In the fall of 1925, Ypsilantians, and the nation, were transfixed by the romance of a onetime Lower East Side immigrant kid and a telegraph magnate’s daughter. Her wealthy father, Clarence, the son of Comstock Lode multimillionaire John Mackay, strongly disapproved of his Catholic daughter Ellin’s interest in a Jewish man with what he viewed as a disreputable occupation. Clarence refused to give Ellin his permission to marry. The couple waited in dismay for Clarence to change his mind.

Daily Ypsilantian-Press editor George Handy waited as well for the next tidbit of news—his readers loved the story.

In the fall of 1925, Ypsilantians, and the nation, were transfixed by the romance of a onetime Lower East Side immigrant kid and a telegraph magnate’s daughter. Her wealthy father, Clarence, the son of Comstock Lode multimillionaire John Mackay, strongly disapproved of his Catholic daughter Ellin’s interest in a Jewish man with what he viewed as a disreputable occupation. Clarence refused to give Ellin his permission to marry. The couple waited in dismay for Clarence to change his mind.

Daily Ypsilantian-Press editor George Handy waited as well for the next tidbit of news—his readers loved the story.

When in January of 1926 that news came from New York, it was a bombshell. Ellin Mackay had eloped with and married Irving Berlin.

Handy needed a wedding photograph from New York—and fast—this story was too big to wait for the mail. He called New York.

Half an hour later he had a photograph, thanks to the only modem in Ypsilanti in 1926.

Read on and see the photograph at YpsiNews.com and learn more about telegraphy and photos in Wikipedia!

Scroll down to tell folks in the comments. Please keep them brief and friendly! Subscribe to Michitwitter via RSS or check out Absolute Michigan on Twitter!

Photo: You with the camera, enough pictures!! by Daylily18

Scroll down to tell folks in the comments. Please keep them brief and friendly! Subscribe to Michitwitter via RSS or check out Absolute Michigan on Twitter!

Photo: You with the camera, enough pictures!! by Daylily18

Scroll down to tell folks in the comments. Please keep them brief and friendly! Subscribe to Michitwitter via RSS or check out Absolute Michigan on Twitter!

Photo: You with the camera, enough pictures!! by Daylily18

Saline Summer Sunflower Super Set...Sweet by Andy Tanguay

Throughout each month we post items of Michicentric interest to our Michitwitter page. In case you missed them here is a look back at just a few of those items for the month of August. If you find these interesting there are plenty more for you to check out. We encourage you to add any news items, events, links to vids, podcasts or whatever you find interesting about the Great Lakes State!

The photo featured in this post in from the Absolute Michigan flickr pool and is by Andy Tanguay. Andy has the following to say regarding his photo "Saline Summer Sunflower Super Set":

You know, I think a monkey hopped up on PCP could take a nice shot in this location. So here's mine...Ooo Ooo ooo Oooo ah ah ah.

A sunflower farm just west of Saline Mi at sun down. Literally miles and miles of blooming sunflowers right at their peak. The farmers are nice enough to post a sign saying help yourself to pictures, just don't take any flowers. The farmer came out to greet us. I guess all these go to feed...like bird seed and such.

We'd like to draw attention to two new excellent festivals that were held at the Grand Traverse Commons. Both the Traverse City Wine & Art Festival and the Traverse City Microbrew & Music Festival were great successes and we encourage to check them out next year!

A Sampling from Michitwitter August 2009

The ongoing discussion of urban farming continues as mlive.com reports in - Food among the ruins: A compelling argument for urban farming in Detroit

Detroit may be the best positioned city in the world to become a totally self-sufficient city, according to investigative historian Mark Dowie.

In a piece this month for Guernica magazine, Dowie suggests that a combination of unique factors and opportunities make Detroit a prime location for urban farming to flourish.

With electric vehicles greatly gaining momentum as the future of the auto industry, Michigan is poised to reap big rewards and jobs. The freep.com reports - Battery grants could mean big job boost for Michigan

Michigan stands to get $1.36 billion of a $2.4-billion federal grant program designed to spur manufacturing of batteries and other components for electric vehicles in the United States, creating up to 6,800 jobs in the next 18 months and up to 40,000 in the state over the next 11 years.

The Freep also unveiled the much anticipated Chevy Volt and it's mind blowing projected m.pg. rating. Read - GM touts Volt with 230 m.p.g. city rating

The electric-drive Chevrolet Volt is expected to get a rating of at least 230 miles per gallon in city driving, General Motors Co. announced this morning.

The results come as GM pushes to bring the new technology to market in late next year. Later this week, the company is officially announcing its battery assembly pack plant in Brownstown Township.

