Wednesday's warm, moist air was the perfect recipe for a summer thunderstorm that dumped as much as 5 inches of rain across southern Isabella County, northern Gratiot County and southern Midland County.
A frontal boundary was just sitting across mid-Michigan. A warm, partly sunny day drove the temperature to 91 degrees at 3:55 p.m. at Mt. Pleasant Municipal Airport. With all the water in the atmosphere, that started thunderheads to build.
It didn't take long for the rain to start falling - but the thunderheads weren't moving very fast. That allowed torrential rain to continue, and the flooded fields near Shepherd were ample evidence of that.
The rainfall did provide some relief from the heat. The temperature plummeted from 91 just before 4 p.m. to 70 at 6:36 p.m.

The drainage system added to Red Maple Lane a few years back couldn't keep up with Wednesday's heavy rain.
As much as 5 inches of rain dumped on southern Isabella County Wednesday evening, flooding streets and farm fields, and filling small creeks to their banks.
Slow-moving thunderstorms crept across mid-Michigan beginning late Wednesday afternoon, crawling along a frontal boundary at about 10 mph. That gave the storms plenty of time to drop plenty of water.
National Weather Service Doppler radar analysis showed the heaviest rain was in the Shepherd area of southern Isabella County, as well as far northern Gratiot County and southern Midland County.


Beans need rain, but enough is enough.


Corn plants in this field had their feet in the water.
The slow pace of the storms prompted weather service meteorologists to extend the severe thunderstorm warning at least twice.
Thunderstorm winds caused scattered downed trees about five miles northwest of Farwell. A county official told the weather service that some large trees were down along M-115 for a three-mile stretch, including at the intersection of M-115 and Silver Lake Drive.
In Montcalm County, a tree was blown down at M-91 and Kendaville Road south of Lakeview.



Standing water was reported on Blanchard Road between Summerton and Isabella roads near Shepherd, and on M-46 near Alger Road in Gratiot County, as well as on side roads.

A lot of people are asking me about this photo:



People want to know how far away I was, was I standing on something, what lens did I use...here's the scoop...

Sun reporter Sue Field and I were about what looks to me to be about 1/8th of a mile away from the suspect when he was arrested. Or, when looking below, where Sgt. Hugel is standing. The suspect was toward the edge of the cornfield, all the way in the back of the picture, near the blue pole barn.



Or, to give another perspective, in the picture below, near the car in the foreground, shooting toward the car in the waaaayy background.



As you can tell, I was on a hill, and very far away. I used a 300 mm lens, and still, this is what the picture looked like uncropped:



It was exciting to be so close, and have such amazing access to something like that. I feel like the picture was mostly luck, and since yesterday was my birthday, a really fabulous birthday present:)

A 26-year-old parole absconder from Wayne County eluded searchers for nearly 18 hours Monday and Tuesday before being busted in a cornfield near Winn.



The man, from downriver Taylor, was accused of driving off in an old Dodge Caravan with $73 worth of gasoline from a Fremont Township service station about 8 p.m. Monday. Deputies couldn't find him, but found the minivan crashed into trees at Winn and Fremont roads.



Then shortly after noon Tuesday, a deputy on patrol spotted the suspect riding a bicycle in the area. The man took off into the swamp nearby, but was spotted a little more than an hour later in a cornfield. Five sheriff's deputies, a Shepherd police officer and a Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Police officer with a dog surrounded the man.






His name hasn't been released, but the Michigan Department of Corrections says he has a record of resisting and obstructing police, unlawful use of a motor vehicle, aggravated assault, disarming a police officer, two counts of unlawful driving away of an automobile, two second-offense drunken drivings and two additional second-degree home invasions, all in Wayne County.

Photos by Lisa Yanick-Jonaitis, words courtesy of Mark Ranzenberger

Isabella County Marine Patrol
Video Here


Photographs and Video by RYAN EVON

Isabella County's lowest-rated bridge is the Wise Road bridge in Coe Township that crosses the Little Salt River downstream from Shepherd. It carries a federal sufficiency rating of 2.0 on a scale of 0-100.
The “federal sufficiency rating” is a complex formula used to determine federal bridge program funding eligibility.
The sufficiency rating combines the condition and functional adequacy data collected on every bridge into a single number. Sufficiency rating values range from 0 (low) to 100 (high).
If the sufficiency rating on a bridge is 50 or less and it is designated as “structurally deficient” or “functionally obsolete,” the bridge qualifies for federal replacement funding.
A low sufficiency rating number does not necessarily mean that the bridge is in need of immediate repair, but a pretty good argument has been made that this one is. It is up for replacement in 2009.

