Eternal God, we commit to Your mercy and forgiveness the year now ending and commend to Your blessing and love the times yet to come. In the new year, abide among us with Your Holy Spirit that we may always trust in the saving name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen
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"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth".
"And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel."
and then to the birth of Jesus in the familiar story in the New Testament. He walked us through Luke's account of the birth of John the Baptist and Jesus. Finally he took us to the cross. We heard Law and Gospel clear as a bell on Christmas morn.
When all of the presents have been opened and the decorations safely stored, dispose of your Christmas tree with Troy’s convenient curbside pickup service. This free service will be offered on regular trash days from Dec. 29, 2008 – Jan. 15, 2009. For residents living in apartments, or for those who miss the pickup dates, Oakland County Parks will accept Christmas trees and recycle them. Trees will be accepted at 11 locations from Dec. 26, 2008 – Jan. 12, 2009, from 9 am – 4 pm, at no cost. Trees that are dropped off must have all decorations, plastic, metal and string removed.
Armed Robberies:
2350 Rochester Ct. – Red Roof Inn – On Friday December 12, 2008, at approximately 6:57 p.m. A male subject entered the lobby of the Red Roof Inn described as in his 30’s, 5’7”, medium build, mustache, wearing blue jeans, and blue hoodie with strings drawn to only show his eyes to his mouth and asked for a double room. When the attendant asked what method he was going to pay for the room the suspect pulled out a silver and black hand gun and pointed it at her stating “with this!” The motel worker told the suspect to take the money at which time he went around the counter and ordered her to give him the money. When she refused the suspect opened two drawers, where he found cash and took approximately $ 300.00 placing it in his left pocket. The suspect ordered the attendant to lie on the ground at which time she stated “I’m not going to get on the ground so you can kill me.” The suspect then asked where the drop box was and the attendant pointed to a large safe and stated she did not know how to open it. The suspect started to exit and told the attendant that if she called the Police he would kill her. The motel worker stated that the suspect was extremely forceful with his language and his physical contact with her. The camera system had been broken for 2 days and there is no video of the armed robbery.
Troy Police Department Detectives have received investigative leads from the Madison Hts. Police department who responded to a suspicious circumstance on December 10, 2008, at the Fairfield Inn on Stephenson Hwy. where the management of this establishment felt that two suspicious individuals were casing their motel for a possible robbery. The one individual was in an area of the motel that was off limits to non-customers and when asked to leave this subject became argumentative with a Fairfield Inn employee. Our Detectives obtained photos from their security camera and the suspect matched the description given at the Troy Red Roof Inn armed robbery on December 12th. The suspect was seen leaving the motel in a red Ford Explorer or possibly Mercury Mountaineer.
Other Armed Robberies:
December 3, 2008, at approximately 1:00 a.m. an armed robbery took place at the Comfort Suites on Updyke in Auburn Hills. The suspect’s description and method of operation was similar to the Troy Red Roof Inn robbery.
December 17, 2008, at approximately 7:40 p.m. an armed robbery took place at the Extended Stay on Featherstone in Auburn Hills. The suspect’s description and method of operation was similar to the Troy Red Roof Inn robbery.
Positive Identification:
Based upon the photos obtained from the Madison Hts. Fairfield Inn security camera the victim of the Troy Red Roof Inn robbery has made positive identification of the suspect that committed the robbery at gun point. We also have a witness from the Auburn Hills Extended Stay armed robbery who has identified the same person who was involved in their robbery on December 17, 2008. Attached please find photos of the suspect who is a person of interest in multiple armed robberies in the immediate area. Anyone who can identify this individual should contact the Troy Police Department at 248-524-3477 or Detective Larry Schehr at 248-524-3455.
Media Questions should be directed to Lt. Chuck Pappas. Cell-248-885-2080.
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Alex plays the trumpet and you can see him pictured here.
Here we are in the North American church—conservative or liberal, evangelical or mainline, Protestant or Catholic, emergent or otherwise—cranking along just fine, thank you. So we’re busy downsizing, becoming culturally relevant, reaching out, drawing in, making disciples, managing the machinery, utilizing biblical principles, celebrating recovery, user-friendly, techno savvy, finding the purposeful life, practicing peace with justice, utilizing spiritual disciplines, growing in self-esteem, reinventing ourselves as effective ecclesiastical entrepreneurs, and, in general, feeling ever so much better about our achievements. Notice anything missing in this pretty picture? Jesus Christ! Jesus Christ indeed.
