The Open Door Resource Center will celebrate 30 years of service to the Waterford Community in 2010. To help celebrate their achievement the Berkfield & Co Ltd./ Waterford Insurance Agencies and the Waterford Chamber of Commerce are joining in an effort to raise 30,000 lbs of fresh and non-perishable food by August of 2010. Stay tuned for more news about this project and how you might help us reach our goal.

The number of people needing help in our community continues to grow. A reliable source for food is something we can all appreciate and help provide.

More information on the food drive will follow on http://www.roninsureme.com .

Three local communities are receiving national recognition for their affordable housing.
Holland, Kentwood and Jenison were ranked in Money magazine’s top 25 list of “Where homes are affordable,” which was released this month.

“Holland is, when you look nationally, among the very best for the pricing of homes,” said Al McGeehan, mayor of the No. 4-ranked city. “It’s one of those things that people look for when they look for a new place to call home. They look at the cost of living, and it starts with housing.”

Median home price and median family income were the two main factors in determining the rankings. Other criteria included job growth, crime and the number of restaurants in the area.

Continue reading: mlive.com

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wants public comment on plans to spend $475 million for a Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

But the only public meeting on the plan in Michigan will be Aug. 3 in Lansing.

Oh well. The State of the Great Lakes is a bummer, anyway. Nobody cares, right?

A State of the Great Lakes report for 2009 says that in Lake Huron, for instance, “major changes to the food web, new
diseases, and nearshore algal fouling are of serious concern.”

Does anyone out there plan to drive to Lansing? You might want to attend a July 22 get-together in Bay City.

Source: mlive.com

Adam Richman, host of the Travel Channel’s “Man v. Food” show, will take on the burger Wednesday as part of his digestion conquests. The episode, to be taped during the Whitecaps’ contest against the Peoria Chiefs, will be shown at a later date.

Continue reading: mlive.com

Studying Detroit and its problems appears to be a growth industry.

This spring and summer, the British Broadcasting Corp. and the U.S. Public Broadcasting Service were filming documentaries about the plight of Detroit and the city’s hopes for a revival. A gaggle of other documentarians and journalists were doing the same.

Local experts say Detroit has achieved something unique. It has become the test case for all sorts of theories on urban decay and all sorts of promising ideas about reviving shrinking cities.

Continue reading: freep.com

Gov. Jennifer Granholm has signed an executive order eliminating the Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries and eliminating about $2 million in associated, annual costs from the 2010 budget.

Continue reading: crainsdetroit.com

Fresh out of bankruptcy, the new General Motors hopes to soon start selling its whole line of cars on eBay through a pilot program.

While the marketing effort would initially be limited to California, it could go national if it proves to be successful, said GM Chief Executive Fritz Henderson at a news conference Friday.

A tie-up with eBay wouldn’t be entirely new for GM. The automaker has been placing all of its “GM Certified” used cars on eBay for over a year. Toyota and Chrysler have similar programs for their certified used cars, as well.

Continue reading: cnn.com

President Barack Obama will make his first visit to Michigan since taking office, holding a town hall meeting Tuesday at Macomb Community College in Warren.

The White House refused to confirm the topic of the meeting except to say it will focus on economic issues. But some officials said the president may highlight worker retraining, an important subject in the state with the nation’s highest unemployment rate, at 14.1 percent.

The White House is expected to release details soon about what time the town hall is Tuesday and how participants will be selected.

Continue reading: detnews.com

Chef Eve Aronoff — chef-owner of eve restaurant in Ann Arbor’s Kerrytown district — will compete this fall on Bravo’s “Top Chef: Las Vegas,” the sixth season of the top-rated cable series, the network announced today.

Aronoff, 40, was classically trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, but her contemporary cooking style is known for its bold, exotic flavors and eclectic international influences that range from Cuba and Africa to Vietnam. Her intimate restaurant, opened in 2003, features a seasonally changing menu, an outstanding wine list and a casually sophisticated ambience.

She has cooked at the prestigious James Beard Foundation headquarters in New York City and is the author of her own cookbook.

Continue reading: freep.com

With Motown Records celebrating its 50th anniversary, the Free Press went for the gold. Our staff traveled literally coast to coast uncovering stories that demonstrate the label’s continued relevance.

