Mackinaw City Winterfest is still on Tap

There might not be much in the way of snow in Mackinaw City this weekend, but the 13th annual Winterfest will go on as planned. Organizers are having to scrounge up snow from around town to have enough for the snow sculpture contest. Other than that, the other events should not be bothered too much by a lack of the white stuff. There will be indoor/outdoor ice skating, a fish fry, frozen fish toss, frozen chicken bowling, buffalo chip hockey, and outhouse races for all to take part in. The Mackinaw City Chamber of Commerce has a slogan - "We have it 'weather' or not."

More event info is available at the chamber website - www.mackinawchamber.com

Winterfest is on, 'weather or not'

Oglebay Norton to Sell its Fleet

Oglebay Norton Co. the company that once owned the Edmund Fitzgerald is looking for a buyer of its fleet of great lakes freighters. This would allow the company to concentrate on its mining operations as well as reduce some of its debt. Catch the full story -

AP News from the Traverse City Record-Eagle

Mountain Biking Association Gives Michigan Trails a B+

Michigan received a B+ on it's 264 miles of mountain biking trails. That was good enough to only rank behind Virginia, West Virginia, Utah, Arizona, and Colorado. Southern Michigan is home to many great trails at Island Lake, Fort Custer, Pinckney, Brighton, and Highland recreation areas. For more information on mountain biking trails in Michigan check out the Michigan DNR website trail search.

Mountain Biking Association Gives Michigan Trails High Marks

Shortage of $.02 Stamps

Due to the recent rate hike of stamps up to $.39 there has been a run on the $.02 stamps to make up the difference for those that still have $.37 stamps. I needed 16 $.02 the other day and while the clerk was digging for them commented on how she hoped they had that many to give me. Luckily, they had enough for me. You would think they would have been better prepared for this considering they knew it was coming for quite some time now. If you haven't gone out and purchased your $.02 stamps you might want to do that before your local post office runs out.

Postal Service short on stamps-Lack of 2-cent items unsettles customers in wake of Sunday's rate increase to 39 cents.

Is This March or January?

We are to expect a high temperature today in the 50s with plenty of sunshine. It has been warm enough lately for the ground to thaw and yesterday I spotted a farmer plowing his field. We had January weather in December and now it looks like we are having March weather in January. At least for now. One year ago today, January 12, 2005, the high temperature in southwest Michigan was 59 degrees. The day before saw cold temperatures and some snow accumulation. If you have lived in Michigan for any period of time you should know by now that this is typical Michigan weather.

WWMT - Digital Channel 3

Michigan #3 Importer of Trash

Did you know that 400 trucks filled with garbage from Canada enter Michigan every day? Out of all of the Great Lakes states, Michigan has the lowest fees for dumping trash. House Democrats want to raise the fee from $.21 a ton to $7.50 per ton to discourage Canada from dumping their trash here. At first glance, that sounds pretty good. However, the new $7.50 fee would have to be paid by Michigan businesses and residents too. Why should we pay higher dumping fees just to discourage Canada from using our landfills?

The proper thing to do would be for the Republicans and Democrats to get together and pass legislation that just outright bans Canadian trash. Will it happen? I guess we will have to take the 'wait and see' approach.

Lansing State Journal: Democrats say voters should halt trash imports