02-07-2019 Letters & Commentary

Frozen pipes and innocent blood He stood staring at the display of heat tape and pipe foam wrap, wishing he had protected his water supply line before it froze and split. Too late. Prolonged sub-zero weather caught him by surprise. The damage was done. It’s no fun having water pipes freeze and break, but the rules of physics that make that happen also keep the Great Lakes from dying. Water is most dense at 4 degrees Celsius (39.2 degrees Fahrenheit). That’s above freezing. As it freezes, water gets less dense, and actually floats on warmer, denser, water underneath. If this were not true, ice on fresh water lakes would sink to the bottom, killing all lake life. Instead, the ice effectively insulates the water underneath from solidifying. Because ice expands (becomes less dense) rather than contracts when it freezes, roads are disintegrated by freezing-thawing temperature cycles, and frozen pipes break. Nothing stops ice from expanding. It’s the way it works. It’s a rule that always works whether we like it or not. There are other rules like that – rules that work because that’s the way Earth is designed to work. Gravity is like that. Someone’s weight doesn’t matter; if they jump up they will come back down. Gravity. It always works. There are spiritual rules that always work too. One of those rules relates to shedding innocent blood. When Abel was killed by another family member his blood cried out from the Earth that had received it. A curse on mankind resulted (Genesis 4:8-12). We also invoke a curse on ourselves from the innocent blood of our children killed in abortion. God’s judgment fell on nations because of their shedding innocent blood, and we will be no exception. See 2 Kings 21:16, 24:4; Psalm 106:38; Proverbs 6:16-17; Isaiah 59; Jeremiah 7:6, 19:4, 22:3-7, 26:15; Joel 3:19; Jonah 1:14. Whether we like it or not, God’s rules always work.

Social Security and Black History Month In February, our nation honors African Americans by celebrating Black History Month. Recognizing our shared history is one way we can affirm our belief in freedom and democracy for all. For more than 80 years, Social Security has helped secure today and tomorrow with financial benefits, information, and tools for people of countless backgrounds and ethnicities that make up our richly diverse country. One of our popular tools is the online Retirement Estimator. With it, you can plug in some basic information to get an instant, personalized estimate of your future benefits. Different life events or choices can alter the course of your future, so try out different scenarios such as higher and lower future earnings amounts and various retirement dates to get a good prediction of how it can change your future benefit amounts. You can access it at www.socialsecurity.gov/benefits/retirement/estimator.html.

If you find that helpful, we have a number of calculators to help you prepare for retirement at www.socialsecurity.gov/planners/calculators. We also pay disability benefits to people with medical conditions that could prevent them from working for 12 or more months or result in death. If the disabled person has dependent family members, they may also be eligible to receive payments. We pay disability through two programs: the Social Security Disability Insurance program, for people who have worked and paid Social Security taxes long enough to be eligible, and the Supplemental Security Income program, which is a means-tested program for people who are 65 or older, as well as people of any age, including children, who are blind or have disabilities. Widows, widowers, and their dependent children may be eligible for Social Security survivors benefits. Social Security helps by providing income for the families of workers who die. In fact, 98 of every 100 children could get benefits if a working parent dies. Social Security pays more benefits to children than any other federal program. You can learn more about retirement, survivors, and disability benefits, at www.socialsecurity.gov/benefits. Social Security is with you through life’s journey, helping secure today and tomorrow for you and your family. Visit us at www.socialsecurity.gov/ people/africanamericans. Vonda VanTil is the Public Affairs Specialist for West Michigan. You can write her c/o Social Security Administration, 3045 Knapp NE, Grand Rapids MI 49525 or via email at vonda.vantil@ssa.gov.

