If you actually have more information, especially empirical evidence supporting your assertions, please post it. Your assertion -- that "the Marion County paper blatantly omits and twists facts and has shut down several businesses in Marion by posting stories about the owner's personal lives" -- warrants substantiating evidence. Where is it? You provided none.
Instead, you wrote, "And perhaps those of us that live nearby have more information and perspective than random commenters on HN?" That statement is nearly an appeal to authority, like a cable news-watching boomer saying, "Trust me, kid, I know what I'm talking about."