Ducks Unlimited invests $2 million in Michigan

Wildflowers bloom on a Ducks Unlimited project in Michigan | Press photo

Ducks Unlimited and its partners are investing $2.3 million to protect, enhance or restore 2,100 acres of wetland habitat across 10 Michigan project sites in 2019. This will greatly improve water quality and wildlife habitat.

The milestones in 2019 added to a sizeable historical investment in Michigan. Over the last 30 years Ducks Unlimited has invested $46 million to protect, restore or enhance more than 85,000 wetland and grassland acres on more than 420 project sites across the state.

Partners included the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Six Rivers Land Conservancy, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, corporate partners such as Axalta Coating Systems, major donors and Ducks Unlimited members. Vital federal funding also came from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act and the North American Wetlands Conservation Act.

“Michigan’s wetlands have a significant impact on Great Lakes and continental waterfowl,” explained Kali Rush, Ducks Unlimited regional biologist in Michigan. “But our wetlands are also crucial for water quality for drinking and recreation. Michigan has lost 50% of its wetland habitats, which filter rainwater before entering the Great Lakes. More wetlands mean cleaner water and less severe algae blooms and flood damage.”

The group highlighted three particular projects from 2019.

Upper Peninsula habitat revamped
Ducks Unlimited and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources enhanced water level management capabilities at Sturgeon River Sloughs State Wildlife Management Area in Baraga and Houghton counties. The Sloughs are one of the Upper Peninsula’s most productive wetland areas.

Major Monroe County marsh enhanced
Ducks Unlimited completed the third phase of a 900-acre coastal wetlands enhancement at Erie Marsh in North Maumee Bay of Lake Erie. This project will provide improved wetland habitat for waterfowl and other migratory birds that depend on the western Lake Erie basin of Michigan.

Saginaw Bay donation ready for restoration
In 2019, James and DeAnn Sattelberg donated 250 acres of former farmland to Ducks Unlimited for wetlands restoration. Since then, Ducks Unlimited has secured funding to design water level management infrastructure which will produce healthier habitat for waterfowl and wildlife. When complete, the property will be transferred it to a professional conservation organization for permanent protection.

For a complete report of 2019 activities, and a look into what’s planned for 2020 and beyond, view the Michigan Conservation Report. For all Ducks Unlimited events and programs in Michigan, visit www.ducks.org/Michigan.

This post is a part of this blog's semi-regular Friday Focus series, which endeavors to highlight news and opinions that, in my opinion, don't get as much attention as they deserve.

Please follow this blog on Facebook for more great content. I'm also on Twitter and Instagram as @fnemecek.

Detroit named worst city to find a job

Landing a job - Photo by FotografieLink/Pixabay

As national unemployment figures continue to be at historic lows, the personal finance website WalletHub ranked Detroit to be the worst city for one to find a job in. This was the result of their researching into a total of 182 American cities and the labor market in those communities.

According to statistics from the Labor Department, the unemployment rate is 3.5% at the national level. Michigan meanwhile ranks 38th with a statewide unemployment rate of 4% and Wayne County has an unemployment rate of 4.5%. Detroit is clearly still behind the rest of Michigan and the rest of the nation.

For their rankings, the staff at WalletHub looked at nine different areas related to finding a job. They compiled data from government and other sources related to those nine areas to determine a ranking in each category. Detroit’s status as the worst place to find a job is a composite of those nine areas.

Rankings in the individual categories did, however, show some positive signs for Detroit. For example, Detroit ranked 23rd out of 182 cities in terms of employment growth. The problem, of course, is that even though Detroit is growing faster than the national average, our city still has a long way to go.

The nine areas that researchers from WalletHub looked at for this ranking are:

• Average work and commute time where Detroit ranked 40th;
• Employment growth where we came in with the 23rd fastest growth;
• Housing affordability where the Motor City ranked 33rd most affordable;
• Industry variety where the city ranked 165th least;
• Job opportunities where Motown ranked 179th lowest;
• Median annual income where we ranked 178th lowest;
• Monthly average starting salary where we came in 72nd;
• Percent of workforce living in poverty where Detroit was the 181st highest; and
• Unemployment rate where we are the 180th highest of the 182 cities.

Taken together, this means that we ranked as better than average in four of the nine categories. It really is the remaining five areas where we are doing so badly.

The key takeaways from all of this, in my opinion, are two points. First, Detroit has made a lot of progress in recent years, particularly in the area of overall employment growth. The strategic neighborhood initiative has been showing some real progress, which I discussed earlier.The housing market is continuing to improve as previously reported. However, we still have a long way to go on our journey to recovery.

Anyone who is interested can download the full report from WalletHub is available for free from here. As for Detroit and its job market, I believe the best thing for us to do is to keep doing what we’ve been doing since leaving bankruptcy. It took us almost half a century to hit rock bottom. It will take several more years for our community to recover.

As always, each step along this journey will be chronicled in this blog. Please subscribe to get regular updates by entering your email address in the upper right corner of this site or by subscribing to one of the RSS feeds. You can also follow along via the Facebook page for this blog.

This post is a part of this blog's semi-regular Friday Focus series, which endeavors to highlight news and opinions that, in my opinion, don't get as much attention as they deserve.

Please follow this blog on Facebook for more great content. I'm also on Twitter and Instagram as @fnemecek.