WOW, WHAT A WEATHER WEEK IT WAS… in the span of seven days we suffered a polar vortex of sub-zero temperatures in the minus teens, howling winds that created winds chills in the minus 20s, more than 12 inches of snow and drifts that closed roads and white-outs that made the freeways into parking lots by hours on end. Then at the beginning of the week the vortex headed back to the north pole and warmer air, clouds and rain washed the snow, salt and sand away. Drifts and piles of plowed snow were transformed into puddles that soon raced to low spots to create floods. Now ice clogged creeks and rivers are raging torrents carrying debris out to the big lake. Mother Nature is still in charge, and Punxsutawney Phil notwithstanding, spring will get here in its own good time and right on schedule. Meanwhile, we survived nature’s best thanks to the great service of all those that stood on duty and on guard at the worst of times, police and firemen, public works, medical personal, utility workers, all served their community as needed. Thank you, folks, for a job well done. Thankfully, we all got a respite of sorts with a rainy thaw this mid-week with the Big C weather forecast on the front page predicting more typical February climes for the weekend and beyond.

MYSTERY CREATURES… I was half-watching a TV program “Mysteries at the Museum” a week or so ago. It didn’t even register what it was about till the end when the narrator mentioned the “Dewy Lake Monster” and a museum in Dowagiac. Hey, I thought, I fish Dewey Lake! What monster? With a little research I turned up the story that reports of a 10-foot tall swamp monster in the Dewey Lake area back in the 1980s. There were even drawings and paintings made up, stories in the local papers and organized search parties. Of course, no swamp monster was ever found, but there were a few paw prints found and photographed. There is a Dewey Lake Monster website and a Facebook page, with all sorts of comments and tales of sightings but no proof. I suspect every town has some sort of unresolved mystery that creates some sort of furor and then the dust stirred up settles down. One of my first stories I covered for the Record was the search for a “Black Panther” sighted in the vacant field next to the Waffle House (now Mill Creek Charlies). Police Chief Bart Rose and Deputy Vic Bianchi were dutifully beating the bushes for panther signs and I was dutifully trying to get them in the same photo frame on my Polaroid. Chief Rose headed back to the police car and motioned me to follow. This was reported by a couple kids and is likely a prank he said. Let’s go in the Waffle House and have a coffee, he offered. I put the story in the Record and updated it a couple times as more sightings dribbled in and then it just died out. The only real black panther sightings were at Panther Stadium during the football games. Perhaps ten years ago there was a plethora of “panther” sightings of a mountain lion in the area, including plaster casts of footprints taken at the Watervliet airport and photos of a horse with claw slashes on its neck and shoulders. The DNR vehemently denied there was any “panther/mountain lion” population, splitting hairs that there was no reproducing population in Michigan. Which was a good thing because there was a bona fide attack of a hiker on the sand dunes on Lake Michigan… the hiker was a DNR ranger. Then not long after that a mountain lion was shot raiding a dumpster in Chicago. Mystery critters have not just been confined to the swamps and woods on southwest Michigan. I’ve heard vague tales of a “sea monster” in Paw Paw Lake. One day I got a call from the late Del Sipes; he had taken a photo of a King Salmon found on a Paw Paw Lake beach. He said the body of the fish was so rotten it was impossible to say it had ever swum in the lake, much less thrived there. He said the salmon had probably died in the river after spawning and some “fisherman” had tossed it on the beach as a joke. I can say I once saw something on Paw Paw Lake that I took to be a monster of sorts. I was bass fishing off a sandy point on a sunny spring afternoon. I spied something swimming just a few feet off the bow of my boat. It was swimming in what looked like an undulating fashion; fins and flippers would rise and fall in a regular cadence. When I speeded up my bow trolling motor to overtake the “monster” it broke up into a dozen or so three-foot-long gar pike; they were swimming shoulder to shoulder, head to tail, in a long, serpentine school in some sort of spawning ritual.

Correction In the January 24, 2019 issue of Tri-City Record, an error was made on Page 7 in the cutline under the photo of Hartford High School Students of the Week for Jan. 14-18, 2019. The parents of 10th grader Donovan Baham was listed as Amanda Brown. It should have read Robert and Amanda Baham. Tri-City Record is sorry for any inconvenience or confusion this error may have caused.

