Run #5

Belle Isle Run Into Nature 5K (3.10 miles) in 34.5 minutes = 11.12 minutes/mile

Run #4

1.28 miles in 12.28 minutes = 9.59 minutes/mile

Run #3

3.25 miles in 32.07 minutes = 9.86 minutes/mile (I was angry)

Run #2

1.79 miles / 18.27 minutes = 10.2 minutes per mile

DPS -- On the Other Side

In a twist of fate, a vendor screwed DPS. According to the Detroit News's Jennifer Mrozowski, David Sherwin, a former Office Depot employee alleges that Office Depot manipulated pricing on products that government agencies bought. According to Sherwin, "nationally, the overcharging amounts are somewhere in the range of $100 million annually to between 4,000 and 5,000
agencies around the country.

Not surprisingly, a representative from Office Depot claims the company never received any complaints from DPS. This despite Sherwin's assertion that he tried to contact DPS at least 15 times over eight months and received no response. Sherwin also claims that he contact the Michigan AG's office within the last few weeks but received no response.

Poor DPS, apparently they are only awake when they are the ones stealing the money.

Effectiveness of Charter Schools

The Free Press is running an article today on the Michigan Department of Education's report of charter school effectiveness. The thrust of the Free Press article is that the report is flawed because it compares all charter schools to 20 public districts, many of which happen to reside in low income districts. Based on this "flawed" comparison, charter schools stack up quite well. But when you compare charter schools to ALL public schools, or the public schools in the districts in which the charters reside, the results are much different. The chart demonstrating this is above.

The Free Press wants me to know that the Dep't of Ed is skewing the numbers to make charters look more effective. Why? What does the Michigan Dep't of Ed want charter schools to appear better than they are? It must have to do with budgetary concerns. But why would the Dep't of Ed want kids to go to charter schools at all costs? I don't know the answer to this. But I am hoping someone is asking someone who does. I can only guess that it is easier for them to deal with private owners as opposed to public school boards. Or that the relationship with charters is more manageable.

From this page you can conduct a comparison of charters and publics by district. I can't really determine how well Detroit's charters stack up. But, maybe I will do a comparison on that this weekend.

Money Raising

If you live in Detroit, you know local politicians' favorite refrain is"we don't have any money." I remember asking a councilmember's liason why the city could not demolish the numerous abandoned properties. She said it was because the city has no money. I pointed out to her that the city was statutorily obligated to comply with a timeline regarding demolition. Her response, "so." I was shocked. But I realized that this response flies around here. So, rather than give up, how about keeping a list of ways the city can raise money. Here is the first edition, taken from an article I found on MSNBC.

1 -- Bill those who cause accidents for the associated costs (repair to city property, ambulance response etc.) In response to receiving a $316 bill for an accident she caused n Winter Haven, Fla, Shirley Kimel said "“I always thought this sort of thing was covered by my taxes.” Wake up Shirely, those were my taxes.

2 -- Streetlight Fee: Add a line item to city taxes for streetlight operation. "Washington’s mayor, Adrian M. Fenty, has proposed a 'streetlight user fee' of $4.25 a month, to be added to electric bills, that would cover the cost of operating and maintaining the city’s streetlights. You got to pay to play. If we want operating street lights we have to pay for them. I know we already do, but let's face it, we live in Detroit where the standard refrain is either "we don't have the money" or "so."

3 -- Idling by school fine. As we all know, idling is bad for the environment. What you may not know is that idling by a school is also extremely dangerous. So, why not fine those who idle by schools? This is being done in New York City. In fact, a NYC councilmember recently explained the need for these fines “The most dangerous places on Staten Island are the schools at drop-off and dismissal time, when parents are parked three deep in the road,” says James S. Oddo, a City Council member from Staten Island who voted for the measure. “There is a mentality here that Johnny can’t walk 100 feet, he has to be dropped off right at the front of the school — and frankly that’s why Johnny is as pudgy as he is.”

So there are three ideas. But, more importantly, why is that the ordinances on the books are not being enforced? We have blight ordinances, unenforced. We have slumlord ordinances, unenforced. If the answer to that is "we don't the money for enforcement," we are in a real quandry, after all, if we cant afford to enforce laws or to comply with laws, how are we even a government?

Run#1

So the plan is to run the Missoula half marathon, in addition to a full-blown excursion into Glacier National Park, in July.

Here is run #1 -- 3.79 miles -- 43 minutes 28 seconds -- 11.41/mile

Run#1

Book Read

Bundy: The Deliberate Stranger: Bundy: The Deliberate Stranger by Jodie Larsen

My review

Creepy and crazy. Not as good as Helter Skelter or the Night Stalker.


View all my reviews.