April 30, 2012: The Bay County Bulletin

OFFICIAL CALL TO THE BAY COUNTY REPUBLICAN CONVENTION: There shall be a meeting of the duly elected Precinct Delegates and the At-Large Delegates to the County Convention at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 3, 2012 in the old chambers of the Bay County Board of Commissioners on the second floor of the Bay County Building, 515 Center Avenue, Bay City. The purpose of this meeting shall be to elect Delegates and Alternates to the May 18 – 19, 2012 State Convention to be held at Cobo Center in the City of Detroit. The purpose of the State Convention is to elect delegates to the 2012 Republican National Convention, and to elect our National Committeeman and Committeewoman. Only Precinct Delegates elected at the August 3, 2010 Primary Election, the last recent Republican nominees for County and State Legislative offices, the Michigan Congressional Delegation, the Republican National Committeeman and National Committeewoman from Michigan and Michigan Republican Party Officers (see Rule 5C) where such person resides in the county in question and Precinct Delegates elected to permanently fill vacancies at all subsequent county conventions will be seated and considered eligible to vote at this convention.

Reps. Dave Camp and Eric Cantor
speak to media after a Republican
fundraiser at the H Hotel in Midland

CANTOR: SILICON VALLEY HAS NOTHING ON MIDLAND: Representative Eric Cantor, the Republican House majority leader from Virginia, compared the global reach of technology mecca Silicon Valley to Midland on Monday. "It’s ironic, you go to Silicon Valley, and they say if you live in Silicon Valley you wake up thinking globally," he told a gathering of about 300 Republicans in the ballroom of Midland's The H Hotel at a breakfast fundraiser. "I don’t think Silicon Valley has anything on Midland, Michigan." "The irony of a state that’s had such challenges and to have a community like this that is leading the global competition ... hats off to you." http://bit.ly/IcliUl

GOP builds national campaign network from its grass roots: The Republican Party over the next few weeks will open a series of local campaign offices in a half-dozen key swing states to help mobilize GOP voters this fall and catch up with President Obama's head start in campaign organization. Over the next two weeks, these "victory offices" opened jointly by the Republican National Committee and state GOP committees will develop and share voter contact information, grass-roots organizing and get-out-the-vote efforts with state party committees. By summer, the network will be at the service of the party's nominee, presumably former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. http://usat.ly/IlLFXU

Belleman a finalist for Wisconsin position: Bay City Manager Robert Belleman is a finalist for the same position in Fond du Lac, Wis., according to their local newspaper. According to the Fond du Lac Reporter, Belleman is among five finalists for city manager, with interviews and a reception scheduled for May 11. Fond du Lac is a city of about 43,000 compared to Bay City's nearly 35,000. Fond du Lac's current city manager, Tom Herre, is retiring June 15. The salary for a new city manager has not been determined, but Herre made $121,303 and had a car allowance of $100 per month. Belleman's salary is $89,776. He could not be reached for comment this afternoon. http://bit.ly/KkIT0r

TRUSTEES REPORT SOCIAL SECURITY OUTLOOK WORSENING: The Medicare and Social Security trust funds are both on "unsustainable paths" — as they have been for years — and will be exhausted by 2024 and 2033, respectively, a trustee report (PDF) released Monday said. "The projections in this year's report are somewhat more pessimistic than last year's report," Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said. The 2024 date for depletion of the Medicare trust fund was the same as predicted last year, while trustees moved up the date for the Social Security fund running out by three years compared with last year. http://usat.ly/Ic7R2s

BIRTHWEEK: Monday: Stephen Harper (Conservative PM of Canada). Friday: George Will. Sunday: Willie Mays, Bob Seger, George Clooney.

Calvin Johnson beat out
Panthers QB Cam Newton
for the Madden NFL '13 cover.

MEGATRON ON MADDEN COVER: Fresh off a mega contract, Calvin "Megatron" Johnson has landed the coveted cover of "Madden NFL 13." The Detroit Lions wideout beat out second-year Panthers quarterback Cam Newton for the honor. The vote was announced Wednesday afternoon on "SportsNation" on ESPN2. Johnson, who won by garnering 52 percent of the more than 651,000 votes cast in the competition, said he was "shocked" by the decision. http://es.pn/ILiV82

LIONS PICK REIFF AT #23: The Detroit Lions addressed the offensive line in the first round of the NFL draft. With the 23rd pick in tonight's draft, the team took Iowa offensive lineman Riley Reiff. Reiff, 6-foot-5 3/4 and 313 pounds, was the first player from the Big Ten selected in tonight's draft. "Words can't describe how happy I am right now," Reiff said. "I'm super excited to be a Lion. I really can't put into words what I'm actually feeling but I'm excited. The Lions are a great team and it'll be great seasons ahead." http://on.freep.com/JEESZV

49ers pick Trenton Robinson in 6th round: The suspense is finally over for Bay City native Trenton Robinson. After a longer than expected wait, the former three-year starter at free safety for Michigan State saw his dream realized on Saturday when the San Francisco 49ers made him the 10th pick of the sixth round of the 2012 NFL Draft. "I'm very excited that they took a chance on me," Robinson said in a conference call with the 49ers. "I'm just really ready to get out there and work. My dream is here. I just don't even know how to feel except that I'm super excited to get out here and work and show them what I can do." Robinson becomes the first person from Bay City to be drafted into the NFL since 1973 when Jerry List was taken by the Oakland Raiders in the 11th round out of Nebraska. http://bit.ly/IIq2jx

Tigers Release Inge: Without any tears or spoken regrets, the newly released Brandon Inge told reporters this afternoon that he still loves having played for the Detroit Tigers and their fans and that he hopes to continue his career with another team. He received word of his release immediately after today’s game from general manager Dave Dombrowski, assistant general manager Al Avila and manager Jim Leyland in a meeting in Leyland’s clubhouse office. "I could kind of see how things were going," Inge, 34, said. “But there are no hard feelings whatsoever. This is my family. This is where I’ve been my whole career. I’ll miss the guys -- I will. ... My heart will always be in Detroit." http://on.freep.com/IozlGo