Behind the Headlines

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

I’m listening to the Monroe County Central Dispatch on a battery-operated radio scanner. I now know why my home’s power browned out … I did turn off everything possible. I’m on laptop battery power right now.

Here’s some of what I’m hearing as 911 dispatchers call out Monroe County fire departments:

• Trees down in Bedford Township.
• Wire down on truck on Secor Rd. in Bedford Township.
• Wires down, possibly starting a fire, at the corner of Noble Ave. and Baptiste Ave. in Monroe.
• Wires down at Secor and Sterns Rds. in Erie Township.
• Wires down in Ash Township.
• Possible structure fires including on Superior Rd. in Frenchtown Township - but I’m hearing so many overlapping calls I can’t follow the details.
• Transformer fire in Monroe Township
• Tree on truck on Spaulding Rd.

By Paula Wethington / paula@monroenews.com

The National Weather Service in Detroit has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Monroe County, Mich. until 8:30 p.m. June 9.

Ottawa Lake, Petersburg and Carleton are in this storm’s path.

By Paula Wethington / paula@monroenews.com

Monroe County, Mich., is under a severe thunderstorm watch from 1 to 10 p.m. Sunday June 8.

National Weather Service in Detroit.

By Charles Slat

DTE Energy put on its power demonstration for the kids attending Ag Day at the Monroe County Fair Friday. If you haven’t seen it, it’s a pretty impressive show that demonstrates, in part, the dangers of high voltage electricity.
During part of the show, one of the DTE Energy linemen asked the crowd if any of them had experienced a power outage.
Scads of hands shot up.
You mean there are that many Consumers Energy customers in the crowd? he asked.
Consumers employees probably would consider such conduct revolting.

How would you like to have these views in the morning and evening?

By Paula Wethington / paula@monroenews.com

I live in the northeast part of the city of Monroe. Yes, that is small hail falling from the sky, at least in this neighborhood, at 6 p.m. April 28.

I would guess it’s about pea-sized.

By Dean Cousino dean@monroenews.com

What a refreshing way to escape the working blues and do some old-fashioned square dancing at Hickory Park in Ida. My wife and I attended a wedding reception there Saturday night for Rhonda Drodt and Dave Opfferman and what a surpirse — a live band playing oldies and square dances. You don’t see that very often. The banquet hall owned by the American Legion in Ida with its hallowed old beams and space for 700 people is famous for its dancing, especially with its huge pine floor. There were all ages dancing — too bad we didn’t have an Evening News photographer there to capture the action on digital or video.

By Dean Cousino

I’m putting together a roundup of various fairs and festivals in the Monroe County region for 2008 that will be published in the Arts and Entertainment section May 1. If anyone has an event they want to be mentioned in the roundup, contact me at 240-5771 or e-mail me at dean@monroenews.com.

Charles Slat

A study by the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research has concluded that having a husband means an extra seven hours of housework a week for the average woman. It also found having a wife means an extra hour of housework a week for a typical man.

It’s not clear from the study whether changing the oil or hammering one’s thumb can be categorized as housework.

The Brit newspapers were crazy earlier with images from NASA that they say show a “humanoid figure” on Mars.

The original picture: You can see the original here or click here

In a close up detail of the pic:
The “figure can be found in the bottom left hand side of the panorama.

What do you think? Evidence of life 0n Mars or an interesting rock formation?

Went to Panera Bread on Monday morning to dig dirt on the “Mitt” Romney campaign for President.
I hit the motherlode.
Mary Romney, his daughter-in-law, was among those stumping for the candidate. After being grilled relentlessly, she confessed that “Mitt” is not her father-in-law’s real name. It’s his middle name.
His real name is “Willard,” and for most of his youth, he was known as “Billy.”
For reasons we’re still investigating, he CHANGED HIS NAME to Mitt.
We asked if his middle name was Mitt because his father, George, was once Governor of Michigan, the mitten-shaped state. Actually, he was named after his uncle, a quarterback for the Chicago Bears, Mary blurted out under intensive questioning.
Actually, our research finds that George’s cousin, “Milton” Romney was quarterback for the Bears from 1925-29. So “Mitt” actually should have the middle name of “Milt.” This makes us wonder if Mary actually is his daughter-in-law.
Why all the deceptions? What possibly could be the reason?
Besides, what would have been wrong with “Willard For President?” He would have had a ready-made slogan: “Where there’s Will, there’s a way.” In fact, there’s nothing wrong with “Milt for President” either.
Something’s really fishy here, especially at a time when our nation is debating the issue of national ID cards.
This also raises the question of whether “Mitt,” or whatever his name is, truly has the “family values” that he says he has.
Why would someone with strong family values, abandon the name their family gave to them?
At the risk of making this another campaign issue, I’d say Willard owes us all a full explanation BEFORE a Congressional investigation is launched.

By Stephanie Ariganello; stephaniea@monroenews.com

Reading! Yay! I was just turned on to a new (for me at least) Web site from coworker and fellow reader Stacy. You can find it at www.goodreads.com. it’s an online community specifically for readers.

With another Big Read right around the bend, and a community focus on reading, I figured I would mention this. Plus, as “the paper” or “the news” we kind of have a vested interest in the further promotion of the written word.

It seems like it could be a great place to get some Christmas gift ideas, too.

A short amount of time later:

At Staples, three young men decided they would set up hobo shop, pitching a makeshift tent and waiting things out in the comfort of their space heated room on air matresses. They said they were in line since about 4 p.m. yesterday. Laptops were the hot thing.

The people gathered there, though most were not together, seemed to have a certain camaraderie about them. It seemed like a kinder, gentler shopping experience.

Shawna reported, that even though she and her sister were some of the first shoppers at Old Navy, there was no MP3 player to be had. They grabbed their stuff and got in line, but were told that only the first 39 people who got wristbands when they came in the doors were eligible for the free gift. She definitely felt shafted, she said.

Bath and Body Works and other mall stores, though, Shawna reported were moving along swimmingly.

Original plans were for Santa to show up at Frenchtown Square mall today, but someone realized that traffic might be lower due to the Michigan-Ohio State football game.
So Santa won’t debut until tomorrow.
That might leave some kids blue. But maybe Santa doesn’t care. After all, when he’s done sliding down the chimney, isn’t his soot-stained suit all scarlet and gray?