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The longtime headquarters of the Michigan Republican Party, four blocks from Michigans Capitol and the seat of political power in this state, sits empty and disused.

A trust made up of former party leaders holds the building, and rent is $1 a year, but utilities and taxes are costly and the party remains in debt.

It seems a single headquarters is an unreasonable luxury for the new Michigan Republican Party.

So the partys new leader, Kristina Karamo, meets MLive at a Clinton Township strip mall, in a small storefront squeezed between a salon and a Jets Pizza. The Macomb County GOP has meeting space and a closet office, where a single desk sits under a flickering fluorescent light.

In the span of four years, Republicans have been fully swept from power in Michigan state government, following eight years of trifecta control. Now, as Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Democratic legislative majorities swiftly undo many of the keystone conservative policies of the prior decade, Karamo is tasked with reversing the decline.

Unsurprisingly, returning her party to power is the top priority. But what worries her most about a Michigan under Democratic control?

I have a deep concern with the encroachment of the World Economic Forum, she says.

For Karamo, the battle for Michigans future isnt about Democrats and Republicans, even though shes deeply conservative. In her telling, there are globalists folks in cahoots with the World Economic Forum, ready to subjugate America in a purported quest for world domination and patriots willing stand up to defend the Constitution and everything Americans hold dear.

Shes convinced Michigan is playing a starring role in the Great Reset conspiracy theory, which posits the international nonprofit used the COVID-19 pandemic to establish one world government, and has no problem asserting it as leader of Michigans Republican party. This means Democrats like Whitmer and President Joe Biden are certainly globalists, as evidenced by trips to the World Economic Forums conferences in Davos, Switzerland.

Related: Whitmer, a monster, should face criminal investigation for COVID response, Michigan GOP Leader says

The goal is to give up our power to a global governing force that is traitorous to the republic, Karamo said. Who is making the decisions? Is it we the people, or some global governance system? Whos making the decisions? Thats what it boils down to.

Karamo entered the political spotlight by alleging she saw widespread fraud in Detroit during the 2020 election and remained there by championing the ensuing conspiracy theories. With a promise to root out systemic election corruption in Michigan, she lost her bid to become secretary of state last November by more than 615,000 votes, 14 percentage points, to Democratic incumbent Jocelyn Benson.

She never conceded her loss. And three months later in February, 58% of delegates at the Republican state convention chose her to lead their party to the 2024 election.

The transition has been rough. Karamo contends getting valuable party data, held in yet another trust managed by former Republican leaders, has been a struggle. Could there be globalist influence at work there, too?

Karamo considers for a moment, smiles, then says, Im sure there probably is. I think so, but I dont know for a fact.

She points to the World Economic Forum-affiliated U.S. Center for Advanced Manufacturing, a technology business accelerator in Troy, as an indication some Republicans are also on board with the new world order. The center received a $3 million grant last year through the Michigan Strategic Fund.

Its not just within the Democratic Party, Karamo says. I think fundamentally theyre spearheading it harder and faster, but again, the World Economic Forum, they got three million state tax dollars when Republicans were in control. So obviously some Republicans had to buy into it.

This ties into Karamos belief in the uniparty, a populist argument that big-wig Democrats and Republicans only feign conflict while colluding to keeps wealthy elites in power.

To the thousands of activist delegates that were recruited, trained, elected and have come to make up Karamos Michigan Republican Party, her election was the culmination of a struggle to wrest their party from the grip of globalists, the elite, the uniparty and any other undesirables umbrellaed as RINOs, Republicans In Name Only.

Its the defeat of the big money establishment in Michigan, said Mark Forton, who lead a convention revolt to retake control of the Macomb County Republican Party last August. The DeVos family and all them, theyve been running this doggone state for decades and running it into the ground and making deals with the Democrats.

And for the lifelong Republicans who have either been purged or walked away out of distaste, it feels like the beginning of a dark age.

Im a constitutional conservative, I always have been, said Eric Castiglia. Hes the former Macomb Republican leader Forton supplanted. Im a William Buckley, a Reagan conservative and I dont feel like I have a home right now.

The state partys problems go beyond an ideological schism. The DeVos family and all them the ultrawealthy donors who formed the Republican partys financial bedrock for decades have already stopped giving. Castiglia has been running an outside operation to elect conservatives in Macomb County. It outraised Fortons county party five-to-one last year.

The political professionals that devoted years to building up party infrastructure are keeping their distance, too. Karamo has hired senior party staff who last worked for the gubernatorial campaign of a U.S. Taxpayer Party candidate, Donna Brandenburg.

Though Karamo emphasizes theres a place for conservatives of all stripes in her Republican party, she isnt exactly pleading for everyones return.

They dont like me because Im not like them, she said. They dont want the rough-around-the-edges type of person who likes to get on the ground and be involved deeply in the community. They want the arrogant, closed-off private social club Republican and thats done. Were finished with that.

Those in Karamos orbit share a Field of Dreams-esque belief. That once they build a new, uncorrupted state party thats more populist, more conservative and caters to its base, new money and voters will come.

This outlook has left a lot of longtime Republican operatives flabbergasted.

