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[ "Daily Telegram Staff" ]

"2021-01-12T15:07:57"

"2021-01-11T13:01:08"

"2021-01-11T00:00:00"

[ "RAISIN TWP. — 3D Physical Therapy has moved its Tecumseh physical therapy clinic to a new location at 5433 Occidental Highway.\n3D PT has served the Tecumseh market for 11 years, a news release said. The company recently renovated and opened a new clinic to meet the needs of its growing client base.\n3D PT provides comprehensive physical therapy services based on the Gray Institute’s Applied Functional Science model. The Tecumseh clinic team will serve the community treating neck, back, sports injuries; pre- and post-op joint replacements; balance dysfunction; and knee and shoulder pain as well as chronic pain. 3D PT has also expanded its women’s health program to serve a greater range of women with pelvic dysfunction.\nThe new 3D PT clinic will be housed with other health care providers including massage and weight loss services. In addition, the clinic is located near other health professionals on Occidental Highway including Worksphere and Promedica OB/GYN Dr. Victor Cherfan.", "3D Physical Therapy opens new clinic location", "RAISIN TWP. — 3D Physical Therapy has moved its Tecumseh physical therapy clinic to a new location at 5433 Occidental Highway.3D PT has served the Tecumseh market for 11 years, a news release said. The company recently renovated and opened a new clinic to meet the needs of its growing client base.3D PT provides comprehensive physical therapy services based on the Gray Institute’s Applied Functional Science model. The Tecumseh clinic team will serve the community treating neck, back," ]

[ "John Flesher", "The Associated Press" ]

"2021-01-07T11:15:18"

"2021-01-06T12:01:09"

"2021-01-06T00:00:00"

[ "TRAVERSE CITY — A former Michigan resident was briefly amused to be mistaken for a high-ranking legislator by President Donald Trump supporters who demanded nullification of President-elect Joe Biden's election victory in the state.\nBut when a trickle of calls and texts Sunday became a torrent of hundreds that continued into Monday, it wasn't funny anymore.\nThe recipient, who goes by the name O Rose and uses non-gendered they/them pronouns, has a phone number nearly identical to that of Lee Chatfield, former Republican speaker of the Michigan House, whose term expired this month.\nIn social media postings Sunday, the president's campaign organization targeted Chatfield and Lee Shirkey, a Republican and the Senate majority leader. \"Hear the evidence ... Correct false statements ... Demand vote on decertification,\" the campaign said on Facebook.\nThe posting provided email addresses and phone numbers for Chatfield and Shirkey. But the number listed as Chatfield's actually belonged to Rose, who moved from northern Michigan to the Oakland, California, area five months ago.\n\"People are calling me from every single state. It's weird, very weird,\" Rose said in a phone interview Monday with The Associated Press. The 28-year-old provided a first initial but withheld their full first name because of concerns about security.\nRose said they initially found the mix-up, first reported by the Petoskey News-Review, humorous and responded with texts of funny memes — \"pictures of pancakes, squirrels, something absurd so they'd know I wasn't a government official.\"\nBut people kept calling, many refusing to believe Rose wasn't Chatfield.\n\"They'd argue with me. They said everything I was saying was a lie,\" Rose said. \"One of them called me three times. He said, ‘Well, if you're happening to have lunch with Chatfield or something, could you tell him?' I said, ‘No, dude, I don’t know this person.\"\nRose unsuccessfully tried to notify the campaign and enlisted friends to post messages explaining the mistake to the president's Facebook and Twitter feeds. Those, too, drew a barrage of denials and accusations from Trump backers.\nAn email message seeking comment was sent to a Trump campaign spokesman.\nBiden received 2,804,040 votes in Michigan, or 50.6%, while Trump got 2,649,852 votes or 47.8%.\nThe results were certified by the bipartisan Michigan Board of State Canvassers despite baseless claims of fraud by the president's backers. Chatfield and Shirkey met with Trump at the White House shortly before the board voted. But both said repeatedly the legislature had no power to intervene. Biden, a Democrat, was awarded the state's 16 electoral votes.\nNo legal avenue remains for the Trump campaign to change the outcome in Michigan, said Tracy Wimmer, spokeswoman for the secretary of state's office, which oversees elections.\nRose's phone number was still on the campaign's Facebook post Monday evening.\nAlthough none of the callers made threats, Rose plans to get a new phone number — pronto.\n\"I don't need any more attention,\" they said.", "Wrong number draws mistaken calls, ire from Trump supporters", "TRAVERSE CITY — A former Michigan resident was briefly amused to be mistaken for a high-ranking legislator by President Donald Trump supporters who demanded nullification of President-elect Joe Biden's election victory in the state.But when a trickle of calls and texts Sunday became a torrent of hundreds that continued into Monday, it wasn't funny anymore.The recipient, who goes by the name O Rose and uses non-gendered they/them pronouns, has a phone number nearly identical to that of Lee" ]

[]

"2021-01-17T22:52:20"

"2021-01-17T05:16:04"

"2021-01-17T00:00:00"

[ "The Jan. 10 letter \"Marlena defying gov’t oppression,\" raised interesting points regarding larger issues more than a particular business.\nThe writer protested \"oppression, a virus much more virulent and deadly than COVID-19.\" The virulence of COVID-19 has been measured by scientists by transmission rates, hospitalization rates, and death rates. Who has measured the virulence of oppression? Perhaps an expert in political science could, but no such evidence was provided.\nThe deadliness of the virus, sadly, is easily measured. As of Jan. 14, over 385,000 Americans have died due to COVID-19 in the past 11 months. Did at least 385,000 Americans die due to oppression at the same time? George Floyd and Breonna Taylor come to mind, but it’s difficult to find another 384,998 names for the claim that oppression is more deadly than the virus.\nIn Ottawa County, at least 298 confirmed deaths due to COVID-19 occurred in the past 10 months. Have there been 298 or more confirmed deaths in this time in Ottawa County due to \"oppression?\" If this evidence were provided, many might consider joining the crusade against oppression.\nA final claim in the letter, \"Currently, the safety we are securing, at the expense of so many livelihoods, is only ephemeral. The economic impact on generations is and will be, permanent,\" contradicts the White House, which states, \"The economy has come roaring back to life under President Trump. The stock market has hit record high after record high, helping more Americans build wealth and secure their futures.\" Couldn’t the letter writer respect the president?\nStay healthy and support the many local businesses that follow the rules!\nMichael Misovich\nHolland", "Letter: How many deaths a day are from oppression?", "The Jan. 10 letter \"Marlena defying gov’t oppression,\" raised interesting points regarding larger issues more than a particular business.The writer protested \"oppression, a virus much more virulent and deadly than COVID-19.\" The virulence of COVID-19 has been measured by scientists by transmission rates, hospitalization rates, and death rates. Who has measured the virulence of oppression? Perhaps an expert in political science could, but no such evidence was provided.The deadliness of the" ]

[]

"2021-01-03T05:05:58"

"2021-01-01T17:00:00"

"2021-01-01T00:00:00"

[ "The Monroe Center for Healthy Aging continues to operate during the pandemic restrictions, although with limited services or seating for some of its senior programs.\nThe Monroe Center for Healthy Aging, 15275 S. Dixie Hwy., continues to operate during the pandemic restrictions, although with limited services or seating for some of its senior programs.\nFor information, including reservations, call the front desk at 734-241-0404. Updates also are at monroectr.org.\nThe January newsletter includes the following details.\nThe dues for 2021 are now payable. They are $ 20 for the year for all Monroe County residents age 55 and older; $25 for the year for everyone else. A quarterly basket raffle will be scheduled during 2021 to help with fundraising until larger in- person events can resume. The winter basket raffle campaign raised over $2,000.\nMeals are served from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. for breakfast; 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for lunch. Supper is served from 4: 15 to 6 p. m., Mondays-Thursdays.\nMeal service is currently carryout style; call the front desk to order.\nThere will be no January Birthday Party for members. Instead, as has been done for the past few months, members can call ahead to request one free meal during their birthday month.\nThe “Off Your Rocker” public access show on Monroe Public Access Cable Television is shown at 5 p. m. Tuesdays and 4 p. m. Thursdays on Comcast Channel 21 or Charter Channel 187. Episodes also can be found on YouTube at the “ MPACTStudio” channel.\nThe following activities and programs are also scheduled, COVID- 19 restrictions permitting:\nJan. 6: Library in Motion book stop, 10 a.m. Jan. 12: Zoom webinar on scams, 1 p.m. Jan. 20: Trivia Night, 5 p.m. Jan. 28: Health Odyssey. Jan. 28: Book Club meeting, 1:30 p.m. Jan. 31: BBQ Ribs or Chicken special.", "Monroe Center announces January schedule" ]

[]

"2021-01-06T20:05:01"

"2021-01-06T05:16:06"

"2021-01-06T00:00:00"

[ "I have a question for the \"loyal opposition,\" those who hate President Trump and anyone who has shown support for the president or anyone who is of a conservative bent.\nDo you love God? Reading I John 4:20 (NASB), \"If someone says, \"I love God,\" and hates his brother, he is a liar, for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.\nTrump haters appeared to take root by believing the big lie that Donald J. Trump colluded with Russia to win the 2016 presidential election. The truth is that this lie was an attack against the Trump campaign and has continued for four long years.\nJesus said we are to love our enemies. This requires me, a Christian, to love all you Trump haters. God forgive me, but the best I can do is to pray that those who do not love you will repent and turn to Jesus Christ, who, by his blood, brings salvation to all who believe in him.\nMeredith Nienhuis\nWest Olive", "Letter: To love God is to not hate", "I have a question for the \"loyal opposition,\" those who hate President Trump and anyone who has shown support for the president or anyone who is of a conservative bent.Do you love God? Reading I John 4:20 (NASB), \"If someone says, \"I love God,\" and hates his brother, he is a liar, for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.Trump haters appeared to take root by believing the big lie that Donald J. Trump colluded with Russia to win the 2016" ]

[ "Nancy Hastings", "Nancy Hastings Nhastings Hillsdale.Net" ]

"2021-01-26T03:04:11"

"2021-01-25T15:42:06"

"2021-01-25T00:00:00"

[ "(Editor's note: This is the start of a week-long series of local people who have had famous encounters.)\nHILLSDALE - In 2018, Heather Upton met Justin Hartley from the television show \"This is Us\" and the movie \"Bad Moms Christmas,\" giving her encouragement for improvement.\nUpton, of Hillsdale, said at the time, she was obsessed with the show \"This is Us.\"\n\"He is so funny and also serious on that show,\" Upton said. \"I think he is a great actor and not bad to look at either!\"\nThere was an event in Chicago called C2E2 where Hartley was appearing. So, she bought a ticket and drove to the event, met him and got a picture.\n\"He was so nice, but I was star struck when he asked me how I was doing,\" Upton said, noting the encounter and picture taken has since changed her life.\nUpton was born and raised in Hillsdale and graduated from Hillsdale High School in 2001. She is currently the Executive Director of Hillsdale CASA, Inc. CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates, a non-profit organization of volunteers who work with kids in foster care and advocate for their best interest in court.\nHer famous encounter was instigated when an event came through her Facebook feed for C2E2, which is much like a comic con event.\n\"It is a pop culture event with lots of different celebrities to meet and get autographs of, as well as different panels covering movies, TV shows, video games and comic books,\" Upton said.\nThe event was in Chicago and was featuring a couple of cast members from her favorite television show \"This is Us.\"\n\"One of those actors was Justin Hartley, who I had really grown to love on that show,\" she said. \"I felt like he has such range, which he has showcased on that show as he has been in scenes where he is extremely funny, as well as serious and even self-destructive.\"\nTickets for the event were inexpensive and Chicago isn’t that long of a drive, so she decided to get a ticket and go.\n\"I made a day of it, traveling by myself, something I have never done before,\" she said. \"I think that made the whole experience even better, as it was a first-time adventure for me.\"\nThe encounter was in April 2018.\n\"It was such a fun event,\" she said. \"Since I was there alone, I was able to get there early and immediately find where I would need to go to meet him. Then, I was able to walk around at my own pace and look at what I wanted to look at. While standing in line to meet him, I met other fans and it was neat talking to them all and seeing where they all were from. Most were from the area, but some had traveled like I had.\"\nWhen it came time to meet him, it went very quickly, she said.\n\"I walked up to him and remember him saying, 'hey how’s it going' and I could barely get the word 'good' out because I was so star struck,\" Upton said. \"He was much taller than I realized and it was my first celebrity meeting. We posed for a picture and he put his hand on my shoulder and all I could think was, 'he is touching my shoulder!' Then, he told me to have a great day and as I walked away he patted me on the back. As I walked over to get my picture, I was annoyed at myself that I did not say more to him or shake his hand or ask for a hug. But, I would have the picture to always remember it.\"\nWhen she got her picture, she said she was horrified at how she looked.\n\"At that point, I was the heaviest I had ever been and it really put a damper on the picture for me,\" she said. \"I almost did not post it on Facebook because I hated how I looked. But, I am blessed with so many awesome friends who helped me see how awesome this picture truly was. It took a few more months, but in September 2018, I started my weight loss journey and have since lost 140 pounds.\"\nUpton hopes one day to meet Hartley again for a new picture.\n\"I would love to show him the old picture,\" she said, \"and, actually say a little more than one word to him.\"", "Favorite actor encourages woman's quest to lose weight", "(Editor's note: This is the start of a week-long series of local people who have had famous encounters.)HILLSDALE - In 2018, Heather Upton met Justin Hartley from the television show \"This is Us\" and the movie \"Bad Moms Christmas,\" giving her encouragement for improvement.Upton, of Hillsdale, said at the time, she was obsessed with the show \"This is Us.\"\"He is so funny and also serious on that show,\" Upton said. \"I think he is a great actor and not bad to look at either!\"There was an event in" ]

[]

"2021-01-08T21:21:06"

"2021-01-07T14:01:06"

"2021-01-07T00:00:00"

[ "In response to John Klump’s letter on Dec. 31: Isn’t the election over? If you still have Trump signs in your yard, you are letting everyone know that you support a lying, cheating President who has made it clear that he has no regard for anyone but himself.\nIf you’ve noticed, those of us who had Biden signs in our yards took them down right after the election. Which Biden won. And I just have to wonder how you can take offense at people shouting insults out of a car window and not take offense at your President who regularly insults and calls people names. Why is it not wrong when he does it? He’s supposed to be the example that we all follow. But he gets a pass for all of his unacceptable behavior. How can you make all those assumptions about someone you do not know?\nI’m not saying it’s all right to behave in that way, but I think that if you feel so strongly about it, you should also hold the person in the highest office in the United States to the same standard.\nShirley Brown\nIda", "President should be held to same standards", "In response to John Klump’s letter on Dec. 31: Isn’t the election over? If you still have Trump signs in your yard, you are letting everyone know that you support a lying, cheating President who has made it clear that he has no regard for anyone but himself.If you’ve noticed, those of us who had Biden signs in our yards took them down right after the election. Which Biden won. And I just have to wonder how you can take offense at people shouting insults out of a car window and" ]

