Radio station 102.9 will broadcast from Manchester Friday

Ann Arbor-based country radio station 102.9 W4 Country will be broadcasting from the Manchester firehouse Friday. The broadcast is for the station's weekly "Firehouse Friday" segment. The show starts at 6 a.m.

Men's Club Easter egg hunt: more photos

Carr Park looked like an absolute minefield of eggs Saturday. One wrong step and you'd have hard-boiled egg all over the bottom of your shoe.

The annual Easter egg hunt by the Manchester Men's Club at Carr Park Saturday couldn't have gotten any better. The weather was beautiful, the sun was shining, and several hundred kids were aching to venture into the park and pick up their share of more than 2,500 dyed eggs.

Not able to attend last Saturday? Here are some more photos from the annual event:

Also, check out the video from the event as well:

Getting Lansing's attention

At the Manchester Community School Board meeting last night, the board discussed possible cuts for the upcoming year. Nothing was decided, ideas were just thrown out for discussion. Superintendent Shawn Lewis-Lakin presented the board with a list of possible cuts and said that when he approached employees for ideas, they ran into a common problem. He found many of the ideas they had for cuts had already been done in the last few years. Lewis-Lakin eventually compiled a list of possibilities, but his earlier problem highlighted how strained school budgets are and reminds us that these cuts take place every year.

One interesting saving scenario presented was for the district to eliminate school sports funding. School Board President Marlene Wagner said the plan would hurt the district more than help because students would use school of choice and transfer to schools that did fund sports. She said that if something like cutting sports was going to work, many districts would have to band together and all remove athletic funding at the same time. A council member then commented that if sports were cut, people would definitely contact their state legislators.

The fact is sad, but yet, probably true. In my years in the public school system, I saw people get more upset over sports related issues. Every year I saw students that didn't have desks due to overflowing classrooms and books falling apart, but students and even parents would get more upset about a coach being fired than any of the issues that affect every student.

Maybe Wagner is on to something. School districts need to get Lansing's attention. Maybe eliminating sports funding is the way to do it.

Waking up to snow in mid-April?? Really???

You probably thought earlier this year that since Easter was so late, there would be no worry of the white stuff ruining your springtime. Then you probably looked out your window this morning. Nobody said those April showers that bring May flowers had to consist of just rain, right?

The chart from wunderground.com, screen captured at about 1:15 p.m. April 18, 2011. Notice there is no precedent for snowfall this late in the year. 

The village received enough snowfall --Weather Underground is saying about 2 inches-- to cause the village roads to be slick and require some people to take out their shovels and get rid of the slush on the sidewalk. Data for today shows temperatures will reach  a high of about 40 degrees, way below the average of 63. And that's 63 *degrees* for those who have forgotten that the thermometer actually goes that high.

The best part? The National Weather Service says the village has a 60 percent chance of more snow later tonight, with freezing rain in the morning. At least no ice or snow accumulation is expected.

 The good news? Well, except for a chance of rain, the weather for Saturday's Easter Egg hunt in Carr Park looks like it could reach as high as 58 degrees. Hopefully that will keep that white stuff gone until at least November (knock on wood).

Sign of bad times?

Within the past two weeks I've witnessed and heard about more larceny in and around my hometown of Westland than normal. Up until the end of March, I had been working at Hobby Lobby, a home decor/craft retail store. About a week after I left, a man was dressed suspiciously and kept hanging around the office door. He handed the Co-Manager a note that read, "Give me all of your money, or I'll kill you." The Co-Manager laughed and said no. The thief then headed toward the exit and grabbed a tote bag and filled it with merchandise on his way out.

This week, a nearby hardware/hobby store had an unknown man run into the store, break open several glass cases containing parts for remote control cars, planes, etc. and flee from the store with those items as well as several RC cars.

I was also walking into Kroger and noticed two younger men, maybe in their late teens or early 20's walking out suspiciously. As soon as they passed me coming in they took off running and shortly after another accomplice ran after them. The Kroger employees started to point out the window and yell that they had taken something.

This same day, I was in Kmart and over the loud speaker an employee called for security to monitor a specific camera. I can only assume they were suspicious of a customer stealing.

Saturday night I was in Ann Arbor and as we were leaving, we had to go around a large police blockade full of flashing lights. I found out later a man had been stabbed.