Valentine Letter Contest: Happily ever after Dear Editor, Twenty years ago I met a man, Richard Anderson, and at first sight I knew he was the one for me and that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. And at first sight of him seeing me he crushed on me and had to find out who I was. We lived in the same apartment complex but he was in the building next to mine. We met and were seeing each other when we could for 2-1/2 years. Then some people couldn’t mind their own business and approached him and told him to stay away from me. And he thought that I was the one who said it. No it wasn’t me. I had no idea these people told him that, they were supposed to be my friends. Well we didn’t see each other anymore and went our separate ways. I always thought about him all the time, how he was doing or even if he was still around. I had seen him a few times. I decided to look him up on Facebook. I found him and I sent a private message to him asking if he remembered me and how he was doing. A few months later he messaged back and we met up a couple weeks later in December of 2016. And it was like it was back in 1998. We still loved each other so we decided to finally be together. He moved in a few months later in 2017 and now we are engaged and will get married soon. Happily ever after! Victoria Haynes, Coloma

No other Valentine Dear Editor, My Valentine is, was, and always will be Douglas Larson. Thirty-one years of marriage to him has been my privilege and my delight. We tend to think of Valentine’s Day as romance, as passion – and it is those things and much more. I know because my Love is kindness in deed and word. He is stimulating intelligence, exuberant humor, and steadfast loyalty. Doug came into my life a whirlwind. He charmed me, wooed me and bought me tires for my car instead of flowers (because I needed them more). I would say he wined and dined me, but truly it was Long Island Iced Teas, and dancing the nights away. We have worked together – taught at the same place, raised kids together, owned a store together, travelled the country together, renovated property together – and we still like each other! It’s amazing and wonderful. There could never be another Valentine for me. Doug holds my heart. Diane Larson, Watervliet

Thank you from Miss Watervliet 2019 Dear Editor, Thank you for providing me with a one year subscription, and I also want to extend a thank you for always supporting the WPO and all past, present, and future queens. Your kindness will never go unnoticed! Hannah Yerington Miss Watervliet 2019

Michigan fails its schools Dear Editor, State funding of public schools has failed Michigan’s children. That’s the conclusion of a 91-page major research report released in January 2019 by the College of Education at Michigan State University. The report, “Michigan School Finance at the Crossroads” details what happened 25 years after state legislation shifted financial responsibility away from local districts and to the state, all in the guise of property tax relief. After reading each section, I became more and more disgusted with the stingy action of legislators who systematically strangled state aid year after year denying administrators and teachers the tools they needed to do the job while at the same time, requiring them to show standardized test gains in order to receive pay raises. Most egregious is what happened to cripple the education of children with disabilities, our most vulnerable group of students. One doesn’t have to ask which political party was responsible. That should be obvious. As a result, Michigan now ranks 50th or last, among the states in school funding growth since 1995. Shame on legislators, past and present, who supported this deliberate and sadistic assault on Michigan educators, parents and children. Barbara Pellegrini, Benton Harbor

