Blogs List
From Way Downtown
 Chris Dobrowolski |
That's what I like to seeTue, November 3, 2009 @ 1:48PM Matt Stafford probably wasn't that defiant, more like stating a fact, when he said he won't let Lions' fans run him out of town after fans were yelling less-than-desirable things at the rookie QB at the end of Sunday's 17-10 loss to the Rams. Still, I like Stafford's moxie when it comes to handling adversity. I know I was adamant Detroit pick someone else with the top pick in last spring's draft, but Stafford has shown a great deal of toughness under fire, unlike a certain champagne-drinking and cavier-eating former Lions QB. While he hasn't been great yet, Stafford has steadily improved since the beginning of the year. One of these weeks he may actually lead them to a victory. Unfortunately for Stafford, and Lions fans, more than the occasional victory won't occur until Detroit gets star receiver Calvin Johnson back, improves its offensive line and gets better on defe.
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Pardon me, but ...
 Steve Murch |
Boeing 787 Dreamliner back in the newsWed, October 28, 2009 @ 3:36PM If you'll recall several years ago Alpena attempted to win the bid for the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner plant. It was a pipedream at best, but it was one Alpena was right to dream about and try to achieve. If you have any doubts, ask someone on the unemployment line if they would like a shot at working for a major manufacturer. The bid went to Everett, Wash., which anyone who knew even the slightest about the process would tell you that was going to happen. Washington's incentive package was better than Michigan's and the rumors inside and outside the industry were that Boeing was using the bid process to milk Washington for all it was worth. Well now Boeing and the 787 are in news again. It appears the company is at the very least using South Carolina as a bargaining chip with the union, but more likely it is going to build a second production line, this time in Charleston, S..
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Upon Further Review.....
 Steve Schulwitz |
Ballots and pollsWed, November 4, 2009 @ 7:47PM Another election is in the books. Here are just a few of my thoughts and observations from a busy day of election coverage. I knew things were tight in Montmorency County, but I never dreamed BOTH the millage proposals for the sheriff's department would fail. The deputies are currently driving cars that have excess of 180,000 miles and are well past their retirement time. If the millage requests would have been approved it would have allowed Sheriff Don Edwards to run patrol officers 24-7, several times a week, and hire more deputies. Instead it appears the county commissioners are going to cut 1 or 2 patrolman because of budget restraints. I hope the voters in the county didn't drop the ball on this. It took me about 10 seconds to fill out my ballot. I voted for a mayor, who ran unchallenged and a pair of city council members who ran against nobod.
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More BS (Bill Speer)
 Bill Speer |
A gas pump was Halloween's scariest costumeMon, November 2, 2009 @ 4:24PM Halloween's scariest costume wasn't Dracula, a witch nor Barack Obama - it was the little kid who visited the door dressed as a gasoline pump. The price of gasoline has leaped by 30 to 40 cents a gallon since last month. Unfortunately, it couldn't have come at a worse time. With merchants already uneasy about the upcoming holiday season, higher gas prices only make them more nervous. Last year between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31 gas prices dropped on average 93 cents a gallon across the United States. It was like an energy rebate for consumers and was especially welcomed at that time as it gave consumers a little more green in their wallets to spend on gifts. We know from experience that when gas prices skyrocketed from 2006 to 2008 it hit consumers hard and spending levels dropped significantly for just about everything.
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Art Beat
 Diane Speer |
Bad news - book store closingFri, November 6, 2009 @ 4:11PM Working at a newspaper, I'm used to hearing/reading bad news. Still, I'm personally frustrated by the latest bit of negative news that just passed my way. Granted it isn't on par with this week's horrific shooting at Fort Hood, but it's bad news for the community, bad news for book lovers and bad news for me. Waldenbooks at the Alpena Mall is set to close sometime after the first of the year. Borders Group Inc., based in Ann Arbor, has announced its plans to close 200 of its mall-based Waldenbooks and Borders locations, including the store in Alpena. As a lover of books and magazines, Waldenbooks has always been one of my favorite places to stop whenever I'm at the Alpena Mall. Maybe it didn't always have the huge selection of the bigger stores that have sprung up in recent years, but staff was always more than willing to go online and order any book for me. I'm sure the closing is just one more casuality of a severely sagging economy.
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Inside out
 Caroline Zilk |
Fire: the inside perspectiveMon, August 10, 2009 @ 0:09AM Yesterday seemed like it was going to be a slow day in the newsroom. Most of our stories and photos for the paper on Monday were from events over the weekend: the nautical festival, the tractor show, the Posen pageant. Then, all of a sudden, our sports editor, Chris asked if we smelled smoke. I didn't at first, and made myself a little dizzy trying to sniff and smell something. But when I walked into our sports room - a little closer to the outside of the building - I smelled A LOT of smoke. It took us a while to figure out where the smoke as coming from, but it was easy to see from the window of the newsroom...and we actually called the police. Chris joked that we had a new lead story for page one, but I said the fire department would probably just think we were bored and needed something interesting to happen. Either way, we didn't have to travel too far to find the news.
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