Of all thethings acommunitynewspaperdoes,informingreaders ofdeath isprobablyone of themost diffi-cult.

When it’sthe death ofa child, it is even worse.

This weekend, at TheVoice we had that unfor-tunate task as KyleHalcomb, an 11-year-oldstudent at Anchor BayMiddle School North,passed away following anearly morning traffic acci-dent at County Line and26 Mile roads Friday. Kylewas riding with his foursiblings in a van driven bytheir mother, who wastaking the children toschool.

By Friday night, as Itook part in an AnchorBay Rotary bowlingfundraiser at aChesterfield Townshipbowling alley, the accidentwas already the buzz oftown. The two overridingthemes I heard were howsad the situation was andspeculation that malfunc-tioning traffic signals con-tributed to the wreck.

Theformer iscertainlytrue. Noparentshouldever haveto burytheirchild.

Thelatter willbe investi-gated

though initial reportsfrom investigators werethat the signals weredoing their job. I wouldimagine speed will also beconsidered. Anyone whohas ever traveled alongCounty Line Road knowsthat, particularly between26 Mile Road and M-29,the 55 mph limit thateventually slows to 45mph in New Baltimore’scity limits is arguably toofast and reflective of atime when nothing morethan a few farms lined theroad.

As I learned of Kyle’sdeath I thought of a simi-lar tragedy that took placejust recently. This tragedywas when a neighbor’s 13-year-old child, SharonArwood, collapsed anddied in gym class whilerunning. While my wifeand I do not know thefamily very well, she wit-

nessed the procession onthe day of the funeral.

It was led by a pair ofpolice cruisers that rolledalong our street andstopped in front of thefamily’s home. After thecruisers came to rest apair of officers got out,saluted and then the pro-cession continued on tothe cemetery. My wifehappened to be homefrom work sick that dayand will probably neverforget this.

As the parent of a 3-year-old I used to bristlewhen I would hear thewords ‘you just don’t knowuntil you have children ofyour own.’

Today, I get that. WhileI could always appreciatethe gravity of these kindsof tragedies, as the parentof a young son they nowmean a bit more to me.

Just as our staff wasbeginning to come upwith more information topresent to you aboutKyle’s life, we learned ofanother tragedy: FormerL’Anse Creuse North prin-cipal Dave Jackson passedaway suddenly Sunday. Hewas found by his wifeafter he had a heart attackwhile working out at hisMacomb Township home.

I had the pleasure ofworking with Dave notonly as a journalist but asa high school coach.

Working as editor atThe Richmond Reviewnearly two decades ago, Ifirst met Dave while hecoached the boysí basket-ball team at RichmondHigh School. As editor of asmall newspaper, my jobpretty much entailedgoing to everything fromcovering city council

meetings to school func-tions, including sportingevents. Daveís teams hadgreat success, earningleague championshipsand creating excitementfor a sport that has notalways been king in thatcommunity. It was appar-ent where the successcame from as those BlueDevil teams took on theirleader’s personality:down-to-earth and hardworking.

In subsequent years, Igot to know Dave as hemoved on to become theathletic director at L’AnseCreuse High School. Icoach cross-country atAnchor Bay High Schooland Dave was a regular atMAC cross-country com-petitions. That in itself isworth mentioning. Cross-country is not a glamoursport and the racesbetween young area run-ners a pretty rare destina-tion for athletic directors.In fact, I’ve joked for yearsthat I think most of themprobably don’t reallyknow whether the kidscompeting in the sport skior run.

However, in conversa-tions with him on crispSaturday mornings atMetro Beach, where theMacomb Area Conferencehas held its annual league

meet for years, Davealways seemed to appreci-ate the anonymous hard-work of these studentsand thought it importantto show support for them.

Dave’s undeniableimpact on education inMacomb County will becelebrated in the comingdays as services are held(they had not been set asof press time for this edi-tion). They, along with hisfamily, will also be thelegacy he leaves behind.

Jeff Payne is editor ofThe Voice Newspapers andArmada Times. He can bereached at jeff.payne@voicenews.com or onTwitter @jefferydpayne.

Contributions fromthe Lions Clubappreciated

Blue Water Choices would liketo extend a warm thank you tothe Algonac Lions Club and theMarine City Lions Club for theirgenerosity regarding sponsorshipof our program. We are a smallprogram for adults with develop-mental disabilities in St. ClairCounty. Your contributions allowour friends to have new opportu-nities and equipment to furthertheir growth and independence.On behalf of Blue Water Choices:STARR CARUTHERSMarine City

Resident thankfulvolunteers steppingup for Maritime Days

I went to my first meeting ofthe Marine City Maritime Daysboard. I came away from thatmeeting impressed by the way itwas organized. The people thathave been running the festival,from the organizers to the volun-teers, are so dedicated to theevent that it is a wonder that itdoesn’t have the backing from thecommunity that you would thinkit should. What they are trying todo is a fantastic event that shouldbe used by everyone in Marine

City. Unfortunately money is verytight in this town. I myself wishthat the economy was a lot betterfor the families in Marine Cityand surrounding communities sothey could help support this fan-tastic endeavor. I would like tothank the board members thatare leaving for doing a great jobof keeping this event going. Iwould like to thank the volun-teers that are still trying to keepthis festival going and would liketo thank the new board membersfor stepping up to make thisanother great thing that is hap-pening in this town.LOREN LOWEMarine City

Board handledmeeting poorly

On Monday, Feb. 6, mywife and I, along withapproximately 20 others,attended a special schoolboard meeting that wasscheduled to vote on acontract extension for thesuperintendent ofAlgonac CommunitySchools.

