Here are the Lapeer Community Schools percentages of students tested who met or exceeded proficiency in the subjects. This data does reflect the new cut scores.

Grade 3   Math 30       Reading 68.9
Grade 4   Math 32.8    Reading 68       Writing 50.6
Grade 5   Math 37.1    Reading 77.4     Science 11.3
Grade 6   Math 26       Reading 72.3     Social studies 23.7
Grade 7   Math 26.7    Reading 58.3     Writing 48.5
Grade 8   Math 24.1    Reading 61.6     Science 17.2
Grade 9   Social Studies 26.3

Now for a comparison across the various districts in the county and the state, a snapshot at grade 8:

LCS                    Math 24.1     Reading 61.6   Science 17.2
North Branch   Math 11.5     Reading 65.3   Science 16.4
Imlay city         Math 21.7     Reading 56.6   Science 12.7
Dryden              Math 7.3       Reading 56.4   Science 12.3
Chatfield            Math 45.2    Reading 64.5   Science 21.9
Almont               Math 24       Reading 63.6   Science 16.2
Statewide           Math 29.4   Reading 60.5   Science 16.5

Lots more to talk about than facilities. For the detailed data, check out the Department of Education at  michigan,gov.mde, where you can also see the information for each school.

Every year when Walk for Warmth happens, I am reminded of my friend Carl. He was the person who put a face on this for me. Every winter was a utility emergency. Real people struggle to keep warm through the winter in Lapeer County.

So, if you’re inclined, Walk for Warmth this Saturday – register at 9, walk at 9:30, begins at the Historic Courthouse in downtown Lapeer. You don’t even have to walk, make a pledge with someone who is walking the event. Funds raised stay in the county. For more info or a pledge sheet, call the local Human Development Commission at 810-664-7133.

And this is Republican turf. Or so people think.

The Lapeer County stats from the 2008 presidential election clearly demonstrated that close to half the crowd voted Democratic. Yup, Obama got 47 percent of the vote to McCain’s 50 percent. In other words, 21,457 people walked in and marked the ballot for Obama in Lapeer County, while 22, 831 voted for McCain. That’s no slam dunk on this “Republican” turf.

And this campaign, the party is doing a truly famous job of dissing a good half of the electorate – women. For those who are independents, there is no doubt in my mind that women are lately leaning hard away from the GOP at this point. Yeah, there’s plenty of females that are totally PO’d. I’m guessing there’s plenty of Republican women ready to ditch, too.

Hey, GOP, you earned it. And you apparently don’t know when to back off either.

It’s true that the GOP is far better organized in this county than its competition. It’s also true that the party is absolutely entrenched in local offices. And that’s one reason this looks like a Republican place. They dominate the government scene, and election after election the Democratic party doesn’t offer candidates or put a serious push on for the few its does. And well, to be fair, the money’s all on the other side. Surprise, surprise.

And yes, we have a very vocal, very visible fundamentalist force in the county that expresses itself in the political sphere. Just because they put themselves out there doesn’t at all mean they are representative of the general population. Au contraire, I think people in the county in general are a lot more toned down than that, less hard lined, less judgmental.

Suffice it to say that though the GOP has a firm grip on political offices in this county at the moment, and has for maybe, I don’t know, forever, it doesn’t mean things can’t, won’t ever change. And one sure way of making that happen is by letting your party do an absolutely thorough, put-a-bow-on-it job of ticking off half of your voters. Keep it up, guys, and see where it gets you. Yeah, we’re female, and guess what, we vote.

(And while I’m in this territory, Catholic bishops, you’re on notice as well. Um, about that Catholics Come Home campaign – not so much. At least not with the chicks, I’m guessing.)

I’ve been a fan of that trail from the get-go, but I’ll have to admit running it in the middle of winter was all new for me. It was very runnable, too. Although it wasn’t cleared, there were clear portions, and the rest was just crunchy snow. None of us even wore cleats.

Yes, it was cold! But it didn’t take long to warm up, feel good, and bask in the goodness of life under that blue sky and sunshine, surrounded by kindred spirits.

To top it off, after our run we headed into Columbiaville’s Lakeside Grill, which is totally trailside. There we warmed up (well, sort of, because you don’t really warm up in your running clothes post run), with coffee and breakfast. I had the mini omelette which came with hash browns and homemade whole wheat bread – it was a real plateful of food, and a good one at that. Including the coffee, it wasn’t a whole lot more over 5 bucks. Is that crazy good or what?

And now what? Somehow, I have become entangled in next month’s mini indoor triathlon. Well, that’s simply excellent inspiration to get my running back in gear – I confess I had slacked off the last month or so. And it’s not winning or losing, it’s the running, the swimming, the cycling that matters.

