Police and sheriff’s departments in 26 counties participated in the crackdown from May 30 to June 2. The tickets were written for seat belt or child seat violations.

Preliminary reports from police agencies indicate 13,453 vehicles were stopped during campaign, which is part of a national effort to save lives and reduce injuries by increasing seat belt use.

In addition to seat belt violations, 15 drunk drivers were arrested during the enforcement period and 29 drug arrests were made. More than 1,000 tickets for uninsured motorists and 415 for suspended licenses were also written.

Michael Prince, director of The Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning, said motorists really had no excuse, since they were warned about the enhanced enforcement through advertising ahead of time.

“Those that didn’t heed the advice to ‘click it’ received a ticket,” he said in a statement. “The bottom line is seat belts save lives and motorists need to buckle up every trip, every time.”

In Eaton County, a seat belt stop resulted in the discovery of methamphetamine in the vehicle and the seizure of more than $30,000 in other drugs. Traffic stops in Taylor and Rockwood in Wayne County also resulted in narcotics arrests and the forfeiture of more than $3,000.

Twelve people died in traffic crashes over the Memorial Day holiday period. Of those, three were not wearing a seat belt, two were motorcyclists, two were riding off-road vehicles along the roadway, one was riding a moped and one was a pedestrian. This is an increase from the 2012 Memorial Day holiday period when 10 people were killed in traffic crashes.

Counties participating in the enforcement effort included: Allegan, Berrien, Calhoun, Chippewa, Delta, Eaton, Genesee, Grand Traverse, Houghton, Ingham, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Kent, Livingston, Macomb, Marquette, Monroe, Muskegon, Oakland, Ogemaw, Ottawa, Saginaw, St. Clair, Van Buren, Washtenaw and Wayne.

Officers will again take to the streets working stepped up drunk driving patrols July 1-7 and Aug. 16-Sept. 2, during the heavily traveled July Fourth and Labor Day holidays. Seat belt enforcement will also be a part of the Labor Day effort.

TM and © Copyright 2013 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

LANSING (AP) – Lawmakers took a step toward improving the trial-level public defense services available to Michigan’s poorest residents Wednesday by backing bills to establish statewide standards and tap into the state’s coffers to pad cash-strapped counties’ legal defense funds.

A bill approved 34-3 by the Senate creates an independent, permanent state commission to establish standards designed to ensure effective counsel is given to low-income defendants.

Local governments will have to fund indigent defense at the average level they spent in the three years before the creation of the commission. The state plans to cover new costs for counties to improve their public defense systems, a tab estimated to run $50 million a year in the future.

Michigan is among just seven states to provide no state funding for trial-level public defenders, according to the Michigan Campaign for Justice, a group supporting the bills.

“It’s the beginning of what’s going to be a long process. That long process will be in each of our respective counties around the state bringing their indigent defense system up to the constitutional standards that are required,” said Sen. Bruce Caswell, R-Hillsdale, a sponsor of a related bill that passed the House on a 102-7 vote Wednesday. “All the counties are at different levels. None of them are fully compliant today.”

Instead of having full-time public defender offices, many counties now control costs with low-bid, flat-fee contracts in which appointed attorneys accept cases for a predetermined fee. That causes a conflict of interest between their duty to competently defend their clients and a financial self-interest to invest less time on cases to maximize profits, according to a 2008 report commissioned by the Legislature.

Under the Republican-sponsored bills to be signed by Snyder, lawyers’ workloads will be better controlled, and financial incentives or disincentives leading attorneys to short-change defendants “shall be avoided.” The Michigan Supreme Court has to sign off on statewide standards set by the commission.

Although the legislation promises that the state will cover additional costs for counties, it will be up to legislators to set aside the funds each budget year.

“If the Legislature does not appropriate this money, then the counties don’t have to move forward with implementing more standards,” Caswell said. “Our counties are pretty strapped right now.”

Lawmakers acted almost exactly a year after a group appointed by Snyder recommended establishing a commission to make sure Michigan improves legal aid for low-income defendants. The 14-member panel told Snyder that the current system results in too many errors at the trial level and can lead to wrongful convictions.

The votes drew praised from the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan and other advocates.

“This day has been decades in the making,” said Marcela Westrate, executive director of the Michigan Campaign for Justice. “Serious problems have plagued Michigan’s indigent defense system for many, many years – wasting tax dollars, threatening public safety, stealing years of freedom from peoples’ lives and compromising every citizen’s constitutional rights.”

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Farmington Among School Districts To Get Sex Ed Updateview gallery

FARMINGTON (WWJ) – Students in Farmington Hills will be getting an updated sex education.

Farmington Public Schools is one of many local districts reviewing its sex-ed curriculum over the summer.

Tera Shamey, a 6th grade teacher and Health Coordinator, said district officials will be taking a close look at updated material and public meetings will held for parents who want to be informed about the changes.

“Any change; a video, a poster, any kind of audio/visual,” Shamey said.  “Any kind of resource that supports the sex ed. curriculum has to go through this process.”

One major update is the addition of some new informational videos for students on topics including bullying, sex facts and the dangers of “sexting.”

“You send a picture to a friend and they send it to everybody else,” Shamey said.  “There you go there’s bullying; that’s cyber bullying right there.”

The videos will be available to 7th and 9th graders beginning in the next school year.