The world lost a legend that had Michigan ties specifically in Kalamazoo. Read Legendary guitar-maker Les Paul left mark in Kalamazoo on mlive.com.

When Gibson Guitar's Parsons Street factory cranked out its last Les Paul guitar, Marvin Lamb had to have it.

Lamb started working for Gibson in 1956, at age 16.

He hand-drilled holes in the tops of early Les Pauls to screw in the stop tailpiece. He installed the first tune-o-matic bridges on the single-cutaway, solid-body guitars.

He sweated at 225 Parsons St., on Kalamazoo's north side, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when Gibson employees made 200 to 300 Les Pauls a day.

Michigan's film incentive program is being debated and WZZM13.com brings us up to date in their article Bad for Michigan? Lawmaker wants to eliminate film incentive.

A battle over whether to keep Michigan's film incentives is about to begin at the state Capitol.

Tuesday morning, several production workers will rally in Lansing to show legislators that they believe the incentives are worth continuing.

Proponents of the film incentive program have strong views of why it needs to stay. Read Backers say talk of film credit cuts costing Michigan in the Detroit News.

Film executives and producers say talk in Lansing of reducing or eliminating Michigan's aggressive film tax incentive is causing Hollywood's bankrollers to hesitate before investing in the Great Lakes State.

Already, industry insiders say, the state has lost hundreds of millions in film spending to other states since talk of cutting or scrapping the credit surfaced late last year, a charge led by Sen. Nancy Cassis, R-Novi, chairwoman of the State Finance Committee. Others warn that cutting the credit could push business away from Michigan's fledgling industry simply because there hasn't been enough time to build a sufficient infrastructure -- studios and such -- capable of supporting long-term business.

Michigan rock-roll bad boy Kid Rock is pure Michigan and continues to put his money where his mouth is. Check out Kid Rock chips in $20K to rev up Arts, Beats & Eats in the Freep.

Kid Rock has stepped up with a crucial assist for Arts, Beats & Eats.

The Oakland County rocker has invested about $20,000 in sponsor funds via his fashion line, Made in Detroit, helping defray costs for one of the area’s signature fests.

AB&E, which runs Sept. 4-7 in downtown Pontiac, had lost more than $400,000 in funding this year, mostly because of Chrysler’s pullout from its title sponsor role.

Also check out the vid below, "Kid Rock: Detroit's angel?" from cnn.com.

In a move that dumbfounded local residents Peta announced that they want to commandeer Grand Haven's lighthouse to promote vegetarianism and the unethical treatment of fish. The Detroit News reports PETA wants Grand Haven lighthouses for fish empathy center.

Grand Haven's Lake Michigan lighthouses are the prime location sought by an animal rights group for its anti-fishing campaign headquarters.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has applied through a federal program to take over the structures and lighted catwalk that are frequently photographed for dramatic sunsets, thick winter ice and crashing waves.

The area gets nearly 2 million annual visitors, including anglers casting lines into the Grand River channel and heading out in boats for Great Lakes salmon.

"We want to renovate the Grand Haven lights as a memorial to the billions of fish killed annually by sport fishermen, as well as for their flesh (commercial fishing industry)," said Lindsey Rajt, manager of PETA's campaigns department. "We also want to make it a fun and educational place."

AJ's Music Cafe in Ferndale made the Guinness Book of World Records in August. Read Ferndale cafe sets record for longest concert in the Detroit News.

A little cafe in downtown Ferndale has set a Guinness World Record.

AJ's Music Cafe was notified Wednesday that its 288-hour Assembly Line Concert, held in March to promote awareness of American automakers, set a new Guinness World Record for the longest continuous concert by multiple artists.

Automakers recently saw some positive movement which is good news for Michigan. Read J.D. Power predicts U.S. auto sales will hit 1 million in August.

A leading automotive research company is predicting that U.S. monthly auto sales will rise above the 1 million mark for the first time this year in August, due mainly to the government's Cash for Clunkers program.

If you like apples 2009 is offering up a bumper crop. Check out Michigan apple harvest quite the treat in the Detroit News.

Branches of Michigan apple trees are bowing under the weight of the healthiest crop in at least 10 years.

Ideal weather conditions -- cool temperatures and lots of rain -- have apple growers anticipating one of the state's best seasons since the 1990s, according to the Michigan Apple Committee, and that could mean lower prices at the grocery store.

The Detroit News reports some good news for the Great Lakes in their article $1 billion proposed in 2010 for Great Lakes restoration.

Congress is poised to nearly double its funding commitment to the Great Lakes, adding up to $475 million for restoration that would deter invasive species, clean up polluted sites and create jobs in Michigan and the region.

