Remembering Hutaree

Whether it's sitting in a shack with a bloody butcher talking about Constitutional rights or simply entering a stranger's house, there are plenty of opportunities to feel uneasy as a journalist.
Uneasy might not be the right word for my experience with covering the Hutaree militia in Hillsdale County.
I was working for the Hillsdale Daily News at the time, and my editor Amy Bell and I set out to find the home where militia member Joshua Stone had fled following the initial arrests in Lenawee County.
Down dusty dirt roads we searched for the house, only knowing that the property was run down and the lawn was full of junk. It wasn't much to go on, considering the area.
We teamed up with the Channel 4 news from Detroit in approaching the house. When veteran reporter Roger Weber advised that I put my camera away initially, I realized the the very real potential danger in the situation.
As best we knew, we were approaching a known Militia hideout and had no idea who was there or how aggressive they were.
Thankfully, it was just an older man named Bob Dudley sitting at his house, who told us how Joshua arrived at his home and how we couldn't turn away his friend's son. He allowed the young man to stay overnight in a trailer on his property before the police arrived the next day.
Still, I will never get what Dudley said to me when we asked him why he believed in the idea of the militia: "I fully believe we are headed toward a civil war."
Members of the militia were acquitted from charges of sedition and conspiracy yesterday. The group's founder David Stone and his son, Joshua Stone, will remain on trial for lesser weapons charges.

M-52 construction starts tomorrow; how do you plan to retain normalcy?

Utility workers dig near City Street earlier this year. The
MDOT construction project begins tomorrow.

Tomorrow kicks off the first leg of construction through Manchester that will engulf the village until November. Originally, the project was to begin next week, so at least the project is beginning early.

MDOT will begin its construction throughout the village beginning at the east end by the Village Hall tomorrow. The downtown streetscape project, which will revamp the look and feel for downtown, will start shortly after (more to come on downtown later).

We know businesses are working hard to make sure they aren't forgotten, but what about area residents? What are you planning on doing to keep business-as-usual during the construction?

A strange vote at the Manchester Township Planning Commission

The Manchester Township Planning Commission seemed to
have an odd vote at last night's meeting. 

Last night's Manchester Township Planning Commission was filled with drama, accusations and walk-outs. This isn't out of the ordinary when an issue strikes at the heart of any community.

While the commission voted to approve the conditional use permit for the banquet hall on Tracey Road 4-2, the events right before that final vote (which effectively ended the meeting, as the board moved the rest of its agenda to next month and adjourned after many residents left very upset), were slightly interesting.

Confusion over what motion was made when the roll call made it to Lyle Widmayer, who also serves on the township's Board of Trustees. A motion to seemingly approve the permit was made by Trustee Pete Stumpo, seconded by Secretary George Daubner. As the vote went around the table, it got to Widmayer, who questioned what the vote was on. His claim was that the vote being made was for whether or not the commission would vote on the issue tonight, not to approve it. Even with planning adviser Andrea Bibby reading the proposed ordinance for approval, it was unclear to him what the vote was actually on.

Much discussion ensued, and then it seemed the previous motion was halted in its tracks along with the vote. That's something I've never seen before: a vote initiated by the body after a motion and second, and all of a sudden, it vanished during voting without a clear withdrawal.

Another motion was then made by Stumpo, this time to approve the conditional use. This went through like most motions do, and was eventually approved 4-2. But that lone vote continued to be on the floor.

Perhaps this means nothing, and perhaps there's something else here. I've just never seen a procedure for a vote taken like that at a public meeting, where the previous motion seemed to not be withdrawn.

Take a listen at the last few minuters of the meeting and see if you agree:

Middle school student's letter to the editor gives advice on how children can become more responsible

I received a letter to the editor from Manchester Middle School student Josh Bunn on how to make your children more responsible. Take a look at his suggestion.

Wildts were one of the first German-speaking families in Washtenaw County

Kathy Siler, chairwoman for the Washtenaw County Farm Bureau Communications Committee, sent me an email earlier this month telling me about some of the research she's been doing on the history of Washtenaw County agriculture. While reading an article by Dale R. Herter and Terry Stollsteimer, she saw the names of the first German-speaking families that settled in Washtenaw County, and one caught her eye. Imagine my surprise when the final name on the list was "Wildt."
I knew my family had some Michigan roots, especially near Homer, but I didn't know we had a Washtenaw County presence. It's very cool to find myself reporting on agriculture in Washtenaw County, the opportunity that brought my ancestors here almost 200 years ago.

Here's the full list:
Surnames of the first German-speaking families known to have settled in
Washtenaw County (1830-1832). All were from the Stuttgart area of Wuerttemberg.
Allmendinger
Aprill
Auch
Beck
Bissinger
Grauer
Gross
Haab
Haas
Hornung (Horning)
Kaercher
Koch
Laubengayer
Mann
Maeyle
Mueller (Miller)
Osius
Paul
Roth
Ruehle
Schilling
Schneeberger
Staebler
Stollsteimer
Wildt (Wild)

To read the full article, click here.

Great invention

Today I ate a homemade cupcake at work, that I made, for the first time. This special moment took place thanks to a cupcake carrier my sister received as a gift. The plastic container holds a single cupcake and secures it, so fears of smeared frosting are long gone.

The container is a creative invention that will add a sweet treat to my lunch that I wouldn't have been able to transport safely before.

As you can see, the cupcake was transported so beautifully its deliciousness did not last long enough for the photo.

An open letter to MDOT on the Adopt-a-Highway sign on M-52 (updated)

Dear Michigan Department of Transportation,

I gotta get this off my back, it's bugged me since before I began working at Heritage Media: this year, is it possible you could work and change the Adopt-a-Highway sign facing northbound M-52 and correct the spelling on it?

The Manchester Men's Club has sponsored two miles of highway on the road in Manchester Township. But, the sign has the name spelled wrong. Here's what it looks like:

I remember seeing it, and thinking "that's a strange way of spelling a group." But after seeing the sign pointing southbound closer to the village spelling it correct, I realized it was an error.

Perhaps this year when M-52 is being worked on in the village later this year (more on that later this winter/spring), someone could go down and correct it. I know MDOT's fixed other signs on the stretch several times closer to the village, and I'm sure the Men's Club would love to see the village's name spelled correctly.

Sincerely,
David Veselenak, Heritage Media online coordinator

P.S. While out on the road taking the picture of the sign, a man stopped and asked if I needed any help or a ride; he assumed my car had broken down and I needed help. I told him no worries, but thought it would nice knowing Michigan still has some pretty friendly drivers.

UPDATE: MDOT tweeted back at us this morning, saying they'll look into it and get it corrected:

@davidveselenak @HeritageNews Thanks for pointing out the misspelled AAH sign - we'll get this taken care of as soon as possible!

— Michigan DOT (@MichiganDOT) January 3, 2012