Behind the Headlines

By Danielle Portteus
Buckle up and drive sober during the Thankgiving week. I received this news release today…

Officers will patrol Monroe County for drunk and unbelted drivers during the Thanksgiving holiday.
Law enforcement across the state will be conducting daytime safety belt enforcement zones and nighttime impaired driving enforcement patrols Monday through Nov. 30, a news release said.
The Office of Highway Safety Planning administers federal traffic safety funds for high visibility enforcement due to reduced traffic injuries and fatalities. Almost 150 agencies in 25 counties are receiving federal funding for the additional Thanksgiving patrols. Additional patrols will take place in Lapeer, Livingston, Monroe, Macomb, Oakland, St. Clair, Washtenaw and Wayne counties.
“Traditionally, Thanksgiving is a time for family gatherings, which lead to additional traffic on the roadways,” said Michael L. Prince, director of the Office of Highway Safety Planning. “Michigan law enforcement will be out to ensure motorists buckle up and drive sober so everyone makes it home for the holidays.”
During the past five years, Michigan has averaged 15 traffic deaths during the Thanksgiving holiday period, the news release said. During Thanksgiving weekend in 2007, 11 people died in Michigan traffic crashes, according to the Michigan Department of State Police, Criminal Justice Information Center. Four of the people killed were not wearing a seat belt and one involved alcohol.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, safety belts are proven to reduce the risk of serious injury or death in a crash by 45 percent in a car and 60 percent in pickup trucks or sports utility vehicles.
For a list of planned Thanksgiving patrol dates, times and locations, visit www.michigan.gov/ohsp.

The Toledo episode of Extreme Home Makeoever is on TV — ABC station.

By Charles Slat
I dropped by an Michigan Merit Exam/ACT test preparatory workshop Saturday and realized that a lot of people still might not have gotten the message that the state makes available a $4,000 scholarship to students who do halfway decent on the Michigan Merit Exam.
Some parents, particularly in these tough economic times, are tempted to say there’s no way my kid will be able to go to college. He can’t afford it and neither can we.
Obviously, $4,000 won’t pay for a degree from a four-year university. But it will cover the tuition for two years at a lot of community colleges, including Monroe County Community College. And a lot of MCCC degrees can lead to a career that pays a lot better than ones that require just a high school degree.
And if a student goes to MCCC for two years, then transfers to a four-year school, he or she will essentially get a four-year degree at about half price.
The Michigan Merit Scholarship: It’s a no-brainer.

By Paula Wethington

Monroe County had a record turnout at the polls Tuesday. Story is at monroenews.com.

– By Paula Wethington

And now for some totally frivolous election fun …

If you are on Facebook and have a Fluff Friend (It’s a virtual pet application), then Facebook has just announced a Fluff Friends Election.

The game will last for about two weeks.

By Danielle Portteus

I spent the better portion of last night at Bedford Township Hall. The majority of the candidates for township trustee attended.
Township Supervisor Walt Wilburn and Treasurer Sherri Meyer also came to join in on the wait for returns, even though they both ran unopposed.
The contested candidates, for the most part, were poised and patient.
Walt, however, looked like a nervous wreck. He told me he was on edge because each of those running were his friends.
I guess I didn’t really believe him because, after all, he is a politician. But, after the final numbers were tallied, Walt hugged at least four of the candidates who were still in the main hallway of the government center.
One of the best moments was when he went up to Tom Covrett, who lost his bid for trustee. Mr. Covrett, who is serving his last year on the planning commission, has been actively seeking the seat. He really wanted to continue serving the citizens of Bedford Township.
Walt embraced Tom for what seemed like forever, but was really like a couple of seconds. He leaned over to Tom and told him he was disappointed he wasn’t elected, but encouraged him to try again. Tom said he would have to see how the next few years play out, but said he might give it another shot.
Another moment that struck me was the graciousness of incumbent Trustee Paul Francis. He didn’t realize he had been re-elected until seconds before I approached him for comment. Besides being humbled, Mr. Francis said anyone of the seven candidates serve the community well.
He said he would be more than willing to work with the new trustees to make improvements to the community. Mr. Francis also acknowledged there are a number of challenges facing the township in the next couple of months.
Humility seemed to be contagious at Bedford Township Hall last night. It was everywhere from the township supervisor on down.