[ "Bob Wessel" ]

"2021-01-13T09:32:41"

"2021-01-12T12:31:11"

"2021-01-12T00:00:00"

[ "Different people remember the decade of the 1970s for different reasons.\nFor some, it was the decade The Beatles disbanded and Led Zeppelin dominated the airwaves. For others it was Star Wars, The Godfather, Jaws and Rocky bringing millions to the box office.\nStill, others remember it for Watergate and the resignation of President Nixon.\nRegardless of what stands out for each individual, there is no doubt that the decade left an indelible mark on the nation — and the world.\nIn Lenawee County, the 1970s was a time for community celebrations in many of its cities, villages and townships. Parades, commemorative books, fireworks, dances, festivals and all manner of partying punctuated the decade. Some community festivals lasted only a few days, others went on for weeks, and at least one continued for an entire year.\nTownships, cities and villages were marking their respective 150th birthdays (sesquicentennials). Only 50 years earlier, these same communities held centennial celebrations to commemorate their first 100 years, and the 1970s was another opportunity to honor their history and throw an even bigger party.\nAdd the American Bicentennial into the mix and it became a time to remember.\nSpace does not permit detailed descriptions of all the events and \"happenings\" of every community. Nevertheless, here are a few highlights to trigger the memories of those who were there.\n• Blissfield elected Minnie Kerbawy as their Sesquicentennial Queen during its celebration on July 20-28, 1974.\n• Adrian held its sesquicentennial during the summer of 1975 recognizing its first permanent settlement in 1825. Adrian also held a Centennial celebration in 1953 based on its having been incorporated in 1853.\n• Clinton had celebrated its Centennial August 21 and 22, 1929, 100 years after the first permanent settlement in 1829. However, its 125th anniversary was celebrated in 1963, because the village was incorporated in 1838. For the purposes of its sesquicentennial, the original settlement date of 1829 was chosen and the year 1979 chosen for the celebration.\nApparently, Clinton-ites are always \"up\" for a party because \"old newspaper articles show that Clinton celebrated its 11th and 104th anniversaries also!\" Additionally, the Clinton Historical Society \"decided it would be more fun to celebrate all year long\" so the Clinton Sesquicentennial ran almost the entire year of 1979, from Maple Syrup Time in March until the Christmas Walk on Nov. 25.\n• It seems that Tecumseh also enjoys a good party. In addition to its 1974 Sesquicentennial celebration, Tecumseh had celebrated both its Centennial and its 125th anniversary.\nNot all of the communities in the county were formed in the 1820s, a few were organized in the 1830s and 1840s.\n• Hudson began by creating the Hudson Sesquicentennial Planning Committee. The dates set for the event were Aug. 5-7, 1983. A number of events were planned, including a queen contest, a beard contest and a tractor pull. There were also arts and crafts, home tours, dances and fireworks and the event ended with a big parade on Sunday. (As a side note, beard contests seem to have been a common feature for most cities and villages).\n• Riga celebrated in 1993 and published \"Riga Township History: The First 150 Years.\"\n• Cement City’s Sesquicentennial came in 1998, and was commemorated with the publication of \"History of the Cement City Area\" compiled by Kevin Bolenbaugh.\nSelecting the date or year for an anniversary celebration can be a challenge. Most people will agree that it is an event intended to commemorate the birth of a community. The difficulty comes when we have to decide when the community was \"born.\"\nLenawee County was initially carved out of the wilderness of Michigan Territory in 1820 when, on March 28, Territorial Governor Lewis Cass, issued a proclamation creating and naming the county and defining its boundaries. Although the county was created, it was not yet \"organized.\" No permanent settlements existed within the boundaries of the new county and there was no county government to administer it. The newly formed Lenawee County was attached to Monroe County until a county government could be established.\nThe first permanent settlements came along in 1824 and additional settlements sprang up during the following years. And, on Dec. 26, 1826, the Territorial Legislature passed \"An Act to organize the county of Lenawee\" effectively creating a county government.\nThis raises the question of \"When was Lenawee County born?\"\nThe year 2024 — just three years from now — will mark the bicentennial of the first permanent settlement in Lenawee County. What should we do as a county to celebrate this auspicious occasion? Can we surpass the centennial and sesquicentennial celebrations?\nOr will the year pass unnoticed? I certainly hope not.\nBob Wessel is vice president of the Lenawee County Historical Society and can be contacted at LenHist51@gmail.com.", "Centennials, Sesquicentennials and Bicentennials of Lenawee communities", "Different people remember the decade of the 1970s for different reasons.For some, it was the decade The Beatles disbanded and Led Zeppelin dominated the airwaves. For others it was Star Wars, The Godfather, Jaws and Rocky bringing millions to the box office.Still, others remember it for Watergate and the resignation of President Nixon.Regardless of what stands out for each individual, there is no doubt that the decade left an indelible mark on the nation — and the world.In Lenawee County," ]

[]

"2021-01-30T20:26:38"

"2021-01-30T05:01:09"

"2021-01-30T00:00:00"

[ "By Shayne Looper\nIt would not be surprising to learn that the various words for \"mask\" around the world have been used more in the past year than in all recorded history combined. That is impressive, given the length of time masks have been around. In 2018, archeologists discovered a 9,000-year-old Neolithic stone mask in the Middle East. It could be argued that Adam and Eve were the first to mask up (albeit not in face masks) when they donned fig leaf coverings and tried to hide from the Lord.\nAncient Egyptians wore masks in religious rituals. They also placed masks on the faces of the dead to protect them on their crossing to the afterlife. In the Far East, masks were worn both for religious ceremonies and for theatrical productions. Classical actors routinely performed in masks, which explains why the ancient Greek word for actor was \"hypocrite,\" which means, \"the one under the mask.\"\nMasks can serve as identity markers. The mask marked the stage performer as an actor, the shaman as a healer, the chief as an authority. In West Africa, certain masks identified their wearers as intermediaries through whom petitions might be delivered to the dead.\nMore often, though, masks are worn to hide one’s identity. In ancient religious ceremonies, masks sometimes hid the wearer from malicious spirits. Historically, judges in many cultures donned masks to protect themselves from reprisal from both friends and enemies of the accused. Today, companies are working to design \"masks\" that hide people’s identity from facial recognition software.\nThe KKK’s white, cone-shaped hood served both purposes. It both identified its wearer and hid his identity. Whenever anyone saw the white hood, they knew what its wearer stood for and with what group he was associated. At the same time, it concealed his personal identity from authorities who might call him to account.\nThere is a third reason, particularly in primitive rituals, that people wore masks: to transform their identity. When Pueblo ceremonial dancers wore masks, they believed they were taken over by the spirit whose identity they had assumed. In other cultures, masks were considered a means by which their wearers could become one with the character they represented.\nIn Max Beerbohm’s 1896 story, The Happy Hypocrite, a dissolute aristocrat falls in love with a virtuous young woman. She refuses his proposal, telling him that she can only marry a man with the face of a saint. The aristocrat then buys a remarkable mask which provides him with a saintly appearance. He marries the girl and immediately begins to change how he acts, returning ill-gotten gains, giving to charity, and adopting a simple lifestyle.\nHe is, however, soon confronted by a woman who knows his true identity and insists he remove his mask. A scuffle ensues and in the fracas the mask is torn off. To his surprise, his face has come to look like the mask.\nIt seems to me that the facemasks that people around the world are now wearing serve each of these purposes: to identify people, to hide people, and to transform people.\nToday’s ubiquitous masks are certainly meant to hide us (or others) from COVID-19, but they also identify us. In the United States, facemasks – or the lack thereof – quickly became identity markers. Conservatives who wear masks are mistakenly thought to be liberals and liberals who don’t wear masks are assumed to be conservatives. People are identified – or misidentified, as the case may be – by their masks.\nToday’s masks also have had a transformational effect, both on those who wear them and those who don’t. By wearing – or refusing to wear – a mask, many people have aligned themselves with a cause. Whenever people do that – whether the cause be political, social, or religious – they adjust their thoughts, attitudes, and actions to support the cause.\nThis transformational effect of masks could be put to good use. Christians should perhaps wear masks that say \"Christ-Follower\" or feature a Bible verse like John 3:16. All of us could wear masks that simply say, \"American.\" If we were to adjust our thoughts, attitudes, and actions to these identities, the transformation would be positive and the world would be a better place.\nFind more Shayne Looper articles at www.shaynelooper.com.", "Masks in America: Hiding, revealing, transforming", "By Shayne LooperIt would not be surprising to learn that the various words for \"mask\" around the world have been used more in the past year than in all recorded history combined. That is impressive, given the length of time masks have been around. In 2018, archeologists discovered a 9,000-year-old Neolithic stone mask in the Middle East. It could be argued that Adam and Eve were the first to mask up (albeit not in face masks) when they donned fig leaf coverings and tried to hide from the Lord." ]

[ "Matthew T. Mangino More Content Now" ]

"2021-01-16T17:16:42"

"2021-01-15T13:49:36"

"2021-01-15T00:00:00"

[ "Columns share an author’s personal perspective.\n*****\nOnly five states carried out a total of seven executions across the United States last year. That is the fewest state executions in nearly 40 years. However, that is not the full story when it comes to the death penalty in America.\nIn the second half of 2020, in the midst of a pandemic and a reelection campaign, the Trump Administration decided to get back into the act of executing federal prisoners. After going 17 years without carrying out an execution the federal government carried out 10 executions in less than six months.\nBy the end of 2020, the federal government had conducted more executions in five months than any other presidency since the turn of the 20th century, and scheduled more executions during a presidential transition period than any other administration in the history of the United States - knowing President-elect Joe Biden campaigned on abolishing the federal death penalty.\nWhether it was a ploy to bolster his tough guy bona fides or a lowbrow pitch to his “law and order” constituency, President Donald Trump’s bloodlust saw no boundary.\nAccording to the Death Penalty Information Center, those executed by the federal government included the first Native American ever executed by the federal government for the murder of a member of his own tribe on tribal lands.\nThis fall saw the first federal execution in 68 years of an offender who was a teenager at the time the crime was committed.\nThe federal executions of 2020 included the first federal execution in 57 years for a crime committed in a state that had abolished the death penalty, as well as executions carried out against the wishes of the victims’ families and the first lame-duck executions in more than a century.\nThe executions carried out in the midst of a pandemic contributed to a COVID-19 outbreak in the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana. The outbreak infected at least nine members of federal execution teams, several lawyers and at least one religious advisor.\nAs the president faces an unprecedented second impeachment trial - his machinery of death keeps chugging along. This week, after the president incited his “law and order” supporters to storm the Capitol resulting in the death of five people, including a Capitol Hill police officer, Lisa Montgomery was executed. She was the first woman executed in the federal system in nearly seven decades.\nMontgomery committed a very heinous crime. In 2004, she cut an unborn fetus from the womb of her mother. Montgomery had faked a pregnancy. She drove from her home in Kansas to the victim’s home in Missouri. After strangling Bobbi Stinnett, whom she knew from dog breeding, Montgomery cut open her abdomen and kidnapped her fetus. Fetal abduction is rare, but more than 25 cases of violent fetal abductions have occurred in the last two decades.\nAccording to NBC News, Montgomery’s lawyers did not argue that she didn’t deserve to be punished, but rather that the jury never fully learned of her severe mental illnesses as diagnosed by doctors.\nCorey Johnson was executed two days after Montgomery. Johnson had an IQ of 69 and had contracted COVID-19.\nWith only days left in his “reign,” Trump has one more execution planned. A U.S. Circuit Court recently cleared the way for the execution to move forward. The court overturned a stay from a lower court delaying the execution until March to allow Dustin Higgs to recover from COVID-19.\nHiggs could dodge the executioner’s needle but-for the wishes of a disgraced president who on his last days in office would rather inflict death than impart mercy.\nMatthew T. Mangino is of counsel with Luxenberg, Garbett, Kelly & George P.C. His book “The Executioner’s Toll, 2010” was released by McFarland Publishing. You can reach him at www.mattmangino.com and follow him on Twitter at @MatthewTMangino.", "Mangino column: The administration’s six month reign of death", "Columns share an author’s personal perspective.*****Only five states carried out a total of seven executions across the United States last year. That is the fewest state executions in nearly 40 years. However, that is not the full story when it comes to the death penalty in America.In the second half of 2020, in the midst of a pandemic and a reelection campaign, the Trump Administration decided to get back into the act of executing federal prisoners. After going 17 years without carrying" ]

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"2021-01-02T19:25:22"

"2021-01-02T05:16:06"

"2021-01-02T00:00:00"

[ "Many of our friends and neighbors are suffering. Jobs have evaporated, incomes have disappeared, health insurance has ended, and businesses that can’t survive the pandemic are shuttering for good. Words of compassion have been scarce, but Donald, Nancy and the rest of the Washington gang seem eager to pump out money to alleviate the suffering. And show they care. Good for them. Sort of.\nThe problem is, they spent days bickering about whether to send $600 or $2,000, money which simply isn’t there, to everybody. But everybody doesn’t need it. My pension, Medicare and Social Security remain sound and solvent. At least for the time being. The medical office my wife works at has never been busier. With travel plans scrapped and gallivanting curtailed, we are simply building our savings. We don’t need $600. And we surely don’t need $2,000. Nor do neighbors on either side who are at the same stage of life. Nor do neighbors around the corner whose wealth has mushroomed, thanks to Wall Street operating in an alternative universe to Main Street.\nThe days of either party claiming they’re grounded in fiscal responsibility are long gone. The least we might have hoped for is an effort to direct relief to those who really need it. But a whole lot of them seem eager to shovel out funny money indiscriminately, perhaps thinking we'll remember their magnanimity next election. Sadly, all I’ll remember is their irresponsibility.\nDale Wyngarden\nHolland", "Letter: Direct checks just political pandering", "Many of our friends and neighbors are suffering. Jobs have evaporated, incomes have disappeared, health insurance has ended, and businesses that can’t survive the pandemic are shuttering for good. Words of compassion have been scarce, but Donald, Nancy and the rest of the Washington gang seem eager to pump out money to alleviate the suffering. And show they care. Good for them. Sort of.The problem is, they spent days bickering about whether to send $600 or $2,000, money which simply" ]

[ "Genaro Armas American Heart Association News" ]

"2021-01-15T23:40:43"

"2021-01-14T13:57:47"

"2021-01-14T00:00:00"

