Safe Routes to School

Here is the Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                   TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2011 CONTACT: Jeff Cranson, MDOT Director of Communications, 517-335-3084 MDOT announces Safe Routes to School grants to 10 schools in four counties December 13, 2011 -- The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) today announced that 10 Michigan schools in four counties will receive federal Safe Routes to School (SRTS) grants averaging approximately $155,500. The grants will pay for safety improvements and education programs aimed at encouraging students to travel safety between home and school.                                                                                                                                     "These grants will fund sidewalks and infrastructure improvements that encourage children to safely walk and bike to school and enable schools to offer educational programs and safety campaigns," said State Transportation Director Kirk T. Steudle. "MDOT is proud to work with schools and communities on these initiatives."             "The grant will help Rogers City provide safe access for all families, not just to school but throughout our community," said Katy Xenakis-Makowski, superintendant/elementary principal/director of special education for Rogers City Area Schools. "The construction of new sidewalks to help protect children from traffic will help ease the minds of parents whose children walk to and from school, sometimes in the dark."             "We are thrilled to be part of the Safe Routes program at Washington Elementary and our whole team is excited about improvements to the outdated infrastructure in the neighborhood surrounding the school," said Crim Fitness Foundation Active Living Director Lauren Holaly. "These improvements, in combination with education and encouragement, will help create a vibrant neighborhood where healthy kids are using active transportation to get to school."             Federal SRTS funding enables schools to make infrastructure improvements and offer educational activities and safety campaigns that encourage students to walk and bicycle safely between home and school. MDOT and the Michigan Fitness Foundation partner to work with -more- MDOT announces Safe Routes to School grants to 10 schools in four counties December 13, 2011 Page Two schools, neighborhoods, students, teachers, parents, school transportation directors and local law enforcement agencies.                                                                                               The following projects were awarded funding. They are listed alphabetically by county: Genesee County             Washington Elementary School, in partnership with MDOT and the city of Flint, will install sidewalks and crosswalks on Ohio, Missouri, Arlington, Franklin, and Vernon avenues, along with pedestrian countdown signals at the intersection of Vernon Avenue and Davison Road. It also will implement pedestrian and bicycle safety education, walking school bus, and parent patrol programs. The project budget is $331,022. Muskegon County             Central Elementary School, in partnership with Laketon Township and the Muskegon County Road Commission, will install sidewalks and crosswalks on Giles and Horton roads and solar flashing beacons on Giles Road. It also will implement a walk-to-school club. The project budget is $265,664. Newaygo County (two school systems)             Fremont Middle School, Daisy Brook Elementary School, and Pathfinder Elementary School, in partnership with the city of Fremont, will install sidewalks and crosswalks on Woodrow, Cherry, and Pine streets and Gerber and Mechanic avenues, multi-use nonmotorized paths on Oak Street and Lake Drive, a bicycle lane on Locust Street, and bicycle racks at all three schools. The project budget is $338,754.             Grant Primary Center, Grant Elementary School, and Grant Middle School, in partnership with the city of Grant, will install sidewalks and crosswalks on Commerce, Lake and Brink streets and Elder Avenue. The project budget is $246,878. Presque Isle County             Rogers City Elementary School and Rogers City Middle/High School, in partnership with the city of Rogers City, will install sidewalks and crosswalks on Wenonah Drive, Huron Avenue, and West Erie and State streets, and implement pedestrian and bicycle safety education and encouragement programs. The project budget is $372,736.            MDOT's role is to administer the federally legislated SRTS program that creates opportunities for collaboration with agencies and partners not traditionally involved with transportation funding. The SRTS program provides educational programs, infrastructure -more- MDOT announces Safe Routes to School grants to 10 schools in four counties December 13, 2011 Page Three improvements and encouragement activities to help children safely walk and bike to school and increase their physical activity. Funding was established by Congress under the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users of 2005 (SAFETEA-LU). SRTS funding is 100 percent federal, with no local match required. More information is available at online at: www.saferoutesmichigan.org. ### MDOT reminds drivers: Snowplows need room to groom.

Good News about Michigan Tourism

News from Travel Michigan's Director, George Zimmermann

Winter is approaching, but good news from our summer season keeps coming in. Use tax and sales tax data from June through September indicates 2011 was one of the best seasons for Michigan hotels in recent years. The total combined sales and use tax collected was $44,104,375 – the second highest of any year since 1999. The Michigan Department of Treasury reports that the total use tax of June-September was $29,561,930 – the highest number in 13 years. August and September also experienced the highest single month collections in recent history, with July numbers close behind.

We are also seeing positive lodging numbers for the fall tourism season; and yet another positive story in the Detroit News about growing hotel occupancy rates. According to Smith Travel Research, in October hotel occupancy in Michigan averaged 58.4 percent, a 5.9 percent increase from the same period last year. Detroit saw a 10.4 percent increase in occupancy rates from October of 2010 and was ranked 13 out of the top 25 U.S. markets. Michigan also continues to outpace the national growth-rate in lodging occupancy.

Combined these numbers help tell the story that Michigan has experienced very strong room sales so far this year. This is great news as we work to build on the success we have already had with the Pure Michigan campaign here in the state as well as regionally and nationally.

