If the IEDs won't kill 'em, the Montecristos will

There was a snippet in the Monroe Snooze the other day about how some cigar store owner in
Bay City is collecting donations to buy cigars "at cost" to send to our troops in Iraq.
Boy, talk about a true patriot!
Of all the things these kids need over there (armor plating, flak jackets and other non-essentials, just to name a few), you'd think the cigar store owner could come up with a more honest, decent, humanitarian way to get publicity. Like donating the money to the American Cancer Society instead.

Hey, batter, batter!

Yeah, that's right. Hey, batter, batter - swing! is part of the lyrics of Trace Adkins' hit song titled "Swing."
The question now is whether the Monroe County Fair Board will step up to the plate and change the way they sell their main concert tickets. Among the first in line is always a guy who buys a few hundred choice seats. For whatever reason (no, he doesn't scalp them), he walks away with some of the best tickets and leaves other fans out in the cold (or the grandstands). The fair association either doesn't care or doesn't know that this goes on. But they should change it, probably by simply limiting the number of tickets sold to a single individual. Fifty tickets might be a good number. While it's at it, the fair board also should review the policy on how many free choice tickets it doles out to its members and their families.
I mean it is their show, but it seems the Fair could be a little more fair about these things.

President Ford's death

Gerald Ford's death brought out all the weird pronouncements by just about every pundit and dried-out political hack around. There were two consistent observations people who "knew" him were making. One was that he was a "common man" who helped "heal" the nation by pardoning Nixon.
How common could the guy have been having attended the University of Michigan in what must have been the depths of the Great Depression, even if it was on a football scholarship?
And how come we're rewriting history to suggest that pardoning Nixon healed the nation. The first draft was that Ford was widely viewed as a puppet and the pardon was cut and dried before he was named President. A lot of people apparently thought that the pardon was just another ugly chapter in the Watergate story. And it was!

Merry merry

Merry Christmas to all Monroe Observer readers, lovers, haters, critics, friends and fiends. Hope your holiday is a happy one.

How about this millage?

I see the city has decided not to put a road millage on the ballot. Good move. It would have failed miserably. Now they're talking about combining it with a millage for renovating the United Furniture building for a library. Or maybe doing nothing until they get a better idea of what the citizens want.
Right now the citizens DON'T WANT new taxes. It means any millage put on the ballot probably within at least the next year will be defeated. Doubling up the millage request will only get it doubly defeated.
These aren't really millages anyone can feel real strongly about supporting. The road millage is a nice thing to have but the roads in my neighborhood aren't that bad and haven't had much attention in probably 20 years. Most city streets are in similar condition. It doesn't mean they don't need work, but it doesn't mean we need an ambitious program to redo each road in a methodical manner that's comparable to cutting our grass or raking our leaves each week.
No one can get excited about the United Furniture building because A. It's been vacant for years and B. everyone THOUGHT there might be some other partners so that it wouldn't be just a city play (like IT IS a LIBRARY after all, and SOMEONE thought that MCCC might be convinced to join in on this one).
Here's a more ambitious idea that might be an investment in the future. Seek a millage to buy the IKO property and the vacant bankrupt Modern Packaging property next door. Do something like a Mason Run or other residential-commercial mixed use with them. Obviously, the time isn't right for a full fledged subdivision, but some of the hottest selling residences still are condos and townhouses.
This would accomplish a couple of things -- it would clear out blighted empty factories that are sandwiched between residential areas and provide a little bit of tax base while bringing in new residents. Maybe those high-minded developers who were looking at the IHM property might be interested. Yeah, right.

Hard times or easy credit?

I was out and about Friiday and couldn't believe how busy every place seemed to be. Not only was traffic bad, restaurant parking lots were full and stores seemed to be extraordinarily busy. I thought Michigan had one of the worst economies in the nation. If that's true, the word hasn't gotten out to the masses. I saw people spending scads of money. Maybe it's just that people can't afford to buy anything but know they can charge it and never have to pay it off. That's how bankruptcy usually works.

