could there be a connection?

There were two bottles of Henri's Fat-Free Honey Mustard Salad Dressing on the shelf at the Bearden Food City tonight. As my wife put them in our cart, I realized that they were the same bottles that remained after I bought all but those two last week. One still had their old-style label.

The Food City on Middlebrook Pike put Henri's on a close-out special last week. Does that mean it will be discontinued at all their locations or just that one? Chicken and salad dressing are the two main reasons we switched from Kroger to Food City. I may be looking to switch supermarkets again if I can't continue to get the fat-free Henri's.

Hometown Favorites charges the same price for Henri's as Food City. I have to decide if it's worth paying added cost of shipping and handling. I couldn't find a website for the Henri's brand, just for its parent company, ACH Food Companies in Memphis.

I wish I could buy Henri's dressing as cheaply as the two Chicago-area crooks who got it for only 3¢ a bottle. That wasn't their crime. It was relabeling the bottles to change the expiration date and reselling them to stores. Setting up a toll-free hotline to lie to customers didn't help them either. One of these creative criminal minds is was a movie director.

most wanted

An arrest has finally been made in the Johnia Berry case. Johnia was murdered and her roommate was injured almost three years ago in a senseless crime. Her family has tirelessly campaigned to keep the case in the news. Blogger Les Jones helped by creating a website and bringing it to the attention of other bloggers and members of the mainstream media.

I found it reassuring that the man they arrested does bear a resemblance to the face in the composite sketch of the suspect. As he did the perp walk, the TV reporters asked him some leading questions:

"Do you have anything to say for yourself?"
"I never meant for this to happen. I'm sorry."
"Did you mean to kill her?"
"No."
"Why did you do it, was it an accident?"
"It was an accident."

Most of the first half of today's "Oprah Winfrey Show" on bipolar disorder was preempted locally by the sheriff's congratulatory press conference. The sheriff congratulated the TBI and other agencies. Representatives of the other agencies congratulated the sheriff and the detectives. The representatives from Food City received some well deserved praise for putting wanted posters in their store windows and on their trucks. When Johnia's mother spoke, it was truly emotional.

After the local affiliate returned to Oprah, they posted a graphic urging viewers to stay tuned for the 5 o'clock news. Unfortunately, it was the same time as the Oprah crew flashed a graphic promoting tomorrow's show. The local graphic wasn't big enough to completely obliterate Oprah's graphic, resulting in the unfortunate combination pictured below.

1,020 words

If you drove a truck for the Meth Task Force, where would you park it?



Yeah, that's what I thought.

writ of habanero corpus

The Criminal Courts Building in Los Angeles became well known during the O.J. Simpson trial. In 1999, I spent almost two weeks there on jury duty but was never selected for a trial. Before my time ran out, they shipped me off to another courthouse to see if I could spend a day on a less complicated case. Instead I sat around in a different juror waiting room all day without being selected. The courthouse staff changed channels on the TV in the juror room as often as necessary to maintain a constant flow of judge shows. I swore that day that I would never watch another judge show in my life.

The people who work for the Judge Maria Lopez show didn't know about my pledge when they sent me a couple of edible promo items. They must have heard that the best way to get a plug on the radio is to send free food. Corey Dietz calls it CarboHeyThanks or Eatola. I think Carbola or Carbobribe might be good words for it too.



They sent a three ounce bag of nacho chips that contain 424 calories and 24 grams of fat. I won't be eating those but I will try the "Justice Will Be Served Spicy Sauce." The bottle of hot sauce came from a company called PromoShop in Los Angeles. I recognized their address as being on the same little cul-de-sac as the old Comedy World Radio Network.

While we're on the subject of sauces and the legal system, I spotted a product called Chaka's MMM Sauce on a supermarket shelf in Fairfax County. Do you think it's the same Chaka who spray painted his name all over Los Angeles?

still on their mailing list

Earlier this week, Scott West reached a deal to plead guilty in the case I told you about in July. Here's an excerpt from an email I received today:

Dear friends and family,

As you may already know, Bernadette and I have been charged with a federal offence involving money laundering. Further, I have been charged with marijuana trafficking. Bernadette will and I have entered pleas of guilty to these charges, but we have not been sentenced by the court yet. We ask that you help us in our efforts to tell the Honorable Judge Thomas W. Phillips that there is a great deal more to our characters and our histories than these crimes, so that he might find it in his wisdom be as lenient in his sentencing of each of us as is possible in consideration of our good characters and our contributions to this great community. We have made mistakes which have had tremendous repercussions, but as you may already know, we are committed citizens to Knoxville and the revitalization of its Downtown. We love this community and wish to return to our friends and family as quickly as possible. Will you please help us by writing a letter for Bernadette and/ or Scott West to Honorable Judge Phillips, United States District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee.

In addition, let Judge Phillips know that you are aware that we have been charged with this offence. It will not be appropriate to make any comment about your feelings of either mine or Bernadette's guilt or innocence. Most importantly, you should tell Judge Phillips why you believe we are worthy of receiving leniency. You may wish to emphasize our characters, backgrounds, upbringing, scholastic achievements, contributions and commitment to the community, hard work, devotion to our families, hardship that we and our families have already suffered as a result of this case, or any other factor that you believe to be positive and truthful. You may handwrite this letter.

Thank you,

Bernadette Trent West and Ronald Scott West

PS Feel free to pass this letter on to other friends and supporters