 Much older brother Dave (L) and I following a Tiger dinger -Photo credit Randy Kuzawa At long last baseball returns to the airwaves
By Ken De Laat For, lo, the winter is past, The rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; The time of the singing of birds is come, And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.- Song of Solomon There was no sound sweeter than hearing Ernie Harwell, the finest voice to ever bring baseball to my ears, open the season with his annual intro. What finer way to wave goodbye to winter than a tribute to the rebirth spring brings and then follow it up with a baseball game. Not just a baseball game but Opening Day. The day when every team starts the season tied. Tied and filled with optimism. As a Tiger fan who began following the team circa mid 20th century, I am certain those of my ilk have a tendency, particularly at this time of year, to be a tad overly optimistic. “If the pitchers live up to their potential, if the young players begin to hit consistently, if the team stays healthy, if Tork and Carpenter come through with some major lumber and the kid at second is all he’s supposed to be and maybe the bullpen finds the lock down guy…..then I’d say we have a good shot.” There are reasons the team is picked for 3rd place in a weak Central Division and many of them have to do with the youth of the team and a lineup that didn’t exactly inspire fear in opposing mound guys last year. They got guys with a lot of pop but there were more than enough bad at bats in crucial situations and some rather extended slumps during the season. The pitching is anybody’s guess. There are no starters from the group that began in that role last season and a lot of question marks when it comes to durability. But hey, I’m a Tiger fan. I think the pitching staff will most certainly live up to its billing and those young guys are going to feed off each other sharing some hot batting streaks up and down the order. Carpenter and Torkelson will be our first pair of 30 dinger guys since Miggy and J.D. did it in 2015 and Colt Keith turns out to not just be the real deal but puts together a rookie of the year season. The bullpen is chock filled with lively arms and A.J. Hinch has finally got the talent that allows him some room for creative managerial moves. After all, it's Opening Day. By mid May we could be in first place being chased by those troublesome Twins or buried by yet another failure to get traction early in the season. Perhaps the Tig’s will become the Orioles of last season, rising beyond expectations and moving into this year's top contender lists. Hopeful they don’t emulate another east coast team, the Mets whose ability to underperform in recent years is nearly legendary. All predictions aside, I'm just happy to hear baseball again. It’s not Ernie and will miss the late Jim Price’s commentary, but I enjoy Dickerson and he paints a good picture of the game. At 4:10pm tomorrow I will park myself in the area known as the N3WH office (that sometimes goes by the name “when are you going to do something about that mess”), tune in the game and drink in the onset of yet another 6 month marathon of the greatest game ever invented. As well as perhaps a beer or two. Go Tigers! “I believe in the Church of Baseball. I've tried all the major religions and most of the minor ones. And the only church that truly feeds the soul, day-in day-out, is the Church of Baseball.”- Annie Savoy, Bull Durham
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 Around the county and a bit beyond
The Honorable H. Kevin Drake is stepping down from the bench at the end of the month. He has presided over the District Court for just shy of 3 decades hearing countless cases over that period of time. Judge Drake is a class act who has served his community well. May his retirement prove to be all the adventure and enjoyment he deserves. The Grant School Board has its share of interesting discussions. Check out their March 11th meeting on youtube. Board Member Richard Vance during a discussion stated “Kids are like little sheep. We have to keep them calm. Keep things still.” After fellow board member Rob Schuitema expressed concern at the number of times Vance had referred to the students as farm animals, Vance later took the floor to say ”Rob, I think you have expressed poor judgment in your whole life. I never had a problem with boys and girls, males and females. No matter what, you cannot take a bull and put it in a corral with heifers and think that bull is going to act like a heifer. You know what's going to happen. And it's the same way in human life. I’m talking about basic biology that is taught in school. We have male and female. We teach that. Do we not?” The above monologue can be found around the 2:14 mark in the video. Two Perspectives: Recently Bryan Kolk, Chair of the Newaygo County Board of Commissioners, put out a ‘State of the County’ message that spoke to our slice of the Mitten