BAY CITY — In his 40 years as an auto technician, Mark Voss never thought he’d see computers in cars. He also thought he wouldn’t need reading glasses on the job.
But after four decades of turning wrenches, Voss has seen a lot of changes in the automotive world. He retires today at 11:11 a.m. to coincide with today’s date: 11/11/11. It also happens to be his 58th birthday.
“He’s one of those rare employees that, as a company, you have very few of,” said Joseph Thelen, general manager of Thelen Subaru. “He was the kind of technician who’d come up to the lounge and talk to the customer.”
Thelen said he was lucky to have a such a seasoned mechanic on his team. Voss has six years more seniority than any other employee at Thelen. He said Voss was factory certified for both Mazada and Volkswagen automobiles.
Voss said he started working at Wells Motors in 1971, a car dealership that predated Thelen Subaru. After Wells Motors was bought by Thelen in 1977, Voss decided to stay and work with today’s Thelen Subaru dealership, located at 1112 N. Euclid Ave.
Voss said he felt it was time to retire about two years ago, around the time he had to get his reading glasses. During his tenure, cars have become more technical and difficult to maintain. And with the advent of onboard computers, an idea he scoffed at years ago, he now spends more time reprograming onboard computers and fixing dashboard light warnings on top of his regular repairs.
“I have more and more of that all the time,” he said. “When I started here there was no such thing as a check-engine light. It’s time for the young kids to take over.”
Mechanic Mark Peterson, who started at Thelen Subaru six years ago, has worked next to Voss’ repair bay for the past four years and said he’s enjoyed working with Voss’ jovial attitude.
“When I first came here, Voss kind of — I guess you could say he took me under his wings,” said Peterson, 27 of Frankenmuth. “It was funny because I would always go and ask him questions, and now it’s I am always helping him. For the first year I was always unsure of things and now everything’s gotten so complicated he always comes to me to help him.”
Voss said he’s looking forward to relaxing after today. He said he plans to spend time with his family, further is wood carving hobby and maintain his ’68 Chevrolet Impala.
As a way of thanking Voss for nearly 35 years of service, Thelen said the dealership will foot the cost for a vacation of Voss’ choice.
In related news, Kathy LaLonde and her staff at Little House, 924 N. Water St., in Bay City, invite customers to drop by to celebrate LaLonde's birthday today.
“This Friday, 11-11-11 is my birthday,” she said. “There is chocolate cake, 11 specials and gifts for my customers.”
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Bangor Township church giving free haircuts for returning students
BANGOR TOWNSHIP — Kali Blackmar, 13, of Bay City sits in hair stylist Lynn Camero’s chair in the beige basement of New Hope Baptist Church. She, her sister and her brother have come to get their hair cut before going back to school.
Free haircuts are being given at the church, located at 3360 E. Midland Road in Bangor Township, to students returning to school in the coming weeks. The shearing started Monday and continues through Wednesday.
Camero, 67, said about 15 children have come out each day for a total of 72 haircuts as of Thursday morning.
Rev. Lee Austin, 62, said the idea first came to light when she was getting her hair cut by Sue Wegner, 48, two months ago.
“She was cutting my hair at her house and said her dream was to give everyone in Bay City who can’t afford to have a hair cut a free one,” Austin said. “I said, ‘Sue, if I supply the people you can cut as much hair as you want.' ”
Wegner agreed, and was joined by Camero for the event.
“On the first day we had a family of 12 walk in all at once,” Austin said.
Another free hair cutting session is planned for the first weekend in December.
Free haircuts are being given at the church, located at 3360 E. Midland Road in Bangor Township, to students returning to school in the coming weeks. The shearing started Monday and continues through Wednesday.
Camero, 67, said about 15 children have come out each day for a total of 72 haircuts as of Thursday morning.
Rev. Lee Austin, 62, said the idea first came to light when she was getting her hair cut by Sue Wegner, 48, two months ago.
“She was cutting my hair at her house and said her dream was to give everyone in Bay City who can’t afford to have a hair cut a free one,” Austin said. “I said, ‘Sue, if I supply the people you can cut as much hair as you want.' ”
Wegner agreed, and was joined by Camero for the event.
“On the first day we had a family of 12 walk in all at once,” Austin said.
Another free hair cutting session is planned for the first weekend in December.
The ink is going pink: Bay City Tattoo shop to ink ribbons for breast cancer awareness month
Ask people about their tattoos, and you’re likely to get a pretty good story.
Ask Alan Gower and Katie Gower next week, and you’ll get the story of a lifetime.
In a show of support for their mother and her fight against breast cancer, the Gowers plan to have their bodies inked with a pink ribbon Sunday during a 24-hour tattoo marathon being hosted by VooDoo Tattoo.
The event, which begins at noon at 1010 Columbus Ave., is a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.
For $20, participants can have one of several pink ribbon styles inked by VooDoo Tattoo’s artists, with half the proceeds benefiting breast cancer research.
The shop also is accepting donations for those who want to avoid the needle.
“It’s always been kinda in the back of our minds to do some sort of fundraiser,” said Paul Gomez, 36, a VooDoo Tattoo artist who says buzz surrounding the event has been extraordinary. “I’m hoping we didn’t bite off more than we can chew with this thing.
“Regardless, it’s going to be a good time. It’ll be a day to remember for sure.”
For Alan Gower, 22, and Katie Gower, 15, the timing of the event couldn’t be better.
Their mother, Shelley Brothwell, 39, of Kawkawlin, was diagnosed with breast cancer in September and is scheduled to undergo a double mastectomy today at Covenant HealthCare in Saginaw.
She said she was deeply moved that her children are getting the tattoos in her honor and visited VooDoo last week to sign off on her daughter’s artwork because Katie is not yet 18.
“I’ll be in the hospital while they’re doing it.”
Alan Gower, who has other tattoos, said his pink ribbon is going behind his ear.
“I’m having mine on my shoulder,” added Katie Gower.
Gomez said the shop has stocked up on tubes, needles and pink ink for Sunday’s marathon. He said each ink job should take 20 to 30 minutes.
He said the event hits close to home because at age 15, he lost his best friend to stomach cancer.
“We were kind of inseparable,” he said. “Even at 15 … you understand the concept, but you know, having it right there where it’s right in your face, it’s kinda hard to deal with.”
Amelia Pelletier, coordinator of health initiatives for the Northeast Michigan and Upper Peninsula Chapter of the American Cancer Society, said she thinks the event is a great way to raise money and awareness in the battle against breast cancer.
“I thought it was kind of a neat idea when the guys came up with it,” she said.
Pelletier’s son, Dave Pelletier, 28, of Essexville, is an artist at VooDoo Tattoo and says Sunday’s event coincides with Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is observed each October.
Justin Rodriguez, owner of VooDoo Tattoo, said he’s been getting four to five calls a day from people asking about the event. He said many have told him they’re coming in groups of five or more.
“We have a lot of people who say they’re going to be here when we open,” Rodriguez said, hinting this may not be the last tattoo marathon at his business. “I hope this falls into place and this becomes a real great event.”
Amelia Pelletier said the money raised funds breast cancer research, as well as local community programs aimed at early detection and prevention.
That’s important to Brothwell, who says she won’t know the scope of her cancer until doctors operate and even if everything goes well, she’ll still have two more operations over a six-month period for reconstruction.
“It’s a long process I’ve found out,” she said, adding she never wants her daughter to go through what she is experiencing.
“I told her, when she gets older, I’m gonna be pushing her,” Brothwell said. “She’s gotta get breast exams, because I don’t want this to happen to her.”
Katie Gower agreed.
“I’m getting tested when I’m 20.”
http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2011/10/the_ink_is_going_pink.html
Ask Alan Gower and Katie Gower next week, and you’ll get the story of a lifetime.
In a show of support for their mother and her fight against breast cancer, the Gowers plan to have their bodies inked with a pink ribbon Sunday during a 24-hour tattoo marathon being hosted by VooDoo Tattoo.