I've never heard of and experienced so much crime in such a short amount of time. A friend of mine recently wrote on Facebook that her child support debit card was taken from her car. When she reported it, the officer said, "People are desperate."

Is the economy really that awful that people are resorting to crime? I used to hear of incidents like this once in a great while, but now they can't be ignored. Is crime increasing because of the economy? If it is, should I be fearing more for my safety? What can we do to turn things around and feel safe in the communities we live in?

Manchester brochure out and distributed, take a look

The brochure advertising Manchester is out and has been distributed to area businesses and welcome centers along the Michigan border.
The booklet, a full-color 12-page booklet highlights some of the best of Manchester, including a two-page spread on the chicken broil.
The brochure looks stunning and full of color, and captures the color of the town perfectly. Check out some images from the new brochure in the gallery below.

It all started with a tweet: The very real new cycle of news

The news cycle has changed dramatically since I began college in 2006. Going to school, I looked forward to becoming an educated journalist, and writing stories (at that time, sports stories) and getting them published in a newspaper and seeing people read it all over town. Nowadays, many newsstands sit untouched, and people rather see what's going on online and on their smartphones. (Although, I'm quite happy Manchester still embraces the print product!)

There's no better way to display how the newscycle has changed then by how the events of Friday unfolded. While working in the Manchester District Library (come visit me, by the way, I usually am on the second floor Friday afternoons), I checked my Twitter feed, just see what was happening in the world. There, I saw a tweet from @RoyalOakPatch, the Patch.com website that covers my hometown, Royal Oak. It had said the Royal Oak School District had named its finalists for superintendent. The former superintendent, Thomas Moline, was retiring after serving the district for five years.

Royal Oak Schools names its superintendent candidates: http://patch.com/A-gsLSless than a minute ago via TweetDeckRoyal Oak Patch

Being curious, I clicked on the link. I started going down the list and stopped when I saw the name "Shawn Lewis-Lakin, Manchester Community Schools."

I did a double-take to make sure I saw the name correctly, and I did. I called our new copy editor, Tanya, who began last week, and informed her of the news. She then began working on calling Lewis-Lakin, and shortly after the Patch story for Royal Oak was online, the Enterprise had a full story up before dinnertime. As of April 4, it was the second most-read story on Heritage.com.

The most miraculous piece of all this, even to a 20-something-year-old like me, is that it all stemmed from a simple tweet. One person, in this case an editor, sent out a little message containing less than 140 characters and a link, and it stemmed into a story that could affect the Manchester community and its schools. In this Internet (and increasingly mobile) age, it can just take a simple tweet to spur front page-worthy news. And this is one of the best local examples I have found since starting at the Enterprise in January. 

Lewis-Lakin's achievements are Manchester's as well

Shawn Lewis-Lakin, the superintendent of Manchester Community Schools, is one of five finalists to be the next Royal Oak superintendent. While the prospect of Lewis-Lakin looking for employment elsewhere could be taken in a negative light, the honor that Royal Oak is bestowing upon Lewis-Lakin and Manchester Community Schools is nothing but positive.

For Lewis-Lakin to be chosen as one of the top five candidates out of 32 applicants, shows he's doing quite a few things right for Manchester Community Schools. With so many candidates to choose from, Lewis-Lakin obviously met, or excelled in, the majority of requirements for the position which included:

• Proven experience in school administration; superintendent,
• assistant superintendent or significant central office
• experience preferred.
• Doctorate degree preferred.
• Demonstrated experience in budget development and
• financial management.
• Be able to communicate with a wide variety of constituents.
• Consistently exhibits professional ethics.
• A collaborative leader who is visible and accessible to staff
• and community.
• Demonstrated experience in improving student achievement.

Lewis-Lakin also finished second, by a 4-3 vote, for the Northville Public Schools superintendent position in December. The interest from both of these school districts enforces the fact that Manchester schools are in good hands.

Sure, Lewis-Lakin might be chosen for the Royal Oak position, or another in the future, but change is good. These other districts see Lewis-Lakin's potential, and while it may sting a little to lose him, it also creates the opportunity for someone else to step in with fresh ideas.

So, let's cheer on Lewis-Lakin as he interviews with Royal Oak. The opportunity is not only attributed to his success, but that of that district as well.