[ "If you are sick and plan to exercise this cold and flu season, experts say to use your head – and recognize the body’s warnings signs.\nIt’s especially important to take precautions this winter during the COVID-19 pandemic. Consulting a doctor always is a good idea if there are any questions about symptoms or whether to quarantine or isolate.\nBut in general, physical activity isn’t necessarily a no-no for a milder illness like a simple head cold.\n“The typical rule of thumb that a lot of practitioners and exercise physiologists like to stick to is that if symptoms are above the neck, it’s OK to get out there and do some exercise,” said Amanda Paluch, assistant professor at the School of Public Health and Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.\nThink a runny nose or light headache, though it might be wise to ease up from the typical routine, she said.\n“Maybe just going out for a walk instead of a vigorous run,” Paluch said. “You can still see benefits even with this lower intensity. Just getting out there could actually help you feel a little better.”\nSymptoms below the neck like chest congestion or upset stomach typically are signs to avoid exercise. Never exercise when you have a fever, regardless of whether it’s related to the flu, COVID-19 or another virus, said Dr. Felipe Lobelo, an associate professor at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health.\nRecently updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that people diagnosed with COVID-19, with or without symptoms, generally should isolate for at least 10 days after the onset of symptoms or after a positive test.\nSo, that means no exercising during that time, too, Lobelo said. Even after that 10-day period, he said people should wait another week before resuming exercise.\nAnd the return to exercise after recovering should be gradual. “You probably will feel deconditioned because of some bed rest and much lower levels of activity, on top of any lingering effects of COVID if you had a cough, fatigue or shortness of breath.”\nIt’s important, Lobelo added, to notify your doctor if symptoms don’t improve gradually with exercise or if new symptoms like chest pain, shortness of breath or extreme fatigue develop during physical activity.\nFinding safe and responsible ways to stay active remains important during the pandemic, whether at home or while outside with social distancing. According to the CDC, physical activity reduces blood pressure and anxiety, improves mood and energy level, and helps people get better sleep.\nHowever, it’s best to avoid indoor activities at gyms because of the increased potential for coronavirus transmission, Lobelo said. If you do go, wear a face covering, maintain social distancing and wipe down equipment regularly.\n“You really want to focus on outdoor activities as much as possible,” Lobelo said. He also encouraged people to take a mask with them outdoors to wear for instances like passing someone on a trail.\nPaluch offered tips for those not accustomed to exercising in the cold, including wearing layers of clothing that can be shed if needed. Wearing a mask while exercising has the added benefit of helping to keep your face warm.\nA fitness tracker also could be a creative way to stay active and engage virtually with family and friends, said Paluch, who researches the benefits of wearable sensors. For instance, family members might race to see who can accumulate the most steps during a week and compare results online.\n“These kinds of things can keep people connected and maybe provide some motivation,” Paluch said. “You can have that social support without direct contact.”", "Use your head: Is it OK to exercise when you’re sick?", "If you are sick and plan to exercise this cold and flu season, experts say to use your head – and recognize the body’s warnings signs.It’s especially important to take precautions this winter during the COVID-19 pandemic. Consulting a doctor always is a good idea if there are any questions about symptoms or whether to quarantine or isolate.But in general, physical activity isn’t necessarily a no-no for a milder illness like a simple head cold.“The typical rule" ]

[ "Carolyn Muyskens" ]

"2021-01-10T05:14:13"

"2021-01-09T14:01:13"

"2021-01-09T00:00:00"

[ "HOLLAND — The West Michigan Regional Airport Authority has hired its first executive director.\nAaron Thelenwood, formerly the airport’s operations manager and the city of Holland’s solid waste, recycling and sustainability coordinator, assumed the post Jan. 1.\nThelenwood, who holds a master’s degree in public administration from Grand Valley State University, has worked for the city of Holland in various capacities since 2014.\nSince 2016, he has also worked part-time for the airport authority under the airport’s general manager Greg Robinson as an assistant and later operations manager.\nWhen Robinson announced his retirement, the airport authority board sought a full-time executive director to replace Robinson’s and Thelenwood’s positions, which had both been part-time.\nThe city of Holland’s human resources department assisted the authority with the search.\nTwenty candidates from across the U.S. applied for the job, and Thelenwood was eventually chosen unanimously by the airport authority board, which is made up of representatives from the city of Holland, Park Township and the city of Zeeland.\n\"Aaron presented himself very well, has new ideas for airport growth, and is a proven leader at the airport,\" Board Chair Russ Sylte wrote in an email to The Sentinel. \"We are more than pleased to have Aaron as the new director of the West Michigan Regional Airport.\"\nWMRA is an economic development driver for the region, providing a convenient location for business traffic to access the Holland business community, as well as direct jobs at the airport and airport-adjacent businesses.\nThelenwood will take the helm at the authority as the board starts conversations about the future direction of the airport, prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has drastically reduced business travel.\nWhile a federal CARES Act grant helped keep the airport in the black in 2020, Thelenwood said the pandemic has kicked off a reassessment of the airport’s priorities.\n\"COVID has forced us to take that step back and provided both a challenge and an opportunity,\" Thelenwood said.\nThelenwood’s role also includes being the face of the airport to local community, business and municipal leadership, an aspect of the job he looks forward to due to what he called the sense of community \"ownership, buy-in and responsibility\" he sees in the Holland area.\n\"It's nice to be in this position in a community like West Michigan because we know we're going to find support,\" he said, \"and we know we're going to find partners.\"\nThelenwood’s position as the city’s sustainability coordinator will be consolidated with the Home Energy Retrofit technical assistant position held by Ken Freestone, who recently submitted his resignation.\nThe jobs will be combined into one full-time sustainability manager, who will eventually report to the future assistant city manager for economic development and sustainability.\n— Contact reporter Carolyn Muyskens at cmuyskens@hollandsentinel.com and follow her on Twitter at @cjmuyskens.", "West Michigan Regional Airport names first executive director", "HOLLAND — The West Michigan Regional Airport Authority has hired its first executive director.Aaron Thelenwood, formerly the airport’s operations manager and the city of Holland’s solid waste, recycling and sustainability coordinator, assumed the post Jan. 1.Thelenwood, who holds a master’s degree in public administration from Grand Valley State University, has worked for the city of Holland in various capacities since 2014.Since 2016, he has also worked part-time for" ]

[]

"2021-01-23T22:19:57"

"2021-01-23T05:01:00"

"2021-01-23T00:00:00"

[ "Village of Maybee Ordinance No. 2021-002 Park Rules\nPAID PUBLIC NOTICE\nVILLAGE OF MAYBEE\nMONROE COUNTY, MICHIGAN\nORDINANCE NO. 2021-002\nAn Ordinance establishing park rules.\nTHE VILLAGE OF MAYBEE ORDAINS:\nSection 1. Prohibited Conduct.\nIt shall be unlawful for any person to be on the premises of Maybee Community Park, located on Maybee-Scofield Road, between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.\nIt shall be unlawful for any person to drive, operate, or otherwise propel any motorized vehicle other than authorized maintenance vehicles in or on any public recreational area, park or playground within the limits of the Village of Maybee at any time.\nIt shall be unlawful for any person to maliciously or willfully damage or destroy real, personal or mixed property, including fences, benches, tables and playground equipment located in or on any public recreational area, park or playground within the limits of the Village of Maybee.\nIt shall be unlawful for any person to kindle, build, maintain or use a fire in any place other than the fire rings supplied by the Village. All fires must be continuously under the care of a competent person over the age of 21. All fire wood must be completely contained within the fire ring and shall not exceed 2 feet in height. All fires must be extinguished using the steel fire ring lids provided by the Village.\nIt shall be unlawful for any person to violate the rules and regulations promulgated by the Maybee Recreation Commission and approved by the Maybee Village Council, and posted in any public park, recreation or playground area, provided that such rules and regulations are plainly printed and conspicuously posted at or in such areas of premises.\nSection 2. Penalty.\nViolation of this Ordinance shall be a misdemeanor and shall be punishable upon conviction thereof by a fine not to exceed $500.00, or by imprisonment not exceeding 90 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the Court, together with payment of court costs.\nSection 3. Repeal.\nAll Ordinances or parts of Ordinances in conflict with this Ordinance are to the extent of such conflict repealed.\nSection 4. Severability.\nThe Ordinance, and the various parts, sentences, paragraphs, sections, subsections, phrases, and clauses thereof are declared to be severable and if any of them are adjudged unconstitutional or invalid, it is hereby provided that the remainder of the Ordinance shall not be affected.\nSection 5. Effective Date.\nThis Ordinance shall become effective 20 days after publication.\nI, Julie Hartford, Clerk of the Village of Maybee, do hereby certify that the above Ordinance was approved and adopted by the Village Council at the regular meeting thereof, held on the 13th day of January, 2021, at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, the vote thereon being as follows:\nIn favor of the Ordinance (6)\nAgainst the Ordinance (0)\nJulie Hartford\nJulie Hartford\nClerk, Village of Maybee\nAttest:\nLeonard G. Gaylor\nLeonard G. Gaylor\nPresident, Village of Maybee\nJANUARY 23, 2021", "Village of Maybee Ordinance No. 2021-002 Park Rules" ]

[ "Staff Reports" ]

"2021-01-05T13:30:17"

"2021-01-04T13:56:06"

"2021-01-04T00:00:00"

[ "On Dec. 30, Branch-Hillsdale St. Joseph Community Health Agency confirmed St. Joseph County’s 50th death attributed to COVID-19.\nThe first recorded in-county death was made April 13, about two weeks after the first COVID-19 case was announced in St. Joseph County.\nOn Monday, the state's COVID-19 website stated the number of deaths in St. Joseph County rose to 54 over the weekend, with cumulative cases reaching 3,327.", "50th county COVID-19 death confirmed Dec. 30", "On Dec. 30, Branch-Hillsdale St. Joseph Community Health Agency confirmed St. Joseph County’s 50th death attributed to COVID-19.The first recorded in-county death was made April 13, about two weeks after the first COVID-19 case was announced in St. Joseph County.On Monday, the state's COVID-19 website stated the number of deaths in St. Joseph County rose to 54 over the weekend, with cumulative cases reaching 3,327." ]

[ "Dr. Elaine Heffner More Content Now" ]

"2021-01-19T20:09:56"

"2021-01-19T07:01:00"

"2021-01-19T00:00:00"

[ "Columns share an author’s personal perspective.\n*****\nParents’ wish to protect children from exposure to certain material has become a more pressing issue in today’s world of the internet and cable television. The anthropologist Margaret Mead, once said that when she was growing up her mother censored Horatio Alger stories because the grammar was bad. She used to read the prohibited material under the quilt at night with a flashlight.\nMead’s point was that children will always find a way to subvert adult rules, but that is far different than a newsstand displaying magazines with sexual material on its covers that children passed on their way to school. The distinction she made was that in one instance a parent’s values are made clear, in the other society seemingly gives approval to those kinds of displays.\nThis issue has become even more pressing as a result of the mob assault on congress by those seeking to stop a legal certification of the new president. In the days since, investigators have identified many who are guilty of breaking laws and using violence to threaten physical harm to those in authority whom they blame for upholding laws against which they rebel.\nThe controversy about this brings to mind the question parents face about setting limits on children’s behavior. Often the issue becomes one of parental authority, concern about enforcing limits that have been set, how to do this and whether failure to do so will diminish parents’ authority. This is just the point made now about the need to hold those breaking laws accountable for their behavior.\nMead’s point about conflicts between parental values and society’s seeming approval of certain behavior has relevance here because of just this question. There are those in authority who justify or diminish the gravity of the assault in defense of an opposing point of view. Legal authorities, however, clearly define the law-breaking aspect of the behavior in question.\nThe question becomes more intense when safety issues are involved. Little children will often reach for that which is beyond their grasp with limited understanding of the dangers parents perceive, requiring parents to intervene physically.\nThe situation is more complicated when children get older and rebel, disagreeing with the parental assessment of danger in what they want to do but are beyond the kind of physical control that was appropriate when small. Parents often consider the threat of punishments as a means to limit behavior.\nA familiar outcome is parents setting limits on children’s plans and children seeming to accept the rules then finding ways to circumvent the parental limits. An example is a child being told to return home at a certain time which then doesn’t happen, followed by a range of excuses such as the bus was late, impossible to call.\nChildren’s evasive behavior in response to parental limit setting is part of the normal process of growing up, spreading one’s wings and testing the parameters of independent functioning. Children pushing back is part of a process that ultimately leads to independence.\nThrough this process children are learning parent’s values even when they seem to be ignoring them. While seeming to rebel, they nevertheless internalize the standards for behavior that are being set and hopefully, at some point those standards will become their own.\nThose involved in the assault on Congress were adults with standards for behavior justifying violence and law breaking as an expression of rebellion. It is such extreme forms of rebellious behavior that concern parents setting limits for children as they develop.\nThe major breakdown in respect for limits now confronts our society as a whole.\nElaine Heffner, LCSW, Ed.D., has written for Parents Magazine, Fox.com, Redbook, Disney online and PBS Parents, as well as other publications. She has appeared on PBS, ABC, Fox TV and other networks. Dr. Heffner is the author of “Goodenoughmothering: The Best of the Blog,” as well as “Mothering: The Emotional Experience of Motherhood after Freud and Feminism.” She is a psychotherapist and parent educator in private practice, as well as a senior lecturer of education in psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College. Dr. Heffner was a co-founder and served as director of the Nursery School Treatment Center at Payne Whitney Clinic, New York Hospital. And she blogs at goodenoughmothering.com.", "Heffner column: What do our children learn?", "Columns share an author’s personal perspective.*****Parents’ wish to protect children from exposure to certain material has become a more pressing issue in today’s world of the internet and cable television. The anthropologist Margaret Mead, once said that when she was growing up her mother censored Horatio Alger stories because the grammar was bad. She used to read the prohibited material under the quilt at night with a flashlight. Mead’s point was that" ]

[ "Mike Driehorst", "For The Monroe News" ]

"2021-01-01T20:58:07"

"2020-12-31T12:40:06"

"2020-12-31T00:00:00"