Shamey stressed that parents have been invited to  review the curriculum — but none showed up for a morning meeting, Wednesday, and only two showed up for one in the afternoon.

She said, when it comes to sex ed, parents’ input is always welcome.

One of the country’s most respected medical groups, the AMA voted on the measure on Tuesday, citing America’s adult and child escalating obesity rates.

The World Health Organization, FDA, and IRS already recognize obesity as a disease.

Gary Katz, Medical Director of Saint John Macomb-Oakland’s Weight Loss Program, says the AMA’s decision was long overdue.

“Obesity is, in my opinion, the cause of other diseases,” Katz said. “A lot of which cause early death to a lot of patients such as sleep apnea and diabetes.”

Katz said that recognizing obesity as a disease can also help treat the root cause for other conditions as well.

While doctors and insurance companies are being asked by the AMA to acknowledge obesity as a complex disorder, Katz said that might not guarantee insurance coverage or shortened wait times for treatments and surgeries that are obesity related — but he hopes it will.

Obesity rates have doubled among adults in the last 20 years and have tripled with children in just one generation.

The AMA says it wants to see national efforts to help inform and educate the public about the health risks of being overweight and obese. [Get more info from the AMA, HERE].

Adams, who served as a judge for the family division of the Wayne County Circuit Court, is accused of forging her former attorney’s name on legal documents involving her personal divorce documents — and then lying about it under oath.

The Supreme Court ruling superseded a recommendation by the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission for a 180 day suspension.

It was a 5-2 decision.

In the majority opinion, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Markman wrote about the Tenure Commission’s recommendation: “We do not believe that such a sanction would sufficiently address the harm done to the integrity of the judiciary.”

The opinion also reads, in part:

“As the focal point of the administration of justice, a judge is entrusted by the public and has the responsibility to seek truth and justice by evaluating the testimony given under oath. Testifying falsely under oath, as respondent has been adjudged to have done, is conduct that is the antithesis of judicial integrity.

The effectiveness of our judicial system is dependent upon the public’s trust and confidence and when a judge testifies falsely under oath, the public’s trust and confidence in that system can only be seriously eroded. Testifying falsely under oath is antithetical to the role of a judge who is sworn to uphold the law and seek the truth.”

[VIEW A COPY OF THE COURT'S OPINION]

Ross Adams’ attorney Cyril Hall told the Detroit News he was “devastated” by the court’s action.

“How can it be a determinant for removal from the bench?” said Hall. “It’s not like she committed fraud or stole something. This is about conduct while she was off the bench.”

Ross Adams is the second Wayne County Judge to make the news in recent months for alleged misconduct.

The Tenure Commission in March ruled Judge Wade McCree acted irresponsibly when he carried on an affair with a woman while presiding over a case against the father of her child.  McCree, who admitted he had sex with the woman in his judicial chambers, had previously made headlines when he sent a semi-nude photo of himself to a courtroom deputy. (Catch up on that case, HERE).

After lawmakers legalized louder, more powerful fireworks in Michigan in late 2011, they began hearing from residents and local officials upset about noise and safety issues.

Legislation signed by Calley Wednesday lets local governments regulate fireworks use during nighttime hours on holidays and the day before and after.

Commercial-grade fireworks — including once-banned bottle rockets, aerial cakes, Roman candles and firecrackers — are all now sold legally in Michigan after lawmakers and Snyder erased a previous ban.

A local government could impose a maximum fine of $500 per violation of a fireworks ordinance under the new law.

Among those who spoke out in support of the new law was Roseville Police Chief James Berlin who said his department fields hundreds of fireworks complaint calls each summer.

“They light ‘em off, you know, morning, noon and night — doesn’t matter what day it is,” Berlin told WWJ Newsradio 950′s Sandra McNeil. “You know, people gotta get up and go to work … and the neighbor down the street’s blowing fireworks off at one o’clock in the morning.”

“We get a lot of complaints about the pets being terrified bye the noise and that,” Berlin added. “Myself, I have a cat and when they go off he hides under the bed and will not come out. So, I empathize with them — I understand their feelings on it.”

Berlin said this year’s complaint calls started in back April.

Calley signed the bill because Gov. Rick Snyder is on a trade trip in Israel.

(TM and © Copyright 2013 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

* If you’re a boss at a small or midsized business, don’t forget to take a 10-minute survey at www.innovationquotientsurvey.com, The survey will ask you questions designed to measure innovation activity, the business value of innovation and drivers and constraints on innovation. In return, you’ll get a keen report full of ideas on boosting innovation in your workplace. Your Technology Report is a partner in this survey, sponsored by the fine folks at Plante Moran.

* A composite of nearly 900 images taken by NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover can give people on Earth a sense of what it’s like to stand on the Red Planet from millions of miles away. Comprised of more than 1.3 billion pixels, the image released by NASA on its website is from the “Rocknest” site, where the rover scooped up samples of windblown dust and sand, according to NASA.

* Less happily draft NASA authorization bill floated by the House Science, Space and Technology Committee would eliminate funding for the Obama administration’s proposed asteroid retrieval mission and slash overall agency spending by about $1 billion, lawmakers said Wednesday.

Legislation passed 24-14 by the Senate Wednesday raises about $20 million more, a 40 percent boost. The money would be used to improve wildlife, fisheries and habitat programs.