It’s just being in motion – that’s the thing. Being in motion.

Not exactly the same thing, but I couldn’t help but think of the ongoing dust-up over police protection at the Eastern Michigan Fair, with Imlay City officials itching to bill for services at the annual event. At the outset, they actually sought to retroactively bill, despite the fact there was no contract to that effect.

The fair board, cognizant of what the fair means to the city, made an offer in the matter, but some city officials would rather quibble over the amount. The fair board left the city’s counter-offer on the table. So there sits the commission, and looking rather silly at that, while the fair board explores their options.

While we have actual pressing issues in our state, I am troubled that Rep. Daley and other members of the state legislature spent time on this disingenuous matter and cast yea votes on the resolution. The Respect for Rights of Conscience Act would allow insurers and employers to deny their employees health benefits and services required by federal law based on their personal moral or religious objections.

This tripe is not about religious freedoms.

This is about restricting access to health care. This is about preventing individuals from making their own health care decisions about their own bodies. No employer should stand between any woman or any man making their own health care decisions, and according to their own moral and religious beliefs. The religious and moral beliefs of an employer should not trump an individual’s beliefs. This is about equal access to health care.

The state House GOP support for this resolution also underscores a pro-business-at-all-costs perspective, seeking to give corporations the power to deny health care to their employees.

This is just not that difficult to get your head around. If, for example, the employer asserts a religious belief that does not support medical intervention, this legislation would allow the employer to deny health care to employees. See how not okay that is?

It is my impression that Rep. Daley is a reasonable and thoughtful guy, so giving him the benefit of the doubt on this, I would suggest that this is yet another example of rushing legislation through in a burst of party enthusiasm without enough scrutiny or feedback from constituents.  ;)

It is my guess that there’s plenty of female constituents who have a grasp of the implications of this resolution’s intent and object to it. In fact, Representative Issa’s almost entirely male panel convened to discuss the administration’s ruling on contraception, a women’s health issue, was an absolute disgrace, but sadly made it absolutely clear what the ultimate agenda is. If anyone was still wondering.

Yes, Rep. Daley, I am disappointed.

Word up it’s a great time. The band is fun, and always gets the crowd going with their mix of New Orleans funk Zydeco and blues. Beads? Masks? Hot sauce? Also, a cash bar, silent auction, and 50/50. All that fun for a good local cause.

Tickets are $20 in advance, $30 at the door of the Lapeer Center Building. Event starts at 6 p.m. For tickets, call 810-245-3978 or email c@clark.gs.

In the ensuing days, there was self-doubt. I looked suspiciously at the Sawzall, not quite convinced. Nevertheless, I had been entrusted with the tool and the absolute assurance that I could do it. There was nothing else to do, but try.

So, the day came when I had enough time to work on it. I got the power tool out. I put on my gloves and my safety glasses. I doubtfully pulled the trigger, and suddenly, yes, there was just no stopping me.

Not unlike the infamous Tim Taylor, I was soon swaggering my way happily through my project. Luckily, I did not meet with any Tool Time-type disasters, either.

I was able to eventually stand back, and look at what I had done, nothing short of amazed. Not only had I been won over by the simple joy of power tools, I was awed at the way my wonderful friend had empowered me.

He didn’t try to do the job for me. He didn’t tell me to hire someone. He didn’t tell me I couldn’t do it. He didn’t give me a laundry list of instructions.

He simply put the correct tool for the job in my hands and said, “You can do it.”

We need more of these empowering people in the world, we really do. There are more than enough of the energy sucking types. You know exactly who I mean.

These are the ones who can walk into a meeting and just drain the room of any sense of forward motion. You’re instantly bogged down in what can’t be done. Before you know it, the schedule’s delayed, the project’s derailed. There are no new ideas. It’s not unusual for someone to accidentally fall asleep during a meeting that includes an energy sucker. Others have to consciously stop themselves from yelling out loud.

These energy vampires usually appear in the guise of a very knowledgeable person, too. They somehow wrest authority. Nevertheless, knowledge is meaningless if all you’re going to do is bandy it about to thwart progress.

The opposite of the energy sucker is all too rare, but, again, you know the energy giver the minute they arrive. It’s as if someone pulled back the curtain and let the sun shine in. And it’s not just smiley-faces. Because these people equip you.

Sometimes it’s confidence you need. They give you that. Sometimes it’s information. If they have it, they freely share it. If they don’t know. they expect you will ask the right people to find out. Sometimes it’s inspiration. They give you license to go there, and pat you on the back when you do. They have confidence in everyone’s ability to contribute somehow, and they enable everyone to employ their talents, learn new ones and grow wings in the process.