The Mason House c 1872 in Carriage Town by mansardroofsf

The New York Times has taken note of an area in Flint called Carriage Town that is making a comeback due to some industrious and motivated homeowners. In the midst of an otherwise impoverished area and dire economic circumstances these people are taking advantage of real estate deals and restoring the beautiful old homes that make up the area. The article Faded Glory: Polishing Flint’s Jewels also notes that as people move in businesses follow and once again becomes a community.

In a city that is synonymous with faded American industrial and automotive power, Carriage Town’s success is both unexpected and inspiring. A persistent group of long-term urban homesteaders — along with newer arrivals eager to live near a downtown showing signs of life — has restored dozens of Victorian-era houses and buildings in the last 20 years. While many Flint neighborhoods feel all but abandoned, in Carriage Town home ownership has increased 10 percent over the last decade, according to Census data.

In a worldwide recession, development projects with more than $47 million in public and private financing are in progress or recently completed in the 30-square-block Carriage Town area, including the conversion of the derelict Berridge Hotel into lofts and the ongoing renovation of the long-vacant Durant Hotel into 93 apartments and commercial space. There are even plans for a neighborhood grocery store.

But there’s no denying that Carriage Town is a work in progress, and that those who call it home must deal with challenges like speculators, abandoned houses and lack of code enforcement by the cash-strapped city.

For more images of Flin't Carriage Town check out this slideshow from Flickr...

Red, White and Chrome Dream Cruise by kelley girl

The 15th annual Woodward Dream Cruise happens this Saturday, August 15, 2009 in Detroit, Michigan. It's billed as the world’s largest one-day celebration of car culture, and with more 1.7 million visitors and over than 40,000 muscle cars, street rods, custom, collector and special interest vehicles, it delivers. Be sure to check out their Woodward Dream Cruise history page!

Speaking of history, Michigan in Pictures has an excerpt from Cruisin' the Original: Woodward Avenue from Arcadia Publishing that features some excellent photos from the 1950s. Did someone say photos? Check out this Flickr slideshow of Woodward Dream Cruise photos.

The Detroit News are official sponsors of the event and are featuring extensive Woodward Dream Cruise coverage of the activities, photo galleries, live video on Cruise day and live blogging as the event unfolds. Do not miss their Interactive: Your guide to the Woodward Dream Cruise.

Absolute Michigan's video correspondents Scott Allman and Jim McClain visited the Woodward Dream Cruise in 2008 and got some great shots of the cars along with interviews with the interesting and colorful characters that make up the world's largest one-day car event:

It's definitely worth clicking over to see the high quality version.

Scroll down to tell folks in the comments. Please keep them brief and friendly! Subscribe to Michitwitter via RSS or check out Absolute Michigan on Twitter!

Photo: You with the camera, enough pictures!! by Daylily18

Scroll down to tell folks in the comments. Please keep them brief and friendly! Subscribe to Michitwitter via RSS or check out Absolute Michigan on Twitter!

Photo: You with the camera, enough pictures!! by Daylily18

I read the news today, oh boy. by Alana M. Layer

Like many in Michigan, I felt a profound sense of shock and unreality at yesterday's filing by GM for bankruptcy. It will probably come as a surprise to no one that Michigan will feel the brunt of the effects:

In the latest round of cutbacks, announced Monday as part of GM's historic move to file for bankruptcy, an estimated 8,900 jobs will be lost at GM facilities in Pontiac, Orion Township, Livonia, Flint, and Ypsilanti Township. The cuts will follow the closure of a Grand Rapids stamping plant on Friday that employed hundreds more. Nationwide, GM plans to eliminate 21,000 jobs at 14 plants, plus three warehouses, in eight states.

Michigan's share of the total job loss: 42 percent. And that doesn't count the trickle-down impact on suppliers, stores, real estate and other segments of the state's economy.

descent by b.plus

Your source for information on the Carpocalypse, Jalopnik, has a map of GM plant closures and a list of the 10 vehicles they think bankrupted GM. The Detroit Free Press lists what we know and what we don't, and Tom Walsh looks at the GM that might emerge from bankruptcy. Bloomberg looks at how little the nation appears to care about GM's bankruptcy and says that although the 2 month strike on GM in 1970 had major impacts, the nationwide effect of this filing will probably be a lot less:

...GM has been reducing payrolls for three decades. Its U.S. employment peaked in 1979 at 618,365, when it was the nation’s largest private employer and auto manufacturing accounted for 4.1 percent of GDP. At the end of this year’s first quarter, autos were 1.5 percent of the economy, and GM had 88,000 U.S. workers.