[ "Isabelle Marciniak took her volleyball talents from Bedford High School to Bowling Green State University to Germany.\nThere’s an axiom in sports that players will “know” when it’s time to retire.\nWhen Isabelle Marciniak, Bedford High School Class of 2016, was in her senior year at Bowling Green State University, she knew it wasn’t time to be done with her volleyball career.\n“I know a lot of athletes that, once they finish their senior season, they feel like they got it all out of their system and they’re ready to be done with it,” she said.\n“But I was having a real hard time imagining that. I didn’t feel like I was done with it yet,” she said.\nWith help of her BGSU coach, Danijela Tomic, Marciniak found an agent who then marketed her to professional clubs in Europe.\nA couple showed interest in signing Marciniak and, based on her agent’s recommendation, she signed with VC Neuwied 77, which plays in the Bundesliga South league.\nThe team plays in Neuwied, Germany, which is about 30 miles southeast of the nation’s capital of Bonn.\nShe signed with VCN77 by early June, and so only had a couple of months to prepare and try to learn at least some German before arriving the first week of August. With the global coronavirus pandemic, Marciniak said it was looking “kind of shaky” in July whether or not the season would be delayed, but fortunately, the schedule remained intact.\nAfter a brief quarantine period, “I hit the ground running. We were there to play volleyball and were in go mode,” she said.\nThroughout her new adventure, Marciniak said she’s keeping an open mind.\n“I knew about four or five girls who played professionally before I went over there. All of them had pretty good experiences, but from talking to them, I knew each of their experiences were different,” she said.\n“I knew going in I had to be really malleable and roll with the punches of living in a foreign country. I don’t speak German and had been to Europe once before, but I knew everything was totally different and it was going to be a culture shock.\n“In some ways, it still is but I know this is something I wanted to do and grow outside my comfort zone.”\nMarciniak’s mother, Michelle Lane, said her youngest daughter and the middle of five children in the family first raised the possibility of playing pro volleyball during her senior season at Bowling Green.\n“I knew her dream was to continue and that this was her chance to do it. It wouldn’t be possible to go to graduate school and then play volleyball,” Lane said. “I knew if she didn’t go for it, she would wonder and regret not doing it. We were really excited she had the opportunity.”\nDespite being in her rookie season, Marciniak, one of two setters on the team, said she’s had good playing time and is currently a starter.\nThrough the holiday break, VCN77 was 9-1 on the season. During four of VCN77’s matches, Marciniak was voted the team’s MVP, an honor determined by opposing coaches.\nMarciniak is one of four Americans on the 15-woman roster and shares an apartment with one of the other Americans, Rachel Anderson, 24, of Sturgis, Mich.\nWhile the rules are generally the same -- each match is best of five for example -- there are some nuances.\n“On my first day of practice, we were in our first rotation and the coach said to rotate to position two. I stepped one way and everyone went the other. In Europe and international volleyball, the rotations are different from what we know in the states. That was my first moment of ‘Things are different here,’” she said.\nWhile Marciniak said she did try to learn German on a couple apps she downloaded the two months after signing with VCN77, the best teacher has just been “getting thrown into conversations,” she said.\nShe is fortunate though, she said, in that her German teammates know at least some English as do her coaches, especially head coach Dirk Gross, who’s coached internationally and past Olympians and All-Americans, Marciniak said.\nPandemic impact\nMarciniak said players are tested for COVID-19 once a week on game day, and there’s only been a few matches canceled due to positive tests of one or two players on other teams.\nIn her first home game, spectators were allowed to watch in person. Since then, only the players and few others have been allowed to attend the matches in person, including the Sport Total camera crew to livestream the matches.\nLane said she and her husband, John, had planned to travel to Germany and watch Isabelle play this fall but haven’t due to the pandemic and are not hopeful they’ll be able to go in the spring.\n“We have been lucky that, for the first time, they’ve been livestreaming the team’s games,” Lane said. “We’ve been able to watch most of her matches.”\nTypically, Marciniak said league play would go through March but this season has been extended into late April to make up any games.\nA career?\nWhile Marciniak has played against a woman who is 32 years old and has a teammate who is 31, she’s sticking with her two-year plan for now.\nShe has plans for graduate school, but “I told myself that I wanted to play for two years to give myself a real chance to enjoy it. Another reason I wanted to play professionally was to explore Europe and to get outside this bubble I’ve been living in,” she said.\n“It’s a nice bubble, it’s safe and it’s comfortable, but I wanted to see more and do more,” she said. “As of right now, that’s still my plan.”", "Bedford's Marciniak playing volleyball in Germany" ]

[]

"2021-01-02T19:25:33"

"2021-01-02T05:16:06"

"2021-01-02T00:00:00"

[ "Thank you, Vince Reidsma for your timely thoughts expressed in your weekly column Dec. 27.\nI think you put into words what so many of us feel about the current state of inequality and the control of businesses by the government as to what can be open for business and what can’t.\nPut yourself in a position where your business can’t be open while another one can be, draining your life savings and livelihood.\nWhat gives the government the right to choose?\nIf you have a privately owned business, what gives the government the right?\nI think we can learn a lot from the stand Ms. Pavlos has taken, as she came to America to get away from government tyranny. She understands what we take for granted, what freedom means.\nWhen a government can tell you what business can be open and which one can’t be open, it just brings us one step closer to communism.\nSo bless you, Ms. Pavlos, and know there are people in your community who stand behind you.\nI will close with a quote from Thomas Jefferson.\n\"I prefer dangerous freedom to peaceful slavery.\"\nCurt Folkert\nOverisel Township", "Letter: Shutting down Marlena’s would be liberty overreach", "Thank you, Vince Reidsma for your timely thoughts expressed in your weekly column Dec. 27.I think you put into words what so many of us feel about the current state of inequality and the control of businesses by the government as to what can be open for business and what can’t.Put yourself in a position where your business can’t be open while another one can be, draining your life savings and livelihood.What gives the government the right to choose?If you have a privately owned" ]

[]

"2021-01-24T20:26:22"

"2021-01-24T05:16:07"

"2021-01-24T00:00:00"

[ "Randy Baron’s comments in The Sentinel are always good for a head scratch, and his latest (\"I was wrong about Joe Biden,\" Jan. 20) is certainly no exception.\nTo the three points he thinks he raised:\n1. Disregard the Constitution. Could Randy please explain to us how it is that Trump’s \"legal team\" lost every case they brought claiming this? State courts, federal courts, the U.S. Supreme Court all say that Randy’s claims are bunk. Perhaps we missed the memo where Randy was designated the final arbiter of what is constitutional rather than that role falling to the Supreme Court?\n2. Allow more voting. It appears Randy’s fundamental position here is that Republicans can only win when voting is restricted. That certainly seems to be their national strategy. It is hilarious that Randy would cite Jimmy Carter as his reference when in all probability, on any other topic, Carter’s thoughts would likely be ridiculed by Baron. Regarding the statistics Randy quotes about more mail-in ballots and lower rejection rates: any possibility that over the past years states have improved their absentee ballot processes?\n3. Forget your own claims. Again, any chance that the problems highlighted in the 2018 election were fixed?\nI’ll repeat, in over 60 court cases the claims of voter fraud or election errors were thrown out. Better luck next time, Randy.\nKerry Irons\nHolland", "Letter: Same debunked claims getting old", "Randy Baron’s comments in The Sentinel are always good for a head scratch, and his latest (\"I was wrong about Joe Biden,\" Jan. 20) is certainly no exception.To the three points he thinks he raised:1. Disregard the Constitution. Could Randy please explain to us how it is that Trump’s \"legal team\" lost every case they brought claiming this? State courts, federal courts, the U.S. Supreme Court all say that Randy’s claims are bunk. Perhaps we missed the memo where Randy was" ]

[]

"2021-01-13T01:34:32"

"2021-01-12T05:16:11"

"2021-01-12T00:00:00"

[ "Back in the 1960s when there were protests and violence in the streets, mass rallies in Washington and a great divide between the left and the right in politics, there was a national cartoon strip called \"Pogo\" drawn by Walt Kelly.\nThe character Pogo was a philosophical possum who lived in a swamp with fellow animal characters that wander through Okefenokee Swamp making amusing political and often astute observations on our world and society.\nPogo’s most famous observation on our society was the remark, \"We have met the enemy and he is us.\"\nI think that about sums up today.\nM.J. Kukla\nPark Township", "Letter: Okefenokee Swamp U.S.A.", "Back in the 1960s when there were protests and violence in the streets, mass rallies in Washington and a great divide between the left and the right in politics, there was a national cartoon strip called \"Pogo\" drawn by Walt Kelly.The character Pogo was a philosophical possum who lived in a swamp with fellow animal characters that wander through Okefenokee Swamp making amusing political and often astute observations on our world and society.Pogo’s most famous observation on our society" ]

[ "Daily Telegram Staff" ]

"2021-01-27T14:38:38"

"2021-01-26T13:31:08"

"2021-01-26T00:00:00"

[ "BLISSFIELD — Patrons of the Schultz-Holmes Memorial Library in Blissfield will be able to visit the library in person once again, thanks to its recent announcement to allow appointment-only customer operating service.\nThe reopening transition for the library began Monday in what it calls \"Phase 1a\" of the library’s reopening from the coronavirus pandemic shutdowns. Those planning to stop by the library, 407 S. Lane St., Blissfield, will be able to browse books and other material, have computer access and use the library’s printers and fax machine services.\nIndividuals must schedule an appointment with library staff before visiting. Appointments are being strictly limited to half-hour time slots only. This will greatly assist library staff in the cleaning and disinfecting of the library and services used between patrons and their appointments.\nTo schedule an appointment, contact the Schultz-Holmes Memorial Library by calling 517-486-2858.\n\"Our library is built for people,\" a news release on the library’s Facebook page read. \"And we have missed being able to have the public in the building. Now, we believe we have found a way to have people in the building safely.\"\nAppointments are available for one person at a time and no additional family members or other guests will be allowed to enter at the same time.\n\"We’re trying to be fair to all,\" the release adds.\nFace masks and other face coverings must be worn at all times while in the library, with the mask properly and fully covering both the mouth and nose.\nLibrary administration is also asking those who feel ill, or those who are experiencing any of the common signs of the COVID-19 virus, to not visit the library, even if they have already scheduled an appointment.\nWhen the patron’s 30-minute appointment is up, they will be asked to leave the building so that preparations can be made to welcome in the next scheduled visitor.\nThe library is reminding the public this is a temporary scheduling process to welcome the public back into the library amid the coronavirus pandemic.\n\"Remember that even this increased access is only temporary, and we look forward to when we can increase the number of people in the building, to when we can offer programs live and in person, and to when we can show off all the improvements and new ideas that we have been working on all along,\" the release adds.\nCurrently, the library has been closed to the public and has been operating digitally and through the library’s vestibule — or its front, main and enclosed entrance. Vestibule service will still remain an available service to those not planning to schedule a half-hour appointment inside the library.\nThe Schultz-Holmes Memorial Library stated it is following direction and guidance from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) and the Lenawee County Health Department to keep its employees and the public as safe and as healthy as possible.\nAdditional ways to contact the library, include email, at info@blissfieldlibrary.org; online requests, at shml.agverso.com and media on-demand, at www.blissfieldlibrary.org.", "Schultz-Holmes Memorial Library announces appointment-only scheduling for in-person services", "BLISSFIELD — Patrons of the Schultz-Holmes Memorial Library in Blissfield will be able to visit the library in person once again, thanks to its recent announcement to allow appointment-only customer operating service.The reopening transition for the library began Monday in what it calls \"Phase 1a\" of the library’s reopening from the coronavirus pandemic shutdowns. Those planning to stop by the library, 407 S. Lane St., Blissfield, will be able to browse books and other material," ]

[]

"2021-01-20T12:24:06"

"2021-01-19T14:01:05"

"2021-01-19T00:00:00"

[ "Inauguration 2021 should be a great time! Should be. I would have loved to bring my grandson to the Inauguration, the inaugural ball and walked with him to the places I walked to on my first trip to Washington D.C.\nNick, my grandson, is very interested in politics and would love to see President Biden sworn in. Back in time when I first became interested in the political movement, I had great mentors. When President Bill Clinton won his first election as president we decided to take a bus to D.C. I had volunteered locally for Representative Lynn Owen and Senator Jim Berryman. Congressman John Dingell was in Monroe many times to stump for them so I had the advantage of talking and learning from him.\nWhen the time came, a bus was rented and hotel rooms were reserved. I shopped for shoes and a dress and the perfect jewelry to wear. The bus was loaded when I boarded. All our friends we volunteered months with to campaign for our candidates were there. Congressman Dingell was absolutely the best to us. He arranged our spots at the inauguration and we attended the inaugural ball. We received tickets to attend many events that were taking place.\nFour years later, I attended President Bill Clinton’s second inauguration. This time I went with a co-worker. The inaugural ball was at the Michigan Historical Museum and again, Congressman Dingell came through and we had great places to watch the inauguration and included in our packet were tours tickets for the Capitol, the Holocaust museum and other places.\nA few years went by and I was the chair of the Monroe County Democratic Party and President Obama was elected. Some of us decided to drive together when there were no buses available to rent. Many people from Monroe were at the ceremony and many of us were at the \"Purple Gate.\" Each gate was color coded and there was an accident on the Metro just past the red gate so they dropped all of us at the red gate. There was no way to get through security at the red gate because we had purple gate tickets. Eventually, that evening we made it to the inaugural ball. I had received tickets to the Neighborhood Ball from the Obama campaign so I split my time between that and the Michigan ball. I was able to see many celebrities at the Neighborhood ball, but really wanted to go back to the Michigan ball to be with all the people from Michigan I volunteered with.\nIt was such a great time for me going to three different inaugurations that I thought going to a fourth and showing my grandson all the things to see and do would be my way of passing my legacy on to him.\nThis past year was the awful COVID year and not much could be done. Then in July, I was no longer in remission with my cancer and I have been struggling with that. The latest rioting at the Capitol pretty much clinched the deal that there would not be a trip.\nI am so sad to see what is happening with our national buildings. The fences, barbed wire and National Guard surrounding all those resolute buildings are alarming to see although I understand why it has to be done.\nIt is my hope that with a new president, the country can come together and work to make our country and communities better places to live where equality and prosperity belongs to everyone.\nDenise Brooks lives in Monroe. She can be reached at denisestarring@yahoo.com.", "Missing the thrill of attending the inauguration", "Inauguration 2021 should be a great time! Should be. I would have loved to bring my grandson to the Inauguration, the inaugural ball and walked with him to the places I walked to on my first trip to Washington D.C.Nick, my grandson, is very interested in politics and would love to see President Biden sworn in. Back in time when I first became interested in the political movement, I had great mentors. When President Bill Clinton won his first election as president we decided to take a bus to" ]

[ "Tracy Beckerman More Content Now" ]

"2021-01-14T15:30:08"

"2021-01-13T13:32:20"

"2021-01-13T00:00:00"