I just dont see how they raise any money because none of the major donors are going to help them and they dont have the mechanisms for raising small dollars, Jason Roe, a political consultant and longtime Republican delegate, said. I think this is going to get really bad really fast.

The party was never hijacked

Karamos ascension to lead the Michigan Republican Party was entirely predictable, said Dave Dulio, a political science professor at Oakland University.

Its simply because the makeup of the delegates is so different than it used to be, Dulio said. Theres just this huge disconnect between the precinct delegate class and the rank-and-file class.

Precinct delegates make up Michigans major political parties. The state has nearly 4,700 voting precincts, and in every precinct theres at least one position for a precinct delegate open every two years. Those delegates convene at county conventions, where a selection are chosen to represent each county at the state convention.

For years the vast majority of Republican delegate seats sat empty, but after the 2020 election, far-right activists undertook an effort to recruit America First precinct delegate candidates to fill the spots.

The party was never hijacked, Chris Arndt, a precinct delegate from Eaton County, said. They left the keys in the car and the engine was running and the doors were unlocked. Somebody got in the car and drove off.

The most prominent group, MI Precinct First, offered literature and training materials to prospective delegates. They reported the overall number of Republican delegates increased by 3,400 from 2020 to 2022, to 8,500 delegates.

Ken Thompson, an Ionia County delegate and one of the false electors who cast votes for then-President Donald Trump after the 2020 election, said it was the precinct delegate movement that led to a collapse of the partys old guard. In his rural county, the Greenville Daily News reported, 81 Republican delegates were elected in the 2022 August primary, compared to 27 just two years prior.

Bobby Schostak, who was Michigan Republican Party chair from 2011 to 2015, said the delegates today are very different than the delegates of 12, 14 and 16.

Even ten years ago, Schostak had come within 100 votes of being unseated as chair when activist delegates united behind a new tea party favorite, Lapeer County attorney Todd Courser at the 2013 convention. It showed just how stridently the newly-engaged grassroots were willing to rebel against leaders they deemed unsuitable.

Bobby was a poster child for corruption, it was very easy to see that he was everything that the base hated, Courser recalled in an interview, alleging Schostak only used the role for self-enrichment.

The party had just raised a record $35 million under Schostak for the 2012 election and despite then-President Barack Obamas win in Michigan, Republicans had emerged with their legislative majorities intact. Although a well-connected businessman enmeshed in the donor community, Schostak found it pretty shocking just how close the result had been.

As chairman, I made certain that I spent a significant amount of time meeting the grassroots in addition to donor meetings, he said. Donor meetings are important because you need to raise the money and keep them informed. Grassroots folks were doing the work. And it was important to have them pulling from the same direction.

Schostak said he labored to earn the trust of tea party groups by underwriting events, lending staff and arranging for speakers. He admitted he had to overcome skepticism and that for some factions, no matter what we did, it wasnt going to be satisfactory.

Jeff Timmer, a one-time executive director of the party, recalled watching the 2013 vote with alarm from the convention floor. He said Schostaks approach was a break from how the party had operated in the past.

We always knew those less-than-savory elements were there and we used them to our advantage, but we never gave them a seat at the table, we never gave them a microphone, Timmer said. If they somehow managed to infiltrate, we looked for ways to excuse them from the limelight. We wanted their votes, but we didnt want to be associated with them.

Schostak decided not to seek a third term in 2015. By then the partys tent had expanded some tea party factions had been absorbed while others disbanded. Courser won election to the state House, where he was forced to resign amid scandal after less than a year. He maintains the 2013 chair vote and every one that followed it have been shams, even calling Karamo a sock puppet in a 900-word statement provided to MLive.

In the intervening years, that tenuous alliance between grassroots delegates and the partys establishment wing held and the two became more intertwined, an account multiple former party leaders corroborated, but the disunity persisted.

It took Donald Trumps rise to breathe new life and anger into the Republican grassroots. Dulio said the former President motivated politically indifferent Americans to get engaged, albeit indirectly, motivated in particular by 2020 election fraud conspiracies.

More and more people just got really excited about it and delegates became active in their local and county party organizations and took them over, Dulio said.

In Eaton County, Arndt watched as as their presence grew and the party emptied of longtime insiders.

The more (delegates) the American first-type crowd or MAGA or even tea party bring in, the more the other kind of people tend to say I want nothing to do with this, and then they just leave, Arndt said. It left a vacuum.

In the run-up to the 2022 election, JD Glaser, who also ran for Republican party chair in February, told MLive he held two to three delegate trainings a week for months on end, estimating he trained roughly 2,000 delegates.

You have to get enough people engaged in the system to make a difference and our system depends on numbers. You dont have numbers, you dont have anything, Glaser said. So the end game is to get enough people educated, get enough people participating in the system, that the people are actually taking control of their politics again.

In the end, their numbers proved overwhelming. In the final round of voting at the February convention, the remnants of the partys moderate delegates were resigned to choosing Matt DePerno who had once himself been Michigans most prominent election fraud proponent as Karamos more palatable alternative.

But DePerno was seen as having grown too close to the prior leadership, having compromised too publicly, and even receiving Trumps coveted endorsement wasnt enough to overcome that, and lost handily.

At the end of this exodus of moderate, establishment Republicans from within the party, Karamo insists the Michigan Republican Party is poised to expand.