It’s more than a positive attitude, it’s absolute respect. It gives to you, it imparts energy, it’s like a phosphorescent glow that somehow expands with each breath or new thought. You feel like Rocky Balboa at the top of the stairs.

How do these people do it? And why aren’t they in politics?

Anyway, thanks to my wonderful empowering friend, I am now on a roll. Expect great things.

What about you? Energy sucker or energy giver? If it’s the former, I’m here to tell you, we all have the capacity to change. You can do it. Now go.

And now for a little Valentine rant with our Feb. 28 primary election beginning to loom. The Republican field of jokers swooshes into the state. Not the kind of thing that makes you want to get out of bed.

I for one am sick of listening to the idiotic rhetoric coming out of these campaigns. I am embarrassed by these guys as all that the GOP can muster to pose as leaders. Come on. I am tired of the offensive on women’s (extremely basic) rights for which these guys are helping to lead the charge in the guise of being um holy and um constitutional. I’ve had it up to here with the bizarre defense of the wealthy at the expense of those ahem less fortunate.

What has happened in this country when a candidate (that would be Rick Santorum) for the presidency of the United States can insult the very voters on which he depends, and they applaud? Yeah, as in,

“That’s not what a leader of this country should do but Barack Obama has sided with the 99 versus one.” Did Santorum actually say that? Was he actually applauded? Who in their right mind doesn’t think the president of the United States, and anyone running for that office, shouldn’t side with the 99 percent? You know, the people who do the voting. Isn’t this after all what elections are all about? Damn straight, I want a president on my side.

And as if the campaign gradu isn’t enough, we have Republican Sen. Roy Blunt jumping in to amend the Affordable Care Act to allow employers to exclude health care coverage of any kind based on moral or religious beliefs. So your boss gets the last word on what you may and may not do with your body, and what kinds of health care choices you will be allowed access to. So your employer’s beliefs are, I guess, more important than whatever you happen to believe. What is this country coming to that this kind of garbage even surfaces and has to be considered?

Or how about Republican Senator Charles Grassley’s attempts to obstruct the renewal of the Violence Against Women Act? How does this kind of thing become acceptable: just forget about domestic violence victims because for God’s sake you might wind up protecting a gay person or an immigrant? How can we not be ashamed of our leaders with this sort of thing taking up legislative time?

And not that you were wondering, but no, Sunday’s CP editorial wasn’t written by a woman. How could you tell? Could it be the enthusiastic jump onto the bandwagon to make sure that women are not part of the decision-making processes where their own bodies are concerned? Spare me.

“Where do I sign?” one ebullient voter asked as he came through the door. This was easily addressed.

Volunteers at the party acknowledged, however, something that’s not so easy to address. Sadly this was not a surprise to me. One of the biggest hurdles the recall effort has faced is the simple fact that people do not know who Sen. Pavlov is. It’s not just that they don’t know what he’s been doing while serving in Lansing, they just plain don’t know who he is. For some of them, they just know he has an “R” behind his name.

So the recall people have more to do than just ask people if they want to sign the recall petition, they have to help people understand that he’s a state senator. That’s even before you get to the issues. They have to help people connect the dots between Sen. Pavlov and quality of life.

This is pretty sad commentary on the state of the electorate. At this critical time, we should be paying more attention than ever to what’s going on in government, but between the blurred rush of lawmaking that’s been going on in Lansing to the overriding pressures of an economy that continues to suck for the average Joe, it’s just not happening for lots of people. They are not making the connection that what Sen. Pavlov does in Lansing actually matters to their every day life. As some of us know, however, indeed it does.

Lots more people will know next February or so when they go to prepare their 2012 taxes, and find out their taxes went up. As Sen. Pavlov assured me last week, at least some of the Transportation funding package is likely to get through as well, delivering another whammy to taxpayers. Then there’s education, the Senate committee for which is chaired by Sen. Pavlov, for those who don’t know who he is.

Education is key to our entire culture. It’s key to good government. An educated populace demands more of its representatives. An educated populace demands quality of life. As chair of the education committee, exactly what are Sen. Pavlov’s goals? Do they really sync with good government and quality of life? Or do they speak to quality of life for some, and government that’s good to some? Gotta do your homework to find out!

There’s plenty of other issues. I applaud the people willing to be engaged on them and get involved as part of a grassroots effort. It’s essential to remember that government of the people, by the people, for the people, necessarily involves the people. Get on it.