Michigan Community IT News Briefing

HEADLINES

* Metro Detroit: Cities put info online -- and save

* Holland, Zeeland: Teachers go to class to catch up with technology

JAN 04 2004

* Ingham County: Web site details available pets

JAN 03 2004

* Ypsilanti: Ypsilanti schools get a new buzz

JAN 02 2004

* Mackinaw City: Mackinaw a model for Internet commerce

* Livonia and other Metro Detroit communities: Seniors venture online at record-setting rate

* Statewide: Road conditions just a click away

* Mundy Township: National publication recognizes driving force behind GenNET

* Grand Rapids: Internet screening helps students seek mental-health help

* Sterling Heights: Computer program offers glimpse into Sterling's past

* Owosso: Owosso hospital is wired for efficiency

* Grandville: Grandville schools trying to find a way to correct technology inequality

* Hudsonville: Computer program links Hudsonville to network that seeks lost kids

* Adrian: Adrian looks at technology to improve service

* Grand Blanc: Group posts bond info on Web

* Grand Haven: Wireless company working with city

* Lake Orion: Student turns seniors on to computers

* Troy: Death goes digital in city records

* Jackson: Foote banks on computer system

Laptops, e-mail, and CDs replace piles of paper for local politicians. Livonia, Birmingham, Madison Heights, Lathrup Village, Royal Oak, Troy, and Farmington Hills are highlighted in this article which describes how communities are adopting technology to improve government operations.

Source: Detroit Free Press

URL: http://www.freep.com/money/tech/tech5_20040105.htm

West Ottawa, Zeeland, and Holland school districts are beginning to see the need to retrain their teachers to use technology. Computer training classes are becoming more common as the amount of technology continues to increase in schools. The training is aimed at helping teachers integrate technology into daily lesson plans.

Source: The Holland Sentinel

URL: http://www.thehollandsentinel.net/stories/010504/loc_010504002.shtml

New software makes it easier to find and adopt pets in Ingham County. Photos of dogs, cats, donkeys, snakes and other animals have been added to the county's Web site. With the software, residents can identify lost or adoptable pets with the touch of the mouse and Animal Control staffers can process adoptions more quickly.

Source: Lansing State Journal

URL: http://www.lsj.com/news/local/040104_dogs_1b.html

Phone trees may be a thing of the past for Ypsilanti Public Schools. This week, Superintendent David Zuhlke has been working on the words for his New Year's greeting for students and parents - a message to be sent by a new phone system that, at least theoretically, allows the superintendent to call all students' families at once. Ypsilanti officials say they're the first ones in Michigan with such a system.

Source: Ann Arbor News

URL: http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-7/1073128564259520.xml?aanews?NEA

Mackinaw City's marketing wizard Brad Jones has set the jewels of the Straits of Mackinac area into a dazzling electronic tapestry and laid it out on the Internet for the world to admire, explore - and use. The Web site, www.mackinawcity.com, offers the electronic visitor the full range of accommodations, area attractions that range north to Whitefish Point and south to Nub's Nob, money-saving vacation packages and an expanding shopping mall.

Source: Petoskey News-Review

URL: http://www.petoskeynews.com/articles/2004/01/02/news/local_regional/news01.txt

The last generation to work most of their careers without touching a computer, the 65-plus crowd was the fastest-growing group jumping online last year, Nielsen ratings show. Michigan has about 330,000 senior users, and since 1999, at least 20 Metro Detroit communities from Livonia and Canton Township to Chesterfield Township, Auburn Hills and Southfield have added computer labs to senior centers.

Source: Detroit News

URL: http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0401/02/a01-22459.htm

To offer a helpful tool during these months, the Michigan State Police has announced that the winter travel advisory web site is up and running for this winter season. From the site the public can view current road conditions for any area of the state, said spokeswoman Shanon Akans.

Source: Cheboygan Tribune, Saginaw News, The Mining Journal

URL: http://www.cheboygannews.com/articles/2003/12/26/news/news4.txt, http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1071849036223150.xml?sanews?NESP, http://www.miningjournal.net/archive/2003news/12-december/12-28_5.htm

Beverly Knox-Pipes, assistant superintendent for technology for the Genesee Intermediate School District, was selected as one of four finalists for the Ed Tech Leader of the Year 2003 by Technology and Learning magazine. Knox-Pipes was recognized for helping build the Genesee Network for Education Telecommunications that serves all Genesee County schools and as well as cooperates with several schools outside the county.

Source: The Flint Journal

URL: http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-17/1072450246287870.xml?fljournal?NEF

Calvin College is using the Internet to help college students discretely determine if they need treatment for mental-health problems. Students struggling with the pressures of college life can visit the Broene Counseling Center Web site for free anonymous screenings for depression, anxiety, eating disorders and alcohol abuse.