We are growing our party, she said. When we talk about the party being more inclusive, there are more people who are ideologically conservative who are now getting involved like never before.

Karamo said shell urge those that left the party to return youre always welcome, I dont hold grudges against people but she has no intention of becoming less outspoken or compromising her principles.

It is my job as chair to bring all of these factions together and make one beautiful quilt, Karamo said. But if some people refuse to participate, good riddance.

Audacious plans

Karamo has a radically different vision for running the party than her predecessors. She would rather have more decentralized, smaller spaces than pay upwards of $100,000 a year to maintain the old headquarters.

I want to make sure that Im close to the ground level to hear the concerns of everyday Republicans, to make sure we are responsive to that, Karamo said. I can touch the entire state with that amount of funds. "

That said, Karamo said the party is acquiring an office in the states capital.

It would be idiotic to not have an office in Lansing. That would be crazy. Of course were gonna have an office in Lansing, she said. But the reality is, for that amount of funds, we can have office space all across the state.

At the same time, Karamo isnt at all concerned about funding the party.

I talked to a lot of wealthy, very wealthy people, multimillionaires, who wont give a dime to the party. They say, I wont give those people a penny, they never follow through with what they say theyre gonna do, they act like a bunch of cowards, Karamo said. So with leadership who actually is conservative, people will give money.

Roe was the partys executive director for only a few months, forced out in 2021 after saying Trump blew it in the 2020 election. He said Karamos assumption just demonstrates a complete lack of understanding for what is involved in building a statewide organization and keeping it moving.

Still, its not clear Karamo and her staff or followers have been following the fundraising plan she and her co-chair Melinda Pego ran on, either. Karamo declined to discuss the partys finances with MLive.

Their financial plan promised in the first two weeks a marketing blitz will begin making contact with the 500,000 Republicanleaning business owners in Michigan informing them that MIGOP IS UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT!

For now, Karamos most significant press hasnt been a public fundraising pitch. Her staff instead convened news reporters (and one rabbi) Wednesday to verbally spar over a party social media post. The tweet compared Democratic efforts to institute gun violence prevention legislation to gun seizures that preceded the Nazi genocide of Jews during the Holocaust.

We are not the Republican Party who apologizes and runs away from our positions, Karamo said at the press conference. Its a reason the Republican Party has gotten kicked in the teeth the last three cycles. Because its been a party thats always apologizing. Were done.

Its exactly the framing prior chairs like Rusty Hills, a moderate conservative who has been vocally anti-Trump, are strongly advising against.

Look, if we keep going on the track weve been on I can pretty confidently predict that were not going to do well because weve had three losing elections in a row, Hills said. You dont have to have a PhD to figure this out. We have got to get back to the old conservative blocking and tackling and providing solutions to problems.

Forton, who hosted Karamo for the press conference in his county office, said the only obstacles Karamo faces now are the vestiges of the former party like Hills.

Theyre still maintaining control of everything in the hopes that she collapses, that the people of Michigan will not rally around her and build this party like it ought to be, he said.

Karamo told MLive its clear the longtime Republican patrons who have cut them off are globalists who resist an America first message.

Schostak is adamant she received everything shes asked for from the party trusts. He said the party will need to raise roughly $15 to $20 million to be effective in the 2024 election.

Shes got all the digital files, he said. She might be waiting for some sort of password for fundraising reports but shes got all the shes got all the donor data. now its up to (former leaders) to go maintain the (headquarters) and do what we need to do with it.

Meanwhile Democrats throughout the state, multiple sources relayed, have been delighted by the events of the past month.

Several former Republican leaders indicated to MLive conversations are ongoing about establishing outside groups to aid Republican candidates if the party fails to fundraise. At least one said the discussion included with senior officials whove still hold senior roles in the party.

By the end of April, Karamo and Pego wrote in their plan, the leaderships aims to have donations from 25,000 small business owners, raising as much as $1.25 million.

They suggest that by 2024, as many as 150,000 business owners will be donating $200 a year to the party, an unprecedented level of political engagement. The Michigan Chamber of Commerce, the states largest business group, has approximately 5,000 members.

Castiglia is skeptical that the new party leadership has a way to implement what theyve promised.

Your team needs to deliver and Im not seeing that, he said. Could they raise the money? possibly. Do they have a plan? I dont think so.

Read more on MLive:

Michigans right to work is at deaths door. What will its legacy be?

Trumps potential arrest inspires Michigan protest, hardens support

Right-to-work supporters consider ballot proposal as Michigan legislature moves on repeal

Firearm dealer lawsuit immunity point of contention in passage of safe storage bills

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Conspiracies and a Holocaust meme mark the dawn of Karamos Michigan Republican Party - MLive.com

A new collection of Magic Kingdom-inspired merchandise featuring Joey Chou artwork is available at Walt Disney World.

Chou is known for his cutesy Disney artwork and this series is no exception. The color scheme is mostly purple and blue, and the collection includes kitchenware, apparel, and a pin. We found most of it in the Emporium at Magic Kingdom.

The tumbler has a domed cap with a sculpted Cinderella Castle underneath. It includes a light blue straw.