A new base hunting license would take effect in April 2014 and cost $11 for most in-state residents. Separate fees still would be levied for hunting certain species. Tags for deer would rise from $15 to $20.

Legislators have assumed the revenue from fee hikes in the next budget. Senators had trouble approving them, though, until a Democrat won an amendment requiring more transparency about how the additional revenue will be spent.

The House plans to send the bill to Gov. Rick Snyder Thursday.

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

So, without further ado and in no particular order, your guide to some of our favorites…

Solo Records and Tapes – 30118 Woodward, Royal Oak, MI

A little gem right in the heart of downtown Royal Oak, Solo Records stocks their shelves with vinyl, 45’s, CDs, cassettes, DVDs, VHS, reel to reel tapes, 78’s, and even 8-tracks. If there is something you’re looking for, whether it is rock, rap, jazz or reggae, you can bet you’ll find it at Solo Records.

Rock of Ages Inc – 31015 Ford Rd, Garden City

The independent record store has been buying and selling everything music since 1984, Rock of Ages Inc. carries not only new and used vinyl, CDs, DVDs, and box sets, but also has concert tee-shirts from a wide variety of shows. Missed the chance to buy your shirt at your last show? Not to worry, Rock of Ages Inc. will probably have just what you’re looking for in stock.

People’s Records – 4100 Woodward Ave, Detroit

Jazz and R&B collectors should mark People’s Records as a must-visit as the store keeps in stock every obscure artist from the 1920s to the 1980s. Strictly selling only used, People’s Records is the place to go if you have an old LP or 45 to sell. The store also has no CDs or cassettes, but makes up for it with its impressive collection of over 80,000 45’s, most with an emphasis on Motown and Northern Soul music.

Encore Records – 417 E Liberty St, Ann Arbor

An internationally-renowned record store in the heart of downtown Ann Arbor, Encore Records prides itself on their impressive collection of “rare records and CDs from around the world.” That CD you’re looking for, that you’re sure no one else has heard of? You can bet you’ll find it at Encore Records. If not, you can leave your name with one of the very helpful staff members (who are also well-versed in a variety of music) and they will call you when it’s in stock.

Dearborn Music – 22501 Michigan Ave, Dearborn

Dearborn Music record store opened in 1956 and since then they’ve proven reliable when it comes to your music needs. The store has over 50,000 new and used CDs, vinyl, DVDs and more in stock every day. Perhaps that’s why they say “Ask and we will find it for you.” No time to make it to the store? You can also browse their entire collection on their website and have just what you need shipped right to your door.

Have a favorite that wasn’t mentioned here? Leave it in the comments below and tell us why!

The paper, Value-Based Design and Prescription Drug Utilization Patterns Among Diabetes Patients, which appears in the May-June issue of The American Journal of Pharmacy Benefits, examined the three-year effect of value-based design and disease management programs on diabetes patients.

Value-based insurance design is a medical benefit plan design that aligns patient cost-sharing with the clinical value of health services, providing lower out-of-pocket costs for proven, high value services and higher out-of-pocket prices for lower value services.

The study evaluated medication adherence and usage based on possession ratios and usage rates and found that patients enrolled in value-based benefit design in conjunction with a disease management program showed higher adherence to both brand and generic oral medications and a higher uptake of insulin over the course of the three-year study period.

“These results suggest that by reducing patient cost-sharing for antidiabetic medications, employers are able to increase utilization rates among employees with chronic disease,” said Teresa Gibson, vice president, health outcomes at Truven Health Analytics and lead author of the study. “Though most studies of this type have examined the effects of medication use in aggregate, the design of the value-based program we examined allowed us to determine whether effects were consistent across brand and generic medications.”

The study analyzed 1,876 diabetes patients that were enrolled in a value-based program and a disease management program. It compared them to two identically sized groups: diabetes patients with only a disease management program, and those with neither a value-based or disease management program.

“Value-based benefit designs were founded on the simple premise that by reducing patient out-of-pocket costs for treatments that are known to be effective, it becomes less burdensome for patients to manage their health,” said John “Jack” Mahoney, M.D., Florida Health Care Coalition chief medical officer. “This research moves that theory forward, allowing the hundreds of companies currently implementing value-based designs to tailor their programs to produce the highest-quality health care at the lowest cost.”

The Truven Health Advantage Suite and the Truven Health MarketScan Research Databases, which contain de-identified healthcare claims data reflecting the real-world medical care of over 180 million unique patients across the U.S. since 1995, were used to conduct the analysis. Funding for the research was provided by Merck.

To read the complete study in The American Journal of Pharmacy Benefits, click here.
http://www.ajmc.com/publications/ajpb/2013/ajpb_mayjun2013/Value-Based-Design-and-Prescription-Drug-Utilization-Patterns-Among-Diabetes-Patients

Truven delivers unbiased information, analytic tools, benchmarks and services to hospitals, government agencies, employers, health plans, clinicians and pharmaceutical companies. Truven employs about 2,000 people worldwide and has its principal offices in Ann Arbor, Chicago and Denver. For more information, please visit www.truvenhealth.com.

The building represents a $60.8 million investment, with $30 million from the state and the rest from the university.

