Sorry ...

... for the blogging silence these past few days. Johnny's out of town and John the Revelator's done been under the weather with a bad case of the creeping crud. Least that's what the doctor said it was.

So you're sick for a couple of days and you reemerge to discover that everything's different. There's the promise of real, meaningful stem-cell research in your state, not to mention a new provision for medical marijuana. And there's this new thing sweeping the country called "Hope."

Dig it! Now, as our president elect reminded us, let's all do everything we can to make sure that there's more than just rhetoric to this historic moment.

No big surprises in the local races, as the city of Ypsilanti's and Ypsilanti Township's races were pretty much decided at at the primary level in August. Nonetheless, congratulations to Pete Murdock on his return to City Council to and to Charlie Pope, who has waited patiently to step up to the bench at 14B District Court.

(Likewise, a big thanks and fare-the-well to outgoing 14B District Judge John B. Collins -- a great man, who was a true friend and mentor to a certain young journalist getting his first taste of covering the courts back in the early 1990s. Thanks for everything, John. Here's to lots of great fishing in your retirement!)