I would like to quietly… so as not to wake those nasty Trolls,… (nothing personal, attroll!), give those who are interested an update about what has been going on. I am sorry it is so long. If you are not interested, please, go onto something else. Let’s please not turn this into a negative discussion. I have had enough negative this summer to last for a LONG time!
After almost 10 tense weeks I finally have some closure for this "Illegal Shuttle Business" investigation. In a specially called meeting, not a hearing, the Unicoi County Sheriffs Department Special Investigator has said officially, that the way I run my shuttle business IS LEGAL and all charges have been DROPPED.
As long as I DO NOT CHARGE A SET PRICE for my shuttle services and as long as I only extend my services to hikers and as long as my insurance and license is kept current…etc… they see no reason to continue this investigation. This was a strange case, as they NEVER showed my Attorney or me what law I was breaking to bring charges in the first place. My lawyer and I spent many expensive hours researching laws and trying to get answers to our questions. We will never know for sure what started it all.
I spent a lot of time meeting with city and county officials, both the city and county mayors and some key business people; asking their opinion on the situation and asking for their support. I was very happy to find so much genuine interest in these offices. The support the AT community showed was almost overwhelming! Thank you to the dozens of hikers who wrote letters. These letters were made available to city and county officials, the newspapers and many interested parties. I think they were very important as a way to educate non hikers and show a swell of support in the AT community. In several cases they actually sparked an interest in hiking the AT in the readers! Thank you to those of you who called me, sent cards and gifts and emails… these were very special to me. A special thanks to those of you who helped out financially, your generosity is more appreciated than you will ever know!
The bad news is that I believe “Miss Janet’s House” will continue to be “observed” very closely by law enforcement officials now that we are on their radar. Too many people in the community as well as some officers of the law, still believe that “Something Bad” is going on in my home and that my children are being exposed to negative things because “I let you people stay in my house with my kids…” (Direct quotes from an officer)… This is sad and only time and education will make any changes in these attitudes. That is ok as I have nothing to hide and I plan on being around to help hikers for a lot longer! I have given a standing invitation to all law enforcement officers, city officials and neighbors to visit often and join us for breakfast anytime! The allegations of complaints by my neighbors proved to be exaggerated, false or unrecorded anywhere. But if there ARE ever any complaints, the police have agreed to come straight to me so they can be taken care of right away. Most of my neighbors showed a lot of support for what I am doing here and made statements about how nice and polite the hikers are while they are in our neighborhood. Thank you for being considerate!
For now, I will continue to try to educate my community about who you are, what you are doing and why the Appalachian Trail and those that choose to hike it; are important to our whole area and not just to me and my family. I will continue to try to show the doubters that my children have benefited greatly from their conversations and experiences with so many people from all over the world… from a wonderfully diverse world! I will continue to try to find a way to live and work in PEACE with those that persist in trying to hurt me and my reputation in this community.
Miss Janet