The event, which begins at noon at 1010 Columbus Ave., is a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.
For $20, participants can have one of several pink ribbon styles inked by VooDoo Tattoo’s artists, with half the proceeds benefiting breast cancer research.
The shop also is accepting donations for those who want to avoid the needle.
“It’s always been kinda in the back of our minds to do some sort of fundraiser,” said Paul Gomez, 36, a VooDoo Tattoo artist who says buzz surrounding the event has been extraordinary. “I’m hoping we didn’t bite off more than we can chew with this thing.
“Regardless, it’s going to be a good time. It’ll be a day to remember for sure.”
For Alan Gower, 22, and Katie Gower, 15, the timing of the event couldn’t be better.
Their mother, Shelley Brothwell, 39, of Kawkawlin, was diagnosed with breast cancer in September and is scheduled to undergo a double mastectomy today at Covenant HealthCare in Saginaw.
She said she was deeply moved that her children are getting the tattoos in her honor and visited VooDoo last week to sign off on her daughter’s artwork because Katie is not yet 18.
“I’ll be in the hospital while they’re doing it.”
Alan Gower, who has other tattoos, said his pink ribbon is going behind his ear.
“I’m having mine on my shoulder,” added Katie Gower.
Gomez said the shop has stocked up on tubes, needles and pink ink for Sunday’s marathon. He said each ink job should take 20 to 30 minutes.
He said the event hits close to home because at age 15, he lost his best friend to stomach cancer.
“We were kind of inseparable,” he said. “Even at 15 … you understand the concept, but you know, having it right there where it’s right in your face, it’s kinda hard to deal with.”
Amelia Pelletier, coordinator of health initiatives for the Northeast Michigan and Upper Peninsula Chapter of the American Cancer Society, said she thinks the event is a great way to raise money and awareness in the battle against breast cancer.
“I thought it was kind of a neat idea when the guys came up with it,” she said.
Pelletier’s son, Dave Pelletier, 28, of Essexville, is an artist at VooDoo Tattoo and says Sunday’s event coincides with Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is observed each October.
Justin Rodriguez, owner of VooDoo Tattoo, said he’s been getting four to five calls a day from people asking about the event. He said many have told him they’re coming in groups of five or more.
“We have a lot of people who say they’re going to be here when we open,” Rodriguez said, hinting this may not be the last tattoo marathon at his business. “I hope this falls into place and this becomes a real great event.”
Amelia Pelletier said the money raised funds breast cancer research, as well as local community programs aimed at early detection and prevention.
That’s important to Brothwell, who says she won’t know the scope of her cancer until doctors operate and even if everything goes well, she’ll still have two more operations over a six-month period for reconstruction.
“It’s a long process I’ve found out,” she said, adding she never wants her daughter to go through what she is experiencing.
“I told her, when she gets older, I’m gonna be pushing her,” Brothwell said. “She’s gotta get breast exams, because I don’t want this to happen to her.”
Katie Gower agreed.
“I’m getting tested when I’m 20.”
http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2011/10/the_ink_is_going_pink.html
The ink is going pink: Bay City Tattoo shop to ink ribbons for breast cancer awareness month
Bay City — Overwhelming response brought an early end to VooDoo Tattoo's 24 hour breast cancer tattoo marathon. The event, where patrons pay $20 for a breast cancer ribbon tattoo, has had such an overwhelming response that the tattoo parlor, located at 1010 Columbus Ave., had to lock its doors at 7 a.m., turning away participants said employee Shannon Rodriguez.
Rodriguez said all told, the shop inked 271 tattoos.
Half of the proceeds will go towards the American Cancer Society.
Rodriguez said VooDoo Tattoo is beginning to run out of supplies, such as tubes used for tattooing and will need to make a special order to keep working throughout the week. Local businesses came out to help VooDoo tattoo employees and patrons — many of which stood in line for several hours before making it into VooDoo tattoo.
Rodiguez said Grandpa Tony's, D'Angelo's Pizza and Bare Bones BBQ & Pizza donated food for the employees while the American Cancer Society donated cookies, bottled water and hot cocoa for patrons waiting in line.
"We definitely plan to do another one," Rodriguez said. "We didn't know we'd get this kind of response."
http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2011/10/the_ink_is_going_pink.html
Rodriguez said all told, the shop inked 271 tattoos.
Half of the proceeds will go towards the American Cancer Society.
Rodriguez said VooDoo Tattoo is beginning to run out of supplies, such as tubes used for tattooing and will need to make a special order to keep working throughout the week. Local businesses came out to help VooDoo tattoo employees and patrons — many of which stood in line for several hours before making it into VooDoo tattoo.
Rodiguez said Grandpa Tony's, D'Angelo's Pizza and Bare Bones BBQ & Pizza donated food for the employees while the American Cancer Society donated cookies, bottled water and hot cocoa for patrons waiting in line.
"We definitely plan to do another one," Rodriguez said. "We didn't know we'd get this kind of response."
http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2011/10/the_ink_is_going_pink.html
Miss Cougar International speaks out: So what if cougars like young guys?
Though older men get praised for scoring hot young girlfriends, older women (commonly referred to as “cougars”) are often berated and laughed at for pursuing younger guys.
Since the 1967 release of “The Graduate,” a film centered on a mother seducing an unsettled twenty-something aged man, cougars have been viewed as aggressive females who force themselves upon insecure males.
The 2009 television series “Cougar Town” reinforces the idea that it’s unusual and humorous for a seasoned woman to desire a young, physically fit dude who would not have issues downstairs, but a “cougar-cub” relationship does not need to be seen as scandalous or weird.
Kenneth Martinez, 21, never expected to date a woman 16 years his senior, but he does. The “cub” met his current girlfriend while waiting for a buddy to pick him up at a skate park in Indianapolis, Indiana.
“We talked for like an hour,” Martinez told The Daily Caller. “She gave me her number, then we went out.”
This was not Martinez’s first cougar encounter. He said an older woman had fawned over his appearance before he had even reached adulthood.
“I was not even 18,” Martinez said. “I was just going into a gas station and she stopped me and told me ‘you’re the most good looking kid I’ve ever seen.’ I was like, thanks, you know.”
Amy Luna Manderino, also known as Miss Cougar International 2011, told TheDC that cougar dating is no different than traditional relationships.
“We are just people like everyone else,” Manderino, 40, told TheDC, adding that news outlets and the media have created a “tabloid” image of cougars depicting them as almost predators. (PICTURE: Courteney Cox of “Cougar Town”)
“Sometimes when I do my public speaking I joke that somebody in some board room somewhere decided that you cannot write an article on cougars without one of three keywords, [which are] predator, prey, and prowl,” Manderino said, noting that many people assume cougars are just out to get wild in bed with young guys.
This stereotype, the Berkeley, California resident says, doesn’t present the full story.
“These relationships are so rich in so many other ways besides just the sexual aspects,” Manderino explained. “[I]t is tabloid because it’s titillating and sells newspapers, but I think the real story is how gender roles are shifting in our society.”
Manderino says younger men are appealing because most do not strive to be a macho, alpha male.
“Hyper masculinity says do not go to the doctor, do not admit that you have any pain, do not admit that you have any problems … Do not learn how to cook. You partner with one of these hyper masculine guys and he’s not taking care of himself,” Manderino said.
“One of the things I love to say is the only difference between over forty and under forty is that the consequences of your choices are more visible. The guys that have that kind of lifestyle when they are over forty are the guys you hear cougars complain about,” she said. “The men my age, they are unhealthy, overweight and cannot take care of themselves because we raised them that way.”
But younger men have been taught differently, and today’s mothers are teaching their sons to develop healthier habits.
“There is a whole group of women who are raising men to say, no ‘I’m going to eat healthy. I’m not going to feel feminine because I eat fruits and vegetables. I’m not feminine because I care about the planet. Or that money is not everything to me,’” Manderino said of the men she prefers.