"War on police" - rebuttal

Police car - Photo by Free Photos/Pixabay

I posted earlier this week about a Detroit police officer who was tragically killed in the line of duty approximately four miles north of the Warrendale neighborhood. My intention was simply to memorialize an individual who lost his life while heroically protecting our city. I had absolutely no intention of dragging partisan politics into this or causing any type of debate. I simply wanted to memorialize a fallen hero.

When I shared that post on Facebook, the majority of people reacted in much the way that I expected. There was shock and outrage as well as praise for the fallen officer and prayers for his family and all other police officers. This is great and pretty much what I expected when I shared my post.

However, there’s always that one guy.

One individual in particular was rather vehement in his opinion that former President Barack Obama had started a “war on police” and this was the latest example of it. This was followed by repeated usage of Blue Lives Matter hashtag and insults directed toward those who disagreed with him. When I pointed out that a thread dedicated to memorializing a fallen officer wasn’t the best place for partisan politics, he only seemed to double down on his attacks.

This prompted me to do a little bit of research. Here’s the big headline that I want everyone to remember: a carpenter in the United States today is approximately 30% more likely to be killed on the job than a police officer.

In spite of this, no one claims that there is a war going on against carpenters. There has also never been a Carpenters Lives Matter hashtag trending on Twitter or any other social media platform.

As for the numbers, there is an estimated 950,000 carpenters working in the United States, according to official statistics. On average, one out of every 10,000 carpenters died at the workplace each year. In contrast, with an estimated 850,000 police officers in the United States, there are 0.7 out of every 10,000 who die a violent death on the job each year. This translates into a carpenter being 30% more likely to die on the job than a police officer.

Oh, and the reason why I chose carpenters for this comparison is simply because my father, grandfather, and many of my uncles worked in carpentry. I’m the misfit in my family who chose to earn a living with a cell phone and a laptop.

I suspect that much of the reason for this has to do with the fact that police officers expect to encounter danger on the job. As a result, they train and prepare for it. This training and preparation helps them to mitigate the danger and bring the number of deaths down dramatically. Carpenters, in contrast, do not expect to die on the job so they don’t take anywhere near the precautions that law enforcement officers do.

But still, I cannot help but feel that if there was a war going on against police officers - regardless of whether Barack Obama, George Soros, Hillary Clinton, or whoever else was leading it - the result would not be that they would be less likely to be killed on the job than carpenters.

As further evidence that there isn’t a war on police that Barack Obama, George Soros, Hillary Clinton, or whoever else are responsible for, I would simply point out that line of duty deaths for police officers are largely unchanged with them out of office and someone who is the polar opposite replacing them.

It’s a sad fact that I will one day again have to memorialize the tragic death of another police officer or firefighter on this blog. I dread this prospect.

My only hope is that when that tragic moment comes, I won’t have to also worry about someone hijacking the issue with partisan attacks. It is much better, in my opinion, to keep the focus on the fallen hero and the grief that his or her family and friends are going through.

This post is a part of this blog's semi-regular Friday Focus series, which endeavors to highlight news and opinions that, in my opinion, don't get as much attention as they deserve.

Please follow this blog on Facebook for more great content. I'm also on Twitter and Instagram as @fnemecek.

Reconsidering AirBnB in Detroit

Home - Stock photo from Pexels

For several months, the City of Detroit has been looking for ways to better regulate short-term rental housing. This includes popular options like Airbnb and Homeaway that have been achieving more and more success in our area.

Critics of short-term rentals point to negative the impact these services have on hotels, housing prices, and the community at large. A study published in the Harvard Business Review, for example, showed that as more Airbnb rentals happened in a given area, the local rent prices would increase proportionately. In some cities, that increase has made a difference in whether or not someone could afford to live there.

These rentals also have a detrimental impact on hotels in the area, as Forbes magazine pointed out. This is important because traditional lodging options pay more taxes and generate more jobs. If hotels are hurt too much, we lose the thousands of jobs and millions in tax revenue that they create.

Supporters, however, point out that optins like Airbnb and Homeaway allow ordinary Detroiters to generate a few hundred dollars a month in extra income from an empty bedroom or two. That extra money can be invaluable to many families.

There is also the fact that when someone stays at a hotel by a large corporation like a Hilton or Marriott, much of the income generated from it leaves our state. In contrast, when money is spent with a small local person then, as a different study by Michigan State University pointed out, that money is more likely to be spent and reinvested locally.

Clearly, the ideal solution is to find some kind of balance that works for everyone. While I don't claim to have all of the answers, I do have a few ideas. For starters, let's talk taxes.

Taxes - Stock photo from Pexels

When someone rents a hotel room in Detroit for a night, they pay a 13% tax rate but when they rent an Airbnb for the same night, they only pay a 6% tax. The difference between the two tax rates is because, while both pay a 6% sales tax to the State of Michigan, short-term rentals do not pay either the 1% tax to Wayne County to support the stadiums nor the 6% tax to support the convention center.

This, I believe, is fundamentally unfair. There's no reason to tax one option for a night's lodging at one rate while taxing a different option at less than half that amount.

