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HEADLINES
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AUGUST
31 - SEPTEMBER 6
*
Lenawee County: Mobile
computers ready to roll
*
Monroe: City updates
Web site
*
Statewide: State parks in Holland, Grand
Haven go wireless under MiWiFi program
* Birmingham, West Bloomfield:
Cities strive to lure citizens to new, updated Web
sites
* Wright Township:
Wright Web site puts township on the map
* West Bloomfield Township:
Schools offering e-mail updates on news and events
* Midland: City
website expanded
* Portland: Portland
Police Department goes high tech to fight crime
* Flint: Colleges
go online
SEPTEMBER
7 - 13
*
Flint: Colleges go
online
*
Livonia: Adult Web
site plagues school district
*
Jackson: Online
testing to start
*
Grand Rapids (Related story covers Ann Arbor): Cutting
the cord
*
Gogebic County: County
remains hooked up
*
Carson City: Surf's up
in Carson City
*
Wayne County: County
promotes community Web links
*
Redford (Related stories cover Wayne, Bay, and Tuscola
Counties): High-tech
canvassing aids missing child search
*
Canton: Library
develops 1-stop Web site
*
Macomb County: Emergency
crews get boost from updated radio system
*
Livingston County:
Livingston Co. struggles with high-speed Internet
*
Kalamazoo: WMU's new
info system raises some questions
*
Negaunee: Classroom
uses Journal to model school paper
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AUG
31 2004
* Lenawee County: Mobile
computers ready to roll
The delays are over for a mobile computer system linking up
police cars in Lenawee County with state and national
networks. The computer project was started five years ago
with a federal grant. Technical problems with radio
equipment and delays in obtaining permits for a clear radio
frequency kept the system bottled up. The cap is finally
coming off, said Lt. Randy Kelley, who has been in charge of
the project the past three years. Patrol cars from almost
every police agency in the county went online with the
system, he said. The primary chore the computers will take
on is running computer checks of cars and drivers during
traffic stops.
Source: Lenawee Connection, http://www.lenconnect.com/articles/2004/08/31/news/news05.txt
SEPT
1 2004
* Monroe: City updates Web site
The City of Monroe's Web site - www.ci.Monroe.us
-- will have a different look next month as the city has
hired a firm to redesign the city's Web pages. The reworking
of the site will eventually result in it being more
interactive. Residents will be able to sign up for
recreation programs and pay their water bills from the
comfort of their own home. First, though, the look of the
site will change. The city hired Civic Plus out of
Manhattan, Kan. to do the work. The new look is scheduled to
launch Oct. 1. Other improvements to the site will come
later. Those changes will make the site more interactive and
user-friendly.
Source: Monroe Evening News, http://www.monroenews.com/articles/2004/09/01/news/news05.txt
*
Statewide: State parks in Holland, Grand Haven go
wireless under MiWiFi program
SBC Communications Inc. and the state this week unveiled
MiWiFi, a program to provide wireless Internet hotspots at
some Michigan parks, docks and rest areas. Grand Haven State
Park and Holland State Park are the first with the service.
By October, MiWiFi will be available under a pilot project
at Ludington State Park, Mackinac Island state dock, a rest
area in Clarkston and welcome centers in New Buffalo and
Coldwater. In April, the service will be available at
Charles Mears State Park in Pentwater, Sterling State Park
in Monroe and the East Tawas dock. MiWiFi will bring SBC’s
FreedomLink WiFi service to the areas. Internet access
through FreedomLink is available for $7.95 for a 24-hour
session or $19.95 a month, with a one-year commitment. Under
MiWiFi, SBC will provide free access to the state
government’s main Web site. Free access to the state’s
Web site for tourism, job and economic development
information will be available later this year.
Source: Detroit News, http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0409/01/technology-260121.htm;
Related story: Muskegon Chronicle, http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1093963588309700.xml?muchronicle?NETR
SEPT
2 2004
* Birmingham, West Bloomfield: Cities
strive to lure citizens to new, updated Web sites
Birmingham is in the company of many other Michigan
communities that are redoing Web sites or creating them from
scratch to provide easier access to municipal information.
