A swan feathers her nest just outside of Little Sable Point near Mears on Saturday.Hope you are enjoying your weekend. Heading up the Lake Michigan coastline yesterday, it was apparent that a lot of people are doing just that - every campground I went by was packed, and the beaches were crawling with folks enjoying the water. So beautiful with the lake breeze coming in, cooling the air to a perfect temperature...
In case there is anyone out there who wants to catch up on some reading, here is a little environmental news and a little political news from the week that was:
The League of Conservation Voters has released its 2009-10 environmental scorecard for state legislators. 32 representatives and 11 senators scored a perfect 100% - all Democrats. Unfortunately, most of the legislation to protect the environment died in the Senate at the hands of Mike Bishop. Three representatives and nine senators scored 0%. Jack Lessenberry can remember a day when when Republicans cared about the environment - apparently long gone now.
Score another for the Green Team though: Consumers Energy has delayed plans for a new coal plant on Saginaw Bay, citing lower consumer demand and falling natural gas prices. Consumers will reportedly begin focusing on renewable energy options instead. Can I get a hallelujah?
No carp is good news for the Lakes - the latest fish kill in the Chicago canals netted 100,000 pounds of fish and 40 different species, and not a one nasty fish was found. Now they are wondering where the carp DNA is coming from.
Corn cobs to help clean up the Gulf oil spill? One Michigan woman offers a unique solution.
Looks like the Dillon campaign has settled on a slogan: "You're Next!". State employees, move to the front of the line. Time to retire if you can.
House Dems did try to put back $65 of the $165 per pupil cut that schools took in the last budget - but so far Republicans are saying "no". Surprise.
Virg Bernero receives the endorsement of the MEA. Double surprise.
It took Pete Hoekstra two weeks to get an attack ad from a conservative group pulled from the air. Here is the weird part - the dispute was that the ad claimed the Hoekstra never signed a pledge to not raise taxes. Hoekstra produced documentation of a pledge that was signed April 23rd. If that did happen, why did the Hoekstra campaign let this ad run in heavy rotation for so long? And why wasn't this pledge mentioned in Hoekstra's initial press response to the ad? Something does not ad up. And here is is another strange tidbit - they only requested three stations pull it, and left it running on a fourth. Is the Hoekstra campaign slow? Disorganized? Not telling the truth about this pledge? Take your pick.
Karl Rove was in my area this week. Not in the mood for evil, or the rush hour traffic on the Beltline, I took a pass on his appearance. Apparently the rest of my not-so little town felt the same way; only 33 people showed up for his book signing.
Special note of appreciation to those in the MSM that have to cover the Michigan primary races. With hundreds of candidates, it's a daunting task this year. For the west side races, be sure and check out Rick Albin's "To The Point" on WOOD TV; he is busting his buttons trying to fit everyone in. And the Freep this morning is warning that candidates who put partisanship above all other considerations will not be receiving an endorsement from the paper this year.
All I can say to that is - please. Take a look at which party in this state has made it their priority to say "no" to any sort of compromise. Trying to paint both as equally guilty is absurd, and it's disingenuous to keep playing the "he said, she said" card without even attempting to report the facts behind the issues. A good example of that is the very first bullet point in this post.
That's it for now... go enjoy the rest of the weekend...