Ah, summer is bearing down upon us- and it will be welcome. They say it will be a week in the 90s- enough to make the coolness still resident in the pool bearable. An hour in the water left me shivering on Saturday, and a quicker swim on Sunday still left me with depressed core body temperature. Some warmth would be a relief.

I ambled on down to the farm in the Panzer after the immersion to cut the lawn and contemplate my navel, and the opportunity was rewarding. I had nearly a month and a half of the Clarion Bugle to go through. I had stacked them up in rough chronological order on the coffee table in the Great Room, mixed a refreshing adult beverage and settled in to read about small town life. I was ready for it after the astonishing developments overseas.

Things were so desperate that Secretary of State John Kerry flew to London to read a poem by Maya Angelou. I am being too harsh, of course. The Conference on ending sexual violence in warfare was long scheduled and worthy in cause, even if a bit incongruous considering the barbaric nature of the behavior of ISIS fighters as they advanced on Baghdad.

Many associates suggested that escape from the Beltway was the only rational response to events, and I agreed. But my eyes opened wide as I went through the pages of the local newspaper. Reading the paper takes me back to another time- maybe the Traverse City Record Eagle circa 1990, a time that evokes the coming summer swelter.

It was small town news- the paper is mostly boosterism for the local business community and a smattering of original reporting. The annual Fireman’s Parade got good ink- an impressive event on May 29th.

The campaign for the Republican Congressional primary- the one that dumped Congressman Eric Cantor was covered in detail- we are in what was his district, after all. It was interesting to read the back-story of the big upset as it was happening- and the fact that Professor Brat was present and Mr. Cantor was not.

The coverage of the mayoral race was equally fascinating. Apparently something called “forensic transcripts” of the incumbent’s phone calls had been in depositions regarding litigation over the firing of the former city manager. Someone leaked them in the weeks before the election, and the outcome of reading the actual blunt and uncensored words of a working politician were enough to scuttle his campaign.

There was another bombshell. A local police sergeant had been suspended during the whole flap over the departure of the same city manager, and was accused of 39 violations of departmental policy.

I knew that a hearing had been held, and only some minor infractions were justified. He had been reinstated in the rank of Captain. I saw on the front page of the May 15 issue of the paper that he was prominently photographed in uniform passing out entrees at the Glory Days Grill at the “Tip a Cop” event supporting the Special Olympics. It was a nice story about something that wouldn’t happen in the urban sprawl up north.

Imagine my surprise when I looked at last week’s edition of the paper. The same police officer is suing the Clarion-Bugle, the holding company that owns it, the editor and the reporter who covered the alleged offenses for defamation.

The claim is for a cool million against the paper, and a separate $350,000 against the reporter and the editor.

I would like to know a lot more about what happened to cause the city manager to get fired. There was word at the time of some report or another she was going to issue that had some allegations of something or other.

Funny about all politics being local. I am going to pay much more attention to the newspaper, and naturally I will report important events in the County.

I am not going to use any names, nor even mention what town I live near, though. Things are smaller in the country, through they certainly appear to be much more personal than they are back in Washington, where all this is just some sort of sport.

Copyright 2014 Vic Socotra

www.vicsocotra.com

Twitter: @jayare303