Behind the Headlines

Road crews seem to be keeping up with keeping the interstates clear based on real-time cameras on the freeways. I-75 in Monroe County appears mostly clear and wet as does I-275 north of the county. Using a menu that allows users to select a certain area, the Michigan Department of Transportation’s freeway camera Web site allows motorists to see the conditions on certain sections of the roadways before they set out.

–Charles Slat

Snow in downtown Monroe around 6 this morning appeared to be 1½-inch ovals – real monsters.
It got me to wondering what determines the size and shape of a flake.
Turns out that scientists have found that snowflakes take different shapes, depending on the air temperature and the cloud level where they originate.
To start, flakes are made up of as many as 180 billion molecules of water. A snowflake begins as a drop of water condensing on a speck of dust. At temperatures of 32 or lower, the droplet freezes and more droplets condense and freeze on it. If the cloud temperature stays below freezing, enough droplets will freeze and collect to form a hexagonal six-sided snowflake that falls to earth when it gets heavy enough.
In the highest clouds where temperatures are lowest, snowflakes take the shape of six-sided columns sometimes with the ends capped. Slightly warmed temperatures in the middle cloud layers will produce both a column-shaped flake and a flat six-sided shape called a hexagonal plate. The lowest clouds and warmest temperatures create snowflakes in hexagonal plates, short columns, long thin needles and stars. These snowflakes which form in warmer temperatures are also the largest flakes.
It was about 30 degrees in Monroe at 6 this morning. That means that conditions were ripe for a snowflake to form that was about three times the size of a typical half-inch flake. But some snowflakes have been recorded that are three to four inches long. Interesting enough, the larger flakes have far less intricate designs than smaller ones.

–Charles Slat

Driving around Monroe County this afternoon, I was impressed with the number of elderly people out clearing their walks and drives. I saw about three older people hard at work. They all were using shovels.
I also visited an older couple with health problems in Monroe Township. While maneuvering the drifted snow along their porch and front walk and bypassing the handicap accessible ramp, it occurred to me that many people in advanced age are truly at the mercy of the weather. Someone is going to have to help them dig out, or they stay imprisoned in their homes.
Maybe that’s why in advance of storms lots of folks do grocery shopping. People were in droves at area markets today. I guess the thinking is that if they’re snowed in for days, they won’t have to resort to snacking on Tabby. But that doesn’t explain why it seemed so many were buying Lotto tickets at the store I visited late this afternoon.

Charles Slat

The Lake Erie mayflies are making their annual visit.

I saw several mayflies this morning in downtown Monroe.

– Paula Wethington

A recent study predicts that Great Lakes levels could drop dramatically in the years ahead due to climate changes.
U.S. Rep. John D. Dingell, D-Dearborn, and Michigan Department of Natural Resources Director Becky Humphries will be at Cabela�s in Dundee from 4 to 5 tonight to discuss the consequences of global warming for sportsmen during a public town hall meeting.
According to the recent �Seasons� End� study on the threat climate change poses to hunting and fishing, by 2030 water levels in the Upper Great Lakes could drop nearly eight feet, leading to a regional decline of as much as 39 percent in the number of ducks in the region. Nationally, if the trend continues, up to 42 percent of the trout and salmon habitat could be lost before the end of the century. The town hall discussion will address what steps are currently being taken � both nationally and locally � to confront this issue as well as what more can still be done.

No, not for more politicians coming to town, but for an annual River Raisin clean-up scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 13 in downtown Monroe.
The City of Monroe Commission on the Environment is fielding volunteers to help scour the riverbed now that water levels are down in the wake of dam water-control gates being pulled.
Community volunteers will be retrieving litter, old shopping carts, discarded bikes and other trash and debris from the riverbed. The group will assemble at 9 a.m. on the Riverwalk west of the Monroe Street bridge, work until 11 a.m. and then be treated to a picnic in the park, with prizes, starting at noon.
More info is here.

By Stephanie A

With it’s somewhat spooky moniker, I’ve always been a little curious about this piece of land. I’d heard about its probable acquisition into the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge awhile ago and now, it’s happened. Yesterday there was a little ceremony and official announcement that the 49 acres that once comprised the Lady of the Lake youth camp will now be part of the refuge.

Though I’m generally reluctant to link from one blog to another, I think it’s worth it in this case. Anyone who wants to get a sense of what the Lady of the Lake land looks like, check out Erie Hiker/Monroe Expatriate’s blog at www.blogsmonroe.com/expatriate/?p=1062. It’s very much like a virtual tour of the place.

You can look for more detailed info on the whole official aspect of the land acquisition in today’s MEN or check at the web site www.monroenews.com.

The Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge has more information too. Check out: www.fws.gov/midwest/detroitriver/.

Something that kept occurring to me, as someone who has never fully explored the land: what kind of camping experience was this for the kids? All I picture is overwhelming wetland and mosquitoes. Does anyone remember camping there?

Maybe they’re finally getting tougher and enforcing the laws set up to protect our resources here. What do you think? Would this or has this ever happened in Monroe County? Was this enough of a punishment?

