WOOD-TV Grand Rapids and Michigan
Hahaha, do you really think that the court system goes, "Oh hey, I see that you're finacially strapped, so we won't give you a fine." Typically jail time includes fines. (Thursday Jul 31 | post #56)
WOOD-TV Grand Rapids and Michigan
Man reportedly missing in Shaw Lake
My heart, thoughts and prayers go out to the family. How sad. (Jun 25, 2008 | post #45)
WOOD-TV Grand Rapids and Michigan
Mom furious after cops draw guns on 8-year-old
I think some of you people are being a little harsh on the 8-year-old. You have no real idea what the situation was. He witnessed something no child should witness, was most likely already wound up from that experience, then some adult hollers at him to freeze. Any of you that are being critical of the child running, have you ever been in a situation where you were scared? I'm sure that the officer commanding him to freeze did not do it in a friendly manner. The boy might have simply panicked. Even 100% innocent people can panic. Unless you've been in a situation where you were startled or scared, you really cannot say how you would react. This is a child you're talking about. I can't honestly say that my younger children wouldn't have ran even though they are taught from toddler age that police officers are heroes to be trusted and respected. Now... do I think the officers were in the wrong? No. A 5' eight year old is pretty big! My daughter is almost 12 years old and just barely over 5' and my almost 10 year old son isn't even 5' yet. They didn't hurt the boy... and he did run. I think they were only doing their job. I also agree that they did not have the time to walk the child home for an explanation. (Jun 20, 2008 | post #28)
WOOD-TV Grand Rapids and Michigan
GR teen shot to death; one held
My heart and prayers go out to the families suffering from this. To the people who are hollering that the parent(s) should have made sure he was inside... He was 17 years old. Try calling the police to force your 17 year old to be at home once. At 17 years old the police will do nothing. Fact of the matter is, once your child reaches this age, the best you can do is be supportive, loving (tough love included), and hope that all you've done to raise your child properly will help your child to be a responsible adult, because your child is no longer a child. (Jun 14, 2008 | post #160)
WOOD-TV Grand Rapids and Michigan
GRPS warns of cuts or deficits if student-loss isn't stopped
I find it curious that it took this long for the schools to start getting interested in hearing what the community has to say. Maybe this would be a situation if the community had been listened to a long time ago. (May 20, 2008 | post #11)
WOOD-TV Grand Rapids and Michigan
Michigan high school seniors suspended over T-shirt
I hate to say it but discipline is needed here. However I don't think their joke is so horrible that it should warrant taking away their prom and commencement. At worst I think they should get maybe a few days of ISS (in school suspension). What would be better would be to find a way to "think outside the box". I know this is something hard for the schools to do. Maybe a better way of discipling these Seniors would be to have them all do some heavy research on Drinking and Driving and then have them do a school rally, maybe a skit or something, to talk to the younger classes about the real issues of drinking and driving. Should this just be allowed to slid? No. This was intended to be a joke, but underage drinking is illegal; drinking/driving and underage drinking should be taken seriously- not made to be a joke. In our age of "zero tolerance policies", I'm sure these students knew the rules and knew that the should would not take this with a light heart. My own 6th grader recently had to serve ISS. Her horrible crime? There was an English text book that she needed to complete two assignments that she didn't get finished in class. This particular text book is not allowed to leave the classroom without permission of the teacher and checking it out. My daughter didn't remember to get it until the last moment of the day and the teacher was gone, so she just brought the book home. She brought it back the next day, but English was not her first period class. She was "caught" with it and given ISS for taking it without checking it out and for lying about (when asked if she had permission, she told them yes). I personally found it frustrating that she was given ISS for taking home a book that should be available to her. But, I also could not excuse her. She knew the rule. She also lied. She made a poor choice, there were other choices she could have made, and she had to suffer the consequence for it. These Seniors know the rules. The made a poor choice. The should not be excused from the consequence of their choice. (May 16, 2008 | post #29)
WOOD-TV Grand Rapids and Michigan
Girl dies 2 weeks after swing set accident
My heart is just breaking for this family! My sympathy and prayers are going out to the family and friends. (May 9, 2008 | post #6)
WOOD-TV Grand Rapids and Michigan
