Posted by bogey (anonymous) on May 22, 2009 at 8:15 a.m.

(This comment was removed by the site staff.)

Posted by townconstable (anonymous) on May 22, 2009 at 9:51 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Has it occurred to the local constabulary that some one might have walk by by this mans house and threw a few seeds in his yard? A few years a ago a couple of local citizens in Evergreen got tired of the drivel in the Evergreen Courant and started another newspaper/ When they started writing stories about the corrupt loice department guess what....marijuana plants sprang up in the flower boxes in front of the newspaper office. Since the local narcs knew who did the planting no arrests where made. Duh!

Posted by christykds (anonymous) on May 22, 2009 at 9:54 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Maybe he put them there so he wouldn't forget to water them!

Posted by Ivarr (anonymous) on May 22, 2009 at 9:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Geeze, just leagalize, regulate, and tax the stuff already. Its a losing battle costing billions of dollars that could otherwise be turned into revenue for the state. Use the same guidelines as for alcohol and be done with it already.

Posted by rgodwin (anonymous) on May 22, 2009 at 10:10 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I think the plants belong to Obama, he's taking everything else!

Posted by lulubell (anonymous) on May 22, 2009 at 11:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Townconstable this is so true. Just recently I bought some verbena's from one of our local stores. I repotted the plants in a flowerbed next to my road. Now I must remind you " I Do Not Do Drugs " I did not know what this plant was that was coming up in the midst of these verbena's, it actually looked like the leaves of the verbena, but it started growing taller very quickly. Trust me I seeked professionals out and yes people it was a pot plant. The plant was destroyed. Any one could have dropped a few seeds in my flower bed. I live on a very busy street. There is a lot of folks walking now that the weather has warmed up and we do have a lot of foot traffic in my area. So yes towncostable someone could dropped those seeds along the way as they were walking by.

Posted by lakin (anonymous) on May 22, 2009 at 11:09 a.m. (Suggest removal)

rgodwin, you have given me the best laugh all day, and I agree with lvarr. If it's legal, it wouldn't be such an issue. At least then we can tax them as a business. If we taxed drugs and prostitution, America would have more money than they knew what to do with, and that's saying something considering the useless spending across the board.

I did enjoy reading the story, though. I mean, a GROWN man growing MARIJUANA in his FRONT yard, FIVE feet from MAIN STREET!! It made me feel much better about myself and about the amount of brains I have that he clearly does not.

Posted by TD (anonymous) on May 22, 2009 at 11:25 a.m. (Suggest removal)

What is so funny is they were about 5 feet tall, how many times had this officer or others rode by and had not noticed them at all. So stupid is as stupid does.

Posted by lulubell (anonymous) on May 22, 2009 at 1:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Is it true that glaucoma patients are allowed to smoke marijuana for their pain? If it is- Why not let the patients that have chronic pain such as fibromyalgia or patients who have had continuous surgeries to relieve pain in their back/neck or lupus patients. Also for patients that have hardening of the arteries. I have heard this for many years how glaucoma patients are allowed to have this for pain. How does this fit in with the law? Does the FDA regulate this or what? Just curious! Please some one enlighten me on this.

Posted by Ineedtobeheard (anonymous) on May 22, 2009 at 6:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Please don't leave out cancer patients as well...I personally don't smoke marijuana, nor have I ever, but I do have cancer, and the pain that I experience, if I thought that would help, you damn right, I'd try it, given the chance....I agree they should legalize it...it's no worse than some other things that are legal.....I also do not think that NO ONE noticed a 5 foot tall plant earlier...that's just ludicrous! Mark Odom...you need to open you eyes a little wider if you have driven by there...and just now...that they are this big...noticed them...all of us didn't fall off that turnip truck yesterday...you obviously knew they were there...jsut waiting for them to get bigger so you could get more coverage....duh! Get over it already....and yes...the seeds could have been dropped there or could have come from some mulch or other plants maybe transplanted by this individual...people are so quick to judge...it's just wrong!

