Both sayings are accurate in this story.

On one end, you have two sisters more than a 100-years-old seeking to reclaim priceless family heirlooms.

On the other end of the story you have an amateur genealogist who owns the Perry County house where the women were born, who now has possession of the artifacts the older women want back.

Lily Thomas Boyd is 103. Her little sister, Juanita Thomas, is 101.

The centenarians now live in north Nashville, in a home that is full of photographs and history.

Of 11 children born to George and Florence Thomas, only Lily and Juanita are still alive.

The family was born and raised in Linden, Tennessee.

Over the years, family members moved away. Some became teachers. Others became politicians.

In the meantime, county records indicate that Rachel Szuliman bought the family homestead.

By phone, Szuliman told Messed Up the house was a disaster, abandoned for decades and left open to transients.

Szuliman and her husband restored the house to pristine condition.

In doing so they encountered artifacts belonging to the Thomas family.

She found church records from the 1890’s and slave records from the 1860’s. She found a biographical sketch written by the women’s father, George Thomas, in 1867. Szuliman also found a bible that Lily and Juanita say is more than 125 years old and has great sentimental value to the family.

Szuliman is blunt when she discusses the matter.

Much more on that in a moment, but in a nutshell Szuliman says she has given the sisters several items and made others available to them online or at her home.

Szuliman questions why the women and or their family never came to look for these priceless possessions in all the years the house was there, prior to her taking possession.

Back to the sisters — The tiny women, a combined 204 years of age, easily fit on the small sofa. They begin to reminisce and explain what the items and family mean to them.

Though younger by two years, Juanita is not as verbal and allows Lily to do most of the talking.

The former minister’s wife has a remarkably vivid memory.

When I ask her how old she is she smiles, saying, “I am very young. I will be 104 years old in three weeks.”

I laugh and listen to the super-senior who tells me she was born on March 30, 1906 at 2 a.m. in the morning in Linden, Tennessee.

“There are different things we treasured, that got misplaced somehow when we left Linden,” Lily says.

Before I can ask her another question, Lily launches into another story, this one about her grandfather with the bright blue eyes.

“My father’s father was Dr. Cole,” she said. “He was doctor for the king in England. When he didn’t bow to the king, he had to slip out [of the country] and come to America. That was 1842.”

I try and ask her what the letters and bible mean to her.

“I would treasure them forever and pass them on down,” she said. “They would be passed on down through the Thomas family.”

I ask how old the bible is.

“It’s at least from 1842,” she said. “I’m not sure how old before then.”

Lily tells me that her mother, Florence, was a church worker and in the 1920’s she organized women to vote.

“My mom got them together in Perry County and carried them to the polls to vote,” she said with great assurance.

“My older brother was a lawyer. He was a great politician. He didn’t miss any conventions. He was a Republican. In my family we had many, many ancestors in the Civil War.”

I try and get her back on track about the heirlooms she would like returned.

“I am just shocked at the woman. Anytime we went to Linden we stopped by, she gave us a few things, but not everything.”

“What would you say to her right now?” I ask.

Her eyes brighten and she leans forward on the couch. “If I could talk to her, what would I say? I am shocked and surprised you had these things, belonging to my great ancestors on my dad’s side and to keep that bible, and it is treasured in our family all through the years. To think you kept it all these years I am shocked. She should give it to me. I think she is a good Christian woman, and why she is keeping it I don’t know, and it hurts me and she won’t give it to the family. It doesn’t mean anything to her whatsoever.”

“What does it mean to you?” I ask.

“It means everything to us. It is history and carries us back through life and up to the present. I can’t express how much it would mean. I couldn’t express that in words what it would mean to pass it on down.”

Like every story, there are two sides. There are two sides to this story as well.

I speak with Mrs. Szuliman by phone for a long time. She is candid in her remarks when I tell her what Lily and Juanita have to say.

On March 5, 2010 Szuliman tells me the following:

“It [the items] had been in the house for 30 years. I worked and went through all the trash. The house was abandoned. The floors had collapsed. The front door wouldn’t close. Neighbors report people coming in and going out. There were vagrants that came and went and took things for 30 years. I am not willing to go through the whole process and give them back the things they could have gotten themselves. I bought the house 10 years ago. [County records show the house was purchased in 1993.] What was in the house was exposed to anyone who wanted anything for 30 years prior to that. Now they want it back.”