“I’ve been told that business leaders in Michigan would like to see 1,000 more engineering and science graduates a year coming out of our Michgian schools. This building will let us start to meet that need,” said Leo Kempel, Acting Dean of MSU’s College of Engineering. “The purpose of this building is to bring together scientists from different fields, neuroscientists and engineers and cognitive science and people in radiology, to solve real and intractable problems in home health care, outpatient clinic health care and hospital health care, and to create new small business and help larger business expand their economic footprint.”

Research in nanotechnology, robotics, tissue engineering and imaging will take place in the building, which will house about 30 new faculty members and 120 to 160 students, Kempel said.

The building, located off Service Drive between MSU’s Life Sciences and Clinical Center buildings, is planned for completion in August 2015. Faculty from MSU’s colleges of Engineering, Human Medicine and Natural Science will share it.

Examples of research that could take place in the building include sensors for detecting neurological activity of home-based patients, research into engineered tissues and research into novel materials for helping patients heal more quickly.

Laboratories in the building will have an open-floor design to enhance collaborative research. The modular construction of the labs will provide flexibility as the nature of research evolves over the years.

The building will be physically connected to the existing Clinical Center C-Wing and Life Sciences B-Wing with proximity to the Radiology Building.

The building’s design will include energy-conservation methods that will create significant energy savings and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

These enhancements enable customers who use these technologies to reduce MIPS usage, accelerate mean time to resolution and deliver better performing applications to their end users.

CTG, SOAP and Websphere/MQ, which APM for Mainframe already supports, are three of the most common ways to connect distributed applications to the CICS region. These connector technologies have a role in facilitating billions of banking, e-commerce and insurance transactions that happen each day across the globe. Equipped with the ability to see the impact distributed applications are having on mainframe transactions and workload, enterprises can develop more efficient distributed applications and tune poorly performing ones on the fly.

“Many organizations just don’t have a good understanding of how their mainframe is being utilized by distributed applications. They can see their MIPS are clearly rising; yet, they’re inclined to attribute the spike in MIPS to increasing volume, when in fact it’s often due to poorly tuned distributed applications,” said Kris Manery, senior vice president and general manager of Compuware Mainframe Solutions. “Consequently, these organizations have typically had little choice but to purchase more MIPS but, with APM for Mainframe, more MIPS doesn’t have to be their first choice. That’s because our solution identifies exactly how these critical business transactions are getting the data from z/OS and, if it’s not in an efficient manner, organizations can pinpoint where the hotspots are and correct the issues to reduce MIPS and postpone costly upgrades.”

Introduced last November, Compuware APM for Mainframe traces all transactions from all users, from the browser to the mainframe and back. With complete end-to-end visibility — from the edge of the Internet through all distributed application tiers and into the CICS region and DB2 — operators can immediately determine the root cause of performance bottlenecks before they turn into serious problems. With simple, unified dashboards and reporting, APM for Mainframe eliminates “war room” finger pointing between teams, bridging distributed and mainframe groups like never before.

More ta www.compuware.com/apm4mainframe.

DETROIT (AP) — Chris Davis cleared the fences twice, giving him a major-league leading 26 homers, to help the Baltimore Orioles beat the Detroit Tigers 13-3 Wednesday.

Davis hit a two-run homer and Taylor Teagarden followed with a three-run home run in Baltimore’s six-run fourth. Against embattled reliever Jose Valverde, Davis hit another two-run shot for his second multihomer game of the season and the fifth of his career.

The Orioles improved to a season-high 11 games over .500 after beating the AL Central-leading Tigers twice in the three-game series.

Chris Tillman (8-2) gave up three runs and seven hits over five-plus innings. He became the third pitcher in franchise history to win his first six decisions on the road, joining Jeff Ballard (1989) and Hoyt Wilhelm (1959).

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

The Scholarship in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) program at LTU is open to graduates of an associate degree program in a STEM field. Up to 20 scholarships are available in the first year of the program.

The application deadline for the S-STEM scholarship for the fall semester is Aug. 1. Additional scholarships may also be available to attend LTU. For more information about applying for the S-STEM program, go to www.ltu.edu/s-stem or contact Assistant Professor Kun Hua at khua@ltu.edu or (248) 204-2557.

Responding to an impending national shortage of power engineers needed for the nation’s electricity production plants and distribution system, NSF has awarded LTU a five-year grant totaling $598,000 to provide scholarship assistance to students in this field.

Power engineers develop, maintain, and modernize “the Grid,” the vast network of transformers, generators, motors and electronics that supply electrical power.

“Electricity generation is one industry you can’t outsource, and there is a shortage of power engineers in this country that could become acute in the next few years as many engineers in this field retire,” said Professor Phil Olivier, chair of LTU’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “The job prospects of new power engineers are excellent.”

LTU’s S-STEM scholarship recipients will gain additional knowledge about the power industry from outside speakers, field trips and participation in professional organizations. Internships and job placement are also part of the scholarship program.

“LTU will leverage its network of local and regional partnerships to aid in the recruitment, retention, and job placement of the S-STEM scholars,” said Hua, the S-STEM advisor in LTU’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

One of those partners is DTE Energy, which has a specific need to hire more nuclear engineers for its Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station near Monroe. DTE Energy worked with Monroe County Community College in developing the associate degree in nuclear engineering technology, and graduates of that program are eligible for the scholarship program to continue their studies at LTU.