And while we are always thankful for good numbers, sometimes it takes a personal story to put it all in perspective. In today’s Tourism Update be sure to watch the incredible story of the Blakemore family from St. Louis, Missouri. As part of their visit to the Today Show with Kathie Lee and Hoda they received a family trip to the Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City and a chance to create some great family memories in Pure Michigan.

With the snow starting to fall and the Pure Michigan winter ad campaign gearing up we are excited for the coming winter tourism season here in Michigan. We have placed nearly $1.7 million in winter advertising in Chicago, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Ft. Wayne, Green Bay, South Bend and Toledo, plus Michigan markets for December and January. To quote a famous Christmas carol, it is a most wonderful time of the year.

 
For more information, contact George Zimmermann at (517) 335-1879

Lake Huron Predator Diet Study

Here is a report from Jeff Schaeffer of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Great Lakes Science Center: 

The third and final year of the Lake Huron predator diet study has once again been successful.

We still have many frozen samples, but expect that once again anglers were able to again provide about 2,000 stomachs during 2011.
Our total count for three years will be over 7,000, which is almost unheard of in a diet study, especially with large piscivores.

The study has been an unqualified success. We learned (and are still learning) how predators have responded to food web changes in Lake Huron, and study results are already being used in management decisions and as inputs in several models being developed to better understand Lake Huron's aquatic community. Results have been presented at a variety of venues including fishing club meetings, national fishery meetings, and even to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission and Michigan's Natural Resources Council. At least two graduate students have used study data as part of their theses, and more will likely use the data over the next few years. In addition, the story of how we came together to achieve these results has been "the talk of the town" in several meetings. The idea that citizens can do great science is topic of discussion among many scientists, but we simply did it.

The data collection part of the study is now over, and we will not collect stomachs during 2012. There are many people who have asked that the study be continued, but we need to move into the next phase with these thoughts in mind.

1. The study is continuing, but we have a huge amount of data to summarize, analyze, and publish. This much effort deserved publication in journals and we need to make sure that happens. This is a full time job that will occupy our time during 2012.

2. We believe strongly that we have already asked too much of you, and we can not ask any more.

3. The Lake Huron fish community has not changed that much over the past three years in that alewife are still scarce and prey biomass is likely low compared to the years prior to 1994, and especially during the 1980's when the previous diet study was performed. Three years of great data given that situation are more than adequate to answer all the questions that this study was designed to answer.

4. We are faced with shrinking budgets, and may not have the resources to fund additional sample processing. Ed and I also have additional responsibilities and new projects that require our time and attention. The new projects are one of the reasons you have not heard much from us over the fishing season.

For all those reasons, it is time to stop collecting new data and devote our attention the data we have. If any of you have stomachs that we have not picked up, please email Ethan Bright (Ebright@usgs.gov) so we can make arrangements to pick them up.

In summary, we can't thank you enough, although I will remind you that I made a wager three years ago at one of the spring workshops. Someone in the audience stated that "I would love to help with this, but we have done this before and we never see any results". My response was this: "if you guys get us enough stomachs for a publishable study, I will present results at your club's spring banquet or meeting". I would have to say that you won that bet, and I don't think that I was ever so happy to lose a wager. So our plan is to share study results as soon as we can, and hopefully begin that process by next spring.

We wish you happy holidays and best of luck for next year's fishing season.

Thanks,

Jeff

Jeff Schaeffer
USGS Great Lakes Science Center
1451 Green Rd. Ann Arbor, MI 48105
734-214-7250 (voice)
734-994-8780 (fax)
Jeff_Schaeffer@usgs.gov

Thanks to Julie shafto for sharing this information.

Students Help Lift Michigan Up

The following article is from Kellie Woodhouse: University of Michigan's fourth-annual student-run 1,000 Pitches entrepreneurship contest received a record number of pitches this year.

The group received 3,303 video pitches of entrepreneurial ideas from U-M students, topping last year's pitch total of 3,031.
Those ideas include everything from a combined washing and drying machine to a robotic mosquito swatter to the instillation of coffee carts at the university's bus stops.
1,000 Pitches will announce winners on Sunday, Dec. 11. The contest closed Nov. 18.
The 1,000 Pitches contest began in 2008 as an initiative to "create the entrepreneurial spirit of change and innovation at Michigan," project co-director Najia Yarkhan said last month. This year, winners in nine separate categories will be given $1,000 each.
MPowered, the student group that sponsors 1,000 Pitches, also held its first summit in association with the contest on Dec. 3. The summit is a way to broaden the reach of 1,000 pitches, leaders said.
"The summit at the end (allows participants) to network with sponsors and each other," Yarkhan said. "We wanted to increase quality over last year."
At the summit,1,000 Pitches participants mingled with the event's sponsors —which include Ann Arbor's SPARK, Bizdom, Google, Quicken Loans, Mobiata, Pure Michigan, Energy Stage Partners, Menlo Innovations and several other local businesses.
Winners will also have a chance to tour local Google and Quicken Loans offices.
Thomas Madigan, a U-M junior who has worked with the project for three years, said the summit is one more way the 1,000 Pitches contest has become more established over the years.
"It’s getting a little more well known and through that turning into an overall better competition," he said.
Take a look at the finalists here.
Kellie Woodhouse covers higher education for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at kelliewoodhouse@annarbor.com or 734-623-4602 and follow her on twitter.

Rogers City students are bright and talented.  Perhaps some of them see a future as business people and have their own ideas to help grow our economy.