The artwork around the sides of the double-walled tumbler features Cinderella Castle, the Partners statue, Mickey on a train, and other beloved icons and characters representing all of the lands within Magic Kingdom. Dumbo, Orange Bird, the Hatbox Ghost from the Haunted Mansion, and even the jail dog from the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction also make their appearances.

Geometric fireworks wrap around the side of the tumbler for 360 degrees of coverage.

The purple tray has the same Magic Kingdom artwork in the center.

Its easier to see some of the characters on a flat surface. They include the Cheshire Cat, Stitch, Tinkerbell, and Jos from Walt Disneys Enchanted Tiki Room. What attractions can you spot in the Joey Chou artwork?

The tray has handles on either end for easier entertaining. Aside from the Joey Chou artwork on the inside, the serving tray is solid purple.

All of the merch includes Joey Chous signature somewhere. We spotted it on the bottom of this tray.

There are four plastic cups in this Joey Chou drinkware set, each reimaging the iconic attractions of Magic Kingdom with visits from Mickey Mouse.

The first features Minnie and Mickey riding Mad Tea Party with Cinderella Castle and Tinker Bell in the background. The bottom of this first clear plastic cup is pink.

The second features Space Mountain with Mickey in a rocket zooming in front of it. A model solar system and fireworks wrap around this cup, which features a dark blue bottom.

The third features Adventureland artwork, with Mickey on a Jungle Cruise boat and elements of Enchanted Tiki Room behind him. This cup features an aqua-colored bottom.

The final cup is Frontierland-inspired, with Mickey dressed as a cowboy as a riverboat passes nearby. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is in the background and purple lines the bottom.

The set of four plates is made from plastic and features the same series of land-inspired artwork by Joey Chou.

Each plate has a different colored border.

Adventureland is light blue, Frontierland is purple, Fantasyland is pink, and Tomorrowland is dark blue.

The land-inspired artwork is wrapped around this set of four Magic Kingdom-inspired bowls by artist Joey Chou.

The artwork covers the entire outside of each bowl, bringing the scenes from Magic Kingdoms to life with an adventurous Mickey Mouse.

Inside the bowls are small images from the larger artwork, like Mickey driving the Jungle Cruise boat.

The insides of the plastic bowls are otherwise solid white.

The bottom of this pitcher is pink and it features the general Magic Kingdom artwork on one side.

Fireworks are along the top of the artwork.

The pitcher has a clear lid with a handle.

This picnic blanket comes in a drawstring bag with an all-over pattern of Joey Chous artwork.

The pattern is mostly characters, with Cinderella Castle and white stars mixed in against a dark purple background.

The drawstring is light blue.

This button-up short-sleeved shirt has the same pattern as the blanket, but against a dark blue background.

We found this apparel in World of Disney.

The pajama pants are purple with an elastic waist.

This raglan is heather gray with teal blue sleeves. The Adventureland artwork is in the center.

Fireworks line the inside of the collar.

The Spirit Jersey is light pink with Walt Disney World in white lettering across the back.

Diamonds, lines, dots, and stars are along the bottom above Cinderella Castle, its a small world, and Mad Tea Party, with Mickey, Minnie, and Tink.

Dumbo is on the front left breast.

The Cheshire Cat is pictured with teacups in the bottom corner. A hippo and bird from its a small world are next to the Mad Tea Party image.

Finally, we found a pin featuring Chous Fantasyland artwork, with Mad Tea Party, its a small world, Cinderella Castle, Mickey, Minnie, and Tinker Bell.

The pin was in Big Top Souvenirs at Magic Kingdom.

Are you inspired by this new collection featuring the artwork of Joey Chou? Let us know which Magic Kingdom reimagining youll want to pick up on your next visit in the comments below!

For the latest Disney Parks news and info, follow WDW News Today onTwitter,Facebook, andInstagram.

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New Joey Chou Collection Reimagines the Icons of Magic Kingdom ... - WDW News Today

Michigan repealed its right-to-work law Friday, scrapping the anti-union policy that has hurt worker organizing in the state for over a decade and marking the first time a state had repealed any such law in close to 60 years. Its a big win for the welfare of workers in Michigan and across the nation.

Right-to-work laws have a deceptive name. They sound as if theyre meant to protect someones right to a job, but in reality theyre designed to make it harder for unions to function and organize. Martin Luther King Jr. rightly described right to work as one of the false slogans meant to fool the public, because the laws use the language of rights to weaken workers ability to fight big business.

The immediate effect of these laws is to reduce the flow of money to unions.

A brief bit of background: The National Labor Relations Act of 1935 allowed unions in workplaces to collect union dues from workers covered by their collective bargaining agreements, regardless of whether or not those workers decided to join the unions. The logic was that if workers benefit from what the unions win in collective bargaining agreements, then they should be obligated to pay dues for the institutions securing those benefits for them. But the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 allowed states to introduce right-to-work laws, which prohibit mandatory collection of union dues for covered workers. That lets workers benefit from union contracts without paying the unions in their workplaces.

Many right-to-work laws passed in Southern states in the mid-20th century, and then a new wave passed after the tea party wave in 2010 a number of them in organized labor strongholds in the Midwest, including Michigan. The immediate effect of these laws is to reduce the flow of money to unions and shrink their resources for organizing and bargaining. As labor scholars have pointed out, the recently passed right-to-work laws in states such as Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin reduced unionization rates and shrank wages in those states.

