Behind the Headlines

By Paula Wethington / paula@monroenews.com

Well, this is WAYYYY behind the headlines. But did you see that little snippet about Houston, Texas, in today’s Associated Press story in the print and e-editions of The Monroe Evening News about Tropical Storm / possibly soon Hurricane Dolly?

In the Houston area on Monday, Harris County Judge Ed Emmett asked residents of the state’s most populous county to keep their gas tanks full, stock up on supplies and make sure they have plans ready to either evacuate or ride out a storm.

My college-age daughter, Karolyn, is spending this summer living with relatives in Houston. She was able to line up a job that pays a lot better than she could earn in Michigan, so that’s where she’s been soaking up the sun and beach shells and … now, hurricane alerts!

Those of us relatives in southeast Michigan / northwest Ohio have been teasing her via e-mail during the past day or so. Teasing and gentle reminders of “keep your cell phone charged” are all that we can do. Her other relatives down there are taking care of business.

The tropical storm warnings include the county south of Houston, according to the most recent maps from the National Weather Service’s Houston/Galveston district.

If you’re a news junkie, here is a list of every newspaper in Texas that has a web site, including Houston Chronicle and The Herald in Brownsville.

By the way, The Monroe Evening News does like to include local stories when possible for national events. If you live in, or are formerly from, Monroe County, Mich., and have a story to tell about Hurricane Dolly, contact city editor Doug Donnelly at doug@monroenews.com or at 734-240-5777.

By Paula Wethington / paula@monroenews.com

It’s 3:30 p.m. Tuesday July 8, and we’ve got a nasty downpour taking place in downtown Monroe.

The power to The Monroe Evening News building on Front St. blinked off momentarily, but came back.

FYI for those of you are are near, or will be driving, in the Toledo / Oregon area ….

The National Weather Service in Cleveland has issued a tornado warning for Lucas County, Ohio, until 3:30 p.m. today Tuesday July 8.

A severe thunderstorm warning has been issued for Monroe County, Mich., until 3:45 p.m. today July 8.

National Weather Service- Detroit.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DETROIT/PONTIAC
HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
SOUTHEASTERN LENAWEE COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN
MONROE COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN

* UNTIL 345 PM EDT

* AT 221 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER
RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF
PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS UP TO 60 MPH.
THIS STORM WAS LOCATED 6 MILES
SOUTH OF BLISSFIELD...MOVING
EAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
OTTAWA LAKE BY 235 PM EDT...
LAMBERTVILLE BY 245 PM EDT...
SAMARIA BY 250 PM EDT...
TEMPERANCE BY 255 PM EDT...
ERIE BY 300 PM EDT...
LUNA PIER BY 305 PM EDT...

Monroe County, Mich., is under a severe thunderstorm watch until 8 p.m. today Tuesday July 8.

National Weather Service - Detroit.

The National Weather Service in Detroit has issued a flood warning for the River Raisin. The river is expected to crest in Monroe Sunday morning.

For details, go to the NWS web site.

By Paula Wethington / paula@monroenews.com

I just came across this web site: MichiganFireworks.com.

You can search by date or by city for fireworks shows across the state. Monroe and Luna Pier are among the notices in the database.

From monroenews.com:

Consumers Energy Co. reported about 200 Monroe County residents were without power late Wednesday evening when strong thunderstorms ripped across the county.

The company’s Web site is reported about 150,000 customers across the state are without power. Thousands in Wayne and Lenawee Counties are included.

DTE Energy was not reporting any power outtages on its Web site at 10 p.m.

The storm came from the north and hit the county around 7 p.m., with lots of lightning, strong winds and heavy rains. Downpours put standing water in some business parking lots and briefly filled ditches

Traffic along US-23 near the state line came to a brief standstill as a flurry of rain drenched the region. Some downed tree limbs were also being reported.

Showers and potential thunderstorms remain in the forecast for Thursday in the region. The forecast for the holiday, however, appears to be clear.

DTE, meanwhie, reported it was going to start a tree-trimming program in Ida and Berlin Townships this month.

“Tree interference is responsible for about two-thirds of the power outages that occur during storms,” company officials said in a press release. “That’s why Detroit Edison employs more than 500 professional tree trimmers to maintain the estimated 3.5 million trees in its service territory.”

By Paula Wethington / paula@monroenews.com

The National Weather Service in Detroit has issued a severe thunderstorm watch for Monroe County, Mich., until 10 p.m. today July 2.

By Paula Wethington / paula@monroenews.com

There is another round of power outages this morning, most likely weather-related.

Monroe County Central Dispatch has received reports of outages on the east side of Monroe and along the Dixie Hwy. area. That coincides with where I saw power out this morning in northeast Monroe.

Dispatchers also have reports of power outages in the Summerfield-Ida West area.

DTE Energy has an outage map by zip code in pdf format that, as of 6:45 a.m. today, is showing current outages in the 48162 (north Monroe) and 48166 (Newport) zip codes.

Feel free to chime in here or on MonroeTalks as to where else you’ve noticed electrical problems today.

By Paula Wethington / paula@monroenews.com

In Saturday’s edition of The Monroe Evening News, there will be a story and at least one photo of the Monroe Advanced Robotics Competition taking place at Monroe High School.

Now while the story does focus on what’s taking place at the high school and why, there also was a very clever publicity event scheduled at the Phoenix Theater at Frenchtown Square mall.

You see, there’s this new movie called WALL*E, a Disney-Pixar science fiction film that stars a robot who  goes about his tasks on Earth, when he meets and falls in love with another robot.

And the press release that was sent to The Monroe Evening News explained this publicity tie-in. The robotics teams participating in Monroe were invited to “bring their robot to the movies” for a special screening. The plans included reserved seating up front for the robots, while their team members / handlers / students enjoyed the show. And a concession stand display was intended for the robots, with bolts and batteries such as they might prefer in lieu of popcorn and soft drinks.

Now, I don’t know who thought up that idea, because a similar publicity event also was scheduled at Phoenix Theater in Farmington Hills.

But it was a very clever concept to cross-promote the student contest and the movie!

By Paula Wethington / paula@monroenews.com

The National Weather Service has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the city of Monroe and parts of Monroe County until 3:15 p.m. today Monday June 23.

By Paula Wethington / paula@monroenews.com

A severe thunderstorm watch has been issued for Monroe County, Mich., until 7 p.m. today Saturday June 21.

National Weather Service - Detroit

By Paula Wethington / paula@monroenews.com

Did you get involved with Big Read 2007 and Big Read 2008?

Monroe County got a grant to set up Big Read 2009. The next assignment is “The Great Gatsby.”

Read about it on page 1A of today’s print and e-editions of The Monroe Evening News or at monroenews.com.

By Paula Wethington /paula@monroenews.com

A severe thunderstorm watch has been issued for Monroe County, Mich., until 9 p.m. today Sunday June 15.

National Weather Service - Detroit.