When I ask her why they want it back now, Szuliman says, “Why? Because they found out it was there. They had been searching for the bible for years and never looked for it.”

“Were they too lazy to look through the trash?”

“The house was in total disrepair. The city wanted to condemn the house. It is a piece of history for the neighborhood. We fought for [the house.] My husband worked on the house. He was out there building homes in the area, two weeks after heart surgery. The windows were knocked out, the floor collapsed. It was so full of trash, you wouldn’t believe it.”

“After we worked on it, we had to jack the rooms up. We had to jack them up. We are old house-people. These are part of the history of Perry County.”

I tell her how important the documents seem to be to the women.

Szuliman replies, “I wanted to save the important documents of the family. I am not willing to give them to any one person. I want them shared with the whole family, which is why I put them on the Internet.”

She continued, “If I give them to one person, guess what, they won’t share them. The people pushing for this won’t share. There are several grand children. The one wanting this won’t tell the others about their heritage.”

Szuliman tells me that Lily is the one pushing this.

“I live in her uncle’s house. We re-did it. We wanted the family to come back and feel at home. I’m now on the outs with them.”

“After I did all this work, and now they have this attitude. I rescued them. The city wanted to burn this house. They burned the house two doors up.”

I ask her if the material is valuable.

“I don’t think so,” she replies. “I think they just wanted to know where it was. If a building sits for 30 years and nobody looks for the family bible in all that time, what does that tell you? It tells you they are too lazy. They want someone else to look through the trash and reap the benefits. It doesn’t work that way. This house was open 30 years. We bought it, and it was so bad we couldn’t tell there was a house. It was so overgrown in front, took four months to get through and dig it out.

“How did you find the artifacts?” I ask.

“By working and by luck,” she says. “I went through everything. I threw away garbage. I saved what was savable. They are giving me a terrible struggle on this and I think, where are they coming from?

“I bought it 10 years ago. It sat for 30 years before that. Why didn’t they go through and look in all that time? I think they want something for nothing. That is my opinion. They are happy they found it, now they think they can claim it. They cannot. They can’t say that is mine. Maybe they will take part of the foundation of the house. I am willing to share with the family. They can come to my house, anyone or everyone, but if they want to take it with them, well that is not the way I work. [The house] was condemned. All these documents would have been burned without me. They don’t appreciate that. They just want their hands on it.”

A conservator for the sisters says that the law is on Szuliman’s side since she legally purchased the house and all the contents inside.

What do you think?

The wall at the Nashville National Cemetery is finally being repaired after it was destroyed in two separate auto wrecks in the summer of 2009.

Kim Mahone’s grandparents are buried in a grave site next to the wall and told Messed Up garbage, debris, rock and crime tape left at the crash site were disrespectful to her grandparent’s memory.

Mahone called Messed Up and we called the cemetery’s director, Paul Martin, who agreed.

The problem was allocation of funds to do the job.

We stayed on the issue and as of Tuesday, March 9, 2010, it looks like there is resolution.

Martin said work crews started fixing the wall and should be done by the end of the month.

“Of course we care about what happens in the cemetery and how it affects the next of kin of our soldiers,” Martin tells Messed Up by phone.

He added, “We know the entire wall needs to be replaced but we wanted to fix this section first.”

“We hope everyone is satisfied with what we are doing, and this will resolve the issue. We apologize for the length of time it has taken to get there, but now, we hope all are pleased.”

Martin told Messed Up the rest of the cemetery wall will be fixed in 2011.

Read the previous story.

In January the Tennant family of Culleoka, TN were faced with an
unimaginable tragedy: the loss of their beloved wife and mother when a tree
fell on their mobile home, crushing her in her sleep. The insurance company,
has refused to pay for the totaled home stating that the
freezing rain on the trees was not a “storm related” cause of it falling.
The family is now without a mother, wife, and somewhere to call home! The
citizens of Culleoka plead for your help to help this family and explain
why an insurance company, when they are needed the most, are not holding up
their end of the bargain!! Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Feel free
to contact me as I was one of the firefighters there that night working to
free the victim from the home. Sincerely, a devoted viewer!!

