Five Things You Need to Know about Michigan for Friday, March 9th 2007

Five Things You Need to Know about MichiganA-way back when, I would start every morning by scouring the internet for 5 things (more or less) that I thought folks who live in and/or love Michigan needed to know to post on Absolute Michigan. I am postive this will not be an every day thing, but I miss doing it so here goes...


On the Road Again by docksidepress

Ford to Offer Small Bonuses
This first bit of news is brought to you by the letters W, T & F. The Freep is reporting that despite buyouts and a $12.7-billion loss last year, Ford Motor Co. announced bonuses yesterday - between $300-800 for salaried workers or more for management.
Read All Ford workers will get bonuses

Alternative Energy & Fuel Standard Fighting
Speaking of cars - or at least what powers them - Jeremy & Dave over at GROW Detroit are doing great work on covering alternative energy developments in Michigan. Most recently, a new bio-diesel plant in Milan and a "Green Generation" program that is producing electricity from a landfill north of Marshall. They also look at growing congressional impatience with foot-dragging on new fuel economy standards and offer a healthy dose of perspective:

Just as a matter of historical perspective, it is worth noting that Ford's Model T got 21 mpg and was a "flex-fuel" vehicle capable of running on gasoline or ethanol. The Model A released in 1927 got 30 mpg — which is comparable or better than Ford's entire 2007 line!

Check out Energy Series–Part 5: New Michigan initiatives prove commitment and The Worst Gridlock is in Our Heads, Michigan from GROW.


Hanging by Lars Jensen

Walking the Lake Superior Shore in Winter
The Mining Journal has a story about Ed Shively, a Minnesota man who is attempting to walk the ice on the southern shore of Lake Superior from the International Bridge in Sault Ste. Marie to Duluth, MN to promote his software (which sounds kind of cool). Shively wears snowshoes to disperse his weight over the ice, a dry suit in case he breaks through the ice (which he has) and an ice pick to get out (which he has as well). He's also blogging his trip by satellite phone, so check it out!
See Minnesota man tries walk across lake ice in the Mining Journal

Free Climate Change Symposium at MSU
Speaking of cool blogs, WWJ Newsradio says that the Michigan State University Environmental Science and Policy Program will host a free international symposium on climate change. Climate Change in the Great Lakes Region: Decision Making Under Uncertainty will take place March 15-16 at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center in East Lansing.
MSU to host international climate change symposium

Retired Detroit Police & Firefighter Sue for Benefits
The Detroit News reports that retired Detroit police officers, firefighters and their families are in a court battle over city-imposed cuts to their health care benefits. Detroit has a retiree health care tab of almost $200 million that could approach $300 million by 2009. The city's precarious finances would become much more so if they are forced to restore benefits for thenearly 8,000 affected and the whole issue raises the question of what responsibility employers have to honor their promises to retired employees.
8,000 city retirees fight benefit cuts in the DN.



Related Posts

This is program that compares articles on Absolute Michigan. Sometimes the results are a little odd.

This entry was written by farlane and posted on March 9, 2007 at 10:28 am and filed under Articles, Blogs & Forums, Boating, Diving & Beaches, Business, Community, Computers & Technology, Environment & Environmental Organizations, Five Things You Need to Know, Health & Medical, Hiking & Biking, Industry & Manufacturing, Media, Michigan, Recreation & Sports. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

One Comment

  1. farlane
    Posted March 15, 2007 at 7:26 am | Permalink

    UPDATE: Jack Lessenberry interviews Thomas Dietz, director of the Environmental Science and Policy program at MSU about what climate change will mean for Michigan.

    From Jack's essay

    No, we don’t know everything. We will never know everything. We do know is that the more we spew greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, the worse it gets for everybody. We also know there are things we can do about that, with vehicle emissions, for example. Yes, there will be people who will fight this because they care more about short-term profits.Perhaps what we need is a huge fight, and leaders who aren’t afraid of one.

    Franklin D. Roosevelt, a man without the use of his legs, had more backbone than our last three presidents combined. He loved “to roll up my sleeves instead of twiddling my thumbs.”

    “I would like it said of my first administration that in it the forces of selfishness and lust for power met their match,“ he said. “I would like it said of my second that in it they met their master.” I can’t imagine anyone with the guts to say that today.

    FDR never heard of global warming. But he knew about big problems. A reporter once asked him what his ideology was. “I try something, and if it doesn’t work, I try something else.” If you need an ideology to save the planet, that sounds like a pretty good one to me.

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