Therefore, I propose that we impose an additional 7% tax on short-term rentals in Detroit to even things out. I would further propose that most, if not all, of the revenue go towards improving mass transit. I say this because the stadiums and convention center are both doing just fine as is. Meanwhile, Detroit has what has been ranked as the worst mass transit system in the nation and could desperately use the extra revenue.

We could even add an extra 1 or 2% onto Lyft and Uber rides, while we're at it as well. This would bring them in line with the taxes that we levy on car rentals or taxi cabs. It would also generate even more revenue for mass transit.

The Detroit City Council looked into this issue in 2016; concluding that such a thing is indeed possible. We may have to put the question to a ballot referendum, much like we did with taxes for stadiums and convention center. However, I don't believe that would be a significant challenge.

Neighborhood - Stock photo by Pixabay

The next challenge is in terms of regulating how many Airbnbs can operate in the city. There was an efort by the City Council earlier this year to place a hard limit on the number of these rentals that could exist. This was intended to address the impact of these operation upon the housing market, which I mentioned earlier.

While that move was well-intended, I believe a better option would be to place on limit on the percentage of residential housing stock in a given area that may be used for such things. I believe it would be appropriate for a limit of 1 or 2% of the housing stock in any one square mile for short-term rentals.

In a place like the Warrendale neighborhood, with roughly 4,000 housing units per square mile, this would mean a limit of 40-80 homes that could be used for a short-term rental. As new housing is eventually added in, the limit would increase proportionately.

These, of course, are just a few ideas. I welcome feedback either in the comments below or by email.

This post is a part of the Warrendale Detroit Blog's Friday Focus series. The series endeavors to highlight news, events, and opinions that, in the view of this blog's publisher, don't get as much attention from the news media as they deserve.

Please follow this blog on Facebook for more great content. I'm also on Twitter and Instagram as @fnemecek.

Concert series comes to SS Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Warrendale

The Sacred and Spiritual Concert series will continue tomorrow with a concert of music for the organ and tenor. This event will happen at SS. Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church (7685 Grandville Ave.) in Detroit’s Warrendale neighborhood on Saturday, October 19. The concert will begin at 6 p.m.

The organist for this concert will be Johnny Kash. He is the music director at SS. Peter and Paul Church in Detroit. He will be joined the accomplished tenor Matthew Moore.

This concert will be performed from the front of the church. A Viscount Digital Organ will be installed on the altar for this occasion.

There will also be a light reception prior to this concert, which is complimentary for all attendees. The evening will begin a celebration of Mass that will start at 4:30 p.m. The reception will last from the conclusion of Mass until the concert starts at 6 p.m.

I would like to add that even though this concert is happening in a Catholic Church and it is happening shortly after the celebration of a Catholic mass, one does not have to attend the religious service in order to attend either this concert or the reception that precedes it. The organizers understand that not everyone in Detroit is Roman Catholic.

There will not be an admission charged for this concert or for the light reception prior to it. All families and individuals in Detroit who enjoy classical and sacred music are invited to attend it.

This post is a part of the Warrendale Detroit Blog's semi-regular Friday Focus series. The series endeavors to highlight news, events, and opinions that, in the view of this blog's publisher, don't get as much attention from the news media as they deserve.

Please follow this blog on Facebook for more great content. I'm also on Twitter and Instagram as @fnemecek.

Jones to host Infinite Scholars Fair in Detroit

Council President Brenda Jones at a Warrendale meeting - Photo by Frank Nemecek

On Thursday, October 10, City Council President Brenda Jones will host the 3rd annual Infinite Scholars Fair in Detroit. This event will happen from 4 - 8 p.m. in Shed 3 at Eastern Market (2934 Russell St.) and will feature representatives from more than 40 colleges. Some of these schools will offer on-site acceptance for students as well as an onsite scholarship awards.

At the event last year, Detroit students were awarded more than $11 million is scholarships onsite.

The Infinite Scholars Fair is focused on students who are currently in the 12th grade. Those in the 9th through 11th grades, however, will still be welcomed. Students should bring up to 20 packets with them containing a copy of the transcript, ACT/SAT scores, recommendation letters, an essay on why they want to attend college, and a resume.

There is no cost to attend this event in Detroit. Regardless, interested students are still asked to RSVP online.

Update @ 5:17 p.m.
On the subject of preparing for college, I believe students should consider the question of safety when selecting a collee or university.

It was fortuidous, therefore, that a representative from SafeHome.org reached out to me today. They released a study on the Safest Cities for College Students to determine the safest colleges nationally and in each state. The rankings were determined using the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Justice, FBI, and U.S. Department of Education from colleges with at least 10,000 students in nearly 150 U.S. cities through 2017.

Western Michigan University was ranked as the least safe college or university in the Great Lakes State. In contrast, Lansing Community College was shown to be the safest. The full report is available online here.

Monarch butterflies are in trouble

Monarch butterfly - Creative Commons photo courtesy of Wikimedia

A series of academic studies and news reports show that the monarch butterfly is in trouble.

A report published by the University of Florida showed that the number of monarch butterflies reaching their winter home from along the Atlantic coast has dropped by more than 80% since 2005. This report was written by Professor Hannah Vander Zanden of their Department of Biology and also appeared in the journal Animal Migration.

This echoes results published in National Geographic that focused more on western populations of the monarch butterfly, which also showed almost an 80% decline in their population. A third study by the researchers at the University of Texas-Austin showed similarily that these winged insects are in trouble.

