Dog savedbecause ofmany fast thinking individuals

On Friday evening, Feb.10, my Golden Retrievergot a rubber ball lodged inher throat. It was after 6p.m. and all local veteri-nary offices were closed.My fast-thinking neigh-bors, Terri and BrianVaillancourt, drove Sophieto the Chesterfield CentralFire Station on 23 MileRoad.

Captain RichardSchroeder and FirefighterDouglas Newcombworked on her but couldnot get the ball dislodged.They called Med Star whothen transported her tothe 24-hour Emergencyvet office on Gratiot.While driving to thatoffice, Sophie stoppedbreathing. EMT RonWeddington and JosephMarrosu were able toextricate the ball and got

her back to breathing bygiving her mouth to noserespiration. She is aliveand doing great now!

I want to thank thesewonderful individuals thatwent beyond the call oftheir “regular” duty of sav-ing people, to saving mybeloved pet, Sophie.KATHLEEN VALENTAChesterfield

Winter inRichmondproved to be a good time

The Taste of Richmondwas a great success with12 restaurants and 397people sampling the fabu-lous food. Special thanksare given to the restau-rants that participated.The events would beimpossible without ourhosts, too.

Congratulations toRichmond Recreation fortheir success with theChildren’s Carnival, DaddyDaughter Dance, ChiliCook-off and SeniorSocial.

We enjoyed the won-derful entertainment byall those who participat-ed, as well.

Thanks to theRichmond Lenox EMSand Richmond Police whowere present to ensuresafety of all of our guests.

Thank you Bob

McKinnon and TroyJeschke for delivering icestands.

Thanks to all of the IceCarving Sponsors too,without your supportthere would not havebeen an ice festival.

Thank you to all theresidents and visitors! Wehope to see you again nextyear!KIM GALANTERichmond AreaChamber of Commerce

Algonac FoodPantry winnerof $1,500 grant

Thank you to the TimesHerald and theCommunity Foundationof St. Clair County forchoosing the AlgonacFood Pantry, one of thetop 10 non-profit agenciesto compete for the ShareThe Love Valentine’s Day$1,500 grant.

Thank you to the manypeople who voted for thepantry, making the pantrythe winner of one of the$1,500 grants.

The grant money willbe used to purchase ham-burger, hot dogs, mar-garine, cheese, etc. TheAlgonac Lions Clubdonated a 16-foot freezerto the pantry making itpossible to purchase larg-er quantities of perishablefoods. In the year 2011,the pantry gave out 48,451

pounds of food.The pantry, located at

424 Smith St., serves Ira,Clay Township andAlgonac. The hours areFridays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.and the third Tuesday ofthe month from 6 p.m. to8 p.m.

The support wereceive, from our commu-nity and beyond, is greatlyappreciated by the peoplewe serve and the pantryvolunteers. We want tothank you very much. Thepantry is grateful for thepast support we’vereceived from theCommunity Foundation.

Again, thank you.MARION AVERSAlgonac PantryCoordinator

Supporters offundraisersmade successpossible

The St. Clair Women’sLeague had a very suc-cessful year during 2011,thanks to the strong sup-port for our majorfundraisers by the St. Claircommunity. Our groupmade donations of morethan $20,000 to the fol-lowing groups: St. ClairEcumenical Council’sFood Pantry, Kids InDistress, Blue WaterHospice, St. Clair ArtsAssociation, St. Clair High

School and EddyElementary School (mini-grants), St. Clair HighSchool National HonorSociety, St. Clair Parks andRecreation, and theCouncil on Aging.Additional funds wereused to provide scholar-ships for three St. ClairHigh School seniorsentering their first year ofcollege, a scholarship forone woman returning tocollege, and clothing andtoys for three families atChristmas.

We are hopeful that wewill see the same incredi-ble support for our 2012events - the GeraniumSale scheduled for May 12and 19 and the EthnicFestival scheduled forNov. 1.