“We have been extremely happy with our partnership with MCCC, which has enabled us to train and hire homegrown talent for technical positions at DTE Energy,” said Vince Dow, vice president of Distribution Engineering and Construction for DTE Energy.  “It’s great that graduates of MCCC’s two-year program now will have an opportunity to pursue a four-year degree in a field that has a critical need for new engineers.”

One of the first students to take advantage of the S-STEM program at LTU is Tyler Splan of Monroe who has just graduated from MCCC with an associate degree in nuclear engineering technology. His goal is to earn a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at LTU by 2015 and obtain a job in the power generation industry.

In high school Splan took accelerated math and science courses, and his algebra teacher encouraged him to consider a career in engineering. “The S-STEM program has been created to help students like Tyler build on their aptitude in STEM subjects to obtain bachelor’s degrees and pursue careers in a field where their talents are in high demand,” Hua said.

Lawrence Technological University, www.ltu.edu, is a private university founded in 1932 that offers more than 100 programs through the doctoral level in its Colleges of Architecture and Design, Arts and Sciences, Engineering, and Management. Payscale lists Lawrence Tech among the nation’s top 7 percent of universities for return on undergraduate tuition investment, and highest in the Detroit metropolitan area.  Lawrence Tech is also listed in the top tier of Midwestern universities by U.S. News and World Report and the Princeton Review. Activities on Lawrence Tech’s 102-acre campus include over 60 student clubs and organizations and a growing roster of NAIA varsity sports.

The April index reading is 50 points, or 70 percent, above the index cyclical low of 72.1, reached at the bottom of the last recession.

The index averaged 114 for all of 2012, 11 points above the index average for 2011. March’s index reading was revised up from 119.9 to 121.1.

“Our Michigan Index has shown consistent gains over the first four months of 2013, reflecting improved labor market conditions, strong vehicle production and improved housing market conditions within the state,” said Robert Dye, Chief Economist at Comerica Bank. “The ongoing economic expansion within the U.S., accompanied by increasing consumer wealth and improving consumer confidence, points to favorable conditions for the state’s key auto industry for the remainder of the year.”

The Michigan Economic Activity Index consists of seven variables: nonfarm payrolls, exports, sales tax revenues, hotel occupancy rates, continuing claims for unemployment insurance, building permits, and motor vehicle production. All data are seasonally adjusted, as necessary, and indexed to a base year of 2008 — meaning that year’s economic activity is equal to 100 on the index. Nominal values have been converted to constant dollar values. Index levels are expressed in terms of three-month moving averages.

Comerica Bank, with 215 banking centers in Michigan, is a subsidiary of Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA), a financial services company headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

To receive this Index directly to your email inbox, go to www.comerica.com/econsubscribe to subscribe.

They have strong backgrounds, contacts and experience that can be transferred to the business community. According to militaryleaders.com, more than 70 percent of Fortune 1000 executives are former military members.

With that in mind, Strategic Staffing Solutions developed and launched its first pilot military program, the S3 Combat Recruiting Support Team. Under the program, four military veterans joined S3 as sourcers in the San Antonio office. Sourcers reach out to qualified individuals who fit the job descriptions required by S3’s customers and then turn those names over to the recruiters.

“We want to give our customers the best consultants possible and that means fishing in the right ponds to find them,” said S3 president and CEO Cynthia J. Pasky. “The military is certainly one of those ponds. The military requires its people to think fast, learn quickly, adapt easily, build solid relationships and have strong ethics and that fits S3 to a T. We are so pleased to have this new team onboard and are confident they will be able to bring many former military people onboard as consultants.”

The individuals S3 hired have strong credentials, which re-enforces the value veterans bring to the workforce and how those skills can transfer to the private sector. Two are retired Air Force senior noncommissioned offers and former Air Force recruiters (one with an MBA from Columbia Southern). One was an intelligence analyst in the Army led 300-plus combat intelligence missions in Iraq and Kuwait without loss of life or equipment and has a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Texas A&M-San Antonio. Another retired noncommissioned officer was a field medic in the Navy attached to the US Marine Corps and is now completing his military career as a senior instructor at the Tri-Service Radiography School, Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio.

“Military people know the value of teamwork and of being resourceful,” Pasky said.

The new team works out of S3’s Southwest Branch in San Antonio but will also provide sourcing support for the company’s branches across the company.

“The focus for our program is to get talented people from the military and help them become recruiters,” said Ken Huxley, Southwest branch manager and a retired Air Force colonel, “We will grow from within. We offered them the opportunity to come in and learn the staffing industry from ground up. The team is in a sourcing role so they can learn the technology and get the lay of land. Then, as they get experience with customers across country, they will transition from sourcer to junior recruiter and then senior recruiter.”

Strategic Staffing Solutions is an international, woman-owned, $200-million-plus IT services company based in Detroit. It provides IT consulting, customized project solutions, vendor management programs and an executive search service to financial institutions, energy companies, telecommunications, government agencies and retail and health care entities worldwide. It has approximately 2,000 consultants and is one of the Top 10 diversity companies in the industry. S3 has 26 offices, 22 in the U.S. and four in Europe.