Dating consultant Nicole Johnson told TheDC that cougars should not be considered female creepers for being fed up with the guys in their own age group and trying out males with fresh perspectives.
“I do not believe ‘Cougars’ prey on young men,” Johnson said. “Pop culture’s definition of ‘Cougars’ is unjust; the word ‘prey’ should be used for true predators. I believe these middle-aged women have become frustrated with trying to date and connect with men their age. Because they are disheartened with the men in their demographic, they seek out new romantic options with younger men. That’s not preying, that’s perseverance!”
Currently single, Manderino reiterated her appreciation for the new trait she’s noticed in younger men.
“[These guys] are looking at their fathers and looking at their friends and saying, I don’t want to be that way. I do not want to be violent. I do not want to be all about money. I do not want to have to put down women to feel like a man,” Manderino said. “Women who have a lot of high self-esteem, we don’t want be with men like that.”
A month after first chatting with TheDC, Martinez’s relationship is still going strong. His girlfriend is getting a new car, a 325 BMW hardtop convertible, with all the options.
“She talks to me a lot about her marriage and stuff,” Martinez said. “She’s in a custody battle. Other than that, it’s great. We’ve progressed from hanging out on the weekend to nearly everyday.”
Martinez has also talked with his family about his dating exploits, and for the most part, they don’t mind at all. Martinez said only his mother expressed reservation about his relationship because his girlfriend is still married, although she has filed for divorce.
“They’re kinda sarcastic about it: Cougar this, cougar that, but they’re cool with it,” he said.
Michael Mayday contributed to this report. Follow him on Twitter.
Michael Mayday contributed to this report. Follow him on Twitter.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/07/28/miss-cougar-international-speaks-out-so-what-if-cougars-like-young-guys/#ixzz1jkrdHz46
Record high: 50 percent of Americans approve of marijuana legalization
For over four decades Gallup has asked Americans if marijuana should be legalized. On Monday, Gallup published their latest findings with 50 percent of Americans approving of its legalization and 46 percent disapproving.
It was the first time a majority has approved of legalizing the drug since Gallup began asking in 1969.
Barry Schmidt, Prevention Specialist at the Bay County Prevention Network warns of the consequences of legalizing marijuana, likening the legalization of marijuana to the repeal of alcohol prohibition, causing an increase in crime.
"The problems with alcohol are just as rampant today, if not more rampant," he said. "With legalizing marijuana, that would cause the same kinds of issues."
According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health in 2009 marijuana was found to be the most prevalent illegal drug in use.
Support for legalizing marijuana decreases with age: 62 percent of ages 18 to 29 approve of legalizing marijuana, ages 50 to 64 approve by 49 percent and ages over 65 approve of legalization by only 31 percent. As a whole, the Midwest approve of legalization by 54 percent.
Opposition to legalization was highest at 85 percent in 1969, when Gallup first began asking the question. Since then, approval for legalizing the drug has slowly climbed.
James Denson, 30, who helps to run Earth Oddities, located at 808 N. Euclid Ave., said he's cautious of outright legalizing marijuana. He's said he'd be concerned of court systems clogged by appeals if it were legalized. However, Denson, like 70 percent of Americans surveyed last year, said doctors should be able to prescribe the drug to patients.
"As a whole, yeah," he said. "It'll be a lot easier for the people who need it to get it."
Delta College will be hosting State officials for a medical marijuana Wednesday at 6:30 p.m in the Delta College Lecture Theater. The free event is open to the general public.
http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2011/10/record_high_50_percent_of_amer.html
Tobico Marsh tower nears completion at Bay City State Recreation Area
BANGOR TWP. — The restoration of an observation tower at Tobico Marsh nearly is done.
Ben Berwick of Sugar Construction said Friday his crew was putting finishing touches on the tower after nine days of reconstruction.
“It’s a total renovation,” Berwick said of the tower project. “They’re gonna be built right back up again.”
Berwick said his crew planned to begin work on a second tower at Tobico March sometime this week.
But Pat Race, of the Saginaw Valley Sustainability Society, said reconstruction of the second tower may be on hold due to the discovery of a local eagle’s nest.
George Lauinger, supervisor of the Bay City State Recreation Area, said he couldn’t confirm the existence of the nest.
Race helps to raise funds for the project for Friends of the Bay City State Recreation Area and heads the Save Tobico Towers restoration project. So far, the project has raised more than $64,000, about 76 percent of the funds needed.
The project recently netted three grants totaling $11,000. The group has applied for two more grants in hopes of covering the estimated $84,400 cost.
Race said he was relieved to see progress on the towers’ reconstruction, but more remains to be done.
“I’ll be happy when we can use the towers,” he said.
http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2011/11/tobico_marsh_tower_nears_compl.html
Bay County hunters monitor whitetail deer population through check stations
BANGOR TP. — Successful deer hunter Brian Wahr of Freeland pulled up to the Bay County Deer Check station Wednesday at 3580 State Park Drive to have the spikehorn buck and doe he shot Tuesday morning checked by state officials.
Wahr said the buck was chasing after the doe, and the female deer already was wounded by a wayward crossbow bolt.
“I just decided to put her out of her misery,” he said.
Wahr bagged his two deer in Ogemaw County, a part of the designated bovine tuberculosis zone in the northeastern Lower Peninsula.
With that knowledge, wildlife assistant Eric Schrouder, 19, pried open both the buck and doe’s jaws and peered at the teeth before slicing and powersawing the heads off both deer. He and Sleeper State Park ranger Kathy Beachy then tagged, bagged and boxed the heads for shipping to a testing center in Lansing.
The state is monitoring the spread of TB among deer in the northeastern Lower Peninsula. The check stations also serve to record the ages of deer brought into the check area.
This year, deer aren’t getting all the attention.
“You didn’t happen to see any feral hogs, did you?” asked Nate Newman, an employee of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Wildlife Services. Wahr said he didn’t, but he wished he had.
Newman said he came to the Bay County Deer Check station to see if any feral pigs had been spotted or bagged in Bay County or any surrounding areas.
“Some guy caught 13 of them in Midland ... There’s a ton of them in this area,” Newman said. “We’d like to kill all of them because they’ll eventually take over; they outcompete everything.”
Newman said most feral pigs are escapees from domestic game farms. He said the normally nocturnal pigs don’t require a license to be killed on private land.
Beachy said 32 deer filtered their way through the check station on Tuesday, the opening day of regular firearm season, and about a dozen on Wednesday morning. She said checking heads at the station is voluntary for hunters.
Most of the time, Beachy said, the age of the deer is recorded and a collectible patch is given out.
The agents check a deer’s age by slicing open a side of the animal’s cheek, necessary after rigor mortis. They search for any telltale teeth — like tricuspids, which set in after a year and a half — and teeth wear.
Delano Brubaker, 78, of Lee Township brought his 16-year-old grandson’s buck in to check its age and collect a patch. The best guess for Austin Brubaker’s buck, thanks to some molars coming in at the back of the buck’s jaw, is three and a half years old.
Brubaker said he was with Austin when he bagged his first buck Tuesday morning with a .32-caliber Winchester special. He said the buck was tailing several does when he walked into a shooting lane. By Delano Brubaker’s estimate his grandson bagged a nice six-point buck. Beachy and Schrouder considered it to be a nice eight-point.
“Yeah, he’s a proud little guy,” Brubaker said.
http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2011/11/bay_county_hunters_monitor_whi.html
Bay County's 30 foreign exchange students study, adapt to American culture
BAY CITY — Lee Li just doesn’t get American humor. But give him some time; the culture shock is likely to wear off.
“Americans like to tell jokes most of the time,” he said. “Most of the time I don’t catch them.”
The 17-year-old from Wuhan China, is one of five exchange students walking the halls this year at Bay City Western High School and one of 30 attending public schools in Bay County.
Aside from the humor, Li has spent his first month in Michigan adjusting to plenty of other things.
