The Urban Organic Festival this weekend in Detroit featuring soul, hip-hop & hybrid blends looks really cool. So do the Grand Rapids Fiesta Mexicana and Albion's Festival of the Forks.

Satellite, MP3s Challenge Terrestrial Radio
Crain's Detroit Business has a feature on how Detroit radio stations are embracing digital technology and even cutting commercial time as more listeners tune in to satellite radio, create MP3 playlists and download podcasts. The article also looks at HD multicasting which allows traditional stations to experiment and try interesting formats and engage new listeners.
Also see Local radio stations shuffle DJs, music styles in the Lansing Pulse

Michigan Fall Color Guide
Travel Michigan has a fall color guide that is updated weekly and showcases a variety of tours in almost every area of the state. Fall colors usually begin to appear in mid September and run through late October.

Leland's Historic Fishtown Now For Sale
The Leelanau Enterprise reports that Fishtown, one of Michigan's most recognizeable tourist destinations, is now for sale for $3.5 million. The Carlson family of Leland had been working with the Fishtown Preservation Society who was seeking to purchase and preserve the property through grants and donations.

Poll Finds Michigan Executives Pessimistic
The Detroit Free Press reports that a poll released at a Michigan Chamber Foundation-sponsored Future Forum conference in Traverse City found that (among other things) 69% of executives surveyed think Michigan's business climate is going in the wrong direction, and 67% think things in Michigan overall are on the wrong track.

Michigan Telecommunications Bill Moves Forward
MITECHNEWS.com reports that a work group and committee testimony produced a tentative decision Wednesday in a Senate committee on a bill to serve as the basis of rewriting Michigan's telecommunications law, set to expire December 31. The current proposal adds a new definition for essential local exchange service and applies the rate limits only to a single voice line to a residential customer's first 50 calls per month. Small business representatives expressed concern of the impact the substitute would have on their rates, which would be completely deregulated.

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The Lansing City Pulse has several articles about the musicians at the 2005 Old Town Blues Fest, the Freep has a Fall Classical Music Guide and our own Off the Couch has a slew of great weekend events!

Great Lakes Restoration Funding Could Be Slashed by Katrina
The Toledo Blade reports that Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Director Joe Koncelik said yesterday that the region's hopes of getting a $20 billion investment under the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration effort could have suffered a blow from the hurricane for the simple reason that the federal government has only so much money to go around.

Northwest, Delta Bankruptcies Impact Michigan
The Detroit News has a detailed analysis on the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings of Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines. In addition to looking at likely layoffs and other economic impacts, there's an article wondering if we're seeing the future of the auto industry. The Lansing State Journal also explores on how this will impact Michigan travellers and travel businesses.
Read Northwest, Delta file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the LSJ

Production of Solar Window Heaters Begins
Here's a bit of sunny news from the Detroit Free Press: Duane Sanborn is mixing a passion for recycling and environmentally friendly technology by putting solar heat in a portable window space heater. Sanborn runs a recycling business, Material Management, and production on the solar devices started last week at Earth Energy Options in Union City.

Legislation Introduced to Protect Mackinac Bridge Authority Autonomy
The Detroit Free Press reports that Republican lawmakers on Wednesday announced legislation intended to protect the autonomy of the Mackinac Bridge Authority. Republicans have been unhappy with the Michigan Department of Transportation's takeover of duties from bipartisan authority, which for more than 50 years has overseen the bridge between the Lower Peninsula and Upper Peninsula.
Mackinac Bridge Authority web site

Hiawatha Water Trail Gets Signs
The Mining Journal reports that workers on a project to develop a 120-mile water trail between Grand Marais and Big Bay have made substantial progress in Alger County this summer. The trail runs through the Hiawatha National Forest and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and signs outline the route along Lake Superior from AuTrain to Grand Marais (and water accessible campsites).
Hiawatha Water Trail web site

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Michigan History Magazine has several photos from historic downtown Holly, Michigan. while the Lansing Pulse looks at Lansing's new Downtown Farmers Market.

Talking With Writer & Columnist George Weeks
The Northern Express has a great interview with one of the icons of Michigan journalism, Detroit News political columnist George Weeks. The article also looks at the revised edition of his Sleeping Bear Yesterday & Today, with 50 new historical images and over 200 photos.
Sleeping Bear Yesterday & Today information and online purchase from University of Michigan press

Emerald Ash Borer Found in UP
The Mining Journal reports that the dreaded emerald ash borer has been detected in the Upper Peninsula for the first time. The invasive, ash tree killing insect was found during a survey of ash trees in Chippewa County's Brimley State Park, along the Lake Superior shoreline. The article has nice maps and a great photo of the borer.

Fall Detroit Art Exhibits Feature Women
The Detroit News reports that headliner exhibits in the area's three art museums give three women artists their due: France's Camille Claudel at the Detroit Institute of Arts, America's Betye Saar at the University of Michigan Museum and Great Britain's Bridget Riley at Cranbrook Art Museum. Other exhibits include concept renderings from Disneyland and the Detroit Artists Market opened "Metalize". The article also gives a good look at the metro gallery scene.

