This may be some editorializing on my part, and the hometown fans may not appreciate this, but this is Jack Hall from Cincinatti, Ohio, and this is about the coolest hat I've ever seen.

Downtown

Well, it's quarter after 10 p.m., and the downtown is starting to fill up. At the intersection of Main and Broadway came the chirping of walkie-talkie phones. Sounded like a field of electronic crickets. Further down, the vans used by the cab companies were already shuttling gangs of students in from wherever -- kids were yelling and screaming. Reminded me of a few times on liberty overseas.

On a related note, anyone know when the annual Operation Student Fleece begins?

Whooo-ooooh!

If you're a CMU fan, and you go to the games, no doubt you've heard the fight song a million times. So, you know the part where it goes, "to our colors we'll be true..." and then the crowd does this sing-songy "Whooo-ooooh!" Does anyone know when this started?

I happen to love the "whooo-ooooh." I find it irresistable. Others, people I won't mention, hate the "whooo-oooh," and make fun of it every time they hear it.

What do you think? I'm completely interested in reader opinion on this one, and also any input someone might have as to when this started, because it's been at least a few years.

Oh yeah, and fire up Chips :)

(Update 10:17 p.m. ... is this the one? Or is it this one? -- E.B.)

This can't be good...

Although University Street is now open in downtown Mt. Pleasant, there is evidence of ill things to come.

A large statue of Captain Morgan stands outside Rubbles on Michigan. It's a jaunty Captain Morgan, with perhaps a whiff of Frenchness to him, which suggests that perhaps a kind of pirating less related to plundering the Spanish Main and more related to, "Yo, ho, ho"-ing.

Kick off

Tonight, CMU versus Boston College. While noting that the Morning Sun does not endorse sports gambling, previews are here and here (links available through Google News). Here's ESPN's game site. MLive has a feature on a CMU player who is a member of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe. The Free Press has a feature of Ontario Sneed.

For the really curious, here are the top four moments in football history.

Discuss the day's news

... from today's edition.

Election poll fun

Two new polls have Governor Granholm up on Dick DeVos. The Wall Street Journal polls has Granholm at the magic 50 percent mark, while this Strategic Vision poll has her at a smaller, five-point lead (it also says that George Bush is not a popular guy in this state).

Interestingly enough, the Wall Street Journal's poll had the Stabenow-Bouchard race within the margin of error.

The new Business 127

Building huge stores and parking lots isn't all that's necessary for the giant Union Commons retail development. Without better roads, it will make today's Bluegrass/Mission gridlock seem like child's play.

Michigan Department of Transportation consultants say like the developer's idea to open up an additional access from Business 127.

The most radical idea, at least for mid-Michigan, is the proposal to add a roundabout to Bluegrass and Mission.



Roundabouts work, cutting accidents, injuries and deaths. This also would be the cheapest fix for the Bluegrass/Mission mess. Computer modeling indicates it would work well even with twice today's traffic.

Expect strong local opposition.

(Update, 6:33 p.m., Aug. 31-- Woody Woodruff, the Union Township planning guy, had comments similar to these eaten by Blogger:

Mark's Story on the south end MDOT plans was great, too bad the nice graphics on the Insider didn't make print. I thank Jim C for his support of the roundabout.

There is a cool web cam site for one on VanDyke and 18 mile see http://69.215.29.34/view/index.shtml I have shown that site on our projection set up at meetings so our people could have some experience of them.

Locally, I think it needs to be stressed that these are not anything like the old traffic circle in Midland. The modern roundabouts have traffic entering the circle on a tangent so they never stop, the midland circle had traffic entering perpendicular to the circle, and stopping- it did not work well. If we are to engender acceptance of the roundabout here, that is the objection to over come.

At the meetings I have attended with MDOT, DLZ consultants were very high on the roundabout, and I am convinced that one at Bluegrass and Mission would be great. I have used them and don't buy the worst case scenario offered of Grammy and grandpappa caught in one. I commend CMU for the new indirect lefts on Broomfield, they are working great and bode well for what is planned for Old Mission and Biz 127. The backups on West Campus Drive for north bounders turning West on Broomfield are gone.

