Principal Vanishing Act: Grand Traverse Academy Will Be Listing a Job Opening Very Soon

Monday , 12, June 2017 Up North Progressive Dr. Ingersoll, Section 16 2 Comments

If there’s one thing schools hate, it’s scandal. They will do anything possible to avoid their name in the paper involving any wrong doing, real or perceived; which is why the staff and parents of GTA are probably living a total nightmare right now (and lets face it, have been for years). The Traverse City Record-Eagle has done a good job so far printing softball articles that the Michigan Department of Education nor the Attorney General’s office is not investigating GTA about the millions of dollars of tax payer money Ingersoll and Friends stole and this is just a case of mean people screaming fire at a tiny wisp of smoke. The only guilty party’s in prison now. Nothing to see here, every thing’s fine.

Can you imagine the front page headlines if this three-ring circus of a financial scandal happened with Traverse City Area Public Schools?

One GTA-related story the Record-Eagle hasn’t printed is the already-happened-but-no-one’s-supposed-to-know-about-it-yet resignation of Brooke Capser, former Principal of GTA. She has a new job in her home state of Montana as Principal of Lowell School in Missoula. You can see her name here on the Principals Message page on the school website:

And here she is listed in the staff directory on the same website:

By now you’ve probably mashed that link and seen this:

And you’re about to say, “Hey, wait a minute – according to the school’s website, this Brian Bessette guy is the principal, not Brooke Capser! Brooke Capser is even listed on GTA’s Leaders website right now!”

And you would be right. So let’s do some internet detective work. Open up your favorite search engine and type in, “Brooke Capser Lowell School

The top two search hits are the Lowell School Principals Message page and the school directory, both showing Brooke Capser’s name in bold. Click on the little green arrow next to the link and you will see a cached archive of the page. On May 27th, 2017, Those pages with Brooke Capser’s name were live on the Lowell School website.

So what happened? Grand Traverse Academy happened. They don’t want anyone to know Brooke Capser no longer works for them because some rats know when it’s time to flee the sinking ship. Of course, all the smoke and mirrors surrounding Brooke Capser’s change of career leads to the next question – why is it so important for GTA to conceal that Brooke Capser has a new job?

Remember staff, parents, and students of Grand Traverse Academy, make sure to wish your former principal good luck at her new school in Montana. Tomorrow is your last day with Mrs Capser and you will have a new principal next fall. Won’t that be exciting!

Something That’s Been In My Head Since Yesterday #Covfefe

Thursday , 1, June 2017 Up North Progressive Sad! Leave a comment

Well a candidate who’s racist in his very first speech
Is usually a no way!
And a candidate who mocks the disabled in a speech
Is anything but worthy.
But a candidate caught on tape saying “I tried to fuck her but she’s married” and “grab her by the pussy!”
He’s the candidate the GOP is proud to have found!
Covfefe! Covfefe! Covfefe! Covfefe!

Trump’s a long shot to win at best.

Covfefe! Covfefe! Covfefe!

But enough redhats could do it yet.

A president who’s staff is besties with Russians
is usually an OH SHIT!
And a president who paid hookers to piss in a hotel bed
is usually considered grotesque!
But a president who shares secrets with foreigners in the oval office
gets nothing but nods from his staff and kids
He’s exactly the president the GOP deserves to have
Covfefe! Covfefe! Covfefe! Covfefe!

Lying fake news never watch them
Failing New York Times witch hunt!

Trump wants to deport all the brown skinned people
But the courts are fighting to stop him.
Trump wants to kill off the poor and give tax cuts to the rich
But the Senate knows it’s political poison.
Trump makes a fool of himself with NATO and our allies
But touches an orb with King Suleiman.
October can’t get here soon enough!
Covfefe! Covfefe! Covfefe! Covfefe!

Lowest ratings of a president yet!

Covfefe! Covfefe! Covfefe!

Collusion with the Russians? You bet!

Oh what will Trump tweet next tomorrow?

Covfefe! Covfefe! Covfefe!

Spicer’s all out of gum the sorrow!

COVFEFE!

Memorial Day 2017

Monday , 29, May 2017 Up North Progressive Community Leave a comment

Enjoy your day, and remember those who served.

Everyone Looking Forward to Their Holiday Weekend?

Friday , 26, May 2017 Up North Progressive Community, Elections Leave a comment

The Up North Progressive sure is.