[ "Columns share an author’s personal perspective.\n*****\nIt’s been about 30 years, give or take a decade, since I lived in a college apartment so I’d forgotten just how disgusting they can be. I’d forgotten about the abundance of hair on the bathroom floor that could make you wonder if the room was carpeted. I’d blocked out the memory of the takeout food in the fridge that was so old it had turned into an alien species with legs. And I’d erased the visual of dirty clothes piled up so high in the closets, on the bed and on the floor that you were amazed everyone wasn’t sitting around naked for lack of something clean to wear.\nBut it all came crashing back to me when I went to visit my son at school.\n“You remember that bottle of Mr. Clean I bought you?” I asked my son when I peeked into his bathroom.\n“Yes.”\n“You do know he doesn’t personally come and clean your bathroom for you, right?” I commented.\nHe rolled his eyes.\nI opened the refrigerator.\n“Is someone here sick?” I wondered.\n“No, why?”\n“I see you’re growing penicillin in the refrigerator,” I remarked, removing a former food item that was now green and growing hair.\nI did actually remember teaching him to make his bed, clean his room, do the dishes and basically live like a human being. However, sometime between high school and college, he seemed to have forgotten everything he learned and morphed into someone who could have his own reality show on TLC. Personally he was clean-shaven and well-dressed, and his two roommates all looked clean and put together, too. But their apartment was such a disaster site I was worried there might actually be a fourth roommate that was unaccounted for buried underneath the mess.\nIt was then that I noticed a large lump on the couch under a blanket. Maybe there really was another person here. Would they even know if that person was alive? Could my son and his friends be harboring a dead body under all this chaos? I had to know.\n“What’s that?” I asked pointing to the lump on the couch.\n“It’s a blanket,” responded my son.\n“No. What’s UNDER the blanket?”\nThe three roommates all looked nervously at the lump on the couch.\n“It’s nothing,” said one of my son’s friends.\nCalmly I walked over to the couch, closed my eyes and whisked the blanket off the lump. I looked down and saw a pile of dirty pots and pans.\nThe guys all stared at me.\n“Why are there dirty pots and pans on your couch?” I asked.\n“There wasn’t room in the sink so we hid them,” said my son.\n“Why? I wondered.\nMy son shrugged. “We didn’t want you to think we were slobs.”\nYou can follow Tracy on Twitter @TracyBeckerman and become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LostinSuburbiaFanPage.", "Lost in Suburbia classic column: A room with a view … of the laundry", "Columns share an author’s personal perspective.*****It’s been about 30 years, give or take a decade, since I lived in a college apartment so I’d forgotten just how disgusting they can be. I’d forgotten about the abundance of hair on the bathroom floor that could make you wonder if the room was carpeted. I’d blocked out the memory of the takeout food in the fridge that was so old it had turned into an alien species with legs. And I’d erased the visual of" ]

[]

"2021-01-30T20:26:33"

"2021-01-30T05:01:00"

"2021-01-30T00:00:00"

[ "Frenchtown Township 2/10/2021 ZBA hearing\nLEGAL NOTICE\nFRENCHTOWN CHARTER TOWNSHIP\nZONING BOARD OF APPEALS\nPlease take notice that the Frenchtown Charter Township Zoning Board of Appeals will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, February 10, 2021 at 7:00 P.M.\nIn order to maintain compliance with the current Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDDHS) updated Gatherings and Face Mask Order through February 21, 2021 and possible extensions thereof, and in compliance with the Open Meetings Act, the meeting will be held virtually, using an online video call platform. A link and instructions to join the meeting will be posted on the Township Website, www.frenchtowntownship.org under the Building Tab see Zoning Board of Appeals in advance of the meeting.\nThe purpose of the meeting is hear the following requests:\nN.C. Designers and Contracting Inc. regarding ID# 07 009 036 00 which is located at 7051 N Monroe Street and ID# 009 037 00 located at 7015 N Monroe, Monroe, MI 48162. The Applicant has requested the following two variances from Article 21.00 Schedule of Regulations to construct in the front yard setback area. A 38 ft. variance to construct the gas pump canopy 12 ft. from the road right of way line A 10 ft. variance to construct the Main structure 40 ft. from the road right of way line. Brien Desrosiers regarding ID# 07 887 154 00 which is located at 4340 Wing Road Newport, MI 48166. The Applicant has requested a variance from requirements of Township Zoning Ordinance No. 200, Article 21.00 Schedule of Regulations. (R-1R Zoning District). The Applicant is requesting a 5 foot variance to construct an addition in the rear yard setback area.\nThe applications are available for inspection at the Township Building Department from 8:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M Monday through Friday and written comments will be received concerning the requests through February 10, 2021 at 4:30 P.M.\nResidents and interested parties are being requested to attend this meeting virtually via ZOOM.\nMEETING ID: 964 8485 9016\nPASSCODE: 631878\nJoseph A. Lehmann\nFrenchtown Charter Township\nBuilding Official\nPublished Date: January 30, 2021\nJanuary 30, 2021", "Frenchtown Township 2/10/2021 ZBA hearing" ]

[ "Jef Rietsma" ]

"2021-01-07T23:49:59"

"2021-01-06T14:19:07"

"2021-01-06T00:00:00"

[ "The initial 200 doses of COVID-19 vaccine received by Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency are expected to be exhausted within the next week.\nHealth officer Rebecca Burns told the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday there is a demand for more Moderna vaccine to satisfy the number of people in the highest category of need in the county.\n\"The hospitals are working to get their health care workers vaccinated, they’re also helping with some of the medical first responders, EMTs, dentists, optometrists and some of those other licensed professionals that see patients,\" Burns said. \"We are reaching out to other first responders and home-healthcare workers that take care of individuals who are homebound, and I anticipate the doses that we have left at this point will be all allocated and out into people’s arms by the middle of next week.\"\nBurns has been told by state officials the agency will not receive any additional doses of Moderna until the week of Jan. 24. At this point, Burns said, the state cannot confirm how much will be available and how much the agency will receive.\n\"So, we’re kind of at a standstill until more vaccine becomes available and we’re able to take it in,\" she said. \"The long-term-care vaccination program that’s also part of the 1A group is taking a large portion that the Moderna vaccine doses that the state is being allocated by the federal government ... and that’s why it’s so limited to health departments and hospitals in the state that are using that product.\"\nAsked by commissioner Kathy Pangle asked Burns about the second dose – a follow-up issued at least four weeks after an initial shot of Moderna is administered. Burns said the length of time between shots can be longer than 28 days.\n\"The state has advised us that our second doses have been held back, not allocated to anyone, so we will probably this week or maybe next week order those second doses to come into our agency,\" she said. \"But those are held back and we’ve been assured they are sitting there and waiting for us when we need them.\"\nBurns said the state was told by federal officials it would receive more doses than what Michigan was issued in the initial delivery of Moderna.\n\"It is taking a while to ramp up enough doses for us to really be able to make much of a dent in getting individuals vaccinated,\" Burns added.", "Local vaccine supply dwindles", "The initial 200 doses of COVID-19 vaccine received by Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency are expected to be exhausted within the next week.Health officer Rebecca Burns told the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday there is a demand for more Moderna vaccine to satisfy the number of people in the highest category of need in the county.\"The hospitals are working to get their health care workers vaccinated, they’re also helping with some of the medical first" ]

[ "Blake Bacho" ]

"2021-01-27T14:38:32"

"2021-01-26T13:57:10"

"2021-01-26T00:00:00"

[ "The ordinance department is facing budget cuts; so for now, its officers will be available only during daytime hours for details such as illegal burn investigations and zoning violations.\nBedford Township’s Ordinance Department has reduced its hours of operation and suspended a popular service after the township’s board of trustees refused to reverse a $25,000 cut to the department’s budget.\nThe department officially announced the changes on its Facebook page on Wednesday, just one day after the board chose not to reverse the cut that was originally made in anticipation of a decrease in state-shared revenue as a result of COVID-19.\nThe ordinance department, which laid off its two seasonal employees Wednesday as a result of the board’s decision, will now operate only during daytime hours Monday through Friday, with evening and weekend coverage eliminated as a result of the reduced staffing.\nAny additional snowbird house checks also will be suspended.\n“If you have matters regarding (illegal) burning during those hours you may call central dispatch’s non-emergency number, 243-7070 and request the fire department,” read the Facebook post.\n“All other non-emergency matters of concern can be left on our voicemail at either 224-7350 or 224-7341 and we will contact you on our next business day... We will advise if there is any change.\n“Thank you Bedford for all your support.”\nIn remarks made during the township board meeting last week, Ordinance Supervisor Damon Cecil noted that the township had actually seen an increase in state-shared revenue rather than a decrease.\nAs a result, Cecil asked that the money be “restored” to his department’s budget to allow him to continue paying the salaries of the two seasonal, part-time employees.\nCecil pointed to the efforts he’s made to professionalize the department and crack down on major issues such as illegal burning in the township.\nThe department has no full-time employees, with Cecil and officer Shayla Pitzen both part-time.\n“I’m not asking for additional funding,” Cecil said. “I’m just asking for my budget to be restored to what it was...\n“When we have a lack of ordinance enforcement, or code enforcement as its referred to in some communities, the property values become deteriorated, the school system suffers, there’s losses in property taxes as the values go down, and if we don’t think so travel up to Detroit, take a look in the east end of Detroit or go down into the inner (parts) of some of these cities.”\nTownship Supervisor Paul Pirrone made the initial motion to restore the department’s budget, saying he didn’t see any reason not to reverse the cut. Pirrone explained that he and the township’s previous board were looking to save money anywhere they could to protect from possible losses in revenue as a result of the ongoing pandemic.\n“The board had to take action,” he said. “My thinking with the ordinance department was that Damon could work Monday through Friday during the day, and Shayla could work nights and weekends, but that’s not realistic for somebody by themselves to work nights and weekends, week after week....\n“We ended up receiving more money in state-shared revenue and not having any loss. Next year could be different, we could see a loss, but this board, or previous boards, are well-prepared for that with cuts we made.”\nPirrone’s motion failed 5-2 with he and Trustee Joe Gore the ’yes’ votes. Trustee Craig Montri then attempted a motion to have $20,000 restored to the ordinance department’s budget, but his motion failed 4-3 with him, Pirrone and Gore voting in favor.\nTrustee Rick Steiner said he was concerned about “opening the floodgates” if the board agreed to restore the ordinance department’s budget.\n“I can tell you right now, the other departments, I guarantee you, could put together a presentation that makes sense and probably come in and justify why they need their budgets back as well,” Steiner said.\n“I’m not 100 percent convinced that the state is going to be giving us money in the next fiscal budget.”\nTreasurer Krista Jandasek said she didn’t understand why the department had two employees qualified as seasonal that were working during the winter months.\nClerk Trudy Hershberger suggested the department might require a restructuring, with an additional part-time employee replacing the two seasonal workers.\n“So far the ordinance season has just been all year,” Hershberger said.\n“That’s not how seasonal is supposed to work, so maybe Damon needs a part-time person rather than two seasonal people to make that department whole.”", "Bedford ordinance officers reduce operating hours" ]

[]

"2021-01-02T05:58:43"

"2021-01-01T11:00:00"

"2021-01-01T00:00:00"

[ "In accordance with tradition, there will be no newspaper today, New Year's Day. The local year in review features begin Saturday.\nIn accordance with tradition, there will be no newspaper Friday, New Year’s Day.\nNews updates including winter weather bulletins will be posted as needed at monroenews.com.\nLooking ahead, The Monroe News will feature its annual year-end roundup beginning Saturday and lasting four days.\nSaturday\nIn Saturday’s edition, The News’ staff will announce its picks for Top 10 News Stories of the Year. The stories were selected internally, based on votes from reporters and editors, as is tradition.\nThe News also will feature readers’ picks, in a roundup of top online stories, determined by page views.\nSunday\nIn response to the unprecedented year, on Sunday, The News will announce its line-up of top coronavirus stories of the year, beginning with the onset of COVID-19 in Monroe County in March.\nMonday\nIn Monday’s edition, The News will feature how local leaders anticipate COVID-19 will shape their role in the community in 2021. Respondents will address the dramatic role the pandemic has played on their industries.\nTuesday\nAnd finally, in Tuesday's edition, The News will honor those who contributed positively to the community in various ways this year, along with memorializing prominent community members who died in 2020.\nJoin in on the conversation at Facebook.com/monroenews, or with username @ monroenews on Twitter and Instagram.", "No print edition for The Monroe News on Jan. 1" ]

[]

"2021-01-15T22:48:09"

"2021-01-15T05:15:05"

"2021-01-15T00:00:00"

[ "Should Joe Biden attempt to \"look forward\" and fail to hold the soon-to-be-not-president accountable for his actions, not only will he suffer the same ignominy that befell Gerald Ford in the wake of the Nixon pardon, but he will also guarantee a Democrat annihilation in the 2022 midterms and beyond.\nThe Democrats’ fortunes, however, are not the point.\nHoping to dodge the fallout that followed In the wake of Barack Obama’s ill-advised (guided by \"norms\") decision to \"look forward\" after the misdeeds of the George W. Bush administration would be stunningly hypocritical. You simply cannot mouth the words \"no one is above the law\" and then short-circuit the law because it’s ... uncomfortable.\nThere is a massive record that exists already, used as a basis for the wholly successful impeachment by the House. The Mueller Report — oft vilified but still left simmering — spells out 10 instances of possible obstruction of justice. Start there, Merrick Garland. And subpoena those tawdry pardon recipients who no longer enjoy Fifth Amendment protections on the subject.\nBut look at everything because dozens of allegations go beyond the abandonment or destruction of the aforementioned norms. The past decisions of the DOJ, or the FBI, or any other body with jurisdiction not to investigate or bring charges are not dispositive. Take the time NOW to render essential justice.\nWhile many smile at the prospect of orange jumpsuits let’s all realize the result is less important than the process, if only marginally. A factual record is paramount, as it will guide the decision-making and legislation of the future.\nTo wit, Congressman Huizenga, your recorded vote on electoral certification will stand forever as a pathetic attempt to gloss over your recorded signature on Ken Paxton’s unconstitutional lawsuit.\nSome guidance is gained, and some lessons are learned, harder than others.\nRichard Wolfe\nPark Township", "Letter: Hard lessons we are learning", "Should Joe Biden attempt to \"look forward\" and fail to hold the soon-to-be-not-president accountable for his actions, not only will he suffer the same ignominy that befell Gerald Ford in the wake of the Nixon pardon, but he will also guarantee a Democrat annihilation in the 2022 midterms and beyond.The Democrats’ fortunes, however, are not the point.Hoping to dodge the fallout that followed In the wake of Barack Obama’s ill-advised (guided by \"norms\") decision to \"look forward\"" ]

[]

"2021-01-27T14:55:58"

"2021-01-26T14:01:06"

"2021-01-26T00:00:00"