“In China, we go to school for 14 hours a day, and six and half days a week. And we only learn some science subjects,” he said. “We don’t learn economic or social subjects. We just learn math, physics, chemistry.”
Many of the exchange students have similar stories about the differences in culture, but say that’s exactly why they signed up to live abroad for an entire school year.
“… I want to experience something new, so, I want it to be different,” said Martine Aasen, 17, of Sandefjord, Norway, another Western High School exchange student. “(I want to) learn new things, a different culture, speak fluent English, (make) new friends.”
All four of Bay County’s public school districts welcomed exchange students this year. Bay City Public Schools has 12 students, including seven at Bay City Central High School. Seven students are attending Essexville-Hampton Garber High School; Bangor Township John Glenn High School has six students; and five students are at Pinconning Area High School.
The students, ranging in age from 15 to 18 years old, have traveled to Michigan from all over the world, including 14 from Asia, a dozen from Europe, three from South America and one from Africa.
Six of the students are from Germany, five are from China and four are from Thailand — the three most represented countries.
Eighteen are girls, 12 are boys.
For some, getting here wasn’t easy.
Olya Kotlyarska, 16, of Kremenets, Ukraine, competed with nearly 9,000 Ukranians for her spot. Only 250 people made the cut.
Kotlyarska, who is attending Garber High School, says she is grateful to have been selected.
“People here are really, really nice and the first day of school, I didn’t feel like I was in a different country,” she said. “It was really nice.”
During the year, exchange students live with host families and are encouraged to fully integrate into all family, school and extracurricular activities.
For some, the proposition, combined with homesickness, is a bit daunting.
“I like it here. I like everything I try, but I miss my family and friends in Brazil, a lot, and I need to talk to them, everyday, or I can’t live,” said Larissa Gheler, 16, of Araçatuba, Brazil, a student at John Glenn High School.
Those feelings tend to wane as the year goes on, said Jon McQuinn, a local field director for Youth For Understanding, one of several international exchange programs through which students have arrived in Bay County this year.
“I don’t think they (the students) understand the magnitude of the situation they’re in,” he said. “All the sudden they’re 6,000 miles away from home.”
Even small things, like food and transportation punctuate cultural gaps.
Filipe Reino,17, of Lisbon, Portugal, said he doesn’t care for the cuisine at Central High School.
“At home, I usually eat at lunch meat with some rice or spaghetti with vegetables,” he said. “At dinners I eat fish with rice. And here, yesterday was like the first time I had meat here. We only have … hot-dogs, pizza.”
“Here it’s not so healthy,” chimes in Leonie Kraft, 15, of Bremen, Germany, another Central High School exchange student.
Aasen, of Norway, said she expects to walk to and from school every day, as her host family’s home is just a few blocks from Western High School in Auburn.
“People are thinking, it isn’t very safe if I walk from school to home,” she said. “I’m used to walking all the time. And so, students are driving me home.”
McQuinn said a common shock for European students is the lack of a heavily used public transportation system, and having to depend on host parents to travel.
“They feel bad having to ask for a ride,” McQuinn said. “That’s a big fear for a lot of our kids.”
While most find classes here easy, many are struggling with language barriers and homework.Most of Bay County’s exchange students said they’re still getting used to some American school novelties, such as choosing subjects to study, having sports affiliated with a school and changing classrooms.
“I have to do extra work because English is a foreign language, and some words I don’t know,” said Yao Yu, 16, of Beijing, China. “I have to translate all of them. I don’t know what the teacher asks us to do, and what the question is about.”
Yu, who goes by the name Iris, said she spends more time on her studies than her American counterparts.
“Maybe other students will spend one hour to do their homework, however exchange students maybe spend three or four times that or more,” she said.
View Bay County Foreign Exchange Students[1] in a larger map
As much as the exchange students learn during their year here, area administrators say it goes both ways.
Tony Bacigalupo, principal at John Glenn High School, said one of the benefits of having students from different countries attend Bay County high schools is the fact that students on both sides can realize that what they have in common outweighs the differences.
“There are things that the students can learn from our guests that you can’t learn from a textbook,” added Allen Atkari, principal at Garber High School. “Students can ask questions and get answers directly from students from other countries.”
And they do ask plenty of questions that make it clear there is much the American students can learn.
Sergey Radevich, 16, of Rudnyy, Kazakhstan, said his peers at Bay City Central wanted to know if he remembers the Cold War, even though he was born in 1995, well after the Berlin Wall fell.
Derrick Yevu, 16, of Accra, Ghana, said some students at Garber High School wanted to know if he rode lions to class.
Sina Porrmann, 15, of Hamburg, Germany, said students at Central High School inquired whether her country is ruled by a dictator.
Another student’s host asked how many days of the week Europeans have.
And Reino, of Lisbon, got the chance to teach a bit of geography to his friends.
“Somebody asked me if Portugal is near Argentina and Chile,” he said.
In the end, exchange programs are all about education, with both sides coming out winners, said Bacigalupo.
“Sometimes, their world view isn’t as big as it should be,” he said of how American kids can benefit.
And as for our guests:
“What I really see is that they get a real life example of what real life at an American school is like.”
http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2011/10/students_of_the_world_come_to.html
“Americans like to tell jokes most of the time,” he said. “Most of the time I don’t catch them.”
The 17-year-old from Wuhan China, is one of five exchange students walking the halls this year at Bay City Western High School and one of 30 attending public schools in Bay County.
Aside from the humor, Li has spent his first month in Michigan adjusting to plenty of other things.
“In China, we go to school for 14 hours a day, and six and half days a week. And we only learn some science subjects,” he said. “We don’t learn economic or social subjects. We just learn math, physics, chemistry.”
Many of the exchange students have similar stories about the differences in culture, but say that’s exactly why they signed up to live abroad for an entire school year.
“… I want to experience something new, so, I want it to be different,” said Martine Aasen, 17, of Sandefjord, Norway, another Western High School exchange student. “(I want to) learn new things, a different culture, speak fluent English, (make) new friends.”
All four of Bay County’s public school districts welcomed exchange students this year. Bay City Public Schools has 12 students, including seven at Bay City Central High School. Seven students are attending Essexville-Hampton Garber High School; Bangor Township John Glenn High School has six students; and five students are at Pinconning Area High School.
The students, ranging in age from 15 to 18 years old, have traveled to Michigan from all over the world, including 14 from Asia, a dozen from Europe, three from South America and one from Africa.
Six of the students are from Germany, five are from China and four are from Thailand — the three most represented countries.
Eighteen are girls, 12 are boys.
For some, getting here wasn’t easy.
Olya Kotlyarska, 16, of Kremenets, Ukraine, competed with nearly 9,000 Ukranians for her spot. Only 250 people made the cut.
Kotlyarska, who is attending Garber High School, says she is grateful to have been selected.
“People here are really, really nice and the first day of school, I didn’t feel like I was in a different country,” she said. “It was really nice.”
During the year, exchange students live with host families and are encouraged to fully integrate into all family, school and extracurricular activities.
For some, the proposition, combined with homesickness, is a bit daunting.
“I like it here. I like everything I try, but I miss my family and friends in Brazil, a lot, and I need to talk to them, everyday, or I can’t live,” said Larissa Gheler, 16, of Araçatuba, Brazil, a student at John Glenn High School.
Those feelings tend to wane as the year goes on, said Jon McQuinn, a local field director for Youth For Understanding, one of several international exchange programs through which students have arrived in Bay County this year.
“I don’t think they (the students) understand the magnitude of the situation they’re in,” he said. “All the sudden they’re 6,000 miles away from home.”
Even small things, like food and transportation punctuate cultural gaps.
Filipe Reino,17, of Lisbon, Portugal, said he doesn’t care for the cuisine at Central High School.
“At home, I usually eat at lunch meat with some rice or spaghetti with vegetables,” he said. “At dinners I eat fish with rice. And here, yesterday was like the first time I had meat here. We only have … hot-dogs, pizza.”
