It is amazing how many sensational rumors come across my desk, or float up to me on the street when I am just walking around minding my own business. None of them are likely true but all are worth mentioning to see what comes of it. For instance: Did the city of Suffolk miss a golden opportunity to purchase a piece of land downtown that would have been the perfect place to build a parking garage for all those school employees that will move into the seven-story revamped skyscraper on the corner of Washington and Main? Did the city offer a ridiculously low bid? Could it be true? And is it is true that the city spent a lot of your tax dollars to &uot;clean up&uot; the old, old building so they could sell it at a huge loss, over $200,000? They might recover the loss with new taxes received, but it will take time. Another tale floating around is that Sturmont is having great difficulty raising the $9 million they want to invest in the Hilton Inn on the Wharf. I was told, and it can’t be true, that certain high Suffolk officials have been gingerly approaching local bankers to see if they will loan money to the developers. Surely the city will refute this rumor. A long time ago I passed on the suspicion that a Hampton Inn might be built over near the new Obici. Seems that rumor has gained some strength and a hotel might be part of the fast-increasing growth on Godwin. It is not true that the city is considering moving to a spot over there; they are hoping for a few acres in north Suffolk where the taxes will be higher; or perhaps considering the old Obici Hospital instead of spreading themselves all over town. A move that would further damage downtown business.

Now that the Mattanock task force is stacked against the Indians, there are cries of &uot;foul&uot; in the land and there is hope that the force will recognize the black/white ratio versus red and add some of our Native Americans to the list of Johnny-come-lately African-Americans. It is true that many years ago an uncontrolled government idiot decided that red Indians were to be considered colored (black) and they were stripped of their true identity. Whoever appointed people to the Mattanock task force must have had the same idea and figured it is now racially balanced, when in fact whoever appointed them was unbalanced.

Have you noticed in the magazines and on TV that modern young female celebrities now dress so as to easily pass for streetwalkers? All they would need to be perfect is mesh stockings. It used to be that the belly button would just peek out above the skirt or pants. But now we are looking for something different to peek and it probably won’t be long at the rate of lowering waistbands. And it’s almost as bad on the stern and perpetual mooning is on the horizon. I don’t know why, but I watched a TV fashion show taped in Paris and you could tell that there are actually some women that haven’t been medically inflated. In fact most of them looked like they could use a good meal. You can see through most of the high-fashion clothes and nearly through the bodies. Fortunately, none of those cloth monstrosities ever show up in Suffolk.

I can’t quite agree with our government giving millions to the families of those who were killed in the World Trade Center. The deaths were not the result of an act of war so their life insurance policies were in effect. Term insurance is cheaper than fill-dirt and you would think highly paid sophisticated New York City employees would have been loaded with it. Maybe I could go along if all those families affected by the death of a sailor or soldier during all wars were also compensated, or any cop or fireman anywhere in the country where a family was directly affected by sudden death or injury. What is special about those families deprived on 9/11? Or what is not special about thousands of other families who have suffered great losses over the years? In addition, millions were collected from people all over the world to assist those with terrible losses and many millions have not yet been distributed. What’s wrong with our thinking when a man refuses to buy life insurance but if killed anywhere the family will sue somebody for millions?

OK, so we need more roads because people and cars are breeding faster than the means to move them around. So we do the usual, raise taxes. At least that is what is expected if we are patriotic souls who don’t want to let the country down. And it appears the law providers have eliminated many things from being taxed, things that most of us buy everyday like food, gasoline, liquor, so why should we object to a copper penny. Because it’s a tax, that’s why. We are up to our noses in taxes a list of which would be longer than a spoiled kid’s Christmas wants. I’ll bet the average person, one not clipping bond coupons for income, will say &uot;no.&uot; Those clipping food and merchandise clippings, to save money, will not trust the government to do anything right. So I will make it simple – start another lottery, this time for roads. You can bet the fish among us will be eager to spend for another ticket. Decorate the ticket with fancy cars, large bridges and Senator Warner. Or, even more simple, just put a large sales tax on currently sold lottery tickets which were invented , they said, to raise money for schools. Many have remarked that they might support the tax if not one penny is wasted on another damn HOV lane. And when it comes to designing new roads, for safety’s don’t let the planner who designed our 264 on/off exit lanes get anywhere near the drawing board.

The Powers are again considering the appointment of a new judge in our area. I suggested some months ago that Senator Fred Quayle should be considered if they could find a black robe large enough for this big man. It would have enabled Delegate Chris Jones and Mayor Dickens to edge up the escalator. They did not take advantage of Quayle’s skills at that time. Now the door is open again, but this time Quayle’s skin may be the wrong color. Underneath it things are about equal but that epidermal layer appears to be a significant factor. And once again we are ignoring the reds and yellows who ought to band together, blend their colors, and find a suitable orange candidate for the judgeship.

Robert Pocklington is a resident of Suffolk and a regular columnist for the Suffolk News-Herald.