The city wanted a new look to its Web site -- and hopes the
new one is easier for users to navigate, said Judy Rumps,
information technology director in Birmingham. Plus, the
site may mean fewer calls and resident visits at the city's
offices. The program that runs the site allows each
department to use its own staff to add information and
update its own area of the Web site. Locally, Troy recently
launched a new Web site and West Bloomfield is preparing to
update its site next year.
Source: Detroit Free Press, http://www.freep.com/news/cfp/10/mweb2_20040902.htm
*
Wright Township: Wright Web site puts township on the
map
Wright Township officials say their new Web site
will provide residents with everything from information on
township ordinances to downloadable absentee ballots for
upcoming elections. The first Web site the township has ever
hosted, www.wrighttownship.com,
went online a few weeks ago and currently offers a fraction
of what officials say will be a trove of information and
resources. Trustee Mary Ledford said the township could have
established an online presence earlier if it had been
willing to subscribe to a Web host that featured banner
advertising. Ledford said she and other board members were
reluctant to sign on to a site where such ads were used,
fearing visitors might think the township endorses the
advertisers. She said one additional feature to be added
soon is a list of links to other sites related to Wright
Township. She said such sites would include the Berlin
Raceway and other local attractions.
Source: Grand Rapids Press, http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-16/1094138102161680.xml?grpress?NEG
*
West Bloomfield Township: Schools offering e-mail
updates on news and events
Parents in West Bloomfield schools looking for a fast and
easy way to find out about school closings or coming events
can register for the district's e-mail service. "It's
just another way for us to get the word out about events or
anything else parents should know about," said Steve
Wasko, the district's director of community relations.
"We encourage parents to make use of this service.
We've had a great response." The free e-mail service
was put into place about halfway through the 2003-04 school
year and ended the year with about 500 subscribers. So far
this year, 723 families have registered. Wasko said the
district sent out about 100 announcements last year,
covering such items as state legislation, funding and school
policy issues.
Source: West Bloomfield Eccentric, http://www.hometownlife.com/Hometownlife/NewsSearch.asp?pageType=Story&StoryID=51142
SEPT
4 2004
* Midland: City website
expanded
Those interested in bidding on City of Midland
projects will now be able to find key project information
online on the City's recently expanded Purchasing Department
website. In addition to supplying City employees with the
goods and services needed to perform their duties in a
cost-efficient, legal and ethical manner, the Purchasing
Department also oversees all major purchases on behalf of
the City. Internet users can now learn how
to submit a bid, find out bid opening dates for various City
projects and read tabulations of results following those bid
openings by accessing information at www.midland-mi.org.
Source: Midland Daily News, http://www.ourmidland.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=12851695&BRD=2289&PAG=461&dept_id=472542&rfi=8&xb=jegey
SEPT
5 2004
* Portland: Portland Police
Department goes high tech to fight crime
Portland police officers are a little safer
cruising the streets after recent upgrades to the
department's police cruisers. The department added a
computer connection to each of the three police cars during
the past month. The addition of the computers comes after a
video camera was installed in each vehicle. The video
cameras came to Portland thanks to the efforts of Police
Chief Bob Bauer and his association with the Oak Park Police
Department, his former employer. The computers were obtained
through a Homeland Security grant that was received by Ionia
County.
Source: Portland Review and Observer, http://www.hometownlife.com/Hometownlife/NewsSearch.asp?pageType=Story&StoryID=51998
SEPT
7 2004
* Flint: Colleges go online
Mott Community College and the University of
Michigan-Flint either have started or may begin sending
grades and tuition bills online. MCC has begun a pilot
project in which students get an e-mail account to allow
them access to their grades. The savings to the college
could total about $15,000 a year, and students should find
the online grading much more convenient, said Delores Deen,
MCC's dean of student services. A final decision hasn't been
made, but MCC is weighing not mailing grades starting next
fall, Deen said. UM-Flint already offers students the option
of applying for admission and financial aid, registering for
classes, checking financial aid awards, tuition and fees,
making payments and accessing grades online. It soon will
add billing to the list.
Source: Flint Journal, http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-23/1094570837324450.xml?fljournal?NEF
*
Livonia: Adult Web site plagues school district
Kids are getting too much adult education when they
download a Web site that mentions Livonia schools in the
address, but lists “75+ Live Cams,” “12 Girls” and
“No Rules!” in the table of contents. School officials
weren’t amused when a Detroit radio station broadcast the
address for the adult-themed site on its morning show
Thursday. The district has waged quiet legal battles against
the site for about two years, and purchased special
filtering technology to keep it from showing up on school
computers. “We are trying to do everything we can legally
to shut this down,” district spokesman Jay Young said.