Ford drivers will be the first to enjoy access to the MySXM and SiriusXM On Demand features of SiriusXM Internet Radio alongside satellite radio all by using voice commands, steering wheel or radio controls.

The SiriusXM Internet Radio App through Sync AppLink gives subscribers easy in-vehicle access to MySXM, the innovative new feature that empowers listeners with the ability to personalize many SiriusXM commercial-free music and select comedy channels for a more personal listening experience. Also, the SiriusXM Internet Radio App will give subscribers access to SiriusXM On Demand, allowing listeners to choose their favorite episodes from a catalog of more than 300 shows and over 3,000 hours of content to listen in their vehicles, whenever they want.

“SiriusXM Internet Radio’s MySXM and On Demand features are entering the car alongside satellite radio for the first time, enhancing the SiriusXM listening experience by giving Ford customers using SYNC AppLink the ability to hear personalized music channels and programming when they want it, while continuing to enjoy the seamless nationwide coverage provided by live satellite radio,” said Jim Meyer, SiriusXM CEO. “We are excited that Ford sees the advantage of being the first automaker to give its customers easy, safe access to our unparalleled audio entertainment through the SiriusXM Internet Radio App and satellite radio in the connected car.”

Added Ford CTO Paul Mascarenas: “Ford’s long relationship with SiriusXM demonstrates our commitment to offering the best in-vehicle audio experience, including new technologies for our customers. This is an exciting opportunity to let Ford customers experience the quality and variety of SiriusXM’s satellite and internet radio offerings side by side, and gives drivers another way to personalize their audio entertainment and driving experience to their tastes.”

The SiriusXM Internet Radio App can be used in more than one million Ford vehicles equipped with Sync AppLink, a feature that provides drivers with control of their favorite mobile applications with voice commands, steering wheel or radio controls while they keep their eyes on the road and hands on the wheel. Once SiriusXM Internet Radio subscribers download the latest version of the SiriusXM Internet Radio App for their compatible iPhone or Android smartphone, they can connect to Sync AppLink for safer in-vehicle control of MySXM and On Demand.

Customers purchasing any new Ford vehicle equipped with satellite radio will receive a six-month subscription to SiriusXM’s All Access Package with access to SiriusXM’s premium programming lineup via satellite, including every NFL game, Howard Stern, every NASCAR race, Oprah Radio, MLB Network Radio and more, plus access to SiriusXM Internet Radio on smartphones and other connected devices as well as online at siriusxm.com.

For more information on SiriusXM, please visit www.siriusxm.com.

The event begins at 5:30 p.m. at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn.

At the dinner, Roush will be one of four recipients of ESD’s distinguished service award.

ESD officials said Roush is receiving the award because of his efforts in promoting science and technology in Michigan, as well as his contributions to ESD over his 12-year tenure at WWJ, including acting as master of ceremonies for ESD educational events like Future City and SMArT Detroit.

The other winners are:
* Horace H. Rackham Humanitarian Award: Edsel B. Ford II, Member of the Board of Directors, Ford Motor Co.
* Lifetime Achievement Award: David S. Meynell, FESD, Chairman & President, Dürr Systems Inc.
* Distinguished Service Award: Katherine M. Banicki, FESD, President & CEO, Testing Engineers & Consultants; Kouhaila G. Hammer, CPA, President & CEO, Ghafari Associates LLC; Matthew N. Roush, Technology Editor, WWJ Newsradio 950; and Bill Sower, Director, Christopher & Virginia Sower Center for Successful Schools
* Outstanding Committee, Council or Leadership Awards: Eugenie Abboud, Controls Design Engineer, General Motors Co.; Waldemar Czarnik, Principal Energy Manager, DTE Energy, Marketing & Renewables; Thelma Dobson, Manager, Program Management, DTE Energy, Marketing & Renewables; Jeffrey M. Gallant, Senior Attorney, Construction Practice Group, Clark Hill PLC; Patti Miller, Marketing and Renewables Program Administrator, DTE Energy
* The ESD Institute David A. Skiven Leadership Award: David Dugger, Director, Early College Alliance, Eastern Michigan University
* Technology Century Image Award: Richard E. Marburger, PhD, FESD, Lawrence Technological University; Dennis M. King, FAIA, FESD, LEED AP, DMKING Consulting LLC
* Outstanding Young Engineer of the Year: Frenae F. Smith, Codes & Standards Supervisor, DTE Energy
* Outstanding Student Engineer of the Year: David Dai, Mount Pleasant High School
* ESD College of Fellows Inductees: Michael D. Bolon, Senior Vice President, U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy Business Sector, General Dynamics Land Systems;  Susan S. Hawkins, Senior Vice President, Performance Excellence, Henry Ford Health System; David C. Munson, Jr., PhD, Robert J. Vlasic Dean of Engineering, University of Michigan; Ahmad Pourmovahed, PhD, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Kettering University; Satish S. Udpa, PhD, Executive Vice President for Administrative Services and University Distinguished Professor, Michigan State University

The event will also include the presentation of ESD’s Construction and Design awards.

The cost to attend is $125 for ESD members and $150 for non-members. To register, visit www.esd.org or call 248-353-0735.

The Foundation’s expanded Youth Employment Initiative includes a $1-million commitment to support city of Detroit recreation centers over the next four years.  The summer and year-round jobs are filled and will begin in early July.

