September 7, 2009

Surprise, wonder of State Fair will be missed

Detroit News
A place with more kinds of rabbits than you ever knew existed needs to pull one of them out of a hat.

Barring an outright miracle, America's oldest state fair ends today. Not just ends for the season, at 10 p.m., but ends forever, after 161 years.

The governor has made it clear that there will be no more bailouts for the fair. She thinks there's more profitable use to be made of 164 acres at one of Michigan's busiest intersections.
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September 6, 2009

Ernie Harwell, 91, has incurable cancer

Detroit News
He'd been waiting for test results.

His voice last week sounded strong -- as strong as always. By the end of the conversation, however, it didn't.

Ernie Harwell, the treasured voice of the Tigers for all those years, has incurable bile duct cancer. In comments to the Detroit Free Press on Thursday, he said he won't undergo surgery.

But in those same comments, he said he's ready for the next adventure.

It's been no secret lately that Ernie -- as nearly everyone knows him -- hadn't been feeling well. He was in the hospital, then out. There'd been speculation about pneumonia. But most of all there'd been speculation something was wrong.
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Grand Rapids Public Museum hosts "Machines in Motion" exhibit

WZZM
He is best known for painting the Mona Lisa, but there was more to Leonardo Da Vinci than that mysterious smile on canvas. The Grand Rapids Public Museum is offering a look at Da Vinci's hand-designed devices with the "Machines in Motion" exhibit. Da Vinci produced more than 10,000 drawings and sketches, which are brought to life in a hands-on way.

Chris Carron with the Grand Rapids Public Museum says, "You know, we have these things that work every day in our lives- automobiles and dishwashers- and we can't see how they work, they're covered up and it's sort of a great mystery to us.
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Flint Truck Assembly Sheds Another 180 Jobs

WNEM.com
About 180 hourly workers at Flint’s Truck Assembly plant are being laid off.

The workers have low seniority and are losing their positions at the plant to workers with more seniority from General Motors Pontiac Assembly plant.

The layoffs will take effect in the middle of October and will continue through November.

The Pontiac plant is closing its doors and many of its workers will be reassigned to the Flint plant.
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Oakland County doctor pleads to guilty conspiracy to posses with intent to distribute

Examiner.com
United States Attorney Terrence Berg, joined by Robert Corso, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration and Andrew G. Arena, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation Detroit Field Office, announced that a Farmington osteopathic physician pleaded guilty Thursday to charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance.

Sohrab Shafinia, D.O., 48, entered the guilty plea in United States District Court, Detroit, before the Honorable Julian Abele Cook, Jr. Shafinia admitted that, between October of 2005 and May of 2007, he wrote prescriptions for over 18,000 dosage units of Oxycontin™ and its generic equivalent oxycodone HCL, in exchange for cash payment.

Berg said, “The type of criminal violations committed by Shafinia, a licensed doctor, constitute a total abuse of trust by the physician that endangers the safety of their patients. Doctors who risk the safety of the public for personal gain can expect to face charges and as well as prison.”
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Dillon takes more heat over plan

Detroit Free Press
The top Democrat in the Michigan Legislature continues to take heat from labor unions over his proposal to consolidate public employee health benefit plans across the state.

House Speaker Andy Dillon says the health care plan could save taxpayers about $900 million a year once fully implemented, mostly by cutting administrative costs and increasing buying power through pooling. But unions representing public employees consider the proposal an assault on collective bargaining and say it could lead to reduced benefits for workers.
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