Christmas. What a wonderful holiday. I love it as much as I love Hanukkah and the Seder and all the other religious holidays. In fact, I love any religious person’s special days. It’s just what we do in America.
But why, oh why, are Homeowners Associations coming down so hard on holiday lights? I get it that some light displays are over the top. I get it that gorgeous light displays bring more traffic into a neighborhood. But the greater spirit I see during the holidays satisfies an inner part of my soul. Homeowners Associations, as far as I know, are the only entity in America where expressing your religious beliefs is verboten.
Since 2007 newspapers and TV stations around the country have been collapsing. Newspapers like the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the Rocky Mountain News and many others have simply gone out of business. But I’m learning that the Las Vegas Review-Journal is thinking about growing and creating a new investigative team. As far as I’m concerned that’s incredibly good news.
Without the investigative reporting of staff member Jeff German this country would know nothing about the massive Las Vegas HOA scandal that sent more than three dozen people, including lawyers, cops and public officials to prison.
Sara Benson is reaching out to members of Congress and asking all of us to do the same. Pass the Amateur Radio Parity Act (S. 1685). National organizations that lobby to keep HOAs in business are on the opposite side. They’re telling Senators that HAM Radio enthusiasts destroy nice neighborhoods, something as ridiculous as saying that satellite dishes destroy neighborhoods.
I’ve been in the news business for 40 years and I’ve seen so many goofy things happen. Nothing surprises me anymore.
Yes, police investigators need to ask for lighter prison sentences for informants. But they have an overwhelming obligation to protect the public. That’s their primary job. When the number two player in a 60 million dollar scam victimizing Las Vegas homeowners agrees to cooperate with investigators, does that mean he gets off scott-free? Apparently in Las Vegas that’s exactly what it means. Ralph Priola could have been sentenced to 22 years. But federal prosecutors say he deserves no prison time. NONE!
A financial firm has just filed with the SEC to buy and sell stock in a company that forecloses on HOA liens and foreclosures. You can now invest and make a profit on the misery of your neighbors. Definitely read the prospectus. And be ashamed for a country that allows this to take place.