“Here it’s not so healthy,” chimes in Leonie Kraft, 15, of Bremen, Germany, another Central High School exchange student.
Aasen, of Norway, said she expects to walk to and from school every day, as her host family’s home is just a few blocks from Western High School in Auburn.
“People are thinking, it isn’t very safe if I walk from school to home,” she said. “I’m used to walking all the time. And so, students are driving me home.”
McQuinn said a common shock for European students is the lack of a heavily used public transportation system, and having to depend on host parents to travel.
“They feel bad having to ask for a ride,” McQuinn said. “That’s a big fear for a lot of our kids.”
While most find classes here easy, many are struggling with language barriers and homework.Most of Bay County’s exchange students said they’re still getting used to some American school novelties, such as choosing subjects to study, having sports affiliated with a school and changing classrooms.
“I have to do extra work because English is a foreign language, and some words I don’t know,” said Yao Yu, 16, of Beijing, China. “I have to translate all of them. I don’t know what the teacher asks us to do, and what the question is about.”
Yu, who goes by the name Iris, said she spends more time on her studies than her American counterparts.
“Maybe other students will spend one hour to do their homework, however exchange students maybe spend three or four times that or more,” she said.
View Bay County Foreign Exchange Students[1] in a larger map
As much as the exchange students learn during their year here, area administrators say it goes both ways.
Tony Bacigalupo, principal at John Glenn High School, said one of the benefits of having students from different countries attend Bay County high schools is the fact that students on both sides can realize that what they have in common outweighs the differences.
“There are things that the students can learn from our guests that you can’t learn from a textbook,” added Allen Atkari, principal at Garber High School. “Students can ask questions and get answers directly from students from other countries.”
And they do ask plenty of questions that make it clear there is much the American students can learn.
Sergey Radevich, 16, of Rudnyy, Kazakhstan, said his peers at Bay City Central wanted to know if he remembers the Cold War, even though he was born in 1995, well after the Berlin Wall fell.
Derrick Yevu, 16, of Accra, Ghana, said some students at Garber High School wanted to know if he rode lions to class.
Sina Porrmann, 15, of Hamburg, Germany, said students at Central High School inquired whether her country is ruled by a dictator.
Another student’s host asked how many days of the week Europeans have.
And Reino, of Lisbon, got the chance to teach a bit of geography to his friends.
“Somebody asked me if Portugal is near Argentina and Chile,” he said.
In the end, exchange programs are all about education, with both sides coming out winners, said Bacigalupo.
“Sometimes, their world view isn’t as big as it should be,” he said of how American kids can benefit.
And as for our guests:
“What I really see is that they get a real life example of what real life at an American school is like.”
http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2011/10/students_of_the_world_come_to.html
Social media driving a new kind of scandal
The irresponsible use of social media has driven Rep. Anthony Weiner, New York Democrat, into a scandalous limelight. The question: is it a sign of the times?
“It’s clear that social media is bringing in a new kind of scandal. It’s giving lawmakers new ways to mess up,” Betsy Rothstein, co-editor of Mediabistro’s FishbowlDC, told The Daily Caller. “Five years ago I don’t know if this story would have even happened.”
OhMyGov, a nonprofit social media group, published an analysis of Weiner’s Twitter account Wednesday. The analysis found the majority of Weiner’s tweets were during the business week, peaking on Wednesdays and bottoming on Sundays. He tweeted regularly during the night and weekends in a casual manner. His night posts, after 7 pm, totaled about 18 percent of his tweets.
“They were interesting. He liked to tweet off-hours, sometimes very late into the night,” Andrew Einhorn, CEO and cofounder of OhMyGov, said in an email to TheDC. “He speaks casually on it [Twitter], forgetting he is broadcasting to the world and having a lot of direct, open conversations. Now, that is how it is supposed to work, but it’s easy to see how the casual nature with which he approached the tweeting may have led him to let down his guard in a way he wouldn’t if say, a woman came on to him right on the floor house.”
(Weiner’s Web site vilifies online sex predators)
Weiner’s posts attracted right-wing bloggers, who rallied around the infamous Twitter picture and demanded coverage by the mainstream media. Rothstein said major Capitol Hill publications, such as Roll Call, the Hill, and Politico, were slow to pick up #Weinergate.
“It became this sort of shame game of right-wing reporters asking other journalists why they weren’t covering the story, why they weren’t doing their job,” Rothstein said. “When I asked Roll Call last week why they weren’t covering this story they had no response. I mean, their response was they had no response. That was stunning to me.”
The OhMyGov report shows the public reaction Weinergate mirrored the media’s coverage. As Weinergate grew into a story, the number of his Facebook and Twitter followers grew, too. But, as Weiner began to behave suspiciously, and as news outlets began to cover the story, that number dropped off.
(Trump blasts Weiner as a ‘psycho’ despite past campaign contributions)
Einhorn and Rothstein agreed that Twitter has enhanced the coverage of Weintergate. Einhorn said it has given reporters more information to work with. Rothstein said Twitter was responsible for the non-stop coverage of the scandal.
“Given that social media is still a relatively new and hot phenomenon, many are still figuring out how best to use it,” Einhorn said. “There are many people and politicians still wary of social media, and this entire story just gives their concern more credence.”
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/06/09/social-media-driving-a-new-kind-of-scandal/#ixzz1jkQqlHy7
“It’s clear that social media is bringing in a new kind of scandal. It’s giving lawmakers new ways to mess up,” Betsy Rothstein, co-editor of Mediabistro’s FishbowlDC, told The Daily Caller. “Five years ago I don’t know if this story would have even happened.”
OhMyGov, a nonprofit social media group, published an analysis of Weiner’s Twitter account Wednesday. The analysis found the majority of Weiner’s tweets were during the business week, peaking on Wednesdays and bottoming on Sundays. He tweeted regularly during the night and weekends in a casual manner. His night posts, after 7 pm, totaled about 18 percent of his tweets.
“They were interesting. He liked to tweet off-hours, sometimes very late into the night,” Andrew Einhorn, CEO and cofounder of OhMyGov, said in an email to TheDC. “He speaks casually on it [Twitter], forgetting he is broadcasting to the world and having a lot of direct, open conversations. Now, that is how it is supposed to work, but it’s easy to see how the casual nature with which he approached the tweeting may have led him to let down his guard in a way he wouldn’t if say, a woman came on to him right on the floor house.”
(Weiner’s Web site vilifies online sex predators)
Weiner’s posts attracted right-wing bloggers, who rallied around the infamous Twitter picture and demanded coverage by the mainstream media. Rothstein said major Capitol Hill publications, such as Roll Call, the Hill, and Politico, were slow to pick up #Weinergate.
“It became this sort of shame game of right-wing reporters asking other journalists why they weren’t covering the story, why they weren’t doing their job,” Rothstein said. “When I asked Roll Call last week why they weren’t covering this story they had no response. I mean, their response was they had no response. That was stunning to me.”
The OhMyGov report shows the public reaction Weinergate mirrored the media’s coverage. As Weinergate grew into a story, the number of his Facebook and Twitter followers grew, too. But, as Weiner began to behave suspiciously, and as news outlets began to cover the story, that number dropped off.
(Trump blasts Weiner as a ‘psycho’ despite past campaign contributions)
Einhorn and Rothstein agreed that Twitter has enhanced the coverage of Weintergate. Einhorn said it has given reporters more information to work with. Rothstein said Twitter was responsible for the non-stop coverage of the scandal.
“Given that social media is still a relatively new and hot phenomenon, many are still figuring out how best to use it,” Einhorn said. “There are many people and politicians still wary of social media, and this entire story just gives their concern more credence.”
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/06/09/social-media-driving-a-new-kind-of-scandal/#ixzz1jkQqlHy7
High school students win free speech cases
This past Monday the federal Third Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled, En banc, that public schools cannot punish students for online speech made off-campus.