The graphics in question, those attached to this post, were difficult for me to read when I placed them on the page, so I opted to do without them.--E.B.)

Clare County voters will be asked in the November general election to pass a scaled-down millage proposal to pay for justice/law enforcement.

County commissioners on Monday approved language for the proposal, which will ask voters to approve a five-year, .2169 millage to pay for costs associated with a new circuit court judgeship and for public safety.

If approved, the millage, which would raise about $175,000 the first year it is levied, would cost the owner of an $80,000 home about $8 the first year.

The proposal comes after the failure in the August primary of two millage proposals to support justice, and parks, recreation and farmland preservation.

Discuss the day's news...

Thread open for comments for today's edition.

Candidate Web sites, take 2

When last the topic of November's election came up, it was in the form of links to candidate Web site links for the House and Senate races involving Isabella County. Sadly, the only other Legislature-related race that's taken to the Web is in the 35th Senate District, a battle that pits Republican incumbent Michelle McManus against Democratic challenger Antoinette Schippers for the district that serves Clare County.

Stop fretting and turn that frown upside down sunshine, 'cause the Web is popping with sites for other races.

Two must visits are for the sitting Democratic governor, Jennifer Granholm, and her challenger, Republican businessman Dick DeVos. Why are they "must visits?" I don't know, maybe for the same reasons that the U.S. Senate-related sites for Republican challenger Mike Bouchard and Democratic incumbent Debbie Stabenow are must visits. And, in the same way that between now and the election, you might want to pay a visit to the sites for Republican Congressman Dave Camp, and his Democratic challenger Mike Huckleberry (gratuitous Val Kilmer quote ... here).

Speaking of Mike Huckleberry, did you know that his positions on issues involving seniors are exactly the same positions taken by the American Association of Retired Persons? No kidding, see for yourself. The AARP's voter's guide for the state of Michigan is here. If you read through all the responses, you'll see that Huckleberry's opponent isn't the only one so filled with white-hot contempt for the elderly that he refused to participate*. Members of both parties decided it was keeping in their campaign strategy to simply ignore the survey.

Meanwhile, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce doesn't have a spiffy little survey -- perhaps they were afraid of getting snubbed -- but they do have a campaign Web site.

There will be more later. Oh, much more.

Disclaimer--The Morning Sun does not endorse candidates for office. The arranging of names and Web site links in this post are purely random. They are not even in alphabetical order, as that would show undue cumulative bias as you navigate backwards through the alphabet.

*--Reference made purely for purposes of cheap humor. Dave Camp does not, as far as I know, loathe the elderly or feel anything for them but the standard issue warm and fuzzies.

News update...

A man who tried to leave the Mt. Pleasant Wal-Mart with two wide-screen televions was arrested late Sunday afternoon.

A store security guard alerted police when the man pulled money and a knife from his pocket when asked to show a receipt.

The man ran from the store but was captured moments later.

(This time, as is usual, the immediate information wasn't entirely accurate. Call it the fog of war. -- E.B.)

BREAKING NEWS.....

According to the police scanner, two suspects are in custody after employees at the Mt. Pleasant Wal-Mart reported being held at knifepoint.

Sun staff writer Sue Field and Sun photographer Lisa Yanick are currently en route to the scene.

The Day After

Well, if the early morning (2 a.m.) screaming wasn't evidence enough, the crushed plastic tubs used for Jello shots on Main Street's west sidewalk (between Michigan and Broadway) were the last bit of evidence that CMU classes are about to start.

I know the retailers love the students, but I could personally do without the trail of empty plastic cups in the yards along a block of Pine Street, or the smashed-up Corona bottle at the mouth of one of the city's downtown parking lots.

Three photos

Crazily-decorated bikes at the Ithaca Family Fun Fest


See tomorrow's paper for an article about Portland resident Gene David's steam powered pontoon boat.