I mention all of this because Michigan normally has a strong population of monarch butterflies. In fact, there are two areas in the Warrendale neighborhood of Detroit that have become strong habits for them. The Tall Grass Praire in Rouge Park is the largest and most strongly established one. Volunteers at the In Memory Of Community Garden at Minock and Whitlock Streets have also reported a growing population of these and other butterflies.

The fact that monarch butterflies - a winged insect that pollinates many other plants and enables them to continue growing - are in such trouble along with these two populations of monarch butterflies in Warrendale emphasizes, in my opinion, how important thee two programs are.

These programs are largely dormant for the winter but they will resume in spring, just in time for the surviving monarch butterflies to return to the Detroit area. While in Michigan, they will spend there summer here and hopefully lay enough eggs that to begin stabilizing their population.

The monarch butterfly in Rouge Park and at the community garden is, of course, one of the many stories that I will continue to follow in 2019.

Also, for my internatonal readers, may I suggest taking a look at "Protecting British Butterflies"by Chris Lee over on UP Gardner.

This post is a part of this blog's semi-regular Friday Focus series, which endeavors to highlight news and opinions that, in my opinion, don't get as much attention as they deserve. It's only because of scheduling challenges this week that my Friday Focus article is published on a Saturday afternoon.

Please follow this blog on Facebook for more great content. I'm also on Twitter and Instagram as @fnemecek.

Teen prodigy Anastasia Rizikov to perform in Detroit area

Anastasia Rizikov - Press photo

Canadian classical pianist Anastasia Rizikov will perform at The Berman Center for the Performing Arts (6600 W. Maple Rd. in West Bloomfield) at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 29. Rizikov made her orchestral debut at the tender age of seven and has since appeared as soloist with major orchestras in North America and Europe.

The launch of Anastasia Rizkov's career was when she placed first at the Vladimir Horowitz International Piano Competition in Kiev, Ukraine. From there she was invited to perform with the National Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine conducted by Mykola Diadiura.

Following those performances, Anastasia Rizikov stepped on to the international circuit competing with musicians twice her age. In 2011, she became the youngest person to compete and win in history at the Rotary International Piano Competition (Palma de Mallorca, Spain, 2011). She won in other major competitions including:

• Ettore Pozzoli International Piano Competition (Seregno, Italy, 2015);
• Jaén International Piano Competition (Jaén, Spain, 2015); and
• 13th Giuliano Pecar International Piano Competition (Gorizia, Italy, 2013).

“Ms. Rizikov is an extraordinary virtuoso, with abundant technical prowess,” said Renée Silberman at The Beat Magazine. “But she is more than the sum of ten fingers – she is a consummate artist, born to play, to love the art and act of music-making...” he continued.

Now 19 years old, she is being lauded as the “one to watch.” With more than 30 orchestral performances and 20 concerti in her repertoire, Anastasia Rizikov has already played with such major orchestras as Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia, and the City of Granada Orchestra. She has worked with conductors such as Peter Oundjian, Alain Trudel, Bernhard Gueller and more.

Anastasia Rizikov’s concert schedules have taken her around the globe. She has played in such prestigious spaces such as Carnegie Hall, Roy Thomson Hall, Fazioli Hall, Hong Kong City Hall and the Kremlin. With a curiosity for diverse and exciting projects, she recorded a CD with NAXOS and performed at the prestigious Verbier and Orford Festivals (2015). In 2014, she tackled Rachmaninoff’s immense Piano Concerto No. 3 with Laval Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Alain Trudel; while in the fall of 2013,  and gave 20 performances over two weeks throughout all the Atlantic provinces of Canada as the winner of the prestigious Debut Atlantic Award.

Adept in English, Russian, and Ukrainian languages (and working towards mastering her French), Rizikov began studies at École Normale de Musique de Paris with Professor Rena Shereshevskaya. From 2003-2017 she studied with Professor Maia Spis at the Nadia Music Academy, Toronto. She has played in master classes for Sergei Babayan, Arie Vardi, and Robert Levin, and has worked with András Schiff, Emanuel Ax, Menahem Pressler, and Olga Kern.

Being a person who loves and understands her audience, she dreams of being able to share her unique musical voice with the entire world, including audiences in Detroit.

To purchase tickets, please visit theberman.org or call 248.661.1900 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

This post is a part of this blog's semi-regular Friday Focus series, which endeavors to highlight news and opinions that, in my opinion, don't get as much attention as they deserve. Please follow this blog on Facebook for more great content. I'm also on Twitter and Instagram as @fnemecek.

Warrendale on SciTech Now

Back in October of last year, I reported that a crew from the show SciTech Now on PBS was coming to Warrendale. They did a report on how some of the vacant lots in our part of Detroit are being used bioretention gardens as well as the impact that these garden have.

Detroit Public Television interviewed Barb Matney of the Warrendale Community Organization and myself on behalf of the show. They also spoke to several other people in the area and included lots of footage from our neighborhood.

I'm thrilled that this episode of SciTech Now has aired on PBS. It is available to watch on Detroit Public Television's website or by clicking the embedded video above.

As cities around the nation continue to look for better ways to meet environmental challenges, I'm excited that Detroit is able to showcase one solution. I'm also grateful to Detroit Public Television and the rest of the PBS family for shining such a positive spotlight on the neighborhood.