In two separate cases two students created online social profiles of their respective principals at the website Myspace.com. The profiles contained vulgar language and lewd suggestions.
In 2005, Justin Layshock, created a MySpace profile his principal’s name and completed a survey saying he was too drunk to remember his birthday, smokes “big blunts” and under “Interests” listed “Transgender, Appreciators of Alcoholic Beverages.”
The other student, named “J.S.” created a MySpace profile of her principal in 2007. J.S. said the principal’s interests are “detention, being a tight ass, spending time with my child (who looks like a gorilla).” And in the “about me” section said, “For those who want to be my friend, and aren’t in my school[,] I love children, sex (any kind), dogs, long walks on the beach, tv, being a dick head, and last but not least my darling wife who looks like a man (who satisfies my needs ) MY FRAINTRAIN….”
In response, both schools gave their students a 10-day suspension. However, Layshock’s school went further, placing him in a Alternative Education Program for the remainder of the school year, banning him from extracurricular activities such as teaching French, and not allowing him to walk at graduation. These punishments prompted the students’ parents to file for both first and fourth amendment right violations– free speech and due process respectively.
While the court was skeptical of Fourth Amendment claims, it agreed that both students’ First Amendment rights were violated. Layshock won 14-0, while J.S. won 8-6. At the heart of both cases were the questions of whether the two profiles’ satirical tones count as defamation and if schools can punish a student for online comments made off-campus.
(D.C. voted best city to raise kids)
Judge James Munley, writing for the majority in J.S.’s case, said, “The profile was so outrageous that no one could have taken it seriously, and no one did.”
Judge Theodore McKee, writing for the majority in Layshock’s case, said, “It would be an unseemly and dangerous precedent to allow the state in the guise of school authorities to reach into a child’s home and control his/her actions there to the same extent that they can control that child when he/she participates in school sponsored activities. Allowing the District to punish Justin for conduct he engaged in using his grandmother’s computer while at his grandmother’s house would create just such a precedent and we therefore conclude that the district court correctly ruled that the District’s response to Justin’s expressive conduct violated the First Amendment guarantee of
free expression.”
Dr. Kyu Ho Youm, professor of journalism and communication at the University of Oregon, told The Daily Caller the rulings raise the fundamental question of where to draw the line on speech about school officials.
“It’s a very significant argument giving a more expansive interpretation for students off-campus,” Youm said.
He said he believes the Supreme Court of the United States will eventually have to draw that line.
Although the Supreme Court typically takes up appeals where judges issue conflicting opinions, such as the case with J.S.’s decision, Youm said he doubts the Supreme Court will accept an appeal immediately.
Will Creeley, director of legal and public advocacy at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), told The Daily Caller the decision was a landmark ruling.
Creeley said although FIRE doesn’t handle high school cases, what happens in high school, especially on First Amendment grounds, often leaks over into college. He said he is glad that high school students can engage in satire, and that “they can enjoy, truly – off-campus – free speech while online.”
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/06/15/high-school-students-win-free-speech-cases/#ixzz1jkQgoWXu
In two separate cases two students created online social profiles of their respective principals at the website Myspace.com. The profiles contained vulgar language and lewd suggestions.
In 2005, Justin Layshock, created a MySpace profile his principal’s name and completed a survey saying he was too drunk to remember his birthday, smokes “big blunts” and under “Interests” listed “Transgender, Appreciators of Alcoholic Beverages.”
The other student, named “J.S.” created a MySpace profile of her principal in 2007. J.S. said the principal’s interests are “detention, being a tight ass, spending time with my child (who looks like a gorilla).” And in the “about me” section said, “For those who want to be my friend, and aren’t in my school[,] I love children, sex (any kind), dogs, long walks on the beach, tv, being a dick head, and last but not least my darling wife who looks like a man (who satisfies my needs ) MY FRAINTRAIN….”
In response, both schools gave their students a 10-day suspension. However, Layshock’s school went further, placing him in a Alternative Education Program for the remainder of the school year, banning him from extracurricular activities such as teaching French, and not allowing him to walk at graduation. These punishments prompted the students’ parents to file for both first and fourth amendment right violations– free speech and due process respectively.
While the court was skeptical of Fourth Amendment claims, it agreed that both students’ First Amendment rights were violated. Layshock won 14-0, while J.S. won 8-6. At the heart of both cases were the questions of whether the two profiles’ satirical tones count as defamation and if schools can punish a student for online comments made off-campus.
(D.C. voted best city to raise kids)
Judge James Munley, writing for the majority in J.S.’s case, said, “The profile was so outrageous that no one could have taken it seriously, and no one did.”
Judge Theodore McKee, writing for the majority in Layshock’s case, said, “It would be an unseemly and dangerous precedent to allow the state in the guise of school authorities to reach into a child’s home and control his/her actions there to the same extent that they can control that child when he/she participates in school sponsored activities. Allowing the District to punish Justin for conduct he engaged in using his grandmother’s computer while at his grandmother’s house would create just such a precedent and we therefore conclude that the district court correctly ruled that the District’s response to Justin’s expressive conduct violated the First Amendment guarantee of
free expression.”
Dr. Kyu Ho Youm, professor of journalism and communication at the University of Oregon, told The Daily Caller the rulings raise the fundamental question of where to draw the line on speech about school officials.
“It’s a very significant argument giving a more expansive interpretation for students off-campus,” Youm said.
He said he believes the Supreme Court of the United States will eventually have to draw that line.
Although the Supreme Court typically takes up appeals where judges issue conflicting opinions, such as the case with J.S.’s decision, Youm said he doubts the Supreme Court will accept an appeal immediately.
Will Creeley, director of legal and public advocacy at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), told The Daily Caller the decision was a landmark ruling.
Creeley said although FIRE doesn’t handle high school cases, what happens in high school, especially on First Amendment grounds, often leaks over into college. He said he is glad that high school students can engage in satire, and that “they can enjoy, truly – off-campus – free speech while online.”
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/06/15/high-school-students-win-free-speech-cases/#ixzz1jkQgoWXu
Senate shoots down measure to defund czars
The Senate has voted 47-51 against an amendment to eliminate the White House’s ability to appoint and fund policy czars. Republican Sens. David Vitter of Louisiana, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Dean Heller of Nevada and Chuck Grassley of Iowa, introduced the amendment yesterday.
The amendment would have expanded the the definition of czar to the “head of any task force, council, policy office or similar office established by the president that has not been confirmed by the U.S. Senate.” (Rep. McCarthy introduces national texting while driving ban)
It also would have required the appointment of any czar to pass Senate approval. The National Security Advisor would have been excluded from this definition.
“We should also ensure that the Senate’s role is not eroded by unconfirmed federal czars in very significant positions which should be subject to advice and consent,” Vitter said on the Senate floor. “It’s aimed squarely at positions created to circumvent the advice and the role of the United States Senate.”
Sen. Chuck Schumer, New York Democrat, called the amendment a “poison pill” claiming it would hinder the President’s ability to appoint staff.
Vitter defended the amendment, saying it would’ve defunded any czar position in any administration.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/06/23/senate-shoots-down-measure-to-defund-czars/#ixzz1jkQWds2s
The amendment would have expanded the the definition of czar to the “head of any task force, council, policy office or similar office established by the president that has not been confirmed by the U.S. Senate.” (Rep. McCarthy introduces national texting while driving ban)
It also would have required the appointment of any czar to pass Senate approval. The National Security Advisor would have been excluded from this definition.
“We should also ensure that the Senate’s role is not eroded by unconfirmed federal czars in very significant positions which should be subject to advice and consent,” Vitter said on the Senate floor. “It’s aimed squarely at positions created to circumvent the advice and the role of the United States Senate.”
Sen. Chuck Schumer, New York Democrat, called the amendment a “poison pill” claiming it would hinder the President’s ability to appoint staff.