On behalf of the St.Clair Women’s League:PAM CLEES, PublicityChairSt. Clair

Parrothead’sshow thanks

The BluewaterParrothead Club wouldlike to thank everyonewho attended our firstNew Years Eve fundraiser.All of the money raisedwill be used for our manylocal, charitable dona-tions, throughout theyear. Also collected was 93pounds of food, which

was donated to the MidCity Nutrition Program.ALAN CASEPort Huron Township

Students are aninspiration

I enjoyed reading thearticle, “Seneca studentscompete in the nationalSamsung science contest”in the Feb. 1, 2012, editionof The Macomb TownshipVoice. It’s always nice tosee young students takingan interest in math andscience. Also, the projectthe students did was help-ing the water habitats inour backyard. The com-mitment these studentsand volunteers showedwas remarkable. Not verymany people would wadein knee-deep water whenit is 32 degrees. I have par-ticipated in similar com-petitions at school andknow first-hand that proj-ects like this teach team-work and determination,as well as the math andscience skills. I hope proj-ects like this will continueto inspire new, younglearners.CATHERINE PIEPRZAKMacomb

Driver education is essential

In response to the col-umn, “Tragedy is never

easy to report,” I mustconfess that I was takenby surprise at some ofEditor Jeff Payne’s allega-tions and revelations.

Speed limits, as I amsure you know, are noth-ing more than the “post-ed” high-end limit atwhich one can regulatetheir vehicle under opti-mal circumstances. “Roadconditions” dictate thetrue nature of vehicle flowand speed regardless ofposted speed limits inconjunction with therequirement that everydriver have full control oftheir vehicle at all times.After all, what is the speedlimit for the un-postedgravel roads in our countyand why are they notposted?

In the case of CountyLine Road, I humbly dis-agree with your assess-ment that the postedspeed limit is too high;and I could well make theargument that 45 mphnear M-29 is a waste ofsignage. What is located inthat zone that we do notfind anywhere else onCounty Line?

It is my opinion, andthat of the law as well,that drivers must be cog-nizant of their surround-ings and operate theirvehicle accordingly.Posting or changing signsmeans nothing than anexercise in futility if theyare simply ignored or roadconditions render themnull and void. I wouldadvocate for a vigorousincrease in driver aware-

ness and education that Isuspect is sorely lacking.

Reporting on tragedy ispart of driver awarenessand, although it may notbe easy for some to do, itis a vital part of publicalertness in an effort toprevent another suchtragedy in the near future.Let not your emotionobfuscate your duty as aneditor or reporter, for yourwork serves the commu-nity and us all very well.ED HADAM Jr.Fair Haven

Don’t declawyour cat

There are some indi-viduals who may find thissubject offensive; howev-er, it needs to beaddressed. It is thedeclawing of millions ofhelpless felines that can-not speak for themselves.

Declawing is anextremely painful proce-dure. It is the amputationof the last joint of a cat’stoes; this includes bones,ligaments, tendons,nerves and joints.

Cats need their clawslike humans need theirfingers, and it is their firstline of defense againstpredators.

If you’re thinking ofdeclawing, forget a catand adopt a dog, a rabbit,snake or even an ele-phant. If you have a cat orwant a cat, there are alter-natives to declawing:Observe the cat’s behavior- places where he/shelikes to scratch and placetape (clear packing tape is

perfect) over the notedareas. Cats hate the stickyglue. It works like magic.Make your own cat-scratchers. Lumber yardswill gladly give you theirscraps - simple plywood,2-by-2, old rug remnants.I made several in just a

few minutes.Ancient Egyptians hon-

ored cats - every house-hold had one - still do.Cats protected theirhome, their children andwere considered greathunters. If you don’t wantany unwelcome critters

around the home, get acat, but do not declawthem.

Think about this:would you want to gothrough life without yourfingers?DENE POSEYAlgonac

February 22, 2012

COMMENT OF THE WEEK“New Baltimore residents have been waitingpatiently for changes. Most of the time thesame names keep appearing on the ballotsand nothing ever progresses.”