A little slice of nature: a snake I saw at Blanchard Millpond Park today. It was pretty angry at me for taking its picture. I didn't know reptiles could be camera shy....

Downtown traffic snarl ending

As I passed through downtown Mt. Pleasant on my way to the Sun building this afternoon, I noticed, with an unseemly amount of glee, road workers laying the final coat of asphalt on University Street and the two intersections at Broadway and Michigan.

Even knowning the construction was underway, (I wrote the story after all), I still make that right turn onto University and have to turn around in the old Central Office parking lot to find an alternate route around that road work.

There are still bricks to be reinstalled in the sidewalks and other minor maintenance, but this project is just about in the bag. Whoo hooo!

One stop shopping

I don't think any thinking adult could argue with combining all of your errands in one shopping trip.

I wonder, however, if it's as easy as taking your business to Alma. According to this Web site, gas today is a penny cheaper in Mt. Pleasant than it is in Alma and Ithaca. At least, as of the moment I checked it out (if gas explodes through the roof, don't shoot the messenger). I think the volatility of prices is just as pertinent as is picking the place generally with the lower prices.

Downtown Mt. Pleasant Traffic

The four-way stop signs in place of traffic light signals at the corners of Broadway and Main and Michigan in Main Street in Mt. Pleasant continue to draw comment.

Well, I happen to be a fan of the four-way stop sign system. It seems to me that traffic does move through town a little easier since the experiment began.

What I don’t understand is why the traffic signal lights are still hanging up and very visibly present over the intersections. That just invites confusion. (It sure caught me one day a few months back. I sat waiting for the light to change for some time before realizing it was a take-your-turn situation.)

I suspect this kind of thing leads to a lot if the criticism about the four-way stops.

Here’s a suggestion for the city powers-that-be: If those signal lights can’t be taken down at least put them under wraps to avoid confusion while the four-way stop system is being tested. That would give it a more reasonable test, too.

Gasoline Prices

Wife Sharon and I have returned to Michigan after about 8,000 miles and nearly six weeks of summer road tripping. Between July 3 and August 16 we covered ground from Salt Lake City (west) to Warwick, Rhode Island (east).

You can safely bet that gasoline costs were an issue during our travels.

Highest price we paid for gasoline that met the minimum 87 Octane (“regular” gas) rating required for our vehicle was $3.279 a gallon in Craig, Colorado, on July 10. A couple days later we saw 88 Octane gas at Gillette, Wyoming for $2.799 – a dime cheaper than we’d paid to fill up a bit earlier at Wheatland, Wyoming.

Our least expensive gas of the whole 8,000 miles was purchased at … Ithaca, Michigan on August 16 -- $2.819. Up the road in Shepherd that same day, gas was a least a dime more dear.

As some recent Sound Off callers have suggested, I am beginning to consider doing my “special” shopping in communities like Alma, where gas is almost always significantly cheaper than in Mt. Pleasant. That makes sense for a Shepherd resident like myself, on those occasions when “grocery day” or general merchandise shopping and time for a fillup coincide.

Maybe if the Mt. Pleasant business community began to recognize that business is going elsewhere because of high gasoline prices in town, “market forces” would bring motor fuel costs down a tad.

Discuss the day's news...

Comments thread for today's online or print editions.

Another Gulf hurricane?

As of this morning, it's still getting organized in the Caribbean, but the National Hurricane Center is keeping an eye on a tropical depression that could strengthen and cause some problems over the next week or so. The prediction, at least as of right now, is that the storm could strengthen, become Hurricane Ernesto, and head for the Texas Gulf coast just in time for Labor Day.
How many oil rigs are in the way? How much room is left on the Master Card to buy gas?

Free Internet for Downtown Mt. Pleasant

For those of you who did not read the story in Thursday's Morning Sun (Gasp! Get thee to a newsstand at once!), it's true. Mt. Pleasant will soon feature free wireless Internet in the downtown area.

