Century old shipwreck discovered in Lake Superior

The Cyprus was carrying iron ore on only its second voyage and sank under strange conditions on October 11, 1907. Only one of the crew of 23 survived. The 420 foot long ship was discovered 460 beneath Superior's waves by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society. The discoverers are hopeful that further investigation of the wreck will give the clues needed to find out why this ship sank in seas that were not particularly rough especially for ships that size.

For a video story of the wreck visit 9&10 News.

Kalamazoo donut shop one of the 10 best in the nation

Sweetwater's Donut Mill in Kalamazoo was recently recognized as one of the 10 Best Doughnut Shops in America. The Kalamazoo based doughnut shop has two locations in Kalamazoo and one in Battle Creek. I have loved their donuts since attending Western Michigan University a while back. My favorite is the Reeses (think Reeses Peanut Butter Cups) Donut. Oh man with that donut and a cup of black coffee I can tackle just about anything (or just sit back with a good book). It's a chocolate cake donut topped with peanut butter creme and a drizzling of chocolate.

Here is what the reviewer, Bret Stetka, had to say about Sweetwater's -

Self-proclaimed peddler of "big, gooey" donuts and known for its rustic, local atmosphere, Sweetwater's offers traditional flavors alongside more decadent donut fare like New York Cheesecake and Peanut Butter Cup. But the shop's tendency toward child-like indulgence is best experienced through its obsession with candy bars: check the Heath Crunch, Snickers and Mounds varieties.

Read the article at MSN City Guides

Sweetwater's used to have a radio jingle and it went something like this - You'll be satisfied when you get your fill, at Sweetwater's Donut Mill.

I was always satisfied with their donuts. Yum!

Congrats to Kalamazoo, Michigan's delicious donut shop - Sweetwater's Donut Mill!

Hey, we're back - so long summer

We visited Michigan's beautiful U.P. over the weekend and I have to say that just like summer - it went by far too fast. I've been busy today getting out everyone's orders from the weekend (don't worry, they all went out today just like I promised :) ) so I haven't had time to post much today. I plan on downloading a ton of pictures that I took and hope to share some of them with you tomorrow. The U.P. received some much needed rain yesterday as we were driving home from Escanaba. I have to say, that was some of the heaviest rain I have driven through in quite some time.

The Mining Journal reports that most of the U.P. received at least .75 inches with the Newberry area (just south of the area affected by the Sleeper Lake Forest Fire) getting over 4 inches of much needed precipitation. That rain will definitely help those still fighting the blaze.

I had wanted to get some pictures of the Sleeper Lake Forest Fire damage yesterday, but the weather (thankfully for those in the U.P.) did not cooperate. We had a great time and enjoyed the scenery as well as the cool nights (natural air conditioning).

Granholm puts state budget crisis on backs of taxpayers

While Gov. Granholm basically calls state legislators cowards if they don't vote in favor of a tax hike because of the fear of being recalled.

I hope every legislator has the backbone to do what's right for their districts and what's right for Michigan, and not just what's right for their political futures," Granholm said.

State legislators in some districts are being targeted by the Michigan Taxpayers Alliance with the threat of recall if they vote in favor of raising taxes to solve (temporarily at best) the state's budget deficit of $1.75 billion.

The real issue here (to me anyway) is the fact that Gov. Granholm and our state legislators have not seen the light and figured out that it would be better to cut back and have a smaller government that is efficient and can run at a lower cost. I can't believe that they still haven't figured out that people don't want higher taxes.

I grow weary of Granholm banging on the fact that the only way to fix our state's fiscal issues is to squeeze more money out of Michigan residents. Quit panhandling and start coming up with practical solutions please.