“But we don’t want to give this guy any more
notoriety.”
Source: Detroit News, http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0409/07/c01-265313.htm
SEPT
8 2004
* Jackson: Online testing to
start
Jackson Public Schools is hoping an online pilot
program will give its students a head start on impending
grade-level testing statewide. District officials are
expanding a program about math and reading online testing to
students in third grade through 10th grade. The trial
program previously included only third-graders and sixth-
through eighth-graders. The program is in preparation for
when the state implements third- through eighth-grade state
testing in the fall of 2005. A major benefit of the online
testing is that teachers can get results back in about five
seconds, said Roxana Hopkins, the district's assistant
superintendent for student programming. Teachers can also
use the test information to better focus teaching and find
ways to help struggling students, possibly through after
school programs and summer school.
Source: Jackson Citizen Patriot, http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-10/1094659651248710.xml?jacitpat?NEJ
*
Grand Rapids (Related story covers Ann Arbor): Cutting
the cord
Jana Lemmen and her seven Calvin College housemates
are about to disconnect their kitchen telephone and go
wireless. When they do, they will join a growing crowd of
customers who no longer count on phone cords. The Calvin
College students are among 25 percent of people in their
mid-20s or younger who feel no need to be wired for phone
service. Between 2002 and 2003, land-line customers in
Michigan dropped by 640,000, from 7 million to 6.33 million.
Cell phone usage grew by 100,000 for the same period,
serving 5 million customers by 2003.
Source: Grand Rapids Press, http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/business-2/1094654932101690.xml?grpress?BUGB;
Related article: Ann Arbor News, http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-10/109437947696080.xml?aanews?NEA
SEPT
9 2004
* Gogebic County: County
remains hooked up
Despite a notice that services will be cut by the
end of the month, local law enforcement will be able to
access the Law Enforcement Information Network, Gogebic
County commissioners learned. The county's informational
technology guru, Brad Noren, told commissioners he has used
and adapted existing equipment to create a link with the
state to allow continued use of the LEIN database. The
information is used by police during traffic stops and for
other aspects of police work. The change is precipitated
because the state is discontinuing service over telephone
lines.
Source: Ironwood Daily Globe, http://www.ironwoodglobe.com/0909lein.htm
*
Carson City: Surf's up in Carson City
No matter where you live, Carson City is now just a
click away. The city's new Web site now can be surfed at www.carsoncitymi.com.
It features detailed information about city government
officials, local businesses and the Renaissance Zone as well
as in-depth descriptions about what Carson City has to
offer. Mayor Dan Herald said city employees have been
working on the Web site for a long time. "I think it
will help us keep up with the times, especially with the
Renaissance zone, and it will show off the city as
well," he said.
Source: The Daily News, http://www.thedailynews.cc/articles/2004/09/09/news/news03.txt
*
Wayne County: County promotes community Web links
By year-end, nearly 30 community centers and churches are
expected to be wired to the Internet through a new county
program. Wayne County’s Connecting the Partners program
aims to bridge the digital divide in communities that do not
have or have limited access to computers or the Internet.
Through the program, the county will provide identified
facilities with computer equipment and train some workers in
the equipment. Qualified sites must meet a series of
conditions, including being open to the community at least
three days a week, to be accepted into the program. There
are six sites up and running and another 19 sites on the
waiting list.
Source: Detroit News, http://www.detnews.com/2004/wayne/0409/09/b03-268022.htm
*
Redford (Related stories cover Wayne, Bay, and Tuscola
Counties): High-tech canvassing aids missing child
search
To assist officers with a fast response, the Redford Police
Department has signed up with A Child is Missing, which uses
technology to canvass an area where a child, a disabled
person or an elderly person suffering from dementia has been
reported missing. The system was used by Livonia police in
their recent search for a missing boy.
Redford was one of many police departments in Wayne County
to send an officer to an Aug. 26 training session for A
Child is Missing, Brueck said. The officer distributed
information on how to use the system to the rest of the
department's members, he said.
