City of Davis made the right choice when they hired new fire chief

Davis native Paul Swanson will take over a department he has served for 30 years

LOCAL BOY MAKES GOOD ... In the same sentence, let me thank retiring Fire Chief Joe Tenney for his long and dedicated service to our community, while expressing my absolute joy that lifelong Davis resident Paul Swanson will become our town’s new fire chief.

Paul Swanson

Joe Tenney

In all, Tenney had a 38-year career in the fire service, including the last 26 years in Davis. He was appointed chief in 2019. Among other things, he says he plans to play baseball during his retirement.

If I ever retire, I plan to play baseball, too. Major League Baseball.

Paul Swanson grew up in Davis, went to Davis schools and is raising his family here. He started as a volunteer firefighter in 1993, became a full-time firefighter in 1996 and literally knows the town like the back of his hand.

Much more importantly, he knows the people of our unique and sometimes crazy town and understands where Davis has been and how it has evolved over the years.

His knowledge of Davis, along with his intellect, his kindness, his concern for the safety of every Davis resident and his hands-on approach to everything that comes his way, not to mention his firefighting skills, will serve us well.

Noted Swanson, “I feel truly fortunate to serve with such dedicated and talented public servants, individuals who embody what it means to put community first. I am honored to continue that service as fire chief and I look forward to the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.”

Hail to the Chief.

A NEW LEMON LAW IN MINNESOTA ... Don Lemon, as most of us know, was charged with conspiracy against the rights of religious freedom at a place of worship and injuring, intimidating and interfering with the exercise of the right of religious freedom at a place of worship.

This alleged crime took place during a religious service at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Lemon claims he was there as a journalist, simply covering a demonstration aimed at a pastor of Cities Church who also has a day job working for ICE.

A number of protestors who were clearly not journalists were also arrested and charged.

Much of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is involved here, seemingly with inalienable rights crashing into one another.

States the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

That’s a mouthful.

We have laws, which I support, which treat places of worship as sacred ground. When I’m walking down the aisle to receive Holy Communion at Sunday Mass or to get ashes on my forehead on the first day of Lent, I don’t want protestors, no matter how worthy their cause, to invade that space and that time.

If you want to protest, which I also support, there’s a public sidewalk surrounding the church I attend and you are free to gather there.

I’m certain that most people, of all faiths, feel similarly about their sacred space.

While I feel the St. Paul protestors did break the letter of the law, I don’t think they deserve more than a fine or a few hours in the slammer.

Don Lemon’s case, however, is different.

From all the video accounts I’ve seen, he consistently reports that he’s a journalist covering this protest, not a participant. And his actions consistently back up that position.

Pam Bondi, who says she personally got involved in the case against Lemon, claims he’s guilty as charged because he knew about the protest ahead of time and, heaven forbid, he expressed sympathy with the protestors’ cause.

Which is an incredibly odd way to establish guilt.

A few months ago I got a phone call from a complete stranger informing me of a No Kings rally in my hometown of Davis. So I knew about it ahead of time.

And, I also basically agreed with the cause.

I went, interviewed a ton of people and shot enough pictures that I published a photo gallery later that day.

Had any laws been broken at that rally - there weren’t - Pam Bondi would have concluded I was a participant because I knew about it ahead of time and sympathized with the cause.

I’m not sure she attended law school.

SPEAKING OF PLEASANT PAM ... In the middle of being asked questions about ICE operations and the Epstein coverup, our kind and patient United States Attorney General suddenly informed the House panel that the Dow was over 50,000 and “that’s what we should be talking about.”

The Dow: over 50,000. Number of Epstein victims: over 1,000.

The numbers don’t lie.

THIS JUST IN ... After watching Barack Obama get a standing ovation at the NBA All-Star game, Donald Trump sued the National Basketball Association for 10 trillion dollars for “discriminating against white basketball players.”

“Everyone in that game was clearly a talentless DEI hire,” said the Commander in Chief.

Reach me at bobdunning@thewaryone.com