Former Grand Rapids Mayor Lyman Parks dead at the age of 92.

I was a rookie reporter here at TV-8 when Lyman Parks was Mayor of Grand Rapids.  The fact that he was also a minister was not lost on me nor this community.  It’s interesting to note, nearly four decades later, we have another man of the cloth holding the same seat of power in Grand Rapids, George Heartwell.

I always thought Rev. Parks was a man for his time in this city.  Grand Rapids, like so many other urban areas in this nation, was emerging from the ravages of racism and riots.  Being black, but equally as important, being a holy man, Rev. Parks felt a calling to bridge the great divide that separated blacks from whites, the inner city from the suburbs, the have nots from the haves.

If you knew him, observed him from a distance, or watched him up close in action, you witnessed his dignity and pose.  Characteristic of a minister, there was a poeticism in the way he spoke and certainly a spirituality in his approach.

To me, he seemed like a man of conviction not confrontation… reconciliation not reparation.  He had a vision and a voice and he used them both to help begin the rebuilding of this city through brick and mortar as well as through human discourse and relationships.

The first black Mayor of Grand Rapids paid a visit to one of the wealthiest white men of Ada, Richard DeVos,  and that began a conversation and a relationship that led to a life-long renewal of a city. 

In the late 60’s and early 70’s, Rev. Lyman Parks shattered a myth, an erroneous perception of who a black man was and what he could accomplish.  In his high profile position as leader of Michigan’s second largest city, Mayor Parks could go where other blacks had no access and he could chisel cracks in the great divide.

May his memory be eternal.

ArtPrize has created quite a buzz around town whether you are an art connoisseur or not.  The variety and scope of the hundreds of pieces of art have surely caught the imagination and appreciation of the West Michigan audience and beyond.

Now that the first phase of the competition is over, I can talk about one of my favorite pieces. I was especially drawn to the mural on the wall at the Grand Rapids Community Foundation, Humanity at the Crossroads.  Daan Hoekstra’s beautiful image of the two faces draped in shawls, one eyes closed the other looking up, was striking.  The woman in the mural looks to be Latina, like me and a sense of wonder I can relate to. 

Whatever it is that a piece of art can stir inside of us is truly unique and personal.  This is what I enjoyed the most about ArtPrize, not necessarily the competition or hype.  To be surrounded by so much incredible creative energy was fantastic.  

Whatever the critics may say about this event, I have enjoyed looking out my window at WOOD TV8 at the beautiful metal flowers on the lawn, driving down a side street and discovering a hidden treasure I had not seen before or peaking into an empty store front or building to now find an array of art.

What art have you connected with?

Deal to end the shutdown in — effectively, original deal gets done after Senate passes general continuation and House passes gen gov’t

The state budget deadline has officially passed with no agreement, meaning state government is technically shut down with no money appropriated to run it.

In the last hours, the budgets for K-12 education and general government appeared to be the sticking points.

The Republican-controlled Senate could forward a temporary or continuation budget to the governor but Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, had said he did not want to do that in favor of passing a permanent 2009-10 budget.

At last report, the Democrat-controlled House was voting on the K-12 budget, which includes a $218 per-student funding cut. It appeared not to have the votes to pass.

On the Senate side, Republicans have gone into caucus.

Tempers flared in that chamber after some Democrats refused to give “immediate effect” to some budget bills they opposed and Republicans put an income tax up for a vote. (Immediate effect is a sort of supermajority required to send the budgets on to the governor.)

The tax increase — an income tax hike — put up for a vote by Republicans — was not the sort of budget-balancing revenues most Democrats had in mind. The measure was roundly defeated and Democrats cried foul, saying putting up the income tax for a vote — and not a more narrow tax such as a bottled water deposit — was political.

Afterward, Bishop said Democrats were playing politics because of their refusal to vote for immediate effect. Bishop claimed it was the governor — and her control of Senate Democrats — that blocked budget progress.

Senate Minority Leader Mike Prusi, D-Ishpeming, called the income tax vote “crap” and said his caucus could not support the all-cuts budgets proposed by Republicans.

After some Senate Democrats failed to give immediate effect to some budget bills they opposed — preventing them from going to the governor — Senate Republicans put forth a revenue bill.

Some Democrats have said they want revenues as part of a solution, but most said they didn’t want to see a vote on a broad tax like the one Republicans put forth: an income tax increase.  (Revenue proposals have included ticket taxes or a bottled water deposit.) The vote failed overwhelmingly, with only two Senators supporting it.