Trump’s irresponsible temper tantrum must come to an end Dear Editor, Donald Trump has admitted that he was responsible for the partial shutdown of our government, a shutdown that caused significant financial hardship for more than 800,000 government workers. A majority of Americans blamed Trump for the shutdown and wanted it stopped as soon as possible. The shutdown continued because Trump was throwing a temper tantrum. He was punishing American workers because the newly empowered House Democrats won’t give him what he wants – $5.7 billion to build an unnecessary wall on our southern border. The wall was certainly a very key part of Trump’s campaign, a wall that he stated many times in his tweets and rallies that Mexico would pay for. Mexico from the start has steadfastly denied they would pay for this structure and continues to hold to that position. Trump has now pivoted to the position that we, the American taxpayers, should foot the bill. A solid majority of the voting public is against building the wall. Democratic, and some Republican, representatives are merely echoing voter sentiment. The president has falsely claimed that not having his wall is a crisis. He claims this despite the fact that illegal immigration has been steadily declining over the past ten years, that most illegal immigrants enter the country legally but then overstay their visas, that the vast majority of illegal drugs enter the country hidden in cars or trucks that arrive through legal ports of entry, and that the vast majority of people arriving at our southern border are non-violent refugees seeking asylum from the horrific violence that our government helped to create in Central America. The real crisis is that Trump’s shutdown caused significant financial hardship for the thousands of FAA, FDA, USDA, TSA, and other federal employees who were not getting paid. Trump is now threatening to reinstate the shutdown if he doesn’t get his way. Trump’s irresponsible temper tantrum must come to an end! Eric “Rick” Wild, Lawrence Michigan consumers beware of energy scammers Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel called in her Consumer Protection team to handle complaints as she reminded Michiganders to be on the lookout for scammers seeking to take advantage of Michigan energy consumers. “Michigan energy providers and scammers should heed this warning: Those who take advantage of consumers will be held accountable,” Attorney General Nessel said. “My office stands ready to protect all residents from scammers and those who seek to prey on consumers during an emergency situation.” Nessel noted that energy consumers become an increased target by scammers looking to make a quick buck during states of emergency. “Utility companies never call customers requesting immediate payment to keep services from being shut off” said Nessel. “They also don’t ask for payment by gift card, bitcoin, or money order. If consumers suspect a call to be fraudulent, they should hang up and immediately call the utility at the telephone number on their bill and ask to speak with a customer service representative.” If consumers believe they have become a victim of retailers engaging in behavior that violates the Consumer Protection Act, they are encouraged to file a complaint at Michigan.gov/agcomplaints or call 1-877-765-8388. An estimated 320,000 Michigan households use propane as their primary heating fuel. And although propane prices are not regulated, the state actively monitors the market to identify irregularities that may result in supply or price disruptions. Under the Michigan Consumer Protection Act, a retailer may not charge a price that is “grossly in excess of the price at which similar property or services are sold.” Currently, the reported statewide average for propane is approximately $2.03 per gallon. Consumers who have guaranteed price contracts with propane suppliers may be subject to higher market prices once they’ve used the guaranteed amount covered by their contract. After the 2013-2014 winter season the Department of Attorney General launched two investigations into grossly excessive propane pricing after receiving hundreds of complaints during the polar vortex and subsequent state of emergency declaration. The department investigated two of the nation’s largest propane companies: Ferrellgas and AmeriGas. The Ferrellgas investigation resulted in an immediate assurance agreement that brought roughly $100,000 in reimbursements to Michigan consumers while the AmeriGas investigation resulted in a lawsuit that was ultimately settled in an agreement that brought more than $500,000 in credits or reimbursements to consumers. The Michigan Agency for Energy has additional resources and energy saving tips for those who heat their homes with propane at Michigan.gov/propane. Peters sponsors bill to prevent future government shutdowns U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI), Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, announced that he has co-sponsored legislation to ensure federal funding will not lapse in the absence of appropriations being signed into law. He highlighted the legislation following the recent partial federal government shutdown that lasted 35 days and as another funding deadline looms February 15. The bill would automatically renew government spending levels at the same level as the previous fiscal year for each agency, with an exception for the U.S. Congress and the White House. “The recent shutdown had a devastating impact on our economy and many American families, including federal workers and contractors,” said Senator Peters. “Simply put, this should never happen again. That’s why I have helped sponsor legislation to prevent future federal government shutdowns, and I urge Congress to pass it.” The Stop STUPIDITY (Shutdowns Transferring Unnecessary Pain and Inflicting Damage In The Coming Years) Act, introduced by Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), automatically renews government funding levels at the previous fiscal year, with adjustments for inflation, for federal agencies. This bill would effectively fund all parts of the government except for the legislative branch and the Executive Office of the President, meaning that the legislation would force both sides to come together and reach an agreement. During the most recent shutdown, Peters also cosponsored legislation to protect federal workers or contractors furloughed or required to work without pay from civil liabilities, including evictions, late student loan payments and negative impacts on credit history. He also supported legislation to allow federal employees forced to work without pay to apply for unemployment benefits during a shutdown.

Local radio station hosting radiothon for St. Jude kids Radio station 97.5 Y-Country, WYTZ, will host its 14th annual Country Cares for St. Jude Kids Radiothon broadcasting live from Silver Beach Center in St. Joseph. The fundraiser will take place on both Thursday, Feb. 21 and Friday, Feb. 22 from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. The event raises money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The past 97.5 Y-Country radiothons have raised a total of over $315,000! Thank you for your support of the children and families at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Listeners can donate during the radiothon by calling in to the phone bank or online at 975ycountry.com or by coming to The Silver Beach Center on February 21 and 22.