At the Northern Lights Recreation’s restaurant, Congressman Jack Bergman chats up constituents, friends, and supporters. This is one of his many stops around District One this past weekend. #MAGA

Photo credits: Geri S., James H.

Emmet County Commissioner Neil Ahrens, who serves on the ECRP Executive Board, is helping host the Emmet County portion of Lt. Gen. Jack Bergman’s upcoming campaign “rollout tour” of northern Michigan. Note: Congressman Bergman will be in attendance at this event.

Constituents: Here’s a chance to sit down with Rep. Lee Chatfield (R-Levering), and come to one of his local “office hours” meetings in the 107th District.

Local governments, businesses, health care and service providers, and other key community partners are invited to share their input on public transit in Emmet County at a special event January 23 in Petoskey. The Emmet County Board of Commissioners is hosting the Community Dialogue on Transit Tuesday, January 23 at 6:00 p.m. at the Iron Horse Café at North Central Michigan College, 1515 Howard Street.

Public transit has been discussed in Emmet County for many years. Now, with assistance from regional partner and neutral convener Networks Northwest, Emmet County is reaching out to local businesses, organizations, government officials, and community members to help guide any transit decisions the Board of Commissioners makes. Participants will support the County’s decision-making process on the viability and potential operations of an Emmet County based transit system.

This event is open to anyone who would like to attend, but key stakeholders whose views will provide insight into particular community needs and questions have been identified and specifically invited.

“This is an opportunity for key stakeholders – like employers and businesses – to influence the County Board’s decisions on transit,” said John Stakoe, Emmet County Commissioner. “We know they’ll be impacted by issues like potential transit routes and costs, so we really need their input. Their participation will be extremely valuable to the County Board.”

There is no cost to attend, but RSVPs are required, and space is limited. Light refreshments will be served. Please RSVP to:

Sarah Lucas at Networks Northwest
231-929-5000
sarahlucas@networksnorthwest.org

For more information, contact Lucas or John Stakoe, Emmet County Commissioner, at 248-535-5116.

Note: Commissioner Stakoe is a member of the ECRP executive board.

Update: Due to icy weather conditions the dialogue has been postponed until Feb. 7. Location TBA.

The Emmet County Republican Party will host its first General Meeting of 2018 on January 22 at 7:00 pm at the Northern Lights Recreation Center, conference room, in Harbor Springs (located off M-119).

A video interview of Craig Sawyer, the founder of Vets 4 Child Rescue, will be presented. Mr. Sawyer – also a Marine veteran, former Navy SEAL, sniper, combat instructor – fights against child trafficking.

Please join us! Prior to the general meeting, the Executive Meeting will convene at 6:00 pm.

Save the date; plan to attend; chat up State Senator Wayne.

Justice Bob Young just released this statement about ending his bid to challenge U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI):

“This morning on the Frank Beckmann show I formally announced the suspension of my campaign to challenge Debbie Stabenow in 2018. The decision was dictated by political reality. While I enjoyed tremendous grassroots support from Party activists (I won every straw poll, including the Mackinac Leadership Conference poll), and I had a large volume of small donors, my campaign failed to attract enough support from the larger donors to hit important fundraising benchmarks. The goal was to replace Debbie Stabenow with a reliable conservative, not necessarily me. I remain committed to winning in November, and pledge to remain a conservative advocate for change in Washington.”

All the best to Mr. Young as he ponders his future; he’s a wonderful spokesperson for rule of law and conservative principles.

President Donald Trump had a productive year taking on the ‘fake’ media, getting a tax-cut bill passed, appointing a conservative Supreme Court justice, and doing away with ObamaCare. Phew!

This article, from The Hill, notes the Commander-in-Chief’s top ten accomplishments. Do you agree with the list? What would you add? How do you think President Trump’s first year in office went?

Going forward, will he begin to build the wall in 2018? Are you eager to read more of DJT’s tweets?

Happy New Year!! The ECRP will have a public meeting in late January; more details to follow.

The ECRP leadership wishes those in our community a Merry Christmas & a Happy Hanukkah! May your holidays be joyful and restful.

Santa Yoda makes an appearance in Emmet County

Petoskey District Library

Petoskey home

Proud UM alum, Dr. Lou

Vice-chair of the ECRP, Dr. Louis Zako, gamely offers the conservative viewpoint on the editorial pages of the Petoskey News-Review.

He (recently) wrote this column, about political discourse and civility.  And this one which deals with the hypocrisy of modern-day liberalism.

Here’ a snippet from the latter column:

“Whereas liberals of past decades believed in individual liberty, a strong national defense, and championed causes which benefitted working Americans, today’s liberals concentrate on identity politics, political correctness, abortion ‘rights’ at all costs, calling anyone who disagrees with their extremist views ‘racists,’ and lust for power.”

Read it all! And a ‘keep up the good work’ for Dr. Lou for being willing/able to publicly share his opinions in the mainstream media.

Update: Here’s his first 2018 column on medical insurance.