A sizeable sports memorabilia collection, which includes a football autographed by Green Bay Packers quarterback Bret Favre, and boxes upon boxes of cards, have gone unclaimed despite its considerable value, according to officials. The city sought bids for the property, but received none, so City Manager Curtis Holt said the city will likely turn to Internet auction site eBay to help market the collection and provide a reasonable return in value. Proceeds return to the city's general fund, which in turn funds police operations.

The Ann Arbor City Council approved a $6.8 million automated meter reading system Monday that city officials hope will revolutionize how city residents manage their water. The new meters can transmit a radio signal to city computers, allowing two meter reads each day for every meter. Currently, the city gets one read every 90 days. Residents can get daily reads if they check their meters themselves, but city officials say that rarely happens. City officials hope to get the water usage information online within a year, so residents can check daily usage.

Petoskey City Council members and their audience took a digital tour around the business district Monday as developers sought to show how a proposed reworking of a downtown block would fit in existing surroundings.

The city of Bloomfield Hills is embracing technology in the process of creating a Web site for the city and residents. According to City Manager Chris Bremer, the Web site will include maps of the city, applications, voting information, Building Department information, the majority of the city’s ordinances, emergency numbers, due dates for city bills, and information regarding leisure activities. It is expected to be up and available for the public’s use by July 1.

As a judge for presentations by a classroom of third-graders at East Elementary School, the writer of this article describes how he and the other judges "watched with amazement as these 8-year-old children demonstrated their prowess with computers by creating presentations with sound, images and lots of movement .It is amazing that children at that age are so adept with computers. I have seen adults create Power Point presentations that were not as expert as these were."

SC4 started online courses in 1999 and continues to see growing enrollment in the program each semester. "As a college, the increases are more than we expected," said Linda Davis, coordinator of online learning at SC4. "I think the demand will increase." During the fall 2003 semester, 15% of the Port Huron college's students were enrolled in at least one online course. That percentage rose to 17% for the winter semester.

Some say the number of IT jobs hasn't fallen as much as it appears. That's because many IT jobs are "embedded" in other industries, ranging from automaking to health care, and aren't counted as pure IT employment. At least Michigan isn't losing IT and other high-tech jobs as fast as the nation as a whole, according to the latest report of the American Electronics Association, known as AeA.

Computer criminals are growing in number faster than police can investigate them in frequently overburdened and understaffed computer labs, investigators say. It typically takes six to eight months before technicians at state laboratories can even begin extracting information from seized computers, which delays justice for victims and suspects. Lengthy training that can cost more than $50,000 per officer has hampered adding technicians who help track down everyone from online predators to identity thieves, scam artists and embezzlers. Many departments cite lean budgets as the reason for not trying to get more officers certified.

Online class options keep expanding in the Jackson area. Students can choose from nearly 100 online offerings at Jackson Community College as of this fall, due in part to grant money from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Michigan Community College Virtual Learning Collaborative. Flint-based Baker College also has its own online division, the second-largest in the country; more than 21 percent of the 1,452 students enrolled at the college's Jackson campus took online courses this winter. At Spring Arbor University, more than 120 courses have at least some electronic content, said spokesman Joel Maust.

If you have access to a computer, you might be able to help Jackson County find its next administrator. The county this week began encouraging public input through an online survey in its effort to fill the leadership post. Anyone can weigh in on what skills and background they consider most vital in the person who holds the job.

Saugatuck Township will sponsor a community-wide event of preservation and identification for both Riverside and Douglas cemeteries May 1 at 9 a.m.

Past records of both sites have been updated on computer systems and integrated into a comprehensive mapping program, which has allowed the township to make information more accessible to the public.

More than half of city and township halls in Muskegon County will be able to join a fiber-optic network, linking 14 more sites with 87 already set to get the technology. The fiber cables, which will transmit very high loads of Internet, video, voice and data at fast speeds, are on the verge of being strung on poles and buried underground throughout the county.

Saginaw County will allow online property records searches for a price. Tuesday, members of the Board of Commissioners agreed to charge patrons a $5 search fee and a $1 per page online viewing fee. Register of Deeds Mildred M. Dodak said those are the same fees her office charges when someone makes a records request over the telephone or in person.

In the week since its initial launch, the Web site at the heart of a community-based effort to raise some $400,000 by the end of June for the Saline Area School District’s operating budget reveals that more than $2,000 has already been donated to the fund christened "Restore $74 in 2004." The drive’s organizers, in conjunction with the Foundation for Saline Area Schools, are seeking donations from community members to help make up the district’s projected budget shortfall, which resulted from the slashing of $74 per student in state funding earlier this year.

People seem to like being able to go online to see who hasn't paid Wayne County real and personal property taxes. The Web site, launched by the Wayne County Treasurer's Office at the end of January, had registered 34,000 hits as of last week.

If you live outside Sand lake and you get an e-mail asking you to send a $1 donation to the Sand Lake Library Building Fund, it's not a hoax. It's a construction campaign gathering some long-distance support. Library supporters have gone online in their effort to raise money toward a $1.3 million building.

Helping teachers keep better track of their students is the aim of a new foundation-funded initiative that puts technology in easy reach. Over the next six months, a data warehouse system used by the Northview Public Schools will be tweaked to provide easier access for teachers, giving them more information about how their students learn.

Representatives from the Heart of Michigan Planning Group, formed to develop strategies for improving and expanding the 13 counties represented telecommunications’ infrastructure, explained some of what the group is focusing on to facilitate economic growth. Through focus groups, they found that users are not satisfied with current service, primarily due to the cost and availability. An outcome of their planning efforts is the emphasis on web-based GIS.

Rebecca Ragan, Gerrish Township Treasurer and chair of the economic development board, hopes to "get enough people informed so we can get a company interested" in bringing high speed Internet access to Roscommon County, and show a company that offering this service would be profitable. While broadband connections are currently available in Roscommon County, they aren’t yet widespread or feasible for all users. A presentation broadband Internet access and its potential for helping businesses was held on March 18 at Houghton Lake High School,

Work on developing the city's interactive Web site is ahead of schedule and on track to be completed by the end of May. A selling point for the project was the interactive aspect, which will allow residents to get various information, including property tax data, permit and license applications and other information via computer rather than going through staff members. The last phase to become active will be online bill paying. To accommodate residents who may not have a home computer, the city is installing computer terminals at public kiosks.

Today, dozens of businesses in Metro Detroit offer Wi-Fi (short for Wireless Fidelity), which works when a business transmits radio signals that allow customers with Wi-Fi-ready laptops to go online without being connected to plug-ins, wires or phone cords. "Now, it’s clear that to get ahead in the world, or to keep up with the world, you need a computer," says Chris Christensen, founder of the Detroit Wireless Project, a nonprofit group working to blanket the city with Wi-Fi "hotspots" or user areas. Even Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick noted the need for Wi-Fi in his recent State of the City address, saying the city is working to begin transmitting Wi-Fi in Hart Plaza, Campus Martius and Grand Circus Park this year.

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