Darko gets first start for Pistons, scores 16.

2005 Motor City Music Conference Guide
The Detroit Free Press has unveiled a guide to the inaugural Motor City Music Conference featuring more than 600 events at 50-plus venues that will be held in downtown Detroit & Hamtramck this Wednesday through Sunday (April 20-24, 2005). You can view the schedule, band profiles & photos and even download MP3s from performers.
Go to the Freep Music Section for complete coverage

Access Diminishes as Upper Peninsula Tracts Sold
Associated Press writer John Flesher writes that for years, mining and timber companies owned most of the land in the UP's Keewenaw Peninsula and received state tax breaks for keeping it open to the public. Now as the companies are selling off prime real estate and dividing large parcels, access to those forests, rivers, lakeshores is diminishing.

Michigan Catholics React to New Pope
The Detroit Free Press reports on the reaction of Michigan Roman Catholics to Pope Benedict XVI (German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger). A related story profiles several Michiganders who work at the Vatican including Vatican astronomer Brother Guy Consolmagno, who charts the heavens from Castel Gandolfo and through the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope.
Also see EXPERTS IN LAW, SPORTS, ASTRONOMY: Michigan clergy will have role in pontificate in the Freep

DEQ Effective, Needs to Improve Cleanup Cost Recovery
The Detroit News says a report released Tuesday by the Michigan Office of the Auditor General that while the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality is effective at identifying and addressing environmental contamination, it needs to do a better job identifying the sources of the pollution and making the owners of those facilities cover the state's costs. The audit covered late 1999-2002.

2005 Detroit Area Golf Guide
The Detroit Free Press has published its annual guide to the top 10 public courses in the Detroit Area. The Orchards (18 holes, 7,036 yards, par-72, designed by golf architect Robert Trent Jones Jr.) is ranked No. 1 out of over 150 public courses in metro Detroit. #2 is Salem Hills in Northville followed by Dunham Hills in Hartland.

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