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Five Things You Need to Know for Friday, November 11, 2005

Today is Veterans Day. Visit the Michigan Veterans of Foreign Wars and say thanks to a VET.

Free College for All Kalamazoo Public School Students

Photo by Ed Roth

WLNS TV-6 Lansing reports that students graduating from Kalamazoo's public schools will now go to college, for free.

Anonymous benefactors are subsidizing the "Kalamazoo Promise" scholarship program and it is hoped it will spur housing sales and attract business development. Students who have attended for four years or more will be given funding for Michigan college tuition and fees according to years in the system.

Read School District Receives Scholarships from WLNS News
Kalamazoo Public Schools (click on the huge "Kalamazoo Promise" banner)

Armistice Day Storm & the Carl D. Bradley

While the Edmund Fitzgerald receives the lions share of the press, Michigan has many other shipwrecks worthy of a place in our memory.

Carferries of the Great Lakes has a story on the Armistice Day Storm of November 11, 1940, one of the worst storms in the recorded history of Lake Michigan that claimed 5 vessels, and 66 lives.

The Marine Historical Society of Detroit's "Great Lakes Ships We Remember" has a brief story on the Carl D. Bradley, which sank off Gull Island on Lake Michigan on November 18, 1958. All but two of the crew of 35 were lost and most came from tiny Rogers City.

Read The Armistice Day Storm of 1940 The Carferries of the Great Lakes
Read CARL D. BRADLEY from Great Lakes Ships to Remember
Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at the Whitefish Point Light Station

Michigan Fallen Heroes Memorial to be Unveiled

The Detroit News reports that workers are putting the final touches on a memorial to honor the 761 Michigan police officers and firefighters who have died in the line of duty since 1864. The Michigan Fallen Heroes Memorial is a life-size bronze statute of a police officer and firefighter kneeling side by side before a wall listing those who have died and will be unveiled Nov 21 at the the Oakland County government complex.

Read Heroes side by side in life and in death in the Detroit News

GM on the Ropes

The Detroit Free Press reports that General Motors' stock price plunged to a 13-year low Thursday after the latest in a string of financial problems dismayed shareholders once again. Wall Street experts say Michigan's largest company could be bought by a corporate raider like Las Vegas billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, forced to file for bankruptcy, or both.

Read GM VEERS OFF ROAD: Automaker is ripe for bankruptcy in the Freep

Hillsdale Mayor Watch: Day Three

Hillsdale's new mayor, high-school senior and write-in candidate Michael Session has now made PEOPLE. However, his new career as one of the nation's youngest elected officials is not yet assured. His initial 64-vote margin was has dwindled to a slim 670ñ668 lead in the official count. By law, any vote that the Board of Canvassers believed was intended for Sessions was counted for him including "18ñyearñold high school student" (but not "anybody else"). A recount appears certain.

Read Canvassers confirm win for Sessions from the Hillsdale Daily News
Also see High Schooler Elected Mayor in Michigan from PEOPLE.com can book deal/mini-series be far behind?