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Another August, another hurricane. There are a few things you can always expect with a hurricane coming to town.

1: Tony Mainolfi (WESH) will start fear mongering.
2: All sorts of people will give you preparation advice and dire warnings.
3: Lazy bastards who didn't get their supplies before the fear mongering will clog the roads, stores, and gas stations.
4: The local officials in the Keys will tell the tourists to get out (so they can make room for the hard core hurricane party folks).
5: Lots of people will lose power.
6: Lots of people will charge too much for something after it's over (ice, tree clearing, etc.)
7: We'll get warned about the next "disturbance in the tropics" before we've finished talking about this one.
8: It's a day without work, but still a suck-ass day.
9: The local lead news story will change to hurricane news.

Those of you who don't have water, ice and Pop-Tarts at your house already have been very annoying to me today. I have my act together, why don't you? You know this is going to happen at some point, so why the late rush to get batteries, water, and whatever else with the crowd of other morons? Buy this stuff in the Spring so you don't have to worry about it later.

The down side is that Sunday is my regular grocery day, so I've been caught up with the rest of you goobers while I try to get my regular fix of green grapes and turkey sandwich stuff. Remember your Boy Scout days (or show me your Girl Scout pictures): Be Prepared...then get out of my way. I'm looking for some grapes.

Most people are writing about fireworks and other celebrations today. That's outstanding and I don't fault them for it. However, I want to use the spirit of the day to remind us that our independence is under challenge and assault every day.

This clip is of Orlando Police officers denying a WFTV camera man the same basic rights allowed to other citizens simply because he carries a camera. They threaten him with arrest, even claiming they've already arrested another media person for trying to assert the same civil rights as others - to walk down a sidewalk. Clearly, the Orlando Police officers on the scene do not trust photographers and they are using coercion (threat of arrest) to prevent him from lawfully engaging in the same activity as others. Coercion is illegal in all 50 states.

Journalists and media have no more rights to access to a crime scene or police investigation than an ordinary citizen. They are ordinary citizens. That means they should also have the same rights. If the police allow people to access an area, they must allow ALL people to access an area. The law doesn't make exception for them to discriminate just because someone has a camera.

Enjoy our Independence, but keep your eyes open for those who would abuse their authority to curtail our freedoms. Orlando Police are among them.

The news is playing about an event that happened last year. Orlando Police Officer Fernando Trinidad pushed a woman down the stairs at a downtown club. As a result, he lost 8 hours of vacation pay. Seriously, that's all that happened to the dude. Eight hours is one day of vacation. Poor guy. He's still on the streets, badge in one hand and gun in the other.

Not only did Officer Trinidad push a woman down the stairs, but then he arrested her on a trumped up felony charge. He lied to make it seem like he was the victim, she spit on him, yada yada yada. Fortunately, the thing got caught on the club's security camera where he was hired for an off-duty job. If you haven't seen it already, here's a clip from WKMG news showing what happened.

So why didn't he get more punishment? According to a statement by Orlando Police Chief Val Demings (who was then Deputy Chief, I'm told), it's because his civil rights were violated. The police union filed a grievance to protect the officer because he wasn't informed about the charges that launched the investigation.

This smells like the blue code of silence to me. Yet another law enforcement officer abuses his authority and someone on the inside helps him cover it up. We wouldn't be hearing about it now if the video hadn't come up. The victim is suing the cop and now there is a criminal investigation. The state may actually do what Orlando Police failed to do - cost this officer his job by invalidating his certification.

I was all set to write a scathing rant against this cop and the Orlando Police Department, but what good would it do? This is just another case of a cop out of control. Watch the video again. Notice how casually he shoves her down the stairs and walks past her like nothing happened. Equally bad is his partner. He's complicit with the crime by not taking action or speaking up about the bogus charges. This woman wanted to be a teacher. I bet her application looks real good with a felony arrest on it. What was her crime? Under what circumstances does a cop push someone from behind down a flight of stairs?

There's no point in ranting, though. Cops are as corrupt as ever. All of the hope and excitement around Val Demings becoming the first black woman to be Chief of Police in Orlando is over. She's just as bad as the rest of them. Now, on the evening news, she admits that the punishment was insufficient. However, her hands are tied because they can't punish him again. Remember, they took away 8 hours of vacation time. We wouldn't want to be unfair to a bully with a badge, would we? After all, he's got a union behind him.

This is police brutality on video. The police and the union both tried to squash it. Next time you see a cop, will you trust him? If you call the police and Officer Trinidad shows up, would you want him in your house? I damn sure wouldn't.

After 37 years on the job at one station (something of a minor miracle in the TV news industry), Dave Marsh retired from local NBC affiliate WESH. During the course of his career, he contributed to about 27,000 broadcasts and endured 300 hurricanes. Dave was the guy who would give you the facts without hype. Dave was the guy you could trust.

A few years ago, I spoke with WESH General Manager Bill Bauman while trying to line up a job. Bill didn't know me at all, but he was kind enough to speak with me. The thing I remember from Bill is that he said, "This is a destination station. People come here to work out the rest of their career." Certainly, some people have come and gone from WESH. I still think that Bill's comment is true. Dave certainly proved him right.

As part of the send-off for Dave, WESH taped video segments from many of Dave's co-workers. It was clear they all had genuine respect for the guy. Me, too.