Right-to-work laws are underhanded not only in their name but also in terms of the political predicament they create. They put the burden on pro-union advocates to support a policy that imposes new costs on a subset of workers who are already getting benefits. They avoid attacking workers directly but instead undermine the funding mechanism meant to keep their organizing capacity strong. Yet under the first Democratic governing trifecta in close to 40 years, Michigan Democrats have managed to repeal the law.

After having broken a long streak of inactivity, Michigan could help inspire other movements to repeal right-to-work laws, which exist in over two dozen states. And Michigans accomplishment will only add momentum to a surge in pro-union activity and sentiment across the country. Unions are the most popular theyve been since 1965. Last year brought a big uptick in worker strikes and several high-profile union wins that captured national attention, such as Amazon warehouse workers winning their first union election in New York.

Michigan just became a friendlier place again for organized labor. Hopefully other states will follow suit.

Zeeshan Aleem is a writer and editor for MSNBC Daily. Previously, he worked at Vox, HuffPost and Politico, and he has also been published in, among other places, The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Nation, and The Intercept. You can sign up for his free politics newsletter here.

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What Michigan scrapping its right-to-work law means - MSNBC

Staff Reports

Have you ever thought about becoming a storm spotter? Now is your chance. The Sullivan County Emergency Management Agency and the National Weather Service invite you to attend free Storm Spotter Training. Storm Spotter class will be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 29 in the Milan Community Center, 205 N. Market Street, Milan. The class will last approximately 1 hours. It will be presented by an experienced meteorologist from the National Weather Service. Various aspects of severe weather, storm spotting and weather safety will be presented. The training is free and available to everyone, regardless of age, where you live or education level. Becoming an active, trained storm spotter is an excellent way to serve our community. While there is no personal commitment from attending this class, if you recognize hazardous weather on the horizon, you will be in a position to help warn your neighbors by calling 911. To reserve your seat for this highly sought after class you must call or text the Sullivan County Emergency Management Agency Director, Dennis Goldsmith, at (660) 265-5619 or email him atmonranch@grm.net.Reserving a seat for the class will not commit you to attending the class, but the class may not be held if fewer than 15 people reserve a seat in advance.

Bellacinos Pizza and Grinders at 516 N. Baltimore Street, will be holding a Giving Night on March 30 from 5-8 p.m. Fifteen percent of of food sales goes to the Food Bank to provide Buddy Packs for kids in need.

The South 63 Corridor Community Improvement District will hold a meeting at 11 a.m., on Thursday, March 30, in the Second Floor Conference Room at City Hall, 201 S Franklin Street. Tentative Agenda: Approval of the Minutes of the Dec. 28, 2022 Board of Directors Meeting; Approval of Appointment of Officers; Additional business as may be necessary and appropriate to commence operation of the District.

The city of Kirksville Parks & Recreation Department hosts Paint the Ville on March 30 and April 25, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Kirksville Aquatic Center, 801 E. Mill St. Register your first through eighth grade artist for the monthly Kids Club event. Artists will create a masterpiece under the direction of Paint the Ville instructor, Rachel Messer. All participants must pre-register, and class size is very limited. To register, visit the Kirksville Parks and Recreation Office at the Kirksville Aquatic Center, or online athttps://parks.kirksvillecity.com/. Each class is $20 and all supplies are included. For more information, please contact Luke Callaghan with the Parks and Recreation Department at 660-627-1485.

Hay producers can learn strategies to grow, harvest, and store high quality hay at University of Missouri Extensions upcoming Hay Production School, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Schuyler County Community Center. MU Extension specialists will teach on how to get more quality and quantity hay production during this one-day workshop, says Darla Campbell, Agri Business and Community Economic Development specialist. Topics include Forages for North Missouri, Quality Issues; Hay Testing; Cattle and Horse Nutrition, Storage and Feed Management; Economics of Stored Forages; and Fertility Management. Registration for the school is due by March 24. A minimum of 15 participants is required to hold the school. Contact Darla Campbell at 660-457-3469 or campbelld@missouri.edu for cost and questions. The Schuyler County Community Center is located at 308 Main Street, Glenwood.

Truman Opera Theatre presents Bastien and Bastienne by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, March 31 at 7:30 p.m. at the Ophelia Parrish Performance Hall.

Thousand Hills State Park is home to a collection of petroglyphs or rock carvings made by ancestors of todays American Indians. Explore the petroglyphs with park staff to learn more about this unique piece of history. Meet at the petroglyph shelter located next to the beach. Contact the park office at 660-665-6995

The Adair County Family YMCA presents the 2nd Annual Easter Egg Eggstravaganza on April 1 from 2-3 p.m., at the YMCA Soccer Fields. Enjoy a fun time with the entire family and community. Separate egg hunts per age group: 0-3, 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12. Photos with the Easter Bunny. Yard games and activities. Easter-themed tattoos. Prizes courtesy of local businesses. Free event, donations greatly appreciated. 1708 S. Jamison, Kirksville.