Source: Redford Observer, http://www.hometownlife.com/Hometownlife/NewsSearch.asp?pageType=Story&StoryID=52395;
Related story - Detroit News, http://www.detnews.com/2004/wayne/0409/09/b03-268027.htm;
Related story: http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-0/109396534934120.xml?bctimes?NEED
*
Canton: Library develops 1-stop Web site
The Canton Public Library librarians are putting together a
database, accessible from library computers or home
computers, that offers information about "anything and
everything to do with Canton." "We'll be a
one-stop shop for information relating to Canton,"
Fawcett said. "I thought, wouldn't it be great, since
we are the library if we just had everything in one
spot," Tabor said. "If people come into Canton and
the township offices are closed, this is a way to get
answers to their questions." They are collecting
information for a database of businesses, churches, civic
groups, organizations that provide services to seniors and
handicapped, clubs - just about anything that has a Canton
connection.
Source: Canton Observer, http://www.hometownlife.com/Hometownlife/NewsSearch.asp?pageType=Story&StoryID=52282
SEPT
10 2004
* Macomb County: Emergency
crews get boost from updated radio system
The Macomb County Office of Emergency Management plans to
upgrade the county’s radio system to allow for better
communication among local public safety departments. The
switch to the higher-frequency 800 MHz system would mean
potentially faster response time and better coordination of
crime-fighting efforts, such as a recent auto theft bust
that resulted in 55 arrests. The 800 MHz system will allow
police, fire and Emergency Medical Services to talk to one
another countywide and statewide. Currently, police
dispatchers can speak only with their own agency’s
officers.
Source: Detroit News, http://www.detnews.com/2004/macomb/0409/10/b05-269419.htm
SEPT
12 2004
* Livingston County: Livingston
Co. struggles with high-speed Internet
A study completed this summer recommends the county install
high-speed Internet cables along major roads and highways to
serve areas with concentrated populations and use wireless
technology to serve all other areas. “Most of the main
business corridors are pretty much covered with high-speed
Internet access,” said Bill Sleight, director of the
Livingston County office of Michigan Works. “The problem
comes in the rural areas of the county.” It would require
a significant investment to make wireless Internet or
high-speed Internet available throughout the county, Sleight
said. Livingston County Commissioner Bill Rogers said he
doubts the county would be able to act on the
recommendations in the study, funded by a $45,000 state
grant. He said it doesn’t make financial sense to string
$10,000 in high-speed Internet cables to a rural area that
would only service one or two customers.
Source: Detroit News, http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0409/13/b04l-270776.htm
*
Kalamazoo: WMU's new info system raises some
questions
The first stage of a student information system
debuted this fall with "GoWMU," a
"portal" or single online access point through
which Western Michigan University students may check their
tuition/financial-aid account, get news about campus events,
view their grade history, access the student newspaper, or
get all kinds of other information. The information system
has been in the news lately because of the $500 records fee
WMU charged freshmen and transfer students this fall. WMU
officials say the new fee was intended to fund the $25
million system. State officials, who balked at the cost of
the fee, are forcing WMU to either return $200 of it or face
a heavy financial penalty. WMU officials say they'll refund
the students who paid. But just what is this system? On the
administrative side, it's intended to house, under one
"digital roof," financial aid, admissions,
registration and student assessment. Students will be able
to use online personal calendars with their course schedules
and one day, online portfolios storing projects they've
developed during college and beyond.
Source: Kalamazoo Gazette, http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-10/1094985162162380.xml?kzgazette?NEKP
SEPT
13 2004
* Negaunee: Classroom uses
Journal to model school paper
Negaunee Middle School journalism students are
polishing their skills while keeping their peers informed of
current events. The News In Education class, comprised this
semester of eight eighth graders, produces a bi-weekly
school newspaper entitled The Shaft. The students use
resources, mainly The Mining Journal and the Internet, to
select article topics to be published in The Shaft and to
research their topic of choice, teacher Barbara Ellingsen
said. The purpose of this elective class is two-fold,
Ellingsen said. Her students learn to use newspapers and the
Internet as informational resources while gaining knowledge
of local, national and worldwide events.
Source: The Mining Journal, http://www.miningjournal.net/news/story/0913202004_new05-n0913.asp
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