Draymond Green had 23 points and 12 rebounds and made some timely shots to help the 11th-ranked Spartans pull away from the Nittany Lions in a 77-57 win Wednesday night.

“He’s supposed to do that,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “And, we’re supposed to get him the ball.”

The Spartans (19-5, 8-3 Big Ten) are a game behind conference-leading and third-ranked Ohio State, setting up a big game Saturday on the road against the Buckeyes.

“It’s huge for us and it’s huge for them,” Green said. “We’ll prepare like it’s an NCAA tournament game.”

The last-place Nittany Lions (10-15, 2-10) have lost five straight and eight of nine.

“We compete for stretches, but we need to compete for 40 minutes,” Penn State coach Patrick Chambers said. “We need to do that soon and time is running out.”

Michigan State’s Adreian Payne matched a career high with 12 points and freshman Branden Dawson also had 12, scoring in double figures for the fifth straight game.

Tim Frazier scored 19 on 6-of-18 shooting and had seven assists with six turnovers for the Nittany Lions, who got 12 points from reserve Jermaine Marshall and nine points from Nick Colella.

Penn State posed a brief threat by pulling within five points midway through the second half, but Green made a layup on the next possession.

Frazier later made a jumper to make it 57-51, but the Nittany Lions couldn’t stop Green from making a three-point play on the next trip down the court with 7:03 left in the game.

“Coach Izzo did a great job, he got the ball to Draymond Green,” Chambers said. “We couldn’t defend him.”

The Spartans closed the game with a 22-8 run, restoring the rout and improving to 15-0 at home this season. Izzo, though, was discouraged by the inconsistent performance.

“I thought we were bad, good, bad, good, bad, good, good,” Izzo said.

Penn State, which has lost all seven of its road conference games, got off to an awful start and finished poorly.

The Nittany Lions missed their first eight shots and needed nearly 8 minutes to score, but didn’t trail by too much because the Spartans also started 0-for-8 before beginning to make shots to build a 9-0 lead.

Michigan State led 33-19 at halftime despite making just 27 percent of its shots and turning the ball over 10 times because Penn State shot 21 percent and had nine turnovers.

“We thrive on our defense and did a good job on Frazier,” said Michigan State guard Keith Appling, who had 10 points and seven assists. “But we took too many jump shots. We had to go inside, then shoot the 3.”

The Spartans were effective early in the second half on offense, but later let the Nittany Lions score 10 straight points and didn’t take advantage of their size inside.

Green, though, made enough shots, assists, rebounds and solid plays on defense to avoid a total collapse.

“That’s what great players do,” Chambers said. “That’s what seniors do, that’s what winners do.”

© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Drew Miller and Henrik Zetterberg scored in the third period, and the Red Wings extended their home winning streak to 18 games with a 4-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night. The Red Wings overcame two more goals by Edmonton’s Sam Gagner to move within two wins of the NHL record of 20 straight home victories, set by the Boston Bruins during the 1929-30 season and matched by Philadelphia in 1976.

The Bruins also won 19 in a row in Boston during the 1970-71 season.

“The home win streak is really unique,” Miller said. “I don’t think we go into it really trying to say, `Hey, let’s do it to get this streak.’ I think we’re just trying to establish our game at home and play night in and night out the way that we should play.”

Detroit will either break the record or have its streak snapped on this homestand. Wednesday’s game was the first of six in a row at home for the Red Wings – following a five-game trip.

“People that don’t travel with us and just watch home games have no idea how hard it is to come back and what a grind it is,” Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. “This game is always a tough one to win. We knew that coming in. We’re going to give our team a day off (Thursday). Ideally, we’ll be freshened up and ready to go by the next one.”

The Red Wings host Anaheim on Friday night. Detroit hasn’t lost at home since Nov. 3 against Calgary.

Johan Franzen and Cory Emmerton also scored for Detroit, but Gagner answered with a pair of goals to tie the game. He has eight goals and six assists in four games.

After Gagner’s power-play goal made it 2-2 with 11:37 remaining, Miller scored his 11th of the season amid a scramble in front. After Justin Abdelkader’s shot from the slot was stopped by Nikolai Khabibulin, the Edmonton goalie appeared to think he had the puck frozen. But it was behind him, sitting tantalizingly in the crease, and Miller was able to poke it in the net.