I was only featured in this episode very briefly. However, SciTech Now also used several photos that I provided them that showed what my basement looked like after Detroit was hit with record rainfall in August of 2014.

That flood was a painful - and expensive - moment for everyone in Detroit. I'm glad that it seems to have served as an impetus for improvements to our water and sewage system. 

Wear Pajamas to Work Day

I was reviewing my calendar for 2018 recently. One of the things that I noticed is that April 16 is designated as Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day.

I'm not making this up, Detroit. April 16, 2018 will be Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day.

I don't know who created this holiday nor do I know how it made it onto my calendar. The only thing that I do know is that I absolutely love this idea.

If your personal calendar doesn't already recognize April 16 as Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day then please do add it. I think this will be a lot of fun - so much so that I felt compelled to blog about it here.

Get ready, Detroit! Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day is going to be epic this April.

This post is a part of this blog's semi-regular Friday Focus series, which endeavors to highlight news and opinions that, in my opinion, don't get as much attention as they deserve. Please follow this blog on Facebook for more great content. I'm also on Twitter and Instagram as @fnemecek.

Michigan's namesake ship arrives in South Korea

USS Michigan arrives in South Korea/Photo courtesy of the US Navy

The Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Michigan arrived at Busan, South Korea on October 13 for a routine visit during a regularly scheduled deployment to the Western Pacific. During the visit Sailors will experience the culture and history of the Republic of Korea (ROK), as well as foster outstanding relations between the U.S. Navy, ROK military and the local Busan community.

“The U.S. and ROK navies have always enjoyed a strong relationship. Today, our relationship is stronger than it has ever been and our ironclad partnership is further reinforced by this visit from Michigan," said Rear Adm. Brad Cooper, commander, U.S. Naval Forces Korea. “Michigan Sailors were warmly welcomed by the ROK Navy today and I know they’ll receive the same wonderful welcome from the local community during their visit to Busan."

USS Michigan is one of four Ohio-class guided-missile submarines.  The Navy’s guided-missile submarines provide the Navy with unprecedented strike and special operation mission capabilities from a stealthy, clandestine platform. Armed with tactical missiles and equipped with superior communications capabilities, guided-missile submarines are capable of launching missile strikes and supporting Special Operation Forces missions.

 “Throughout this deployment, the crew has been extremely professional and dedicated,” said Capt. Gustavo Gutierrez, Michigan’s commanding officer. “Everyone on board is mission ready, and I’m proud of being their commanding officer.”

Measuring more than 560 feet long and weighing more than 18,000 tons when submerged, Michigan is one of the largest submarines in the world.

“We are looking forward to working with our [Republic of Korea Navy] partners and experiencing the Korean culture, which is a first for many of us,” said Gutierrez.

Michigan is the second submarine of the Ohio-class of ballistic missile submarines and guided missile submarines, and the third U.S. Navy Michigan to bear the name. Michigan is homeported in Bremerton, Washington and is forward deployed from Guam.

Editor's note: This post is a part of this blog's semi-regular Friday Focus series, which endeavors to highlight news and opinions that, in my opinion, don't get as much attention as they deserve.

Wendy Hilliard returns to Detroit for National Gymnastics Day

Children learn gymnastics through the Wendy Hillard Gymnastics Foundation - Press photo

World-class gymnast and Detroit-native Wendy Hillard is returning to Detroit to celebrate National Gymnastics Day with a special event at the Joe Dumars Field House (1120 W State Fair) on Saturday, September 16 from 10 am until noon. Hilliard was the first African-American to represent the United States in rhythmic gymnastics in an international competition, including three World Championships (1979, 1981, and 1983).

At this event, aspiring local youth will experience a free gymnastics lesson from elite athletes, parents can sign their children up for the new classes, and attendees can hear from Wendy Hilliard about her experience as a gymnast. These free and low-cost gymnastics lessons are presented for urban youth by the Wendy Hillard Gymnastics Foundation.

Brenda Jones, President of the Detroit City Council, will also attend this event. She is expected to present Hillard with the Spirit of Detroit award.

National Gymnastics Day is an annual celebration of the sport that is currently in its 19th year. It is sponsored by Gymnastics USA. It is also celebrated in Australia, the Philippines, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates.

Editor's note: This post is a part of this blog's semi-regular Friday Focus series, which endeavors to highlight news and opinions that, in my opinion, don't get as much attention as they deserve.

Reflections on life in a post-truth world

Photo courtesy of  DTTSP

There has been a lot of discussion as of late about fake news; how it has evolved from harmless site on sites like The Onion to something that has an increasing impact on our life. It has reached the point where social media sites like Facebook have launched an effort to combat the spread of fake news on its pages.

This proliferation of fake news, misinformation, and misinterpreted data has caused some to refer to our modern age as the "post-truth era." The extent to which this has become embedded in modern life was perhaps best exemplified when the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary named "post-truth" as their word of the year for 2016.

All of this makes me wonder more and more about how we got to where we are.

How did this become the so-called post-truth era?

How did we get here? How can we function in this type of an environment? How can we get back to a world where the truth actually matters?

I won't pretend to have all of the answers to this one. I will, however, mention that this phenomenon is not a new.

