Ferndale this week is Bluesdale ! FAQ s

The first weekend of the 9th Annual Ferndale Blues Festival is behind us, and it was "all good".
About 25 concerts were held so far, with six more days to go !

FAQ's

How do I get my band in the festival? Each venue selects its own music and talent and does its own booking. Most bands are paid, although some donate their time to the "cause". We can send you a list of the bars, restaurants, and coffeehouses, or you can approach your favorite. There are no rules....You can play in a library, a school, a bar or maybe even on the street !

Are their tickets to buy or cover charges? Most of the events are free or simply accept donations at the door. We provide VIP passes to our corporate sponsors. We raise money for the charities through sponsorships and through donations put in the blind blue piggy banks.

Who gets the money? After expenses are paid for printing, billboards, and supplies, the proceeds go to the Ferndale Youth Assistance and Michigan AIDS Coalition. Both groups are registered not for profits in Michigan and are 501 c 3 tax deductible groups recognized by the IRS.


I dont like to be around smoke...anything for me? Yes, there are multiple smoke free venues each year..including the youth concert at Paramount Bank, Sakana Sushi Lounge, and AJ's Cafe.

"Music is the Key to the Soul" - Why I sing the Blues.

Why I Sing the Blues….2008 (and the 2010 updated version in bold)

1) It's 19 degrees outside tonight. (actually its a warmer this year...global climate change)

2) It gets dark at 5:30 (It is now staying light until almost 6 pm)

3) Gasoline is costing $3.09 a gallon. (now running at about $2.69 but they stole my car)

4) My stocks are down 15 percent. (they are up this year, but I still have 50% less money)

5) Im still at work and it's going on 7 pm. (Im at home...working all day Sunday)

6) I think Im coming down with a cold. (I've got a broken rib from a black ice slip and fall)

7) I'm single again...again, and .... (yeah, still single, and now my ex wont even come over)

8) They's no one waiting for me at home but the cats (all three of 'em, always hungry)

9) I ain't had a raise since 2006 (Got a raise last year, then had my hours reduced 20%)

10) We got another year of George Bush (He finally left, but Obama has got his hands FULL)

Last year I suffered a home invasion, I lost by favorite Step-Mom, and my hair is now way more gray than not...

"always reasons to celebrate/commiserate/wallow in the Blues !"

Join us for the Nine Annual Bud Light Ferndale Blues Festival

January 29th thru February 6th 2010

Ten days / 23 Venues / 66 different concerts and events !

Teen Shootings in Ferndale

The holiday season was marred in Ferndale in mid-December when teen violence, apparently gang-related according to police reports, resulted in the death by gunfire of one teen boy and another critically wounded. The first such disaster in Ferndale is unfortunately all too common in our nation's large cities. A full scale community mobilization is called for to begin to address and prevent this type of severe societal dysfunction from further affecting and infecting our community.

It was the friday before Christmas week when the sweet sixteen party was held at the VFW Hall in dowtown Ferndale. Everything went well until members of a youth gang, reportedly based in Detroit near the fairgrounds, crashed the party bringing a shotgun. Minutes later, one teen was lying dead on the floor, another critically wounded. Although police arrived very quickly, the shooter managed to escape, and at the time of this writing, had not been identified. The shooting happened at about a quarter past midnight.

Lots of questions remain, including the issue of teens being out at such a late hour, and the wisdom or folly of posting events such as a teen party on Facebook for all the world to see.

While the Ferndale police are among the best in the land, they cannot solve the larger societal problem of teens and gun violence by themselves. Even working with other law enforement departments from Detroit, Wayne and Oakland Counties, they need unity of purpose and comprehensive plans from all of the stakeholders in the community. The schools, teachers,
parents, not for profit groups, government, and religious institutions must unite and work together to try and address the growing problem and keep it from getting worse.

In Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, and countless other large cities in America, teens with guns are a growing danger and menace to our civilized society. Whether the problem stems from easy access to guns, parents who are disengaged or absent, peer pressure, unemployment and poverty or a violence-soaked culture, we all must work together to send the message of zero tolerance to shootings and murder among your youth.

Smoking Ban INCLUDES Outdoor Patios

The new Michigan smoking ban in workplaces includes all bars and restaurants in the state. And in their wisdom to protect workers from second hand smoke, the legislature included all areas of the premises of our bars and restaurants, including outdoor patios.

Billed and sold as a way to protect employees health, which is a noble thing, the law includes banning people from smoking outdoors. One wonders then if there were other reasons the legislators had for enacting this new law.

Michigan relies on huge amounts of tax dollars from tobacco to run its government. Millions of dollars per day are collected. So it seems that they will take money from smokers with one hand but slap them with the other if they want to sit outside and have a smoke with a beer.

Smoking is unhealthy, expensive, and addictive. But it is also legal. Well, legal except in places were it is illegal. And that now includes the great outdoors.

Big Brother isnt done yet.

The next sin to be taken up will be over-eating, junk food, and obesity. I wonder what else will come down the pike from our benevolent government. Since drinking is also often unhealthy, maybe they will ban drinking in the bars as well ?

Oh, and you can still smoke while you gamble. But you can't smoke where you drink where you gamble. Only two sins at a time are permitted.

December 1st World AIDS Day 2009

December 1st, 2009

Twenty-nine years since the AIDS epidemic began, and tens of millions of people have lost their lives in the United States and around the world. While there has been progress in prolonging lives and in treatment, the disease still infects and kills millions of people each year across the globe. Even though prevention education is our most important defense against AIDS, effective programming and leadership is still inadequate to halt the spread and destruction of this pandemic and we need renewed resources, energy and focus on this serious health threat.

