Behind the Headlines

Charles Slat has a post on the Consumer Alert blog about flu shots vs. flu sprays.

– Paula Wethington

By Charles Slat

Parle vous Francais? Sprechen zie Deutsch?
What nationality are you?
That’s a common question when people hear a surname and wonder about its origins.
But what nationality is Monroe County?
It’s tempting to assume that French is the dominant ancestry, considering that early settlers of Frenchtown were, obviously, French.
But the latest Census figures show that most county residents — about 34.9 percent — consider themselves of German ancestry.
Irish was a distant second at 15.2 percent. French was third at 11.1 percent.
Following closely was Polish at 10.5 percent and English at 8.9 percent.
Other nationalities hardly were a blip on the radar.
Those who considered themselves of Danish descent were the least represented among major nationalities. Only 45 Danish descendants live in the county.

By Charles Slat

Frenchtown Township Supervisor Jim McDevitt had an awkward, but perhaps understandable, moment during the grand opening of the new Walmart supercenter Wednesday.
Called to speak before a large crowd of store employees and eager customers, Mr. McDevitt stepped up to the microphone at the podium and commended “Kmart” for its 17 years in the township.
“Walmart!” the crowd roared in unison, correcting him.
He turned and asked store manager Robert Decant, “What did I say?”
Later, Mr. McDevitt was still upset by his gaffe. “I can’t believe I said that,” he told me.
But there might be an explanation found in Mr. McDevitt’s earlier career as used car manager at Friendly Ford.
That was awhile ago when the dealership’s used car lot was at the corner of N. Monroe St. and Stewart Rd. where a Walgreens now stands – right across the street from Kmart.
For years, Mr. McDevitt had a constant view of the home of the Blue Light Special.

USA Today has this report: 70 percent say brides should take husband’s name.

A snippet:

About 70% of Americans agree, either somewhat or strongly, that it’s beneficial for women to take her husband’s last name when they marry, while 29% say it’s better for women to keep their own names, finds a study being presented today at the American Sociological Association’s annual meeting in San Francisco.

The percentage of women in Monroe County, Mich., who take their husband’s names is much higher, based on a married name story I did in 2004. While the local marriage licenses don’t list which name a woman is using after marriage; the divorce records do indicate which name she used during marriage – and which name she is using afterward.

And here’s what I found: Statistics from the 712 divorces and annulments reported by Monroe County Circuit Court in 2003 showed 96 percent of the women had used their husband’s last name during the marriage. About 2 percent kept their maiden name throughout the marriage, and about 2 percent hyphenated both names.

From some anecodotal stories I’ve heard over the years in Monroe, the husband is often the one expecting the woman to change her last name or add his name to hers.

Now as an interesting follow-up: 30 percent of local women who took their husband’s name returned to their maiden name at divorce in 2003. A handful made other name changes, such as hyphenating both names.

More recent court records indicate that about two-thirds of local women are now taking a previous name back upon a divorce.

– Paula Wethington

I saw a link to this blog post at The Survival Mom on Twitter and thought it was a great post: 50 emergency uses for a camera phone.

This would be a good article to print off and put in your disaster kit for situations such as tornadoes, blizzards and power outages.

– Paula Wethington

The Monroe Evening News annual Monroe County Fair Meet the Bloggers event was held Wednesday night at the Evening News booth.

By the time this photo was taken, we were all seeing lots of camera flash spots. But someone who was passing by also was trying really hard to make us laugh!

This photo was taken on Dave Claassen’s camera. The people are:

• Chuck Mason of Fishing Michigan - http://www.blogsmonroe.com/fishing/ (front row -green shirt)
• Mike Ingels of Erie Hiker - http://www.blogsmonroe.com/expatriate/ (back row – red shirt)
• Robert Dluzen and his wife Judy of All Things Green - http://www.blogsmonroe.com/gardening/ (back row – man and woman to the right)
• David Claasen of Faith Reflections - http://www.blogsmonroe.com/faith/ (back row – white hair and glasses)
• Jeannette Albright of Childbirth and Beyond … Naturally – http://www.blogsmonroe.com/childbirth/ (back row – white shirt)
• Paula Wethington of Monroe on a Budget - http://www.blogsmonroe.com/budget/ (front row – black shirt)

Fair-related posts from the bloggers include:

• Faith Reflections: I was at the fair.
• Monroe on a Budget: Monroe County Fair 2009 on a budget; Monroe County Fair food on a budget; Monroe County Homemakers money stretching recipes; Ladies Day Cooking Class; and Monroe County fair goers tell how to Thrive in Challenging Times.
• Fishing Michigan: Fishing at the fair.
• Childbirth and Beyond … Naturally: Wanna see some rabbits getting busy?
• All Things Green: Bloggers and the fair.