Posted by jasonb602003 (anonymous) on May 22, 2009 at 8:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Would one of you great and glorious people who are downing Commander Odom,stating that the marijuana plants were 5 feet tall, please show me where you are reading that at. The only thing I see in the article above about the measurement 5 feet, is how close the plants were to the road. I could be mistaken, for I am only human, but I have read over the article numerous times and have still yet to see it. More than likely that is because it isn't there. So next time before anyone wants to start speaking poorly of someone, stating that they needed to open their eyes a little wider, or stupid is as stupid does, take your own advice. Thank you.

Posted by lulubell (anonymous) on May 22, 2009 at 9:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I for one am not and I repeat am not downing Mr. Odom nor did I say anything about the plants being 5' tall. I did read the article and it did say 5' away from the pavement. My flower beds is not that far from the roadside and someone did drop seeds in my flower bed. I do not smoke marijuana. I have been told from very reliable resources that it could have been someone trying to get back at me or my husband do to the fact my husband retired from 35 years of service to the law enforcement. There is always someone out there that has an axe to grind. Any way I only asked about the FDA. Oh Ineedtobeheard I am sorry I left out cancer patients. However, I do remember when I was in my early teens there was a certain doctor here that had found a way to liquify marijuana and was treating his patients that had hardening of the arteries with this substance and he was run out of Covington County. I later heard he had took up practice in Georgia and also was stopped practicing with this drug. Any one else know of this or is this a rumor.

Posted by godwint (anonymous) on May 23, 2009 at 6:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)

It amazes me how these stories always seem to turn into someone downing someone else. Mark Odom is not the Red Level police. He, like many other officers in Covington County take turns patrolling the town just so we do have a show of force here. I too have not seen where these plants were 5' tall. This house however is next door to one of our former sheriffs. Oh, and Bogey, you put your self in the same league as those you critcize with your comment about the citizens of our fair city.

Posted by biscuitsandhoovergravy (anonymous) on May 23, 2009 at 7:54 a.m. (Suggest removal)

A question...when marijuana plants are found on rural property or the woods dont they stake out the area to see who is working the plants even tho they know whose property they are on? If someone were raising weed on my property out in the boondocks and the law found them would I be arrested and charged just cause they were on my land even tho I was'nt aware they were there?
No person no matter how stupid is gonna plant weed in their front yard...5 ft. off the road...on main street even if it is in Red Level. I hate to see this guy put thru the ringer for what in all likelihood seems to me to be some kinda prank gone bad.

Posted by godwint (anonymous) on May 23, 2009 at 2:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Uh biscuit, LOL do you know the Aughtman boys? LOL

Posted by jasonb602003 (anonymous) on May 24, 2009 at 4:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)

godwint, Mark Odom does work for Red Level part time. He, along with numerous other Deputies at the Sheriff's Office, has to have a part time job to be able to support his family, since the County Commission will not pay them overtime anymore. They are now being paid compensatory time for any hours they work over 86 hours every pay period. It's too bad though that they can't pay their light bill or morgtage with comp time. The Fair Labor Standards Act allows Law Enforcement officers to be paid in comp time at the employer's discression, however, they are only suppposed to be able to accumulate 480 hours of comp time before they are supposed to be paid. I have heard that some of the Deputies have already passed that number, but are still not getting paid back down to get them under 480 hours of comp time. To me, that sounds like a violation of Federal Law. Makes you wonder when someone is going to step up to the plate and get something done about this, along with a few more F.L.S.A. violations that are or have occured.

Posted by godwint (anonymous) on May 24, 2009 at 7:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Uh, isn't that what I said (He, like many other officers in Covington County take turns patrolling the town just so we do have a show of force here)?
I like Mark, he's a great guy, but he chose his profession as we all do. If you don't make enough money at your desired profession, you make up for it, hence, fight crime as a part time officer in Red Level.

Posted by lookeyhere (anonymous) on May 24, 2009 at 10:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)

godwint wrote.."but he chose his profession as we all do." Yep this is very true.