After the votes, the party leaders in the Senate held dueling press conferences. Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop accused Democrats of disrupting the deal and said the governor was to blame.

Senate Minority Leader Mike Prusi called the income tax vote “crap” and said his caucus simply wouldn’t go along with an all-cuts budget solution.

Prusi said he doesn’t think Bishop will put up a continuation or temporary budget for an immediate effect vote, sending it to the governor.

The Senate would have roughly 50 minutes now to do that.

In the House, some members have said the plan is to push remaining budgets through before midnight — even the tougher ones like K-12 education and general government, which includes revenue sharing to cities.

But if the budgets pass the House, they would still need to pass the Senate.

Rick and I are still in Lansing — we’ll be here until at least midnight.

Follow twitter.com/tonytagliavia for the little bits and pieces coming out…

lots of little bits and pieces coming out — follow me on twitter (twitter.com/tonytagliavia)

Senate just voted to go into recess until 7:30 p.m.

We’re waiting to see if the Senate will pass the continuation budget on to the governor, which would give lawmakers another 30 days to arrive at a final 2009-10 budget. A spokesman for the majority leader says he’d rather see work on a final budget rather than voting on continuation.

(Meanwhile, on the House side, the first attempt to pass the K-12 budget was ended after it could not get enough votes to pass.)

As far as the regular budgets, Senators are waiting to vote on the corrections and general government budgets, which will come from the House. (General government includes revenue sharing.)

The Michigan State Police budget will originate here on the Senate side.

Rick Albin and I remain at the Capitol and will keep you posted.

<–click the image to enlarge.  The official death toll is up to 529, but will likely reach “the thousands”.  Another huge Earthquake has hit in Indonesia around 6:16 AM EDT Weds. Sept. 30, just off the island of Sumatra.  It was 30 miles off the coast of Padang (population 900,000 – that’s more people than actually live in the city of Detroit) .  This one has been given a preliminary magnitude of 7.6 and a depth of 49.7 miles.  At least 529 are dead and hundreds may be buried (video at link) under the debris of collapsed buildings and landslides.  Reports indicate that schools, bridges, a hospital and the roof of the main airport may have collapsed.     Here’s the geology of the quake.  There were no reports of a significant tsunami.   I’ve read several discussions by meteorologists who had predicted more earthquakes due to changes in the Earth’s angular momentum (tied to changes in the sun).  Fascinating stuff – these meteorologists are also predicting that the Earth will be in a cooling period from the latter part of this decade to about 2030.  Here’s another interesting article that makes some good points.

<–Lightning hits the CN-Tower in Toronto.  Severe thunderstorms that formed in extreme eastern Michigan early Thursday afternoon raced east into Ontario, Canada.   The storms produced tornadoes, hail and strong straight-line winds (nice pictures at the link).  At least six people (inc. 3 other children) were injured and an 11-year old boy was killed in the town of Durham which is just east of Lake Huron.  The tornado struck around 4 PM and destroyed buildings and knocked roofs off others.  The tornado continued east into the town of Markdale.   A state of emergency has been declared in Durham, and also in the town of Vaughan near Toronto, where a 2nd twister caused injuries and heavily damaged or destroyed at least 120 homes and buildings.  One eyewitness said a car was pulled 30-feet into the air by the deadly twister.  An emergency shelter has been set up for those displaced by the storm.  There was heavy damage in the towns of Blue Mountain (20 homes destroyed) and Milton, where the roof was torn off a former church.  Good Video of the twister w/debris here.  More pictures here.

A Tornado  hit the Parkview Mall in Beaumont, Texas about 3 PM Tuesdady Eastern Time. The roof is off part of the WalMart.  Part of the roof has also collapsed at the Kohl’s and there is damage to Macy’s, a Barnes & Noble, a Petco an Office Depot and several other stores.  More pictures here.  We understand some people were trapped in the stores.  Hospitals now report treating at least 10 people.  All are listed in stable condition, most treated and released for lacerations and bruises from flying debris.  People watched as cars and trucks were lifted up in the air.     A bystander said “cars were flying across the parking lot.”  Vide0 and more pictures here.  The tornado has been rated EF-1 with winds of 115 mph.  At least six vehicles ended up upside-down in the mall parking lot.