In Requiem for the General, Jack Lessenberry muses about General Motors' Albert Sloan and his slogan "a car for every purse and purpose" and that he doesn't think that any of GM's most vocal critics like Ralph Nader and Michael Moore ever through they'd see this. Of course Raph Nader and Michael Moore have something to say that I think you will find interesting and perhaps a little unexpected.

The Wall Street Journal headline blares GM Collapses Into Government's Arms and notes that General Motors will be removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average (to be replaced by Cisco). The New York Times looks ahead with the ad campaign for the "new" GM which is already under way. They had a link to a YouTube video which appears to have been removed. You can see the video (replete with iconic imagery) and also read GM's FAQ on their bankruptcy at GMreinvention.com.

Scroll down to tell folks in the comments. Please keep them brief and friendly! Subscribe to Michitwitter via RSS or check out Absolute Michigan on Twitter!

Photo: You with the camera, enough pictures!! by Daylily18

Scroll down to tell folks in the comments. Please keep them brief and friendly! Subscribe to Michitwitter via RSS or check out Absolute Michigan on Twitter!

Photo: You with the camera, enough pictures!! by Daylily18

Carefree Days in West Michigan by loungelistener

The Traverse City Record-Eagle reports that Michigan's tourism industry is expected to drop by 3-4 percent this year (this on top of last year's 6.2% drop) due to the economic downturn in Michigan and the rest of the country.

"This year will be an even more challenging year for Michigan's tourism industry because this state, which is typically the source of about 70 percent of our tourists, has slipped even further into recession, and the economies of the other states that we rely on for out-of-state visitors are far weaker than last year," said Donald Holecek, a tourism analyst for MSU.

The $30 million nationwide Pure Michigan campaign is expected to help some:

"Without this campaign, it would be worse. That's the bottom line," said George Zimmermann (VP of Travel Michigan)

In his column Sense of urgency for tourism, Record-Eagle writer Bill O'Brien notes that many people in the travel industry are excited about the campaign, but he wonders if the remedy is targeted to the problem:

In some ways, Michigan's tourism sector faces the same challenges as the automobile industry. Its mind-set of, "Just keep doing what we've done and the customers will show up," kept auto executives, workers and union bosses employed for years, and quite well-paid.

But it wasn't built to sustain that model. The rest of the world's auto industry caught and passed Michigan's stodgy carmakers with better products, prices and service. The world automobile industry became more competitive, but Michigan's car companies were slow to respond and lost market share they may never recover.

Will Michigan's tourism industry learn from those mistakes, or is it doomed to repeat them?

Good questions ... hopefully we can find the right answers.

Cancer Bats by Jesse Speelman

With the golden years of Motown now in it's rear view mirror, the city of Detroit currently maintains an impressive and eclectic mix of music venues, bands and fans. This is a city with music ingrained into the soul of it's people and culture. This is a city that has spawned some of the industry's biggest talent in past and present times. It is a hallmark of Detroit that seems to be ingrained into the people and culture of the city. In a place that has experienced such extreme highs and lows, the live music scene appears to offer solid ground to stand on, providing a much needed outlet to artists and audiences alike.

The New York Times recently ran a piece on the Detroit music scene that reveals a city with a number of impressive musical venues, a large pool of tenacious talent and an always appreciative fanbase. "In Detroit Clubs, the Music Scene Keeps on Rockin’" takes a look at the live music scene in Detroit and where to go to catch some shows.

...Motown left town a generation ago, leaving behind only the small white house that is home to the Motown Historical Museum (2648 West Grand Boulevard; 313-975-2264; www.motownmuseum.com). And while Eminem and Kid Rock still live and record there, they keep lower local profiles than their fame might suggest.

But the clubs where they and other Detroit acts got their starts are still very much a part of the city, developing performers who could join the ranks of other famous Detroit artists. Even though the city, and its auto industry, have been hit by hard times that threaten some venerable places, live music endures in the Motor City. - Continue reading

The Hard Lessons LIVE @ The Magic Stick in Detroit!

Baker's Keyboard Lounge w/Clarence Baker

Scroll down to tell folks in the comments. Please keep them brief and friendly! Subscribe to Michitwitter via RSS or check out Absolute Michigan on Twitter!

Photo: You with the camera, enough pictures!! by Daylily18

Extra! Extra! by E. Brow

The story earlier this week that the Ann Arbor News would be ceasing publication caught many by surprise. Michigan Radio's Jack Lessenberry (who also wrote an essay on newspapers last week) writes that he was shocked by the announcement:

Not downsizing, not going to Internet-only publication. Closing, as in, going out of business. This is a newspaper that has been publishing continually under one name or another since 1835.

