There are two annouced candidates for the Republican primary for the 9th District County Commission seat this fall. Incumbent Hugh Crawford is running for the term limited seat of House Republican Leader State Representaitve Craig Deroche.

Current Novi City Council member and Mayor Pro Tem Kim Capello will be running against Former Mayor Lou Csordas. Both are fiscal conservatives with deep roots in the community. Capello, an attorney, and Csordas, an insurance executive, are going to provide for a very interesting race.

I have committed my support to Kim Capello. I feel that he has a very strong understanding of the issues facing the county and will continue Mr. Crawford’s conservative approach to government. A County Commissioner play an important role in assisting the local community with Road Projects, Parks & Recreation and Public Safety. These are all areas that Kim has shown a keen understanding and commitment to as a City Council member.

Recently my friends Lori and Brian Burke realized their dream of opening a first class “bar” (Brian’s phrase) in the Main Street area. The SMOKE FREE envirnoment has something for everybody. Great wine, a full bar, tap beer and food that is out of this world.

Please click onto the logo above to reach the website. When you stop by, please let them know Dave sent you.

One day after an article in the Detroit News painted a bleak picture of the MHSAA’s finances as a result of its decade-long fight against changing girls sports seasons, the following quote appeared in a article about the Association failure to accomodate a schools request not to play on the sabbath during state tournaments.

“We will appeal this decision,” John Johnson, a representative for the association, said Friday. “We have a history of appealing every adverse decision that comes our way. The membership expects it of us.”

I think whomever the membership of the MHSAA is should reconsider their policy of appealing ALL adverse decisons. With a $5.1 million dollar legal bill hanging at the end of a judges pen, the organization is facing financial ruin. Who do they expect to bail them out? Are they going to ask for a special assessment from their members? Will that money come from taxpayers? We will watch for the answer to that question very carefully.

If you are not yet addicted to YouTube, you have not really tried it yet. There is something for virtually everybody. Some nights I watch unknown kids doing amazing note for note guitar solos of the greats, other nights I watch 20 different version of Hotel California played live over a 30 year period. There are samples of great TV shows moments, remember the “Turkey Drop” on WKRP or the Little Miss Dangerous episode of Miami Vice.

YouTube, the creation of three, young former PayPal employees has revolutionized video sharing on the Internet. If you have not seen it yet, here is the #1 YouTube Video of all time as your introduction.

It never ceases to amaze me the kinda stuff the floats around the internet by email. The legend of the fish above is that it is a man eating “catfish”. In fact, it is a small whale shark that eats plankton and would never even try to eat a human. Every day something new comes by that is proported to be some factual thing or another. Most are completely bogus.

The recent article in the NY Times regarding Sen. John McCain’s affair with a lobbyist is a form of “urban legend” that has made the mainstream. Anybody with Goggle can find this website and this article and spread it like a virus through the internet.

I recently sat in on a meeting where somebody made a comment that was outrageously false. Sitting behind them was a reporter who was taking very careful notes. Had that information been reported as fact, it could have spread on the internet and nobody would have known that it was completely fabricated. Every day I learn a new lesson on the power of the web – for good and bad.

Update: Here is the link to the new LIVE area of the City of Novi website.

The City of Novi recently announced that they are joining the Novi School District in making all televised City meetings (Council, Planning, ZBA, Library, PR & F) available via a live feed on the internet. Community Information Director Sheryl Walsh spearheaded the effort and it required only a small additional cost to the City.

For those of us that have recently switched to ATT U-Verse, that is great news. I am looking forward to SWOCC working out an arrangement with ATT to provide that programming on their service as well.

During the past week, both the Boys and Girls basketball teams clinched their respective KVC titles.

This accomplishment is even more incredible if you consider that each lost a key starter midway through the conference season. The boys unexpectantly lost starting power forward Tyler Hoover when he made the decision to enroll early at MSU to begin his football training. On the girls side, starting Sophomore center Jessica Cingel injured her knee in January and was lost for the season. She recently underwent successful knee surgey and hopefully will recover in time for her junior season.

With a daughter on the freshman BB team, I frequently stayed and watched the varsity girls games. The team, lead by super shophmore Caroline Johnson, always played at a very high energy level. They were frequently much smaller than their opponents and often played with a four guard, one forward lineup. They always provided great effort and willed themselves to victory. We should be all very proud of the efforts of both the Boys and Girls and make an effort to attend the District playoff games in the weeks to come.

I was honored to attend the opening of the new City of Novi gun range recently. The state of the art facility it both a tribute and testament to the efforts of law enforcement personnel in our City.

During the ceremony, I was deeply touched by several very emotional moments that included the Project Manager for the facility builder and our own Lt. Victor Lauria of the Novi PD. These are not just guys doing their jobs exceptionally well, but rather people who have personally and professionally vested themselves into a project that means much more to our community than can be measured. As Lt. Lauria stood at the podium, his eyes welling and his jaw quivering with emotion, I felt so proud of his and his colleagues efforts to get this facility built. I am continually astounded by the leadership team assembled at our Police department lead by Chief Molloy and Deputy Chief Lindberg.

As I write this, I can’t help but reflect back on all the hand wringing and anomisty that surronded this project and wonder why? The supposed flood of opposition never really materialized (an likely never existed). It was an issue largely manufacturered for political purposes. After final funding was approved, it largely disappeared as an issue. From the time this project was concieved by Council Member Gatt, through all the budget delibration and it ultimate approval, I strongly supported the facility. I never had any doubts that this was a great asset to our City. I am so proud to be on the permanent plaque dedicating this facility and seeing it come to completion.

I was recently sent an email that contained a link to a video where Newt Gingrich responds to a question regarding the war on terror. I find his response to be brilliant. I encourage you to watch it and consider his words carefully.

I encourage you to take the time to watch this video….it is not politically slanted, but rather a blunt and chilling answer to a serious question posed to Newt Gingrich. It is a clearly?worded warning. This is one of the most powerful and articulate summaries of the dangers of our current situation that I have ever heard, and a mystery to me why this is not painfully aware to every American and a subject of constant discussion. It has been around almost a year and not one Presidential candidate speaks of the danger in this way.

Link to Gingrich Response