Posted by jasonb602003 (anonymous) on May 24, 2009 at 11:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)

godwint, I wasn't by any means trying to sound rude to you and I appologize if it came off that way. I must have misinterpreted what you were saying. As with all law enforcment though that I have had the pleasure in meeting, it is more along the lines as the job chose them. If for a moment I can get you to try this. Close your eyes and picture yourself waking up and getting ready for work. You get out of the shower, walk to your room and start geting dressed. You put on your socks and your pants. You slide your shoes on making sure that they are fitting just right. You tuck your shirt in all nice and neat. You start to walk outside and you tell your family that you love them and will see them after work. This is something that a lot of people do every single day while goin to work. Now picture that you have to get up and in the process of getting dressed, you have to put on a bullet proof vest. When you tell your family that you will see them when you get off work, you know in the back of your mind that there is a chance that this is the last time you might ever see them because there is no telling what you might have to face that day. All of our law enforcement officers in this county are overworked and underpaid. Would you get out here and do what they do for anywhere between $8 and $10 dollars an hour? I do. Granted that I am making a little bit more than that right now, but it has never been about the pay with me nor any of my friends. We do what we do because we love having the opportunity to make a difference in our community and other people's lives.

Posted by lookeyhere (anonymous) on May 24, 2009 at 12:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)

jason many people across the United States and world wide have dangerous jobs.The job DID NOT choose you,come on.I mean its not like the Vietnam era you weren't drafted,thank God.

Posted by townconstable (anonymous) on May 24, 2009 at 6:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)

About the underpaid deputies............well its like this. The sheriff lost the income from the contract with US Marshalls because one of the federal prisoners escape through the hole in the fence that Doster and his buddies went through. This is because neither sheriff or anybody working for him at the jail seemed to have noticed that the hole was still there. Those that knew the hole was still there didn't have the presence of mind to see to it that it was fixed. Which is sort of like eating a donut without noticing the hole in it.

Posted by StabbingWestward (anonymous) on May 24, 2009 at 7:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)

The Federal inmate escaped from the exercise yard, not C-block Ventilation. They had the inmates 6 months and did not get the raise promised them in October. So that is an irrelevant statement in the pay department, the reason they are underpaid is the county is broke do to commissioners that are self centered. And the hole in the fence was reported and noticed, but you can't get Kevin Kennedy to fix anything at the jail, ask any Grand Jury Member who has seen the inside of the jail and seen the same repairs were suggested by the Grand Jury members for the last 5 years.

Posted by jasonb602003 (anonymous) on May 25, 2009 at 1:02 a.m. (Suggest removal)

lookeyhere, if you have never walked a day in my shoes, then you have no idea whether or not this job chose me. I chose to be in the Army when I graduated from high school because that is all I ever wanted to do. God didn't see that as being my purpose in life so he let me get hurt to the extent that I couldn't serve anymore. After this, he introduced me to my calling, law enforcement. So in essence, this job was chosen for me by the highest power in the land. What did He choose you to do with your life lookeyhere?

Posted by townconstable (anonymous) on May 25, 2009 at 2:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)

The fact that the county maintenance man will not do his job is beside the point. The sheriff is legally responsible for the operation of the jail not the county comm. The fact there was a hole in the fence was his problem and hisa responsibility to see to it that it was fixed.

Posted by lookeyhere (anonymous) on May 25, 2009 at 5:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Jason wrote... What did He choose you to do with your life lookeyhere? I have done a little bit of everything,except draw food stamps and eat government cheese.Just think it could be worse,you could be riding the back of a garbage truck.I have EQUAL respect for the garbage man just like I do the police officer.They both have a job to do,if they do there best thats all you can ask.

Posted by StabbingWestward (anonymous) on May 25, 2009 at 6:49 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Pull you law book out and you will see that OPERATING the jail is the Sheriff's job, the MAINTAINING THE BUILDING is the Commissions job and all and any repairs or alterations to the facility and it's grounds must be approved through the commission, or their secretary as our county goes. The Sheriff can ask for changes all he wants but the people who fix stuff have to be paid and the sheriff can't do that, the commission has to pay the people to fix things, so no, the Sheriff could not fix it without the commission going for it, and like they have forever around here, they will not fix or change anything until something bad happens, and then it is to just save face and act like they did not not know about it. Like it or not, the people who have sunk this county are the ones who control most of the operations of it, whether legally or financially. And in case you are thinking the Sheriff should call higher authorities if they will not do what they need, they have been here before and it has done no good, there is corruption there as well and it's hard to keep a secret in this county and The "Queen Bee"and she is called can make it look as if they are doing the job right by the time the help we asked for gets here. So until you remove this Queen, nothing will get better around here. Just like appointing a man who can't even run the Arena to take care of EMA. Give it to your buddy not the person who could do the job well. If you ask where i get my info, trust me it's accurate, but i must protect myself because I got bills to pay and there is are not of jobs around here.