Vitter defended the amendment, saying it would’ve defunded any czar position in any administration.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/06/23/senate-shoots-down-measure-to-defund-czars/#ixzz1jkQWds2s
Oil trade groups: Drilling deregulation could create 190,000 jobs
Almost 190,000 jobs could be created by 2013 if offshore drilling returns to pre-spill levels, according to a study sponsored by two oil trade groups, the National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) and the American Petroleum Institute (API).
The study, conducted by Quest Offshore Inc., found that if permits for exploration and drilling returned to historic levels, and if backlogged requests were granted, 400,000 jobs could be supported across the United States with a GDP increase of $45 billion by 2013.
“The president says he wants ideas for putting Americans back to work right now,” said Jack Gerard, API president, during a conference call today. “So we urge him, again, to take a look at policies that will encourage oil, and domestic gas development.”
The offshore oil and natural gas industries suffered losses in 2008 due to the economic recession, the moratorium on deepwater drilling, and slowdowns in permits issued for drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. The study’s authors claim tens of thousands of jobs have been lost due to the downturn.
Gerard echoed the study’s conclusions, saying the United States has the opportunity to increase employment and secure “as much as 92 percent of [its] oil needs from North American resources.”
Both Gerard and NOIA president Randall Luthi agreed the industry needs the ability to explore newly identified petroleum deposits everywhere, including in East- and West-coast waters. Currently only 15 percent of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf is available for exploration. (New border gun rules a distraction from Fast and Furious scandal, Issa says)
“We’ve got to get out there and have the opportunity to look,” Gerard said, “and the industry needs some insurance that this is serious — that there’s a leasing process in place to eventually commit the resources to go find what level of resources are available, and then to develop it at that point. So given those opportunities, I can guarantee you the industry will spend its money wisely. But you need to have the opportunity.”
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/07/12/oil-trade-groups-drilling-deregulation-could-create-190000-jobs/#ixzz1jkQHN6GZ
The study, conducted by Quest Offshore Inc., found that if permits for exploration and drilling returned to historic levels, and if backlogged requests were granted, 400,000 jobs could be supported across the United States with a GDP increase of $45 billion by 2013.
“The president says he wants ideas for putting Americans back to work right now,” said Jack Gerard, API president, during a conference call today. “So we urge him, again, to take a look at policies that will encourage oil, and domestic gas development.”
The offshore oil and natural gas industries suffered losses in 2008 due to the economic recession, the moratorium on deepwater drilling, and slowdowns in permits issued for drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. The study’s authors claim tens of thousands of jobs have been lost due to the downturn.
Gerard echoed the study’s conclusions, saying the United States has the opportunity to increase employment and secure “as much as 92 percent of [its] oil needs from North American resources.”
Both Gerard and NOIA president Randall Luthi agreed the industry needs the ability to explore newly identified petroleum deposits everywhere, including in East- and West-coast waters. Currently only 15 percent of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf is available for exploration. (New border gun rules a distraction from Fast and Furious scandal, Issa says)
“We’ve got to get out there and have the opportunity to look,” Gerard said, “and the industry needs some insurance that this is serious — that there’s a leasing process in place to eventually commit the resources to go find what level of resources are available, and then to develop it at that point. So given those opportunities, I can guarantee you the industry will spend its money wisely. But you need to have the opportunity.”
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/07/12/oil-trade-groups-drilling-deregulation-could-create-190000-jobs/#ixzz1jkQHN6GZ
Allegations of corruption, fraud, tear town government apart
Allegations of corruption, conflicts of interest, free-speech violations and political intimidation have entrenched the government of Quartzsite, Ariz., and its police chief, against its own mayor and police force.
The trouble began when Quartzsite citizen Jennifer Jones addressed the town council during a public meeting on June 28. Councilman Joe Winslow interrupted her address, telling Jones she was no longer allowed to address the council. He told her if she did not leave she would be escorted out.
Jones refused to put the microphone down; police officers forcibly removed her from the room and arrested her on a charge of disturbing the peace. Her removal from the council chambers was recorded and uploaded to YouTube, where more than 39,000 people have already viewed it.
The council, chief of police, and other government officials claim they have received life-threatening emails because of the video. In response, the council declared a state of emergency during a closed meeting Sunday, during which they also removed Mayor Ed Foster from office.
Foster expressed his own doubts. “I have not seen any threatening emails sent to them,” he said. “I mean: you’re in public life, and if you are in public life, you have to get used to it.”
Foster said that on Tuesday afternoon he submitted a document request to see all emails considered threatening enough to declare a state of emergency. But more pressing, he says, are the eight to ten town paychecks issued to unnamed people during every pay cycle since 1991. He has not been allowed to see who receives the paychecks.
In the past, Foster has called council members and Quartzsite Chief of Police Jeff Gilbert corrupt, repeatedly asking for investigations into their behavior. (Fake Democrats lose in Wis. primary recalls)
Sergeant William Ponce, the president of the Quartzsite Police Association, agrees an investigation is needed, especially regarding the chief of police. The police association has issued a vote of no confidence against Chief Gilbert, saying he has violated town policy and has committed political and criminal violations.
Ponce said in the past Gilbert has instructed officers in his department to vote for political candidates he favors, and has intentionally issued citations to political candidates he opposes.
“’He’d say, ‘This person has violations X-Y-Z on their vehicle; stop and give them the violations,’” Ponce said. “A majority of the time they were political opponents. We’ve gone up to him and expressed that we can’t go out and enforce that, and as soon as we told him he’d get angry and walk away.”
The association submitted a letter asking for an investigation into Gilbert’s conduct, alleging that he has used his authority to order members of the police department to use department resources, such as the National Crime Information Center, to find dirt on political candidates he dislikes.
The letter also suggests that Town Manager Alex Taft “continually attempted to delay, stall or prevent this investigation from taking place.” It alleges that she’s a friend of Chief Gilbert and has actively fought any investigations against him. An Arizona Department of Public Safety investigation is currently underway.
Ponce say a state of emergency has not been formally declared, and that the police department has been instructed to refer to it as an emergency situation. He said as far as he knows, this ‘emergency situation’ is still in effect.
“There are two main issues here: the check issue, and the Gilbert issue,” Foster said.
Foster said he has tried to get the Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne to take up the case, but has had no luck. For now, Foster has said he will collect as many complaints as he can about open-meeting violations at Quartzsite’s town council meetings and deliver them to the attorney general’s doorstep the next morning.
Police Chief Jeff Gilbert and the Quartzsite town attorney could not be reached for comment.
This story was corrected to reflect the correct name of Arizona’s attorney general.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/07/13/allegations-of-corruption-fraud-tears-town-government-apart/#ixzz1jkPoLEsx
The trouble began when Quartzsite citizen Jennifer Jones addressed the town council during a public meeting on June 28. Councilman Joe Winslow interrupted her address, telling Jones she was no longer allowed to address the council. He told her if she did not leave she would be escorted out.
Jones refused to put the microphone down; police officers forcibly removed her from the room and arrested her on a charge of disturbing the peace. Her removal from the council chambers was recorded and uploaded to YouTube, where more than 39,000 people have already viewed it.
The council, chief of police, and other government officials claim they have received life-threatening emails because of the video. In response, the council declared a state of emergency during a closed meeting Sunday, during which they also removed Mayor Ed Foster from office.
Foster expressed his own doubts. “I have not seen any threatening emails sent to them,” he said. “I mean: you’re in public life, and if you are in public life, you have to get used to it.”
Foster said that on Tuesday afternoon he submitted a document request to see all emails considered threatening enough to declare a state of emergency. But more pressing, he says, are the eight to ten town paychecks issued to unnamed people during every pay cycle since 1991. He has not been allowed to see who receives the paychecks.