From the DEQ:

Chippewa County District Court Judge Sentences Two Wetland Violators to Jail Time

Chippewa County District Court Judge Michael W. MacDonald recently accepted a guilty plea and sentenced two individuals to serve five days in jail and pay a fine of $2,500 plus $155 in court costs and fees in connection with illegal dredging and filling of state regulated wetlands. The defendants, Michael Edward Coon and Michael Donald Lucchesi, pled guilty to a misdemeanor violation of Michigan’s wetlands protection law as a result of their driving off-road vehicles through valuable Great Lakes coastal wetland areas on Drummond Island, destroying much of the wetland vegetation and disturbing the habitats of nesting Ospreys and other wildlife.
In addition to serving jail time, Judge MacDonald ordered the defendants to file with the court a plan to restore the impacted wetland areas to their original condition in accordance with DEQ requirements and to have the wetland restoration plan completed by no later than June 30, 2008.
This resolution is the result of the coordinated efforts between the DEQ, Department of Natural Resources, and the Office of Chippewa County Prosecuting Attorney Brian Peppler. These combined efforts have resulted in quickly resolving this case and ensuring that the coastal wetland area will be restored.
“It is critical that we protect our Great Lakes coastal wetland areas that provide a unique and valuable ecological habitat for Michigan’s fish and wildlife,” said DEQ Director Steven E. Chester. “We appreciate the support of the local community in helping to resolve this case and protect our environment.”
Judge MacDonald additionally required the defendants to provide a letter to the residents of Drummond Island through the local newspaper regarding the violation and terms of their sentence.

NASA has released one of the first close-up photos of Mercury.

This photo was taken this morning. Mine’s the one with the big carrot for a nose. See if you can find it.

By Charles Slat
Most of Monroe County woke up to a white blanket of snow Sunday, but it was a rarer storm than one might imagine.
Best estimates are that the Monroe area got from 5 to 8 inches of snow. According to the National Weather Service, the probability of Monroe getting 5 inches or more of snow on any Dec. 16 is 2 percent. That’s based on a span of about 45 years.
This 2 percent storm came in a series of weird waves. For reasons we won’t get into, I was up at 12:30 a.m., 2 a.m. 3:15 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. watching it.
If you were out on the roads after closing down a bar in the Monroe area, you probably were driving in a mix of rain, sleet and snow, all rolled into one. That’s when the real ugly part of the storm seemed to hit. Then it turned back into snow. That’s why underneath that mantle left behind on Sunday was a hoary crust of ice. It really is a wonder there weren’t a lot of widespread power outages.
The stats on this one might make some record book, if only because the amount of snow on Dec. 16 is so rare. In fact, the closer the official snowfall moves toward 10 inches, the rarer the version of the storm you got. The NWS says the chances of a one-day snowfall dumping 10 inches on the Monroe area on the 16th of December is 0 percent.
And just think, the official start of winter is only five days away.
Happy shoveling.

In this picture, if you look really, really closely, I’m the one in the bright orange cap sort of toward the left side.

By Charles Slat
I attended the state public hearing on new pollution rules for the Holcim cement plant Thursday night.
I’ve been covering public hearings of various kinds for years. I estimate I’ve covered maybe 100 in the area over the years and dozens before I came to The Evening News.
The Dundee hearing was unique in my experience because absolutely no one at the hearing spoke in favor of the anti-pollution rule the state was proposing for the cement plant. Even state officials at the hearing acknowledged the rarity of that.The state listened to nearly 40 commenters during the session, most of them Holcim employees.
Why is this?
There might be four reasons.
First, someone has convinced the employees that the state action will force the plant to shut down. Unless Holcim has already decided to do that for some other reasons, that’s probably not going to happen. But the threat is scary enough for the employees.
Second, the current state of the economy has enough people worried that the mere whisper of the possibility of job losses will move them to action.
Third, Dundee area residents aren’t as nearly as concerned about pollution from the plant as they have been in years past, and that might be because they’ve either learned to live with the pollution or it’s not nearly as bad as it once was.
Fourth, employees and managers genuinely believe that the plant is unfairly being singled out for enforcement. There doesn’t seem to be any compelling evidence of that. More than likely, much of what has been going on between the state and the company has been the result of a negotiating stalmate and each side has been trying to force the other’s hand — the company by trying to marshal employee and public pressure and the state by playing hardball with the rules.
Hopefully, they’ll soon come to terms that everyone can live with.

It’s a Lake Superior fall color tour.

Play around with green-ness. See how many points you can rack up by riding the bus, your bike or walking – without actually doing anything.
Planet green game, sponsored by (*sigh*) Starbucks is kind of an interesting way news and/or issues are increasingly being dealt with – play a game, maybe learn something, and hopefully apply one or two of the gleaned points to your everyday life.
You can play it here: http://www.planetgreengame.com/

P.S. Green also used to be significant when worn on Wednesdays and/or in the form of M & Ms. Does anyone else remember this?