“It was one of those right place at the right time. We’ll definitely take it,” Miller said. “I score some unnatural goals, I guess. That’s how I’ve always scored throughout my whole career, so it’s nothing new to me.”

Zetterberg added an insurance goal with 5:16 to play, beating Khabibulin from a tough angle to the goalie’s right.

Franzen opened the scoring on a power play, positioning himself in front of Khabibulin and redirecting Ian White’s shot from the point with 6:42 remaining in the first period. It was Franzen’s 21st goal of the season.

Emmerton made it 2-0 early in the second, scoring on a backhander from in front after Abdelkader tried to jam the puck past Khabibulin.

Detroit outshot the Oilers 20-9 through two periods but led only 2-1 thanks to Gagner’s breakaway goal. It appeared Edmonton’s Ben Eager might fight Jonathan Ericsson in front of the benches, but when Gagner took a lead pass and cruised alone into the Detroit zone, Eager spun away to join his teammate on the rush.

Gagner has had at least one point in five straight games, including his four-goal, four-assist effort against Chicago on Thursday. He scored again in the third period to tie the game and give himself 13 goals this season.

“Obviously, it feels good to produce,” Gagner said. “It feels better to win.”

Joey MacDonald made 15 saves for Detroit, earning his first win of the season in only his third appearance. Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said regular starter Jimmy Howard (broken finger) is unlikely to be back this weekend.

NOTES: Edmonton coach Tom Renney was back behind the bench after missing Monday’s game at Toronto because he was struck in the head by a puck during a morning skate. The cut required stitches and left Renney with headaches. … Detroit is 21-2-1 at home this season. … Red Wings F Danny Cleary, who assisted on Emmerton’s goal, left the game in the second period because of an undisclosed lower body injury and didn’t return. … The Red Wings have two shootout wins during their home streak.

© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Greg Monroe had 20 points and 12 rebounds and the Pistons won their season-high third straight game with a 99-92 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Wednesday night.

“We have to keep this hunger,” said Monroe, who iced the game with a monster drive and jam with 2:27 to play. “We have to continue to play and give these efforts so the wins will come more often. But we have to continue to play like this.”

In winning for the seventh time in 27 games, the Pistons played good team basketball. They had 29 assists on 39 baskets, outrebounded New Jersey 41-36 and shot a season-high 53.4 percent from the field.

“We’re gaining more confidence in each other,” Pistons coach Lawrence Frank said after his team won for only the second time on the road this season and snapped a seven-game slide away from the Motor City.

The Pistons are also getting some depth.

Jonas Jerebko, who is rounding into form after missing last season with an Achilles tendon injury, added 16 points. Tayshaun Prince had 15 and Ben Gordon, playing for the first time in 11 games, added 14 points for Detroit, which almost blew an 18-point second-half lead.

Prince said it was great to see Gordon back on the floor and Will Bynum dressed, even though he didn’t play.

“It put a smile on everybody’s face,” Prince said. “When we saw those guys in their warmups, even if they didn’t play, guys were more ready to play.”

Deron Williams scored 17 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Nets, who have lost four in a row and nine times in 12 home games. Jordan Farmar added 22 off the bench and Kris Humphries had a game-high 16 rebounds.

“We lost,” said Williams, who was 10 of 21 from the field. “That’s about it. It’s another loss at home. We’ve been struggling here all season, trying to find our shots and rhythm. It’s hard to win when you are shooting in the 30-percent range.”

A four-point play by Williams got New Jersey within 78-77, but Jerebko, Rodney Stuckey and Monroe scored to push the lead to eight.

The Nets made one more run as Williams sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers around a fadeaway jumper by Stuckey to narrow the Pistons’ lead to 86-83 with 5:18 to play.

After Monroe missed a jumper and Farmar turned the ball over, Brandon Knight hit a 3-pointer to push the lead to 89-83. The Nets could get no closer as Williams missed his next two shots and Farmar misfired on a 3-pointer.

Two free throws by Prince and a monster drive and dunk from the foul line by Monroe ended the contest.

Gordon, who was out with a sore left shoulder, came back and was in form, scoring eight points in a 22-7 spurt that gave the Pistons a 44-31 lead late in the second quarter. The lead was 12 at the half and it grew to 18 points early in the third quarter when Stuckey hit a jumper to cap a 6-0 run to start the second half.

