MackinacBridge.org has been updated for the first time that I can remember since I first stumbled upon it a few years ago. It has a neat new interface and a lot of extras to boot. I believe the site has been updated to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the opening of the [...]

The Mackinac Bridge officially opened on November 1, 1957 and this year is celebrating 50 years of spanning the straits. Part of the year-long celebration is the introduction of four really great 50th Anniversary posters of the Mighty Mac.

The $4 fee for each poster includes - postage, printing, and sales tax. I think I might buy the whole set and build a custom frame to hold them all.

I can’t imagine they are making much (if any) money off of these. If they are actually making a small profit on the posters, I haven’t the foggiest what it would be for. Hopefully a charity (of course with the state’s budget the way it is - Michigan could possibly qualify as a charity these days) would be the recipient of any funds.

Here are the thumbnails of the actual posters. You can view somewhat larger versions at Michigan.gov.

30 X 12 - Printed in Silver & Black


30 X 12


16 X 25


15 X 30

You can order by phone, fax, or snail mail and can pay by check or credit card. For more information head over to Michigan.gov.

Well, it was fun while it lasted. Winter finally arrived here in Michigan (and the rest of the Midwest) which caused energy forecasters to predict increased use of heating oil and natural gas which caused the price of a barrel of oil to spike up. This eventually made it to your local filling [...]

I love to read. I go through at least one book a week over numerous topics. The state of Michigan releases a list of books by Michigan authors (or that cover Michigan-related topics) every year through the Library of Michigan.
There are 20 books in the 2007 list. It looks like there are [...]

Here we go again. Our roads need fixing and our budget needs balancing. Hmm, what to do?
Oh yeah, lets have a tax increase!
But, it’s for the good of the people.
Really.
The Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association wants to keep us driving and help out Michigan’s economy (how generous of them). Therefore, they have [...]

Last year, I wrote about the Outhouse Classic that takes place up in Trenary, Michigan. I was fortunate enough to come across a video of the 2005 event on YouTube.
Some of the outhouses people made for the race are quite well done and could stand on their own as Upper Peninsula works of art. [...]

The Detroit News ran an interesting article over the weekend about the state of Michigan’s lighthouses. Once a necessary navigation tool for the ships that plied the Great Lakes - now decaying in their obsolescence and abandoned by the Coast Guard.
The bottom line (as with most things these days) is the cost of maintaining [...]

Pfizer sales suffered in 2006 and the result is that Ann Arbor and Kalamazoo residents lose places of employment while the state loses another 2,410 jobs.
Pfizer is looking to cut 10,000 jobs worldwide by the end of 2008. This makes the Michigan cuts alone nearly 25% of their planned total job cuts. [...]

Each year Lake Superior State processes thousands of words that the public recommends should be banished from “the Queen’s English for Mis-Use, Over-Use and General Uselessness.” The list is whittled down by a committee in December and released in January. Here is this year’s list in no particular order.

GITMO - shorthand for U.S. [...]

For the time being, Michigan drivers can fill their tanks on sub-$2 gas. Whether it is due to the mild winter weather, politics, or the generosity of OPEC (hah, doubt it) we have an average Michigan gas price of $1.95.
I filled up yesterday morning for $1.93 and by last night it had dipped down [...]