not just doing well but actually thriving. He cited economic development efforts that are bringing jobs to the area and housing initiatives for the people who work those jobs along with many other high points. Here’s the article. https://www.nearnorthnow.com/the-pulse/state-of-newaygo-county On the other end of the spectrum we had the apocalyptic scene drawn by our State Rep. Joseph Fox in his letter to his backers referencing the battle raging through the 101st District (including Newaygo County) “We are in perilous times. The battle between good and evil, between common sense and nonsense is intensifying. We do not have to stretch our thinking to notice that was once conspiracy theory has now become reality,... “ After a reference to Orwell’s novel '1984' he goes on to invite folks to a fundraising event and if they can’t make it to maybe send a donation. There seems to be a serious battle going on in our neighbor to the north. Gotion Inc. has filed suit against Green Township for, among other things, breach of the development agreement between Gotion Inc and the former township board of trustees who approved the agreement this past August. The agreement has to do with the project that is bringing an electric vehicle battery component facility to the area. The Big Rapids Pioneer has been covering the many aspects of the ongoing, many layered and very public issues surrounding this ongoing project and we would encourage all with an interest to follow their reporting on what has become a hotbed item resonating well beyond the Mecosta County line. And that’s a wrap. Spring Is here via the vernal equinox’s arrival on Tuesday and we are, as of this writing, just 8 days from Opening Day for the Tigers. And I got a good feeling about this team. Cautiously optimistic, but optimistic just the same. -Ken De Laat “She turned to the sunlight And shook her yellow head, And whispered to her neighbor: "Winter is dead.” A.A. Milne, When We Were Very Young  To the Editor: I am proud of President Biden, and the accomplishments of his administration. His address to our nation was inspirational, but not to some, especially the former Republican president. He is the one who thinks he should rule like the dictators he fawns over. He is the candidate who makes a habit of mocking others, our President, a reporter with physical disabilities and Senator John McCain for the permanent injuries he sustained serving our country. During his presidency, he asked that wounded veterans not be allowed in military parades, “ nobody wants to see that”, he said. The disappointing response of his followers with cheers, laughter and applause at his rallies is disgusting. It’s like cheering on a mean, spoiled little brat who has no self impulse control. He encourages his followers to be the worst version of themselves. Think of a person you know who may be harassed because this bully says and demonstrates that it is OK to be cruel. This negatively impacts our society, much like hate speech. These are not the actions and reactions of a Christian who follows the teachings of Jesus. It boggles my mind as to how any person in our country would be proud to have Trump as our president. Once was more than enough. Valerie Deur Newaygo, MI.  by Bryan Kolk Chairman of the Newaygo County Board of Commissioners It seems to be the season to announce the state of our governmental entities. I listened to a State of the State report, a State of the Union report and of course rebuttals to each of them. I looked around to see which television stations would like to hear a State of Newaygo County report. Crickets. Probably best since most of the time they are interested in Newaygo County, it’s uncomfortable to speak with them. I decided I need to rely on our trusted local news reporters. I am happy to report that Newaygo County is doing very well. We are in a solid standing with our budget having a very reliable fund balance due in great part to our Treasurer's office who invests the pennies well so the dollars can grow. Because of that one-time funding, we have had the opportunity to make sure our infrastructure is being kept up. We either have or are in the process of doing some maintenance in areas that need it with that one-time funding, such as a remodeling of our Central Dispatch to be ADA compliant and giving it the ability to host trainings which saves money in training fees and travel expenses. Some upgrades in the Courthouse and Prosecutors office which have seen 25 years of wear and tear including adding security upgrades are also part of this. Investing in maintenance/upgrades to the heating and cooling systems throughout the county campus hoping that this keeps the equipment in better condition and avoiding a need for very expensive replacements. Our Drain Commissioner acts as the Chair of our Board of Public Works who keeps us going in our Recycling program to keep still useful material out of the landfills. Our parks department has done