Montana Republicans Affirm Their Hatred of the First Amendment by Electing New Jersey Millionaire Greg @gianforte

Friday , 26, May 2017 Up North Progressive Elections Leave a comment

Today in –

The completely unsurprising win of Greg Gianforte for the sole House of Representatives seat in Montana. Greg set a precedent ( or if you’re the fat orange bitch, president) on Wednesday that all you need to clinch your win in any election is put a reporter in a choke hold and body slam him to the ground.

The people of Montana want someone with a volatile temper and no regard for the first amendment representing them in Washington D.C. If you still count yourself among the red-blooded Americans carefully navigating your survival through the post-piss pig landscape of Trumptardistan, things like now probably look a little bleak. After all, will other degenerate trash running for office under the GOP banner believe their ticket to victory is commit assault?

Probably.

Republicans, especially redhat brigade Republicans don’t want civility, maturity, or even someone with a basic sense of humanity representing them in public office. They want knuckle-dragging reactionary thugs. This is the American utopia redhats dream of.

Nothing matters, we’ll make up our own alternative facts, and if you try to shove the truth in our faces, we’ll beat the shit out of you and win the election anyway.

Enjoy your holiday weekend.

Today’s Congressional Race in Montana will be a Good Test of Nothing Matters

Thursday , 25, May 2017 Up North Progressive Elections, Sad! Leave a comment

New Jersey millionaire Greg Gianforte with ties to two U.S. sanctioned Russian companies decided to choke Guardian Journalist Ben Jacobs before body slamming him to the floor and kicking him in the arm yesterday in Montana. Jacobs suffered an injured elbow in the attack and his glasses were broken. Greg Gianforte is the Republican candidate for the sole U.S. House of Representatives seat in the western state. Jacobs attempted to ask Gianforte about the CBO report released earlier in the day confirming Trumpcare will kick 23 million people off of their health coverage and make senior citizens pay 800 percent more so that rich people can get more tax cuts.

Greg Gianforte has support from President Piss Pig to take over the seat left vacant by Ryan Zinke, the new Secretary of the Interior. Gianforte believes in creationism and doesn’t think anyone should ever retire because retirement isn’t in the Bible.

Per the 911 recording of Ben Jacob’s phone call to emergency, the Guardian journalist went to the hospital in an ambulance and Gianforte was charged with misdemeanor assault. It can’t be ignored that the sheriff leading the investigation into the attack donated $250.00 to Gianforte’s campaign.

The Fat Orange Bitch recorded a robocall for Gianforte yesterday informing Montana residents that he knows what the people of Montana want and need. The real question now as residents of Montana go to the polls today is the assault and media coverage of the attack enough to get Ron Quist elected to the House seat instead of Gianforte? It depends on whether any of what happened yesterday matters. So far, not much has.

Trump spent a year and a half normalizing the idea that the media deserve to be assaulted, insulted and slandered at every possible opportunity. The fact that Gianforte is a suspect in an assault charge will only make him a hero with the redhat brigade. It may not be enough that all of the major newspapers pulled their endorsement last night and the sheriff managed to charge the candidate he supported, requiring him to appear in court early next month to face assault charges. The people who vote for Gianforte today are the same people who chanted “LOCK HER UP” at Piss Pig’s rallies and assaulted protesters while Trump egged them on. It’s become apparent since the fall of 2015 that the people who make up the GOP today are degenerate trash. The sad! part is they don’t care.

We’ll have to wait and see.

The QLine: Pure Michigan

Saturday , 20, May 2017 Up North Progressive Uncategorized Leave a comment

Happy Mother’s Day

Sunday , 14, May 2017 Up North Progressive Community Leave a comment

Do something nice for your mom today.

A List of Cool and Good Links for Progressives

Tuesday , 9, May 2017 Up North Progressive Community, Trumpcare Leave a comment

Last week’s vote on Trumpcare in the House reminded progressives there’s still lots of work to do restoring democracy in this country. While waiting for the Senate to finish going through the bill with their crack team of 13 old white guys, and your head’s reeling at the audacity of the pretender in thief in the White House firing the FBI Director to deflect from us ever seeing the pee video, here are lots of useful links to websites and groups putting up the good fight to resist the GOP and Trump.

Indivisible is a group that started shortly after the election that continues to grow. They are a good place to learn about how to get active, and there’s probably a group already in your area.