“Young talent will drive Michigan’s growth,” said Joyce Hayes Giles, assistant to the chairman and senior vice president of Public Affairs for DTE Energy, and chair of the DTE Energy Foundation.   “We want to make sure that when these young people are ready to enter the work force, they have the experience necessary to get – and keep – a job,”  said Giles, adding that the jobs help tackle the problem of high youth unemployment in Detroit and other struggling communities.

At the announcement Giles was joined by Alicia Minter, director of the Detroit Recreation Department; Dierk Hall, president and CEO of City Connect Detroit, Pamela Moore, president and CEO of Detroit Employment Solutions Corporation (DESC); Rebecca Salminen Witt, president of Greening of Detroit, and participating teens and young adults.

The Foundation’s Youth Employment Initiative consists of three components.  New this year, the Foundation is partnering with the city of Detroit to provide up to 100 year-round, part-time jobs at city of Detroit recreation centers.  The foundation will provide $250,000 per year, for four years, to the DESC to manage the program.

“Our $1-million commitment is part of a public-private partnership to support the city’s recreation centers and the families that they serve,” Giles said.  “The program is significant because it provides young people from struggling neighborhoods with jobs as well as mentoring, tutoring and other support services to help them succeed.”

In addition to the recreation center jobs, the foundation will once again provide $750,000 to fund nearly 500 summer jobs in Detroit and also in Highland Park, Inkster, Muskegon, Pontiac and Ypsilanti.  The grant supports the Grow Detroit’s Young Talent program run by City Connect Detroit, and also funds a similar program in Muskegon.

The foundation worked with about 30 community partners to place teens and young adults in meaningful jobs at their agencies.  The summer jobs program runs for six weeks.

The third part of the Youth Employment Initiative is a new partnership with the Greening of Detroit.  The Foundation made a smaller grant to the Greening of Detroit to hire 20 young people to plant trees in city neighborhoods.

“Summer and part-time jobs also help to deter crime by keeping young people productive and focused during the idle summer months,”  Giles said.

For further information about Grow Detroit’s Young Talent program, visit City Connect Detroit at
http://www.growdetroitsyoungtalent.org
.

The launch of the new archives brings the total number available in the NCCO program to eight, and the total number of collections within the resource to more than 170. Gale partners with more than 80 institutions from around the world to bring NCCO to life, and the list is growing.

Gale is part of Cengage Learning and a publisher of research and reference resources for libraries, schools and businesses

“The 19th century is one of the most-studied historical periods, and by providing a variety of rare, and cross-curricular content in NCCO, we are enabling researchers to make revolutionary discoveries about one of the most transformative periods in our history,” said Jim Draper, vice president and general manager, Gale. “Like its predecessor, Eighteenth Century Collections Online, NCCO has quickly become the essential resource for any institution looking to provide its students and faculty with the ability to perform innovative historical research.”

The new NCCO archives cover a variety of topics and have been brought together with the help of an expanded advisory board that includes specific subject matter experts. The newly launched NCCO archives include:

* Europe and Africa: Commerce, Christianity, Civilization, and Conquest — This archive documents the motivations, activities and results of the European conquest of Africa by bringing together monographs, manuscripts, and newspaper accounts covering key issues of economics, world politics, and international strategy.

* Photography: The World Through the Lens – The invention of photography initiated a mania for explorers, artists, scientists and ordinary people to document their surroundings. This archive assembles collections of photographs, photograph albums, photographically-illustrated books and texts covering remote places, the landscapes of the American West, scientific records of archaeological digs and anthropological studies, police photography, images of war, images of the urban and rural poor, and more. The archive covers the subject from key points of view: photography as a technical process; photography as an art form; photography as documentary evidence; and photography as an information type.

* Science, Technology and Medicine, 1780-1925 – The period is characterized by industrial, technical and social revolution. With a changing society came new approaches to the study of natural history, physics, mathematics, medicine, and public health. This interdisciplinary collection consists primarily of journals and monographs and major topics covered include: electricity and physics, the Darwinian revolution and global reception of evolution, civil engineering, mathematics and the social history of American medicine.

* Women: Transnational Networks – The collection contains information on European and North American movements, but also includes collections from other regions. Using a wide array of primary source documents – serials, books, manuscripts, diaries, reports, and visuals – this archive focuses on issues at the intersection of gender and class from the late eighteenth century to the era of suffrage in the early twentieth century, all through a transnational perspective.

For more information on Nineteenth Century Collections Online, including guided tutorials and a video on the making of the program, visit
http://gdc.gale.com/nineteenth-century-collections-online
or stop by the Gale booth, No. 600,  at the American Library Association annual meeting in Chicago from June 28 to July 1.

For questions or to request a free trial, please contact Kristina Massari at kristina.massari@cengage.com.

This just in: Winning a Stanley Cup is difficult.

Most of the current Bruins roster knows that firsthand, as two years ago they had to erase 2-0 and 3-2 deficits against Vancouver. They, of course, did that, forcing a Game 7 in Vancouver and winning 4-0 to earn that title. This year, it’s too early to say whether or not their season will have the same end result, but they’re unquestionably in a much better position to do it this time around.

