#michael herman

[romanbymarta]

Roman Polanski photographed by Michael Herman

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Head Count

directed by Elle Callahan, 2018

[birdiesbibliotheca]

Girl with All the Pain -- BLITZ

Girl with All the Pain -- BLITZ #SciFi #sciencefiction #thriller #youngadult #YAScifi #YAthriller #YALit #YAFiction #bookblogger #bookboost #bookblitz #bookpromo #bookblog #TBR

          Girl with all the Pain Michael Herman (Aliens, Tequila & Us #4) Publication date: February 23rd 2018 Genres: Science Fiction, Thriller, Young Adult

    Sometimes an ugly duckling becomes more than just a swan.

In the streets of Santiago, Chile, a young homeless girl named Isabel screams a scream of rage that is the last sound the gang tormenting her ever hears.

Deep within the city,…

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[bookishmomsstuff]

Book blitz - girl with all the pain

Book blitz – girl with all the pain

Girl with all the Pain Michael Herman (Aliens, Tequila & Us #4) Publication date: February 23rd 2018 Genres: Science Fiction, Thriller, Young Adult

Sometimes an ugly duckling becomes more than just a swan.

In the streets of Santiago, Chile, a young homeless girl named Isabel screams a scream of rage that is the last sound the gang tormenting her ever hears.

Deep within the city, a family feels…

View On WordPress

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ssssnoooooooowwwww

[rjwalters-blog]

Inspecting frustrating inspection fees in Albion

By RJ Walters / For the Jackson Citizen Patriot Barbara Kinney noticed her porch posts needed replacing at her Crandall Street home in Albion earlier this year, and now she is stuck trying to figure out when the cycle of $65 inspection fees might come to an end. At Monday's city council meeting, Kinney and other Albion residents learned a little education can go a long way with their pocketbooks when it comes to building permits. Kinney said six different contractors said she didn't need a building permit because she was just doing replacement work, but she purchased one anyway because she said Albion Code Enforcement Officer John Tracy recommended it. Kinney said the city's inspector, Glenn Lindsey, came to her house, informed her of a couple of changes that needed to be made to the porch and said it would cost another $65 for him to re-check the work. "I work two jobs, live paycheck to paycheck and had to borrow money to help with the project," Kinney said. "So my question to the council is, ‘When does this $65 a pop end?'" City Manager Michael Herman said his office fields a number of complaints about building permits and he recommends that people have contractors purchase them so they become responsible for meeting code instead of the individual. Then the follow-up inspection costs fall on the contractor. "If you're going to contract for work and you're concerned about the permit cost or whether you need it, come on down and see us and tell the building inspector what you're going to do and he can tell if you're going to need one or not," he said. "Because that's not the contractor's decision, it's the building inspector's." In other business … Also Monday, the Albion City Council: • Voted down a resolution to support the Michigan High-Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail Program. A 3-2 vote was not enough to support the program as it progresses and searches for funding. Mayor Joe Domingo, who voted against the resolution, said he can think of better ways to spend Albion's money than "the possibility of a train going through here at 60 or 70 miles per hour" and Albion "maybe getting some stops along the way." • Indicated it is in ongoing discussion about making what City Manager Michael Herman called "quality of life" and "business development" videos for Albion's public access channel. He asked council to consider spending $9,700 for the production assistance of Q1 Video in Coldwater, and council asked to see more options at the next meeting.  

[rjwalters-blog]

City of Albion in the red for 2009 expenditures

By RJ Walters / For the Jackson Citizen Patriot

The city of Albion is dealing with a yearly budget deficit for the first time in five years, but the city manager and auditors see it primarily as a sign of the times.

Bill Tucker of Abraham and Gaffney PC said the city brought in approximately $4.1 million dollars in 2009, $237, 508 less than its expenses.

Albion’s general fund currently has around $807,000 available, 18.3 percent of its average operating expenses for a year. Tucker said local governments “should have 30-35 percent of a yearly operating budget available in a healthy economy”, but Albion is on par with a lot of small communities dealing with an economic downturn.

Abraham and Gaffney gave the city clean opinion reports (the highest rating) on all 10 major areas in the report. It suggested that a major decrease in income tax revenues and the costs of installing a faster drainage system in the city hall required dipping into the general fund.

City Manager Michael Herman said the council knew it would be dealing with a deficit when it approved the budget last year, but there’s a fine line to tow when considering reductions.

“We’ve been reducing staff ever since 2002, but you get to a point where if you want to provide services you still need the people,” he said. “This council has to (wrestle) with our options, and one of those was to use a little bit of fund balance.”

[rjwalters-blog]

Albion makes clear plans for installing new emergency generator at wastewater treatment plant

By RJ Walters / For the Jackson Citizen Patriot

THE ISSUE: The Albion City Council requested an approval to award the wastewaster treatment plant emergency generator equipment and installation to vendors and/or contractors. The generator is needed because the backup power source is no longer dependable at the plant and the building could incur flooding without a new generator, City Manager Michael Herman said.

WHAT HAPPENED MONDAY: The council accepted the following bids: a generator and automatic transfer switch to Cummins-Bridgeway, a transformer to HEK, Inc., a primary switch to S&C, and a switchgear to McGowan Electric.

THE VOTE: The council passed the resolution unanimously.

WHAT WILL IT COST? The entire project, including installation, will cost much less than anticipated, Director of Public Services Kevin Markovich said. He initially thought it could cost upwards of $500,000 but all of the bids awarded Monday total  $163,469 and Markovich said the entire project should come in at under $250,000.

WHAT’S NEXT? Albion Electric is contracted to install the generator and the project will start in the next few months. The upgrades will position the facility to serve as a regional wastewater treatment plant in the future, if the need arises, Mayor Joe Domingo said.