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Friday, June 17, 2005

Northboard.net - Web Based Classifieds

TRAVERSE CITY, MI - Traverse City independent web designer Joseph McLaughlin and BrightBridge Studios announces the release of Northboard.net, a web based community classified board. The website enables people to buy, sell, trade, find people of similar interests, communicate and connect with their community online.

Northboard.net provides a free platform for individuals in the community to place traditional classified advertisements instantaneously, view ads placed by others of similar interest and connect online. The website gives the community an opportunity to reach a larger reader base than traditional print classifieds, there is no registration and it works in real time so there is no waiting period. All communication is web and email based saving time, money and paper. The person placing the ad has the ability to activate, delete and renew at their leisure and can also help monitor the board by flagging anything deemed inappropriate.

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# posted by farlane @ 11:31 AM 0 comments
 

Now Widget Powered!

Just picked up DashBlog. Hopefully that will remind me to post updates throughout the day as news and items of interest roll in...

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# posted by farlane @ 10:52 AM 0 comments
 

Five Things You Need to Know for Friday, June 17, 2005

Houston, we have a series!

Also, if you haven't been checking our Arts & Entertainment section, you should be! A&E Editor Stephen Johnson has been posting a ton of Michigan events.

Lawmakers Seek Permanent Great Lakes Drilling Ban
Hearst Newspapers (via the Freep) reports that a group of lawmakers from states surrounding the Great Lakes urged Congress on Thursday to permanently bar new oil and gas drilling in the waters. The federal moratorium that currently bans new drilling operations in the five lakes (which provide drinking water for more than 30 million Americans) will expire in 2007.

Iron Mountain Builds Coaches
The Marquette Mining Journal reports that longtime friends and Iron Mountain natives Tom Izzo (MSU Hoop coach) and Steve Mariucci (Detroit Lions head coach) are featured in the current issue of Sports Illustrated. "Lean on Me" includes photos from the past and present of the pair. Unfortunately, you need to be an SI subscriber to view the story online.

More High Schoolers than Ever Participate in Sports
The Oscoda Press reports that all-time records for participation in high school sports were broken by Michigan High School Athletic Association member schools during the 2004-05 school year, topping the 300,000 mark for the first time (6000 more than to 02-03 record). Volleyball continues to be the most popular sport for girls while the most popular boys sport is football.
Michigan High School Athletic Association web site

Blues in the Black
The Detroit News reports that state lawmakers are asking nonprofit health insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan to use part of their $2.2 billion surplus to help bail out state health care programs for the poor that are in jeopardy because of the state's budget crisis. If the Blues don't voluntarily do so, Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Shirley Johnson will consider introducing legislation to revoke the tax-exempt and nonprofit status of Michigan's largest health insurer.

U of M / Google Library Agreement Posted
The Search Engine Watch blog reports that the agreement between Google and the University Of Michigan for the Google library digitization program has now been posted online. Under the agreement, the entire print collection of the University Library will be put into digital format.
Michigan Digitization Project web site

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# posted by farlane @ 9:26 AM 0 comments
 
Thursday, June 16, 2005

Five Things You Need to Know for Thursday, June 16, 2005

What an absolutely depressing day of news. Unemployment climbs, welfare families with serious medical problems targeted, and over it all, our politicians seem more concerned with counting coup on each other than in turning our state around.

Milliken: A Michigan Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand
The Michigan Land Use Institute has the transcript of the speech given at the Mackinac Conference by Michigan's elder statesman, former Gov. William G. Milliken. In the address, Milliken blasted ...the growth of meanness, of bitterness, and of excessive partisanship that can only work to the detriment of the region, the state, and the nation. and said The focus has turned to winning elections rather than to developing responsible public policy.

GOP Welfare Plan Passes House, Opposed by Dems
The Lansing State Journal reports on the GOP plan that passed the state House to end aid for people who have been on welfare four or more years on Jan. 1. The measure would affect 15,000 families (and cut benefits to over 60,000 more families remaining on welfare). Republicans say the cuts are needed to address the $773 million deficit for 2006.

