Holiday Ice Festival-Goers Celebrate the Snow

Holiday Ice Festival-Goers Celebrate the Snow (Crystal A. Proxmire, Dec. 15, 2013) Ferndale’s annual Holiday Ice Festival had something that it’d been missing for several years before that – snow!  As the weekend storms hit the Ferndale area, festival-goers ventured to 9 and Woodward for shopping and fun.  Santa Claus had kids and adults on…

Woman and Child Kidnapped, Held for Ransom from Ferndale

Woman and Child Kidnapped, Held for Ransom from Ferndale (Lt. William Wilson, Ferndale Police Dept., Dec. 13,2013) Coordinated efforts between the Ferndale Police Department, Michigan State Police, and Detroit Police Department resulted in the rescue of a woman and her 12 year old daughter after they were carjacked and kidnapped by gunman and terrorized for…

Pleasant Ridge Picks John Zech For Interim City Manager

Pleasant Ridge Picks John Zech For Interim City Manager (Crystal A. Proxmire, Dec. 13, 2013) After interviewing five potential candidates, the Pleasant Ridge City Commission has chosen former Wayne City Manager John Zech to serve as Interim City Manager while a long-term replacement for Sherry Ball is sought. Zech retired from Wayne in 2010, after…

Legislators: Abortion Insurance Must Be Purchased Separately

Legislators Accept Petition, Abortion Insurance Must Be Purchased Separately (Crystal A. Proxmire, Dec. 12, 2013) In a vote almost along party lines (62-47 by the House and 27-11 in the Senate), Michigan legislators approved a ban on health insurance providers from providing abortion coverage as part of their plans.  Instead women will be required to…

Deadlines For CDL Drivers… Fast Approaching

Deadlines For CDL Drivers And Their Medical Providers Fast Approaching (Michigan Secretary of State Press Release, Dec. 12, 2013) Secretary of State Ruth Johnson strongly encourages Michigan residents with a Commercial Driver License (CDL) to self-certify to which type of commercial motor vehicle (CMV) operation they perform to avoid losing CDL privileges after Jan. 30.…

How Michigan Funds Schools

How Michigan Funds Schools (Kevin Deegan-Krause, orig. Ferndale Friends/ KevinDeeganKrauseForFerndaleSchools.com, Dec. 10, 2013) Please put away your notes and let’s begin our discussion of school funding with a high-stakes multiple choice test: 1. Does Michigan fund schools from:                         A. Local sources         B. Federal sources C. State sources 2. Does the revenue come from:                                  …

Girls Share Whiskey at Ferndale Sleepover, Sending One to Hospital

Girls Share Whiskey at Ferndale Sleepover, Sending One to Hospital (Crystal A. Proxmire, Dec. 10, 2013) Three fourteen-year-old girls are in trouble after sharing a fifth of Canadian Club Whiskey at a sleepover on E. Breckenridge in Ferndale Friday night.  According to The Daily Tribune, police were called to the home at about 11:45 pm…

DNR Encourages Safety and Fun When Ice Fishing

DNR Encourages Safety and Fun When Ice Fishing (Department of Natural Resources Press Release, Dec. 10, 2013)   For many people, fishing is the most relaxing way to spend the day. And in the winter months the most popular angling activity is ice fishing. To those who have never tried it, ice fishing is sometimes looked…

Finnegan’s Monsters are Invading Ferndale!

Finnegan’s Monsters are Invading Ferndale! (Jacki Smith, owner of Candle Wick Shop, Dec. 7, 2013) Home by home, room by room, child by child, monsters are invading!   Finnegan’s Monsters!   Don’t worry, these adorable, handmade plush monsters by Finnegan Mueller are the kind of monster Ferndale, MI likes.   He is making a special, friendly batch that…

SEMCOG Approves I-94, I-75, US-23 Amendment to Expand

SEMCOG Approves I-94, I-75, US-23 Amendment to Expand (David Sands, SEMCOG, Dec.7, 2013, orig. http://wearemodeshift.org/node/1055) Although plans to widen the I-94 and I-75 expressways have been generating a bit of a buzz this week, dissenting voices seemed to have little sway over the bulk of the Southeast Michigan Council of Government’s Executive Committee. At a Friday meeting, the…

Police Report: Waterford Man Wanted to go to Jail

Police Report: Waterford Man Wanted to go to Jail (Oakland County Sheriff’s Department, Dec. 6, 2013) INCIDENT:  13:56 hrs, Dec. 5 – City of Pontiac  MDOP Police Property   #13-187102 SUMMARY: A subject entered the Pontiac substation and threw a chunk of asphalt against a window in the public entrance vestibule.  The window was shattered.  The…

Transgender Day Of Remembrance Lists 242 Killed

Transgender Day Of Remembrance Lists 242 Killed (Crystal A. Proxmire, orig. Between the Lines, Dec. 6, 2013) 242. That is the number of transgender individuals whose murders and suicides have been reported in the past year around the world. Groups like Gender Identity Network Alliance (formerly Transgender Detroit) know that this number is low due…

Ferndale’s UHS Partners with Wayne State University

Ferndale’s UHS Partners with Wayne State University (Wayne State University Press Release, Dec. 6, 2013) A group of more than 100 Detroit-area high school students are learning firsthand how to navigate the college experience thanks to a newly formed partnership between Wayne State University’s College of Education (COE) and the Ferndale Public Schools’ University High…

Could Bikeshare Come to Royal Oak? Info Meeting Dec. 11

Could Bikeshare Come to Royal Oak?  Info Meeting Dec. 11 (Tom Regan, Dec. 4, 2013) “Bikeshare” is an automated, dispersed bike rental network that provides free or low-cost access to bikes for short trips. Use bikeshare once and you immediately become an evangelist.  It is such a good idea–inexpensive, convenient, healthy, green, and immensely popular…