Watch them at: freep.com

Michigan’s tourism industry is taking a hit because of the economy. But, some say it would be worse if not for the Pure Michigan advertising campaign, which is running nationally for the first time this year.

As the long Fourth of July holiday weekend drew to a close, tourists still roamed the streets and waterfronts of Grand Haven on Monday.

Traveler Phyllis Ursetta says she is “vacationing, resting, recouping, and you can do all of that. It’s just so nice and pleasant and easy going. And I enjoyed it a lot. ”

She’s enjoying “Pure Michigan.”

Continue reading: wzzm13.com

Michigan has lost half of the wetlands that were in place before the first settlers came along, and pending changes to the way those acres are monitored and protected could put what remains at greater risk.

In an effort to find savings in a tough budget year, Gov. Jennifer Granholm has proposed putting wetlands protection back in the hands of the federal government after more than a dozen years. In a report released today by the National Wildlife Federation, however, environmental experts said there are no guarantees Michigan would please those on either side of the issue.

“While we believe there are some shortcomings in the current Michigan wetlands program … returning the program to federal administration under Section 404 would neither result in a stronger, more comprehensive program, nor likely result in any cost savings overall,” according to the report. “Instead, the state should identify resources as needed and make a commitment to maintain administration of this important program.”

Continue reading: detnews.com

Avery Johnson will not be the next coach of the Detroit Pistons, who are instead closing in on hiring Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach John Kuester.

Johnson, an ESPN NBA analyst, confirmed in a SportsCenter interview Tuesday afternoon that he and the Pistons have broken off contract talks after more than two days of negotiations.

Sources close to the process told ESPN.com that the job would instead go to Kuester in a deal likely to be completed later Tuesday.

Continue reading and watch the video: espn.com

It’s not that Flint officials are opposed to residents growing their own food in backyards or on nearly 2,800 vacant residential lots within the city limits (a list that’s still growing to the tune of about 500 vacant lots per year).

The problem is the laws on the books simply predate the city’s new urban reality.

“The zoning ordinance hasn’t been revised since 1968, when we were a booming industrial city and didn’t have to think about agriculture as part of city planning,” said Erin Caudell, a technical assistant for the urban agriculture collaborative an

Continue reading: mlive.com

http://discoverstjoseph.blogspot.com

An Ionia County couple just wanted to dig a new pond in their yard.

Instead, Rich and Annette Schneider of Portland dug up some history.

The Schneiders unearthed the bones of a 10,000-plus-year-old mastodon, an elephant-like animal that became extinct shortly after humans arrived in the Great Lakes region.

Rich Schneider tells WILX-TV the dig turned up a leg, a rib, a tusk and more.

They plan to donate the bones to the University of Michigan.

Scientists tell WLNS-TV the animal was buried by ancient hunters who stored it there to eat. The station said Wednesday it’s one of only about 250 mastodons found in Michigan over the past century.

Portland is located about 20 miles west-northwest of Lansing.

Source: lansingstatejournal.com

Today, the iconic brewery, in Michigan’s Bavarian-style capital of kitsch, reopens to the public after 2 1/2 years languishing in a restaurant purgatory of sorts.

“We’re back and ready for action,” said Dave Scholten, general manager of the restaurant on Frankenmuth’s main street, just alongside the Cass River. “It’s a good day for Michigan beer.”

The Frankenmuth Brewery claims status as America’s second-oldest beer-making operation, but it hasn’t been an easy trip to the present from its beginnings in 1862, just 17 years after German settlers founded the town that morphed during the 20th century into one of the state’s most notable tourist destinations.

Continue reading: detnews.com

Michigan is the ninth fattest state in a nation struggling with an obesity epidemic, said a report released today by a national health care foundation wanting reform to include this leading health care expense.

The 2009 “F as in Fat” report by the not-for-profit Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation finds 28.8% of Michiganders are obese, with a height-to-weight-based calculation of body mass index of 30 – about 30 pounds overweight for a 5-foot-4-inch person.

Nearly two-thirds of the state is battling either obesity or being overweight, considered a BMI of 25 to 29.9. The obesity percentage has steadily increased since 2005, when 25.3% of the state was obese. The state is now spending upward of $3 billion a year dealing with obesity-related medical issues.

Continue reading: freep.com