Never assume.  Repeat:  Never.

   Correspondents like to think they can figure anything out by piecing together this piece of info and that which leads to a logical conclusion.

    Such was the case when it came to the committee vote on the bridge between Detroit and Windsor.  All the stars appeared to be aligned and if you read the tea leaves, they showed the governor finally had the committee votes to send this puppy, after nine months of waiting, to the senate floor.

    Even the Senate Democratic leader bought into the assumption.  Just before the hearing she advised, "I do believe it will come out of committee."

    In her defense Sen. Gretchen Whitmer had every reason to believe it to be so…just like the capitol correspondents.

    Never assume.  Repeat: Never.

     Within minutes of her prediction the unpredictable happened.

      With one bang of the gavel, the bridge committee chair ended the hearing before it began.

     Sen. Mike Kowal informed the stunned audience of popular wisdom believers that as he walked in the door he was handed a new bridge bill which he was unable to read.

      "I'm not going to vote on something I have not read," he told the audience.

      Sen. Tupac Hunter, one of the Democrats who had fashioned a new compromise on a portion of the bill, sheepishly told the GOP chair that he could explain the changes.

      Mr. Kowall would have none of that.

      There's an age old rule around these parts:  If you want a bill out of a committee, never hack off the chair.

      You could color the Oakland County lawmaker "angry" which is an understatement to say the least.

      As for the future of the bridge?

      No one is assuming anything.