We also had a shoutout from a blogger who couldn’t attend: German Journal with Meet and greet time.

– Paula Wethington

The Monroe Evening News will host a Meet the Bloggers event at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the MEN booth at the Monroe Bank & Trust Expo Center.

The following bloggers have confirmed their appearances:

• Fishing Michigan.
• Erie Hiker.
• All Things Green.
• Faith Reflections.
• Childbirth and Beyond … Naturally.
• Mom Moments.
• Monroe on a Budget.

– Paula Wethington

By Danielle Portteus

Social media sites have increased in popularity, especially in the last year. Before beginning at the Evening News, I had a Facebook page.
I really wasn’t into MySpace.
And, to be honest, I wasn’t too keen on blogging.
It’s been about two and a half years since I starting with the Evening News and the paper has significantly redesigned the way to reach out to readers.
I’m not totally sold on blogging. I think I prefer using Twitter to communicate quick ideas to readers. I use the medium a lot when I attend government and school board meetings.
I think Twitter is a great way for me to get out little pieces of information that readers won’t get in a story, as well as some of the core decisions made in real time.
As soon as Bedford Public Schools board of education announced Jon White’s retirement, I posted it on Twitter.
If I need to find someone who has recently lost a job, I send out a Tweet and within minutes, I have a direct response from someone locally who is interested in sharing his story.
It’s amazing how fast something like that spread. Like friends on Facebook, I can follow whomever I want on Twitter. Sometimes there are mundane daily tasks posted like what someone had for breakfast, but then there are other times… like the death of Michael Jackson, that I found information out almost instantly.
At first, I wasn’t sure how I would like using Twitter, but after using it for about six months, I’m sold. It’s my preferred social media site.
The Evening News has a Twitter page featuring breaking news and daily headlines. My co-worker Paula also frequently posts on the site.
Check us out: me (newschic); Paula (MonroeOnaBudget) or the Evening New (monroenews)
I’m sure you’ll get addicted too.

By Danielle Portteus

Just read the report from 2008 on water quality from the South County Water System. Everything checks out. Some small traces of lead were found, but at 0.4 parts per billion, it was far smaller than the maximum of 15 parts per billion that would be declared unsafe to drink.
Water was tested monthly from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2008.
Drinking from the tap is perfectly safe. There is a recommendation to let the faucet run for 15 to 30 sec. before filling up a glass.

Tornado warning now in effect for Monroe County MI

– Paula Wethington

A severe thunderstorm warning has been posted for Monroe County, Mich.

Detroit Weather Service.

– Paula Wethington

A severe thunderstorm watch is currently in effect for Monroe County, Mich.

National Weather Service in Detroit

– Paula Wethington

The Lake Erie mayflies are making their annual visit.

I saw several mayflies this morning in downtown Monroe.

– Paula Wethington

I was at Munson Park today for the balloon release in memory of Nevaeh Buchanan.

The Monroe Evening News had a photographer on scene, as did most of the Toledo and Detroit news media outlets. You’ll see those news reports in the Sunday papers and on the local newscasts this weekend.

In the meantime, these are some of the pictures I took as the people balloons were on standby, waiting for the procession.

As the vehicle approached, the crowd of people lined N. Custer Rd. and released their balloons as the hearse passed by. After the balloons were sent up to the sky, everyone stood at the road in silence.

This was a very family-oriented gathering with lots of young children in the crowd. The park was a great place for the kids to play or have a picnic while the families waited for the balloon release.

This event evolved on the MonroeTalks forums Thursday night so this was arranged on short notice, but word got out out pretty well. I talked with a few people who said they learned about it from reading the newspaper articles Friday and today. It also was listed on various facebook pages and twitter feeds.

I didn’t have any balloons of my own, but one of the MonroeTalkers gave me a bag of balloons to open at the appropriate time. That’s why I don’t have any pictures of balloons flying — I was busy trying to get my balloons to fly to cue.

That’s OK, there were lots of other cameras at the park. You’ll see better photos in the area newspapers tomorrow. There’s also been discussion about the MonroeTalkers who had cameras posting their photos on the web.

– Paula Wethington

A very interesting thing happened on the MonroeTalks forums Thursday night.

The MT members started putting their ideas together for a balloon release in memory of Nevaeh Buchanan, and via the Internet came to a consensus on the details.

The summary can be found here: Balloons for Nevaeh Saturday.

– Paula Wethington