A few weeks ago on a visit to Boston, we visited several historic sights for the first time. Among them were Paul Revere’s home and the Old North Church that we all learned of as children in the famous Longfellow poem.

(By the way, the “two if by sea” and the “British are coming” were poetic license, not Revere’s real words. Longfellow was related to Revere’s ancestors by marriage, but those are for another time.)

What was amazing is that these historic sites were not saved by tax dollars. Relatives, persons and groups raised thousands of dollars to purchase and restore these sites to 18th century authenticity.

Today, you pay entry fees to the Revere home, buy souvenirs at a North Church store, and make voluntary donations. This money is largely responsible for the on going maintenance of these sites.

During the April City Councils Fuerst Farm discussion, I heard Mayor Landry request that a plan to save the existing buildings must include a funding and ongoing maintenance plan. Over the past few months several have stated their desire to maintain the status quo of the Fuerst Farm. Some have publically asked who was responsible for maintaining this site in the past. A web site published a report that implicates that the city failed to “fulfill its responsibility”. To date, no financial plan for repair and on going maintenance has been presented.

Long term there needs to be a maintenance revenue plan. It’s highly unlikely that the Farm will draw a comparable level of admission fees, souvenir purchases, and donations as the Revere properties. The levels of maintenance requirements, however, are probably much closer. Are future tax payers of Novi going to be left writing this check?

If a private funding plan is required for preserving the history of one of our First Patriots, why is it so unreasonable to expect the same for the Fuerst Farm?

It seems that the big news around the city today surrounds the comments recently made by 52-1 district court (Novi) Magestrate Judith Holtz. On April 20th, 20-year-old Michael Robert Dickey came before her during a sentencing hearing on a charge of Minor in Possession of alcohol. Dickey had two prior convictions for drunk driving and, according to the court, ?had failed to comply with his bond conditions to remain drug and alcohol free.?

Her comments:

?Here is my suggestion to you, Mr. Dickey, climb up on the roof of your house and jump off; either that or get in a bathtub filled with hot water and slash your wrists; then you will be dead; it will be cheaper; it will be faster and in the long run it will be less painful to anybody who cares about you, because that?s where you?re headed now, and the best part of it is you won?t take somebody else with you.

?Who do you think you are? You don?t have the right to go out there and endanger innocent people and you know it. And you have had two convictions for drunk driving and you?re not twenty one and you still drink.?

Channel 7 News (WXYZ) is all over this story.

Novi 52-1 District Judge Brian MacKenzie, chief judge pro tem, followed up with the following:

?The words chosen by the Court?s magistrate to convey the seriousness and severity of the defendant?s actions and crime could have been better chosen,? the court said in a statement. ?The magistrate was attempting to convey, through an analogy, that the defendant?s actions and past behavior has continually put the community at risk.?

Sure, these were harsh words. But, but how many of you (if not just once in your live) wouldn’t like the opportunity to say the same to someone who seems to care not one bit about putting the lives of your family members in danger? It seems like just yesterday that a prominent Novi businessman tragically lost his entire family to a drunk driver.

So from me to you, Magestrate Holtz, Kudos! I’m more than willing to give you a pass on this one.

Interesting story from a High School in Texas that has offered the IB Diploma program for the past 10 years.

John Tyler Principal To Discuss IB Withdrawal

I’m still not sold that this program is good for our district. Remember, we have one of the best AP programs around and IB will simply cannibalize it as has happened in many districts around the country. Contrary to beliefs of some, this program is not for everyone. It is rigorous and is generally only completed (and attended) by elite students.

Of the 95 diploma candidates Texas’ Tyler High School has had in 10 years, less than half (41) earned IB diplomas.

Lisa Harper, the IB coordinator at Tyler HS states: “If you’re not earning diplomas, what’s the point of the program?”

I’m still disappointed that we continue to pump dollars into this program especially without a vote from our elected school board. An $80k-$200k budget expenditure which also causes a change in curriculum certainly calls for one. I certainly don’t see that as micro-managing.

We have more important issues that need to be addresses at other schools within the district.

On another front, schools around the country are finally catching on to the shortcomings of Newsweek’s H.S. Rankings developed by their education columnist (and IB fanatic) Jay Matthews. The principle behind the rankings are so flawed, that High Schools around the country are begining to write Newsweek in order to boycott the list.