The Pistons lead was still 15 points with 5:35 to go in the third quarter when Williams scored seven straight points in a 14-6 burst to close the gap to seven points. New Jersey kept coming at the start of the fourth quarter with Williams hitting six of 10 shots, including four of his six – and career high-tying – 3-pointers.

“This was a team that had more energy than us and played with a lot more enthusiasm,” Nets coach Avery Johnson said. “Again, we have to generate more energy in this building. We have to generate more energy at home and we just didn’t have it tonight.”

Notes: The teams will play again Friday in Detroit, their third game in 10 days. … Monroe, Knight and Nets rookie MarShon Brooks, who is sidelined with a toe injury, were among 18 players chosen for the Rising Stars Challenge to be held during All-Star weekend in Orlando. … Knight, who broke his nose in the first quarter against New Orleans and did not return, played with a face shield. … Nets backup C Johan Petro almost was ejected in the second quarter. He was called for a flagrant 2 on a block on Jerebko, but the officials reviewed the play and changed it to flagrant 1. Humphries and Monroe exchanged blocks on dunk attempts on consecutive plays.

© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

“Bad offense,” Sadler said.

The Huskers (11-12, 3-9 Big Ten) shot 22 percent in the first half and 39 percent for the game. It was their second straight game without center Jorge Brian Diaz, who’s probably out for the rest of the season because of chronic soreness in his feet.

Sadler began putting in a four-guard system at Monday’s practice, and the coach said his players haven’t had enough time to adjust to not having a true low-post presence.

“It’s bad,” Sadler said. “I’m not going to sit here and defend that offense. But it’ll get better. As our guys can tell you, we spent the last two days working on opening the floor up. You have to give your guys some confidence and they have to know what they’re doing. I could panic. I ain’t going to do that.”

It took a while for the Wolverines to get their offense going. Their struggles with shooting on the road continued in the first half, but they still led because Nebraska’s offense was even worse.

A 15-4 Michigan burst started a second half in which the Wolverines made 16 of their first 19 shots and built their lead to as many as 26 points.

“We gave them permission to make shots,” Michigan coach John Beilein said, smiling.

Zack Novak scored 14 points to go over 1,000 for his career and Michigan (18-7, 8-4) won for only the second time in six Big Ten road games. The Huskers lost their third straight.

Playing on the road for the fifth time in six games – and three days after its 64-54 loss at Michigan State – the Wolverines had no trouble against a downtrodden team that’s one game out of last place in its first season in the Big Ten.

The Wolverines, who came in shooting 43 percent in Big Ten road games, finished at 52 percent after making 32 percent in the first half. Despite the poor shooting, Michigan led 22-15 – the Huskers’ season low for points in a half.

Novak said he and his teammates got together at halftime and agreed to look for great rather than good shots, to play more of an inside-out game and limit 3-pointers.

After going 5 for their first 17 on 3s, the Wolverines made 6 of 7 the rest of the way and shot 76.2 percent from the floor in the second half.

“We started with three 3s to start the game and got a little trigger-happy,” Beilein said. “We tried to spread the floor (the second half) and get in the lane. We have to be very diverse in our game and be more attacking as far as getting the ball inside.”

Nebraska never did get going on the offensive end.

The teams hadn’t met since 1992, and it was Michigan’s first visit to Lincoln since the Huskers beat the then-No. 1 Wolverines in December 1964.

Nebraska wasn’t going to pull an upset this night.

The Huskers didn’t break the 20-point barrier until 12 minutes remained and didn’t go over 40 points until the final minute.

They missed 11 3-pointers in a row before Bo Spencer, who had 13 points, made the Huskers’ first one with 12:22 left in the game.

“I was disappointed we lost the basketball game, but I’m so proud of our guys,” Sadler said. “I thought they played as hard as you could play. To not make shots; any of you who have played basketball understand how difficult it could be, maybe to quit competing on the defensive end. I thought our guys competed for 40 minutes on that end. We just didn’t shoot the basketball.”

Toney McCray fired up an air ball from the corner to start Nebraska’s stretch of 1-for-13 shooting to start the game. The Huskers’ second field goal didn’t come until 9:12 before half.

