Kevin Michael Brown says: At a time when "economy" and "business" are not only buzz words, but also the main headlines of newspapers and news stories every day. This is a GREAT time to network with other businesses and the public-at-large to promote and learn about others.
I will be at the 2009 EXPO and would enjoy meeting YOU there, too!
From: http://www.shiawasseechamber.org/ 2009 Home Garden Business EXPO News
Over the last several months, the EXPO committee has been meeting and making plans for a great 2009 show. Based on feedback from exhibitors, the committee has made a small change in the show layout.
Please be aware that this change in layout has shifted the booth numbers slightly. You may still book the same location, but your booth number will not be exactly the same as last year.
The very popular Restaurant Row will return in 2009, and will be located in the gym. We plan to have cafeteria-style seating in the open hallway outside of the gym. Restaurant
Row tickets will be for sale at the EXPO only and will be individual tickets, not a punch card. This will allow the restaurants to offer delicious food and set the cost of the food based on a number of tickets. This slight change of a ticket system has been implemented based on other successful food sampling shows both large and small.
On behalf of the EXPO committee, we look forward to a great 2009 show and we hope you will join us as an exhibitor.
Sincerely,
Fred Furman
EXPO Committee Chair
HeadWaterTrails Inc. in Holly,MI is raising money thru donations, grants and raffle tickets for a Shiawassee River mid-point landing located on Fish Lake Rd. in Holly.
The group will be selling raffle tickets for a Walden Adirondack kayak and accessories.
Actual drawing will be held December 12, 2008.
The Walden Adirondack Kayak Is A Favorite For General Recreation.
It's Large Cockpit Allows Easy Access And Plenty Of Room.
The Adirondack Also Has An Optional Retractable Rudder
Headwaters Trails, Inc. is based in Oakland County, Michigan, and dedicated to the development of a trail network and accompanying recreational activities in the northwest headwaters region
We all know that politics is a dirty sport, but on some level, I keep thinking that there are rules. I think that because we are Americans, we can question our government without repercussion. I think that no matter how much some people in government dislike some of us, there are lines that they just will not cross.
Bah. I don't know why I keep thinking this way. Just over a year ago, Mike Bishop crossed one of those lines when he censored BFM. We beat him back easily enough (with a little help of the ACLU, the MSM, and the Senate Dems), but not before he smeared us in the press. We're just private citizens, exercising our right to political speech. And he's out there smearing us.
Doesn't matter. Anything goes.
But still I remained stupid naïve enough to think that there are lines that won't be crossed. Then the Sheriff or his supporters popped up to remind me of the lesson I first learned from Senator Mike. Private citizens are fair game for public attack. Never forget, anything goes.
Now the City of Corunna has reached out and bitch-slapped one of their former employees, in a way that has left my head spinning. It's like I never learn.
The officially unofficial results are in. Incumbent Sheriff Jon Wilson has been defeated in a primary by Asst. Prosecutor Deana Finnegan. Finnegan took 55% of the vote, while Wilson received only 36%.
One lesson I keep learning over & over again is that I should never blog when I'm angry. That lesson just doesn't seem to stick with me.
So yesterday our Board of Commissioners voted to indefinitely postpone the amendment to revert the food licensing and inspection fees back to what it was before it changed in December, 2007.
An act of pure cowardice and SLEAZE.
SLEAZE!!
Ok, for those of you who aren't up to speed, here's an excerpt from Tina's March 26 diary...
Recent legislation passed in Lansing eliminated the exemption that was afforded to non-profits and schools for food licensing fees.
... while we want to continue to feed the hungry, the first $500.00 budgeted to this effort, must be paid to the County.
... Jack Johnson attempted to amend the motion to 'roll back' the fees to their previous levels (which I may add included temporary licenses for sales of food for non-profits) until the amendment proposed by Rep Ball was decided in Lansing. [Prosecutor] Randy Colbry felt this was not proper because the legal opinion he subscribes to does not allow for it. Pavlica just couldn't get past that they might be 'breaking the law' in some way, the same went for Stewart.
In other words, our Board of Commissioners has voted to fine our Churches for feeding the hungry.
We're not talking about a reasonable inspection fee. Most people agree that any kitchen that serves food to the public should meet certain standards put forward by law, and that organizations should cover the costs associated with maintaining those standards. We're talking about fining the churches and non-profits the same amount as we would charge a school or restaurant. This is true even if the church is serving food at a funeral service, or at a ministry event, or feed-the-hungry, or whatever.