Move On has been around for a while and they are still very active. More than just petitions, they’ve hosted “Resist Trump Tuesday” protests every Tuesday and you can look up protests in your area to participate in. They’ve also partnered with some other groups for larger initiatives and hold conference calls on Sunday nights to talk about accomplishments and areas of focus going forward.

Sign up to receive weekly emails from Wall-of-Us that have different activities to focus on. This group is working to stop Trumpcare and flip Congress in 2018.

Grab Your Wallet  lists businesses Trump and his grifter family financially benefit from. China may be on the list soon.

Swing Left organizes people in states to focus on swing districts in the 2018 election. Enter your zip code and it will tell you which districts to focus on for the upcoming election.

Solidarity Sundays is a group of feminists who meet one Sunday a month to discuss activities to fight Trump. It’s a great way to meet like-minded women who can become your protest buddies.

Town Hall Project lists upcoming town hall meetings for congress.

Resistance Calendar collects all of the different groups and events and puts it all in one location.

Rogan’s List is a blog that will email you with actionable items such as phone calls to make, postcards to send, and interesting things to read.

Countable is a great place to follow what Congress is doing, even if you’re new to doing that sort of thing.

If you’re not using 5 Calls yet start using it right now. Getting your oil changed? Sitting on the bus? Stuck in traffic? This website gives you 5 suggested calls to make every day. They even include the phone numbers and a script to make the call easier.

People Power is the ACLU’s grassroots group fighting against ICE and preserving Sanctuary Cities in the United States. The ACLU started this group of volunteers to take the fight “not just to the courtroom, but to the streets”.

Flippable is another group working to get Democratic Party candidates into state level office.

Visit the small victories page on Peace is Loud when you’re getting burned out and think we’re not making progress

American Progress Action is another website providing a comprehensive list of resistance events in your state.

PopVox keeps track of activities of the US Government. Sign up and you will receive their newsletter.

Do you still use Meet Up? This is a great place to find groups meeting in your area. You can find Meet Up groups here.

Do you know of any other websites or groups organizing online? Share them with Up North Progressive and they will be added to the list.

GEO Group Files Statement With the State of Michigan North Lake Correctional Facility Will Close For Good on June 20, 2017

Tuesday , 25, April 2017 Up North Progressive Community Leave a comment

Two years ago North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin, Michigan, opened its doors to receive out-of-state prisoners from Vermont and Washington State. On April 19, 2017, the prison filed notice with the State of Michigan it would permanently close on June 20, 2017, laying off 107 employees due to non-renewal of the client contract. Of the 370 Vermont Department of Correction prisoners that originally arrived from Kentucky in 2015, less than 200 prisoners remain. GEO Group had the option to extend the contract after two years, but decided not to renew it.

In December of 2016, GEO Group announced North Lake likely would not renew their contract with the Vermont Department of Corrections when it expired in June of 2017. In late March, a report from 9 & 10 News quoted Baldwin Village President James Truxton that GEO Group would be expanding operations with hundreds of jobs and providing funds to upgrade the waste water treatment plant. It was also mentioned that the prison might be converted into a federal detention center for undocumented workers.

As of April 19, 2017, none of the above will be happening. The contract with Vermont will not be renewed, 107 employees will be laid off permanently, and the prison will close for good. GEO Group, formerly Wackenhut, has struggled to keep the facility open. In 1999, the prison was used to house juvenile offenders, but numerous complaints and violations made the state of Michigan not renew the contract with the “punk prison” in 2005. In 2011, the prison opened briefly after signing a contract with the California Department of Corrections. The prison sat empty until the spring of 2015, when the announcement came that GEO Group had signed contracts with Vermont and Washington State to fill the prison to capacity. Mass hirings took place at the Michigan Works office in Baldwin, and by July 1, 2015, the prison opened with 370 inmates. By October of 2015, the number of inmates slowly dwindled as they were shipped back to Vermont, and the first layoffs began. Washington State Department of Corrections assured GEO Group they had no intention of shipping prisoners to Michigan days after the contract was signed.

What will become of the prison complex now is uncertain. GEO Group offered to lease North Lake to Michigan in 2016. Attorney General Jeff Sessions reversed an Obama-era decision for the Bureau of Prisons to stop using for-profit prison companies on February 21, 2017. Will North Lake eventually become a detention center for undocumented workers, or will it sit empty forever? What’s certain is that on June 20, 2017, 107 employees will join the unemployment line in Northern Michigan.