C.H. Spurgeon

Back in 1859, the British author and pastor C.H. Spurgeon published a compilation of his sermons in a book entitled Gems from Spurgeon. In this opus, he observed, "A lie will go round the world while the truth is pulling its boots on."

A lie will go round the world while the truth is still pulling its boots on. There's a lot of truth in that simple sentence, I believe.

In my opinion, what we now refer to as the post-truth era is merely the logical evolution of what Spurgeon opined about 157 years ago.

In Spurgeon's time, the telegraph was still a relatively new invention. Information could move vast distances in a short period of time. However, it was nothing like what we see today with the internet.

In the modern era, any liar with an internet connection can blast his or her misinformation around the world with a speed that Spurgeon could never have dreamed of. Plus, those lies can be shared with much less effort that it would take one to write a letter or send a telegram. Meanwhile, it still takes the truth the same amount of time to put its proverbial boots on.

I won't pretend to have a solution for the challenges of living in a post-truth world. I simply do not have such an answer to these questions.

I do, however, take a certain amount of comfort in knowing that other great individuals have muddled through similar challenges. Until I have an epiphany as to how to best live in a post-truth world, I invite anyone with a better idea to leave a comment below.

Editor's note: This post is a part of this blog's semi-regular Friday Focus series, which endeavors to highlight news and opinions that, in my opinion, don't get as much attention as they deserve.

Friday Focus - Find your park

National parks | Stock photo by Free Photos/Pixabay

This past Tuesday the National Park Service publicly unveiled its Find Your Park campaign. The program is intended to encourage more Americans to discover their national parks. It also ties in with an initiative that President Barack Obama announced in February to offer every fourth-grader free admission to our national parks as a way to encourage more families to experience them.

The Find Your Park initiative part of a two-year celebration of the National Park Service's centennial anniversary in 2016. From the Motor Cities National Automotive Heritage Area to the Great Smoky Mountains, Grand Canyon, Statue of Liberty, and Mt. Rushmore, the NPS includes more than 400 parks that preserve landscapes, history, and culture for future generations.

I had a chance to talk with Michael Liang of the National Park Service recently. He is one of five Centennial Ambassadors and a native of the Detroit area. Liang is currently a ranger at the Santa Monica National Recreation Area in Topanga, California.

Find Your Park, he pointed out, allows people a better chance to discover all that national parks have to offer. The newly launched website enables visitors to see videos and photos of parks across the country as well as a link to individual parks that they intend to visit.

I asked him what a greater interest in national parks would mean for state and local parks, such as Rouge Park here in the Warrendale neighborhood. “I'm a firm believer that a rising tide lifts all boats,” he said. “As people discover the wonders that exist in their national parks, that can only translate into a greater interest and usage of local parks at home.”

More on Michael Liang and the Find Your Park campaign is below. The closest national park to Detroit is the River Raisin National Battlefield Memorial in Monroe.

Champps to host benefit for Beaumont Children's Hospital

As part of this blog's Friday Focus series, Champps in West Bloomfield is teaming up with the Student Heart Check program at Beaumont Children’s Hospital  to support free heart checks for high school students.  Champps, located at 7410 Orchard Lake Road, will host a celebration to benefit Beaumont Student Heart Check on Thursday, February 26.

Champps will donate 10% of sales for the entire day and night of Thursday, February 26 to the Beaumont Student Heart Check program, which offers free heart checks to high school students to help detect young people who may be at risk for sudden cardiac arrest.

The party begins at 6 p.m., when guests are invited to enjoy a complimentary sampling of Champps’ signature dishes, including Champps Americana Chopped Salad, Chipotle Burger, Pepper Seared Ahi Tuna Tacos and Calamari Fritti.

Featured signature cocktails include Grand Sangria, Island Rum Punch and Champps Long Island Tea for $4 each; draft beer will be available for $2 each. In addition, Michigan’s own Latitude 42 Brewing Company will be hosting a “Tap Takeover,” where they will feature six of their beers on tap, including favorites Schoolhouse Honey Amber Ale and Lucifer's Cuvee-Double Chocolate Rye Stout.

"We are thrilled to be partnering with Champps for their celebration event and are so grateful they have chosen to support our efforts,” said Jennifer Shea, Event Coordinator for Beaumont’s Student Heart Check program.  “We are looking forward to a fun and festive event.  We invite everyone to come and join us on February 26!"

Champps in West Bloomfield offers 31 High Definition TVs; nearly 50 kinds of beer, including 24 beers on tap, 15 of which are craft and 11 of which are local; and a deliciously crafted menu for sharing, snacking and dining.

Champps in West Bloomfield is open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 12 a.m. Sunday – Wednesday and 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Thursday – Saturday.   For more information, reservations or to book a private event, call Champps at (248) 538-6333, or visit us at www.champps.com on Facebook and Twitter.

The Friday Focus is an occasional feature to draw attention to stories outside of the Warrendale neighborhood that the publisher believes is worthy of an extra dose of attention.

Beautiful people of Detroit

The folks at Travel and Leisure magazine released a poll recently, which claimed that Detroit was home to the least attractive people in the nation while Miami was home to the most attractive. I have absolutely nothing against Miami or its beautiful residents. However, I have to take issue with the notion that Detroiters are unattractive.