Same. Fee.
And our Board of Commissioners is ok with this, because George Pichette, the Director of our County Health Department, is demanding the revenue.
Now ... the majority of the county board, led by Prosecutor Randy Colbry, says that it is not legal to charge a church less than they charge a school. The law absolutely does not allow this. Therefore, the county must do what Pichette wants. Wouldn't want to be breaking the law.
I decided to start a digest so that we can keep track of everything that's happened with the Sheriff.
I Am Not Responding To The Blog! - Our first report on the Sheriff, in which we chronicle our attempts to get to the bottom of the alleged abuse and hostile work environment. This includes links to the relevant media coverage.
Sheriff Makes Good On Threat To Argus - Sheriff Wilson begins the process of withholding information from Shiawassee County's only local daily newspaper. This is in response to the unfavorable coverage he received due to our grassroots efforts to expose his conduct. This story received nationwide exposure.
The Shiawassee County sheriff will stop releasing information to a newspaper after it published an article about a political blogger critical of the sheriff, the paper reported.
hehehehehe (Think Snidely Whiplash total world domination laugh)
Behind Closed Doors - a WNEM I-Team Report on the results of our investigative work:
Welcome To Shiawassee County - Where I cry in my beer over the state of politics in my hometown, while rejoicing in the fact that a super-duper-secret memo was leaked to a blogger.
Shiawassee Sheriff Harasses Opponents - He's trying to put the hurt on Deana Finnegan. Which for this guy is easier than, say, talking about the issues.
A couple of years ago I would have inserted something childish, like, "How does my blog taste now????" But, I've really grown as a person.
Actually this situation makes me sad. There was an easy fix to all of this. All the Sheriff had to do was recognize that he had a problem with his management style. Or perhaps he should have considered that he may need counseling for a temper problem. Neither of these things are anything to be ashamed of. Instead, he tried to squash the voices of discontent, and punish the people who spoke out against him. Shame on him, and shame on the county commissioners who couldn't be bothered to do the right thing until the people forced them to act.
Ok, you're probably tired of me popping in just to talk about my home-town Sheriff. But I just had to stop by for a minute to tell you that our Deputies have now formally submitted a declaration of hostile work environment.
"As a group, we stood by, even when some among us became so stressed by this environment that hospitalization and medical treatment was necessary. Even during these instances, the Sheriff made references to how individuals among us "couldn't handle it"
As officials charged with the safety of the public, the mistreatment put to us by Sheriff Wilson was tolerated with the collective understanding that our purpose was for the greater good which is the safety of our county. Now that the Sheriff has placed in jeopardy what we have all strived so diligently to protect, we can no longer stand by and not take action to rectify this situation."
Our County Administrator has informed the Board of Commissioners that she believes the situation in the Sheriff's Dept is "intolerable", and the Deputies are now protected under the Whistleblower's Act.
If you're interested, you can download the declaration and the related memos in this 1.7MB zip file.
If you're not familiar with the Shiawassee Sheriff saga, check out this tag.
Hello blog buddies! I'm checking in this weekend from Battle Creek's cool Nottke's Family Fun Center, where we are in the 2nd day of some bowling tournament that I don't care about (but for some reason, promised to attend). Since it isn't possible for me to be at an event and not blog, I am here with my trusty laptop.
I'd like to tell you all about who's leading, what happened yesterday, and which bowlers are throwing what. But, I don't understand any of it. I know strikes are good & gutter balls are bad, and if you're any kind of bowler at all then you never. ever. use house shoes. And that's all I need to know. Seriously, I don't even like bowling.
But I did take a picture:
So, let's talk about my Sheriff.
When last I posted, someone had leaked a top-secret-national-security-dear-God-don't-let-anyone-see-it legal "opinion" that stated that our Sheriff did indeed grab one of his deputies, and that the work environment in the Shia Co Sheriff's Dept needs some improvement. This document was especially important because the Sheriff had just submitted a letter to the editor in which he claimed that the same document cleared him of both accusations. Basically, the leaked document demonstrated that the Sheriff was not only guilty(ish) as charged, but that he was also willing to be untruthful about it.
Since then, another document has surfaced. This is a 2 page document that was submitted to the county by Deputy Mike Gute, in which he describes being manhandled by the Sheriff while working the scene of the tragic & heartbreaking Copas Road explosion. Gute lists several non-SCSD witnesses to this incident, and he concludes his statement by expressing concern about a hostile work environment in the Department. This document was obtained through a FOIA request and the 148K pdf is available for download here.