The Huskers, thanks to Michigan’s shooting woes, had a chance to take the lead after pulling to 16-15. But Brandon Ubel missed an easy dunk when Spencer gave him a perfect alley-oop pass.

It was that kind of night for a Nebraska team that, with an 8-7 home record, has its most losses in Lincoln since the 1962-63 team dropped nine at home.

“I’m disheartened. I hope our fans are disappointed,” Sadler said. “But what does that mean? You get up tomorrow and go back to work. Every player in that locker room is disappointed… It’s not their fault. They’re giving me everything they’ve got. I’m 100-percent proud of them. If they were throwing in the towel I’d be frustrated, disappointed, all that stuff. I’m disappointed in our record but definitely not disappointed in their effort.”

© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

“This is really all about getting people into cars, selling vehicles to them, and building off of the buzz that we’ve seen at other shows,” says Aaron Bragman, an analyst with IHS Automotive.

Bragman said the Chicago show is transitioning from being a media oriented show, like Detroit, to being a show aimed directly at consumers. More than a million people are expected at McCormick Place during the show’s one week run.

New products unveiled include a new 650 horsepower Shelby GT-500 Mustang, coupe and GT variations on the Hyundai Elantra, and an updated GMC Acadia crossover.

GM also rolled out a high end “Denali” trim of the Acadia.

“Denali is growing like crazy. Denali is up to 30 percent of the Acadia volume right now,” said GMC marketing director Tony DiSalle. “It’s quite frankly about 60 percent of Yukon volume.”

The 2013 GMC Acadia will also be GM’s first use of a new center air bag, aimed at protecting occupants from striking each other in a side impact crash.

Toyota used the show to announce that it’s moving production of its Highlander Hybrid to the company’s Princeton, Indiana plant. That includes a $400 million investment, and 400 new jobs.

Toyota could even export some of those vehicles to other markets. Exporting vehicles from the U.S. has been a new trend for Toyota. But, North America President Yoshi Inaba said it’s not a master strategy, but the result of doing more production in the United States.

“There are so many North America specific products that can fit in other markets as well,” he said.

Earlier in the week, Toyota announced the addition of a third shift at their new Mississippi plant. But, the company is not looking to add other plants.

“It’s a little too early,” he said. “But, there is always a chance, as we grow, as the market grows, there is always a chance to localize.”

Connect with Jeff Gilbert
Email: jdgilbert@cbs.com
Twitter: @jefferygilbert
Facebook: facebook.com/carchronicles

Click here to enter!

The winning River Day 2012 logo will be used on websites, event guides, t-shirts and signage all across the watershed to promote River Day on Saturday, June 9, 2012. River Day events include festivals, fishing derbies, fly-tying lessons, clean up events and naturalist-led hikes through parks and trailways.

The contest rules are as follows:

• Art must be black-and-white, thick line drawing, absolutely no gray tones
• Size: 8.5 x 11 inches or smaller
• The words “River Day 2012″ must be prominent in the design of the logo
• The design must also incorporate the Clinton River Watershed Council’s 40th anniversary

Entries must be submitted to CRWC, 1115 W Avon, Rochester Hills, MI, 48309 and postmarked by April 2, 2012 or sent electronically to Michele@crwc.org. Electronic submissions (JPEG or TIFF files only) are permissible, but they must meet the above requirements and be 300 dpi resolution or greater.

Entries will be judged on their ability to convey River Day’s goal of celebration and enjoyment of the Clinton River and Lake St. Clair, as well as their clarity and ability to be reproduced easily at a variety of scales. Judging and selection of the winning design will be completed at our annual meeting April 19th 2012.

This contest is open to anyone. The winner will receive a CRWC hoodie and a one year membership to the watershed council.

For more information, call Michele Arquette-Palermo at 248-601-0606 or visit www.crwc.org.

The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, which includes more than 100 groups in the region, included the proposal in a pledge submitted to the campaigns of Obama and Republicans Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum. None of the campaigns had any immediate reaction.

The Great Lakes region includes heavily contested and vote-rich states such as Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Wisconsin. Michigan’s primary is Feb. 28 and Ohio is among states with a Super Tuesday primary on March 6.

The environmental coalition asked the candidates to promise if elected to continue an Obama administration program dealing with some of the Great Lakes’ most pressing environmental problems, including invasive species, toxic pollution, farm and urban runoff and wildlife habitat loss.

