I went to A Bean To Go in downtown Lake Orion the other morning for a cup of coffee. The coffee is awesome; the atmosphere everything you’d want for a coffee shop — old brick walls, wooden floors, big windows, and lots of space. The owner/roast master Kirk Walker, was his friendly self.
Everything was honkydory . . . But, what grabbed my attention wasn’t the coffee, atmosphere or the owner. It was something he said, something he’s trying out. Get this, every Monday is Family Game Night. And, what this really means is it is a time where cell phones, tablets and other portable computer things are discouraged.
‘I just thought, wouldn’t it be nice to have a time where families can come out, be together and not be distracted by gadgets,? he said.
Folks can talk, read or play board games. They can play the games there, or bring in their own. What a concept!
Good job, Kirk. Well played
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I read in a book that children are magical. They transform those who care for them. Children make their caretakers more understanding, more patient more loving. The magic of children is they make us better.
I agree . . . oh, and do you really want to know the book? It might take away from the propheticness of the concept. I suppose it might not, too. Okay, it’s a science fiction/fantasy type book by Jim Butcher, called Proven Guilty. This book is part of a series of books in the Dresden Files — about Chicago’s only wizard in the phone book, Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden.
Presto-magico! I feel the magic of the previous sentiment, slowly going, ‘poof!?
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This week members of the Michigan House of Representatives are getting set to vote for HB 4183. A bill I strongly oppose. In an effort to take away accountability and transparency in government, some members of the Michigan Legislature are moving to end requiring local governments placing public notices in newspapers. House Bill 4183 is veiling the transparency issue as a “cost” savings to local governments, by letting government officials to place notices on their websites. We know of a half dozen local governments who do not have websites? How many more throughout the state are with out websites. It is also estimated that 25% of the population does not have the internet in their home.
The bill fails to show a cost of implementing and maintaining local government websites.
The cost to our local governments to post notices in our pages is very small. But the issue really isn’t about saving the tax payers a few thousand dollars a year. It is really about keeping the public informed by an independent third party. Do you trust everyone in government to always do the right thing? Would you like the United States Constitution to only be a digital copy. It’s really easy to change digital content.
The House is expected to vote on this bill this Thursday (March 19) and I encourage everybody to contact their legislator to vote against.
Let’s face it folks, government at every level struggles with transparency, with projecting an image of integrity and of trust. The publication of legal notices helps it do just that, it’s an indication of a board’s intent to be open with the public it serves.
Currently, newspapers are required to print, verify and keep on file all notices published in our newspapers. House Bill 4183, sponsored by Amanda Price (R-Holland), will create the “Local Government Public Notice Act” to phase-in, by January 2025, new legal protocols. When the bill is fully implemented, the act will allow government to handle legal notices by electronic dissemination and archival protocols via the Internet on government-run websites with little or no oversight as we have today.
The bill would allow those public notices to be placed on websites run by municipalities, out-of-sight, out-of-mind, and out-of-the-way communication for many citizens I think would become detrimental to taxpayers. With so many more serious issues facing our state at this time, I question why this unnecessary bill is topping the list of legislative actions.
Publisher Fred Jacobs wrote . . .On the surface, the issue may not seem serious to most, but to those of us who have dedicated their professional lives to the publishing business it is an obvious reduction in government transparency. It reminds me of something that a former township supervisor once told me.
“I wish you wouldn’t publish so much information about what were doing,” said this government leader, “it makes it hard to govern.”
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Here are local representatives and their contact information:
Joeseph Graves (District 51): call 517-373-1780 or email, JosephGraves@house.mi.gov
Brad Jacobsen (District 46): call 517-373-1798 or email, BradJacobsen@house.mi.gov
Jim Tedder (District 43): call 517-373-0615 or email, JimTedder@house.mi.gov
Jim Runestad (District 44): call 517-373-2616 or email, JimRunestad@house.mi.gov