Kirsten Haglund - Photo by Matt Billings

Granted, my fat face may not be the most attractive around, but there lots of beautiful women in Detroit. I mean, really - there's a reason why I choose to live in this town and it's not the reasonably priced auto insurance, stellar city services, nor absence of crime. It's the people who keep me here.

For the benefit of anyone from Travel and Leisure who finds their way to my blog via one of the search engines, please allow me to cite a few examples that you presumably missed.

Kirsten Haglund was Miss America 2008 and she is from Detroit. She is also currently president of the Kirsten Haglund Foundation, which provides hope, network, and financial aid to those seeking treatment and freedom from eating disorders. She has also appeared on Hannity, Red-Eye, Fox and Friends Weekend, and The Real Story on Fox News Channel where she talks about women's health issues.

Not to be outdone, Rima Fakih was Miss USA 2010. She was the first Arab American who to hold that title.

Rima Fakih also lives a mere three miles away from Detroit's Warrendale neighborhood in the nearby community of Dearborn, Michigan.

Rima Fakih - U.S. Air Force photo

To put this tidbit into perspective, one has to go all the way to 1967 in order to find someone from the Miami area who won the Miss USA pageant, in spite of Travel and Leisure's claim that they are home to the most attractive people in the nation. In contrast, three different women, including Rima Fakih, have won the title since then.

No one from Miami, by the way, has ever been crowned Miss America in the 93 year history of that pageant. Five different women from the Detroit area, though, including Kirsten Haglund, have won that title.

Now, I know what everyone at Travel and Leisure must be thinking at this moment, "beauty pageants alone aren't effective way of measuring the attractiveness of a city's population."

They're right in such an argument, which is why I won't stop at beauty pageants. The women of Detroit, after all, have a lot more to offer than just that.

Alexa Spierling is a country singer/songwriter whose Mom grew up in the Warrendale neighborhood of Detroit. She has an amazing voice that has thrilled audiences from around the country.

She is also as attractive as can be. If anyone doubts me, the music video for her song "Walk Away" is available below. It gives one three minutes, 44 seconds of opportunity to realize how beautiful Alexa Spierling looks and sounds.

And she lives in the Detroit area.



Shall I continue?

Tania Marie Caringi - Photo by Scott Spellman,
Hair & make up by Elia Liz

Yes, I think I will continue.

After all, there are so many attractive people in Detroit it would seem like a shame not to mention a few more more them.

Tania Marie Caringi is a friend of mine who just happens to be a model and actress. She has worked throughout the United States and in Europe. As part of her modelling work, she is currently the face of LuLu Cosmetics.

She was also named the most beautiful woman in the world by MODE Lifestyle. Quite frankly, I have a certain amount of trouble disagreeing with them on this one.

And, yes, Tania Marie Caringi lives right here in Detroit with a lot of other beautiful people.

Of course, neither MODE Lifestyle nor I are the only ones to recognize how attractive Detroiters are. There are even those who have used this beauty in their commercials.

Actually, there are a lot of companies that have used Detroit in their commercials. Those commercials have ranged from the Super Bowl spots to regional ones.

One of my favorite ones was when the folks at Fiat teamed up with Jenny Bauer to create a commercial for the Fiat 500, which showcases the beauty of both Detroit and her residents. The result is nothing short of spectacular, in my opinion.




Oh, and speaking of Jenny Bauer, here is another video that is just her being an unattractive woman from Detroit. It was created by Jerome Duran of Mediatropics. It's probably not safe for work - but it is awesomely sexy.



#NSFW

And then there is another woman whose photograph has previously appeared on this blog back in 2012 to celebrate the founder of Detroit, Antoine Cadillac.

Elizabeth Grutza is another friend of mine. She is a model, actress, bartender, and all-around awesome person.

Elizabeth Grutza - Photo by David Yee

She also lives in Detroit where she seems determined to refute the claim that Detroiters are unattractive. (Seriously, her and her fiance Brian are two of the most beautiful people anyone could ever hope to meet.)

And here's the thing, Travel and Leisure readers, these are just a small sampling of attractive Detroiters; one that is based on images that I could get the rights to publish in under five minutes. If I spent a little bit more time, I could produce photographs and video of hundreds of thousands of beautiful Detroiters.

Of course, one could also make the argument that the folks at Travel and Leisure did me a huge favor by proclaiming Detroit to be home of the most unattractive people in the nation. Surveys like that, after all, do keep the number of people flocking to Detroit down a bit.

That, in turn, means that I'm able to keep more of the beautiful women of Detroit to myself.

Detroit named one of the top cities for shopping locally

Small business in action - Photo by Frank Nemecek

As millions of small retailers prepare for Small Business Saturday on November 29, I believe it's worth noting that Detroit was recently named one of the best cities in America for shopping locally. A survey conducted by Yelp and Nielsen found that Detroit has the sixth highest concentration of highly rated retail businesses where consumers can buy gifts this holiday season.

Detroit, I should add, is also the largest city to make the top 20 in this list. Portland, Maine took the top spot in the survey. They were followed by Lawrence, Kansas, St. Petersburg, Florida, Asheville, North Carolina, Santa Cruz, California, and then Detroit in the number six spot.

