“It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.”  Sir Winston Churchill Maybe it’s the constant haranguing from bloviating talking heads on TV. It could be the often vacuous statements political candidates of every stripe make while chasing after the mountain of cash they need to buy enough votes to get them elected. It’s entirely possible that the hot, hot summer we citizens of Farmington and Farmington Hills just endured has melted my brain a little. Whatever the cause, my head is weary. While personally and professionally I have …

Two bills landed on my desk last week. I promptly paid both. One was for an annual subscription to the Detroit Free Press and the other was for the Farmington Observer. I regularly read both those publications, along with the weekly Farmington Press tabloid and this daily Patch on-line newsletter. In a recent magazine column―who wrote it and which magazine published it escape me―the author, the son of immigrants, told the story of how his father used to gather the family together when it was time to pay the taxes. It was with great joy and ceremony that he wrote that check, understanding it …

It’s in the air. Music is everywhere, and it’s free. Staring June 10 in Farmington, and June 23 in Farmington Hills, plan on attending a remarkable schedule of concerts that are at once charming and cheesy. To experience them is to take in a wonderful slice of Americana, while endlessly punching your people watching e-ticket. Every Thursday beginning at 7 p.m., “Stars in the Park” offers up a variety of concert bands, big bands, rock and soul bands and community chorus performances in the amazing amphitheater in Heritage Park. Carved into the side of a grassy hill this venue includes a large…

Boys and girls throughout Farmington and Farmington Hills have embarked on a learning experience from which they will draw important skills they’ll rely on for the rest of their lives. Yes, it’s baseball and softball season again. For the next few months our parks will reverberate with the sounds of kids learning so much more than how to turn a sweet 6-4-3 double play. Starting with the traditional opening day parade in downtown Farmington on May 7, South Farmington Baseball and Softball (sfbi.org), along with North Farmington/West Bloomfield Baseball and Softball (nfwb.com) our National …

Is anyone listening? Legend has it that a Greek messenger named Pheidippides ran from the battle of Marathon all the way to Athens in the year 590 B.C.E. to announce victory over the Persians. Upon delivering the good news, he promptly fell down dead. The feat – the running part, not the dying part – is the origin of today’s marathon races that stretch 26.2 miles, the supposed distance between those two ancient cities. That’s the equivalent of running from 14 Mile and Halsted Roads to downtown Detroit. It’s also illustrative of how relatively slow communications were back then. If you think …

It’s time to talk politics. Can we do that without any name calling, rock throwing or stomach churning? If you can’t abide by these rules and want to save yourself the aggravation by not reading any further, the key point of this essay is that if you don’t vote you’ve lost any right to complain. Since you’re still with me, let’s begin at the beginning. All of us owe a deep sense of gratitude to every Farmington and Farmington Hills City Council, commission, school board, and any number of ad hoc committee members who volunteer untold hours to building better communities. Yes, I know that …

With apologies to Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, these are a few of my favorite things … about living where we do. Well, six of my favorite things anyway. The good part is that all but one of them are free, and that one will cost you only $3.50, but you get a movie thrown in, so it’s still a good deal. If you haven’t had chance to experience them yet, you should. They’re not going anywhere anytime soon, so there’s no rush. Here’s the list in order of fun: 1.  The west side of the Shiawassee Park parking lot on Shiawassee Road where you come down the Farmington Road hill. What’s so …

Back in the Pleistocene Age – roughly 1985 – dozens of A-list, B-list and more than a few C-list artists got together to raise funds for humanitarian aid by singing a pop song. Perhaps you remember it: We Are the World, written by Lionel Richie, proud father of Nichole Richie, and Michael Jackson, he of Neverland fame. The song preceded YouTube, Facebook, and iTunes, yet still managed to sell more than 20 million copies. It ranks as the biggest-selling single of all time. While not a particularly "good" song in terms of actual music, it did earn over $63 million for charity, so no one …