A Fairyland Princess Tea Party will be held on April 1 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Kirksville Masonic Temple, 217 E. Harrison Street, Kirksville. There will be crafts, games, food and drink for $5. Presented by Kirksville Chapter #184 Order of the Eastern Star, assisted by Sigma Kappa Sorority, Truman State University. Questions? Call 660-341-4042.

Foolin Around Downtown will be held on April 1 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., in downtown Kirksville. Support your local downtown stores and shops. In-store specials and refreshments provided at participating businesses. Shopping, specials and more.

The biggest trivia night of the year is back. The United Way of Northeast Missouri (UWNEMO) will host the 2nd Annual Charity Trivia Night on Saturday, April 1 from 7-10 p.m. at the Kirksville Moose Lodge. This years event will build upon last years hugely popular Trivia Night that welcomed 18 teams, raising over $5,000 for the 11 local agencies funded by the United Way of Northeast Missouri. Tickets are $150 per 8-person team, or $200 with Mulligans. One Mulligan can be used each round in place of an answer. The first-place team will take home a $500 first place prize and the coveted United Way Trivia Trophy. Only five table remain available so act now. Only four tables left.

The Crossing Church will hold Car Care on April 2. This event will serve single parents, foster parents, widows, active military personnel and veterans. The church is inviting anyone who falls in one or more of those categories to sign up to have their vehicle detailed and inspected. All community and church members are invited to help serve this deserving group of people on April 2. Volunteer opportunities range from greeting participants to inspecting vehicles. Theres a place for everyone to serve, ages high school and up. If youre not available on the day of the event, there will be opportunities to serve prior. For more information visit http://www.thecrossing.net/carcare or contact The Crossings local Campus Pastor.

Otto McFarland Senior Voice Recital will be held on April 2, at 2 p.m., at the Ophelia Parrish Performance Hall, 100 E. Normal Avenue.

Emma Bushery & Bridget Boyle in a Senior Recital! At the Ophelia Parrish Performance Hall, April 2 beginning at noon. 100 E. Normal Avenue.

Double Reed Studio Recital at the Ophelia Parrish Performance Hall beginning at 6 p.m. on April 4,100 E. Normal Avenue.

A ribbon cutting will be held for Factory Connection on Wednesday, April 5, at 4 p.m. Join the Kirksville Area Chamber of Commerce at the open house event for chamber member Factory Connection in celebration of their new management team. The ribbon cutting ceremony will take place at their retail location at 2402 N. BaltimoreStreet in Kirksville.

Join Thousand Hills State Park staff in a presentation to learn about spiders and discover just how important they are to our ecosystem. If interested, join park staff to go looking to see if any spiders are nearby. Please bring a flashlight or headlamp. Meet at the Campground 1 Amphitheater. Contact the park office at 660-665-6995.

Mark your calendars and hop on over to the 45th annual Kraft Heinz Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 8, at 10 a.m., at the Truman State University Quad. Kraft Heinz, the city of Kirksville's Parks and Recreation Department, and Truman State University's Cardinal Key are partnering to host this event free of charge. All children ages 2 to 12 are invited to join and find as many eggs as possible. Remember to bring a basket for all the eggs and your camera for a picture with our special guest, the Easter Bunny. For more information, contact the Parks and Recreation Department at 660-627-1485.

Join Thousand Hills State Parkstaff to learn some birding basics! Binoculars, field guides, and cameras are welcome. Limited binoculars and field guides will be available to borrow during the program. Please wear closed-toed shoes and bring water. Meet at the beach parking lot to walk the paved trail.

Something about a snake make them sssuper important. JoinThousand Hills State Park staff to learn what that reason is and why snakes are unique. There may be a chance to meet a live animal. Meet at the Campground 1 amphitheater. Contact the park office at 660-665-6995

NEMO Job Fair Spring 2023 will be held on Friday, April 21 from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Moberly Area Community College, 2105 E. Normal Avenue. Pre-registration is required.

Friends of (Scout) Troop 404 will be holding a Bottomless BBQ Feed Fundraiser at theNEMO Fairgrounds on Friday, April 14 from 5:30- 8 p.m. Cost is $25 per person with sides and drinks. Soda for sale separately. Food by TNT BBQ. Silent Auction. Raffle for a mini-bike and smoker grill. Tickets available at the Troop 404 Facebook page or Nolan Law Firm, 210 S. Elson Street.

The Student Activities Board has announced the lineup for its spring concert series. Indie rock band DEHD will headline the second concert at 5 p.m. April 14 on the quad. The rain site for these concerts will be the Student Union Building Georgian Room. Admission to all concerts is free and tickets are not required.

The Northeast Missouri United Way Texas Hold'em Tournament will be on April 19 at the Dukum Inn.Signups start at 5:30 p.m. and the tournamentstarts at 6:30 p.m. 1st Prize is $500, 2nd Prize is $250 and Third Prize is $100. Sponsors of the event are as follows: Gold SponsorshipATSU and Heritage House Realty. Silver Sponsorships are Lovegreen Motors and Pagliais. Bronze Sponsorships are Kirksville Brake and Muffler and Hampton Inn.,

Come out for a celebration of International Dark Sky week at Stars Up, Lights Down at Thousand Hills State Park. Join others in learning about light pollution and exploring the sky above. There will be telescopes but everybody is welcome to bring their own telescopes, chairs, and binoculars. Meet at the Point Shelter. Contact the park office at 660-665-6995.

