Big show out by Algonac Yesterday

The St. Clair River was plugged up with flow ice, and a tug/barge combo (tug slotted permanently into the back of a barge) was stuck. The U.S. Coast Guard had two ice breaking tugs there and a chopper overhead directing operations, and the Canadian Coast Guard had one of their icebreakers (much larger than the U.S. tugs) there. Took a while, but when everything opened up, it looked like the ice was flowing at about five or six knots. Like a dam breaking. Fun to watch. The coast guard boats would be sitting still, then pour on the power and within yards they were at full speed going through the ice. Then they would stop, and do the same backing up.
Beautiful, bright and clear sunny day, in the high 50’s maybe 60. Dozens of people there to watch. One of the guys I talked to had driven over from Birch Run, about a hundred miles from Algonac, just to see the show. It was so strange to be so warm, the grass is all greening up, guys in T-shirts, and the river was full of ice.
This flow ice is not solid, just all floating chunks, but it jams up in narrow sections of the river and stops everything. The water downstream drops several feet and upstream sometimes floods. This is about the fourth time in the last few weeks that the Coast Guards have been out there to open things up. The strange thing is that there is no ice on the big lakes, and there wasn’t really much ice anywhere on the lakes this past winter.

The guy from Birch Run commented that it looked like our ‘Stimulus Money’ at work, “spending our tax money”. I told him icebreaking had nothing to do with the 'Stimulus', that the U.S. Coast Guard is required by law to keep the shipping lanes open.

The most famous U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker on the lakes is the Mackinaw, retired June, 2006 after 62 years of service, built during WWII to keep the lakes open for shipping iron ore to the steel mills.

USCG Cutter Mackinaw

GOOD NEWS

Soo Locks Open Early By Request of Shipping Community
9 & 10 News – Northern Michigan’s News Leader
Posted: 3/22/2010

For the first time since the early 1980's, the Soo Locks opened four days earlier than usual.The first freighter locked through Sunday morning, after waiting overnight. Several requests from the shipping community and their customers promoted the Army Corps of Engineers to move the opening date ahead. The Lake Carriers' Association says there are a number of steel mills very low on iron ore. The steel industry is increasing operation rates. Currently they're at 70-percent capacity, compared to a year ago where they were below 50-percent. For now, this is a sign the economy is doing better...

The Downsizing of America

Kansas City board OKs plan to close nearly half of schools

CNN, March 11, 2010 6:02 a.m. EST
Superintendent John Covington called for the closing or consolidation of almost half of the city's public schools. A divided Kansas City school board voted Wednesday to approve the downsizing.

Covington proposed the "Right-Size" plan arguing that the financial future of the entire school district was at stake. The plan shutters 28 of Kansas City's 61 public schools, cuts 700 jobs and saves $50 million to help reduce a burgeoning deficit.

Some called Kansas City's measures draconian but school districts across America, hit hard by budget cuts, have been struggling to make ends meet.They have had to make tough choices between closures, program cuts, bus route cancellations and layoffs of teachers and staff. Schools in at least 17 states have opted for four-day weeks.

Anti-Gay California Politician Cited for DUI--After Leaving Gay Bar
by Kilian Melloy, Thursday Mar 4, 2010

An anti-gay California state senator was placed under arrest for drunk driving after leaving a gay bar. A male passenger was in the vehicle along with the lawmaker was not arrested, reported Sacramento CBS affiliate Channel 13.

State Sen. Roy Ashburn was pulled over by the California Highway Patrol at about 2:00 a.m. on March 3 when his state-issued vehicle was observed being driven erratically. The driver, identified as Ashburn, was taken in and charged for driving under the influence. Channel 13 reported that unidentified sources said the senator had been at Faces, a popular gay nightspot, prior to his arrest.

In a March 4 article, the online news site Talking Points Memo characterized Ashburn, who is married and has four children, as "a fierce opponent of gay rights" who had led anti-marriage equality rallies.

Arizona Will Not Raise Taxes

Closing of Rest Stops Stirs Anger in Arizona

The New York Times, By Jennifer Steinhauer
Published: March 4, 2010

PHOENIX — The people of Arizona kept their upper lips stiff when officials mortgaged off the state’s executive office tower and a “Daily Show” crew rolled into town to chronicle the transaction in mocking tones. They remained calm as lawmakers pondered privatizing death row.

But then the state took away their toilets, and residents began to revolt.

“Why don’t they charge a quarter or something?’” said Connie Lucas, who lives in Pine, Ariz., about a two-and-a-half-hour drive from here. “There was one rest stop between here and Phoenix, and we really needed it.”

Arizona has the largest budget gap in the country when measured as a percentage of its overall budget, and the state Department of Transportation was $100 million in the red last fall when it decided to close 13 of the state’s 18 highway rest stops.

Some residents see something sinister in the closings. Betty L. Roberts, who lives in Sun City, west of Phoenix, said the topic was a hot one among her friends. “I honestly think they are setting us up because they want to do a tax increase,” Ms. Roberts said. “I think by shutting down things people want, they will give us one.”

Arizona is not alone in singling out toilets. Colorado, Georgia, Vermont and Virginia are among states that have also closed rest stops …

The Arizona Transportation Department has suffered an ever-ugly combination of large cuts and unforeseen costs. More than $500 million of the transportation budget was recently diverted to the state’s general fund … and the department has closed 12 field offices, deferred $370 million in highway construction projects and cut 10 percent of its staff.