“Christmas Lights” Up Our Lives

By Rick Garcia
 
Like many families in neighborhoods across the country, I go through the holiday ritual like a surgeon preparing for an operation, donning strands after strands of colorful, twinkling lights all over my home. 
 
Tradition passes from father to son, despite the advancement and technology of decorative illumination from grenade-sized bulbs to the hi-def LED or from the plastic Santa and his reindeers to the “blow-up” snowman.

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Get Ready to Itemize Your Tax Deductions

By A.J. Gross, C.P.A., E.A.
 
Joy to the world, tax time is just around the corner. I know you are excited. Ok, probably not. We CPAs and accountants are a unique breed. We get excited to work every day and night for three months straight to get everyone’s tax returns filed on time. Filing taxes is a necessary evil. It is best to prepare for tax time by reviewing your itemized deductions in December. You may be able to gather additional deductions before the year ends. The following is a list of itemize deductions.

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Celebrating Life at 100 Years Old

Ella Cowan celebrating 100 years of living life!
TNCP photo

LANSING, MI —  Ella Cowan celebrated a century on her birthday as she turned 100 years old with family and friends at Riverfront Towers located at 601 S. Cedar Street.  She was surrounded by a crowded room of friends and family.  She received resolutions from the U.S. Congress, State of Michigan, Ingham County and the City of Lansing.  Ella also received a birthday card greeting from President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.

 

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News Spotlight: Double Murder and Suicide Stuns Community

 Three people were found dead at a Lansing home yesterday evening, December 5.  Police believe it to be a double-murder and suicide.

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Toy Village is Closing its Doors Forever

Toy Village sign shown here touting one of its many sales to bring customers in. Going out of business will be bittersweet for many.
 
Courtesy photo 
 
By Deborah Walker
 
For over 50 years Toy Village, located at 3105 West Saginaw, Lansing, Michigan has provided quality collectable toys for children and adults of all ages. Selling antique dolls, bears, games, puzzles and  a slew of other toys Toy Village has provided its customers access to toys that cannot be found any place else, but that is all due to end.

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Excuse me, are you listening? 12-23

On May 11, TNCP CAN was featured on “Lansing Online Radio” at WLNZ 89.7 Lansing Community College radio.  Nacho Bermudez, father of Ignacio “Notch”  Bermudez; Vivian Bodiford, mother of James Edward Jones III; Karen Chicky Scott, TNCP CAN volunteer and Lori Black, mother of Shayla Johnson. Bermudez, Bodiford and Black all spoke about their murdered loved one.
 
TNCP photo

 
Dear Readers,
 
This year has been  a really good year.  The newspaper is about to go in another direction.  I have gone in another direction as well.  Resigning from my position as the President of Walnut Neighborhood Organization after 3 years was one of the best decisions that I could have made.

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Republican Party Introduces  State Director  and Michigan Black Advisory Board

Wayne Bradley has been hired as the Michigan State Director of African-American Engagement for the  Republican Party.
 
Photo courtesy of RNC
 
Michigan Black Advisory Council: Terry Johnson (Farmington Hills), Blake Edmonds (Grand Rapids), Kerry Jackson (Farmington Hills), Eunice Myles Jeffries (Detroit/Farmington Hills), Kelly Mitchell (Grand Rapids), Jessica Ann Tyson (Grand Rapids), RNC Chairman Reince Priebus (at the podium)  Linda Lee Tarver (Lansing), Bishop Ira Combs (Jackson), Wayne Bradley (Michigan State Director of African-American Engagement) and Michigan Republican Party Chairman Bobby Schostak. Not in photo: Jerome Barney (Detroit), Bill Brooks (Detroit), Jimmy Greene (Saginaw), Dr. Phillip Johnson (Saginaw) and Pastor Phillip Smith (Grand Rapids).

 
 
 

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The Gales of November

By Rick Garcia


When I think of November in Michigan, I instantly picture a dark, angry air of tumultuous weather as Gordon Lightfoot’s haunting ballad “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” continuously plays in my head. “November Witch” is the name that sailors have used for years to refer to the unexpected and wickedly violent storms on the Great Lakes. There are many stories and legends coming out of the large fresh water body that shaped our great State into a sailing enigma.


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4 Good Business Tax Resources

By A.J. Gross, C.P.A., E.A.


Operating a small business can be tough. There is plenty of work to complete.

Generally, one aspect of the business that is easily mismanaged is taxes and accounting. Many small business owners gather documents at the end of the year for taxes. Gathering documents at the end of the year can be time consuming and inefficient. The following are IRS resources to help you categorize expenses and identify business expenses throughout the year.

(Forms and Publications can be downloaded online at www.IRS.gov or our website

www.ALGTaxSolutions.com in the Resources section).


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News Spotlight: Help the Jaycees Stuff the Bus, bring Christmas cheer to local children

 LANSING — Shoppers will have an opportunity to help spread holiday cheer next month at the Lansing Jaycees’ annual “Stuff the Bus” event, which this year aims to provide Christmas to 26 local children and their families.

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