The 23rd Annual Daddy Daughter Dance will be held on Friday, April 21, at the NEMO Fair Building/NEMO Fair Grounds. Doors open from 6:30-9:30 p.m. Picture Booth open from 6:30-8 p.m. Cost is $8/couple, $2/each additional child (family cap at $10). Free concessions, photo booth, giveaways, and crafts. All girls pre-school through 6th-grade along with their dad or significant male role model are invited no RSVP needed. Proceeds of this event will go toward supporting Heartland Task Force programming and activities.

The annual Novinger Area Yard Sales & Flea Market event will be held on Saturday, April 22, beginning at 8 a.m.Residents of Novinger and surrounding area (west of Kirksville, east of Green Castle, and along Highway 157) are encouraged to participate in selling yard sale items, funky junk, 2ndchance goods, antiques and collectibles, flea market items, crafts and commercial products. Booth spaces and tables can be rented inside the Community Center or Firehouse andfree spaces can be reserved on the fairgrounds.Maps featuring the reported locations of sales will be available on Renewals Facebook page as well as in the Community Center, along with food sales.Donations of items are sought to allow proceeds to benefit Novinger Renewal.Items can be dropped off at the Community Center after 2 p.m. on Friday, April 21.Those interested in reserving an indoor or outdoor space or wanting their sale listed on the map should contact Glenna Young at 660-342-6455. The event is coordinated by Novinger Renewal, a non-profit corporation, established for community betterment and historic preservation.

Come on out to Thousand Hills State Park on Saturday April 22 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. to celebrate Earth Day. Local organizations will have stations and activities set up around the beach parking lot and the paved trail. Come connect with the earth and nature through unique opportunities facilitated by community members. There will be activities and educational booths for all ages at this free event. SB40, a local nonprofit, will be selling snacks and drinks as a fundraiser during the event. The Missouri Department of Conservation will be providing fishing opportunities along the shore just past the beach showerhouse and at the ADA accessible fishing dock. (Signs will direct visitors to these locations.) This event was created in partnership between Thousand Hills State Park, the Adair County Public Library, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, and the city of Kirksville. Other organizations are joining to provide educational opportunities for all attendees. In the event of inclement weather, activities will be moved to the Rieger Armory, located at 500 S. Elson St.

Mark your calendars for Curtain Call's 2023Annual Meeting. They will be meeting at the theatre on Monday, April 24 at 5:30 p.m. in order to nominate board members for the upcoming year and give everyone updates on their upcoming season.

The Student Activities Board has announced the lineup for its spring concert series. The last concert will feature country artist Chase Bryant at 5 p.m. April 28 on the quad. The rain site for these concerts will be the Student Union Building Georgian Room. Admission to all concerts is free and tickets are not required.

Elementary and middle school students interested in math and science can spend a day on the Truman State University campus participating in fun activities. Trumans chapter of Beta Beta Beta, a co-ed biology honors fraternity, will sponsor Science on Saturday, April 29. The first session, for students in first through fifth grade, will take place from 9-11 a.m. A second session, for students in sixth through eighth grade, will take place from 12:30-3 p.m. Area students will attend classes in Magruder Hall, each lasting about 20 minutes. Session one classes this spring include:acids and bases volcano, reptiles and amphibians, and secret message writing. Among the classes in session two are: strawberry DNA extraction, lava lamps, and reptiles and amphibians. Science on Saturday is free of charge. Registration will begin March 31 onsos.truman.eduand remain open until April 14 or until both sessions are full. Spaces are limited and registration is completed on a first-come, first-served basis.

Come out to Thousand Hills State Park to celebrate Kids to Parks Day Saturday May 20.

10 a.m.-2 p.m.: Kids Fishing Join the Missouri Department of Conservation for a day of fishing at the Point. From 10 a.m.-2 p.m., staff will be available with gear to help you fish or fish with you. Fishing is open to all ages. All children must be accompanied by an adult.

11 a.m. Nature Detective Hike Animals leave behind clues to tell us they have been in the area. Join park staff to explore the many different clues animals leave behind and learn what animals share the park with us. This hike will take place on the Oak Trail located next to the playground on Big Loop Road.

All programs are weather permitting. Check out Thousand Hills State Park on Facebook for cancellations, location changes, and other park information.

See more here:
Kirksville Area Calendar of Events - Kirksville Daily Express and Daily News

At the 20th anniversary of the Iraq War, we stand in the same position relative to the initial invasion as America stood in 1985 relative to the 1965 arrival of our first combat troops in Vietnam. This makes it a useful moment to compare the two conflicts and their effects, and to consider provisionally, always provisionally which was more disastrous, which intervention deserves to be remembered as the worst foreign policy decision in our history.

For some time, even after my own initial support for the war dissolved and its folly became obvious, I doubted that Iraq could outstrip Vietnam in the ranks of American debacles. More than 12 times as many American troops died in the Vietnam War as died in Operation Iraqi Freedom and its aftermath. The bloodletting among Iraqis was terrible, but so was the civilian toll in Southeast Asia. The United States lost the Vietnam War completely; in Iraq, we left behind an unsteady and corrupt republic rather than a new dictatorship, with a government that still allows a U.S. military presence.