There are 2 huge missing sections of roads (sinkholes rather than potholes) on the Ellington North ramp leaving downtown via James Robertson Blvd. I travel this way frequently and my car has hit this section of missing road twice now.

My car alignment is all thrown out of whack, the car vibrates when i drive and it feels like the wheels shake under the weight of the car. Something has been damaged and the car didn’t have alignment problems before 2 weeks ago, when, 4 days apart, I hit this godforsaken car-destroyer.

My car drives like crap and I believe it is the city’s responsibility to pay it. These holes are much larger than potholes- it makes driving conditions quite dangerous.

Thanks for your time,

Anonymous viewer

Some called it a major security and safety issue while others said it is no big deal, and the child was in a very controlled environment.

No matter how you feel about the issue, it still rages on.

According to CNN, “unauthorized and unprofessional” is how an internal memo describes the conduct of an air traffic controller who allegedly allowed his two young children to speak with pilots on an air traffic control frequency, and his supervisor, who allegedly allowed it to happen.

As most of you know by know the incident happened in mid-February at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport.

Its there than an air traffic controller reportedly allowed his young son and daughter to come to work and talk directly to pilots who were taxiing jet aircraft into position for take off.

“The display of professionalism in the past by the control personnel at this facility has been exemplary,” read the internal memo. “However, a lapse in judgment for what may seem a minor transgression diminishes our credibility and slights the high standards of professionalism.”

Dave Pascoe, owner of the Web site where the recording of the air traffic communications is posted, told CNN he thinks the attention the incident has drawn is “ridiculous” and it has been “blown out of proportion.”

In the recording, a child says, “JetBlue 171 cleared for takeoff.”

A man then tells the plane, “Here’s what you get, guys, when the kids are out of school.”

The pilot chuckles and says, “Wish I could bring my kid to work.” The same pilot later tells the child, “Awesome job.”

At Nashville International, here is a sample of the responses I got:

A man picking up his niece told me, “It scares me to death. That’s nuts. Passengers don’t want to know that a child is in charge of their lives.”

A nurse from Maine said, “People are making too big a deal of this. The child said routine stuff. It’s not a big deal.”

“That was inappropriate,” said a woman flying in from Washington D.C. “Would you want an eight-year-old taking care of the control tower your plane is flying into?”

A man who identifies himself as a flight attendant added, “That is not a good security situation. That was the wrong decision to let the kid up in the tower.”

“What I heard, it was a very tightly scripted situation,” said a civil engineer from Boston. “The kid said what he was told to say. I believe in bring your kid to work day. It’s good thing. We are overly sensitive to things today.”

The National Air Traffic Controller’s Association said they do not condone the type of behavior in anyway.

The air traffic controller and his supervisor have both been placed on administrative leave pending further investigation.

So what do you think?

Here is what Hal wrote:

Hey Andy,

Thanks again for the story. I have taken the job at the security company, and the one at domino’s pizza, but I still don’t have anything in my field yet.

However, there are some better prospects now. Edward Jones contacted me about being a financial adviser, and I am currently starting the interview process with them. Additionally, the Sara Cannon Research Institute contacted me for a financial assistant and I interview with them on Monday.

Things are beginning to look up.

Thanks once again,
Hal

Have you recieved anything on how Brooks and Dunn fan club members are not able to get tickets for the Nashville show. I was on Ticketmaster from 10 am (the time they went on sale) on 3/3/10 until 6 pm trying to get tickets.

I feel like it is a big crock of crap that being on that long trying to obtain ticket the proper way got me no where.

Thank you,
Jennifer

After picking up dozens of discarded periodicals on a recent dog walk, Steve Yaeger couldn’t take it anymore, and the Murfreesboro man called Messed Up. The day Andy met with Yaeger, he pulled out a rolling cooler filled with 3 to 4 dozen deteriorating periodicals that he has picked up on his daily dog walk.

“It litters the place. These rot, turn to pulp. The cars run over them. If someone throws something in my yard I consider it littering. And they fill up the landfill.”

Yaeger said he has tried calling various publications but nothing changed. The 55 year old said he wants the option of “opting in” to such a program, rather than getting the unsolicited material without his permission and then having to contact the companies to make them stop.