After the Pledge ofAllegiance, we wereinformed this was aclosed meeting for thediscussion and evaluationof Mr. Sharrow. The vot-ing, however, had to bedone in an open meetingformat after the discus-sion. For the closed-doordiscussion portion of themeeting, we were told wehad to leave the premises;and the vote was to takeplace immediately afterthe closed-door discus-sion. When asked howlong this would take, wewere told it could be anhour, two or three hoursor more and that we mustleave the building. Severalpeople asked if we couldwait in another room andwere told no. We had toleave the building and 22-25 taxpaying residentswere turned out of theirschool building to wait inthe cold night air for twohours and 10 minutes.Was this punishment forpossibly opposing thecontract extension? I thinkso, and everybody elsethere thought so too.

The last time Mr.

Sharrow asked for anextension the board mem-bers went into a differentroom and allowed the tax-payers the warmth of theschool.JOSEPH FIDLERAlgonac

Plenty of positive inschools

Last month I commit-ted to visiting some of theoutstanding parent,teacher, and studentgroups that support stu-dent achievement in ourdistrict. I was amazed atthe involvement happen-ing behind the scenes. Atthe New HavenElementary PTO meetingone of the teachers gave apresentation on the newiPads being used at all lev-els of our school district.Many of our staff are com-ing in for training on theirown personal time. It wasexciting to hear about allof the iPad applicationsbeing utilized to increasestudent achievement.Several members of theNew Haven ElementaryPTO are spending one tothree hours per day on avoluntary basis, runningand improving our library.At the Endeavour PTOmeeting, I discovered theelementary PTO is part-nering with the middleschool PTO to gain moresupport and provide moreopportunities for all stu-dents in the building, K-8.I was so pleased to seethis type of collaborationfrom both groups. BothPTOs discussed initiativessuch as The Mom Prom,The Daddy DaughterDance, School Carnivals,Popcorn Sales, RocketReward Cart, classroomsupport and so muchmore. These groups are an

essential part of establish-ing the type of environ-ment our studentsdeserve. I also had thepleasure of meeting withthe leadership class at thehigh school whose mem-bers provided informationthat will help improve theculture in their building. Itwas impressive to see thecommitment of these stu-dents and the types ofchanges they are willing tomake happen to improvetheir school. Anotheramazing thing to see wasthe high school basketballteam attending and help-ing at the Junior Hoopsbasketball games. What abeautiful display of thededication of our athleticleaders in promoting con-tinuity between feederprograms and schoolsports. In addition to all ofthis, the New HavenEducation Foundation isgiving out teacher grantsto support classroom ini-tiatives. This group isactively looking for thesupport of the alumni andbusiness community inorder to raise funds tosupport student achieve-ment. At the annual NewHaven Alumni Banquet,Dr. Keith Wunderlich,superintendent ofschools, gave a presenta-tion on the improvementshappening in our schooldistrict. For instance ournew class of 2012 inspiredthe 21st Century Libraryand the addition of bandand choir to the curricu-lum. It was impressive towitness all of the genera-tions of people whoattended. The heart of thecommunity in New Havenis one that should not beunderestimated, and Ilook forward to continu-ing my commitment tosupporting our children.GINA WALKER

Lenox TownshipNew Haven schoolboard member

Don’t destroySocial Security

For all the years ofSocial Security’s existence,its enemies have tried toeliminate the program -not because it is a Ponzischeme (which it is not) -but solely because they donot wish to pay into thefund the payroll tax nowpaid by employers.

Employees pay the samepercentage of payroll taxas their premium into thisretirement insurancefund.

From Barry Goldwaterto today, there have beena multitude of schemes tokill this vital program:make it voluntary; let ittwist in the wind; phase itout; put it in the stockmarket and more. One ofthe leaders of this attack isWillard “Mitt” Romney,known as the Wall Streetraider (Bain Capital) who

specialized in buyingcompanies, selling offtheir units and pocketingmillions. Romney andthose who attack SocialSecurity care not at allabout retirees or some-day-to-be retirees. Theysimply want the billions ofdollars they will capture ifthe program ends. Thishappened under MargaretThatcher in England andvirtually destroyed thatnation’s pension program.KENNETH JENKINSMacomb

February 15, 2012

COMMENT OF THE WEEK“I hope that Salvation Army is not chased out ofNew Baltimore. Not sure the politics of it all butit seems like for every two steps we take ahead weget knocked back three or four.”

- “My son’s mom” commenting onthe report that The Salvation Army

store is moving from its currentNew Baltimore location.

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Jeff PayneEditor

Tragedy is never easy to report“As the parent of a 3-year-oldI used to bristle when I wouldhear the words ‘you just don’tknow until you have children

of your own.’ Today, I getthat.”