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Sanilac man injured Care for some deep Cass City 4-Hers set
in off-road accident fried tofu, tarantula? to shine in Sanilac
Page 4 Page 14
Reporter’s notebook, page 5
Complete coverage of the Cass City community and surrounding areas since 1899
VOLUME 106, NUMBER 21 CASS CITY, MICHIGAN - WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2012 75 CENTS ~ 14 PAGES, 1 SUPPLEMENT
by Clarke Haire by Tom Montgomery
Publisher Editor
We can protect our
kids from predators ROCKING THE RESIDENTS of Cass City was Trigger Happy, who played a
If recent reports regarding suspicious individuals
medley of rock and hard rock music. The band played Friday in Rotary Park
approaching kids didn’t get every parent’s immediate
from 6 to 9 p.m. The concert was one of the major attractions at the Summer
attention in the Thumb, they should have.
Mania festival and drew an impressive crowd to the pavilion.
Those reports ranged from a man asking for directions
from a 12-year-old girl in the Akron area on repeated
occasions, to another suspicious individual approaching
Michigan rankings low in latest
a 16-year-old girl at Indianfields Township Park near
Caro and asking her to have sex.
report on overall child well-being
The suspects’ physical descriptions differed, as did their
Michigan has done a good job of success. Yet the Michigan year’s report cannot be compared
vehicles — one of them apparently was seen driving more extending health insurance to kids in Legislature has cut funding by $470 with previous years.
than one type of vehicle. a down economy, but it falls in the per student over the past 2 years put- Michigan’s ranking among the
bottom half of the states in most ting us into a race to the bottom states:
Police have investigated similar reports in the other categories of child well-being instead of a race to the top,” said
in the 2012 KIDS COUNT rankings, Michigan League for Human Health (overall health ranking is
Gagetown/Owendale areas in recent weeks, and Tuscola recently released by the Baltimore- Services President and CEO Gilda Z. 22nd).
County Sheriff Lee Teschendorf is reminding anyone who based Annie E. Casey Foundation. Jacobs. “We’re losing ground com- *Children without health insurance:
With a brand new set of rankings, pared with other states on this very, 4th.
witnesses a suspicious adult approach a child to take the Mitten state ranks 32nd among very critical measure.” *Teens who abuse alcohol or drugs:
immediate action by dialing 911. the 50 states (with New Hampshire Michigan’s best ranking—and the 25th.
No. one, the best ranking), and it only one putting it into the 10 best *Low birth weight babies: 29th.
Adults can do even more by snapping a few photos with posted the worst overall ranking in states—was 4th for percent of chil- *Child and teen death rate: 26th.
the Great Lakes region, with dren without health insurance. In
their cell phones — pictures of the suspect would be Minnesota leading the group at No. Michigan, there are 95,000 children, Family and community (overall
ideal, but photographic records of their vehicle and 5. or 4 percent of all children, without ranking is 29th).
“While we improved in a few areas, health insurance. Roughly half of all *Children living in high-poverty
license plate would also be helpful to law enforcement many of the indicators in this report insured children are covered by areas: 43rd.
reflect troubling trends and show Medicaid as the rate of employer- *Children in families where the
officers. that Michigan kids are not being sponsored benefits declined. household head lacks a high school
But parents shouldn’t stop there. given the same advantages when “This shows the need for public diploma: 13th.
compared with other children in the structures to keep kids healthy dur- *Children in single-parent families:
Although new laws have been enacted in recent years region,” said Jane Zehnder-Merrell, ing difficult economic times. The 26th.
that assist police in locating the victims of sexual preda- the Kids Count in Michigan project system maintained access to care for *Teen birth rate: 18th.
director at the Michigan League for children,” Zehnder-Merrell said.
tors more quickly, those efforts are only as good as the Human Services. “What’s worse is More in Michigan lost employer- Economic well-being (overall
that most of the indicators are mov- sponsored health insurance over the ranking is 36th).
information and tips officers have to go on in the first ing in the wrong direction.” past decade than in any other state *Children in households spending
place. Michigan ranks in the bottom half except California, but government- more than 30 percent of their income
of states in 3 of 4 general domains sponsored health insurance covered on housing: 31st.
Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security because and on 10 out of 16 indicators. It is the gap. The national Affordable *Children in poverty: 34th.
among the 10 worst states when it Care Act is set to improve children’s *Teens not attending school and not
your children live in Cass City, Kingston or Ubly instead comes to the percent of children (14 access to health care by mandating working: 25th.
of Flint, Saginaw or Detroit — there’s no shortage of sex- percent) living in high-poverty areas improved rates for doctor visits. *Children living in families where
and for children living in families Michigan has ranked 30th among no parent has full-time, year-round
ual predators, and they often move from town to town in where no parent has a full-time, the states in the past two KIDS employment: 43rd.
an effort to avoid detection and capture. year-round job (37 percent). COUNT reports. This year’s KIDS
Among the warning signs is the per- COUNT Data Book (23rd edition) Education (overall ranking is
According to the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of cent of fourth-graders who are not includes a new index that increased 33rd).
proficient in reading. Michigan from 10 to 16 more robust indicators, *Children ages 3 to 4 not attending
Justice Statistics, on any given day, there are some ranked 33rd among the states, with which will better serve the needs of preschool: 24th.
234,000 sex offenders who were convicted of rape or sex- 69 percent of state fourth-graders the decision makers and advocates. *Fourth-graders who scored not pro-
scoring below proficient on a nation- The new index offers a more detailed ficient in reading: 33rd.
ual assault and are in custody. The median age of the al test in 2011. In 2005, Michigan portrait of how U.S. children are far- *Eighth-graders who scored below
ranked 25th. ing and reflects the advances in child proficient math: 34th.
victims of convicted sex offenders was less than 13 years “Reading is so critical. We know development research since the first *High school students not graduat-
old, and roughly 24 percent of offenders confined for this is a strong predictor of future Data Book in 1990. As a result, this ing on time: 28th.
rape and 19 percent of those in prison for sexual assault
had been on parole or probation at the time of their
crimes.
To protect our kids, all parents should consider obtain-
ing simple identification kits in order to record and store
vital information about their children such as finger-
prints, physical descriptions and recent photos. Parents
can also keep track of registered sex offenders living in
the area by checking out the Michigan Sex Offenders
Registry.
You can also help to keep your younger children safe by
not leaving them unsupervised in a store, your yard, in a
park or in your vehicle; by not allowing your child to
walk home from school alone; and by not dropping kids
off at a park to play with other children alone. If your
child is at a neighbor’s house playing with a friend, ask
that neighbor to call you before he or she sends your
child home.
“Not in our back yard” is the message we all need to
send to would-be sexual predators.