[ "Congratulations to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Even though many Trump supporters are still in a state of denial, Biden and Harris are the legitimate, duly elected leaders of our nation.\nI look forward to an administration that cares about all the citizens of the United States as, opposed to what we had for the last four years, an administration that cared only for its wallets and the wallets of its wealthy donors. We now have an administration that, dare I say it, will make America great again.\nIn his Inaugural Address, President Biden called for unity. I am not optimistic that we shall get there any time soon. There are still Republicans, including members of Congress, who perpetuate the lies that divide us. As President Biden said, \"There is truth and there are lies. Lies told for power and for profit. And each of us has a duty and responsibility, as citizens, as Americans, and especially as leaders – leaders who have pledged to honor our Constitution and protect our nation — to defend the truth and to defeat the lies.\" He started down this path by appointing Jen Psaki as press secretary.\nIn her first of what will become daily briefings, she said, \"Rebuilding trust with the American people will be central to our focus in the press office and in the White House every single day…. There are a number of ways to combat misinformation. One of them is accurate information, and truth and data, and sharing information even when it is hard to hear.\" This approach is extraordinarily different from the Trump administration which went as long as nine months without a press briefing (USA TODAY, Jan. 21, 2021) and those were often filled with lies (Associated Press, May 1, 2020).\nAnother indication that Biden is going to act to make the lives of citizens better is his executive orders. He prevented workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, he extended the existing nationwide moratorium on evictions and foreclosures until at least March 31, he has the United States rejoining the Paris climate accord, he directed agencies to review their actions to ensure racial equity, and he ordered a 15% increase in SNAP benefits. When Biden swore in his senior staff he warned them, \"If you're ever working with me and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect, talk down to someone, I promise I will fire you on the spot. On the spot…. Everybody, everybody is entitled to be treated with decency and dignity.\" These actions are those of an emphatic, caring, compassionate, moral person. Quite different from who we had for the last four years.\nBut there still is a problem. Even now there are too many Republicans in Congress who resist. They do not seem to care about financially helping the marginalized among us, eliminating systematic racism, addressing our climate crisis, or rebuilding our shrinking middle class. No, they are still more interested in padding their wallets and making the wealthiest among us even richer. And, they appear to be opposed to legislation drafted to strengthen our fragile democracy. For example, they stand in opposition to H.R. 1., the For the People Act of 2021. H.R. 1 is a bill that would expand our access to the ballot box with automatic voter registration as well as requiring that states provide two weeks of early voting and equitable geographic distribution of early voting sites. The bill would also reduce the influence of big money in politics, and strengthen ethics rules for the three branches of government. If Republicans want to make voting easier for everyone and reduce the big money in politics, they should support H.R. 1. But, of course, they don’t and won’t.\nHowever, for now, I am happy to have an administration that pursues truth and is ready to make life better for all Americans; an administration that has integrity, experience, and morals.\nDr. Hank Cetola is a Professor Emeritus at Adrian College and the founder of Lenawee Indivisible. He can be reached at lenaweeindivisible3@gmail.com.", "Optimism reigns with new administration", "Congratulations to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Even though many Trump supporters are still in a state of denial, Biden and Harris are the legitimate, duly elected leaders of our nation.I look forward to an administration that cares about all the citizens of the United States as, opposed to what we had for the last four years, an administration that cared only for its wallets and the wallets of its wealthy donors. We now have an administration that, dare I say it, will" ]

[]

"2021-01-05T20:11:25"

"2021-01-04T16:24:26"

"2021-01-04T00:00:00"

[ "Landgren cartoon: New strains", "Don Landgren cartoon on new societal strains." ]

[ "Don Reid", "Don Reid Dwreid Aol.Com" ]

"2021-01-12T15:08:09"

"2021-01-11T13:53:08"

"2021-01-11T00:00:00"

[ "COLDWATER — Kent Power contractors completed its work on the new Butters Avenue substation last Thursday.\nColdwater Board of Public Utility Manager Jeff Budd said the new service connection would have prevented loss of power going back to Oct. 8, 2017, a 24-hour span when the Coldwater power system lines from the west and south both went out.\nThe CBPU partnered with ITC Transmission Company, the grid transmission company, in what has been the culmination of a four-year process to improve electric reliability in Coldwater. The CBPU investments of $4.592 million at Butters Avenue was the final phase.\nThis gives Coldwater a third grid connection. Transmission upgrades started with the announcement of the Clemens Food Group locating their newest facility in Coldwater in 2016. This new electrical load, coupled with the community's existing electrical needs, required additional transmission line investment. The CBPU and ITC Transmission got to work planning system improvements to support power quality and the area's growing load.\nAt the time, Coldwater was served by two transmission feeds coming into the city, but on the same poles from the Snow Prairie Road substation. The 2017 black out occurred after a failure of both lines merged off Lindley Road.\n\"This presented some risk to our industrial customers. We wanted to provide more redundancy that would reduce that risk, not only for Clemens Food Group, but for our other industrial customers that depend on reliable power,\" said Jeff Budd, Utility Director for Coldwater Board of Public Utilities. Coldwater also is home to Maroa Farms, Asama Coldwater Manufacturing and a WalMart distribution center, among others.\nFor the new substation, the city needed land. H.C. Starck sold 3.1 acres for the new substation for $40,000 on Butters. Kent Power, Inc. won the construction contract at $2,197,896.\nIt took more than the substation for the third reliable connection. Phase one consisted of constructing a new electrical substation located off Jonesville Road that connects to the existing Michigan Avenue substation via a three-mile, 138kV, single-circuit transmission line. The CBPU began construction in late 2016 and finished in early 2017.\nPhase two consisted of a new ITC substation in Union Township that connects both the existing Verona – Batavia 138kV transmission line and the Jonesville substation via a new 138kV single-circuit transmission line. That is viable along I-69.\nConstruction of the Union Township substation and transmission line was completed late in 2019. The final piece, the Butters substation, began in early 2020 and now connects to the existing Coldwater – Michigan Avenue 138 kV line.\nCBPU crews will now switch connections for the industrial load and other customers from the Bennett Street substation to Butters.\nCBPU Electrical Engineer Andrew Cameron said \"We appreciate that ITC was willing to work with our industrial customers to minimize the impact on their production. The partnership between ITC, CBPU, and our industrial customers was unique and necessary to get the job done.\"\nBudd said the improved infrasturure gives Coldwater and Branch County an econmic advantage.\n\"When it comes to economic development, where we're located, we're competing with Indiana and Ohio. A potential customer always wants to know about the quality of Coldwater's power. Now, we take them out and show them the ITC substations and how we've built redundancy into our system. It makes a big difference,\" he said.\nWhile CBPU customers paid for the substation, those costs for ITC are part of the monthly transmission costs billed to grid customers, the utilities by the grid transmission company.", "Butters substation completes project for third CBPU grid connection", "COLDWATER — Kent Power contractors completed its work on the new Butters Avenue substation last Thursday.Coldwater Board of Public Utility Manager Jeff Budd said the new service connection would have prevented loss of power going back to Oct. 8, 2017, a 24-hour span when the Coldwater power system lines from the west and south both went out.The CBPU partnered with ITC Transmission Company, the grid transmission company, in what has been the culmination of a four-year process to improve" ]

[ "Rosalie Currier", "Rosaliesj" ]

"2021-01-19T08:18:21"

"2021-01-18T14:37:06"

"2021-01-18T00:00:00"

[ "Winter hats and scarves are blowing in the breeze from the trees and bushes at Free Church Park in Sturgis. The clothing is no-cost for anyone in need.\nIt it part of ministries at St. John's Episcopal Church in Sturgis. On Friday, Marsha Loyer, Nancy Nusbaum, Ed and Sue Parker put it out for the community.\nAlong with winter wear in the park, they have some outdoors at the church, 110 S. Clay St. Also at the church is a blessing box with non-perishable food items for pick-up, Loyer said. It also is open for donations from those who want to help neighbors.\nSt. John’s is also the home of \"Free Friday Friendship Lunch.\" With COVID-19 restrictions, the church offers to-go meals 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. each Friday.", "Winter wear available at Free Church Park", "Winter hats and scarves are blowing in the breeze from the trees and bushes at Free Church Park in Sturgis. The clothing is no-cost for anyone in need.It it part of ministries at St. John's Episcopal Church in Sturgis. On Friday, Marsha Loyer, Nancy Nusbaum, Ed and Sue Parker put it out for the community.Along with winter wear in the park, they have some outdoors at the church, 110 S. Clay St. Also at the church is a blessing box with non-perishable food items for pick-up, Loyer said. It" ]

[ "Marlo Alleva More Content Now" ]

"2021-01-02T13:02:15"

"2021-01-01T07:01:00"

"2021-01-01T00:00:00"

[ "Our move today is very simple: It is “jumping for joy!” All you need for this movement is a flat surface, and plenty of energy.\nJumping for joy is great to get your heart pumping and the blood flowing! Any kind of jumping exercise is great for your lower body and your core as well.\nTo start any jumping movement, you want to make sure you have a clean, flat surface to avoid any injury to your feet or ankles. Then when you are ready, extend both arms straight up into the air, holding your chest tall and engaging your midsection. Now you are ready to start jumping.\nProceed by bending your knees for leverage and using the strength of your legs to push up and press off of the ground through your toes! This jump can be as high or low as you choose. Listen to your body and gauge your movement on your ability.\nYour joyous jump can be small and rapid. Or, you can jump as high as possible, challenging your self with each leap!\nJumping is the quickest way to get a little extra blood pumping! So you can add this jumping for joy movement into any warm-up workout. Or, if you hit a midday lull, stand to your feet and start jumping.\nMarlo Alleva, an instructor at Gold’s Gym and group fitness coordinator at Fontaine-Gills YMCA in Lakeland, Florida, can be reached at faluvzpa@msn.com.", "Today’s Workout column: Jump for joy", "Our move today is very simple: It is “jumping for joy!” All you need for this movement is a flat surface, and plenty of energy. Jumping for joy is great to get your heart pumping and the blood flowing! Any kind of jumping exercise is great for your lower body and your core as well. To start any jumping movement, you want to make sure you have a clean, flat surface to avoid any injury to your feet or ankles. Then when you are ready, extend both arms straight up into the air," ]

[]

"2021-01-20T20:34:51"

"2021-01-20T05:16:06"

"2021-01-20T00:00:00"

[ "Thanks for the mid-January article, \"Impeachment further divides nation.\" When you read it, \"Impeachment further combines us\" more is correct!\nJust look at Bill Huizenga’s words about how treating the current president is incorrect.\nShould the 10 Republican members be left on his comments? Are both Democratic and Republican members without partnership?\nThis is not his first time! I trust even more Holland-area citizens are being consistent with their thoughts and beliefs in order to be honest. Yes, supporting our most local D.C. attendee with his thoughts is not helpful, is not honest to us.\nPlease read today's article, along with his energized photo. Share with others just how unfortunate his consistent description gives us his belief commentary.\nWe need \"letters\" to share our beliefs, our frustrations.\nCome home; let another person represent Holland correctly!\nI hope Jan. 20 is filled with folks with positive outlooks for four years (maybe eight)!\nMartin Dugan\nHolland", "Letter: Let someone else represent Holland correctly", "Thanks for the mid-January article, \"Impeachment further divides nation.\" When you read it, \"Impeachment further combines us\" more is correct!Just look at Bill Huizenga’s words about how treating the current president is incorrect.Should the 10 Republican members be left on his comments? Are both Democratic and Republican members without partnership?This is not his first time! I trust even more Holland-area citizens are being consistent with their thoughts and beliefs in order to be" ]

[ "Corey Murray" ]

"2021-01-19T16:31:43"

"2021-01-19T15:34:03"

"2021-01-19T00:00:00"

[ "HILLSDALE — An Adrian man who was pursued twice through Hillsdale County in mid-August 2020 entered into a plea bargain agreement last week in the 1st Judicial Circuit Court.\nKyle David Eichler, 22, had two separate cases in the circuit court resolved through the plea bargain where he pleaded guilty to one count of third-degree fleeing/eluding police, a crime punishable by up to five years imprisonment.\nCharges of reckless driving, driving without insurance, failure to report a property damage accident, two counts of resisting/obstructing a police officer — habitual offender — second offense, first-degree home invasion, absconding while on bond and one additional count of third-degree fleeing/eluding police will be dismissed pursuant to the plea bargain.\nIn the first fleeing/eluding incident, troopers with the Michigan State Police attempted to stop Eichler’s 1993 Cadillac Eldorado for traffic violations. Eichler took off at a high-rate of speed through the city of Hillsdale and was able to elude officers as MSP pursuit policies restrict troopers’ ability to pursue offenders who flee from traffic stops unless certain criteria is met.\nDays later, after images of Eichler’s vehicle were released by the MSP to the public for assistance in identifying the driver, a tipster reported seeing the vehicle at Garden Apartments in the city of Hillsdale.\nThis time, Sgt. Ron Leggit, the Hillsdale County Sheriff’s patrol sergeant on duty, was in the area and gave pursuit—with assistance from the Hillsdale City Police Department—south out of Hillsdale and into Ohio.\nOhio authorities then picked up the pursuit into Indiana and Eichler was inevitably stopped when Indiana authorities deployed stop sticks causing him to crash a short distance later in Angola, Indiana.\nEichler is tentatively scheduled for sentencing at 8:30 a.m. Feb. 22.", "Adrian man who twice fled from officers in 2020 pleads out", "HILLSDALE — An Adrian man who was pursued twice through Hillsdale County in mid-August 2020 entered into a plea bargain agreement last week in the 1st Judicial Circuit Court.Kyle David Eichler, 22, had two separate cases in the circuit court resolved through the plea bargain where he pleaded guilty to one count of third-degree fleeing/eluding police, a crime punishable by up to five years imprisonment.Charges of reckless driving, driving without insurance, failure to report a property" ]

[ "Corey Murray" ]

"2021-01-27T21:11:07"

"2021-01-27T15:30:06"

"2021-01-27T00:00:00"

[ "HILLSDALE — The 61st Annual Tip-Up Festival hosted by the Hillsdale County Conservation Club begins at 7 a.m. Saturday with the opening of the weekend ice fishing contest which runs through 2:30 p.m. Sunday.\nAnglers will turn to the hard waters all weekend with case prizes for largest northern pike and most panfish species awaiting those lucky enough to get on the fish.\nThe club will not be accepting any private pond fish and fish submitted for weigh-in and measurements must be alive.\nA coyote contest will run simultaneously all weekend through 2 p.m. Sunday with registration fees set at $20 for a four-man team or $5 per person. The contest will pay back $100 to the biggest coyote caught and for the most coyotes brought in.\nOn Saturday, a squirrel contest will take place from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m.\nA kid’s fishing derby will take place Sunday at the Conservation Club Lake.\nThe Hillsdale County Conservation Club is located at 3835 South Bird Lake Road in Osseo.\nFor more information on tip-up festivities, check out the club’s Facebook page.", "61st Annual Tip-Up Festival begins Saturday", "HILLSDALE — The 61st Annual Tip-Up Festival hosted by the Hillsdale County Conservation Club begins at 7 a.m. Saturday with the opening of the weekend ice fishing contest which runs through 2:30 p.m. Sunday.Anglers will turn to the hard waters all weekend with case prizes for largest northern pike and most panfish species awaiting those lucky enough to get on the fish.The club will not be accepting any private pond fish and fish submitted for weigh-in and measurements must be alive.A" ]