Few of us who began working on AIDS in the early 80’s believed the epidemic would last as long as it has. I remember thinking it would be a passing crisis and that after a few years I would get back to my planned career of community organizing and political advocacy. I had been working in gay rights in Ohio and Michigan but began to focus full time on HIV prevention by 1987 because I was losing so many friends and community members to the disease. More than two decades later we are still fighting for resources and struggling against the stigma and denial that has characterized the struggle since the beginning. There is still no vaccine.

The good news is that science and medicine have developed effective testing techniques and treatments that have cut the death rate drastically. Persons with HIV/AIDS can live full lives.
Transmission from mother to newborns can be eliminated, and we know exactly how to prevent further spread of the virus through safe behavior. The bad news is that nearly 40,000 Americans are newly infected with the virus each year, and the majority of these are teenagers and young adults. Parents, teachers, and political leaders continue to fail our young people by not strongly supporting innovative, comprehensive, evidence based prevention education. Thus each new generation suffers.

Our patchwork health care system does not focus on prevention and health promotion. Our schools are afraid to address issues of sexuality and orientation. Parents may themselves not know how to protect their offspring. Denial keeps too many in the dark.

Unlike most wealthy industrialized nations, the U.S. still has high rates of teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and new HIV/AIDS infections. We would never let our kids start driving cars without proper training and getting a driver’s license, but when it comes to sexual behavior, they are usually on their own. We may preach abstinence before marriage, but our culture and media promote a different message. And for gay youth, the message is worse: no education about your risk, and no marriage for you.

We will someday win the battle against AIDS, but only if parents, teachers, coaches, religious and political leaders, and the health industry have the will to do so.

Great Victory ! Michigan to Protect Farm Animals

Friends:

Please see the press release below, which I received yesterday. A great start to ending some of the worst barbaric practices in the industry known as "factory farming". Finally some good news from our friends in Lansing....

Dear Craig,

In a landmark achievement for farm animals, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm signed a bill today that will phase out some of the most cruel and inhumane cages on factory farms.
The new law phases out veal crates for calves, gestation crates for breeding pigs, and battery cages for laying hens. Not only does Michigan have more than ten million laying hens and about 100,000 breeding pigs, it's a top veal-producing state as well -- so the new law will prevent many millions of animals from enduring a lifetime in cages so small they can barely move.

Animal protection groups, including the Michigan Humane Society, The Humane Society of the United States, and Farm Sanctuary, worked together with agriculture groups to find common ground and create a pathway in the legislature to end these practices. Now, Michigan joins California, Arizona, Florida, Maine, Colorado, and Oregon in banning this type of extreme confinement. This is also the first time that a state legislature has banned battery cages.
Thanks to the actions of compassionate people like you, we've taken a major step forward for farm animals in Michigan and across the country.

Thank you for all you're doing to help farm animals.

Sincerely,

Mike MarkarianExecutive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
The Humane Society of Michigan

"And thank you, Humane Society of Michigan, for all your hard work."

Craig Covey

Labor Unions Yes !...Three new city buildings NO !

Barely in the nick of time, we got the Ferndale City Council to adopt a resolution to require a labor agreement for any city construction project over a certain amount of dollars. This will support our efforts to ensure quality work, workplace safety, and prevailing wages for our workers. That this came at the 11th hour, however, is another blemish in a process that began two years ago, and this effort has been, in my opinion, characterized by bad decisions, over-spending, and unrealistic planning.

Everyone agrees we need a new courthouse...one with proper accessible facilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act and one with adequate room, storage, and technology. A majority of city council however has joined with the city administration and other department heads in demanding a totally gutted and renovated city hall and police department. These grandiose plans are desirable only until one looks at the costs. Now expected to cost nearly nine million dollars, these multi-faceted series of expensive building projects are going to result in huge financial problems for our city over the next 30 years !

Had we gone with the original plan advocated by Councilman Lennon and myself nearly two years ago, we could have renovated the OLSHA building next door and move the Courthouse next door for less than one quarter of that amount. It would have been built by now.

Instead, the city hired an expensive planning/consulting agency to "advise" us on what we really need. (That cost the city $40,000 last year). Without ever meeting with the mayor or council on the building "needs", their thin, albeit expensive, report said we need to rebuild all three city buildings. This same company was then hired to explore another bad idea...moving City Hall to the 2nd floor of the Credit Union bank building.

Council then voted to hire this same company again to "manage" the projects...to the tune of $6,000 per month for the next three years. (They were the second most expensive company to bid on the project). That same company said that we could afford these plans, which is not surprising since they profit from the projects.

I voted no again and again every step of the way as we got to where we are today. We have paid this consulting company more than $60,000 so far without a shovel in the ground. And we now know that we cannot afford to do all of these projects.

The City of Ferndale has the largest budget deficits coming over the next 3 years the likes of which none of us have ever seen. To even think about spending these kinds of millions now when cities across the state are laying off firemen and policemen, closing community centers and reducing salaries is pure folly. Unless this huge spending spree is stopped very soon, we could end up with lovely new buildings, but very few police officers, firemen, or streets and parks workers left to occupy them.

We will be lucky now to even get a new court building, which I always supported. But unless the City Council wakes up and gets a grip on the economic reality that is surrounding us now, our wonderful town will be paying for these mistakes for a long time indeed.