some great work updating our parks and giving them more attractions for people to come in and use them for the day such as Pickleball and Disk Golf. Our county partnered with Mecosta County and Consumers Energy some years ago to build a 47 mile, non-motorized trail around the backwaters of Hardy Dam known as the Dragon Trail. This trail is on schedule to be completed this year and was featured in a national bike trail magazine which is bringing in users from places even outside of the United States enhancing our tourism draw. We have worked with the Sheriff on changes to our recruiting for both Road Patrol Deputies and Corrections Officer Deputies bringing us closer to being “fully staffed” status. This is better than most of the counties around us. The Board of Commissioners addressed the economic prosperity in Newaygo County by enhancing our partnership with “The Right Place”. We have worked for years and we now have staff dedicated to Newaygo County that attracts outside businesses to locate here and make new jobs and also assists local businesses in growing their business and retaining employees. Along that line of economic development the Board partnered with the Fremont Area Community Foundation to support and entice the building of housing for working class citizens. Since we are bringing in new businesses and employees, they will need a place to live. This has resulted in the start of over 100 new homes. Following up on this, we partnered with the Promise Zone to assist the well deserving students of Newaygo County in being able to afford College and Trade School. The goal is to train our young people, have jobs for them after training, and have a place for them to live and prosper within Newaygo County. Security of records has been at the front of the Boards focus. We are nearing the end of a project from the Register of Deeds where a fireproof vault will be constructed to keep our hundreds of years of records safe and secure while remaining on site. This is important to so many local businesses and individuals with things like title searches and copies of deeds. This year we also sat down with the County Clerk and townships looking at implementing the new early voting law. Newaygo County was able to provide an alternative for all 30 precincts on the 9 days of early voting. We are very proud of the partnership we could offer to all 30 of those precincts as these new laws are being implemented. I would love to say that all is rosy but we do have some significant challenges from beyond Newaygo County. About 8 years ago there was a court case that jeopardized the funding of the courts in Michigan. Fortunately the State Legislature stepped in and gave us a temporary fix for about two years. It is due to expire for the third time this May, and there is still no permanent fix ready to be in place. They linger on with the short term fix for two more years. Should they fail this time or next, there would be a huge burden put on our citizens to fund the courts. Additionally, the State Legislature continues to attempt to eliminate the local bodies governing abilities (Counties, Cities and Townships) deciding what is best for our area. An example is a statewide septic bill forcing everyone to have their septic systems inspected every five years at a huge expense to each of us. This is being proposed by legislators that live in urban areas with municipal sewer systems and no thought to those of us that do not live in a city. The legislature has also taken over dictating where new solar farms and wind turbine farms are located. Instead of the local Township and County Boards who know the desire of the people living here being able to decide where those fields of reflectors and turbines fit. Instead, it will now be decided and dictated by three Governor-appointed people that may not even know where Newaygo County is or how to spell it. We are not happy about Big Brother wanting to govern us from the metropolitan areas and not understanding about rural life. We continue to partner with other groups such as the Michigan Association of Counties, Michigan Township Association and the City Management Associations to keep our local control and the rural feel we all love about Newaygo County. In closing, I wish myself and the Board of Commissioners (Paul Mellema, Charles Trapp, James Maike Jr., Kenneth DeLaat, Brenda Bird and Michael Kruithoff) could take full credit for the good work and leadership of Newaygo County but that would be leaving out the other elected officials (Sheriff Robert Mendham, County Clerk Jason VanderStelt, County Treasurer Jason O’Connell, Register of Deeds Stewart Sanders, Drain Commissioner Dale Twing, Circuit Judge Robert Springstead, Prosecutor Ellsworth Stay, District Judge H. Kevin Drake and Probate Judge Melissa Dykman) as well as the approximately 250 county employees that work every day to make sure Newaygo County is the #1 County in the State of Michigan (and maybe beyond).
