There wasn’t much left, of course.
The word “fawning” as defined by Merriam-Webster:
1 : to show affection -used especially of a dog
2 : to court favor by a cringing or flattering manner
The word “puff piece” as defined by Wiktionary:
1. A journalistic form of puffery; an article or story of exaggerating praise that often ignores or downplays opposing viewpoints or evidence to the contrary.
This, however, sets a new level for fawning puff piece about the State Fair.
I guess the paper was too lazy to go out and find anyone that might have any opposition to the fair.
Does The Free Lance–Star think that Caroline County residents are too stupid to handle a back and forth debate in a news article?
After all, I’m sure all those reporters and editors at the paper think Caroline is full of banjo-playing yokels. You know, I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen a banjo in person — much less one in Caroline County.
But anyway, the paper is usually too busy talking about the important and pressing issue of the use of golf carts in subdivisions.
I’m sure Caroline residents were dying to read that article.
Here’s the basic point of this fawning puff piece: The State Fair of the Virginia will bring in gazillions of dollars to the county and anyone that says otherwise is a idiot.
Hmm…didn’t people say the same thing about the Fredericksburg Expo Center?
And what’s happening with that now?
Oh wait, the Fredericksburg Economic Development Director said the expo center was “horribly underutilized” and just like everything else, they needed government subsidies — specifically $50,750!
That was in July 2007.
In January 2008, the Fredericksburg City Council was considering giving the Expo Center another $225,000 a year for three years. The only thing that stopped that from happening was Kalahari expressing interest in buying the Expo Center.
I’m sure all those other business owners in Fredericksburg would love some subsidies thrown their way as well.
But I have a feeling they’re not holding their breath in the mean time.
I noticed the reporter for The Free Lance–Star was too lazy to go ask the Caroline County Sheriff’s Office how much it was going to cost to police that area during the fair: The very objection that Sheriff Tony Lippa brought up when the county was first considering the fair and which the supervisors opted to completely ignore.
I noticed the paper didn’t bother asking what the cost of fire/rescue services for the fair were going to be.
Specifically, a fire marshal was supposed to be hired before the fair was to begin: Still waiting on that.
Also, in the mean time there won’t be a cell phone tower in the area since Caroline County’s “consultant” — who has a clear conflict of interest — wants Hanover County to have a monopoly over the area.
Oh, I’m curious, how many people have been down to the current state fair grounds?
It reminds me of a certain song by Elvis Presley: Is that what that area of Caroline County is going to look like after 40 years of the fair being here?