Michigan Indian Tribes' Rights to be Tested in Court
The Leelanau Enterprise reports that a major federal court case is shaping up on whether members of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians (GTB) can hunt according to their own rules and fish on inland lakes without regulation by the State of Michigan. The GTB and 4 other tribes claim that an 1836 treaty gives them the right to regulate their members' hunting & fishing activities.

Business Tax Proposal Coming from Michigan Republicans
The Gongwer News Service reports that Michigan House Republicans will pursue a counterproposal to Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm's plan to overhaul business taxes. The proposal could involve the credit toward the SBT on personal property taxes paid, but broadening it beyond just manufacturers. The GOP plan also would likely include changing the tax's formula to base it entirely on sales.

Michigan Unemployment Climbs Again in May
The Detroit News reports that Michigan's unemployment rate rose slightly for the 2nd month in a row to 7.1% in May (a loss of 15,000 jobs & 2% above the national average). The rest of the country has been posting employment gains as Michigan has been posting job losses, a very troubling sign.
Visit MichiganWorks for employment, training & employer tools

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# posted by farlane @ 10:53 AM 0 comments
 
Wednesday, June 15, 2005

Five Things You Need to Know for Wednesday, June 15, 2005

GAME 3: PISTONS 96, SPURS 79! Check out the Freep's Game 3 Photo Gallery.

Miller Wants to Change One Word of Constitution
The Port Huron Times-Herald reports that US Rep Candice Miller has put forth a proposal to ammend the US Constitution to change "persons" to "citizens" where it refers to the numbers that determine representation in Congress. The change is significant due to large numbers of illegal aliens increasing representation for California and other states.

College Tuition Going Up
The Detroit News reports that parents and students are bracing for steeper college bills this fall as university leaders in the coming weeks finalize what are expected to be higher tuition rates. Under funding plans being considered by the Legislature, 13 of Michigan's universities would see at least a fraction of a percent increase in aid. Under one of the plans, Wayne State and Northern Michigan, however, would see cuts of 5% and 10%.

Walking the (River) Walk
The Detroit Free Press reports that just as it appears the San Antonio Spurs can teach the Detroit Pistons thing or two about basketball, the Spurs' hometown can teach Detroit something about urban design. San Antonio's River Walk is one of the nation's most vibrant waterfront tourist economies, with restaurants, bars and clubs while Detroit's RiverWalk has a ways to go.

Ann Arbor Wireless Security Tested, Fails
Detroit Free Press tech columnist Heather Newman has a report on an impromtu test of Ann Arbor wireless network security she and Jim Haburne from Interlink Networks conducted. They found 900 wireless computer networks with over half having no security at all. Perhaps we don't need to spend money setting up free networks after all...

What's in a Name?
Apparently, lots. mLive reports that after two of the Detroit Zoo's baby wolverines were given nicknames of Sparty & Bucky by a zookeeper (MSU grad), some UM fans and zoo backers threatened to reduce donations and sponsorship. The babies are significant as both captive (77 total) & wild wolverine populations are dwindling and the zoo has changed their names to Tamarack and Tilia (Michigan Trees).
Detroit Zoo web site

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# posted by farlane @ 9:26 AM 0 comments
 
Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Five Things You Need to Know for Tuesday, June 14, 2005

The Freep has 5 Reasons Pistons can win. Favorite: #3 When there are bad calls, the Palace fans can yell and scream and cry about the refs -- so Rasheed won't have to. He can try concentrating on basketball for a change. Go Pistons!

