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"The Voter" Newsletter
January, 2023
(To see all the news, you must click above on "Display images below")
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President's Notes`
xxxEven before January 1, there were ideas and intentions creeping onto my 2023 list of resolutions. Some were the same as 2022 that got rolled over, but one of them is new and fits well with the environmental advocacy of the League. It is to be more mindful of the newsletters from the Michigan League of Conservation Voters and to click on their "take action" button. Like LWVMI, they make it easy to contact legislators about issues that affect voters -- clean water, wilderness protection, and protecting drop off box hours during elections. Visit their website for more information, michiganlcv.org.
xxxTwo items from the LWVMI December League Links please click to highlight: 1) The Advocacy Committee is meeting in January to make recommendations to the board of directors regarding priorities for new legislative sessions, and 2) the MCPGV (Michigan Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence) is kicking off a campaign to pass legislation that will help end gun violence – see the notice in League Links for more details but you can go here to sign up for their January 18 kick off – “We have press conferences planned in Detroit, Oxford, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Saginaw, and Marquette. Click here to sign up and show your support!”
xxxOn January 10, the board of LWVBCC is welcoming a new member – Mary Beth Mullenholz. Mary Beth retired from DuPage Central Hospital where she worked as a psychologist and moved to New Buffalo. She is looking forward to serving the community and getting to know more about the League. Welcome, Mary Beth! At our January meeting, we will be mapping out meetings and presentations for the coming year. We are planning some in-person evening and luncheon meetings as well as Zoom seminars. Our first evening meeting
is January 24 at the Bridgman Library with Professor Tiffany Bohm from Lake Michigan
College. She will talk about election issues and lead a discussion on voter turnout. Look for a special announcement with all the details.
xxxI am looking forward to the new year for the LWVBCC. Our list of topics and speakers is well-
rounded, and I am excited for us to be able to meet in person, to continue the essential work of
educating voters, and to do whatever we can to make sure they vote!
In League,
-- Faith Schoon, president, LWVBCC
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xxxDues Alert – Thanks to all who have paid! Please use this special Dues announcement if you still need to renew. Dues payment checks should be made payable to “LWVBCC” ($70 for individual membership or $95 for household) and mailed to us at LWVBCC, P.O. Box 1032, Niles, MI 49120.
xxxWant to pay by PayPal? Just go to our website: LWVBCC.org; click on “League Membership & Dues, Join or Renew via Credit Card.” You don't need a PayPal account. You can use any credit card. A convenience charge will be applied to cover LWVBCC’s PayPal expenses.
xxxThe deadline for dues payment is extended to December 31. We are hoping you will make the deadline so that we do not have to call and remind you and that your name can be included in the new Annual Membership Directory.
xxxIt is our annual obligation to report our membership to LWVUS by January 31 -- our fiscal year and theirs, too. So please, help us do what so many have already done: Pay your dues AND support the activities we will take on in your behalf in 2023.
xxxAgain, as your Treasurer, I extend many thanks to all who have responded. And thank you for your continued support of our important League activities. We can't afford to do them without you.
Please. Thank you. --- John
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HERE'S A CLARIFICATION
Next Book Club will be in Niles on Monday, January 23, at Carla Ripley's home.
Please call her if you plan to attend.
Call or email Carla
If you plan to attend. 269-687-1648 or
cmr1487@gmail.com
The book is "Last Bus to Wisdom" by Ivan Doig
Excerpt from Amazon:
The final novel from a great American storyteller.
Donal Cameron is being raised by his grandmother, the cook at the legendary Double W ranch in Ivan Doig’s beloved Two Medicine Country of the Montana Rockies, a landscape that gives full rein to an eleven-year-old’s imagination. But when Gram has to have surgery for “female trouble” in the summer of 1951, all she can think to do is to ship Donal off to her sister in faraway Manitowoc, Wisconsin. There he is in for a rude surprise...
See you Monday, January 23!
Non-Partisan Request for Participation
As you know if you've been reading this newsletter, I've strongly recommended the book "Laboratories of Autocracy" by David Pepper. The gist of his writing is that we all must be involved in the
political process at the local level. At this time, I'm asking each of you to pay attention to the Minutes of your local School Board meeting, your local town, village, or city meeting. Better yet, plan to attend one or more of those meetings. Why not attend one of the Berrien or Cass County meetings? It may seem crazy, but there seems to be a meeting of one local group or jurisdiction nearly every day. Most groups meet monthly, and dates of meetings are published in local newspapers, via, radio or using your computer. Or just call your local governing office and ask. Volunteer groups also meet monthly. Interested in immigration? Farming? Juvenile justice? There are so many ways to learn about what is happening locally. I must admit I've been a "slacker" myself. Time to step up - even once a month. Join me.
--- Chris Zilke
Energy & the Environment
The good news and the bad seem to be "evening out"-- i.e., equal amounts of good and not-so-good. The crazy weather has been very bad in so many ways yet has brought desperately needed moisture to the West Coast -- from top to bottom. The consistent high winds locally have created some truly beautiful scenes yet made travel treacherous for many. Whatever the weather, get outdoors whenever you're able. You know how it is here in Michigan ... changeable !!
LWVLMR News
The next quarterly meeting of LWV Lake Michigan Region will take place later this month. If there is anything that is of concern to you regarding our
amazing Lake Michigan (pollution, invasive species, illegal takings of water), please let me know so that or those concerns can be addressed later this month with the LWVLMR board of directors. The presentation that had been scheduled locally in November -- and cancelled due to traffic problems -- is being rescheduled for March. No date yet, but be aware that we're hoping to have an in-person event.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx---chris_zilke@yahoo.com
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Calendar of Events
Tuesday, January 10
LWVBCC Board Meeting
Planning Session!
5:30 p.m. - ZOOM
Monday, January 16
Dr. Martin Luther King's Birthday
Tuesday, January 17, 2023
Understanding Censorship Issues
Panel Discussion with Experts
Presented by LWV Dearborn-Dearborn Heights
(This will be recorded)
Thursday, January 19, 2023
11:00 a.m.
"Climate Change 2023:
Challenges and Solutions"
(Attendees will receive a
link to a recording of the presentation by Peter Sinclair, renowned videographer and speaker)
Monday, January 23,
Book Group 10 a.m.
at Carla Ripley's home in Niles.
Please call or email Carla
if you plan to attend.
269-687-1648
The book is
"Last Bus to Wisdom"
by Ivan Doig
Tuesday, January 24
6 p.m.
Dr. Tiffany Bohm
Lake Michigan College
Presentation:
"2024 Election and the Future"
Bridgman Public Library
Public Welcome to Attend
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LWVBCC
Board of Directors
Faith Schoon, President
Jane Raymond, Secretary
Merrily Smith, Corresp. Secy.
John Ripley, Treasurer &
Communications Coordinator
Audrey Lester
Zaundra Lipscomb
Mary Beth Mullenholz, Consultant
Dorothy Parker
Charmae Sanders
Amy Scrima
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PLEASE
TELL THEM YOU SAW THEIR AD IN THE LEAGUE OF
WOMEN VOTERS NEWSLETTER!
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Joe Jilek
Insurance Agent
(269) 695-2200
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The League as an organization does not support or oppose any political party, candidate for elected office, or any group that supports candidates. As individuals, though, but not as representatives of the League, members are encouraged to participate in political activity and to run for office. Our non-partisan policy does require two Board members--the President and the Voter Service Chair--to totally abstain from partisan political activity.
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