Thursday, June 26, 2008
That's Debatable- Prosecutor Edition
Barry County prosecutor Tom Evans will square off against primary challenger Kerri Selleck tonight (June 26) at 7 p.m. at the Barry County Commission on Aging. The debate will be moderated by attorney David Makled.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
That's Debatable- Sheriff's edition
Based on the comments on this blog and from what I'm hearing, the Barry County Sheriff's race may be the "big one" this primary season in Barry County. The candidates will be debating tonight at the Barry County Commission on Aging building on Woodlawn Avenue in Hastings at 7 p.m. Fred Jacobs, publisher of the Hastings Banner, will moderate. I just learned I can't make it so I doubt I'll be posting a recap of it (if I can or if I can tune it in on local radio I'll edit this post later to reflect that). Feel free to post your own reviews in the comments, though let's try to keep this race on the level of who will do the best job and stay away from the "your momma wears combats boots" rhetoric, shall we?
On a related note, I'm glad to see the GOP chair decided to step back from moderating the upcoming primary debates. We saw last election cycle how dangerous it can be when a party chair intervenes in a debate in what was generally seen as an underhanded way set up to aid one particular candidate. I'm also glad that the local Republican Party finally stepped up and decided to quit whining about how the Democratic Party handled the debates and host their own, especially seeing as how it didn't make sense that in a one-party system it was the OTHER party that was actually doing a better job of letting the public know who was running and what they stood for. While it makes sense for the Republican Party to host their own primary debates, I still would prefer to see the debates sponsored by the local media and/or a consortium of local civic organizations especially when it comes to the general election- at least when we manage to get a slate on candidates running on both sides of the political fence.
On a related note, I'm glad to see the GOP chair decided to step back from moderating the upcoming primary debates. We saw last election cycle how dangerous it can be when a party chair intervenes in a debate in what was generally seen as an underhanded way set up to aid one particular candidate. I'm also glad that the local Republican Party finally stepped up and decided to quit whining about how the Democratic Party handled the debates and host their own, especially seeing as how it didn't make sense that in a one-party system it was the OTHER party that was actually doing a better job of letting the public know who was running and what they stood for. While it makes sense for the Republican Party to host their own primary debates, I still would prefer to see the debates sponsored by the local media and/or a consortium of local civic organizations especially when it comes to the general election- at least when we manage to get a slate on candidates running on both sides of the political fence.
Monday, June 09, 2008
Lights Out
Wow. The entire city of Hastings is without power and estimates seem to be getting pushed back as to when it gets restored – yesterday, I kept hearing maybe Wednesday while today I'm hearing it might be Thursday. Makes me wonder where all those people I saw driving around town were headed since it was after morning rush hour when I drove through town Monday morning- up to Grand Rapids to buy generators perhaps?
One has to wonder how many people spent much of Friday's check on groceries sometime during the weekend, only to have a lack of power and 90+ degree temperatures turn the food into worthless mush. Luckily, my in-laws have a generator and some extra room in their refrigerator and freezer or I'd have been throwing out a good chunk of the $100+ I spent on staples this weekend without money to replace it.
The weird thing was that I was without power most of the weekend (we're on Great Lakes Energy out here at the Pol Watcher Compound- sometimes it seems as if every stiff breeze knocks out our power, if only for a few minutes), it seemed to get restored from Saturday's storms just in time for the wave of Sunday storms. I thought power had been restored around dinner time Sunday night but it lasted only for a brief minute or two before going back off until sometime after midnight. Hastings seemed to be in clear and was fine for a few hours after the storm passed Sunday afternoon before the lights went out.
I'm taking my chances with this post since many of you regular readers might be among those without power, but for those with some juice feel free to share your story about how you made it through the weekend. Enjoy your weather-related 3 day weekend... and give some sort of thanks to the crews working 'round the clock to get everything back up and running even as you wish they could do it even faster.
P.S. For the political junkies, I should be getting around to doing some kind of round-up of local elections as time allows sometime in the very near future. A Clash of the Titans going to head to head for Sheriff, the entire county running for Drain Commissioner, not one single Democrat filing for county-wide office – it's almost too much to put together.
One has to wonder how many people spent much of Friday's check on groceries sometime during the weekend, only to have a lack of power and 90+ degree temperatures turn the food into worthless mush. Luckily, my in-laws have a generator and some extra room in their refrigerator and freezer or I'd have been throwing out a good chunk of the $100+ I spent on staples this weekend without money to replace it.
The weird thing was that I was without power most of the weekend (we're on Great Lakes Energy out here at the Pol Watcher Compound- sometimes it seems as if every stiff breeze knocks out our power, if only for a few minutes), it seemed to get restored from Saturday's storms just in time for the wave of Sunday storms. I thought power had been restored around dinner time Sunday night but it lasted only for a brief minute or two before going back off until sometime after midnight. Hastings seemed to be in clear and was fine for a few hours after the storm passed Sunday afternoon before the lights went out.
I'm taking my chances with this post since many of you regular readers might be among those without power, but for those with some juice feel free to share your story about how you made it through the weekend. Enjoy your weather-related 3 day weekend... and give some sort of thanks to the crews working 'round the clock to get everything back up and running even as you wish they could do it even faster.
P.S. For the political junkies, I should be getting around to doing some kind of round-up of local elections as time allows sometime in the very near future. A Clash of the Titans going to head to head for Sheriff, the entire county running for Drain Commissioner, not one single Democrat filing for county-wide office – it's almost too much to put together.
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