Cliffs Riffs - Stuph n Nonsense

Aided by a pack of sniffer dogs and supported by weaponized military style transport vehicles, 17 members of the West michigan Task Force Dedicated and United in their Directive to End marijuana sales (aka WTF DUDE) surrounded a building on Main Street in sunny, downtown Lowell with firepower, Taco Bell meals, poorly worded subpoenas, and hand cuffs at the ready. When the WTF team battered down the doors at 208 East Main Street, they were greeted by a reportedly massive grow operation utilizing highly sophisticated warming mats and the latest in indoor lighting technology to maximize growth.  "We walked in on an operation that must have been months in the planning and execution stage," reported Staph Sargent Billy "Much" Adoo. "The growing area occupied an estimated nine square feet and it was a pretty impressive set up for a rural community way, way far away from Grand Rapids and genteel society." With the aid of a small pile of Lowell...

Dear Cast, Crew, Parents of Same, and EVERYBODY involved in Freaky Friday, I am compelled to gush, brag, cheer, and generally whoop it up for everything I saw and heard at the Sunday matinee performance of your most excellent production. My introduction to the incredible job of putting on a musical at my favorite High School happened last year when Mary Poppins stunned me. (Read that blog here: Mary Poppins Review. ) I have to confess that as I was taking my seat yesterday I kind of wondered - is it going to be as good as MP? Could this group knock my socks off?  Yes, yes, and yes.  It was outstanding. Everyone did a great job. I have never seen this musical before, but Emma and McKenna did such great jobs they will forever be the Blakes in my mind. If I ever see another production of Freaky, they will have to measure up to you two and you set the bar pretty dang high! It is a good thing I know Anna Doyle is NOT a snot ball - she was so good at being Savannah...

I am writing today in response to an editorial from Lowell about accountability from the Lowell City Council. You can read it here:  Accountability Should Be Word of The Year First, there are some very good suggestions here that I will take to heart and do what I can as a City Council member to implement. Secondly, there are a couple of points that are not so easily digested for me and I will attempt to explain why below. First, the suggestions given that might sting a bit, but with which I concur. Those items include: 1. Overall accountability and transparency is something I will strive to increase both personally and engender as a member of the Council. 2. Explanation of a vote. Sad to admit that doing something this simple did not occur to me, but I will do my best to do so in the future. (I did blog about my change of heart regarding tax abatements in which I explained why I voted for the King Milling abatement, but that was after the meeting. Click the link at the bott...

People who are concerned about the well being of our planet's natural resources and the effects we are having on the planet can easily be overwhelmed into thinking we are all seriously screwed. It is easy for any of us to focus on all the past, existing, and potential damage we are doing to the planet and feel like there is no way to make a difference - there is no way to undo all the harm. I would contend that it is possible to focus on the full part of the glass without ignoring the empty. Part of the solar array installed at Sue's house this fall. I see people all around me doing what they can to turn the tide both in a practical manner and even in an informational manner. On the practical side - I have two friends who have added solar arrays to their homes in the last 30 days. In early November Sue and her family put panels on their house and have even started sharing the difference they are seeing in their electricity situation as their system incorporates...

I constantly encourage people to attend City Council meetings (1st & 3rd Mondays at 7 pm at Lowell City Hall) and/or the monthly Coffee With Council (1st Saturday of the month from 8-10am at the Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce building on the Riverwalk). As a City Council member I not only want to hear from you, but I need to hear from you. If you think expressing yourself to me and the rest of the City Council is a waste of time - let me give you some examples of why it is NOT a waste of time or energy. A few weeks ago we had some gentlemen attend a meeting. They are interested in setting up a grow facility for adult use marijuana. The City of Lowell is working to get regulations in place to accommodate such facilities in response to the overwhelming support demonstrated by Lowell voters last year. (Prop 1 passed by a 60/40 majority). I read all the proposed rules, but somehow a portion that dealt with restricting the type of lighting that could be used to grow pot escaped my...

Have you or a loved one been hit with a serious health care issue?  If so, did it put a hurt on your financial situation? Do you receive regular requests to help someone who is sick pay their bills? Have you ever attended or contributed to a any effort designed to help pay medical bills? Are you aware that the #1 of bankruptcy in the US is medical bills? Are you aware that we are THE ONLY developed nation without Universal Health Care? Do you know that people in other countries cannot believe the way we treat illness? One of the recurring songs we get to hear in the discussion of Universal Health Care (or Medicare for All or National Health Insurance - pick your favorite name) is that we simply cannot afford it. Milk shoots out my nose when I hear this tired, bullshit ridden trope. Never mind that we live in one of the wealthiest countries on the planet. How about we boil it down to just the State of Michigan - where I live and where Blue Cross Blue Shi...

As I have mentioned in prior blog posts, the Unity Investors seem to have a hard time with the sequence of events concerning the southern piece of property they purchased. It is the small piece that has power lines from Lowell Light & Power running across it. They like to give people the impression that they had no knowledge of the power lines when they bought the property. Here are two emails from Todd Schaal which tell a different story. He contacted City Manager Mike Burns on October 15, 2018 with the subject line reading: "Mike, who is the guy at Lowell Light and Power I should talk to re their power lines? Thanks, Todd." The partners closed on the property on November 6th or 7th, 2018 almost 3 weeks after the email. Furthermore, Todd met with Steve Donkersloot and Ryan Teachworth at the Lowell Light and Power offices on October 18th to discuss the power lines. Here is another email from Todd Schaal about the power lines on November 8, a day or two after t...