Please vote on Tuesday, August 7, 2018. This primary is very important. You also need to know our Republican Secretary of State has come up with a new ballot style for the primary. You still need to state which party’s primary you’re voting for, but instead of getting a separate ballot, everything is on one.
Here’s the trick: If you switch out of your designated column, you will spoil your ballot and need to get a new one. There is no splitting your ticket in this election. Not even if there is someone in another column running for office who is your neighbor and best buddy and gives you fresh tomatoes out of his garden every week. Eat your friend’s tomatoes, just don’t vote for him.
Next Tuesday when you vote in the Michigan primary election remember to STAY IN YOUR LANE!
Matt Morgan – don’t forget that name – because if you live in Michigan’s 1st House District, he’s going to be your next Congressman in Washington D.C. But first you have to write in his name on August 7, 2018 when you go to the polls and vote in the Michigan Primary. Matt’s petitions signatures were voided when the Board of Canvassers found an error on his paperwork. He can however still run for Congress as a write-in candidate.
Morgan settled in Northern Michigan with his wife and two sons after retiring from the United States Marine Corps. His civilian life included a career in television and film, but Morgan wanted to do more and looked into public service.
Issues Matt Morgan wants to address once he is elected and working in Washington include improving infrastructure. He wants to see the Soo Locks rebuilt for the 21st Century. Another infrastructure issue long overdue in Michigan is high-speed broadband internet available everywhere in the state. Both of these issues prohibit business growth in Northern Michigan. Morgan supports health care for all so that Northern Michigan residents won’t have to worry about going to the doctor when they’re sick or choosing between paying the house note or paying for prescriptions. Matt would also work to support and improve public education. Pre-K for all children, and community college for high school graduates.
Matt Morgan’s many endorsements include AFL-CIO, AFT, End Citizens United, International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers: Local 8, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, IUPAT District Council No. 7, LiUNA, MEA, Michigan Nurses Association, Northern Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council, Operating Engineers 324, SEIU, Sierra Club, Upper Peninsula Building and Construction Trades Council, United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters, United Automobile Workers, United Food and Commercial Workers, and Woman to Woman, Traverse City.
The Primary is August 7, 2018. Residents of Michigan’s 1st House District need to get out and vote on Tuesday and remember to write in Matt Morgan for U.S. Congress. To find out more about Matt Morgan and learn about where he stands on the issues, visit his website.
Write-in Matt Morgan for Michigan’s U.S. House District 1 on August 7, 2018.
The Up North Progressive email inbox received a very strong reminder Eagle Mine needs their survey filled out before the deadline on Friday, July 13th. They even included the dates of previous emails to emphasize the urgency of needing input. Eagle Mine if you recall is the operation currently drilling for minerals near Marquette. They have a deserved shaky relationship with the locals concerned about the environmental impact the mining operation has on local watersheds.
The survey is pretty straightforward. They want to know people’s personal perceptions of the mining operation, and if there are any concerns from the public about what is going on there. They even sweeten the deal for giving up your time to complete the survey.
A whole dollar to the no-kill shelter it is!
Before this survey, Eagle Mine gave away Lego toy sets in an effort to both bolster positive opinions of the mine and distract people with new toys.
If you take the time to fill out the short survey, some things you need to know about recent events with Eagle Mine:
Eagle Mine/Lundin Mining tried very hard to suppress the public finding out about a major cave-in that happened in the fall of 2016. From Save The Wild UP:
Rumors of the underground collapse at Eagle Mine first surfaced in fall of 2016, when a story circulated that some “mine contractors” had quit over an underground incident they felt was “dangerous.” Responding to the direct question “Was there a partial pillar collapse?” Eagle Mine confirmed that an incident had taken place, but did not use the term “collapse” and provided only a few details
This, of course, calls into question Eagle Mine’s willingness to be transparent in what is happening at the mine while offering toys instead to generate goodwill with the public. The cave-in generated enough concern to prompt the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to hold a public hearing last year over permits Lundin Mining requested from the state to mine even more land.
County Road 595 is dead. On March 20, 2018, the last appeal from the Marquette County Road Commission was turned down in the US 6th Circuit Court. If the road at this point is ever to be built, it will either need to be picked up by the Army Corps of Engineers or taken to the United States Supreme Court. Objections to the road come from the fact the proposed route would cut through an undeveloped land with several watersheds that would need to be diverted. Eagle Mine insists they have nothing to do with this road being built, but the Marquette County Road Commission proposed this project only after mine traffic through Marquette became an issue. Originally, Lundin Mining promised the community their activity at Eagle Mine would not create any traffic problems for Marquette because they were going to use the local railroad to move their ore. This never happened.
You have until Friday, July 13, 2018, to complete the survey. Be accurate. Be polite. Let Lundin Mining and Eagle Mine know we haven’t forgotten about them.
As of June 30, 2018, there are 7,374,190 registered voters in the state of Michigan. Residents who want to vote in the August 7, 2018 primary have until July 9 to register.
What some people may not be aware of yet is that states under GOP control have resorted to various methods of purging voter rolls and gerrymandering election districts to make it harder for people to vote. It’s a fact that when fewer people vote, Republicans win. Making it more difficult for people to vote ensures Republicans hold on to elected office despite the majority of residents living in their districts not belonging to the same party or no party at all.
What can we do to eliminate these voter suppression tactics? It’s not only important to register to vote if you haven’t done so yet, but if you haven’t voted in a while make sure you are registered to vote. Fortunately, the Michigan Secretary of State makes this easy for people with internet access to check. Click this link, and you will go to a page where you fill in a simple form and receive information on where you vote, and a sample ballot. In the primary, you can only choose one party’s ballot to vote. Make sure your ballot is for the Democratic Party.