That's before Michigan was a state. That was before the University of Michigan moved to Ann Arbor. The paper brought the outside world, from the Mexican War to the moon landings, into Ann Arbor for more than 150 years before there was a World Wide Web.

Yet in the end, the web killed the newspaper. Killed it, in large part, because classified advertising migrated to the internet.

The newspaper, like other newspapers all over the nation, speeded its death by putting its content on the web for free. To young readers, paying for a newspaper is as alien a concept as paying to see the clouds in the sky.

It's not just Ann Arbor, as the New York Times reports - 4 Michigan markets will lose their daily paper. The Center for Michigan details in their look at Michigan's amazing disappearing newspapers. Their eye-opening report includes information on Booth newspapers requesting some employees take 50% pay cuts and their thoughts on the matter.  They also linked to Ann Arbor News columnist Jo Mathis, who wrote the column she never wanted to write this week as she watched TV news crews film her building. She writes:

Most people don't realize how much of the news you see online or on TV or hear on the radio started with a newspaper reporter. But we've seen it time after time. We hear the words we've written recited on local radio. Not long ago The Detroit News reported about the crazy low cost of housing in Detroit. The next day, the "CBS Evening News" reported the same thing. Coincidence? Doubtful.

And it's also not just Michigan. Advertising Age's Bob Garfield writes that the situation is downright apocalyptic. He doesn't see it getting better anytime soon, either. The problem, he says, is that:

The (New York) Times and 99% of its brethren opted to give away all content in exchange for audience, neglecting to understand two structural facts of online life: 1) Nobody clicks on ads, because why would they? 2) The virtually infinite supply of online ad inventory will always depress the price even the best publisher can fetch. Always. Immutably. Forever. Mass media thrived on the economics of scarcity. The internet represents an economy of unending abundance.

As Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News boss Brian Tierney told me at the end of January, "Clearly a free internet model online -- if you build it, they will come -- I don't think is working for media like ours. ... I think we're going to have to start to find a way to charge for it and not just rely on advertising."

Garfield tours all media in this very thorough article and concludes that "We have the audience. All we need is a business model."

In a recent feature, Interlochen Public Radio's Linda Steffen recently had a talked with some folks in the industry about the future. She notes that although more and more we expect our news for free, journalists cost money. The program features Dave Paulson of the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism and Michael Casuscelli, publisher of the Traverse City Record-Eagle. It strikes an optimistic tone and is well worth a listen.

At the end of this rambling stroll through an industry that might be dead before it hits the ground, I'm leftfeeling a little bit miffed that the media that I've dedicated the last decade plus of my life to is somehow the new Love Boat or the Elephant Graveyard - the place where washed out media goes to die.

I'm also wondering if a lot of what we're seeing is an industry that is way too big for the internet box it's trying to pour itself into. And of course, what you think.

Scroll down to tell folks in the comments. Please keep them brief and friendly! Subscribe to Michitwitter via RSS or check out Absolute Michigan on Twitter!

Photo: You with the camera, enough pictures!! by Daylily18

Scroll down to tell folks in the comments. Please keep them brief and friendly!

Photo: You with the camera, enough pictures!! by Daylily18

Photo: You with the camera, enough pictures!! by Daylily18

Where Most Of The Snow Went by Patrick T Power

While Michigan is still reeling from a punishing series of economic body blows, it appears that the weather has decided to lend an unwelcome hand. As the Muskegon Chronicle, Detroit Free Press and WMMT relate, folks all across the state are turning their attention from the plummeting economy to rising waters. West Michigan was particularly hard hit by flooding:

The jams and floods are all part of an unusual weather pattern that brought record high temperatures to Michigan in the wake of one of the state's snowiest Decembers, engorging rivers with rain and melted snow. The fronts also carried high winds Sunday that knocked down trees and wires, leaving as many as 183,000 customers statewide without power. Almost all had been restored by today.

Folks in the center and east side of the state haven't been so fortunate. The Michigan Messenger and Detroit Free Press note that some 60,000 households remain without power in the Detroit metro area and more in other areas:

High winds have been a constant problem throughout the weekend and into the beginning of the new week with 45,000 DTE Energy customers still without power, including 15,000 in Wayne County, 11,000 in Oakland County and 3,000 in Macomb County, spokeswoman Eileen Dixon said.

Consumers Energy also had 20,000 Michigan customers without power this morning, the majority in Genesee and Midland counties in central Michigan, and Alcona and Iosco counties up north, spokeswoman Debra Dodd said.

All around the state we are now seeing weather advisories for another storm rolling through tonight packing a few more inches of snow and more wind ... maybe we should go back to talking about the economy now? Either that, or let's get into a pickup truck and survey the flooding!