Congress has appropriated more than $1 billion for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative since 2009. But supporters say billions more are needed over many years to fix the problems, which have been decades in the making.

Obama and Romney were among candidates who took a similar pledge during the 2008 campaign. Obama followed up with a proposal to seek $5 billion over 10 years for Great Lakes restoration.

This time, however, the pledge sought by the coalition raises the thorny issue of whether to sever a link between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi created a century ago when engineers reversed the flow of the Chicago River and built a canal to flush away the city’s sewage.

The waterway system has become an aquatic pathway for invasive species such as round gobies and zebra mussels. Now, greedy bighead and silver carp that have migrated up the Mississippi and its tributaries are threatening to use the network to invade the Great Lakes, where scientists say they could devastate native fish populations by out-competing them for plankton.

A plan released last week by the Great Lakes Commission and the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway Initiative called for placing one or more barriers in the waterways to permanently separate the two drainage basins. Its estimate cost was $3.3 billion to $9.5 billion.

The Obama administration has resisted separation, arguing that its approach to stopping the carp is working well. It includes operating an electric barrier system in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal to prevent carp and other fish from migrating between the two basins.

The Army Corps of Engineers is scheduled to complete a study of whether separation is justified in 2015. Five states – Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio and Pennsylvania -are suing in federal court for quicker action.

Business interests and political leaders in Chicago and northern Indiana oppose separation, contending it would damage the regional economy and cause flooding.

Jeff Skelding, director of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, said Tuesday the region’s voters deserve to know how the candidates stand on the separation issue.

“We need strong leadership and we need strong decision-making by the next president to address one of the most critical threats that are facing the Great Lakes,” he said.

Groups opposed to separation criticized the idea of including it in the pledge.

“While this is a catchy public relations stunt, this hardly constitutes a productive step towards a legitimate solution in the ongoing battle to protect the Great Lakes,” said Mark Biel, spokesman for an industry group called UnLock Our Jobs.

Lynn Muench, spokeswoman for the American Waterways Operators, said: “I hope no one who is running for president would consider endorsing a project tht clearly would be an economic disaster for the Chicago region but also for the whole area.”

© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Benefits Access for College Completion (BACC) is a three-year, $4.84 million initiative that will launch next summer at select community colleges to test this notion and work to provide models that other community colleges can implement and sustain.

Each year, 7.1 million students attend community colleges. While tuition costs are significantly lower than those at four-year public institutions, other costs of attending community college are still substantial.

During the last academic year, the cost for an undergraduate student to attend community college was approximately $14,637, compared to $20,339 at a four-year university. Of those who attend community colleges, 46 percent currently receive some form of financial aid.

While financial aid can help cover costs, community college students receive comparatively little financial support. This leads many students to work more hours at their job and attend college part-time to reduce their unmet financial need — often delaying their graduation progress.

Several low-income community college students turn to public benefits and refundable tax credits to help fill the gap between financial aid and the resources needed to attend college.

BACC will explore whether community college students receiving public benefits are better able to meet the true cost of a college degree so they are able to remain in school, succeed in postsecondary education and improve their job prospects.

Macomb Community College and Lake Michigan Community College – which developed plans to improve the provision of information, screening and application assistance to students through the Michigan Benefits Access Initiative — will contribute their perspectives to BACC.

Other colleges selected for the BACC planning phase are: Cuyahoga Community College (OH), Gateway Community and Technical College (KY), Owensboro Community and Technical College (KY), LaGuardia Community College (NY), Northampton Community College (PA) and Skyline College (CA).

During the initiative, participating colleges will become social innovators that integrate access to federal and state supports and other existing public resources into college operations, in some ways redefining the concept of financial aid and student supports.

The hope is that by working directly with local and state benefits administrators to eliminate policy barriers and align services, community colleges will help students finish their programs of study faster and move to economic self-sufficiency.

At the end of the initiative, the BACC team hopes to use lessons learned to expand what works across the nation’s more than 1,200 community colleges.

That upbeat attitude stayed intact through Patterson’s Wednesday evening speech, which marked a departure from gloomier speeches the last few years. This time, Patterson praised the manufacturing, medical, and Main Street sectors of the local economy that were once down, but are roaring back with an improved economy.

