Finally! Somebody who can handle the state’s budget problems

Nobody’ll ever say Michiganders don’t know how to gamble… especially now that a Michigan kid has become the youngest person ever to win the World Series of Poker. Joe Cada is barely old enough to drink, and comes from Shelby Twp, over by the thumb. He’s raked in about $8.5 Million. I’m not sure, but I think all this qualifies him to run for governor in Michigan. (Poker News Daily)

Garbage in, garbage out

Somebody in the Portage assessor’s office is out of a job. The admin won’t say who or why, but odds are it’s tied up with the whole assessor scandal thingy. Of course, unlike Detroit, scandals in Portage pop up over things like lousy customer service, not murder, embezzlement and perjury. Yay Portage! (KG)

City council packin’ heat

Speaking of unease in the Motor City, apparently five of the nine council members will be licensed to carry when they convene in January. I’m not getting into the pros and cons of that situation. But over here in the southwest part of the state, Jack Hoogendyk probably ought to cover up his raging hardon… it ain’t likely Kalamazoo’s municipal leaders will adopt the same approach to city governance. (MLive)

I like what this guy does, so I’m gonna try something similar.

Healthcare rationing, media misdirection and the gov nibbles on a big ol’ thick juicy sausage

Wanna get a flu shot? Take a number.

Health care reform opponents have been stamping their feet over the idea that if we let the government run health care there’ll be a rationing of health care. As if to prove the point, you actually need a reservation to get a swine flu vaccine. Only problem, the government isn’t actually running health care here. This is the marketplace at work. Thanks. (WWMT)

East Hall is (still) falling down

Need a little reminder of what that really old building on Oakland is? Here’s a refresher. This old school needs more than a facelift, but despite the six-figure maintenance costs, WMU admin doesn’t wanna shell out for a permanent fix. (Western Herald)

Talkin’ ’bout a thing, but we’re not gonna show you the thing

There’s this great little web site about what potential candidates for governor would actually like to do. Of course, for WWMT linking to an outside web site is tantamount to endorsing the competition and they just can’t do that (at least not for free anyway). But they’ll run a story about it. As a public service to readers, here’s the web site they’re talking about: michigansnextgovernor.wordpress.com (WWMT)

and, the Vice President has lunch

Actually, that’s the whole story there. Thanks AP. (WZZM)