President George W. Bush is considering using the special financial industry bailout fund to bail out the Big Three automakers. United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger, while dead wrong about the UAW not needing to make significant further concessions, is right that creditors should come to the table, too. While it is expected that debt restructuring and creditor forgiveness will be a big part of this winter's proposed "restructuring" of the domestic automakers -- General Motors Corp., Chrysler LLC and possibly Ford Motor Co. -- it is not too soon to address GM's staggering negative book value of more than $60 billion...
The United States of America is bankrupt. Don’t believe it? Consider this: Federal obligations now exceed the collective net worth of all Americans, according to the New York-based Peter G. Peterson Foundation. Washington politicians and bureaucrats have essentially mortgaged everything We the People own so they can keep spending our tax dollars like there’s no tomorrow...
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...Well, following the breakdown of an arduous seven-hour Senate negotiating session on Thursday night, many are asking, “Who lost the U.S. car business?” Right after the UAW vetoed a compromise, bankruptcy-lite, Detroit-little-three rescue plan put together by Tennessee Republican Bob Corker, UAW president Ron Gettelfinger played the blame game by blasting Corker and the Republican party for “singling out” union workers to shoulder the burden of reviving the U.S. car business. In truth, the UAW is to blame. If Sen. Corker’s plan had prevailed, with UAW support, many believe it would have had 90 votes in the Senate. GM could have gone forward with a clean-as-a-whistle balance sheet under a three-part restructuring plan that included a $60 billion bond-refinancing cram-down, a renegotiation of the $30 billion VEBA health-care trust, and a pay-restructuring plan that would put Detroit compensation levels in line with those of foreign transplants Honda, Toyota, Nissan, and BMW...
Weekly yard waste pick-up in Troy concludes Thursday, December 18. It will resume again beginning the week of April 6, 2009.
In the absence of curbside yard waste collection during the winter, residents of Troy can bring bags of leaves, grass, or brush bundles (up to 10 bags or bundles per day) to the SOCCRA Transfer Station, located at 995 Coolidge, south of Maple Rd. There is no charge for Troy residents. Residents may use this service Monday- Friday from 8 am-4 pm and Sunday 8 am-12 pm.
Questions can be directed to the Department of Public Works at 248.524.3399 or see the Troy Web site at www.troymi.gov.
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Troy City Councilwoman Mary Kerwin, a Republican precinct delegate, has been censured by a Republican caucus for her alleged support of Democrat candidates.
Obviously a married couple may not always agree on politics. Here's the key question that Steve may have failed to ask Mary: "Did you also place a McCain sign in front of your home?" Sure it would look stupid to have both signs. But, as a GOP precinct delegate, Mary should have known that placing the McCain sign next to the Obama sign would give credibility to her statement that "My lawn is shared property and my husband can have an independent life." If I had attended the GOP Convention last month, that would have been my question.
Last summer, Pennsylvania senator Bob Casey joined his Democratic colleagues in piling $85 billion in new regulatory costs on the Detroit Three by mandating a 40-percent fuel-efficiency increase by 2020. “The energy bill passed by the Senate takes an important step forward to increase our energy, economic, and environmental security,” said the senator. “And the CAFE standard increase contained in the bill is long overdue.” At this afternoon’s Senate Banking Committee hearings, Casey — unapologetic for his role in burdening the industry now before him seeking a handout — demanded quick passage of $34 billion in taxpayer money to save the Detroit companies from bankruptcy.
"Bring Christmas on! Lets spend our time working to make sure the light of Christ shines in the darkness, for as often and as long as we possibly can shine it." Let's not react to the spirit of the age by presenting ourselves, and our faith, as a bunch of old church ladies, wagging our fingers and scolding people, doing all we can to confirm the stereotype that Christianity is all about making sure somebody, somewhere, is not having fun. I'm quite sure we can observe Advent well and properly while also using this time to witness boldly and joyfully of the reason why we observe Advent.
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