While the move is a transparent marketing ploy by both the city and CMSInter.net, which is providing the maintenance, installation and signal gratis, the true benefit will be for the residents of the city and business owners.

In an increasingly high-tech world, where instant messages and texting are replacing cell phone calls and e-mail, offering what few other cities do can only attract business and technologically savvy consumers.

Yes, the city will have to pony up the money for three or four access points (about $1,500 each), but it's a small price compared to the benefit.

CMU construction delays

What do you get when you tear up 40-year old flooring? Construction delays, headaches and budget overruns.

Central Michigan University is facing all of these things as students return from their summer break. About 1,800 students in the southeast residence complex will be without a residential restaurant until Sept. 15 as construction crews rush to complete a massive overhaul of the dining commons.

Hot, humid weather slowed the curing of concrete while unexpected finds under the restaurant floor forced a more thorough reconstruction of the subfloor than originally planned.

CMU officials have created several options for students to use in the meantime. For a full update on the project, or to find out where students can go to eat, go here.

Longtime Mt. Pleasant surgeon Gilbert Klickstein died this morning in Massachusetts.

Klickstein, a surgeon at Central Michigan Community Hospital until his retirement about three years ago, was remembered by colleagues Thursday as a dedicated physician who supported his community.

Klickstein, who was recently inducted into the CMCH Physician's Hall of Fame, was instrumental in the formation of Hospice of Central Michigan.

Funeral services are set for Sunday at Levine Chapels in Brookline, Mass.

See Friday's Morning Sun for a complete story.

Discuss the day's news...

An open thread to discuss today's news.

Be nice, and remember, we're watching you.

Freshmen

I dropped off my daughter at Mount Pleasant High School's freshman orientation today, and just watched for a while.
In 1971, Van Morrison sang the line "The girls walk by/Dressed up for each other" in "Wild Night" on his "Tupelo Honey" album, and that's exactly what was up in the main hallway at MPHS. These girls were clearly strutting their stuff, but it wasn't for the boys.
Freshman boys: You had to look pretty close to even spot them. A few tried to swagger, as boys will, but they didn't quite have the moves. They will, in a few weeks. Most were trying to hide their wide eyes and skinny shoulders, just wondering where the bathrooms were, and trying hard not to think about those girls.
For all the high tech and MySpace, it's still high school. It will be interesting to watch those guys change, day by day, between now and June 2010. We'll hardly know them.

Move in day

Perhaps you've noticed the slow trickle of CMU students back into the area. Today, I'm told, is move-in day at the dorms (at least, that's according to a CMU police officer), which means tonight out to provide a good test for the extended hours at the Wayside and The Pub. Depending on your point of view, today also represents the return of pockets full of disposable income, or the disruption of the relative peace and calm of summer. And, if you just moved closer to downtown and your name is Ian Patrick Gray...

A tiny slice of nature

A bee checking out some flowers at Buck's Run today.

(More specifically, according to my Audubon's, the above insect is a wasp, possibly a Sandhills Hornet, which can "sting viciously" if disturbed, according to my Audubon's guide. Not to get picky, of course, since I don't know the difference a cow and a steer, or straw and hay -- E.B.)

Student athletes earning honors

Despite the much publicized bad behavior of a minority of Central Michigan University students in the athletics department, there are a lot of positive achievements coming out of that department.

CMU's student athletes have earned the Institutional Academic Achievement Award for the fifth year in a row, beating out all other Mid-American Conference members. CMU students earned the top honor, based on overall grade-point average, for nine of the last ten years. The award was first presented twelve years ago. To view CMU's achievment go here.

Candidates' Web sites, take one.

Isabella County's state Senate, the not-at-all gerrymandered 33rd district, pits Republican incumbent and DeWitt native Alan Cropsey against Mt. Pleasant's own Nancy White, the Democrat. White's site is here. Cropsey doesn't have a Web site -- at least one that could be found with a quick Google search -- but his state Senate Web site is here.

