Editorials

The chorus of public debate about the proposed outlet mall in Simpsonville is just getting warmed up for what promises to be a full-blown, 3-act opera, and we hope to avoid a tragic aria at the end.

Anytime something large and new is projected to be positioned in an area that previously has been a pristine barrier of nature for residents and property owners, there almost always is an immediate cry that such a change would be a bad thing for those vested in an area.

Are you as sick as we are about these games that are played in Frankfort?

Are you sick of politics overpowering decision-making? Are you with us and think the name of our legislative branch should be changed to the “Generally Worthless Assembly?”

Because that’s what we have had for the past two months: a pretty – and petty – worthless assembly of lawmakers who could not do their jobs because they were being wagged by the political dogs.

We now have watched the troubling final frames of  Trey Williams’ life, heard the fuzzy words Shelbyville Police Officers Suzanna Marcum and Frank Willoughby exchanged with Mr. Williams and seen some of what they saw on that Saturday afternoon.

But although we have studied that video, watched those final minutes unfold and read the accompanying transcripts, our picture remains equally cloudy and minus the understanding we had hoped we would have received.

It was important to learn last week that a grand jury in Shelby County found that two Shelbyville police officers showed proper judgment and had no recourse in their deadly confrontation with a teenager last fall.

We wish that the tragedy that spins around this horrible moment would have such a simple ending, but we don’t think it can.

We cling to the hope that  the continuing debate also won’t have an equally tragic outcome.