building.

“Obviously we’re concerned because it is in the heart of the TIF district,” Buchanon said.

— Follow government beat writer Katie Brandenburg on Twitter at twitter.com/BGDNgovtbeat

Restaurant Industry In Bowling Green Is A Tough Gig

In the event of the recent shutdown of three of Hitcents Park Plaza's concept restaurants located in the bottom of the BG downtown parking structure and the layoffof 30 employees according a newspaper article in today's Bowling Green Daily News posted below, I only have this to say-

"The restaurant industry in Bowling Green is a tough gig all around because of the sheer high volume of competition. Anytime you open an eating establishment in this town these days, you are taking a risk because of the stiff competition and the tough economy. I always thought Hitcents was taking a rather bold step with five concept restaurants in one location (parking structure). Not only were they competing with other restaurants in BG, they were competing with each other."-Galen A. Smith Sr.

Three out of the five restaurants in Hitcents Park Plaza have closed to undergo renovations and move in new restaurant concepts. (Miranda Pederson/Daily News)


Former staff dissatisfied with layoffs


Posted: Tuesday, September 30, 2014 11:05 am

By MONICA SPEES The Daily Newsmspees@bgdailynews.com 783-3246| 2 comments


In the wake of three restaurants shuttering Saturday, employees say they didn’t see their layoffs coming.

Candace Barbee began working at Mariah’s 3 1/2 years ago and stayed with the restaurant when it moved to Hitcents Park Plaza. Barbee was eventually promoted to assistant manager of Brick & Basil Pizzeria, Tres Molinos and Pagoda Asian Cafe, all three of which closed Saturday.

“I knew there was a meeting scheduled for Saturday, but nobody was told why,” Barbee said. “Everybody was just really nervous. We weren’t told anything. We were kept completely in the dark.”

Rick Kelley, consultant for Hitcents and former owner of Mariah’s, delivered the news to the approximately 30 employees at Saturday’s meeting that the restaurants were closing, Barbee said.

Barbee, a Western Kentucky University student, said Kelley thanked the employees for their hard work and said that though the fast-casual concept is a popular trend in the nation, regrettably, it hadn’t succeeded at the plaza. If the employees gave about three hours of their time to help clean up the restaurants, they would receive a severance package.

“It could’ve been handled a different way,” Barbee said. “I cared about (my employees) ... and that’s why it was so hard that everything happened. ... It just seemed like a community injustice.”

Barbee said she feels that she and the other employees worked to promote the restaurants and drum up business. However, Barbee said she thinks the restaurants’ overall marketing campaign was poorly executed. Barbee said she often had to explain to people where she worked because they had never heard of the restaurants.

Natasha Patterson, a WKU student, was formerly a cashier at the restaurants. She was among the first employees working at the restaurants when they opened earlier this year. Patterson wasn’t scheduled to work a couple days before the Saturday meeting, but she felt that something was wrong after seeing signs posted in the restaurants about a mandatory meeting.

When Patterson arrived at the meeting Saturday morning, she said she could tell by the way Kelley was talking that the employees were about to lose their jobs. Patterson knew business was slow – an issue she partially attributes to sparse marketing.

“I loved working there. ... I just wish we could’ve been let go a little more tactfully,” Patterson said.

Clinton Mills, co-founder of Hitcents, said after the closure Saturday that they plan to open full-service restaurants in the fast-casual restaurants’ place in the coming months. Mills reiterated this morning that Hitcents would invite former employees back when the new restaurants open.

Mills said Saturday that Hitcents had underestimated parking challenges, because most customers, after taking the time to drive downtown and park in the parking garage, were going to Mariah’s or 6-4-3 Sports Bar.

Mills said this morning that 30 employees were let go and 15 employees were kept on at the plaza because they were cross-trained. All the restaurants at the plaza employed about 200 people.

“To only lose 30 people, it shows that we tried to retain and repurpose as many people as we could,” Mills said.

While Mills said he can understand the former employees’ frustrations, he thinks most of them probably “knew it was coming.”

“It’s nothing against them,” Mills said. “It’s just unfortunate that the restaurants weren’t profitable.”

Mills added that Kentucky employers can let employees go at any time for any reason.

“If they think they were let go unfairly, that’s the opinion of a couple people because (Kentucky is) an at-will state,” Mills said. “We thought we were very nice and very fair to everyone and went above and beyond what most employers would” by providing severance pay.

— Follow business beat reporter Monica Spees on Twitter at twitter.com/BGDNbusiness

The Devil Made Him Do It? Pastor Exposes Himself To 15 year-old Girl

     This recent particular Bowling Green (Ky) Daily News police story posted below reminds me of the time when I was a senior at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) in Oxford, Miss., in the Spring of 1987 and I was working at the JD Williams Library as a student worker in the Acquisitions Department for a locally known gay man. But I wasn't gay, I was married and I still am heterosexual and married after 28 years. However, I was getting ready to walk out of the lobby of the building to go to lunch when a female student comes running down the stairs of "The Stacks" (upper level floors with shelves and shelves of books) as it was known, screaming bloody murder.  As it turns out, the sexual pervert was an older man from a surrounding town, who exposed himself to the student on the 4th level.  He ran downstairs and then ran out the front door as fast as he could.  I commence to chase him out onto the front lawn and down through the business school and on out in front of Kincannon Hall, about a 1/4 mile away.  During the chase, several other Ole Miss male students started chasing him also.  Finally, the man stopped because he realized he was out numbered.  Soon after, the UPD, (University Police Department) showed up and placed him under arrest.  The next day, I was quoted in our student newspaper, (The Daily Mississippian) about the incident.

JD Williams Library

     But the recent exposing incident that happened in Russellville, Ky., a small town, 30 miles of west of  Bowling Green, strikes me as being odd for a couple of different reasons.  For one thing, he was a pastor for God's sake! Don't tell me, the Devil made him do it, right?  Also, didn't he realize that the department store had cameras everywhere?  And the pastor had his seven year-old son with him that day. What a dumb ass!  But he was mainly a dumb ass for what he did in the first place.  This guy needs to get on his knees and repent while begging for forgiveness.  Then he needs to seek some serious counseling for his sick perversion.  If you're going to be a pastor in the public eye even if it is in a small town, you better walk the walk right especially if you're going to talk the talk.

Pastor charged with indecent exposure

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Posted: Thursday, February 27, 2014 10:42 am

By the Daily News | 0 comments

Russellville, Ky.

A Russellville pastor is charged with indecent exposure after a woman reported that a man exposed himself to her juvenile daughter while the two were shopping in Burke’s Outlet on Feb. 13.

The girl told police that the man had a small child with him and possibly left the area in a van, according to a release from Russellville police.

Pastor Kevin Lohse

Police obtained video surveillance from the store and posted a still image from the video to the department’s Facebook page. The photos quickly resulted in more than 600 shares and led to the accused perpetrator turning himself in to police, according to the release.

Kevin Lohse, acting pastor at Woodlawn Baptist Church, admitted to investigators that he was the man in the video and that he had his 7-year-old son with him that day.

Lohse can be seen on the video manipulating his zipper to expose himself to the juvenile, who was shopping in the juniors’ section of the store, according to the release.

Police charged Lohse on Wednesday with indecent exposure. He was in the Logan County Detention Center and posted a $2,500 bond.

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Posted in Police news on Thursday, February 27, 2014 10:42 am.