John Schneider has a humorous column in today’s Lansing State Journal about his annual battle to plant tomatoes as early as possible. After trying this the past few years, I can relate. However, this year I capitulated and plan on planting my tomatoes this weekend.
The past two years have seen an [...]

Dick DeVos spoke with the Detroit Economic Club on Tuesday and expounded on how his experience running a business translates into turning around Michigan’s economy. The question remains if he becomes our next Governor is, will the Michigan House and Senate work with him and make the tough decisions (i.e. giving the power back [...]

Thanks in large part to the efforts of Muhammad Ali, Niles schools have a new ball diamond for their baseball team. With “the world’s greatest” spearheading the efforts and more than a little help from Home Depot and the Detroit Tigers, the old practice field (as players and coaches referred to the previous rundown [...]

Today, May 22, the Ottawa County Community Action Agency will be holding an energy workshop at the Michigan Works! Service Center from 6-8:30pm. Another energy workshop will be held on Wednesday, May 27, in Holland in the main conference room of the Ottawa County Public Health Building from 2-4:30pm.
The workshops will help you save [...]

Superior Death is set in a fictional town on Lake Superior in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The fictional town of Apostle Bay strongly resembles the writer’s hometown of Marquette, Michigan. Matthew Williams’ first novel revolves around a murder mystery of a girl falling from one of the high cliffs overlooking Lake Superior.
The book [...]

The current statewide average in Michigan for a gallon of regular unleaded is $2.829 as of today, May, 22, 2006. This is actually down a bit from the average one month ago of $2.898. One year ago we were paying $2.101 per gallon across Michigan.
We took a road trip over the weekend and [...]

Bear Cave is the only cavern in the Great Lakes area. It was formed in “tufa rock” which is a secondary limestone. It is estimated that this particular bed of rock is at least 25,000 years old and is resting on a glacial drift deposited during the last ice age approximately 50,000 years [...]

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy.
-Gordon Lightfoot

The storm that raged against the Edmund Fitzgerald produced hurricane force winds howling more than 69 miles per hour and waves towering over 25 feet. Fitzgerald was also loaded down with 26,116 tons of taconite pellets. That is enough iron to create roughly 7,500 automobiles (stat courtesy of href=”http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&tag=giftbasketsfr-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&path=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2F0932212883%2Fsr%3D8-1%2Fqid%3D1148055364%2Fref%3Dsr_1_1%3F%255Fencoding%3DUTF8″>”The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” by Frederick Stonehouse). The storm she was traveling in was one so bad that the forecast technology used at the time had sorely underrated its power.

Courtesy of NOAA

Whether it was failed hatch closures as the Coast Guard concluded in its investigation or a poorly chartered shoal that ripped into the ship’s hull one thing remains true. The storm that was raging on November 9-10, 1975 was one of the worst storms ever recorded on any of the great lakes. Even the captain of the Edmund Fitzgerald, Ernest M. McSorley, remarked that it [the storm] was “one of the worst seas he had ever been in.”

A new report issued this month by the NOAA found that the Edmund Fitzgerald was caught up in the worst of the storm conditions in one of the worst areas on Lake Superior. Through the use of what NOAA terms “hindcasts” (forecasts in retrospect) they noted that the Fitz met her fate during a six-hour window of the storm’s ultimate fury. The Edmund Fitzgerald was also heading south when the waves were just battering her from west to east.

The wave action can be backed up in Capt. McSorley’s remark to the Arthur Anderson’s Captain, Jesse Cooper, that his vessel was “rolling some.” Heading south would create a rolling effect from the waves running from right to left against (and over) the ship. The storm might not have been the ultimate cause of the Edmund Fitzgerald’s sinking, but it must be considered a major player at a minimum.

Visit the NOAA website for details of the report.

Additional information on the Edmund Fitzgerald available online:
Wikipedia - Edmund Fitzgerald
S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald Online
NOAA’s Marquette, MI Office
From Amazon.com you can also purchase -
Mighty Fitz : The Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald
“The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” - this was the source of some of the additional information for this article

Did you know that there is a huge amount of fun stuff for kids to do at the www.michigan.gov website? Your kids can learn about Michigan history, outdoors, government, and the many great places to visit across our state. All under the pretense of fun.
Isn’t it great when kids don’t realize they are [...]

Michigan State Capitol, originally uploaded by Larry the Biker.

In honor of Michigan week kicking off this weekend I thought I would share this great photo of our Michigan State Capitol Building.

For more information about the state capitol and for tour information visit http://www.michigan.gov/som/0,1607,7-192-29938-57591–,00.html