So now your friendly Shiawassee bloggers (I am not the only one) have revealed a pattern of aggressive and irresponsible behavior by this Sheriff.
To be fair, the Sheriff's problems have as much to do with his stupidity, as they do with the grassroots efforts to expose his conduct. The Sheriff has mishandled this at every single step. First by lashing out at the media and the public, by refusing to talk to WNEM (who genuinely wanted to tell his side of the story), and by being untruthful in his public statement. His most recent blunder was to go to a public meeting and speak of a series of previously unreported home invasions in our county.
Of course, the Sheriff is still trying to show the world that he's still in charge. He recently implemented a series of mean-spirited personnel moves in the department. Gute has been "busted" back to Road Patrol, Detective Dave Kirk has been moved to Homeland Security, and the Homeland Security officer has been moved to the Detective Bureau. We all know that Gute is being punished for speaking out against the hostile work environment (though I'll say up front that I cannot prove it), and we suspect that Kirk is being moved to Homeland Security because it has been rumored that Kirk was considering a run for Sheriff. (People in the HS position cannot run for office)
Gute and Kirk have both just returned from some pretty expensive training for the positions that they were already in. Our county can kiss that money goodbye.
But ... I'm thinking that this is the year that we can kiss Jon Wilson goodbye as well. And your friendly neighborhood bloggers have helped move that along.
I seriously cannot stop smiling right now. And I don't even like bowling!
This is an op-ed submitted to the Shiawassee papers, in response to this.
A gay friend of mine and of the church I serve emailed me a picture of a church sign located just East of Owosso on M-21. The sign reads: "Gods Position on Homosexuality Lev. 20 13 Rom 1 18-32 First Cor. 6 9-11". My friend was offended, me too. But of more concern to me than the offence I felt are the hearts and souls of the believers of the "sign church" who proclaim and apparently profess to live a rather negative and narrow view of the Bible's teaching.
The Scripture verse cited from Leviticus says quite explicitly that male homosexuals should die. But verse 13 does not stand alone it is part of a larger passage (Chapter 20) that also says someone who commits child sacrifice, curses parents, commits adultery, incest, beastiality, or divination should also die. The means of execution include stoning to death and burning to death.
Today reliable studies show that if 10 people attend the "sign church" one is gay and 3 to 5 have committed adultery. As a sinner who serves sinners all saved by God's grace, I am blessed to spend time with and listen to many of God's children; I've found those statistics credible. People of the "sign church" do you acknowledge your sin? Do you believe in and promote capital punishment for those who've fallen from grace and have been unfaithful to their spouse?
I hope Pastor John doesn't mind me blogging this, but it's a story that should be told.
Remember this article, where Pastor John talks about identity?
Many believers try to justify their separation from and rejection of homosexuals in the church by saying it is not an identity issue, but rather is a life style choice. ... Just as I was born into the heterosexual community and had absolutely no choice in that - it is who I am.
...
In this story from Acts we learn that the God revealed in Jesus' does not reject someone because of their sexual identity. In fact, God blessed with baptism and the Spirit this eunuch who was rejected by the church. And Christian church tradition and history credits the Christian church in Ethiopia to this eunuch who returned home declaring God's love in Jesus for everyone everywhere.
It is Pastor John's most popular article, in terms of incoming links and reader feedback.
Pastor John is a member of the Owosso Ministerial Association, in Shiawassee County. The Ministers take turns hosting the monthly OMA meetings at their respective churches, and whoever is hosting the meeting has the opportunity to give a sermon and tell the others about his ministry.
Pastor John hosted the last meeting, and had the audacity to talk about inclusion and identity. "Everyone is welcome at our church."
Shiawassee County Veterans For Peace was well represented in 2 parades on Saturday, Sept. 8.
VFP was enthusiastically welcomed to Bancroft and Morrice. We passed out about 10 "Support the Troops, End the War" yard signs and over 100 "Stop the War" bumper stickers.
We will be in the Perry parade next Saturday and on the 29th in Ovid for their Carriage Days Parade.
Anyone who wants to "Support the Troops, End the War" is invited to walk with us.
I have been handing out yard signs on Saturdays at the Owosso Farmers Market. Last week I gave out 40 signs and about 15 "Stop the War" bumper stickers.
And don't forget, 'If we don't END THE WAR, they will START THE DRAFT.
