Our story begins in the Southern California community of Carson. On the day of Jackson’s memorial service, Mayor Jim Dear ordered the flag outside the Carson city hall to be flown half-staff in honor of the King of Pop’s passing, reports the Los Angeles Times.

We should mention that Dear is not a Jackson fan, nor did the King of Pop have any special connections to Carson. But several people – all under 35 years of age – asked that he issue an order lowering the flag.

But such honors are usually reserved for the deaths of presidents, heroes, community figures and the like, and not for singers known for eccentric tastes such as multiple plastic surgeries, an amusement park-like mansion and million-dollar shopping sprees.

Although he eventually reversed his flag-flying order, Mayor Dear did receive some flak for his original decision. However, not all complaints originated locally. Dear received letters, e-mails and phone calls from all over the country criticizing his decision to fly Old Glory at half-mast.

So Dear re-thought his flag-lowering decision, consulted a flag expert as well as members of his city’s Veterans Affairs Commission, and took steps to make sure future Carson mayors don’t follow in his moonwalker-honoring footsteps.

He recently introduced legislation at a Carson city council meeting that would rescind the authority granted to Carson mayors in 1996 to order the lowering of the American flag.

But it doesn’t stop there. Dear is also thinking about introducing a resolution at the next U.S. Conference of Mayors to ensure cities follow strict flag protocol when it comes to honoring a famous person’s passing.

In other words, Michael Jackson’s death may indirectly influence how cities will fly the U.S. flag for years to come. And that’s our strangest ancillary Michael Jackson story so far.

Click here to read the entire Los Angeles Times article.