A2 City Reflections by Behind
My Blue Eyes ~~ Stevie Exxxx

Before we go into some positive economic stories from Michigan, here's The Big Fat Auto Bailout Collapse from The Daily Beast and Mitch Albom saying Hey, you senators: Thanks for nothing:

There ought to be a law — against the hypocrisy our government has demonstrated. The speed with which wheelbarrows of money were dumped on Wall Street versus the slow noose hung on the auto companies’ necks is reprehensible. Some of those same banks we bailed out are now saying they won’t extend credit to auto dealers. Wasn’t that why we gave them the money? To loosen credit?

Where’s your tight grip on those funds, senators? Where’s your micromanaging of the wages in banking? Or do you just enjoy having your hands around blue-collared throats?

The carmakers did get a modicum of hope on Saturday, and the Wall Street Journal looks at considerations facing the White House in what appears to the likely granting of funds to the carmakers from the financial bailout package. You can also check out Gov. Granholm, former governor Mitt Romney, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, Wal-Mart president Lee Scott and Google CEO Eric Schmidt discussing the auto bailout and the wider economy on Meet the Press (if you want to skip the Rod Blagojevich-fest that leads off, scroll to 20:30).

One of the items lost in the general shroud of gloom hanging over Michigan last week was the news that MSU was awarded $550-million nuclear physics project by US Energy Department. Michigan State University will be the site for a new $550-million research Facility for Rare Isotope Beams that will employ at least 300 people. The equipment:

...would be at least 1,000 times more powerful than the machines now running at MSU's National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory. In some cases, 100,000 times more. It will be used to provide intense beams of rare isotopes for researchers which will lay the groundwork for study in a number of fields, including treating cancer and providing technology for border security.

Last week also saw the launch of the Keep Michigan Working program, a partnership of state, local and community officials designed to assist workers and businesses with challenges posed by the economic downturn. Head over to mLive to read more about the program that will focus on attracting businesses through financial incentives and developing a workforce to support emerging industries like alternative energy, life sciences and information technology. Be sure to also check out the info on the Keeping Michigan Working site including a list of high-demand jobs & job facilitators in your area of Michigan.

I had hopes yesterday that I'd be able to include the Lions triumphantly fighting off NFL history in this feature. I think we all could have guessed how that turned out. However, even though they moved to 0-15 and a heartbeat from "worst team ever", Lions kicker Jason Hanson set an NFL record for most career field goals over 50 yards. Congratulations to a real class act! Here's Jason Hanson's Wikipedia page and also his player bio from the Detroit Lions.

snow shovel by Latitude 45

The Ann Arbor Business Review asks where is America's love for Detroit? The answer, it seems, is not in the media:

We know the U.S. auto industry has been working through some issues for some time now, and we realize that Detroit isn't a national symbol for prosperity.

But come on.

The one thing this state needs to face today is the sobering fact that yes, the rest of the U.S. really does hate Detroit.

They look at how a story on urban farming got spun into an indictment of city planning by Bloomberg (sort of balanced, but is there a "best practice" for shedding half your population and revenue?) and link to a painful slideshow on Detroit's ruins (painful for subject and unholy web 1.0 clunkiness) that appeared in Time.

It may be that coverage of auto bailout vs financial bailout wasn't biased, I know that I've seen more and more of this Detroit and seemingly Michigan contempt in my travels around the net. Nasty comments, cheers of "burn baby burn", charges of $150/hr UAW average pay all make me wonder exactly what we did to earn this. Heck, we're even seeing an increase of hate crimes within Michigan.

Where's the love, Michigan?

Freep columnist Drew Sharp says that the Detroit Lions players like Dominic Raiola aren't the ones who should be apologizing to fans for the "product" that is Detroit Lions Football. I'll give you two guesses as to who he thinks should apologize (one for each of them).

I was going to take you out with a Jim Rome Hate-Down on the Motor City Kitties featuring "The Super Bowl of Tanking" and a clear path to 0-16:

I can see that a Lions win would be totally meaningless in the bigger picture, but I think it would somehow make a difference for me.

How about you?

The photo is Shall We? Let's Shall by photoshoparama and I think that about all I want to add is check out Michitwitter for all kinds of Michigan news nuggets.

Big Bright Light Show Rochester 2006 by eric.whalen81

In Detroit Rarely Misses a Chance to Miss a Chance in Wired, they list 5  ways the Big 3 have missed the boat ... their ride ... whatever. My favorite:

2. Electric vehicles - All of the automakers — including Honda (the EV+) and Toyota (the RAV4 EV) — are guilty of pulling the plug on EVs prematurely in the late 1990s, arguing the technology was too expensive, the batteries unproven and the demand for such cars nonexistent. But GM lost the most with the EV1 debacle. You can argue the car was entirely too expensive and way too advanced for its time — "The EV1 was a work of art," one EV advocate told us. "And that was the problem." — but the fact remains GM held the future in its hands and threw it away.