Republican incumbent and Mt. Pleasant's own Bill Caul hopes to fend off a challenge from Coleman educator Loren Partlo. Caul's Web site is here, although it doesn't look like it's kept very up-to-date (the "latest" news is the Nov. 2 annoucement that he won the seat). Partlo's site is here. Be prepared for a red, white, and blue feast for the eyes. While we're at it, someone might want to pass along to the candidate that it look like the site's message is "Elect Partlo ... NOT."

Today, former U.S. ambassador Joseph Wilson came to CMU to speak to this year's Leadership Safari, and I got to meet him.



I shook his hand and introduced myself. I'm pretty sure the only coherent thing I said to him was "It's an honor to meet you," after that my voice kind of trailed off as it dawned on me just WHO exactly I was meeting.

I'm meeting a man who has shaken hands with Saddam Hussein. I'm meeting a man whose wife was a CIA operative. This is the real deal in international intrigue and government cover-up scandals, and here I am trying to... what, say something to impress him? To prove I've been reading the news?

So I couldn't manage to say much to him that was different than what probably 80% of everybody who has met him said, but that's OK. I wanted to buy a copy of his book, "The Politics of Truth," but I was two dollars short, so he gave me two dollars so I could buy a copy of his book and he even signed it for me.

It can be pretty cool, being a newspaper photographer.

Comments are open.

Feel free to leave a comment. A word of caution, however. All comments must run past the moderator for approval (the moderator's identity will remain a secret, but here's a hint: Comments that start with, "Eric B. rocks like Sammy Hagar can't drive 55," have a much greater chance of being approved) before they appear.

Former Central Michigan University football player Jerry Seymour is preparing to leave the Isabella County Jail as his onetime teammate, James King, begins a three-month sentence for his role in the beating death of Flint man Demarcus Graham in July 2004.

Isabella County Trial Judge William Ervin on Monday sentenced Seymour to six months in jail and five months' probation but credited the former Chippewa tailback from Miramar, Fla. for time served and suspended the final month with a provision that Seymour must complete his probation satisfactorily.

Ervin later sentenced King to six months in jail but suspended three of those months and gave King credit for eight days served.

King and Seymour pleaded guilty in July to attempted assault with a dangerous weapon during their murder trial.


The two had been charged with second-degree murder, or in the alternative, involuntary manslaughter or assault with intent do do great bodily harm less than murder.

The Maple Street closure has moved a block over. Last week, they had Oak Street near Pine Street blocked off (this is the section of road between the turnaround above High and Broadway, and between Mill Pond Park and Washington Street.

This week, they're on Pine Street. The name and logo on the trucks is Huckins, the same company that redid the water mains on Oak Street last summer.

Potter Park is still accessible by its Pine Street parking lot, but you've got to take Cherry Street to get there.

I've received several pieces of correspondence from readers about my column this last Friday. Normally, I respond personally, but Rosebush Bob and I just returned after a couple of days from our respective obligations snatched along the shore of Lake Michigan. Besides, the rippers have all said basically the same thing -- the rules are the rules, and Sharon Tillman doesn't belong on the city ballot.

When discussing this, let's just cut Sharon Tilmann's name right out of it. The name of the person denied a spot on the ballot is irrelevant, since what's at stake here is the public good.

The overriding question is whether a cut-and-dried interpretation of the rules is more in the public's best interests than is a contested city commission ballot. We now have three candidates for three open seats. I'm not so good at math, but I can't quite work out the formula of how an uncontested ballot translates into a more active, educated public.

A couple of folks argue that the city was bound by the rules, which is true unless you can convince a judge that an exception is/was warranted. At some point in most judicial rulings I've read, the judge gets around to jibing his ruling with how it benefits the interests of the public at large. Heck, when the city violated the city charter and pulled the fluoride question off the ballot a couple of years ago, they argued that bonding questions gave them a reasonable excuse (the judge thought otherwise, and argued that a public vote was in the public's best interests, despite the wording confusion and bonding issues). So, there are election-related rules, and the city has previously decided to violate them when it felt it needed to.

