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West Michigan Rising
Rising from the Ashes to Build Our Left Coast in Michigan

Barry County

Rose Anger update

by: Harris

Fri Nov 14, 2008 at 11:18:37 AM EST

Earlier in the election cycle we featured Rose Anger, the lone Democrat running for county office in Barry County.

At the time there was some modest hope about her prospects; she was certainly bringing something the old boy network in Barry had been missing: competence. So did she do?

Shy of Obama but better than the rest. (This is a nice way to say like all Dems in Barry, she lost). But the numbers are encouraging:

Levin/Hoogendyk: 14,211/14,409
Obama/McCain: 13,449/16,431
Anger/Yarger: 12,349/16,303

Sanchez/Ehlers (CD-3): 9,953/29,305
Grieves/Calley (SH-87): 9,781/18,166

So congratulations Rose, you were keeping some good company.

There's More... :: (0 Comments, 114 words in story)

Granholm Announces Job Growth in West Michigan

by: philgoblue

Wed Sep 24, 2008 at 09:00:00 AM EDT

Yesterday morning, Governor Granholm had an absolutely massive jobs announcement, with 17 companies growing in Michigan, creating 7000 new jobs and retaining another 14,585 jobs. The projects are all over the state, and I've listed the details of those in West Michigan below, but they include new jobs in Kalamazoo, Walker, Kentwood, Cascade Township, Spring Lake Township, Grand Rapids, Dowagiac, Holland and Hastings.

You can chat with Governor Jennifer Granholm about these developments and others at her sixth annual swing through Grand Rapids ~~is next week~~ TONIGHT:

Sweet September
General Reception
24 September, Wednesday
5:00 -- 6:30 pm
Frederik Meijer Gardens
Grand Ballroom
1000 East Beltline NE, Grand Rapids
$100 per person

For more information or to RSVP, please call Jordan Rossen at (517) 485-5100 or see the Sweet September event website.

There's More... :: (3 Comments, 1259 words in story)

Good News Out of Barry County

by: philgoblue

Wed Aug 27, 2008 at 09:15:12 AM EDT

Pol Watcher over at West Michigan Politics tells of some good news for Democrats coming out of Barry County in the happily alliteration-filled post Parade politics provokes applause. You see, PW was not only impressed that there was a small but enthusiastic Barack Obama for President contingent marching in the Hastings Summerfest parade, but also noticed that they received an uncharacteristically positive response:

At least half of the crowd, it seemed to me, began to applaud the Obama campaign folks walking by.... The crowd's greeting for the local Obama campaign was warm and enthusiastic and was matched perhaps only by the greeting given the stars and stripes at the beginning of the parade.

There's More... :: (2 Comments, 219 words in story)

In Barry County a Democrat Shines

by: Harris

Tue Aug 19, 2008 at 15:34:21 PM EDT

Meet Rose Anger.

She's running for the Barry County Drain Commissioner, and she is the only Democrat running for a county elected office (she's also the only woman). Why she is the only one running is its own story, to be told later. For now, let's meet Rose.

"When we had our debates, it felt like the Dating Game -- I was this young woman with a panel of guys 30 to 65 years old."

But one look at her web site, and it's clear, the competition had better be up to standards. With her master's in geography (WMU, 2003) and her day job as the GIS technician for Barry County's Land Information Service, she is well-grounded in the challenges of the Drain Commission office. For map junkies, Anger's web site provides a number of interesting maps for the county.

So How's the Campaign?

The basics are fairly interesting. In 2006 DeVos beat Granholm by 740 votes -- a margin of slightly less than 3 percent. And unlike 2004 -- perhaps eer -- there is a presidential field worker assigned to Barry County. With a strong, articulate candidate, the race is within reach.

Like all such races, the Drain Commissioner race is still limited by money, or lack of it. President Bush's economic stimulus checks have been put to good use. But after all the signs and campaign basics, she only has enough left to run one more mailing of a 1,000 -- tightly addressed, but still only reaching 4 percent of likely voters.

(For those interested in donations, the campaign web site gives some suggested items to purchase -- like radio spots).

Of course, Anger is not letting money bog her down. Presently, she reports a team of 7 volunteers -- she's hoping to double the size in the weeks ahead in order to have a campaign team member in each of the commission districts. Her knowledge of GIS has also come in handy. Busy at night from home, she plotted out optimum locations for her signs throughout the county. When you only have a handful of large, (hand) painted signs, this is essential.

In short, this is a winnable race, with an attractive, articulate candidate who thoroughly understands the issues.

So stop by. Pay her web site a visit, and if you can, toss a dollar or two her way. For the one Democrat in Barry County, it could really help.

And what about the job itself?

There's More... :: (2 Comments, 208 words in story)

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County Parties without websites: Barry, Cass, Ionia, Lake, Leelanau, Mason, Oceana, St. Joseph, and Wexford.

