Six O'Clock News - History in the Making Edition
Sven Gustafson has another great piece on the advanced battery news and the implications it has for the state of Michigan. Reporters who don't focus on partisan issues have gone giddy over this move in the past couple of days, looking at both the possibilities and the downfalls of the new technology. CNN/Fortune magazine warns that a "handful of companies that end up controlling the battery industry will also control the car industry", and that Asian technology already has a head start. Dow expects a decision in mid-May on the location of its new plant, and the Holland Sentinel is still gushing about the work that will be done at Johnson Controls. Why, even Jack was impressed with both this and the movie studio news. So there you go.
High speed rail was on the Obama agenda today, a Chicago corridor that would serve Detroit being one of ten regional projects across the country designed to get America caught up with the rest of the civilized world. Besides the obvious job benefits, wouldn't it be nice to get some cars off of I-94?
Leon Drolet confirms in yesterday's MIRS that he is running for Alan Sanborn's Senate seat in 2010. Boy, for a guy who hates government, he sure can't seem to get enough of it in the form of a paycheck and benefits from himself, can he. Interesting, that. Questions abound: Will the man who so hates government spending offer his services for free? Will the people of the district be able to tell him apart from Sanborn? Will they let him park the pig on the grounds of the Capitol every day? Stay tuned.
The Michigan Militia is still out there, and they are still blaming government for all their problems. Go Galt already. Take Leon with you.
John Engler is still an asshole, and he blames Granholm (not by name because he's a coward, but you know who he means) for all Michigan's problems. You can go Galt, too, Big John. Don't see any monuments to your stellar "leadership" being proposed by anyone.
Grand Rapids is preparing for a Chalk Flood this Saturday. Organizer Rob Bliss has enlisted 5,000 Facebook friends to come downtown and draw on the sidewalks - no defacing public property with paint or anything, please, just sidewalk chalk in the area around Rosa Parks Circle. Bliss has done things like this before, organizing a "Zombie Walk" and a mass pillow fight last year. 30,000 pieces of chalk are being donated by local colleges for the event.
Finishing up with some wind energy news: According to the BC Enquirer/American Wind Energy Association, Michigan's wind industry is among the fastest growing in the nation. Looking at the chart in the report, apparently we were second only to Indiana by a lousy 3.5 MW in commercial development. Doh! Hate it when that happens. Iowa has surged past California for second place overall. 35,000 jobs were added nationwide last year.