Nestle to Request Water Ruling Be Overturned
The Grand Rapids Press reports that today Nestle, owner of Ice Mountain, will ask the state appeals court to throw out a 2003 ruling by Judge Lawrence Root, who said the environment is at risk no matter how much water is pumped by Nestle. Gov. Granholm, business leaders and environmentalists will be watching this ruling as it will have profound impacts on the future of groundwater withdrawals.
Also see Granholm shoves after Legislature refuses to push for water laws and editorial from the Bay City Times

Flag Day, Every Day
June 14th is Flag Day, and the Lansing State Journal has a feature on Diane and Gary Durow who will display 50 to 100 extra American flags at their Okemos home. The Durows are willing to donate the flags to a museum or other institution that would display them and use them to help educate people about them.

Eye-Opening Crime Numbers for Downtown Detroit
Detroit Free Press columnist Tom Walsh reports on a new study from Wayne State that finds if you divide the number of downtown crimes by the number of downtown residents plus the number of commuters who work downtown, Detroit's crime rate is 26% lower than that of the United States and 21% lower than the state of Michigan's crime rate (and much safer than widely believed).

Wires Are Apparently Not Cool...
The State News reports that in an effort to land a state grant as part of Gov. Jennifer Granholm's Cool Cities Initiative, city officials are hoping that a proposal to add free wireless Internet "hot spots" in downtown will put them on the list to receive some extra cash.
Michigan's Cool Cities Initiative

UAW Tells GM Workers to Prepare for Insurance Hike
The Detroit News reports that United Auto Workers officials are telling hourly workers with General Motors to prepare to pay significantly more for health care coverage. GM has indicated it could take unilateral actions to reduce employee health care expenses, which will grow to $5.6 billion this year -- or $1,500 for every vehicle it makes.

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# posted by farlane @ 8:28 AM 0 comments
 
Monday, June 13, 2005

Five Things You Need to Know for Monday, June 13, 2005

Michigan History Magazine tells us that June 13, 1924 was a dark day in Detroit Tiger history (but Sparky Anderson was hired on June 12, 1979, so it evens out).

Preservation of the Sanilac Petroglyphs
The Detroit Free Press reports that the Sanilac Petroglyphs, American Indian carved figures in a piece of sandstone deep in the woods of northern Sanilac County, are the last of their kind in the state and could be lost forever unless something is done soon to preserve them. Local and state officials and the Saginaw Chippewa Indian tribe are seeking new ways to preserve the petroglyphs.
Sanilac Petroglyph information & map from Michigan.gov

The Sanilac Petroglyphs Photo Gallery (interesting, if unconventional site, with a nice photo gallery!)

Select Michigan: Great Taste! Great Lakes!
Last week the Detroit News reported on Select Michigan, a partnership between Michigan Integrated Food and Farming, the Michigan Department of Agriculture, area retailers, Michigan commodity groups, manufacturers and producers, and local units of government. The new catch phrase is "Great Taste! Great Lakes!" -- look for it in your grocery store.
Visit the Michigan Marketplace at Michigan.gov

Michigan Execs Earn Less than Average, but Still See Gains
The Detroit Free Press reports that Michigan's Fortune 500 top executives increased from $6.1 to $6.3 million in 2004, less than the nationwide average of $7 million. Fun fact: it would take more than 105 years for the average hourly worker to make as much as anyone on the list made last year. Executive pay was up 14.5% while hourly wages incresed 4.5%.

Women's Golf Tour Tournament in Ann Arbor
The Fifth Annual Bank of Ann Arbor FUTURES Golf Classic at Lake Forest Golf Club. The 54-hole tournament will be held June 22-26, at the Lake Forest Golf Club. The FUTURES Tour is the Official Developmental Tour of the LPGA, the largest international developmental tour and second largest women's professional golf tour in the world.
Lake Forest Golf Club

Should that be Troutboy & Petoskeygirl??
The Freep reports that Spy Kids director Robert Rodriguez cast a couple of young actors with Michigan roots to play the title characters in his latest film, "The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3D". Taylor Lautner (Sharkboy) was born in Grand Rapids and grew up in Hudsonville and co-star, Taylor Dooley (Lavagirl) spent her first five years in the Detroit area.

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# posted by farlane @ 10:09 AM 0 comments
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