In the past, Foster has called council members and Quartzsite Chief of Police Jeff Gilbert corrupt, repeatedly asking for investigations into their behavior. (Fake Democrats lose in Wis. primary recalls)
Sergeant William Ponce, the president of the Quartzsite Police Association, agrees an investigation is needed, especially regarding the chief of police. The police association has issued a vote of no confidence against Chief Gilbert, saying he has violated town policy and has committed political and criminal violations.
Ponce said in the past Gilbert has instructed officers in his department to vote for political candidates he favors, and has intentionally issued citations to political candidates he opposes.
“’He’d say, ‘This person has violations X-Y-Z on their vehicle; stop and give them the violations,’” Ponce said. “A majority of the time they were political opponents. We’ve gone up to him and expressed that we can’t go out and enforce that, and as soon as we told him he’d get angry and walk away.”
The association submitted a letter asking for an investigation into Gilbert’s conduct, alleging that he has used his authority to order members of the police department to use department resources, such as the National Crime Information Center, to find dirt on political candidates he dislikes.
The letter also suggests that Town Manager Alex Taft “continually attempted to delay, stall or prevent this investigation from taking place.” It alleges that she’s a friend of Chief Gilbert and has actively fought any investigations against him. An Arizona Department of Public Safety investigation is currently underway.
Ponce say a state of emergency has not been formally declared, and that the police department has been instructed to refer to it as an emergency situation. He said as far as he knows, this ‘emergency situation’ is still in effect.
“There are two main issues here: the check issue, and the Gilbert issue,” Foster said.
Foster said he has tried to get the Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne to take up the case, but has had no luck. For now, Foster has said he will collect as many complaints as he can about open-meeting violations at Quartzsite’s town council meetings and deliver them to the attorney general’s doorstep the next morning.
Police Chief Jeff Gilbert and the Quartzsite town attorney could not be reached for comment.
This story was corrected to reflect the correct name of Arizona’s attorney general.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/07/13/allegations-of-corruption-fraud-tears-town-government-apart/#ixzz1jkPoLEsx
‘Travel hackers’ fly for free on government’s dollar, so to speak
Dollar coins may not be popular among most Americans, but they sure are for people who like to travel for free.
An NPR report cites “travel hackers” who use their credit cards, which award frequent flier miles for purchases, to purchase dollar coins from the U.S. Mint.
Once they have the coins, they can either ship them back to government reserves for free or deposit them in their bank accounts.
The act isn’t illegal, but since 2008, the Mint enacted a 1,000 coin purchase limit for every ten days.
Congress mandated the minting of presidential dollar coins in 2005 in an attempt to make dollar coins popular among Americans. Since then, over $1 billion worth of coins have been stored in Federal Reserve vaults. The coins will continue to be minted, and stored if not used, under the congressional mandate.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/07/13/travel-hackers-fly-for-free-on-governments-dollar-so-to-speak/#ixzz1jkPb3lul
An NPR report cites “travel hackers” who use their credit cards, which award frequent flier miles for purchases, to purchase dollar coins from the U.S. Mint.
Once they have the coins, they can either ship them back to government reserves for free or deposit them in their bank accounts.
The act isn’t illegal, but since 2008, the Mint enacted a 1,000 coin purchase limit for every ten days.
Congress mandated the minting of presidential dollar coins in 2005 in an attempt to make dollar coins popular among Americans. Since then, over $1 billion worth of coins have been stored in Federal Reserve vaults. The coins will continue to be minted, and stored if not used, under the congressional mandate.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/07/13/travel-hackers-fly-for-free-on-governments-dollar-so-to-speak/#ixzz1jkPb3lul
Palin doc hits on-demand, PPV, DVD
Victory Film Group, the company behind the Sarah Palin documentary “The Undefeated,” announced that it will be releasing the controversy-sparking film to Video-On-Demand and Pay-Per-View services on September 1, in order to attract a wider audience.
The documentary grossed only $101,000 in its two weekends of screening, according to boxofficemojo.com
Trevor Drinkwater, ARC Entertainment CEO and the distributor of “The Undefeated,” said in a July 24 press release that he has been “inundated with requests” from people wanting to see the film released in their markets. The film will continue to be released on a limited theatrical distribution, he added. The documentary has appeared on movie screens in 14 theaters nationwide.
“The Undefeated” filmmaker Stephen K. Bannon said, “Given the strong audience reaction we have determined there is overwhelming demand for us to get this film out broadly enough to cover the entire nation in September and October.”
Wal-Mart will exclusively carry a special edition DVD containing new scenes. It’s slated for an Oct. 4 release, with the initial shipment containing roughly 250,000 units. A multi-million dollar ad campaign will accompany the DVD and cable releases.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/07/25/palin-doc-hits-on-demand-ppv-dvd/#ixzz1jkPDfFy2
The documentary grossed only $101,000 in its two weekends of screening, according to boxofficemojo.com
Trevor Drinkwater, ARC Entertainment CEO and the distributor of “The Undefeated,” said in a July 24 press release that he has been “inundated with requests” from people wanting to see the film released in their markets. The film will continue to be released on a limited theatrical distribution, he added. The documentary has appeared on movie screens in 14 theaters nationwide.
“The Undefeated” filmmaker Stephen K. Bannon said, “Given the strong audience reaction we have determined there is overwhelming demand for us to get this film out broadly enough to cover the entire nation in September and October.”
Wal-Mart will exclusively carry a special edition DVD containing new scenes. It’s slated for an Oct. 4 release, with the initial shipment containing roughly 250,000 units. A multi-million dollar ad campaign will accompany the DVD and cable releases.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/07/25/palin-doc-hits-on-demand-ppv-dvd/#ixzz1jkPDfFy2
‘Undo the light bulb ban,’ croons WMAL’s Brian Wilson
A Republican bill to repeal the 2007 law that banned the sale of incandescent light bulbs failed Tuesday. To commemorate the occasion, WMAL host Brian Wilson has recorded a song begging permission to use traditional bulbs — and to end the ban on traditional light bulbs. WMAL is ABC’s talk radio affiliate in Washington, D.C.
The incandescent bulb ban was part of the energy bill that passed with bipartisan support in 2007. George W. Bush signed it into law.
It mandates that light bulbs must meet efficiency standards by 2012, followed by increasing energy standards through 2020. This week’s failed repeal bill was named the Better Use of Light Bulbs Act, or BULB for short.
Listen to the song.
Here’s a sample of Wilson’s lyrics, sung to the tune of the Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand”:
“Hey you / what were you thinking? / It’s the law of the land / Hey you / deserve a spanking / you passed the light bulb ban! / you made them contraband!”
“Now I / I have fluorescents / the light is ghastly blue / I don’t think a light bulb / should be a curlicue”
“My home has been like it’s been living / in a cave … undo the light-blub ban! / undo the light bulb ban!”
The incandescent bulb ban was part of the energy bill that passed with bipartisan support in 2007. George W. Bush signed it into law.
It mandates that light bulbs must meet efficiency standards by 2012, followed by increasing energy standards through 2020. This week’s failed repeal bill was named the Better Use of Light Bulbs Act, or BULB for short.
Listen to the song.
Here’s a sample of Wilson’s lyrics, sung to the tune of the Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand”:
“Hey you / what were you thinking? / It’s the law of the land / Hey you / deserve a spanking / you passed the light bulb ban! / you made them contraband!”
“Now I / I have fluorescents / the light is ghastly blue / I don’t think a light bulb / should be a curlicue”
“My home has been like it’s been living / in a cave … undo the light-blub ban! / undo the light bulb ban!”
What went down at the Jefferson Memorial dance party? [VIDEO]
The Daily Caller’s Michael Mayday interviewed different folks and filmed Saturday’s Jefferson Memorial dance party, which was shut down by police officials after less than an hour.
Attendees came together in support of free speech and busting a move at the Jefferson Memorial. Dancing, even silently, is not allowed at the monument.
Watch: Jefferson Memorial visitors get their groove on
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/06/06/what-went-down-at-the-jefferson-memorial-dance-party-video/#ixzz1jkNjb6pp
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