By Charles Slat

Here’s the note that showed up in my e-mail early today. The subject was “How this happened:”

Charles –
I’m about to head to Grant Park to talk to everyone gathered there, but I wanted to write to you first.
We just made history.
And I don’t want you to forget how we did it.
You made history every single day during this campaign — every day you knocked on doors, made a donation, or talked to your family, friends, and neighbors about why you believe it’s time for change.
I want to thank all of you who gave your time, talent, and passion to this campaign.
We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track, and I’ll be in touch soon about what comes next.
But I want to be very clear about one thing…
All of this happened because of you.
Thank you,
Barack

I got this message because I sent the Obama campaign my e-mail address to get press credentials when he visited Monroe for a Labor Day campaign stop. I’ve been getting periodic, personalized messages ever since. Most of them were accompanied by appeals to donate $5.
I mention this because I’ve never seen any candidate’s campaign make such efficient use of the Internet. I also got e-mails from Michelle Obama and Joe Biden.
As Republican 56th House candidate Jean Dahm said Tuesday, Obama’s use of technology “was brilliant.” That’s high praise from a woman who helps run Computer Works, her sons’ technology company in Monroe, but it certainly seems to be warranted.

Absentee voters in the City of Monroe cast ballots in record numbers, submitting 2,535 ballots, according to Loretta Hopson of the city clerk’s office.
She said usually in a Presidential election year, about 2,000 absentee votes, at most, are cast. “This is a record,” she said.
Cory Solomon and Olympio Varsogea helped tally the AV ballots and noted that some came from distant places, such as Spain, Italy, New Zealand and South Africa.
A lot of the local ballots also came in with postage due largely because an absentee ballot takes at least two stamps to get through the mail.

By Charles Slat
Sen. Barack Obama outpolled Sen. John McCain in the City of Monroe 5,532 to 3,971 votes, according to returns from the Monroe County Clerk’s offices.
Also in the City of Monroe, State Rep. Kate Ebli captured 6,015 votes to 3,067 for Republican Jeanmarie Dahm and 211 votes for U.S. Taxpayers Party candidate John Eleniewski.

By Danielle Portteus

Bedford High School announced its results from the mock election it held yesterday. The school’s winner was Barack Obama, who received 326 electoral votes to John McCain’s 212. Obama also won the school’s popular vote, 227 to 214.
Ralph Nader received 22 votes. Bob Barr receieved 8 and Cynthia McKinney received 2 votes.

We’ll have to see if the students’ results compare with the township and the nation.

By Danielle Portteus

Voters were waiting to cast their ballots at Bedford Branch Library about 10 a.m.

By Danielle Portteus

A quick visit this morning to six precincts has the same results– voters are out in Bedford Township.
Many of the precincts have lines, though the wait seems to vary from about five minutes to about a half hour.
There was a line of people outside of Bedford Branch Library waiting to vote in the Precinct 4, but Precinct 9, just next door, didn’t have a wait. Cars were parked all over including the front lawn and the grass along side the library.

Precinct 5 at Bedford Assembly of God at the corner of Jackman and Temperance Rds. has about 20 cars in the parking lot.

Just up the road at Northwest Christian Church, about 50 cars were in the parking lot, though voters said they didn’t have to wait long to cast their ballots.

A co-worker of mine said she waited about 40 minutes this morning to vote. She said at about 7:20 a.m. at Northwest, there were a couple of hundred people were waiting in a line that stretched out the door and into the parking lot.

It’s going to be a busy down here in Bedford.

They’ve announced the results of the “My Dog Looks Like Obama or McCain” photo contest.
Check out the winners.

By Charles Slat
Which side of the political fence does your seemingly non-partisan neighbor really fall on?
The Federal Election Commission has a campaign finance database than can be sliced and diced in a few different ways to show who has donated to which campaigns.
But Fundrace at The Huffington Post has a database that’s a bit more user friendly. It’s fascinating to plug in a ZIP code, street name or person’s name to see what comes up.
You also can tell whether your ZIP code has more Republican contributors than Democratic. And you can find out who donates to both parties, just to cover their bets.

By Paula Wethington

I just spoke with one of my co-workers who waited an hour and 10 minutes at her polling place in Monroe.

The MonroeTalkers also have started a thread about voting lines.

Feel free to chime in – or send your comments and observations to the newsroom in care of city editor Doug Donnelly at doug@monroenews.com or 240-5777.