He touched on the past few years that had “job losses, property devaluation, shrinking budgets,” but said no more cuts will be coming in Oakland County in the foreseeable future.

“The good news going forward: there will be no more budget cuts scheduled for the current fiscal year 2012, or 2013, 2014 and 2015,” Patterson said. “Let me repeat that: there will be no budget cuts for fiscal years 2012 through 2015.

“Because of the past eight years of “thoughtful management” and carefully planned structural changes in our benefit costs, Oakland County’s financial position has actually improved at a time when nearly every other government struggles to avoid red ink.”

Patterson conceded Oakland County lost jobs during the Great Recession – 147,203 total since 2002. But he said, “We are on a furious pace to replace those jobs with high-paying, sustainable new jobs.”

Patterson said from the end of 2008 to the end of 2009, Oakland County lost 58,000 jobs; from the end of 2009 to the end of 2010, they created 13,000 jobs.

In the audience were Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano, who was jokingly introduced by Patterson as “low profile.” Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel was in the house, as was suddenly controversial U.S. Senate candidate Pete Hoekstra, who ruffled feathers across the country with an Asian-themed Super Bowl ad some called insensitive and racist.

Saying Oakland County has led the region in improving the economy “through initiatives that my administration has launched,” Patterson asked the crowd for their support in a “re-election year.”

Bolstering his economic optimism, Patterson praised the county’s Medical Main Street initiative that has assisted 24 companies in relocating or expanding in Oakland County the last few years, which Patterson said created 1,933 jobs and retained another 638.

“My goal was to bring together the disparate assets, create an awareness that over the last 15 to 20 years Oakland County had indeed become a center for excellence in healthcare, and that it was only a matter of time before Medical Main Street and Oakland County could challenge the Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic for top honors – and we are well on our way,” Patterson said.

On the medical front, he also praised the Oakland University School of Medicine, the first medical school to open in Oakland County in nearly 60 years. It opened its doors in the fall of 2011 with 50 students and is now interviewing for the next class of 75 students from a national field of 3,700 applicants.

“And if you think about it for a second, ladies and gentlemen, you’ve all heard about the invidious “brain drain,” where our best and brightest are fleeing to the east and west coasts. Well, the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine single-handedly is reversing that brain drain,” Patterson said.

Automation Alley is another jewel in the crown of Oakland County, Patterson said. The consortium of high-tech companies, government entities, and educational institutions launched in 1997 with 43 companies now has more than 1,000 members spanning eight counties in southeast Michigan.

“It competes with the likes of Silicon Valley, Boston’s Route 128, and North Carolina’s Research Triangle,” Patterson said, adding, “Southeast Michigan is second only to San Jose’s Silicon Valley region in the number of people working in architectural and engineering occupations, and has the highest concentration of architectural and engineering employment in the Midwest.”

Patterson said the Main Street program that pours dollars into potentially high-achieving downtowns has brought $579 million in local downtown investment, created 6,128 jobs and opened 713 new businesses.

In terms of green technology, Patterson praised the new LEED certified terminal at Oakland County International Airport features heating and cooling through geothermal wells; photovoltaic panels on the roof to capture the sunlight and convert to energy; wind spires that generate electrical power to help offset the cost of our utility charges; a living wall, a perpendicular garden with tropical plants from around the world.

“I know I have some ‘Doubting Thomases’ out there in the audience who are skeptical about any benefits achieved through the utilization of green technology. Well, we have some early returns and I think you will be impressed,” he said.

He also urged the audience to be impressed with the $201 million in cash oakland County had on hand at the end of the fiscal year.

“We’ve built up this reserve during the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression,” Patterson said.

- Read the full text of Patterson’s speech (pdf. format) -

But it wasn’t all fun and games. Patterson failed to invite Democratic county commissioners to his speech, saying he was angry Dems filed a lawsuit against him and the state for his involvement in legislation that reduces the number of commissioners to 21 and puts the GOP in charge of re-drawing the districts. A ruling on the lawsuit is expected this week.

So the Democrats held their own state of the county address just prior to Patterson’s.

“I just ask the listeners today to think about whether President Obama, when he gives his state of the nation report, if he would ever consider, you know, having half of the Congress not attend,” Commissioner Craig Covey, D-Ferndale, earlier told WWJ Newsradio 950.