San Diego woman hoping for pardon after 32 years on the run
I have to disagree that she should receive a pardon. I would love to agree that oh, her crime wasn't that bad, and it's been so long, and waste our tax dollars... But, really, when you think about it, why don't we just start letting all "non-serious " crimes go, why waste our tax dollars on any crime that isn't robbery, murder, rape? I don't think anyone here is going to say that we should start allowing crime to slide just because a particular crime isn't "as bad" as say murder or rape. I don't think anyone here is going to to say that we should start allowing crime to slide just to save our tax dollers. I did hear something mentioned that she was not trafficking drugs though... That she says she was using drugs, but not selling. I heard it said that she only agreed to what she did because she didn't know better and was told that she would get probation. Maybe she needs to go back to court and have a new trials.... Perhaps, depending on truth of what is being told, she would qualify for a lesser charge. (May 2, 2008 | post #14)
WOOD-TV Grand Rapids and Michigan
Horizons school not renewed, programs merged
Just in case anyone that is in contact with Tom reads this, "GOOOD job Tom!!! Be proud of yourself!" (Apr 29, 2008 | post #8)
WOOD-TV Grand Rapids and Michigan
Horizons school not renewed, programs merged
I used to know Tom (the one quoted) and if this school has really helped him this much (especially after the tragedy with his Father), well then I really find this decision to be a shame! I understand needing to budget and makes cuts, but at what costs is this acceptable? (Apr 29, 2008 | post #7)
WOOD-TV Grand Rapids and Michigan
Smoking ban tough decision for restaurant owners
Not all smokers are up in arms about protecting their rights to smoke in public places. My have a family of smokers. I'm a smoker (though maybe my opinions don't count as I'm trying to quit). We don't smoke in restaurants, even ones where we are allowed to. We chose non-smoking sections. Seriously, how hard is it to sit down, enjoy a meal, conversation for a while without lighting up? Do you people, who are screaming about your rights to smoke, ban movie theaters? Most people sit at a movie Theater longer than you sit at a restaurant, without being able to smoke. Regarding the "obese" issue- Stretch a little harder. That is about as stupid of an argument as you can get. Someone being obese does not effect the health of the person sitting next to them. Also, the comment about grocery stores. Actually, you are wrong. It hasn't "always been that way". I clearly remember being a child and people smoking in grocery stores. My own dad did it. Even in Meijers. Back in the 70's there was nothing at all wrong with walking down the isle of a grocery store and lighting up. Fact remains that smoking is a health risk, a serious one. Not only is it a health risk to yourself, the smoker, but to those around you. Really, if you'd get your heads out of your selfish hind ends, you'd realize what inconsiderate, drug addicts you're being. Why is it so hard to comprehend that you should be considerate enough to population that made wise enough choices not to inflict their bodies with hazardous chemicals? (Apr 16, 2008 | post #39)
WOOD-TV Grand Rapids and Michigan
Granholm visits GR to 'Save a Dream'
Oh, trust me, we aren't even close to hoping for or waiting for help from the government. If we did that, the seven of us would be on the streets faster than we'd get help. No, the only way we can pull ourselves out of this is using our own muscles. (Apr 2, 2008 | post #62)
WOOD-TV Grand Rapids and Michigan
No one stated anywhere how many children a family can have. The fact remains that it is the parents responsibility to protect their children to the best of your ability. Should an adult stay home. My answer, yes. I have five children. Our only vehicle, a Ford Windstar, broke down 2 days ago. It's not a cheap fix. We simply cannot afford to fix it right now, and the cost to get it up and running again doesn't make it worth fixing it. We have children to get to school though. We live in Grand Rapids and two of our children go to school in Kentwood. For a quick fix that we can afford we are buying a cheap old, but kept in perfect running condition, Delta 88. We can only fit five of our seven family members. Guess what, this causes a problem. Either someone is not going to be properly seated and seatbelted in, or we don't take the entire family anywhere! Guess what our choice is, as much as it hurts? We aren't taking our entire family anywhere and with our budget right now it's likely to be this way for a long time. It's called responsibility and hard choices. So we can't take our entire family anywhere at the same time. It sucks. We're living with it though until we can afford another vehicle that will properly and safely fit our entire family. So, someone misses out on seeing Grandma. To me that is the better option compared to the very real possibility of an accident and someone being badly injured or dead... Cause you, if a child of mine dies, well that means Grandma won't get to see my child ever again (Apr 2, 2008 | post #238)