Domestically, the period around the Vietnam War was dreadful a wave of domestic terrorism, a crisis of authority, the 1960s curdling into the 1970s. The immediate aftermath of Iraq was sour and paranoid in its own way, but even with the Great Recession, there wasnt the same kind of radicalism and social breakdown. When Barack Obama was elected president, American conservatism seemed shattered by Iraq, as American liberalism was shattered by Vietnam, but by his second term, there was a return to ideological stalemate.

At various times, then at the 10th anniversary of the war, maybe even at the 15th it was possible to imagine a long-term future where Iraq was ultimately remembered more like our bloody counterinsurgency in the Philippines at the dawn of the 20th century than like the trauma of Vietnam as a bad war, but not an era-defining one; as a squandering of blood and treasure and moral credibility, but one whose overarching strategic costs were not so great.

Today, theres a stronger case for seeing Iraq as a more epochal disaster. In American domestic life, the Vietnam effect was more of a fever, whereas the Iraq effect seems like a wasting or relapsing disease. The wars influence has percolated inside other social crises, like the opioid epidemic, that have become more visible and destructive over time. Its lingering effects have made the body politic more susceptible to left-wing radicalism and right-wing demagogy, while contributing to a persistent mood of pessimism and disappointment thats then been exacerbated by other forces (social media, the coronavirus pandemic).

In our political coalitions, these disillusioning effects look even more substantial and permanent than they appeared in 2010 or 2015. Ever since the war discredited and helped dissolve the hawkish center-left, nobody has been able to reconstitute a strong centrist faction within liberalism, with the result that liberal institutions have been pulled ever leftward since 2004. Ever since the war discredited both neoconservatism specifically and the Republican establishment generally, nobody has been able to maintain a successful counterweight to the various forms of right-wing populism, Tea Party and Trumpian, that have made the GOP ungovernable and incapable of governing.

And there is a special irony that even with the intellectual ferment on the Trump-era right, the attempts to forge a national conservatism or a socially conservative populism sometimes look like efforts to grope backward to George W. Bushs platform in 2000, before he traded his humble foreign policy for a grand crusade.

But it is in the effect on Americas global position that the costs of the Iraq War really keep compounding. Its now clear that not just the war alone but its ever-spreading secondary consequences which included our futile overinvestment in Afghanistan, fatefully cast as the good war by many Democrats opposed to the Iraq invasion kept us tied us down during critical years of geopolitical realignment, making it hard to even think about, let alone cope with the revival of Russian power and the rise of China to superpower status.

The all-but-certain influence of our final defeat in Afghanistan on Vladimir Putins decision to invade Ukraine was just one link in a long chain of consequences forged by the Iraq War. Likewise, our newly aggressive posture toward the Chinese regime is a risky attempt to play catch-up to shifts that we should have been more attuned to a decade ago.

And while the effects of the Iraq War on the developing worlds attitudes toward the United States can be overstated, our initial invasion clearly made us seem like a less trustworthy hegemon reckless and revisionist rather than steady and reliable. Then the way the war contributed to our internal divisions and derangements also made American culture seem less admirable and the broader liberal-democratic project seem less inevitable. So not only Russia and China but also other power centers, from India to Turkey, were pushed toward post-American and post-Western paths by everything that followed.

Now return to the comparison between 2023 and our Reagan-era situation, barely a decade after the last helicopters left Saigon. By 1985, we had managed to separate China from Russia, the Soviet economy was faltering, and Mikhail Gorbachev had just been elected general secretary of the Communist Party, with glasnost and the fall of the Berlin Wall just around the corner. Today, with Russia and China increasingly aligned together against us and Chinese influence increasing, we seem to be descending back into the kind of twilight struggle that in 85 we were poised to finally transcend. So if Vietnam 20 years on looked like a disaster that in our strength we were able to absorb, a surmountable obstacle to American ascent, Iraq 20 years on looks more like our empires nemesis, full stop.

Of course, appearances can be deceiving. Almost nobody in 1985 realized just how quickly the Soviet Union would collapse, and perhaps today the American comeback is already beginning. We have resources and forms of legitimacy that are lacking in our more authoritarian rivals; their systems are persistently vulnerable to the follies of autocratic decision-making. And the Ukraine conflict, for some, is seen as a possible doorway to revival reinvigorating the West much as Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and Pope John Paul II once did, drawing Putin into the same sort of quagmire that Afghanistan offered to the Soviets, helping us shake our Iraq distemper on a different timetable than with our Vietnam syndrome, but with similar results.

Its not a coincidence that among those most invested in this hope are some of the Iraq Wars most ardent advocates. They want redemption, understandably, for their vision of American power, if not for the Iraq decision itself.

I dont share their optimism, but Im not surprised at its resilience especially when the alternative possibility, that a single choice made with such confidence 20 years ago still has our empire on a sunset path today, seems too terrible to bear.

Ross Douthat | The New York Times(CREDIT: Josh Haner/The New York Times)

Ross Douthat is a columnist for The New York Times.

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The Vietnam effect was more of a fever, whereas the Iraq effect ... - Salt Lake Tribune