Homes and the Home Team
Top of the column and the most important news first, the news that I just have to give you the bottom line on, without inverted pyramids, fancy ledes or nut grafs…
Nancy Jack, as you may have noticed from her lack of byline this week, is still not feeling up to the task of shedding light after her unfortunate accident. This legend of a local journalist has a lifetime contract with the Luminary, and that comes with unlimited amounts of vacation time, too. So keep her in mind when you do that keeping in mind thing this holiday season and root for her speedy recovery.
Also, I don’t know all the background on the situation, but Jamie Allen, son of Jim and Nancy, who is serving in Iraq as a member of the Navy’s first ever ground force taking out roadside IEDs for our troops, has successfully served five missions so far. Remember to include him in your thoughts this season too, por favor.
It finally looks like the raffle scandal story has concluded. I’ve spoken with the Attorney General and I have been told that the $5,000 judgement against Mary Bolling effectively ends the case once and for all.
For many, the immediate reaction will be, “that’s a slap on the wrist.” Others will think, “that’s only five raffle tickets.” Of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinion – particularly if you were one of the people who purchased a ticket.
From the beginning, I believed that Mary Bolling was being setup by the charity and the rest of the men clinging on to the deal – the home builder and the real estate agent who made an office out of the raffle house, for instance. Something tells me that those guys thought a pretty blonde could sell more raffle tickets than they could.
Ms. Bolling’s biggest mistake was not blowing the whistle the minute things started to get out of hand, the moment she got to the point where she wasn’t truly directing the charity and just taking someone elses word for it. She wanted to believe that she was not only selling a house that was proving hard to sell, but that she was doing some good out of the deal, too. She was wrong – and she paid the penalty.
If you bought a ticket – and you know this by now – you made a bad deal. My advice for most of you is to get over it and get on with your lives. If you can’t let it go, call the Attorney General’s office and complain and follow up from time to time to see if they collect any money from the judgement. It’s a longshot – but then, so was winning the house in the first place, right?
A lot of our semi-regular features – the popular “Word on the Street” column, “Rob and Rany on the Royals,” and Jay Hunsecker’s “Eyes of Parkville,” for instance – have to be thought of like skits on a late night television show. They’re all gonna be back sooner or later, so you just have to tune in and read them as they come.
I’ve been asked about the radio show…what gives? See above…I’m not doing the show without my loyal sidekick Nancy Jack…but when we do, standby because it’s going to be a real humdinger. More to come…