State Roundup

Kingsley
School plans to  retire game jersey  of soldier killed
KINGSLEY, Mich. (AP) — The football jersey number worn by a soldier who was killed in Afghanistan will be retired by his northern Michigan high school.

Justin Hansen was No. 54 on the 2002 Kingsley team. A ceremony retiring that number will be held Friday, the first game of the season for the Stags.

Hansen was a Marine who was killed in Afghanistan in July. Hundreds of people attended his funeral at his former school near Traverse City. Coach Tim Wooer says Hansen always “bled orange and black,” Kingsley’s colors.

Organizers have ordered 2,000 T-shirts with Hansen’s name and number. Kingsley’s opponent, Traverse City St. Francis, is buying 500 for its fans.

The Traverse City Record-Eagle says Hansen’s old teammates will carry a U.S. flag onto the field.


Detroit
School district enrollment drive starts with shirt
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit school district has kicked off its fall enrollment drive in a big way, draping a 300-square-foot T-shirt over the Spirit of Detroit statue in front of city hall.

Leaders of the Detroit Public Schools are working to attract families to the district’s new buildings and stabilize attendance that has seen losses to charter and suburban schools.

The T-shirt with the slogan “I’m in” was unveiled Monday morning and will decorate the statue through Sept. 4.
The unveiling ceremony included a performance by the Martin Luther King High School marching band, just back from its appearance at the London Olympics.


Detroit
Biden plans to make high school campaign stop
DETROIT (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden is planning to speak at a Detroit high school during two days of campaign events in Michigan and Minnesota.
President Barack Obama’s campaign said Biden will speak Wednesday afternoon at the city’s Renaissance High School.

He also plans two stops today in Minnesota.

Biden addressed 2,500 delegates July 30 at the American Federation of Teachers national convention in Detroit.


Columbia Twp.
Authorities ID man killed while removing trees
COLUMBIA TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Authorities have released the name of a 44-year-old southwestern Michigan killed in a tree-cutting accident.

Mlive.com reports Sunday night that Frank Andrew Schaefer of Van Buren County’s Columbia Township had been cutting down several trees Saturday afternoon when a tree he’d just felled knocked a limb off another tree.

The sheriff’s department says the limb fell 25 to 30 feet and hit the man in the head. His wife called 911.

He was airlifted to Bronson Methodist Hospital in nearby Kalamazoo, where he died.

Sheriff’s officials had withheld Schaefer’s name until family members were notified.


Sault Ste. Marie
Lake Superior researchers study threatened plover
SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. (AP) — Scientists and students from universities in the Michigan and Ontario cities of Sault Ste. Marie are trying to aid the survival of an endangered bird.

Researchers from Lake Superior State University in the U.S. and Algoma University in Canada are monitoring of piping plover nesting areas in the eastern Upper Peninsula and neighboring shoreline areas of Ontario.

To do so, they’re using a $150,000 grant that’s part of $8.5 million allocated to 30 environmental restoration projects through the Sustain Our Great Lakes program. Matching funds have put the total funding for the project at $313,000.

“We have been keeping busy this summer,” said Shannon Rowell-Garvon, a biologist at Algoma University. “There were three nests at Vermilion, three at Whitefish Point and two at Port Inland.”

Rowell-Garvon and her husband, Lake Superior State biologist Jason Garvon, are the project coordinators. The faculty members are working with a team of students.

Piping plover research has been ongoing at Lake Superior State since the 1980s, but this year the nesting birds have been particularly active, Garvon said.


Linden
Smelly shoes sought for rotten sneaker contest
LINDEN, Mich. (AP) — Stinky shoes are welcome at Linden County Park in Genesee County for the “Odor-Eaters Rotten Sneaker” contest.

Sneakers will be judged Monday on the condition of their soles, tongues, heels, toes, laces, Velcro — and their stench.

Only 25 sneakers will be judged. Registration starts at 6 p.m. at the park’s Clover Beach Pavilion 1 south of Flint. The contest begins at 7 p.m.

Participants must be ages 5 to 15 and accompanied by an adult. They also must wear their naturally worn sneakers to the contest.

The winner will get $200, the “Golden Sneaker Award,” an all-expense paid trip to the national contest next March in Vermont, and a year’s supply of Odor-Eaters products.


Brooklyn
Kid Rock named Grand Marshal of race at speedway
BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) — Michigan musician Kid Rock has adding another moniker to his storied career: grand marshal.

The Grammy nominated, multiplatinum-selling rocker is serving as the Pure Michigan 400 grand marshal on Sunday at the Michigan International Speedway.

His duties included saying “Gentlemen, start your engines” to begin the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday afternoon.