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SSOCIATED
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EWSPAPERS OF
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ICHIGAN
P
AGE
6
January 26, 2012
OK, somaybe Iwas out of line.
There is a possibility, just a possi-
bility mind you, that maybe I owe
the residents of Westland an apolo-
gy.
There could even be a case that I
might owe them $1,800, too, but I'm
trying not to think about that aspect
of the situation.
See here's what happened, well,
from my perspective anyhow. It's
complicated, so I'll try to really
eliminate all the highly emotional
stuff----like the foul language I used
and the fact that I threw my shoe
down the steps in one of my infa-
mous snits of temper.
Last year, just about this time,
the legal notices in Westland came
up for bid. Our newspaper offered
the lowest bid for providing this
service to the city, which is required
by law. Now, if the cities had their
way, most of themwouldnever print
anything in the paper, except “good
news” about what they are doing. In
this tightly stretched economy, most
communities are attempting to save
every cent they can, and the publi-
cation of required legal notices, put-
ting their actions on record for the
public, is something many of them
would just as soonnot fund. Many of
them would prefer to operate in
secret behind closed doors. Some of
them do anyway, despite the law
and their own charters.
Many city council members have
said publicly that they feel putting
whatever they need to publish by
law up on the internet for people to
find if they can figure out how to do
it is enough publicity. They don't
need to publish in a hard copy form.
After all, that would be an inde-
pendent, unchangeable, third-party
record of their actions, and who
wants that in government, right?
Well, apparently, the public does,
because they actually had it on the
ballot inWayne not too long ago and
the public, by nearly a two to one
margin, said they wanted the
notices published in the paper.
Sorry, I digress. That's just back-
ground information.
Anyway, our newspaper submit-
ted the lowest bid price for publica-
tion of legal notices in Westland.
The finance department and the
mayor recommended that the
notices be published with us. When
the council meeting to award the
bid occurred,
however, the
members of that
body chose to award the bid to a
paper owned by one of the largest
media conglomerates in the coun-
try, at a higher rate, rather than sup-
port a local business.
They opted to do that after an
editor at the other newspaper, who
obviously has a lot more time than I
do, sent a personal letter to each of
them. Y'know, I looked and looked,
and reviewed those bid specifica-
tions repeatedly, but nowhere did I
find any request or requirement for
a personal letter of that nature. But
I digress…again.
During the discussion of the bid
award, one of the council members,
who shall remain nameless in an
attempt to protect him from a pub-
lic lynching, said, and I quote
directly here, “After all, it's only
$1,800.”
Senator shares experience
To the editor;
The holidays are often a time of
joy and good tidings as friends and
family get together to share the
spirit of the season. This past holi-
day was indeed a welcome break
from the hustle and bustle of my
first year as a Michigan State
Senator. I found that it was very
easy to get distracted from what is
truly important in life as I ran from
meeting to meeting or switched
from phone call to phone call. In
order to keep me focused through-
out the year on what is really
important in this hectic environ-
ment, I posted a plaque with the
following reminder in the entrance
ofmy office:
“Finally, brothers, whatever is
true, whatever is noble, whatever is
right, whatever is pure, whatever is
lovely, whatever is admirable-if
anything is excellent or praisewor-
thy-think about such things.” (Phil.
4:8)”
I am happy to say that Christine
at the Veterinary Emergency
Service in Plymouth was all of the
above for my wife and I on the
night of Dec. 23. Our 16-year-old
dog and family friend of 15 years,
Rastro, passed away before our
very eyes in front of the Christmas
tree. With heavy hearts, we
brought the lifeless body of Rastro
into the lobby of the veterinary
office. Christine welcomed us into
a side roomwhere she checked his
vital signs and confirmed that he
was indeed dead. As we stood
there in grief, she gave us each a
hug. She then proceeded to tell us
not to worry about a thing. She
would take care of everything from
that point forward. In the midst of
overwhelming grief, we experi-
enced overwhelming warmth and
kindness froma complete stranger.
So as we begin the year 2012, I
encourage all of us to not only
“focus on whatever is true, whatev-
er is noble”, but also to tell some-
one about it. There are so many
people in our community like
Christine that go about the day pro-
viding joy and comfort in ways that
are above and beyond the call of
This month, the country marked Martin Luther King, Jr.
