Category: General
Howell’s Balloonfest Now
Balloonfest, which runs June 22-24 on the grounds of Howell High School gives hot-air balloon pilots a chance to skim across treetops. The event is home to other attractions, including the Windjammer Stunt Kite Team, the Paul McCowan Airshow, which will perform skydiving jumps, and an art festival. Details here…
70-Mile Bike Trail in N.E. Lower Michigan
A 70-mile trail that cuts through forests and along waterways is complete in northeast Michigan and the follk up north are excited about it. Here’s more…
Michigan’s historic sites and museums offer summer learning opportunities
The state of Michigan’s Historical Museum System with its 11 historic sites and museums around the state gives families dozens of learning opportunities this summer with special programs and tours. The Michigan Historical Museum, located in downtown Lansing, is open year-around and offers visitors a glimpse into Michigan’s past. Read more
DNR reports U.P.’s Duck Lake Fire is 100 percent contained
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources today reported that – roughly three weeks after it started with a lightning strike in the eastern Upper Peninsula’s Luce County – the Duck Lake Fire is now 100 percent contained. Recent GPS data show the fire stands at 21,069 acres. Read more
New minimum size limit regulations for lake trout and splake on northern Lake Huron take effect June 14
The Department of Natural Resources today announced new lake trout and splake regulations in the northern portion of Lake Huron, specifically for Management Units MH-1 and MH-2 (see descriptions below). The changes will be implemented on June 14, 2012, and include: Read more
DNR offers fast sale opportunity for Duck Lake Fire area timber
The following updated news release is being sent to correct the address of the DNR’s Newberry field office, for those who wish to meet there for the June 21 tour. The correct address appears below. We apologize for any inconvenience.
June 13, 2012
Contact: Keith Magnusson, 906-293-3293 ext. 4740 or Debbie Begalle, 517-335-3354
Due to the recent Duck Lake wildfire north of Newberry in Luce County, the Department of Natural Resources plans to conduct large-scale salvage operations to harvest portions of the state-managed forest damaged by the fire. Because of the special circumstances (the potential for bug infestation in the trees that are left) that require a fast sale, potential bidders will have just one week in which to visit the sale sites and submit their bids. Read more
Veterans Honored Spontaneously
For all the vets who have made freedom possible:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=FgecqttxoQg
And, this from a teacher, who I would bet would not be among the crowd of supporters…A school principal in Brooklyn, N.Y., is feeling the heat after banning the Lee Greenwood song “God Bless the USA” from a kindergarten graduation cermony, according to a report from the Huffington Post.
Instead, Greta Hawkins, who is a Jehovah’s Witness, will allow the popular Justin Bieber song “Baby” during the commencement on June 20. She has received racist hate mail in response to her decision. Any wonder?
Rogue Lightning Strike Kills TBF Angler

Ponca City, OK – TBF mourns the loss of division championship angler, Lorenzo Magdaleno, 51, from Lake Placid, Fl. He was a veteran angler and a member of the Florida Bass Federation and the Homestead Hawg Hunters club for more than a decade. Magdaleno was pronounced dead by Florida officials on Friday, June 8, after a bolt of lightning apparently struck Magdaleno and his boat partner, Mike Hardin, from Tennessee while they fishing shortly after noon prior to the final day weigh-in of the TBF Southern Division Championship on Florida’s Lake Okeechobee. Read more
Motor-less Mower Swings into Action
By Glen Wunderlich
Before the invention of the internal combustion engine, and even before horse-drawn farming equipment, crops still had to be cut to be harvested. And, the tool of choice was the human-powered sythe. My introduction to the strange instrument came some 36 years ago in a remote area of West Virginia, where doing things the old fashioned way was still the only way. Paw Paw, my wife’s grandfather became my personal trainer. Read more