G. Mike Dobbs

So, last Tuesday evening — Primary Election Day — I was at Smokey Joe’s Cigar Lounge, known the world-wide, having my usual Tuesday stogie and a beverage with some of the smartest guys I know and yet despite enjoying myself, I felt like the retired horse that pulled the fire wagon when there was an alarm going. I had an itch, a feeling that I should be in the fray.

I really get tired of people claiming they have lost their “freedoms” during liberal administrations such as Biden/Harris.

It’s interesting — and frustrating — how memory works. I forget why I walked into the kitchen to get something and once I get there I have no idea what my mission was about. Inevitably I have to walk out of the room and walk back into it to dislodge the thought from some closed part of my brain. And yet a whole flood of memories about events from years ago bubble up to the surface.

To be clear, I have never been in favor of violence being a change agent in politics. I did not post anything gleeful about the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, because I was not happy that once again someone has decided to affect a political race with a bullet.

As I write this column the Springfield Jazz and Roots Festival is just a few days away. It will draw thousands of people to downtown Springfield — as long as the weather holds — making a sizable economic development impact on the region through restaurant and hotel use.

When I first lived in Springfield from 1957 to 1962, I attended kindergarten, first and second grades. I remember the school days starting for the first and second grades with the Pledge of Allegiance, singing a patriotic song and then a prayer, often accompanied with a reading from the Bible.

Ah, summer in Western Massachusetts and some traditional summer topics are emerging from the back of my brain.

So, recently I was at the one and only Smokey Joe’s Cigar Lounge — in beautiful downtown Springfield — enjoying a good cigar, an adult beverage and lively conversation. (Truth be told, I am twice a week on a very regularly basis.)

My wife and I do as much as we can to lower our use of plastic and decrease our carbon imprint. Granted we do not drive electric cars and we don’t have solar panels installed — if I hit Powerball we will be doing both.

In April, MGM Resorts International President and CEO Bill Hornbuckle met with Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno to discuss the future of the casino as Bloomberg had reported earlier in the year that MGM was considering selling the Springfield casino. After the...