Source: Grand Rapids Press

URL: http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-12/107245375215550.xml?grpress?NEG

With just a few clicks of a mouse, people can see what Sterling Heights looked like when farms, not subdivisions and strip malls, dominated the area. There are more than 200 historical photos of the city on the Hyperion Digital Media Archive, which is accessible through the Sterling Heights Public Library online catalog.

Source: Shelby Township Advisor and Source

URL: http://www.sourcenewspapers.com/archives/index.inn?loc=detail&doc=/2003/December/24-703-neighbors3.txt

Hospitals and Health Networks Magazine has named Memorial Healthcare Center in Owosso to its list of the 100 most wired hospitals for two years running. It's one of just two Michigan facilities on the list. (Marquette General Health System is the other.)

Source: Detroit Free Press

URL: http://www.freep.com/money/tech/newman23_20031223.htm, http://www.freep.com/money/tech/nside23_20031223.htm

"We do have technology working in our buildings, but some more so than others," Superintendent Ron Caniff told the Board of Education recently. The school district curriculum details the computer skills that the district wants all students to be learning. But actually teaching those skills may be a challenge for schools like PrairieView, where over half of the school's computers are "severely outdated," said Principal Chuck Schultz.

Source: Advance Newspapers

URL: http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1072194680200790.xml?advancenewspapers?NEW

The Hudsonville Police Department applied for and won a federal grant for a new computer system and software system for the purpose of locating missing persons. The system is called the Lost Child Alert Technology Resource.

Source: Advance Newspapers

URL: http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1072194658200790.xml?advancenewspapers?NEGV

Adrian city officials are in the very early stages of looking at a technological tool that could be used to improve city services. The city is considering how geographic information systems could be used in Adrian. GIS is a system of computer software, hardware, data and personnel combined to manipulate, analyze and present information that is tied to a geographic location. City Administrator George Brown has appointed a GIS steering committee to study the issue.

Source: Lenawee Connection

URL: http://www.lenconnect.com/articles/2003/12/21/news/news02.txt

For the first time, voters can look online to get information about a school bond proposal. The Web site, paid for by the We're for Grand Blanc Kids Committee, includes answers to frequently asked questions, a fact sheet, cost of the bond for homeowners, volunteer sign-up and requests for speakers.

Source: The Grand Blanc News/Flint Journal

URL: http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1072200013164940.xml?fljournal?GBNNE

The company planning to bring wireless Internet to Grand Haven is pursuing a franchise agreement with the city council. Once operational sometime early next year, company officials said this will be one of the first citywide wireless networks in the country.

Source: Muskegon Chronicle, Holland Sentinel

URL: http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1071848755153440.xml?muchronicle?NETR, http://www.thehollandsentinel.net/stories/122603/loc_122603015.shtml

It was about a year ago when Matt Zitzmann, who enjoys tinkering with computers, established Ageless Technologies, a nonprofit organization that collects the machines for senior citizens. So far, Zitzmann has donated computers to Grovecrest in Pontiac and American House in Rochester. He also teaches basic computer classes to the residents at Grovecrest.

Source: Lake Orion Eccentric

URL: http://www.hometownlife.net/berkley/NewsSearch.asp?pageType=Story&StoryID=9682

Searches of death records will be available on computer, as Troy city staff recently finished a six-month project to enter card file information on a new computer program. The information is not yet accessible on the city's Web site, although that should happen in coming months, said Barbara Holmes, deputy city clerk.

Source: Troy Eccentric

URL: http://www.hometownlife.net/berkley/NewsSearch.asp?pageType=Story&StoryID=9812

Foote Hospital will spend $8.2 million to bring doctors' orders into the computer age. If doctors log on, "computerized physician order entry" is expected to save millions of dollars a year and make patients safer from potentially fatal medication errors.

Source: The Jackson Patriot

URL: http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-7/1071853590142800.xml?jacitpat?NEJ

* Detroit Free Press / tech, http://www.freep.com/index/tech.htm

* Detroit Tech News, http://detnews.com/technews/index.htm

* Michigan CrainTech, http://michigan.craintech.com/home.mv

* Michigan Technology News, http://www.mitechnews.com/

* Federal Computer Week, http://www.fcw.com/

* Government Computer News, http://www.gcn.com/sandl/

* Government Technology, http://www.govtech.net/

* New York Times: Technology, http://www.nytimes.com/pages/technology/

* Washtech.com (Washington Post), http://www.washtech.com/

cyber-state.org

3520 Green Court, Suite 300, Ann Arbor, MI 48105-1579

phone: (734) 302-4755 fax: (734) 302-4996

Cyber-state.org is a non-profit, nonpartisan organization that is committed to ensuring that all Michigan residents are able to benefit from information technology (IT). One of our priorities is to assist state and local policymakers as a resource for their creation and deliberation of IT policy. With these email news briefings, we hope to increase the awareness of the importance of information technology for Michigan's economy and educational system. If you do not find these email briefings to be useful or you would like to change the email address of the recipient in your office, please reply with an email to webmaster@cyber-state.org. Please do not reply to the group.