Rounding out the top twenty in this list of the best cities for shopping locally was

• Bend, Oregon
• Chapel Hill, North Carolina
• Wilmington, North Carolina
• Hoboken, New Jersey
• Minneapolis, Minneapolis
• Portland, Oregon
• Frederick, Maryland
• Flagstaff, Arizona
• New Orleans, Louisiana
• Worcester, Massachusetts
• Savannah, Georgia
• Providence, Rhode Island
• Seattle, Washington and
• Baltimore, Maryland

I want to take a moment to congratulate all of the small business owners in the Warrendale neighbor and across Detroit for giving some great options for shopping locally.

Publisher's Note: This story is presented as part of this blog's semi-regular Friday Focus series, which features stories that I do not believe are getting sufficient attention from the mainstream media. Please check back next week for another Friday Focus story.

Win VIP tickets to see Hunter Hayes

Hunter Hayes - Press photo

Readers of the Warrendale (Detroit) Blog can win free VIP tickets to see Hunter Hayes at the Palace of Auburn Hills and to meet him after the show. He will bring his award-winning country music performance there on Saturday, November 22.

Hunter Hayes has been nominated for four Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist. He also won the Country Music Association Award for New Artist of 2012 and three BMI Awards.

To enter, participants can download and register on Rowl.com, a world-class discovery and engagement app that cuts through social media clutter to deliver the most relevant major and local events directly to fans.

The official rules for this Hunter Hayes contest are available on-line here.

Your chance to see Hunter Hayes live in concert is the latest installment in the Friday Focus series.

Friday Focus: Conference to explore medicine and the arts

As part of my occasional Friday Focus series on stories that I don't feel are getting the coverage due them in the mainstream media, I wanted to mention the Creative Minds in Medicine Conference, which will happen in Cleveland later this month.

One of the speakers that I am particularly excited about is a session on impact of lead contamination on children and their educational development. This, in my opinion, is a huge issue in Detroit and one that isn't getting as much attention as it deserves. More on the information lead poisoning in Detroit and its impact on children is available here, here, and here.

In an effort to bring awareness to the ever-growing link between medicine and the arts, Cleveland-based, Community Partnership for Arts and Culture (CPAC) will be hosting its first ever Creative Minds in Medicine Conference at the new Cleveland Global Center for Health Innovation. This conference, which takes place on October 29 and 30 will feature a variety of keynote speakers who will focus on the increasing overlap and collaboration between the arts and medicine nationwide.

The two-day event will be filled with diverse discussions led by several nationwide experts on a variety of arts and healthcare projects, practices, research and trends. Keynote speakers include:

Gary Glazner, the founder and executive director of the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project. Glazner will speak on Dementia Arts: Celebrating Creativity in Elder Care. In his fun, high-energy talk, Glazner will relate simple techniques to create high-quality arts programs, build communication skills and help increase the ability to connect with people living with memory loss.

Sunil Iyengar, the research and analysis director of the National Endowment for the Arts. Iyengar will discuss in his Research Agenda for the Arts and Health session, the efforts of leading a federal taskforce to encourage more extensive research on how the arts help people reach their full potential at all stages of life.

Mel Chin, the lead behind Operation Paydirt. This project is a national movement that is designed to support awareness and solutions to lead contamination and address childhood lead poisoning, which is huge in Detroit. As part of this seminar, Chin will demonstrate how arts and culture plays a key role in raising awareness about pressing community health issues.

Nadine Licostie, the director of “The Last One”, a feature-length documentary that summarizes the controversial battle and stigma surrounding the AIDS virus and the gay community. This film frames the quest to sew the last panel into the Quilt, representing the end of AIDS. She will discuss her film making journey, uncovering the birth of the AIDS Memorial Quilt and its subsequent impact on politics, science and the media, as it has become the largest ongoing community art project in the world.

In addition to the keynote speakers, attendees will have the chance to experience firsthand the healing power of the arts through demonstrations and activities, and help shape how the arts and healthcare dialogue in Greater Cleveland is making an impact nationwide. Specifically, the conference agenda also includes several panel discussions on important topics, including: Arts and Health Economy, Arts & Culture in a Changing Healthcare Landscape, and Arts, Culture & Social Change: Fostering Healthy Communities to name a few.

“Northeast Ohio is at the national forefront of a remarkable new dynamic: the growing intersection of our world-class healthcare sector and our world-class arts and culture sector. The interplay between these industries is sparking new ideas, new programs, new products and services. CPAC showed in our recent research report that this intersection is evolving and expanding rapidly. The Creative Minds in Medicine Conference is a timely opportunity to bring together arts and healthcare experts from around the nation to identify ways to support and enhance the critical collaboration taking place every day between our arts and healthcare industries,” said Tom Chema, Board Chair of CPAC.

Those interested in attending the conference can register at CultureForward.org. Registration includes admission for both days of the conference, breakfast and lunch for both days of the conference, a reception, and valet parking.

Read the "Roswell Chronicles"

UFO Crash - Roswell, New Mexico

On a personal note, my sci-fi novel Roswell Chronicles is being published in serial format by Juke Pop Serials. It tells the story of Samantha Haut and her cousins as they are caught between a greedy corporation and pissed off aliens from outer space.

The first chapter of my novel is available for FREE by clicking here. If you like it, please click the "+ Vote" button at the end of the chapter to keep "Roswell Chronicles" alive on Juke Pop.