House Democrats Introduce Water Bottling & Shipping Bill
The Detroit Free Press reports that businesses that want to sell Great Lakes water by bottling it or sending it to thirsty states through pipelines would have to get legislative approval under a package of bills to be announced Tuesday by Democrats in the Michigan House.

Changes for State Single Business Tax (SBT) Debated
The TC Record-Eagle reports that the Michigan Manufacturers Association and the Chamber of Commerce have differing views of the SBT. The manufacturing sector backs Gov. Granholm's proposal to roll back the SBT tax on manufacturers and shift burden to financial and service industries. The Michigan chamber opposes the changes, saying it will result in higher taxes for thousands of Michigan companies

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This Free Press editorial says Michigan isn't Dodge City. It doesn't need laws giving people an absolute right to shoot first and answer no questions later.

Northern Michigan Katrina Help Site Launched
The Great Lakes IT Report delivered news this morning that human service agencies in the Traverse City area have created a directory of relief services for Hurricane Katrina victims who have been temporarily relocated to northern Michigan. The site is designed to help any group or agency who is assisting an evacuee from the affected areas.

Northern Lights Visible in Michigan This Week!
The Lansing State Journal reports that the northern lights have been visible in the Lansing area since Friday and are expected to continue through the week because of severe solar flares on the sun.
Astronomy Pictures taken at the MSU Observatory Photos of the Aurora
The Aurora Page from Michigan Tech
Leelanau Northern Lights Log

New Space Laboratory Exhibit at Detroit Science Center
Since it seems like today's theme is astronomy, here's a Crain's Detroit report on the opening of a new Space Laboratory exhibit at the Detroit Science Center on Monday. The lab was funded by a nearly quarter million dollar grant from NASA and features eight permanent, hands-on exhibits on the universe, planets and stars. The grant is also funding space-science teacher workshops and providing field trips to the Detroit Science Center for about 10,000 children.
Detroit Science Center web site TIP: Turn the sound DOWN or your co-workers will laugh at you

LSSU Aquatics Lab Launches Fishcam
The Soo Evening News reports that the Lake Superior State University Aquatics Lab has used a grant from the US EPA to set up a live "fishcam" that allows folks a live view of the fish beneath the turbulent waters immediately behind the Edison Sault Power House. They are mostly Atlantic salmon, but also chinook, whitefish, suckers, walleye, northern pike and others.
Visit LSSU's Aquatics Lab & the Fishcam

Astronomy Cruise on Lake Michigan
Booth Newspapers has a feature on an astronomy cruise on Lake Michigan offered this fall (Sept. 23-25) on the tall ship Manitou. The cruise is one of 7 multiday cruises and in addition to assisting in the sailing of the two-masted, gaff-rigged, topsail schooner, passengers take out sea kayaks to explore after the ship has anchored for the evening and will view the beautiful moonless skies.
More information from Traverse Tall Ships

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The Detroit Free Press's "Our Spirit" will follow two young readers as they read C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia for the first time. Speaking of our spirits, they have to be a bit higher after the Lions convincing thumping of Green Bay.

Michigan 2006 Budget Agreement Reached
The Detroit Free Press reports that schoolchildren, the needy and Michigan prison employees are among those who stand to benefit from an agreement reached Friday by lawmakers and Gov. Jennifer Granholm on a $41-billion state budget. Republican leaders described the agreement as a signal to Michiganders that state government could live within its means and balance a budget without raising taxes.

Republicans Now Back Ban on Canadian Trash
The Canadian National Post reports that Republicans who control the Michigan House are now joining the effort to ban Canadian trash from Michigan landfills. Republicans had resisted a ban on Canadian garbage in the past, arguing that action must come from the federal government. Now, with federal regulation from the U.S. House expected, Republicans have introduced legislation.

Michigan Joins 17 Other States to Collect Internet Sales Tax
The Detroit News reports that beginning October 1, 2005, Michigan and 17 other states will work together to persuade online and mail-order retailers to collect state and local sales taxes. The Streamlined Sales Tax Project provides computer software and other items to make it easier for out-of-state retailers to calculate and collect the tax. While states can't force out-of-state retailers to collect the tax, state law requires Michigan residents to pay the 6% sales tax on items they buy over the Internet or from catalog retailers in other states. The state hopes to net $8 million to $12 million in the first year of the voluntary program.

Cassis Withdraws, DeVos now Sole GOP Candidate for Governor
The headline is almost longer than the story, but WZZM TV-13 Grand Rapids reports that West Michigan native Dick DeVos is now the only Republican gubernatorial candidate after the withdrawal of State senator Nancy Cassis of Novi. Cassis has endorsed DeVos.

30 Years Later, Questions Unanswered on Edmund Fitzgerald Wreck
The Dowagiac Daily News has a detailed feature on the still mysterious wreck of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald. The article talks about the history of the ship and several theories including a gigantic wave, the 'three sisters' phenomenon and striking the bottom in a shoal area due to the deep wave troughs. This is a good read on the Fitz

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