I don't really how to wrap this up with something that I didn't write in Friday's column, other than to point out that there are precedents that suggest that not only could the city have decided otherwise and argued that it was in the best public interest, but could have legally defended their position. But, because they didn't, I get to participate in what is essentially an uncontested race in the November election (barring a write-in candidacy), and I'm pretty sure that's not in the best interests of our more important democratic institutions.

Words to live by:


"The right to criticize government is also an obligation to know what you are talking about."

-- Lent Upson

First executive director of the Citizens Research Council of Michigan

Comments? E-mail them to me so you can become part of the discussion. I'll post most reasonable comments. Just make sure you include your name, address and telephone number, so I can follow up if necessary. I won’t post your personal information, but I want to know who I’m dealing with.

Union Township and the Road Commission



I had an interesting conversation with a Union Township resident following Wednesday night's township planning commission meeting. I didn't take verbatim notes, but this is close to the way the conversation went:

RESIDENT: Hey, do you go to Road Commission meetings? (Clearly unhappy)
MARK: Well, I cover some of the road commission issues, yes. (Hoo, boy. Another round of ICRC-bashing, coming right up.)
R: I don't know. I live on Pickard Road, and I can't understand why they resurfaced it to Meridian, then quit right there. Our road is a disaster. They claim they don't have any money, but they did a lot of work out in Deerfield.
M: That's because Deerfield Township paid for all of it.
R: What?
M: Deerfield Township had a pretty serious fund balance. They're pretty tight with a dollar there, and they had plenty of money in the bank. They decided to spend it on the roads. [I looked it up later; Deerfield Township paid 100 percent of the cost of chip-sealing more than 18 miles of road in the township.]
R: It's real nice job.
M: Well, chip-sealing is supposed to extend the life of pavement by seven to 10 years. I think Deerfield paid a little over $12,000 a mile for all that work.
R. You'd think with the taxes I pay to the road commission ...
M: Do you know how the road commission gets its money?
R: Taxes.
M: What kind?
R: Like county taxes.
M: No. The Isabella County Road Commission gets most of its money from fuel taxes and registrations. There's a flat rate of 19.7 cent a gallon on gas, so if more gas is sold, the road commssion gets more money. The state sends out checks based on an insanely complicated formula. But gas is $3 a gallon. Are we burning more gas? No. We're driving less. Less gas sold, less money for roads.
R: Not property taxes?
M: Some counties have them, and their roads are in better shape. But you get what you pay for, and you don't get what you don't pay for. We're not getting what we're not paying for.
R: What about Baseline Road? Where'd they get the money for that?
M: Ever hear of Jack Abramoff? When he lobbied for the Tribe, he did bring money back. That's mostly federal money through the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The townships also put in a lot of money. So did the road commission -- and they got stuck with the cost overrruns. And man, were there overruns! The swamp they ran the road through was a lot deeper than anyone thought it was, and it almost sank the road commission.
R: How about Bluegrass Road?
M: A lot of private money. The developers of Union Commons are paying half the cost, plus all the cost of the drain work. The other propery owners along there were assessed for road improvements, too. The township put in $300,000 to make it happen, along with a little road commission money, but not much.
R: Broadway Road by the casino?
M: The Saginaw Chippewas paid for the whole thing. Write a check to the road commission, and they'll do the work.
R: Think Union Township might pay for Pickard? You said it was, what, $12,000 a mile?
M: That's for chip-sealing, and that's cheap. Pickard between Lincoln and Meridian is in too bad a shape to chip-seal. They'll have to tear the whole thing out and do it over, and that ain't cheap. The township has said for years that they'll pay half, but I wouldn't bet on them paying for the whole thing. And until the road commission comes up with their half, well ...
R: I'm going to have to keep fixing my front end. Hey, I'm glad I talked to you. Thanks for setting me straight. Think I ought to talk to the township supervisor?
M: You live in Union. He's the supervisor. You can ask.

