GP Teachers Elect New Union President, VP

Members of the Grosse Pointe Education Association voted Tuesday. The votes were tallied Wednesday with the results being shared last night on the GPEA Facebook page.

Teachers from the Grosse Pointe Public School System elected a new union president this week. The new presidnet is Cheri Trefney, who is a teacher at Monteith Elementary School. This is the first contested election for the Grosse Pointe Education Association in a number of years and it comes in a year that will require considerable work related to the contract, negotiations and more. Trefney was the elementary school liasion for the union for the 2011/12 term. She will replace Ranae Beyerlein, who will return to Grosse Pointe South as a science teacher when the change happens. Beyerlein has been the president for four years and was the vice-president for seven years before that. She also helped negotiate the current contract. "I'm …

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Campaign Briefs: 'Two Cadillacs' Backfire into Harsh Headlines for Romney

Obama spots add to TV blitz; Troy primary night party set; candidate's Brighton tale stars 'frugal dad.'

Patch presents a Michigan presidential campaign roundup. Mitt Romney earns a point for openness, but risks losing it for over-sharing. "I like the fact that most of the cars I see (locally) are Detroit-made automobiles," he told Detroit Economic Club members on Friday. "I drive a Mustang and a Chevy pickup truck. Ann drives a couple of Cadillacs, actually." He was referring to his wife's 2007 and 2010 SRX models at their Massachusetts and California homes, aides explained. (Speech excerpt video embedded at right.) The off-script remark created a bull's-eye too inviting to ignore. "That's rich, literally," ex-Detroiter Charles Blow writes in his New York Times column. That was one poke among plenty, a headline sampling shows: Slate blogger …

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Grosse Pointe Polling Locations for Presidential Primary

Check out the list of polling locations and find yours for voting in the presidential primary Feb. 28. Do not forget there is one local issue up for a vote too--the millage request by the Grosse Pointe Public Library.

Michigan polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday Feb. 28, during which voters will cast their ballots in the presidential primary. In Grosse Pointe, voters will also be asked to approve a 0.7 mill increase for the Grosse Pointe Public Library System. Attached to this story is a sample ballot from Grosse Pointe Park. Below is a list of all the polling locations throughout the Grosse Pointes: Grosse Pointe Woods City Clerk’s Office (313) 343-2440 Precinct 1: Ferry School, 748 Roslyn Road Precinct 2: Mason School, 1640 Vernier Road Precinct 3: First English Lutheran Church, 800 Vernier Road Precinct 4: City Hall Community Center, 20025 Mack Precinct 5: Monteith School, 1275 Cook Road Precinct 6: Barnes School, 20090 Morningside Drive…

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Durant Lashes Out at Hoekstra in New Ad

Grosse Pointe's Clark Durant criticizes opponent Pete Hoekstra as race for the Republican Senate nomination heats up.

Clark Durant may be gaining traction in the Michigan GOP Senate primary. Durant, a Grosse Pointe resident, released an advertisement on Thursday in which he criticized opponent Pete Hoekstra, a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives. In the advertisement, Durant accused Hoekstra of “hypocrisy” and said Hoekstra “voted to increase debt and spending by trillions.” In a separate statement, Durant blasted Hoekstra’s ad that ran during the Super Bowl—and generated plenty of controversy. Durant said the advertisement was “distasteful, demeaning, and un-American to use an Asian American woman to lash out at the Chinese government,” according to the Washington Post. All this comes a day after Durant picked up an endorsement from Utah …

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Justice Department Reviewing Michigan's New Electoral Maps

Coalition of Detroit groups have filed a lawsuit to challenge redistricting in the southeastern Michigan area.

Election Law Alters Rotation in Grosse Pointe, Causes Concern

The rotation schedule will likely be discussed at the beginning of the new year, after the newest elected board members take office.

The bill Gov. Rick Snyder signed into law this week changing the election process for local school boards will extend the terms of four Grosse Pointe Public Board of Education members and it will alter the rotation schedule currently in place for those seats. As it has been set up, the seven member board is staggered so that at a maximum, two seats are open in any given election.  Brendan Walsh's seat is the only unpaired seat for election purposes, meaning when he runs for election it's the only seat up for election.  Senate Bill 427 outlines the election process that is intended to streamline it and save money. It calls for local school board elections to be performed in November on even-numbered years.  The idea behind the change is to …

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To the Pointe . . .

Our Libraries Can Be More Tomorrow Than They are Today

Think long and hard about the possible millage for the Grosse Pointe Public Library and what it means to our community.

Believe me, I love the convenience of the Internet. I adore Google. I certainly wish I had it when I was in school; it sure would have helped when I was doing all of those research papers. Instead, I would spend countless hours at the library, feeding numerous dimes into the copy machine so that I could take fact-filled pages home with me to complete my writing project. Today’s kids certainly don’t go to the library to do research as much as we did. But our three Grosse Pointe libraries are more than facilities for conducting research. They are a statement of what we, as residents, value. The qualified librarians who work in our libraries are guides and idea-prompters for us as well as for our children. As our economy continues to sputter…

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Lynn M. Jacobs

9:13 am on Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Well put. I love the idea for book clubs for kids, even pre-readers. The love of reading is a gift that is immeasurable, and one that can be fostered early. I also like the idea of a gathering space that provides a little more leeway for the after school kids, within reason, that will address the noise-level issue that's come up in other library discussions on Patch. This column has some great …   more ›

City of Grosse Pointe Council Adds 1 Newcomer in Uncontested Race

Tuesday's election in the City of Grosse Pointe is the only race throughout all of the Pointes that was uncontested. Voter turnout neared 20 percent in the City.

About 20 percent of the registered voters in the City of Grosse Pointe turned out Tuesday to mark their votes in the only uncontested race throughout the five Pointes.  Councilmen Donald Parthum and John Stempfle along with Mayor Dale Scrace will continue their service to the city, each receiving several hundred votes. The newcomer, Andrew Turnbull, also received voter support.  Turnbull will replace John Stevens, who opted not to seek re-election and was honoroed for his service during the last council meeting.  Turnbull is a lifelong Grosse Pointer whose platform for running was to help the City continue its development of the Village and maintain public safety services. Turnbull is a licensed insurance agent who specializes in group …

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