Jalopnik has the complete draft text of the bill plus discussion that is better - though a bit more rambunctious - than the bill. Seems ambitious enough:

LONG-TERM RESTRUCTURING PLAN ENSURING VIABILITY, INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS, AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY.—Not later than March 31, 2009, each eligible automobile manufacturer (1) shall submit to the President’s designee (2) a long-term restructuring plan to achieve and sustain the long-term viability and international competitiveness of the domestic automobile industry (3)...

From a quick scan of the bill and an even quicker read of this and this, it seems that the bailout will likely have lots and lots of strings and put the auto industry at center stage for at least a little while.

Good.

It seems to me that after years of practicing our one state recession that we should have an opportunity to perform it on the national stage.

Snowball Ready! by Odalaigh

11 AM already?? Who forgot to set the alarm?

Apparently the newspaper biz did, somewhere around 1997. The Center for Michigan's Phil Power writes that while they aren't shedding jobs at quite the pace of the auto industry, Michigan newspapers are having their own problems. As they shrink, he wonders Who will tell the people?

Over at mLive, Susan Demas wonders when the national media will stop getting their info from Robocop & Roger and Me and start looking at ... you know ... facts and junk. WKAR's weekly Off the Record program noted that and you should definitely take a little time to watch their take on the auto bailout and what the next few weeks might hold.

One thing the next few weeks will hold is the return of Antonio McDyess to the Detroit Pistons on December 3rd. While you won't be able to see him on Friday, you might want to head down to the Palace for their Guys Night Out this Friday. While the University of Michigan has had about their worst season in history, there was some bright news yesterday with the signing of two four-star prospects. They are Oklahoma Defensive tackle Pearlie Graves and Florida safety  Vladimir Emilien who remarked "I love Michigan and my heart was just there ever since I visited them earlier this year."

If you love Michigan, the latest podcast from the new site Greening of the Great Lakes will let you know why it's important to buy local for Thanksgiving. For a little help with your shopping list, check out Absolute Michigan's A Very Michigan Thanksgiving.

Finally, the Weather Underground reports that Alpena has already set a daily maximum rainfall mark of .55 inches for November 25! Take the rest of the day off!

Scroll down to post your comments about whatever below. Please keep them brief and friendly!

Photo: You with the camera, enough pictures!! by Daylily18

Voting is a family affair by Eye See 360

Election 2008 is more or less in the books and while we don't have complete results, we can hit the high points before politics slides off the front page and those elected get down to the very difficult challenges that await them.

CNN reports that Michigan went overwhelmingly for Barack Obama (57% - 41%). They have a nice map of the nation's results as well. The Freep notes that despite historically long lines, weather and general good cheer seemed to carry the day. In other national races, incumbents in Michigan generally carried the day from Sen. Carl Levin (D) on down. Two exceptions were Democrats Mark Schauer and Gary Peters wresting control from Republican incumbents.

The two ballot proposals also carried the day, with Proposal 1 (medical marijuana) passing by a wide margin and Proposal 2 (stem cell research) passing 53%-48%:

"This is a great night for the state of Michigan," said Sean Morrison, director of the University of Michigan Center for Stem Cell Biology and a vocal supporter of the proposal... "I can tell you this: We'll be meeting within the next week ... to expand our embryonic research program. We expect in the short-term millions of new dollars of grants to come from the federal government and private foundations to support the expanded research."

The Detroit News has a complete list of state results. One notable change was the first ever defeat of an incumbent Chief Justice of the Supreme Court as Diane Hathaway unseated Chief Justice Clifford Taylor.

Thoughts? Comments? Cool blog posts, photos or videos? Share them below!

expressionism by powerbooktrance

If you're anything like me, you're more than ready for tomorrow and an end to the arduous Election 2008 cycle. Here's a few things that can help you pass the time.

mLive notes that a record number of voters (over 5 million) are expected to vote tomorrow in Michigan. That number would be 70% of a record 7.47 million Michigan residents are registered to vote. They advise you to be patient  and offer some tips including tips for those taking kids to the polls, a look at some election day tricks and a nifty voter guide that will let you check out your ballot. They also have a cool "Election Day Dos and Don'ts" article (click for the graphic).