Day.
There were marches, celebrations, special events, and spe-
cial classes throughout the area. Banks were closed, there was
no mail and many city offices closed, too, in an effort to mark
the importance and significance of remembering the princi-
ples forwhichDr. King gave his life.
It is unfortunate so many will have already forgotten by
today what the day was meant to remind us all of throughout
the year. Many, we fear, did not internalize the real importance
or meaning of the day named for a man martyred to the cause
of equality. To many, it was merely an extra day off, a long
weekend to spend shopping, catching up on chores or resting.
We were shocked to find somany young people with no idea of
the racial struggle that divided our culture in the United
States.
Dr. King is not a man to be remembered for a day, he is a
man who should be remembered every day. His principles, his
ideals, moved our country to a new understanding, on both
sides, of the struggle for racial equality. Many of the inequities
that our society took as commonplace and merely accepted as
the way things were could still be in practice if it weren't for
the words and actions of Dr. King and those who chose to fol-
lowhim.
Dr. King didn't merely give words to the inequalities that
raged in our country, he took action. He tried to demonstrate,
repeatedly and peacefully, that some things were simply
wrong. He showed us, black and white, that there were intoler-
able situations that had to change if our country was ever to
fulfill the dreamof freedomand real democracy.
What Dr. Kingwould think today, we certainly couldn't imag-
ine. Inmany ways, inmany states and inmany segments of our
culture, we have embraced his principles and his message. We
no longer discriminate against races in our educational sys-
tem, in many professions and in much of society the way we
once did.
But we still do discriminate. Racial inequities still exist and
will continue to do so until there are better opportunities for
all and until a real understanding of what equality actually
means can by internalized by all, no matter where in the U.S.
we live.
Dr. Kingmoved our country forwardby light years, but there
is still a long way for us to go before the stigma of race is truly
eradicated from our country. To make that happen, we need to
bury the age old stereotypes, we need to dismiss intolerance as
unacceptable in our world andwe need to ignore the color of a
person's skin as insignificant as the color of one's eyes.
That's whywe need to remember thewords and the struggle
and the lessons of Dr. King every day. We need to remember a
man who saw his race being wronged and attempted, alone
much of the time and against great, almost insurmountable
odds, to make a difference and change the world in which he
lived for the better.
Dr. King is proof that oneman canmake a difference.
Now it is up to each of us to ensure that we, too, do so.
Officer
deserves
praise
We'd like to take just a second
here to separate reality from TV
drama.
And to commend the City of
Plymouth police officer who was
forced between a rock and a hard
place recently.
When the officer on patrol in
downtown Plymouth after midnight
Dec. 29, heard the loud metal scrap-
ing sound, it took him a second to
realize the noise he heard was a car
striking a light pole and then leaving
the scene ahead of him. As he pro-
ceeded to the areawhere he saw the
vehicle strike the pole, he could see
the vehicle, a light-colored late
model Ford Escape, driving south-
bound in front of him through down-
town. Thinking he would pursue the
vehicle, the officer then saw the
injured man lying on the sidewalk,
in obvious severe distress.
The police officer had to make a
quick decision, pursue the vehicle
that had committed the crime, or
stay at the scene and attempt to help
the victim.
He opted to stay with the injured
30-year-old man, a Plymouth
Township resident, with serious
injuries, and attempt to offer and
some element of comfort to the vic-
tim.
To us, that was the better, braver
and more heroic choice than pursu-
ing a fleeing lawbreaker.
We are sure that this officer will
know, until the end of his career, that
this was the correct decision and the
appropriate action for him to take. It
takes a level of training, experience
and maturity, not to mention com-
mon sense, to understand and ana-
lyze the factors in a situation like
this and make a decision in a split
second.
This officer did just that and
opted to help a severely injuredman
rather than chase a fleeing suspect
through the downtown streets of the
city at night.
We think he made not only the
right decision, but theheroic one.
Letters
See
Sorry,
page 7
See
Letters,
page 7
Dr. King didn't merely
give words to the inequalities
that raged in our
country, he took action.
”
There could even be a case
that I might owe them
$1,800, too, but I'm trying
not to think about that aspect of the situation.
”
Maybe an apology would be in order
Principles of Dr. King should live all year