en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/733303 Comments by Vermilion http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/target_8/Pond-drownings-spur-little-action#IDComment74935885 It is always a tragedy when a child dies, but let's get real here. You had a father sleeping at 9 in the morning, letting a 3 year old "Babysit" an 18 month old. Now we have WOOD and the rest of the bleeding hearts calling on the rest of us to shell out millions of dollars to fence these retaining ponds that are required by law! As many others have pointed out, if you can't raise your kids, you shouldn't have had them in the first place. There are a number of ways to keep kids indoors if you work an odd shift and sleep during the day. The kid could have just as easily been hit by a car or kidnapped. You don't let 3 year olds babysit for any length of time! Tue, 11 May 2010 19:09:21 +0000 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/target_8/Pond-drownings-spur-little-action#IDComment74935885 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/elections/local/Tax-hike-OK-pleases-Sundstrom-Heartwell#IDComment72849393 Gee, what ever happened to the Grand Valley Metropolitan Council, it was supposed to save the taxpayers billions by consolidating government efforts. I was opposed to it when it was created, and I am even more opposed to it now. It is just another layer of bureaucracy that sucks the resources from where they are needed to pay more government bureaucrats to sit around and do nothing but complain they don't have enough money. Dissolve the GVMC and return that money back to the cities and townships, and a lot of the money problems would dissappear. Wed, 5 May 2010 18:02:42 +0000 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/elections/local/Tax-hike-OK-pleases-Sundstrom-Heartwell#IDComment72849393 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/sw_mich/chemical-leak-at-high-school#IDComment69029963 Phosphorus in it's raw, concentrated state is nasty stuff, it produces it's own oxygen when it burns. It will burn under water, and it can't be smothered. It was used for weapons at one time, but I believe it has been banned by the Geneva Convention if I remember correctly. A Hazmat team may have been overkill, but I wouldn't want a bunch of high school kids messing with it if it had spilled, either. I would think a high school chemistry teacher should have been able to handle it, but that depends on where and how much spilled, something we will never learn from WOODTV8. Tue, 20 Apr 2010 17:20:22 +0000 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/sw_mich/chemical-leak-at-high-school#IDComment69029963 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/ottawa_county/Van-hits-semi-and-trailer-falls-on-driver#IDComment52693132 Not having been there or not related to any one involved, I can't say for sure whether there was a trailer or not, but this much is certain, the driver of the minivan was going too fast. This is obvious, since he hit the rig. Maybe the rig shouldn't have been in the road, but rural roads at night, with fog, slow down! It could have as easily been a person walking or a piece of farm equipment in the road. Just because the posted speed limit is 55 doesn't mean that you have to drive 60 or 65 MPH. You have to drive for the conditions, not the speed limit. Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:13:03 +0000 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/ottawa_county/Van-hits-semi-and-trailer-falls-on-driver#IDComment52693132 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/michigan/Pure-Michigan-short-on-cash#IDComment52691900 I say good riddance to the whole Pure Michigan ad campaign. It isn't the state's duty to advertise for businesses here in this state. Cut business taxes, and let them run their own ads. The sad thing is that all the advertising in the world won't overcome the negative view many people have of Michigan from the news reports they hear. If we could get our house in order, people would flock here, but when they hear of police and firefighters being laid off, our schools going down the crapper, and all the rest, they aren't going to want to come here no matter how much the state wastes on ads. Its time to elect some people to Lansing that know how to set priorities, and quit wasting tax dollars on every whim and notion that people may have. Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:58:12 +0000 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/michigan/Pure-Michigan-short-on-cash#IDComment52691900 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/michigan/Pure-Michigan-short-on-cash#IDComment52690965 Yes, and our legislature and govenors have cut much more than that from general fund revenues that used to go towards education. It's all a shell game where the tax payers lose. The lottery is nothing more than a tax on the poor that can hardly afford it, yet they hope to strike it rich someday. Do away with the lottery and quit taxing the poor and have them spend their money on something more productive, like their kids. Use the money the state saves from the employees of the lottery to put towards schools, then come up with a fair way of funding the schools the way it should have been done in the first place. Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:46:22 +0000 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/michigan/Pure-Michigan-short-on-cash#IDComment52690965 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/kent_county/half-percent-growth-in-west-michigan-employment-in-2010#IDComment52203192 Half a percent isn't going to help a lot, I am thinking that as much as I love Michigan that it is time to pull up stakes and move somewhere else. Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:53:31 +0000 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/kent_county/half-percent-growth-in-west-michigan-employment-in-2010#IDComment52203192 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/grand_rapids/GRPD-gets-new-in-car-video-system#IDComment52202036 Just what I thought, we get a lame excuse because you have no idea what you are talking about. Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:41:48 +0000 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/grand_rapids/GRPD-gets-new-in-car-video-system#IDComment52202036 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/sw_mich/Woman-convicted-in-husbands-2007-murder#IDComment52201806 The wheels of justice sure turned slow in this case. The event happened in January 2007 and it took 10 months to determine she set the fire intentionally, then almost 2 more years for her to be arrested? Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:39:08 +0000 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/sw_mich/Woman-convicted-in-husbands-2007-murder#IDComment52201806 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/grand_rapids/GRPD-gets-new-in-car-video-system#IDComment52164687 So vociferous all knowing one, why don't you educate all us ignorants out here exactly how grants do work, then you will no longer have to deal with our ignorance Fri, 15 Jan 2010 07:50:27 +0000 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/grand_rapids/GRPD-gets-new-in-car-video-system#IDComment52164687 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/grand_rapids/GR-gets-part-of-223m-for-neighborhoods#IDComment52053262 You're right, GR will see little of the money. Thu, 14 Jan 2010 18:14:47 +0000 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/grand_rapids/GR-gets-part-of-223m-for-neighborhoods#IDComment52053262 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/grand_rapids/GR-gets-part-of-223m-for-neighborhoods#IDComment52053050 I agree in principal, but these properties will still sit vacant, being overpriced for the market. If the government would let the market determine the price, the prices would fall, making it affordable for people to start or expand businesses, which would lead to higher revenue for the government in the long run. But that won't happen this time, it never has, the local officials are too shortsighted, its been proven time and time again Thu, 14 Jan 2010 18:13:50 +0000 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/grand_rapids/GR-gets-part-of-223m-for-neighborhoods#IDComment52053050 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/grand_rapids/GR-gets-part-of-223m-for-neighborhoods#IDComment52047940 The truth is, local officials don't really want those blighted properties fixed up and on the market. The market is already glutted with unsold properties, and more will only lower the values even more, meaning less income going to cities through property taxes. So in their shortsighted view, having those properties sit there vacant is better than having them fixed up. Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:54:39 +0000 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/grand_rapids/GR-gets-part-of-223m-for-neighborhoods#IDComment52047940 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/grand_rapids/GR-gets-part-of-223m-for-neighborhoods#IDComment52046863 While it sounds like a good idea, here's what's going to happen, nothing. The state will spend millions developing a plan. The Feds will spend millions approving the plan. The state will spend millions more administering the plan. The Feds will spend millions on oversight of the administration of the plan. A few contracts will be awarded to a few contracters with the right political pull who will overcharge for everything they do. The state and Federal lawyers will get involved, and the money will all be gone before anything gets done! Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:49:20 +0000 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/grand_rapids/GR-gets-part-of-223m-for-neighborhoods#IDComment52046863 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/grand_rapids/GRPD-gets-new-in-car-video-system#IDComment51996118 Then you must be one blissfull person, do YOU know what a grant is, or where the government gets the money to pay out these grants? Your taxes! That is you're even old enough to pay taxes. Thu, 14 Jan 2010 07:41:50 +0000 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/grand_rapids/GRPD-gets-new-in-car-video-system#IDComment51996118 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/kent_county/A-list-of-roads-with-most-winter-wrecks#IDComment51313042 I know what you mean, but I don't try it, its better just to go up to Ann Street, or go south and get off at Pearl than trying to cross all that traffic. Its just as bad getting on at Leonard and trying to head east on 196. A company I drove truck for was just north of Leonard, and I would often have to go east to Lansing or Detroit, no way to make it in a truck. I would go up to Ann and get on there, then I had a fighting chance of making to the exit. The boss gve me a hard time, but I blew him off. Both their other drivers had accidents right there in the area trying to use the shortest route, sometimes its better to drive an extra mile or two. Sun, 10 Jan 2010 02:40:58 +0000 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/kent_county/A-list-of-roads-with-most-winter-wrecks#IDComment51313042 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/kent_county/A-list-of-roads-with-most-winter-wrecks#IDComment51283909 They don't have it broken down for any county but Kent, but what strikes me is that the areas with the highest number of accidents are the areas where there are poor interchanges. Like Lane and 96, when you are westbound, there is merging traffic from both the right and left from US 131 with many of the people merging from the left trying to get all the way over to exit at Lane which brings traffic to standstill during rush hour. It is just as bad entering from Lane westbound, very short ramp and no way to see vehicles already on the expressway. Slowing down helps, but poor design is poor design and should be corrected Sat, 9 Jan 2010 21:55:13 +0000 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/kent_county/A-list-of-roads-with-most-winter-wrecks#IDComment51283909 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/michigan/Michigan-governor-candidates-want-to-change-business-tax#IDComment51064624 The reason our economy is so bad in this state is that the tax structure, along with a few other things, drives businesses and jobs out of the state. The only way we are going to have new plant start ups or expansions is to make Michigan a business friendly state, and that means biting the bullet and cutting taxes on businesses. Fri, 8 Jan 2010 18:24:06 +0000 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/michigan/Michigan-governor-candidates-want-to-change-business-tax#IDComment51064624 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/grand_rapids/Snowy-roads-tough-on-semi-truck-drivers#IDComment51060559 Thor couldn't cut it as a trucker, the lowest form of life in his eyes, where does that leave him? I wish the average drivers in cars were as safe as today's truckers. I don't know how many times I have had some jerk race around the left side of me, and even before they are totally clear of the front of the truck, start pulling over in front of me, slamming on their brakes to turn right. Or cut me off coming up to a stop light that's red, then sit there when the light turns green because they are texting on their phone. And then there's my all time favorite, pass me, cut me off, then slow down slower than I was going in the first place, and start tapping their brake peddle because they think I am tailgating! It's always the trucker's fault, no matter what the idiots in a car do to the trucker. Fri, 8 Jan 2010 18:07:33 +0000 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/grand_rapids/Snowy-roads-tough-on-semi-truck-drivers#IDComment51060559 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/grand_rapids/Snowy-roads-tough-on-semi-truck-drivers#IDComment51057499 That happens to me all the time, it drives you nuts as a truck driver. You try to be nice to people in cars, but having their lights in your mirror blinds you, and if I slow down to let them pass, they still hang right there about two feet behind the bumper. Speed up, and they speed up with you. The biggest thing I want as a truck driver is space around me so I have room to manuver if I have to, especially in bad weather. Fri, 8 Jan 2010 17:55:18 +0000 http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/grand_rapids/Snowy-roads-tough-on-semi-truck-drivers#IDComment51057499