By Ken De Laat A week of covering basketball played by the young athletes who populate our local Girls teams was sandwiched by successive Sundays spent watching Caitlin Clark set the scoring mark in the first game and a week later willing her Iowa team to a Big Ten Tournament title. Having the advantage of perspective advanced age brings, it has been interesting to see the remarkable progress in women’s sports over the past several decades. Side note: Folks my age like to focus on various ‘advantages’ being older brings. As if these perks outweigh other inconveniences, like the inability to move without groaning a bit and needing to plan road trips with a nod to the availability of rest stops along the way. Little wonder we gloat over senior discounts and such. “Saved 15% at Denny’s yesterday!” “Movie was half price for seniors!” Personally I’d forego the 30% savings on car rentals for a younger pair of feet, but don’t get me wrong, I take the discounts. But I digress. In 1972 Richard Nixon signed the Education Amendment Act that delivered, among many other things, the right for women in public educational institutions to have equal opportunities as did the men. Known as Title IX it included (after a bit of a fight in the House) athletics. Of course it took years for there to be anything resembling widespread compliance but it was a start and it revolutionized sports for females in this country. And that brings me to Caitlin Clark and the high school scholar athletes who competed last week. If you haven’t already watched Clark play and can put up with the endless hype of the announcers (I opt for mute myself) pay attention when they pan the crowd. Look at the endless number of young girls watching her with the adoration usually reserved for another superstar who plays on a stage not a court. The Girls District this past week in Newaygo featured the Lions Tigers and Packers from our coverage area and it was 3 nights of fun-to-watch basketball, coming on the heels of a tough act to follow Boys District the week before.The Friday final was another classic in a lengthy history of hard fought competition a Grant/Fremont contest brings. The dramatic back and forth game put some serious local talent on display, many who will be returning to the courts next season and beyond. These current players influence the younger girls. The middle school and elementary hoopsters look to their Varsity players to learn what it takes to be on the team and how to improve their game and maybe how to get their parent(s) (Mom, Dad, Both) to quit yelling at the refs during games…all the important stuff. It’s the true trickle down effect that actually works. If not for the many activists, advocates and allies who made this sea change happen we may not have been privileged to watch Ms. Clark and her talented teammates… on national television, no less. Even worse. Our local girls might still be playing with stationary guards. What are stationary guards, you say? Look it up. Or better yet, ask your Grandma. Then give a shout out to Title IX.  To The Editor: Having a healthy American democracy culminates in the election of a President who will govern on behalf of the citizens. Yet, it Starts with the local election of School Boards, Townships, Judges. We share this common challenge, whether we identify as Republicans, Independent or Democrat. Even folks who pay attention, may have a hard time learning anything about the character or beliefs of a judicial candidate or a college trustee. We have been trying to imagine ways that voters can educate themselves. Here is an incomplete list of ideas.
Bitely Michigan  The Newaygo County Democrats will hold their next monthly meeting on Monday, March 11th at the County Commissioners Board Room, 1807 Newell St, White Cloud, 49349. An Open Forum begins at 6pm for sharing issues or concerns, with the business meeting starting at 6:30pm. A virtual option is available by requesting the link from: [email protected]. Newaygo County Democrats, visiting Dems, guests, members and the moderate to liberal-leaning curious are all welcome and urged to attend. For more information and to sign up for Enews, visit: https://newaygocodems.org. Follow on Facebook @Newaygo County Democratic Party, and @Newaygo County Democrats.  To the Editor:
Is one of the reasons you love living in our area because of our natural environment? If so, I recommend joining the Newaygo County Environmental Coalition. Our newsletter is filled with fun and helpful knowledge and experiences for you and your family. In January, we winter sowed native seeds. We also learned about “Wild Ones''. Some participants gathered to discuss starting a chapter in Newaygo county. We helped reduce invasive non-natives in local nature sanctuaries. We are learning about vernal pools, how to recognize and advance vernal pool research and conserve their incredible biodiversity with more meetings starting March 6th. We learned about foraging in our county,and we’re going to learn about participating in prescribed burning on March 9. All of our opportunities can be yours. Btw: White River Watershed owners, grant funds are available to plant trees on your river property. our allies provide info on more choices for involvement. Join us! Find more info, visit our facebook page or website, nc-ec.org for these and more opportunities. Valerie Deur Newaygo |
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December 2024
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