Sure, for the purposes of the story, it certainly looks like the Chedderson family is going to be the guilty party. However, for the sake of honesty and journalistic integrity, shouldn’t Rivera ensure Mark maintained a more-or-less neutral position, at least until he found enough inculpatory evidence? 

As we know, Mark believed the golf course was the polluter from the moment he heard about its existence at the start of this story. A good team of lawyers could probably tie Mark up in any court proceeding for months, if not years, based on his premature accusations on the golf course and his prior relations with Chedderson. “A personal and professional grudge”, they will claim. “Obviously tainted evidence cherrypicked to cast doubt and blame, etc.”

Sorry, Mark: The Cheddersons are not brothers or “bros.” They are father-and-son. 

As for Cherry, I’ve come to believe Rivera is working on turning her into the conventional Cherry of old:  nice, pretty, but somewhat dim. A loyal wife who can’t put 2+2 together and is mildly overwhelmed by masculine exuberance. And that’s a shame.