Posted by Kathy052 (anonymous) on May 25, 2009 at 9:08 a.m. (Suggest removal)

INEEDTOBEHEARD you are so right about the cancer pain. 5-12-09 I was in Dothan seeing one of my specialist and had only left the drug store and thank God we were only 5 minutes from the hospital when another gastric ulcer decided to rupture needless to say they work hard on me and 7 more transfusion and after the next day while I was in MICU at Flowers Hospital they let us no that what stop the bleeding wast that I had a Gastric Stromas Tumor. Wow knock us off our feet. But you are right they have talk to me before about smoking pot and like I told them man if I even took a puff of a mentol cigarett I would be on my hands and knees trying to breath. But I don't and I can't and I won't but tell your onocologist about the medicine call MARINOL it is a jell capsul and that is all it is. My insurance won't pay for it and I would keep it here cause everyone would be robbing me.

Posted by godwint (anonymous) on May 25, 2009 at 9:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Hmm, I just happen to have one of the most dangerous jobs there is, but it didn't choose me, I chose it, because I did not want to live on 8 bucks an hour. Oh, and what's wrong with government cheese? That's some of the best cheese I ever had, anybody know where I can get my hands on some? Ya'll have a great day, God Bless!

Posted by townconstable (anonymous) on May 25, 2009 at 5:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Since StabbingWestward can't or will not tell us what laws he seems to know about operation and maintenance of county jails, I wont either. But StabbingWestward thinks it is ok t4o operate a jail with a hole in the fence and sit round and wait for the county maintenance man to fix it is all nice tidy and legal, the I say you need to look at the hole inthe donut the next time you eat one then tell us why you think there is hale there and how it got there.

After Doster got out the first time, I ran into Wilbur Mitchell in the grocery store. He looked at me and said "They can't break out if you keep the doors locks. If you think Doster crawled out of an air vent, then I guess yous can believe the story about nobody noticing a hole needed fixing.

Posted by StabbingWestward (anonymous) on May 26, 2009 at 7:15 a.m. (Suggest removal)

where in the statement does it say i think it is ok to have a hole in the fence? I simply stated the commission has to approve it to be worked on. And the law books are the same ones everyone can read. If you don't believe to statement ask Mr.Sasser who owns the jail building. They do, Who is responsible for the Operation, the Sheriff. And again, the Commission has to pay the bills, they give the Sheriff money in a budget form, and even though he has money in the budget for the jail, the commission is having to approve any and all spending. And the air vent you think is a lie, is true, you must think the mean air ducts and what not, the vents the talk about a air vents in the cell block with metal levers over them and they got kicked out, and I saw where the levers where missing. Now to say that a previous administration did open the locked area to them is another story altogether

Posted by lookeyhere (anonymous) on May 26, 2009 at 8:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)

StabbingWestward.... Did the commission approve the glider?I understand it doesn't cost tax payers anything YET.I get it,when it coimes to SOME things the sheriff must get it approved through the commission.

Posted by happy2bhere (anonymous) on May 26, 2009 at 1:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Ummm, I've been in the jail several times (as a ministry, not inmate), and it was quite secure, as far as doors being locked. May be because they knew (we) were coming, but I don't know. I do agree with StabbingWestward, though. This county has so much "buddy" system going on it is no longer laughable. People who are qualified do not get the jobs deserved. Instead, jobs (all over the board, from prestigious jobs to maintenance) are given to those who know someone or is related to someone.
I really do enjoy living here, but there is bad with the good, unfortunately. Sometimes I feel as if we live in one of those corrupt small towns portryed on a bad Lifetime (or other cable channel) movie. :(

Posted by StabbingWestward (anonymous) on May 29, 2009 at 12:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)

no glider ticked off B.Pettie pretty bad, she didn't know they got it till we had it a few days