Remembering the Day, Remembering the Heroes
As sports celebrities fall from grace on an ever increasing basis, we often hear the lament “Where have all the heroes gone?” But a shamed superstar is not a shamed hero. Fallen role model? Maybe. Fallen idol? Probably. Fallen hero? No.
We tend to throw the term “hero” around loosely, ascribing it to everyone we admire or look up to. A hero, traditionally understood, belongs to a far narrower subset. A hero is someone who willingly places him or herself in harm’s way to protect the safety of another or the public good.
Volunteering at the shelter or coaching Little League are laudable activities, but they don’t make us heroes.
We could have a lively debate about what has made this country “great,” but surely we would acknowledge a history filled with men and women who made the ultimate personal sacrifice to secure for others life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
As we close another Memorial Day weekend, I hope you take a moment to remember the fallen heroes from Boston Commons to Baghdad who offered their best for all of us.
Dirk A. Beamer
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was enacted in March of 2010. One of the first provisions to go into effect from the Act is the small business health care tax credit. The purpose of the credit is to encourage small businesses to offer health insurance coverage to their employees for the first time or maintain coverage they have, and to help small businesses that employ primarily low- to moderate-income employees.
If for 2010, your total number of employees is less than 25, the average annual wages is less than $50,000, and you satisfy #3, the credit is likely available to you. The maximum credit, which goes to employers with 10 or fewer full-time equivalent employees and annual average wages of $25,000 or less, is 35 percent of premiums paid by eligible small business and 25 percent of premiums paid by eligible tax-exempt organizations.
A Michigan State Police Lieutenant made news recently when he confirmed publicly a fact many have long suspected: in many places throughout the state, speed limits are set artificially low. Speed limits that are too low result in speeding tickets which equate to revenue for cash strapped local units of government. This assessment was then confirmed by a local police chief whose jurisdiction includes a stretch of one of the most heavily traveled roads in the state. As the road crosses into his city, the speed limit drops to a point that, as he admits, likely cannot be justified. The city has no intention of raising the speed limit, however, because of the revenue it generates for the city. A state lawmaker believes that the problem of artificially low speed limits has gotten so out of hand that he has introduced legislation that will force local communities to correct speed limits that are set too low. The question then becomes, how are speed limits set in the first place? 
The right to set speed limits is an exercise of the police power of the state and is therefore justified on the basis of public safety. Speed limits are intended to reflect a reasonable and safe speed that will facilitate the safe and orderly flow of traffic under normal conditions. Research has shown that the majority of motorists operate their vehicles in a safe and reasonable manner, hence, traffic laws and speed limits that reflect the behavior of the majority of motorists are the most successful. The inverse is also true: traffic laws and speed limits that arbitrarily restrict the majority of motorists encourage violations, lack public support and rarely achieve the desired result. Speed limits are not to be set based upon unreasoned opinion but upon thorough traffic engineering studies. Those studies include an analysis of such factors as the number and types of accidents that have occurred, the number of cars traveling the road, their speeds, the presence of pedestrians, the physical condition of the road surface, hills, curves, number of lanes, driveways, intersections, and so on.
While realistic speed limits are generally followed, unrealistic speed limits are not. Absent strict, continuous, and visible enforcement, artificially low speed limits will be ignored. And any adherence that does result is limited to the immediate time and immediate area of the enforcement (i.e., speed traps). If you find yourself getting a ticket in an area where the posted speed limit just doesn’t seem to make sense, you might consider asking the municipality for a copy of the traffic control order and the engineering studies upon which the speed limit was based. If the speed limit is not within 5 mph of the 85th percentile speed, and, no other unique and distinguishing factors exist, you just might have a defense. You might also want to keep an eye on the pending legislation.
On May 1, 2010, the “Dr. Ron Davis Smoke-Free Air Law” went into effect in Michigan. Smoking is now banned in most public buildings in Michigan and in outdoor areas where food or beverages are served, such as restaurant patios and porches.