WOOD-TV Grand Rapids and Michigan
Granholm visits GR to 'Save a Dream'
People amaze me. Do you honestly believe that all the people losing their homes are nothing more than lazy or greedy people who wanted the big bad house that cost so much more than they could ever afford especially with their insane credit card habits? Folks there are many people like my own family that are having problems. How about this for being lazy and greedy. My husband and I bought our first home in March 2005. I was a stay-at-home mom. My husband an electronic engineer and computer technician. My husband made 45k a year. That is not including his fully paid health and dental insurance by the company he worked for. Our over-priced purchase? 115,000.00 home. Our payments $865.00 a month. This was a simple 165.00 more a month than we were paying for the run down, beat up, house we were renting. We have no credit cards. We have no credit card debits. We have no car payments. We drive a very hot, speedy, 1996 Ford Windstar (doesn't that get you excited?). Then my husband was diagnosed with cancer. He went through 2 major surgeries and in between those surgeries suffered a blood clot in his leg and his lung. We are currently struggling just to scrape by. If it weren't for the internet and extra money that we make this way, we wouldn't be. We have hit a couple of HUGE bumps in the road and gotten a little behind on our mortgage payments. We were once very close to being in the works for foreclosure. We barely pulled out of it by the scum of our teeth! No, we don't have one of these insane mortgage loans. Thank goodness for that, that we were knowledgeable enough to pay attention to what was offered to us, and to hunt around. Now, why am I knot whining and crying about our problems... Well, we kind of set ourselves up for it. By me not working, or working on education, since 1999, I'm having trouble finding work. But, my point is, how many of the people that you all are complaining about are in similar situations to my family? Don't walk around blindly assuming that the many people of our communities that are having a very rough time right now are nothing more than people who bought expensive housing, have thousands upon thousands of dollars in credit card debt and are driving around in beautiful brand new vehicles. (Apr 2, 2008 | post #56)
WOOD-TV Grand Rapids and Michigan
Granholm signs safety seat bill
I personally do not understand what the complaints are about. Has anyone complaining actually researched this? Have you ever spoken with an EMT and heard the horror stories of older children that have been badly injured in car accidents, injuries that could have been prevented. Seat belts are not designed for children. If the seatbelt is not positioned correctly, due to height, then not only is your child at risk of the seatbelt failing to keep him/her safe, but is also at risk of the seatbelt itself doing more injury. Here are the guidelines for deciding if your child is ready for a seatbelt without a booster: 1. Can the child sit all the way back on the vehicle seat? 2. Do the child's knees bend naturally at the edge of the vehicle seat and feet sit flat on the floor? 3. Does the shoulder portion of the seat belt cross the middle of one shoulder between the neck and the tip of the shoulder? 4. Does the lap belt portion of the seat belt fit across the upper thighs? 5. Will the child remain in this position the entire ride? If you have answered "no" to any one of these then the tween still needs to use a booster seat or higher weight harness child safety seat. The booster is not that much of an inconvenience. It looks similar to a booster seat used in restaurants, there is no extra restraints, nothing like a toddler carseat. It simply enables your children to be positioned correctly so the seatbelt is able to work correctly. Here is one from Babies R Us. It is $14.99. http://www.toysrus .com/product/index .jsp?productId=240 1339 I just don't get it. Why is it that people are complaining about something to try to ensure the safety of your children? Sure it is slightly inconvenient, but what is worse, having your children sit on something that makes them a little taller in a seat, or having your children badly injured, disabled from an accident, or lord forbid dead? And regarding a child putting up a fight about it, are we talking about temper tantrum throwing toddlers here, or older children? Any child ready for a booster should be able to understand, if you have a reasonable conversation with them, that this is for their safety. I have an 11 year old that just last year was finally tall enough to be out of a booster. So what that she was 10 and just getting tall enough? I also have a 9 year old still in a booster. My children are intelligent and they understand that this is for their safety and they have no problems with it. If they did, oh well. Either use a booster or don't get in the vehicle. (Mar 31, 2008 | post #35)
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