[]

"2021-01-28T21:53:49"

"2021-01-28T05:01:00"

"2021-01-28T00:00:00"

[ "Notice of Dissolution Attorney Computer Systems LLC\nPAID PUBLIC NOTICE\nAttorney Computer Systems, LLC Dissolution\nPAID PUBLIC NOTICE\nNOTICE OF DISSOLUTION\nNotice is hereby given that Attorney Computer Systems, LLC, a Michigan limited liability company (the “Company”), has dissolved effective on December 31, 2020. All persons with claims against the Company are requested to present them in accordance with this notice. Claims must be filed with the Company at the following address: 1800 Dennison Road, Dundee, MI 48131, Paul E. Purdue. Each claim must include the name and address of the claimant, the basis for and amount of each claim (in sufficient detail to permit the Company to a make a reasonable judgment whether the claim should be accepted or rejected), and the date or dates on which each claim arose. Each claim against the Company (other than a claim asserted by a claimant who receives written notice of the dissolution by mail, which notice specifies the applicable deadline for submitting claims by known claimants) will be barred unless a proceeding to enforce the claim is commenced within one year after the publication date of this notice.\nJANUARY 28, 2021", "Notice of Dissolution Attorney Computer Systems LLC" ]

[ "Carolyn Muyskens" ]

"2021-01-07T23:50:16"

"2021-01-06T14:01:10"

"2021-01-06T00:00:00"

[ "ZEELAND — A building project on Zeeland's Main Avenue received approval for a tax break from the Zeeland City Council Monday night.\nDavid and Laura Wilson are constructing a two-story building at 238 E. Main Ave., next to Generational Wealth Management’s offices at 244 E. Main Ave.\nTheir plans for the site include first-floor commercial space and six one-bedroom apartments.\nDoing business as GL Rentals, the Wilsons applied for a commercial rehabilitation tax exemption certificate for the project last year. If also approved by the State Tax Commission, property taxes for the site will be frozen at the current value of the property for 10 years.\nAccording to paperwork submitted to the city, the project will be an approximately $1.8 million investment.\nPlans for a three-story building on the site were approved by the city in the summer of 2019, but COVID-19 ground progress on the project to a halt.\nAfter finding a new lender to finance the project, the Wilsons came back to the city late last year with the smaller two-story proposal.\nCity council members thanked the Wilsons for persisting with the project despite the challenges of the current economic environment.\n\"Thank you for going ahead with this project and continuing to invest in our city. Your building is a great addition to our Main Street,\" said Mayor Kevin Klynstra at Monday's meeting.\nCouncil members also noted the downtown location, which places the apartment units within walking distance of many Zeeland employers, and the proximity to the Macatawa Area Express bus stop at Zeeland City Hall.\nZeeland City Council members were also updated on a proposal to form a city information technology (IT) department.\nThe new IT department would consist of two people, a department head and a senior project manager, and the city of Zeeland and the Zeeland Board of Public Works would share personnel costs for the positions, which would serve both offices.\nThe Zeeland City Council reviewed job descriptions for the two positions. Final approval of the new department and permission to begin hiring for the jobs are expected to come in the next several weeks.\n— Contact reporter Carolyn Muyskens at cmuyskens@hollandsentinel.com and follow her on Twitter at @cjmuyskens.", "Mixed-use downtown Zeeland project gets OK from council", "ZEELAND — A building project on Zeeland's Main Avenue received approval for a tax break from the Zeeland City Council Monday night.David and Laura Wilson are constructing a two-story building at 238 E. Main Ave., next to Generational Wealth Management’s offices at 244 E. Main Ave.Their plans for the site include first-floor commercial space and six one-bedroom apartments.Doing business as GL Rentals, the Wilsons applied for a commercial rehabilitation tax exemption certificate for" ]

[]

"2021-01-25T20:36:51"

"2021-01-25T05:01:00"

"2021-01-25T00:00:00"

[ "Monroe County Road Commission invitation to bid\nMONROE COUNTY ROAD COMMISSION\nINVITATION TO BID\nSealed bids will be received by the Board of County Road Commissioners of the County of Monroe until 10:00 a.m. local time on Thursday, February 11, 2021 at their office located at 840 South Telegraph Road, Monroe, Michigan, 48161 for the following:\n· 2021 Pavement Marking Program · 2021 Special Pavement Marking Program · 2021 Various Uniform Traffic Control Devices · 2021 Mineral Well Brine\nBids will be publicly opened and read aloud by the Bid Committee at 10:00 a.m. Proposals may be downloaded from the Road Commission’s website at www.mcrc-mi.org/bids.html.\nBOARD OF COUNTY ROAD COMMISSIONERS\nOF THE COUNTY OF MONROE, MICHIGAN\nJanuary 25, 2021", "Monroe County Road Commission invitation to bid" ]

[ "The Associated Press" ]

"2021-01-04T19:53:45"

"2021-01-03T20:01:07"

"2021-01-03T00:00:00"

[ "SAULT STE. MARIE — Even as vaccines are being rolled out to battle the coronavirus, wordsmiths at Lake Superior State University in Michigan's Upper Peninsula say they want to kick any trace of it from the English language.\n\"COVID-19\" and \"social distancing\" are thrown in with \"we're all in this together,\" \"in an abundance of caution\" and \"in these uncertain times\" on the school's light-hearted list of banned words and phrases for 2021.\nOut of more than 1,450 nominations sent to the school, about 250 words and terms suggested for banishment due to overuse, misuse or uselessness had something to do with the virus.\nSeven of the 10 selected are connected to the virus, with \"COVID-19\" leading the way. \"Unprecedented,\" which was banished back in 2002, has been restored to the list.\n\"To be sure, COVID-19 is unprecedented in wreaking havoc and destroying lives,\" Banished Words List committee members said Thursday in a release. \"But so is the overreliance on 'unprecedented' to frame things, so it has to go, too.\"\nThe school in Sault Ste. Marie has compiled the list each year since 1976 it says to \"uphold, protect, and support excellence in language by encouraging avoidance of words and terms that are overworked, redundant, oxymoronic, clichéd, illogical, nonsensical — and otherwise ineffective, baffling, or irritating.\"\nSo far, more than 1,000 words or phrases have made the list. Nominations come from across the U.S. and a number of other countries.\nJoining past inductees such as \"absolutely,\" \"BFF,\" \"covfefe,\" and \"yuh know\" are:\n— COVID-19 (COVID, coronavirus, Rona). \"A large number of nominators are clearly resentful of the virus and how it has overtaken our vocabulary,\" the committee wrote. \"No matter how necessary or socially and medically useful these words are, the committee cannot help but wish we could banish them along with the virus itself.\"\n— Social distancing. \"This phrase is useful, as wearing a mask and keeping your distance have a massive effect on preventing the spread of infection,\" members said. \"But we'd be lying if we said we weren't ready for this phrase to become 'useless.'\"\n— We're all in this together.\n— In an abundance of caution (various phrasings).\n— In these uncertain times (various phrasings).\n— Pivot. \"Reporters, commentators, talking heads, and others from the media reference how everyone must adapt to the coronavirus through contactless delivery, virtual learning, curbside pickup, video conferencing, remote working, and other urgent readjustments,\" the committee wrote. \"That's all true and vital. But basketball players pivot; let's keep it that way.\"\n— Unprecedented.\n— Karen. \"What began as an anti-racist critique of the behavior of white women in response to Black and brown people has become a misogynist umbrella term for critiquing the perceived overemotional behavior of women,\" the committee said.\n— Sus, short for \"suspicious.\"\n— I know, right?\n\"Real-world concerns preoccupied word watchdogs this year, first and foremost COVID-19, and that makes sense,\" Lake Superior State President Rodney Hanley said in the release.\n\"In a small way, maybe this list will help 'flatten the curve,' which also was under consideration for banishment. We trust that your 'new normal' — another contender among nominations — for next year won't have to include that anymore.\"", "COVID-19 dominates annual list of banished words, terms", "SAULT STE. MARIE — Even as vaccines are being rolled out to battle the coronavirus, wordsmiths at Lake Superior State University in Michigan's Upper Peninsula say they want to kick any trace of it from the English language.\"COVID-19\" and \"social distancing\" are thrown in with \"we're all in this together,\" \"in an abundance of caution\" and \"in these uncertain times\" on the school's light-hearted list of banned words and phrases for 2021.Out of more than 1,450 nominations sent to the school," ]

[ "David L. Eby", "David L. E" ]

"2021-01-13T08:50:55"

"2021-01-12T12:15:00"

"2021-01-12T00:00:00"

[ "The Monroe County Bible Society distributed thousands of Bibles to Monroe County residents in the 1800s.\nThe American Bible Society was founded in Manhattan, New York, in 1816 with the “sole object” of encouraging wider circulation of the Bible throughout the world. That included both the translation of the Bible and publishing it into all languages used around the world.\nThe organization still exists today. In February, 1820, just seven years after the Battle of the River Raisin took place, the Monroe County Bible Society was formed. Its purpose was to provide a free Bible to every family in Monroe County that would accept one.\nMonroe County was still a true wilderness back then. The Society founders were Colonel John Anderson, Dr. Harry Conant, Colonel Oliver Johnson, Jeremiah Lawrence, Thomas Wilson, David Jacobs, Wolcott Lawrence, Timothy E. Felt, Joseph Farrington, John Cook, Charles Noble, William Town, Luther Harvey, Luther Smith, William Goodale, Samuel Felt and Henry Disbrow.\nTheir first meeting was held in the Monroe County log-built Courthouse and the membership fee was “set at fifty cents and could be paid in cash, wheat or corn, if it would suit the convenience and means of the member.” Grain payments were to be disposed of by the Society directors to their best advantage. The proceeds were to be deposited in the treasury of the Society.\nThere were great difficulties that were encountered in spreading the Gospel among the scattered settlements and families in the county including lack of money and indifference of some of the members. Traveling anywhere back then was difficult due to lack of roads and the existing roads seasonal conditions.\nThe Society persevered and the entire county was thoroughly canvassed and a copy of the Bible was placed in every family that would accept it. Auxiliaries were organized in many of the townships and a systematic effort was made to provide every family with a copy of the Bible or the New Testament.\nDuring the year 1835, 2,320 Bibles and Testaments were distributed by the Society and its auxiliaries in Monroe County. The Monroe County Bible Society’s work “was vigorously extended into the neighboring counties of Wayne, Washtenaw and Lenawee.” Within five years more than 7,000 Bibles and Testaments were distributed to families in those counties by the Monroe County Bible Society.\nAt the Society’s annual meeting held on January 11, 1874, William H. Boyd was the Society President. It was noted at the meeting that only two of the 1820 founding Society members still survived, those being Charles Noble and Luther Harvey.\nDespite all its success and the 70 years it existed (until about 1890), the Monroe County Bible Society declined and vanished with no trace of its existence. The Society was mentioned in the 1913 publication of the History of Monroe County Michigan book.\nDavid L. Eby is Newsletter Editor for the Monroe County Historical Society. He can by contacted at daveeby@yahoo.com.", "The history of the Monroe County Bible Society" ]

[ "Carolyn Muyskens" ]

"2021-01-06T06:54:11"

"2021-01-05T12:30:07"

"2021-01-05T00:00:00"

[ "HOLLAND — Residents and staff at several Holland nursing homes will begin receiving their first shots of a COVID-19 vaccine this week.\nThe long-term care center residents and staff will be vaccinated in clinics run by pharmacies CVS and Walgreens. The federal government contracted with the two national chains to administer the vaccine free of charge to nursing home residents and staff.\nNursing homes were invited to sign up for the national program and choose either CVS or Walgreens to administer the vaccine at their facility.\nAccording to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, more than 400 skilled nursing homes registered to receive the vaccine through this program, including Holland/Zeeland-area facilites Heritage Nursing and Rehabilitation Community, MediLodge of Holland, The Inn at Freedom Village, Resthaven Care Center and SKLD Zeeland.\nRyan Vanderstelt, administrator of MediLodge of Holland, said all staff and residents would be eligible to receive the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in a Walgreens-run clinic at MediLodge this week.\nThe 77-bed facility has about 100 staff.\nThe first inoculations at Resthaven begin Thursday at Resthaven Care Center, said Resthaven CEO Deedre Vriesman.\nMore than 130 residents of the Resthaven facility, which offers long-term nursing care, and more than 200 staff will be eligible to be vaccinated in the first round. Vriesman said the vaccine will be available later this month for Resthaven's assisted-living residents, as well.\n\"It's a hopeful sign that a few months from now, things will look drastically different than they do now,\" said Vriesman, who said residents and their families are, for the most part, excited for the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine.\n\"The vast majority\" of residents have agreed to be vaccinated or have had family members consent on their behalf, she said.\nCVS Health expects to complete its long-term care facility vaccination effort in the state of Michigan in 12 weeks, a CVS representative said in an email to The Sentinel.\nThough CVS did not provide specific details of its vaccination plans in West Michigan, the representative explained pharmacy teams are scheduling three visits to each long-term care facility to ensure all residents and staff are able to receive both doses of the vaccine.\nCVS Health is administering the vaccine at Freedom Village senior living community, located downtown Holland.\n\"We are grateful to have begun the process of vaccinating residents and staff at Freedom Village in partnership with local health authorities,\" said Russ Turecky, executive director of Freedom Village, in a statement emailed to The Sentinel.\n\"While the vaccine treatment is being administered, we continue to be steadfast in taking every precaution to protect the community from the spread of COVID-19.\"\nTurecky said updates about the process and protocols for COVID-19 vaccination would be communicated directly to Freedom Village staff and residents as Freedom Village continues to determine the logistics and timeline of vaccinations.\n\"We are strongly encouraging all residents and employees to receive the vaccine,\" Turecky said. \"The vaccine is free to all employees and residents and insurance is not required. While individuals have the right to refuse treatment, our staff has seen first-hand the toll this virus has had on communities across the nation, and they understand the importance of receiving the vaccine.\"\nLong-term care facility residents and staff fall into the state's Phase 1A priority group, first in line to receive the COVID-19 vaccine under the MDHHS's rollout plan along with front-line medical workers.\nAccording to long-term care facility data updated Jan. 4 by MDHHS, there have been 21,408 infections and 4,899 deaths from COVID-19 reported at the state’s 1,347 long-term care facilities — which include skilled nursing homes, adult foster care homes and homes for the aged — since March.\nLong-term care resident deaths made up 38.9 percent of the state’s total COVID-19 deaths as of Jan. 4.\n— Contact reporter Carolyn Muyskens at cmuyskens@hollandsentinel.com and follow her on Twitter at @cjmuyskens.", "Vaccinations begin at Holland nursing homes", "HOLLAND — Residents and staff at several Holland nursing homes will begin receiving their first shots of a COVID-19 vaccine this week.The long-term care center residents and staff will be vaccinated in clinics run by pharmacies CVS and Walgreens. The federal government contracted with the two national chains to administer the vaccine free of charge to nursing home residents and staff.Nursing homes were invited to sign up for the national program and choose either CVS or Walgreens to" ]