Here's the ticket

In all fairness to Monroe's finest, I didn't mean to imply they are a bunch of shiftless sentries in blue. But a few rotten apples can bring out the worms.
Here's a more constructive suggestion. If the cops want to generate a little cash without too much effort, take the suggestion of an acquaintance who isn't thrilled with the way the new traffic pattern change on inbound M-50 is working. City watchers might recall that the right hand lane of eastbound M-50 at Telegraph was changed to right turn only to prevent people from racing to the merge lanes next to Rite Aid. Well, it seems that a lot of drivers are ignoring that right turn only thing and racing ahead to the merge lanes next to Rite Aid. So if the police would put a car in the Rite Aid lot, or just park on Toledo St., they'd be able to write ticket after ticket to motorists who really are driving in a hazardous manner. It also would send a very visible message to other motorists that you really do need to turn right in the right lane. It also would generate a bit of revenue for the city.
Timing is everything though. The cruisers have to be there between about 7:15 and 8:30 in the morning. Say 20 minutes a ticket and you have a little pot of gold. Multiply that times just three days a week. You get the idea. It also would be a real early morning morale booster for the saner drivers out there on the way to work.

Monroe's idlest?

Don't be surprised if there's a not so subtle effort to thin the ranks of the Monroe Police Department next year.
Why would anyone even think of doing that?
Because there's a new city manager in town who probably won't buy the argument that we don't have crime in the city because we have a strong police presence. Most everyone in town knows where the crime hotspots are and they know also that a lot of routine patrols don't always routinely patrol their neighborhoods. But nobody's going to complain about it because they don't want to get on the bad side of the police department, which is not a bad idea.
There are a lot of other people who have questions about what the police do during those odd out-of-sight, out-of-mind shifts when most sane people are snug in their beds.
But some other citizens with insomnia apparently wander around town and see weird unexplained events. For example, one watchful citizen wants to know, why would two Monroe Police rendevous way out to a distance parking area in Munson Park and sit for at least 20 minutes. How much crime are they stopping out there when no one's around and they're the only ones using the park. Let's say they're comparing top secret notes about a felon's whereabouts. Wouldn't it be easier just to park in the city limits like they also can be seen doing at other odd hours? I mean at the very least that would seem to be a waste of gas.
If I was the police chief, I start to try to get a little more accountability from the troops. Or maybe just start doing a little freelance shadowing. Or just say I planned to do some freelance shadowing. Otherwise some in the department might spoil the gig for the others.
But, no, I'm sure there's a logical explanation for such curious behavior.

No Wal-Mart, I bet

I never say never, but another early projection is warranted: There won't be a Wal-Mart in Bedford anytime soon. If you've been wandering around the community recently, the NO WAL-MART signs are all over the place. It's almost like if the place is built, it will mysteriously burn down faster than a St. Vincent de Paul store. Really bizarre.

Maybe it is un-American

I put up a few Christmas lights over the weekend. They pale in comparison to the light displays I've seen at other homes in the neighborhood. I've seen and heard complaints from people that some folks put up Christmas lights way too early. It seems like people who don't put up their lights early kinda resent the folks who do.
Then I started thinking. There is something to be said for not putting up any lights at all -- or at least not trying to outdo your neighbor. After all, it only means you'll pay a higher power bill. That means you'll have less to spend on necessities for your family, or unnecessary Christmas gifts.
Then there's the cost to the environment. The more power we use, the more pollution there is somewhere. Sure, the pretty lights might light up your kids eyes. But let's not overdo it or those kids may end up being 30-year-old asthmatics.
It's time to see the light.

Hey Don, whatcha doin' next Christmas?

Martha Reeves, who blew into town recently for the downtown tree lighting ceremony, apparently wasn't the best person to invite. The ex-Motown recording artist now is on Detroit City Council, but might soon be an ex-Detroit City Council member.
On the TV Snooze today there was a report about how she's the target of a recall campaign because she's a slumlord and let's all her properties get run down and overgrown. Hey, that sounds exactly like some of the locals that the City of Monroe cracks down on.
Maybe next year they can get ex-City Hotel owner Don Brown to come in for the tree-lighting.