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Progressive Democrats of West Michigan (Barry)
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more coming

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101: Dan Scripps

Candidates

US Congress
Fred Johnson (2nd District)
Pat Miles (3rd District)
Jerry Campbell (4th District)
Don Cooney (6nd District)

Statewide Candidates
Virg Bernero
Jocelyn Benson
David Leyton

Michgan Senate Candidates

District 20 Kalamazoo
Robert Jones
District 21 Berrien, Cass, Van Buren
Scott Elliott
District 24 Allegan, Barry, Eaton
Michelle DiSano
District 28 Kent (part)
Robin Golden
District 29 Kent (part)
David LaGrand
District 30 Ottawa
John Chester
District 34 Muskegon, Oceana, Mason, Newaygo
Mary Valentine
District 35 Northwest LP
Roger Dunigan
District 37 Grand Traverse & north
Bob Carr

Michigan State House Candidates

District 59 (St. Joseph & Cass Counties)
Carol Higgins
District 60 (Kalamazoo)
Sean McCann
District 61 (Kalamazoo)
Thomas Batten
District 63 (Kalamazoo)
David Morgan
District 70 (Ionia & Montcalm Counties)
Mike Huckleberry
District 72 (Kentwood & Cascade)
Brian Bosak
District 73 (Kent County)
Jerrod Roberts
District 74 (Ottawa County)
Leon Chase
District 75 (Grand Rapids)
Brandon Dillon
District 76 (Grand Rapids)
Roy Schmidt
District 77 (Wyoming)
Scott Baron
District 78 (Berrien County)
Cindy Ellis
District 79 (Berrien County)
Julee Laurent
District 80 (VanBuren)
Tom Erdmann
District 86 (Kent County)
Frank Hammond
District 87 (Barry & Ionia Counties)
Greg Grieves
District 89 (Ottawa County)
Donald Bergman
District 91 (Muskegon)
Ben Gillette
District 92 (Muskegon)
Marcia Hovey-Wright
District 100 (Newaygo, Lake, and Oceana Counties)
Donald Bergman
District 101 (Northwest)
Dan Scripps

County Commissions Candidates

Allegan County Commission
9 Fritz Spreitzer (I)
10 April Carvalho

Barry County Commission
1 Bob Dickinson

Benzie County Commission
3 Kristin Hollenbeck (I)
4 Anne Damm (I)
6 Donald Tanner (I)

Berrien County Commission
3 Marletta Seats (I)
4 Mamie Yarbrough (I)
10 Andrew Vavra (I)
11 Jess Minks
12 Michael Ringler
13 John Klimek (I)

Cass County Commission
1 Ed Goodman (I)
7 David Taylor (I)
9 Judy Helpingstine
11 Clark Cobb (I)
12 Minnie Warren (I)
13 Johnie Rodebush (I)
14 Debbie Johnson (I)

Grand Traverse County Commission
1 Bernol Soutar

Ionia County Commission
1 Lynn Mason (I)
4 Mark Vroman (I)

Kalamazoo County Commission
1 Jack Urban (I)
2 Carolyn Alford (I)
3 Robert Barnard (I)
4 John Taylor (I)
5 Brian Johnson (I)
6 Mike Seals
7 David Buskirk (I)
9 Chuck Vliek
10 Michael Quinn (I)
11 Barb Hammon
12 Scott McCormick
13 Harvey Hanna
15 Leroy Crabtree
16 Thomas Post
17 Jerry Rudolph

Kent County Commission
1 Mary Lauka
2 Patricia Kramer
3 James Black
4 Fred Clowney
6 James Rinck
7 Al Nielsen
8 Keith Courtade (I)
9 Duane Sprague
10 Albert Abbasse
11 Russell Duffin
12 Pete Hickey (I)
13 Kyle Hinton
14 Carol Hennessy (I)
15 Dick Bulkowski (I)
16 Jim Talen (I)
17 Candace Chivis
18 Richard Tormala
19 Bob Synk (I)

Leelanau County Commission
3 Jason Harrall
6 David Marshall (I)
7 Karl Dungjen

Manistee County Commission
2 Marlene E. Wood-Zylstra
3 Glenn Lottie (I)
4 Ervin A. Kowalski (I)
5 Karl R. Waitner
6 Jim Krolczyk (I)
7 Carl Rutske (I)

Montcalm County Commission
1 Ronald C. Blanding (I)

Mason County Commission
5 Jerome Rybicki (I)
8 David Fonnesbeck

Musekgon County Commission
1 Kenneth Mahoney (I)
2 Charles Buzzell (I)
4 James Derezinski (I)
5 Carl Wentzlof
6 Lew Collins (I)
7 Scott Plummer
8 Anthony Longmire
9 Rillastine Wilkins
10 Benjamin Cross
11 John Jurkas

Newaygo County Commission
1 Barbara Geno (I)
5 Rick Werkema

Oceana County Commission
1 David Spitler
5 Evelyn Kolbe (I)

Ottawa County Commission
3 Jeff Williams

Van Buren County Commission
1 Claudia Maddox
3 Al Hughes

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