Gil Thorp by Henry Barajas and Rachel Merrill for July 28, 2021

Milford hates sea turtles.

P4: And as Archimedes exclaimed when HIS bathtub overflowed — “EUREKA”.

P2 Given her vast experience in covering municipal meetings I can see her first assignment doing a write-up on the Library Board Meeting…I think this is a segue to get that story arc back in play.

“And then I started investigating the SBCA – Shoddy Basement Contractors Association – for why basement were getting flooded, and they hired a hitman to… Anyway, long story short, here I am back in Milford under a new name and in the witness protection program.”

P2 if that’s Mo-reen, she is looking quite refreshed after nearly a year without an appearance in the strip, give it another three or four more and she will be looking worn out, used up and demoralized – drab as her coloring today – knowing there is no escape from Milford and GT, if she is a new waitress, RUN! Escape while can and don’t worry your replacement is seated in front of you to your left

Yes, from the right perspective almost anything can be interesting. Except this story line.

I bet it’s almost as bad as covering a meeting of the Milford library board.

In all reality , that’s really deep Heather that’s the essence of journalism . However ,print media is dying ever think of becoming a talking head like those bimbos on ESPN ? Why don’t you try calling Holly Dobbs ,Gil’s old girlfriend may be she can help you. Thanks Thanks Marjie !

P2- Above Mo’s head. $5.45 Blue Plate Special. Well aged sloppy joe, home fries, cole slaw and drink. No carry outs. Mo needs the tips.

Heather Burns – the football coach who cares! In this strip, that premise is called “comic relief”.

Must be extremely bright in the diner; lots of squinting. The lights are the only bright thing in the diner.

P 2.5: “….but enough about this story line….let’s head over to the golf course….”

P 4 (Mo’s voice): “….you should talk to the Burke family sweetie…they always have a flooded basement…”

P2: I thought Marjie was going to buy, but specified no drinks… or was that in MUT?

Is this going somewhere??

P1, Sounds like we’ve got the perfect place for you to start, Heather.

P2, That’s not Mo! Say it ain’t so!

P3, I thought you were from Milford, Heather.

They are really wedged into that booth. The table is no more than 18 inches wide. Where are they putting their legs?

“Keep bringing those mimosas Mo. This windbag won’t shut up.”

and that is the problem. When local papers died, then there was no one to watch over what local Govts do with your tax $$$ Which allows corruption to enter the picture. Which in turn allows a few to screw over a rural town, township, or county

I recall that very thing happening in Texas. Where, if memory serves, a GOP political operative got a town to hand him an obscene salary as City manager while doing nothing except spending that local Govt into bankruptcy. Then the San Antonio Express News got hold of the story and with very little investigation busted the scheme wide open and finally got the people’s attention

I just heard from Vito from Goshen and he says its even money we won’t see MCC again until some time next week. This has to be, even by Milford standards, the slowest moving plot development ever.

Probably they are going to land on the brilliant idea of her being a coach and report on it for the Star, which will carry us through the fall. But maybe her first assignment will be at MCC to blow the lid on the Hendricks scheme and put another industrial solvents salesman in prison where he belongs.

P 2: “…my condolences….I still get sent out to cover idiotic features….for example, last year, I had to go cover this stupid football practice over at the high school and I was so hungry that by the time my interview with that doddering coach ended, I ate this fly-covered sloppy joe crap that had been sitting out in the sun for a while…man…talk about montezuma’s revenge….I couldn’t get out of bed other than to crawl to the toilet for three days…”

I got excited to see the all-knowing, sassy Maureen back in the strip. But now I’m not so sure. Is this the same diner she works at? Plus, I don’t remember her having a goatee. But speaking of remembering, I hope you remember to visit Mopped Up Thorp today.

https://moppedupthorp.wordpress.com/

Okay, we’ve got less than a month before football practice starts, based on the normal timeline for this strip. So, as someone else mentioned, her “story” about working for The Star will most likely carry over through the football season. Where she also will be featured helping to coach. But we need to get back to Hendricks and his fleecing of the other golfers. That needs to wrap up in a few weeks. The only question is, will Heather investigate it, or will Gil catch on and deliver justice?