Beneath the bridge, the problems are obvious. The steel beams supporting the bridge are heavily corroded. It's possible to pass one's hand through the hole in one massive I-beam.

Daylight shines through a hole in the deck.


It's a good bet that this I-beam, now shaped like a Z, once was straight and true.

One guardrail post seems to have taken a hit at some point, and the I-beam below it is twisted out of shape.

On a county primary road, the bridge carries substantial traffic, including heavyweight agricultural and truck traffic.


Click here for a fully interactive map

Mid-Michigan has many "structurally deficient" bridges. Click on a placemarker near you to see them in your area.

Read Susan Field's story on mid-Michigan's bridges in Sunday's Morning Sun!

The lowest-rated bridge in Gratiot County is just east of Riverdale and carries Lincoln Road across the Pine River. It carries a federal sufficiency rating of 2.0.
The “federal sufficiency rating” is a complex formula used to determine federal bridge program funding eligibility.
The sufficiency rating combines the condition and functional adequacy data collected on every bridge into a single number. Sufficiency rating values range from 0 (low) to 100 (high).
If the sufficiency rating on a bridge is 50 or less and it is designated as “structurally deficient” or “functionally obsolete,” the bridge qualifies for federal replacement funding.
A low sufficiency rating number does not necessarily mean that the bridge is in need of immediate repair.

Like many bridges of its era, it is a concrete bridge. But weathering has taken a heavy toll on the Riverdale bridge, exposing the steel reinforcing rod at the east end of the bridge.

Huge chunks of the facing have fallen off the west end of the bridge, as well, with gravel from the conglomerate collecting at the bottom of the concrete truss.

The bridge features window-like openings in the concrete truss that provides strength to the structure, but now, the edges are crumbling.

The steel rebar is rusty, but apparently continues to provide strong reinforcement.

The bridge is classified as "structurally deficient," but bridge engineers are quick to point out that that term doesn't necessarily mean unsafe. The bridge is narrow, on a county primary road, and carries a substantial amount of traffic, including heavyweight agricultural traffic.

The Lincoln Road bridge is a beautiful design that compliments the beautiful setting on the Upper Pine, but its problems are obvious.


Click here for a fully interactive map

Mid-Michigan has many "structurally deficient" bridges. Click on a placemarker near you to see them in your area.

Read Susan Field's story on mid-Michigan's bridges in Sunday's Morning Sun!

Clare County's lowest-rated bridge is on Clare Avenue - Old. U.S. 27 - in Frost Township near the Roscommon County line. With a federal sufficiency rating of 4.0 on a scale of 100, the concrete bridge shows its age.
The “federal sufficiency rating” is a complex formula used to determine federal bridge program funding eligibility.
The sufficiency rating combines the condition and functional adequacy data collected on every bridge into a single number. Sufficiency rating values range from 0 (low) to 100 (high).
If the sufficiency rating on a bridge is 50 or less and it is designated as “structurally deficient” or “functionally obsolete,” the bridge qualifies for federal replacement funding.
A low sufficiency rating number does not necessarily mean that the bridge is in need of immediate repair.


It crosses Townline Creek in a middle of a swale. The bridge's concrete deck is barely above the water, and it looks as if the deck could be submerged during times of extremely high water in the swamp.
The years have not been kind to concrete bridges, which were built quickly and cheaply during the middle of the 20th century. Concrete facing falls off after years of exposure to sun, heat, cold and salt, exposing the conglomerate and rebar below. below.
Gravel on the narrow curb next to the narrow bridge deck seems to come from the bridge itself as the concrete disintegrates.


The bridge traffic isn't heavy, but Clare Avenue is a county primary road.


Click here for a fully interactive map

Mid-Michigan has many "structurally deficient" bridges. Click on a placemarker near you to see them in your area.

Read Susan Field's story on mid-Michigan's bridges in Sunday's Morning Sun!

A video of the St. Louis Blues Festival is available Here.



Photographs by Dick Bolton

The Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort and the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe are promising a huge fireworks show at dusk on the Fourth of July.
More than 1,000 shells are set for the show, and a viewing area is being set up west of the casino-hotel. Parking is available in the casino lot, in a newly-designated parking area off Summerton Road, and in overflow parking south of the viewing area.