Video of J.W. Westcott Delivering Mail on Detroit River

Did you know that freighters traveling the Great Lakes receive their mail by a pail on the Detroit River? The J.W. Westcott Company has been delivering the mail by boat for over 100 years. Today, the mail is sent up the side of freighters via a five gallon bucket - affectionately known as "Mail by the Pail!" I found a nice little documentary on YouTube that gives some history of the J.W. Westcott Company as well as video of a typical mail delivery. It is pretty neat stuff and the video is right around four minutes long.

Some quick facts about the J.W. Westcott II -

• First ship issued its own zip code 48222
• Only non-military vessel to have a zip code
• High traffic days see about 60 deliveries made
• The ship and crew deliver mail 24 hours a day

While looking up information about the J.W. Westcott Company and the ship, J.W. Westcott II, I had forgotten that it had capsized and sank in October of 2001. The sinking took the lives of the ship's Captain and deckhand and the J.W. Westcott II was later salvaged and put back into service. Find the U.S. Coast Guard's report on the investigation of the sinking from the here.

You might also like to see a nice photo display of the J.W. Westcott II along with notes and some history. The photos and documentation were put together by James W. Hebert. Head on over to continuouswave.com/boats/westcott/index.html.

Oops, I Messed up the Link to the Shipwreck Pictures

I made an "oops" with the link to the slide show of shipwrecks that I posted yesterday. I have it fixed now so you can enjoy the show! Sorry about that :)

Hey Granholm & DeVos, it's the Economy, Stupid

Remember Bill Clinton's successful presidential campaign in 1992? The Democratic strategist, James Carville, hung a sign in Clinton's campaign headquarters that had the following three points -

1. Change vs. more of the same
2. The economy, stupid
3. Don't forget health care.

You know, both Granholm and DeVos could both be using those three points in their campaigns this year. Especially now that a recent poll from the Detroit News shows that 79% of Michigan voters polled say the economy (stupid) is the top challenge facing Michigan. Also, 64% believe that Michigan's economy is getting weaker with only 9% thinking it is getting stronger.

One of the poll's scariest numbers (at least to me) was that Education was in second place (behind the Economy at 79%) with 4% believing that it is the most serious issue affecting Michigan. Without a proper education how will the future Michigan workforce be any better prepared for a rapidly changing economy than our current workforce?

Will it be Governor Granholm or her challenger Dick DeVos that creates a solid plan (with hard facts and figures) and gives Michigan voters enough hope to garner their votes this November?

Upper Peninsula Town Harassed by Bears

There must have been a bear jamboree in Ironwood up in Michigan's Upper Peninsula over the weekend. On Saturday, Ironwood Public Safety Department officers received eight different reports/complaints of bears. A large number of the complaints seem to be in reference to one of the bears in particular. He was tracked and after the IPSD contacted the Michigan DNR he was put down. The bear had been traveling through back yards and other areas where children are normally present and could not be scared out of town. For the safety of the kids and other residents the DNR recommended that the only action was to put the bear down. Another bear was later spotted in town and officers spooked it enough so it ran out of town with someone's bird feeder in its mouth.

All-in-all, Ironwood residents had quite the time with the convergence of numerous bears on their town. I am sure it would have been neat to see the bears (from a safe distance), but scary as a parent when you want to keep your kids safe.

Read the original article in the Ironwood Daily Globe

Michigan's DNR has a brief, yet informative guide to "Preventing Bear Problems in Michigan." The first main point the guide makes is to "never intentionally feed bears." It goes on to list various potential problems and the appropriate actions that you should take. I found it to be informative and to the point. Too bad that most of it is common sense since it seems that common sense can be in such short supply some times :).

Key Points of DeVos' Michigan Turnaround Plan

Okay, it took some doing, but I managed to peruse the 34 page Michigan Turnaround Plan that Dick DeVos unveiled late last week. Like all plans, his has a plethora of innovative ideas and common sense. However, putting this plan and individual ideas in place is a whole different ballgame. I love fresh and innovative ideas. Getting them up and running is usually a tough sell. Too often, our lawmakers (both federal and state levels) are stuck in the old mentality of "but we have always done things this way" and are scared to make bold moves down a new path.

DeVos' Michigan Turnaround Plan outlines four missions that he has set for our state. Again, it is an "outline" which means that he lays out his ideas without a lot of concrete ideas on how to accomplish them. I am not knocking DeVos' plan, Governor Granholm does the same thing with all of her plans. All politicians do this sort of thing. Remember the first President George Bush's "no new taxes" statement?

Anyway, here is a (very brief) synopsis of the four missions DeVos has outlined for Michigan's Turnaround Plan:

Mission #1 - Create a job climate second to none. So no other state can “Match Michigan.”

• Get rid of the SBT
• Reduce the red tape and layers of government to make it easier to start businesses in Michigan
• Demand high standards for high school graduates. Offer support to administrators and teachers as well as give them the tools they need to meet those requirements

Mission #2 - Overhaul state government to make it work for Michigan families. To make it work for jobs.

• Transform the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) into what it was meant to do – attract job providers and create jobs.
• Cut through red tape
• Cut state spending. Michigan's budge has increased over the last four years. FY 2002-2003 $39.077 billion FY 2006-2007 $42.385 billion

  Increase of over $3 billion

Mission #3 - Diversify our economy to create the jobs of tomorrow.

• Get job creation ideas from our universities
• Simplify the process of starting a business in Michigan
• Market Michigan's agricultural products around the world
• Increase funding for tourism promotion

Mission #4 - Conquer the global marketplace and sell Michigan-made products all over the world.

• Improve our efforts to sell Michigan-made products around the world (here, here, I support that :))
• Make and promote a “Made in Michigan” brand.

Read the full report here.