Comments? E-mail them to me so you can become part of the discussion. I'll post most reasonable comments. Just make sure you include your name, address and telephone number, so I can follow up if necessary. I won’t post your personal information, but I want to know who I’m dealing with.

Yep, that was me risking my life among falling trees for our readership. Thanks for noticing, Eric.

I never realized how gigantic that tree was until I saw how tiny a man in a bucket truck looked cutting it down, piece by piece . Friday's Morning Sun has a different view of the tree removal, too.

The men working said the job would take a little longer than others, because they have to cut smaller chunks, a little at a time, to avoid detroying the Borden Building and the power lines there. Good thinking.

On a more delicious note, while at the Mt. Pleasant farmer's market today I saw red, ripe, locally grown tomatoes for sale. The market continues in Island Park every Thursday through October. Yum. (Photo added! Link added! Fun added! -- Ed.)

Updating the e-mailed tip from Idaho over the accident in Oregon ... it was indeed a Prudenville man (the AP out there keeps spelling it Prudnville).

They brought down one of the big branches as I was riding in to work.

And, while going past, I saw a woman in a skirt and pink top playing with a camera. "Who would be insane enough to stand that close to falling tree branches," I thought.

Lisa Yanick, Sun photographer.

On a related note, since we're all talking about road projects and work and stuff...

They've got a big pile of dirt pushed across Oak Street between Locust and Maple, or Maple and Cherry. It looks like some kind of water main project, like the one last summer that broke a pipe and sent water gushing five feet into the air out in front of my apartment.

Trees coming down

Crews from the city of Mt. Pleasant are currently taking down trees around the Borden Building, ones that would eventually be in the way of renovation work, Building and Grounds Supervisor Greg Baderschneider said.

That means that the chimney will be the only big tall heavy thing left around the building, and city staff are meeting with the demo contractor on that issue tomorrow.

It also means the pink X's that I noticed spray-painted on the trees were not placed there by vandals or stray aliens.

Well, we're about to enter deeply into the season of political ads. I'm told that Debbie Stabenow's first ads are going to start running. And, while I don't have the scoop on her opponent, Mike Bouchard's got a snappy one up on his campaign Web site.

Coldwater crude?


Wednesday’s anonymous Sound Off item from Coldwater Township complaining about an alleged action by the Isabella County Road Commission obviously was based on a gross misinterpretation of the facts.

The caller claimed that road workers dumped crude oil on the road, then scraped the road in an effort to clean up what they’d done.

That’s ludicrous, but I can understand how a semi-informed ordinary person, ready to think the worst about a government agency, could come to that conclusion.

Dumping crude oil? Decades ago, road oiling was common practice in some jurisdictions as a means to reduce dust from gravel roads. It hasn’t been legal for many, many years; the oil runs off into groundwater and surface water.

The intentional dumping of crude oil on the ground would be a criminal violation of environmental laws. The road commission might not be real good at communicating, but its management certainly knows enough not to commit this kind of act.

So what was it? Oil field brine, probably a pretty greasy batch.

Mid-Michigan still produces a substantial amount of petroleum. Much of the oil underlying this area is in rock formations that trapped ancient seawater along with the oil. Many wells might bring up five or 10 barrels of salt water for every barrel of oil pumped.

That byproduct of oil production isn’t good for much, but it turns out to be an extremely cost-effective means of dust control. It’s cheap, it works, and for some reason, it has the added benefit of making a gravel road much less likely to melt down in the spring thaw.

The Isabella County Road Commission has a general permit from the Department of Environmental Quality to spread the stuff.

But wait a minute. The caller said the stuff “stunk real bad.” That’s probably right. The chemical that gives crude its distinctive bad smell is sulfur, and trace amounts of sulfur compounds are easily detectable by the human nose. The chemical gets dissolved in the brine, and it doesn’t smell good at all.

Oil field brine also often is dark in color, similar to crude. It’s easy to see how our reader might have been confused.