- “Really” commenting on NewBaltimore’s hire of a new city

recreation director.To see more story comments, go to voicenews.com

PUT IT IN WRITINGThe Voice welcomes letters to the editor. Letters to the editor may be sent by e-mail,

fax or mail and MUST INCLUDE a name, home address and daytime phone numberto allow us to verify the identity of the writer. We reserve the right to edit letters forspace and clarity, especially those exceeding 300 words in length. Send letters to:

The VoiceLetters to the editor

51180 BedfordNew Baltimore, MI 48047

editor@voicenews.com (e-mail)(586) 716-8918 (fax)

Since taking office a lit-tle over a year ago,Lansing has been a leg-islative buffet for Gov.Rick Snyder and theRepublican Party. Withunprecedented control ofall three branches of stategovernment, the GOP haseasily put through anagenda that has includedelimination of the singlebusiness tax, the creationof fiscal incentives for youname it and broadeningthe scope of the emer-gency financial managerlaw.

Just to prove there can

be disagreements amongtheir own, Snyder wasrebuffed in his initialefforts to build a secondbridge to Canada inDetroit while eyebrowswere raised when hesought to replace themoney lost by eliminationof the Single Business Taxwith taxes on pensions, ameasure that ultimatelydid go through.

It appears things aregoing to get a little trickierin year two, however, as abudget that includes a lotmore revenue than hadbeen forecast is vettedduring an election year.

So how should thesefunds, estimated to besomewhere between $400and $650 million, be used?This could be the first of afew disagreementsbetween GOP leaders,who will ultimately make

that decision.In a survey of local

House and Senate reps,the consensus seems to betwo targets: contributingto the state rainy day fundand paying down debt.

What was not men-tioned are some of thepriorities put forth bySnyder in his budget aswell as Attorney GeneralBill Schuette’s proposal touse a significant amountof the funds to put morepolice on the street.

“We’d be foolish toappropriate these funds,”said Sen. Phil Pavlov (R-St.Clair Township). “It wouldbe foolish because wedon’t have the ability toappropriate these fundslong term.”

He did go on to saythat if and when perma-nent revenue sources arerealized, education and

public safety should go tothe head of the line.

Rep. Jud Gilbert (R-Algonac) said the moneyshould go to the rainy dayfund and long-term obli-gations, particularly theteacher retirement fund.

Meanwhile, freshmanRep. Ken Goike (R-RayTownship) divides the sur-plus into two categories:real and projected.

The cash in the “real”bucket, taxpayer dollarsthat have already beenrealized, should go towardlong-term debt whilewhat is in the “projected”should not only go to debtbut also taxation changes,specifically undoingincome tax changes put inplace last year while shift-ing back property tax col-lections to later in theyear.

Meanwhile, in a Jan. 27

phone conference,Schuette proposed using$140 million to put 1,000more officers on the streetover a two-year period.

“There’s too much fearand not enough safety,”he said, citing the loss of3,200 officers from statedepartments since 2001.

Apparently his propos-al resonated with Snyderas more police was one ofthe items covered by thebudget he unveiled Feb. 9.He also proposed what hecalls a small increase foreducation though criticshave said it’s not a realincrease at all as it will notentirely offset federal ear-marks that will dry up thisyear.

While the surplus hasgotten a significantamount of attention, inthe background is a pro-posal to eliminate person-

al property tax. An Epic-MRA poll conducted lastOctober shows a majorityof state residents thinkthis will just be a cashgrab for business, many ofwhich already got a boostwith elimination of theSingle Business Tax.

Meanwhile, local gov-ernment leaders warn tak-ing this step would be thedeath knell for institutionsfrom libraries to littleleagues. The political willto take what opponentssay would be a draconianstep might not exist, espe-cially among representa-tives, many of whom willbe campaigning for re-election this fall.

The bottom line is thatwhat on the surfaceappears to be a slam dunkbudget could turn into agood old family feud.

Stay tuned.

Jeff PayneEditor

Local reps favor banking windfall

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