The Zoo Crew is taking its act national. The Pistons reconstituted bench will be featured on “NBA Access” on Saturday as host Ahmad Rashad shows the country what Pistons fans have come to know about the new cast of players providing relief for the NBA’s best starting five.

Zoo Crew: All Access

UPDATE: Watch the Zoo Crew segment at Need4Sheed.com

The melt from one of the snowiest winters in years around the Great Lakes is expected to boost water levels in the upper lakes, which had hit or approached record lows last fall, by as much as a foot this summer, bringing joy to boaters and lakeside businesses.

Read the complete article here

One lucky traver will win a vacation filled with wine, food, shopping and a stay in a luxurious suite.

The package includes:
$250 gift certificate for a stay at Black Star Farms in Suttons Bay- plus extras!

$100 gift certificate to go shopping in downtown Traverse City.

Brunch for two at the Bluebird Restaurant in Leland.

A free book on discovering Michigan Wineries!

Find out more about the contest here

John Cullen of Dexter is making a repeat performance at the Philadelphia Flower Show, the nation’s hotbed of horticulture.

After winning several awards at last year’s event, Cullen’s firm, Celtic Gardens, was hired to build this year’s major exhibit for Tourism Ireland, a sponsor of the show in progress through Sunday at the Philadelphia Convention Center.

Link

Madonna might belong to the world now, but we had her first in Michigan. On March 10, 2008 — 25 years after the release of her first album — our own Material Girl will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Check out a massive Madonna page at the Detroit News

The university is in talks with Toledo-based N-Viro International Corp. to mix solid human and animal waste with coal to make fuel for MSU’s T.B. Simon Power Plant.

The ultimate goal is to find a cost-effective way to reduce MSU’s carbon dioxide emissions, said Bob Ellerhorst, director of utilities at the university.

Read the rest of the story here

Students from 15 high schools across Michigan will test out their poetic chops during the “Poetry Out Loud” state championship competition Saturday, March 8, in the Forum of the Michigan Library and Historical Center, 702 W. Kalamazoo, in downtown Lansing. This free event runs 1 to 4 p.m. and is open to the public and poetry enthusiasts young and old.

Event details are here

Over at Michigan Liberal, the fictional (but still well-connected) Hazen Pingree writes:

A source close to the negotiations has confirmed to me that the Clinton campaign is indeed giving serious consideration to a new vote in Michigan. An actual government-sanctioned primary isn’t going to happen. What may emerge is a party-run primary with a large and expansive multitude of sites and opportunities for participation.

My take is that it sure would be great to get some national attention for Michigan’s economic woes.

What would Michigan be today without such crown jewels as Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, Tahquahmenon Falls and the Jordan River?

The foresight, passion and hard work of citizen advocates and public servants have assured that Michiganians today can enjoy the unspoiled beauty of these and many other special places in Michigan. And we in turn have an opportunity to protect other gems for those who will come after us.

…click here to read more

William Milliken was governor of Michigan 1969-1983. He now lives in Traverse City.

Paying passengers will have a chance in August to take off from Midland Barstow Airport on a 79-year-old “Tin Goose” airliner that transported smokejumpers.

“The Tin Goose” was the nickname given to the Ford Tri-Motor type of airplane built by Henry Ford. His Model T automobile was called the Tin Lizzie.

…click here for the rest of the story

We talk about the Detroit music scene and the event that embodies it – from the Freep.com

A town called Blowout – from the Metro Times

LANSING — Actor Jeff Daniels was among witnesses testifying before a joint House-Senate hearing Tuesday, calling for the state to provide more incentives for movie makers.

Specifically, newly introduced bills would give studios a 40 percent rebate on their production costs if they shot their films in Michigan. That would be the highest rebate in the country.

Production costs are a major consideration for studios when they decide where to shoot a film, and among states recently, it’s gotten very competitive.

Michigan lawmakers are hoping that their bipartisan efforts will help the state become competitive with top moviemaking states such as Louisiana, New Mexico, and Connecticut.

Further back, encased in a heavily wooded area, is a five-sided, three-story silo, with windows on each side.

Neighbors said it served as a look-out tower for Capone’s security detail…

After hearing stories that the house was used as a hideout for Chicago gangster Al Capone, the Garlands removed a concrete patch in the basement floor to explore a small tunnel that leads out from the house. Eventually, their curiosity got the best of them. Last spring, they began digging for answers.

…click here for the rest of the story

A think tank today gave Michigan better than average marks for how its state government operators.

The Pew Center on the States, a research group with headquarters in Philadelphia and Washington, gave Michigan government a B-plus, better than the B-minus average grade and in the second tier of states nationwide.

Pothole Photo Contest

With Michigan motorists facing yet another season of nerve-shattering and frame-bending potholes, the Drive MI Campaign is having a seven-week long contest to find the state’s biggest roadway crater.

The contest runs from February 11th – March 28th and will award three $318 “service center scholarships” – the average cost our crumbling and congested roads cost Michigan motorists – to each of the top three entrants who report the worst potholes. Winners will be announced the week of April 1st.

Submit your pothole photo at drivemi.com

uncouch, v., the act of getting out to do yard work or other fresh-air activity after a long winter of being cooped up indoors. Usage: At last, he decided, this would be the day to uncouch and aerate the lawn; but then, a cloud passed in front of the sun.

Lionitis, n., the unshakable belief that the Detroit Lions will play in a Super Bowl in your lifetime.

Confession: I have Lionitis (and also need to uncouch more)