As far as scraping after the brine treatment, well, grading the road surface before treatment would have raised a lot of dust. Generally, most townships pay for two treatments over the course of a summer.

Maybe the next batch of brine won’t smell so bad. And if it really was crude oil and a criminal act took place, please contact me. Coldwater Township is a big place.

Comments? E-mail them to me so you can become part of the discussion. I'll post most reasonable comments. Just make sure you include your name, address and telephone number, so I can follow up if necessary. I won’t post your personal information, but I want to know who I’m dealing with.

I got a news tip from someone out West. A Michigan truck driver was killed in a traffic accident in Oregon.

He said the man was from Mt. Pleasant, but after a search of today's news stories, the only thing I could find was this.

According to that report, the man is from Prudenville, up by Houghton Lake. I've asked the guy for more information, and we'll see how it pans out.

Granholm stays in the lead in the latest EPIC-MRA poll.

Get the specifics here (warning: PDF file).

This is pretty consistent with the last poll ... the Guv a little ahead, but within the margin of error. And Debbie Stabenow well ahead.

This afternoon, a few of the folks angry over the Borden project stopped by the Sun office to discuss why they're opposed to it and what they want to see things set straight. The meeting included some people from city hall and was meant to give everyone an opportunity to put their cards on the table.

Details of the meeting are probably irrelevant. What's important is what apparently is the course that will make the dissidents happy, and unless I missed something very fundamental what they want is a revote on the entire project.

Normally, I have to confess a deep sympathy for a good old-fashioned fight with city hall (who can forget my epic battle with Code Enforcement last year over a parking ticket? -- no one within earshot, I promise you that). That's been strengthened by watching the city's continued botched handling of the fluoride issue, and the nasty treatment of Gladys Mitchell for continuing to raise what really is a very important issue (if we were half as smart as we give ourselves credit for being, what we ingest in the name of public health and the wisdom of compulsory medical treatments in the name of dental health would rate miles above what we do with a small strip of contaminated land along the river).

And, I'll be perfectly honest and say that I voted in favor of the project because I thought it would bring a bookstore downtown (three blocks away).

But, I don't get the impression that the project is at a stage where a revote is practical (let alone possible).

Scott Hummel is mad about those unkind phone calls before last week's primary down in Gratiot County. He sends along this message with the idea that it be published as a Letter to the Editor, or guest column or something or other. Instead ... here goes:

Friends, it is with a troubled heart that I write today. The last days of the Republican primary for the 93rd house district were flooded with mailers and phone calls that included rumor, deception, and lies for the sake of political gain. The reputations of candidates were maligned. Calls from an anonymous source were placed—some repeatedly, to irritate and misinform voters about several of the candidates' character and position on issues.
My congratulations go to Paul Opsommer for his victory in the primary and to those candidates who also ran their campaigns with integrity and honesty. You can stand straight and hold your head high knowing that your conduct and that of your campaigns are representative of the district you sought to serve.
We're not the first district in the state to experience such low political ethics, but hopefully we can be one of the last. Currently before the Michigan State House of Representatives is HB 5172 which would require automated telephone calls that relate to an election, a candidate, or a ballot question to clearly state the identity of the person paying for the communication. This would prevent current practice that make tracing such calls and those who pay for them practically impossible. I will certainly do all I can in my remaining few months to make this bill law in Michigan and protect the people of this district from unethical and in some cases illegal behavior.
The district lost something in the last week of the election and all of us have suffered for it. For that I grieve the most. Please know that as your State Representative I will always value your trust and seek to earn your confidence in all I do.

I hate to douse a good case of outrage, but an even bigger problem are smear campaigns undertaken by the political parties, or other interested folks, that allow one of the candidates to throw up their hands and say, "I'm not responsible ... I have no control over what these people do."

We've seen that over the last few cycles, most famously involving Sue Smith of Mt. Pleasant. Unless a specific campaign is behind a smear -- even suggesting that a Republican candidate in conservative Gratiot County has received the endorsement of a gay and lesbian advocacy group -- caller ID isn't going to do much good.