[]

"2021-01-07T02:48:59"

"2021-01-05T17:00:28"

"2021-01-05T00:00:00"

[ "Happy new year everyone!\nI don’t know about you, but during 2020, I often felt like a helpless bus passenger being driven towards the edge of a cliff by incompetent politicians and powerful business interests. I feel this way about climate change all the time, but the pandemic made the feeling so much worse. All through 2020, my anxiety level was way off the charts. It made everything, including work, difficult.\nI expect better from 2021, but a lot of these anxiety inducing problems are not going to magically disappear. I’m wondering how best to prepare for the year ahead and I don’t think making a bunch of resolutions is going to cut it.\n(If you are relating right now, read on, but please be aware there is a content warning coming up.)\nI hate the feeling of powerlessness and the anxiety it breeds. Medication helps a little, but I have to spend a lot of time and energy just trying to calm the f*ck down. Because calming the f*ck down is just something I must do to stay employed and married, I have a range of Strategies. Mr Thesis Whisperer, bless his heart, bought me a sun lounger so I can sit on the back deck and practice my therapist-prescribed mindfulness. I needed my sun lounger this summer, especially after Covid reared its ugly head in Australia early in the year:\nWhile I’m a fan of the odd bit of mindfulness, one of my main strategies for managing anxiety is to spend a lot of time carefully imagining the worst. I know this Strategy sounds counter-intuitive and I look forward to sharing it with you, but first, a caveat and a content warning.\nAlthough I’m an expert in PhD study, and highly experienced at working with stressed out people, I’m not a mental health expert. I’m speaking here about my own experience and what works for me.\nMy Strategy may not work for you – in fact, it may even be harmful. I recommend anyone who suspects they have an anxiety disorder seek appropriate medical help. (I feel privileged to have access to top notch mental health support at ANU – your uni should also have people who can assist).\nAnd feel free to click away right now if even reading about anxiety makes you anxious (yes, this is a thing and no, people can’t just ‘get over it’).\nOne way to counter anxiety is to look for what you can control in any given situation. As my twin sister’s therapist once said: ‘calm is control’. Thinking about the worst case scenario, very carefully, helps me stay calm. If I have imagined all the terrible things that can happen in advance, I can prepare for them. If the worst does happen, I will know what to do. And in the meantime, I can stop worrying so much. Even if I’ve only imagined a way to respond and taken no concrete action, I can tell myself “you’ve got this”.\nThis self talk is important because, for me, anxiety fuelled thoughts can trigger Rumination.\nAs it’s been explained to me, Rumination is basically being trapped by intrusive thought patterns. The thoughts are peculiar to a person and often based on their life history. Rumination can take the form of fevered imaginings of disaster, that play like a movie in your head. (And the movie is an endless loop, repeating over and over again). Extreme Rumination is horrible because you experience emotional reactions to events that haven’t happened. Even mild rumination will block out more useful thoughts and make work difficult.\nWhy does this worst case scenario thinking strategy work for me? I think about it like this: I am much more likely to survive a plane crash if I’ve counted the rows between me and the nearest exit. At the very least, I will set out in the right direction when the smoke and flames arrive.\nMy baseline of anxiety helps me easily imagine the worst at all times. As a result, I can usually see trouble coming WAY before most people do. I’m quite proud of this side effect of my anxiety and would like to take a moment to thank all my anxious monkey ancestors who ran up trees at the first sign of trouble. I’m sure their more relaxed friends and colleagues told my ancestors to chill the f*ck out too – just before those same relaxed monkeys got eaten by lions.\nThis vivid imagination, tuned to the worst case, is a kind of superpower but, like all superpowers, it must be used carefully or it can damage you. One way to creatively channel your anxious person superpower is Planning.\nI suck at a lot of academic-y things, like diary management and referencing, but I do pride myself on my planning ability. Making plans gives me joy and my obsession with planning tools is the secret of my career success. For instance, in How to write 1000 words a day (and not go bat shit crazy) I documented my writing PLAN to deal with the problem of writing 60,000 words in 3 months. This plan worked beautifully and I finished my PhD program early. In fact, the success of this plan convinced me to start a blog 10 years ago. (You’re welcome!)\nUnfortunately, not all PhD problems are solved so neatly. As someone once said: no plan survives first contact with the enemy. But a good plan doesn’t have to be elaborate. In fact, elaborate plans tend to fall apart in a crisis anyway. 2020 had a way of hitting us sideways with ‘unknown unknowns’ that defeated some of the best planners in the world:\nThe unknown unknowns cannot be fully anticipated, but you can use the first sign of trouble to think up on the spot contingency plans.\nFor instance, at the start of the pandemic, Mr Thesis Whisperer helped me make an excel spreadsheet of pantry staples to get us through any self-isolation periods. The sheet has neat formulas: I enter in how many of something I have on hand and it tells me how many more I need to buy. Unfortunately, as I write, the ACT has closed the borders and cases multiply in Sydney. But I am calm. I have activated my household lockdown procedures. As Douglas Adams would say: I know where my towel is.\nThe human capacity for creativity is why we have survived so many crises as a species. Your creativity can help you make vague contingency plans for a range of ‘known unknowns’. These are things you know might happen during your PhD because people tell you about them, like:\nA problematic supervisor\nUnexpected health issues\nThe Uni closes your school or academic unit\nRelationship breakdown\nExperimental failure\nFieldwork access denied\nResources become unavailable\nThe ‘known knowns’ – the obvious day to day problems – are easy to see, but worth dwelling on. You’ll have your own list of course, and family and work will dictate most of it, but I want to point out some cultural and technological ‘headwinds’, specifically:\nRole ambiguity: this is when you are not sure about the limits of your responsibility, which makes doing PhD work intrinsically difficult. We ask people to be independent in their PhD work, but give them a supervisor who is responsible for quality and progress, which sets up an unavoidable conflict. Role ambiguity is the fundamental difference between doing a PhD and doing the same work as a paid research assistant. Who is the ultimate arbiter of quality and progress in a PhD when the student is meant to become the expert? Even supervisors and students who get along well can and do struggle with this problem. Role ambiguity is a complex idea that deserves a whole post of its own, but suffice to say the stress it can cause is associated with a range of poor mental health outcomes.\nthis is when you are not sure about the limits of your responsibility, which makes doing PhD work intrinsically difficult. We ask people to be independent in their PhD work, but give them a supervisor who is responsible for quality and progress, which sets up an unavoidable conflict. Role ambiguity is the fundamental difference between doing a PhD and doing the same work as a paid research assistant. Who is the ultimate arbiter of quality and progress in a PhD when the student is meant to become the expert? Even supervisors and students who get along well can and do struggle with this problem. Role ambiguity is a complex idea that deserves a whole post of its own, but suffice to say the stress it can cause is associated with a range of poor mental health outcomes. Project uncertainty and ambiguity: I wrote a lot about this in my post While you scream inside your heart, please keep working.\nI wrote a lot about this in my post While you scream inside your heart, please keep working. Email!! ok, you might not get as much of this as I do, but it’s easier to write an email than that journal paper. A concrete, easy reward is always seductive and it’s easy for email to drain your productivity through a thousand tiny cuts.\nok, you might not get as much of this as I do, but it’s easier to write an email than that journal paper. A concrete, easy reward is always seductive and it’s easy for email to drain your productivity through a thousand tiny cuts. Addictive social technologies: delete the Facebook app off your phone and you will see what I mean (screentime on my phone told me I got 8 hours back in my week!). Those tech companies have invested millions to hijack your attention for money. Being able to effectively manage your time on social media has become such a crucial skill we teach a 5-week course on it at ANU.\ndelete the Facebook app off your phone and you will see what I mean (screentime on my phone told me I got 8 hours back in my week!). Those tech companies have invested millions to hijack your attention for money. Being able to effectively manage your time on social media has become such a crucial skill we teach a 5-week course on it at ANU. A hierarchical environment where some people’ have more control over time than others: your university can impose deadlines on you, but you have limited ability to make your deadline into a shared problem with your supervisor. If your supervisor is taking too long to give you feedback on drafts you can’t make them do it quicker – heck, even the head of the school or the Vice-Chancellor would have trouble ordering an academic about. Autonomy is one of the key pleasures of academic life and we guard it jealously. I’m not saying it’s right – just pointing out the problem is there and it is way bigger than you.\nSo, how do you plan for things you can’t control? What do I mean by ‘adopt an alert posture’?\nA simple strategy is to imagine very specific problems and ask yourself what you will do if these things happen. For example, here is a list of questions for putting a thesis together for submission:\nIf I go over the word limit, how will I cut 20,000 words from my dissertation? Thinking about this problem might encourage you to more carefully define the scope of work so you don’t end up with lots of excess words. But I have good friends (hi N!) who swear by ‘writing long’. These people see the word count as a creativity killer, insist they must catch ALL the ideas and claim they cannot work any other way. And honestly, who am I to judge? The writing process is mysterious and deeply personal. You do you boo – but if you like to ‘write long’, at the very least learn some editing strategies so that you are not tearing your hair out at the end trying to get this thing under your university’s word count.\nThinking about this problem might encourage you to more carefully define the scope of work so you don’t end up with lots of excess words. But I have good friends (hi N!) who swear by ‘writing long’. These people see the word count as a creativity killer, insist they must catch ALL the ideas and claim they cannot work any other way. And honestly, who am I to judge? The writing process is mysterious and deeply personal. You do you boo – but if you like to ‘write long’, at the very least learn some editing strategies so that you are not tearing your hair out at the end trying to get this thing under your university’s word count. What will I do if I don’t get useful – or timely – feedback from my supervisor? If your supervisor has been tardy returning drafts in the past, this is unlikely to change – especially if they are on holiday or a sabbatical. There are creative solutions to this problem, such as finding other readers, but trying to locate and persuade such people to work on your draft when you are close to the deadline is not advisable. You will need to cultivate these relationships all through your candidature. Think of a Plan for that.\nIf your supervisor has been tardy returning drafts in the past, this is unlikely to change – especially if they are on holiday or a sabbatical. There are creative solutions to this problem, such as finding other readers, but trying to locate and persuade such people to work on your draft when you are close to the deadline is not advisable. You will need to cultivate these relationships all through your candidature. Think of a Plan for that. Have I built in enough time to write all these chapters over again if I have to? I think it was Howard Becker who said ‘there is no such thing as writing, only rewriting’. What he meant was, it will take much, much longer than you think to go from rough draft to final version. For this reason, I push my students to have a rough draft one whole year before they have to submit. Yes – really. [later addition: since this bit seems to be causing anxiety let me clarify! What I mean by ‘rough full draft’ is that you know the shape of it: a chapter outline of what will go where, a ton of messy words in each chapter to be edited and clearly identified gaps (that are not gaping holes). The minimum time I recommend getting to this point is 6 months prior to submission].\nI think it was Howard Becker who said ‘there is no such thing as writing, only rewriting’. What he meant was, it will take much, much longer than you think to go from rough draft to final version. For this reason, I push my students to have a rough draft one whole year before they have to submit. Yes – really. [later addition: since this bit seems to be causing anxiety let me clarify! What I mean by ‘rough full draft’ is that you know the shape of it: a chapter outline of what will go where, a ton of messy words in each chapter to be edited and clearly identified gaps (that are not gaping holes). The minimum time I recommend getting to this point is 6 months prior to submission]. What will I do if my document gets corrupted when I try to compile it because it’s so big? Most people underestimate the technical difficulties of dealing with 100,000 words of text and references. I’ve documented my scary experience with EndNote right before I submitted my thesis. Don’t be me – do a few tests first.\nMost people underestimate the technical difficulties of dealing with 100,000 words of text and references. I’ve documented my scary experience with EndNote right before I submitted my thesis. Don’t be me – do a few tests first. What if the person I want to copy edit the document is not available? Trust me, the good ones will be gone if you leave it to the last minute. You can use Grammarly of course, but you will need to build in many hours of extra work.\nTrust me, the good ones will be gone if you leave it to the last minute. You can use Grammarly of course, but you will need to build in many hours of extra work. What happens if I can’t get copyright permission to use this image? A dissertation is no longer considered ‘fair use’ in Australia and the UK so you will need to seek permission to use images you don’t own. And yes, that image or diagram that you copied and altered still needs copyright approval.\nA dissertation is no longer considered ‘fair use’ in Australia and the UK so you will need to seek permission to use images you don’t own. And yes, that image or diagram that you copied and altered still needs copyright approval. What if I can’t publish work in my thesis that I have published somewhere else? You signed a copyright agreement to publish in that journal, remember? They now own your work. Technically, you cannot include that text in your thesis now. Most have provisions for dissertations in the fine print but it pays to check!\n…and this is what it looks inside my head pretty much all the time – hard to sleep isn’t it?\nAgain I stress: this post is drawn from my experience. Your mileage may vary. I hope, for some of you (and not just the anxious types) these worst case scenario questions are a creative prompt for making some plans. My fellow anxious people: if you feel you can turn your anxiety to good use this way: grab a piece of paper and try to write down 20 more about other aspects of your thesis, like data gathering. This list will help you dream up a few contingency plans to use in an emergency – or help you think about how to avoid the problem in the first place.\nRemember, calm is control: just count the rows between you and the exit.\nLooking forward to the next year of blogging and a less shit 2021!\nInger\nPS: Comments are still off and will remain that way for the foreseeable – you can talk to me on the socials. All my handles are linked in the right-hand menu.\nPPS: A big THANK YOU to everyone who bought my 2020 ebook The year of living Covidly for charity. On the 2nd of January I donated the first tranche of $464.07 to UN Women Australia – here’s the receipt: I’ll donate more as it comes in. Thanks for helping me make something so positive out of a shitty year – I appreciate all of you!\nRelated on the Whisperer:\nHear me explain project uncertainty to my co-host, Dr Jason Downs, in our semi-regular podcast here, or go to the On The Reg podcast page to subscribe through your favourite player.\nWhile you scream inside your heart, please keep working\nThe academic fitbit?\nUnhelpful PhD advice\nEndnote vs… everything else\nOther links:\nSome papers on Role Ambiguity\nShare this: Print\nMore\nEmail\nFacebook\nTwitter\nPocket\nReddit\nLinkedIn\nTumblr\nTelegram\nWhatsApp", "Why your anxiety might also be a super power", "Happy new year everyone! I don't know about you, but during 2020, I often felt like a helpless bus passenger being driven towards the edge of a cliff by incompetent politicians and powerful business interests. I feel this way about climate change all the time, but the pandemic made the feeling so much worse. All…" ]