Chatter before the June 3 meeting was spirited and diverse. Your reporter logged in in time to hear President Rosemarie announce that Fisher House opened to its first families on June 1. WDIV in Detroit aired a clip about the house, which you can see here: www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2020/06/02/ann-arbor-fisher-house-opens-to-support-veterans-families/.
Joe Fitzsimmons updated us on the situation in the Traverse City area where stores and restaurants are opening and life is slowly regaining normalcy. Beth was attending the Traverse City Rotary Zoom meeting but sent her regards. Frode Maasivaag shared some Norwegian wisdom with us. His background showed a beautiful antique wooden boat that Frode had rescued and restored, and now plies the waters around his home in Pentwater. Here’s some more information from Frode “It’s a Norwegian launch about 23 ft long. The boat is powered by a 10 hp single cylinder diesel engine. It was built in 1964 in Flekkefjord, Norway, which is about a 1.5 hr drive from my home town. I purchased the boat in 1986 from an advertisement in Wooden Boat magazine. My son and I restored it, both the hull and the seating, over the next 5 years so that we could relaunch it in 1991. We enjoy cruising on Lake Michigan and Pentwater Lake.”
Lori Walters delivered the Zoom etiquette tips as the regular meeting began. Tom Strode played The Star Spangled Banner.
Norma Sarkar matched the Four Way Test to the Equity Challenge project of the United Way of Washtenaw County. The challenge offers a five day self guided course covering the many issues and opportunities for fighting for equity in our county. Read about it on the United Way’s website: uwwashtenaw.org/equity. Some notes from Norma’s talk: Is it the Truth? Truth cannot exist without justice. Is it fair to all concerned? Poverty and its associated miseries disproportionately impact Blacks. Does it build goodwill? Most of the good things in life go to whites. Is it beneficial to all concerned? A large percentage of our citizens do not have enough resources to cover basic living expenses.
Our music was a digital treat – Don Duquette played a covid-inspired version of Nessura Dorma from Puccini’s Turandot. It earned smiles all around.
President Rosemarie greeted guests and announced birthdays. She had the sad duty to announce the death of Mike James. Mike was a long time member of several Rotary Clubs. A development officer for Michigan and other universities, used his expertise to a lot of money for Rotary and other community projects. He rejoined us in 2019. Mike passed away on May 31 at the age of 78.
Happier announcements followed. First, Dues are due. Each of us received an email with clear links to payment page. Dues fund the operating expenses of the Club, and are due by June 30. You can pay online or via check, and this year you can spread your payments over 11 months.
The polio immunization project is resuming. WHO is recommending that countries with active polio transmission begin preparing to resume immunization activities as soon as conditions are in place to do so safely and adequately. Our currencase count is 61 in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Global Polio Initiative will work with countries to carefully ensure that the benefits of carrying out the activity outweigh the risk of COVID-19 transmission. During the week June 8 – 12, Rotarians around the world will be asked to donate their lunch money to polio eradication using this link: https://www.endpolio.org/donate. Remember those feasts at Weber’s and pitch in $14.00 (or more).
Fisher House opened for its first guests on June 1. WDIV Channel 4 did a short story on it which shows the interior of the house. Our members Karen Kerry and Brad Chik spearheaded this effort to get the first Fisher House in Michigan and much of the initial funding came from our Club. Now that the Ann Arbor House is complete, work has begun on planning and fundraising for a House in Detroit. You can enjoy the virtual tour by clicking here: https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2020/06/02/ann-arbor-fisher-house-opens-to-support-veterans-families/.
Rotary International is sponsoring a new environmental project: End Plastic Soup. This is a global initiative that began in Amsterdam. The campaign is to use less plastic, especially single use plastics, to pick up plastic refuse and deposit it in waste receptacles, and to encourage friends and families to use less and pick up. The goal is to stop plastic from ending up in our rivers, lakes and oceans.
The Program Committee is accepting suggestions for future speakers. You can forward your suggestions to the Committee on our website via Membership Resources, Recommend a Speaker, or contacting Dawn Johnson.
Finally, Norma Sarkar returned to the screen to announce that today’s Pandemic Response Fund total is $54,903 – and that is before the mail was sorted. The match challenge was met so almost $60,000 will go out in the community. The final grants will be announced later in the month. Norma sent specific thanks to Ann Arbor North for their $1,000.00 donation. The fund is still accepting donations – which will be matched dollar-for-dollar – so send something today through our website.
Notes from the Program
Dennis Powers introduced our Speakers, Judge Carol Kuhnke and our Member, Justice Elizabeth (Libby) Hines. Judge Kuhnke was elected in 2012. She took the bench on January 1, 2013 and was appointed by the Michigan Supreme Court to be the Chief Judge of the Washtenaw Trial Court effective January 1, 2019. Elizabeth Pollard Hines was elected to the 15th Judicial District Court bench in 1992. She is the former Presiding Judge of the District Court Division of the Washtenaw County Trial Court when all courts in the county were unified. She presides primarily over criminal cases including a specialized domestic violence docket. Judge Hines helped create and launch “Street Outreach Court”, a community project of the Washtenaw County criminal justice system and advocates for the homeless.
Judge Kuhnke, who supervises all the trial courts, spoke first. Due to creativity and hard work, the dockets were opened in less than a week after the lockdown was announced. Everything was done on line with virtual hearings and online filings. Cases were heard both in criminal matters and in regards to persons in custody. The coordination of all participants in a case made this possible. The Michigan Supreme Court charged local jurisdictions with prioritizing safety and liberty. Where safety was not an issue, sentences were converted to probation or house arrest, and sentences were shortened. Zoom allowed all the matters that warranted Court attention to be heard and adjudicated. At this time there are no jury trials because of the hurdles presented by social distancing and the danger of community spread. It is not known when those trials will resume. Washtenaw County was lucky to have the infrastructure, both in technology and personnel, to go virtual in such a short period. The Michigan Supreme Court has a four phase plan for complete reopening, but completion seems to be months from now.
Judge Hines presides in the 15th District Court. Located in the Police Building, she describes her court as the emergency room of the system – she is first to hear everything from jay walking to first degree murder since every criminal case begins in district court. Because her court is housed in a building with lots of traffic, she and her colleagues are always aware that the building will be shut down if one person tests positive for the virus.
Judge Hines is one of three judges who, along with one magistrate, heard 20,000 cases last year. The judges and all support staff try to address the underlying reasons a person lands in court. There are five specialized programs that deal with these issues: reintegration of military veterans, sobriety court, mental health treatment, domestic violence and homelessness. The court works intensively with community groups that offer treatment and counseling. The lockdown has made these outreach programs much harder to maintain but with creativity and determination, most services are still operating One way technology is helping is with sobriety tests. Before, a person had to present him/her self to take the breath test for alcohol; now there are kiosks conveniently located where a person can take the test, which is immediately transmitted to the court office. The sheriff is working with the courts to allow treatment to be administered in jail when release is not an option. Judge Hines talked about how court decisions affect many more people than just the participants. Keeping people out of jails is best for their families and communities; sending people to jail exposes them to this current corona virus, and in normal times, other mental and physical disease.
Everyone having to learn how to work together on line and having to become more creative has had the happy side effect of getting better attendance to hearings and more efficient submission of documents and pleadings – the silver lining of this crisis. The public can observe court proceedings on YouTube. Keeping the building safe for the people who have to be there is the highest priority and the Supreme Court’s phased reopening can be reversed at any time.