There will be candidates to vote for in federal, state, and local elections. You may also have ballot proposals for millage renewals for local services like the public library or public transport, for example. Vote yes on those renewals. They provide vital services people rely on every day.
The last day to register to vote in the August 7, 2018 primary is July 9, 2018. If you need help, contact your local Democratic Party office and they will be more than happy to help you check your registration status and provide you with a voter registration form. Local public libraries are also holding voter registration events, so check there too.
Don’t forget to register by July 9, 2018, to vote in the August 7, 2018, primary election!
Former Grand Traverse Academy principal Brooke Capser is now also the former principal of Lowell Elementary School in Missoula, Montana. Brooke returned to Traverse City recently after working one school year for the Missoula County Public Schools. The announcement of Capser’s departure was noted in the local news.
Interviews for the next principal at Lowell Elementary School will begin the week of June 11th with MCPS leaders saying the chosen candidate will start during the summer.
Current Lowell Elementary School principal Brooke Capser resigned her position earlier this week in order to support her family.
And in this case, support her family refers to the hubby never relocated and their house in Michigan never sold. These things happen.
If you don’t remember Brooke, she’s the former GTA assistant principal who at the end of the 2016-2017 school year quietly accepted the principal position at Lowell Elementary in Montana. MCPS announced their new hire while GTA was still trying to keep Brooke Capser’s impending departure under wraps from students and parents. The for-profit charter school even had the Traverse City Record-Eagle try to run damage control for them when Up North Progressive broke the story in June of 2017.
Brooke may be hoping to return to GTA this fall, but with the for-profit charter school’s finances still dangling like a fate’s thread over a razor-sharp blade and several teachers vacating their positions with the end of the 2017-2018 school year, it may be good advice to look somewhere where the school is on more stable footing.
And the Capsers won’t have to worry about selling their house in a buyer’s market again.
Good Luck!
In early May of 2018, Social Studies teachers in Michigan were offered the opportunity to review the latest draft of the Social Studies Content Standards projected to replace the 2007 standards by 2019. Considering that starting this year state testing accounts for half of 40 percent of a teacher’s annual evaluation, it would be nice to know what the required will be. Along with this, Michigan high school seniors will also have to pass the federal citizenship test given to naturalized citizens to graduate, which none of exists in the new standards.
Some of the changes are good. Most notably the list of examples teachers can use to teach a standard are no longer part of the standard, but now in a special section in the margins. This is important because in the past when developers of the M-STEP Social Studies test used the standards, they would include the examples listed below in test questions. With them no longer part of the standard, it will refocus the questions on the state test to address only the standard, and not generate trivia questions based on the examples.
Unfortunately, there’s also some bad stuff. Really bad stuff. One of the last people in Michigan to provide input on the standards is State Senator Patrick Colbeck; the guy who thinks it’s unchristian if children don’t recite a pledge to a symbol of a secular democratic republic every morning in school, who actually hates school because he has harsh memories of his own time in school, and believes parents who vaccinate their kids are child abusers. He considers himself a tea party conservative and is the first one with his hand out whenever Betsy DeVos whips out her checkbook. He’s also running for Governor of Michigan this year.
One of the first glaring examples of Patrick Colbeck’s bizarre understanding of civics is his systematic obliteration of every instance of the words democratic and democracy. Colbeck’s ignorance of democracy feeds his contempt for the institution. The United States is a republic because our representatives are elected. The United States is a democracy because those representatives are elected by the people. Like most Michigan Republicans, the only constituents Colbeck cares about are the corporations and billionaires who donate money. The hoi polloi who cast their votes mean nothing to him. What can you expect from someone who uses the pledge of allegiance as proof the United States is not a democratic republic.
Colbeck also attempted to exclude as much content as possible mentioning civil rights struggles of minorities, women, and LGBT. He demanded to teach middle schoolers community activism to be excluded because they were too young to get involved in their communities. He also argued about whom a baker should be forced to make a wedding cake as an example of why there were too many references to LGBT issues, and called organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center a hate group. Worst of all, Colbeck demanded instruction about Islam should be excluded because it’s a false religion.
Then, Colbeck edited USHG Standard 8.3.4 to read this:
Colbeck, like many conservatives today thinks the first amendment gives him the authority to force his belief in an invisible sky alien on everyone else, even if that means infringing on the civil rights of others. The Michigan Department of Education disagreed with him and struck out RELIGIOUS from his edit. They told him he either accept the revision or the entire edit would be removed. Colbeck’s answer to this was:
Religion will always have a problem granting all civil rights.
If your religion has a problem granting the same rights you believe your religion entitles you to enjoy to others, even if they don’t believe in the same invisible sky alien you do, then there is something wrong with your religion, not civil rights. Since when did civil rights become a finite resource, and if you guarantee people of color, women, gay, lesbian, and trans people their civil rights, you somehow have less? Bullshit!
There is still time to let the MDE know you do not approve of the right-wing hijacking of the new Social Studies content standards. You can submit answers to a survey here, and there are public hearings you can attend over the next couple of weeks.
Waterford 6-8 p.m., June 20, Oakland Intermediate School District, 2111 Pontiac Lake Rd.
Sault Ste. Marie 6-8 p.m., June 26, Eastern Upper Peninsula Intermediate School District, 315 Armory Place.
Lansing 6-8 p.m., June 27, Michigan Library and Historical Center, 702 W. Kalamazoo St.
Grand Rapids 6-8 p.m., June 28, Kent Intermediate School District, 2930 Knapp St. NE.
Let the Michigan Department of Education know Patrick Colbeck’s narrow, bigoted view of Social Studies is wrong for the young people of Michigan. They deserve a curriculum that is fact-based and encourages them to get involved in civic activities regardless of their age.