Well, if the upcoming May Town Hall hadn’t piqued the public’s interest through the leak of this Summer’s planned power outages, Walesburg’s attempt to form its own city might. The Chorus learned early this morning that local business leaders have been researching the interest and capability of Walesburg residents to transform their neighborhood into its own city, outside the jurisdiction of Cinniapolis.

The movement is spearheaded by Chess Murphy, a frequent critic of Mayor Gondola and the Gondola family. When reached for comment, Mr. Murphy said, “I can confirm your information is accurate. That’s all I will share now out of respect for the residents and leadership still working to finalize the proposal, which will be ready and presented at the City Council’s May Town Hall.”

Through anonymous sources, the Chorus also confirmed that Five Families Farms (FFF) is heavily involved in drafting literature and would finance the proposed secession. The Morris, Dragg, Irvin, Amerovich, and Huron families formed their multi-farm compound in response to the preferred status provided to corporate factory farms over family-owned farms. It seems their ambitions are spreading to local neighborhoods now. A spokesman for FFF said, “Walesburg was the crown jewel of this region. Just as the elites granted favor and access to the rich lands of the regions to their crony corporate sponsors, they have turned Walesburg into their dumping grounds prioritizing profits over people. Walesburg will rise again.”

While true Walesburg was once a thriving hub of industry decades ago, it’s now home to the working poor. The streets and alleys are peppered with homeless addicts. Drug dens occupy old vacant textile mills. Most well-known businesses have closed shop to relocate out of town or move to the Centralis and Reunion neighborhoods within Cinniapolis.

Walesburg deserves a long overdue makeover. Its residents deserve assistance in cleaning up their community. Although, it seems gaining access to the Cinniapolis treasure chest would be in everyone’s best interest rather than breaking off from the city. In times of conflict, separation rarely appeases all parties. It can be difficult to find common ground with those perceived to be causing hardships. But, history has proven time and time again that common ground has enough space for everyone from every background to pursue their dreams.