From the Detroit News interactive dealy-jig comparing Obama & McCain I learned that Barack Obama owns a set of red boxing gloves autographed by Muhammad Ali and that John McCain's pet collection includes two dogs, two turtles, a cat, a ferret, three parakeets and 13 saltwater fish. The News also reports that the latest Detroit News-WXYZ poll has Obama up 50-38 over McCain in Michigan (with 10% undecided). The same poll shows 18-term incumbent Carl Levin (OK, maybe not that many) cruising over challenger Jack Hoogendyk. Real Clear Politics has more polls from Michigan.

The Freep says that Election Day will be warm & sunny. They have a really nice video looking at how folks around the state feel about the issues surrounding the election. Check it out.

How about you - how will you pass the time, what are you thinking about and will you vote? Let us know in the comments and click below for much more coverage of Election 2008!

The Promise Starts Here by Ed Roth

Quite simply, The Kalamazoo Promise is a scholarship offered to every Kalamazoo Public School student. Depending on the time in the district and income level of the family, students may earn up to 100% tuition at any public State of Michigan university or community college.

You can get an update on how the Kalamazoo Promise is working you can check out 'Promise' helping hurting Michigan economy from USA Today. They also have another article about how the Kalamazoo Promise has spawned other free college programs across the country. One of these programs is located in the village of Northport, Michigan: The Northport Promise.

If you want to really geek out on how the program is impacting Kalamazoo, click over to The Upjohn Institute's Kalamazoo Promise page with research and articles that explore the impact of the Promise. You can get a great historical picture of the program from the Kalamazoo Gazette.

Below you can watch an episode from Katie Couric's The American Spirit on the Kalamazoo Promise. The episode (from February 2007) refers to a plan to create a "Michigan Promise". State Sen. Wayne Kuipers (R-Holland) discusses Michigan Promise legislation currently being considered in this editorial.

What can (and should) we in Michigan do to help students prepare for the challenges of the 21st century in this era of spiraling education costs? Let us know in the comments!

Together. by Rick Spillers

Eric Hansen is the author of "Hiking Michigan’s Upper Peninsula" and "Hiking Wisconsin". In this morning's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, he has an editorial titled Headwaters are no place for toxic new mining that begins:

Take a moment to think about Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and the nearby patches of Wisconsin, Lake Superior and Lake Michigan that border it. Picture the sparkling waterfalls, blueberries, brook trout and wave-washed shores there — the multitude of reasons so many think of this as God's Country.

Thing is, change is in the air — and there's a fair chance that it won’t be a good thing for the unspoiled waters of the U.P. — or for our water quality here, downstream, in Wisconsin.

New proposals for mining in the U.P. involve a method — metallic sulfide mining — known for its record of toxic water pollution.

These metallic sulfide mining projects are an alarming new threat to the Upper Great Lakes that has gone largely unnoticed in Wisconsin, or elsewhere in the region outside of Michigan.

Are we, as a state and region, prepared for a metallic sulfide mining district in the U.P.? Have we done a thorough assessment of the risks involved and the long-range impact this could have on our groundwater, streams and lakes?

Read the rest...

With two proposed projects (Kennecott Eagle north of Marquette on Lake Superior and Aquila Resources Back40 project just a stone's throw from the Menominee River and the Wisconsin border) and many, many more prospected sites (see map), the question "Are we ready?" is a darn good question to ask.

Through virtue of our work with an organization called Save the Wild UP, we've been following the story of sulfide mining in Michigan for years. It's frankly stupefying that a mining technology that has killed fish and entire rivers, lain waste to lakes and as currently planned would actually spew tons of sulfide mining dust in the air as a kind of giant acid rain machine is still being considered at all.

Even more than the Lower Peninsula, Michigan's Upper Peninsula depends on tourism and outdoor recreation for its livelihood and a couple hundred jobs would do nothing to offset the damage that news of mine accidents and poisoned rivers, lakes and air would generate. Once a mine opens in Michigan, so will the floodgates of a mineral rush that is virtually guaranteed to forever change the face of Michigan and our priceless waters. For it to happen without a public debate, behind closed doors is something we can't allow to happen.

The photo above is just one of many in the Downstream group on Flickr, where almost 100 people have added one photo each to be paired with the song A Letter from Downstream by Daisy May Erlewine. The result is a fascinating look at the meaning of water in all our lives. I think more than any photo in the Downstream group, this one for me says why we shouldn't allow huge corporations to bet their profits against the future of the Great Lakes. These waters are all of ours, and those of generations to come.

Eric concludes his editorial:

This is our region’s spiritual homeland, the headwaters country of our planet’s finest collection of fresh water.

Let us think long and hard before risking that notable resource by allowing metallic sulfide mining to get its foot in the door at such a critical location.

Let us heed Gov. Milliken and join our voices to protect both a land and its pristine water that mean so much to so many of us. Our grandchildren will thank us.

Amen.