Messed Up contacted several publications. Mike Pirtle with the Murfreesboro Post took our call and seemed very concerned about Mr. Yaeger’s complaints.

Pirtle tolds us that this paper is free to everyone, but if someone does not wish to revieve the paper, they can place a request either by phone of online. The Murfreesboro Post works hard to honor these requests, and carriers are also instructed not to throw papers on driveways where papers have not been picked up. If there is an area where the pickup rate is not strong, The Murfreesboro Post will not deliver there, and will focus circulation on areas where the papers are wanted. Since they deliver to such a large and changing area, this requires constant monitoring by the circulation manager. It can be difficult to keep up, which is why the paper welcomes help from the public.

We also spoke to Bob Faricy at the DNJ.

The DNJ is a subscription-based paper, meaning that people either buy the paper in the store or order a subscription for deliveries to their home. However, the company also has a TNC product, which is a free paper that is distributed to specific areas. Faricy estimated that this TNC product is delivered by hundreds of carriers in five counties. If a customer does not wish to receive a paper or the TNC they can call in and request this and the delivery is halted.

Is it littering? Is it business? Is it the responsibility of the company? Is it the responsibility of the residents?

We wanted some answers on a topic that seems to have a lot of grey area, so we contacted Rutherford County Commissioner Ronald Williams. The District 8 representative said he brought this issue up at a March 2nd meeting with other county leaders.

Here’s what Williams told Messed Up at the Channel 2 studio:

“It is an aggravation. Everyone has this problem and they don’t know what to do about it.”

“I read the law,” Andy told Williams, “and it seems that a normal citizen can’t throw anything in your yard. But there is an exemption for the newsperson or mail person who can do it. Seems like there is some grey area, what is going on?”

“What we found in the past is people complained, they went to the source and they stopped throwing it. The problem is next week, (the company) hires the next delivery person and they (delivery person) don’t know who doesn’t want it and they continue blanketing everyone.”

Williams said he has taken many complaints about this issue.

“Last night at our committee meeting, I brought up the issue. We decided to get the entire county, unincorporated areas and all of the city ordinances together and we plan to get a consensus to stop this from being a problem and an aggravation for folks. What’s messed up about this is it’s just littering. Pure and simple littering!”

Back in the Berkshire sub-division, Yaeger held up a badly deteriorating paper and said, “Advertisers don’t realize what an irritation these papers are. If they only knew we are not looking at them and simply running over them in our cars.”

What do you think?

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

“A little girl was killed on hwy 100 due to a deer running in front of a vehicle. Why can’t someone sponsor a controlled hunt for the meat? Plenty of hungry people to meet the criteria. I have friends that know all about hunting for the bounty of free meat.”

Chris and Sheila York told Messed Up they immediately called the property managers to complain.

“The landlord told me he’d have it out before we took possession,” Sheila York said. “Well this is what he did: He took it from the house and put it here and said the city would be by on Tuesday to pick it up. A week went by and nobody came, so I called Public Works, and Public Works told me they won’t come and get it. It is not their responsibility, they said; it is the landlord’s responsibility.”

Mrs. York said she volunteered to take the items to the dump if the management company would pay for the dump fee. She said that the management company declined.

“We have a dump truck because my husband is a roofer. We offered to load it up and take it to the dump. We just wanted 50 dollars for the dump fee. He said why would I pay you to do it when I can get the city to do it for free.”

We went to Barrett Realty for answers. The office was bustling with activity when we entered. Numerous people were trying to pay rent, but there was only one associate in the office.

That associate told Messed Up that Barrett doesn’t own the property, but does manage it. He told us that someone would get back to us. That never happened, but apparently the message got through, because the next day residents reported that Barrett Realty picked up the debris pile.

Gwen Hopkins-Glascock of Metro Public Works sent Andy this note regarding the assertion that the city will pick up debris left at the curb:

“Landlords and management company’s are responsible for disposing of items like this. We do not want people to think there is even a remote chance that items left at the curb will be removed. It is the responsibility of the owners to dispose of their unwanted items, instead of expecting Metro to do this. In order to assist residents who have a hardship, Metro provides a bulk item collection service (thru Public Works and the sheriff’s office), and Metro Beautification organizes numerous neighborhood cleanup events where bulk items are accepted, but leaving them at the curb is irresponsible at best.”