But now, the real work begins. Nothing in the world was more important to the Bruins than winning Game 3 on Monday night. Now, it’s meaningless history, because anything short of a perfect effort Wednesday night in Game 4, and the balance of power in the series will shift right back to Chicago. While it may seem like the Bruins seized control of the series with Monday’s 2-0 win, the fact is that the Bruins have outscored the Blackhawks by just two goals over the course of nearly 13 full periods.

Now, nothing in the world is more important for the Bruins than winning Game 4, thereby inviting Lord Stanley’s Cup to the Windy City this weekend and putting a world of pressure on Chicago going forward. Here’s a look at how they can do it.

1. Survive Early
The greatest mystery of Game 3 was the impossible-to-explain appearance of the Blackhawks simply not giving an all-out effort. The Bruins likely deserve some credit for imposing their will and making it hard for Chicago, but overall, there was very little desperation on display by the Blackhawks. Once they fell behind by two goals, they looked like a team waiting to lose rather than one willing to fight to win — or at least try to win.

If this were an early round and if the Blackhawks were the clearly inferior team, it might be safe to assume they’d roll over and quit. But this is the Stanley Cup Final, and these Blackhawks were the best team the NHL had to offer all season long. They will not fade away quietly, and I expect them to come out guns a-blazing early on in Game 4.

For the Bruins, that might mean treating the first 10 minutes like a road game. If the Bruins can stick with their defensive game plan, limit Chicago opportunities, lay big hits whenever the opportunity presents itself, block shots and allow Tuukka Rask to see shots, keeping the Blackhawks off the board early may deflate their sails, allowing the Bruins to mount an attack of their own.

The Blackhawks are going to hit the ice looking to get an early goal and take the crowd out of the game. It’s up to the Bruins to withstand the surge.

Click Here To Read More…

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“Cambridge Collaborative is excited to have the opportunity to partner with Altair,” said Stephen Manning, product manager for SEAM. “With both companies having more than 20 years experience in software development, we will have a tremendous amount of knowledge and energy to contribute in an effort to provide better NVH solutions to the product engineering world.”

Originally developed to study structure-borne noise in submarines in 1980, SEAM has grown to be accepted as an analysis procedure by automobile manufacturers and suppliers, major shipyards, Navy research establishments and aerospace companies. It is used to predict interior noise and vibration in automobiles, aircraft and construction equipment cabs, as well as the radiated noise from ships and the vibroacoustic environments for spacecraft. Other applications include machinery and industrial noise, as well as building acoustics.

SEAM analyzes a complex dynamic system by dividing it into a set of substructures and acoustic elements. These are then grouped into the appropriate modes and SEA subsystems, keeping the flow of energy between them proportional to the modal energies and coupling factors. All coupling factors and power balances for each subsystem are calculated by SEAM. This results in equations that are solved for the modal energy and response of each subsystem.

Said Jianmin Guan, Altair’s senior program manager for noise, vibration and harshness: “SEAM brings exceptional capabilities that have made it a standard solution in a number of industries for mid-to-high-frequency vibro-acoustic analysis, and it complements Altair’s existing FEA-, BEA- and EFEA- based NVH offerings in meeting our customers’ needs of full-frequency NVH simulations.”

SEAM, using the industry’s leading SEA solver speed, is able to produce results to help answer many different problems. It has the ability to create multiple acoustic radiation models with unique formulations specific to aerospace panels and fuselage sections. It is also capable of developing models with thousands of SEA subsystems to incorporate both predicted and measured stiffening and pressurization effects into hybrid SEA models. SEAM performs fast and automated model updates with parametric modeling using symbolic constants and algebraic equations, as well as possesses many other beneficial capabilities.

Available for the last twelve years, Altair’s innovative unit-based licensing system allows HyperWorks users customizable access to a growing portfolio of applications while optimizing their return on investment (ROI) with each new partner added. From that point on, every license has been composed of a pool of recyclable HyperWorks units (HWUs), which can be used to access any application within the HyperWorks family.

After witnessing this original licensing model’s success, Altair has offered the opportunity for third-party companies to run their own applications under this unit-based system, a collaboration known as the Altair Partner Alliance. The overall flexibility of these HWUs empowers users and allows them access to the largest and most complete suite of CAE applications available, making the benefits to participating HyperWorks customers infinite. The ROI increases for users each time a new application is added to the offering, since any of the partner programs can be accessed using the same leased HWUs they are already using to run HyperWorks. This makes over 50 additional applications available at no incremental cost or long-term commitment.

To learn more about SEAM, please attend one of the introductory webinars on June 27 at 10 a.m. and 2 .p.m. EDT. These webinars will be hosted by Altair and presented by Cambridge Collaborative.

The project was announced Wednesday at a meeting of economic development officials who approved the tentative deal.

The plan by Olympia Development — which officials say would be supported by 56 percent in private money and 44 percent in public funding —  includes an 18,000-seat Red Wings arena along Woodard Avenue, just north of the Fox Theatre.

That’s north of I-75, nearby the Detroit Tigers’ Comerica Park and the Detroit Lions’ Ford Field.

Red Wings and Tigers owner Mike Ilitch has long said that he wants a replacement for the 32-year-old Joe Louis Arena.

Along with the  multipurpose event center, plans for the entertainment district also include housing, office, retail space and parking decks.

The new district anticipates expanding the boundaries of the Detroit Development Authority several blocks north of I-75 and west of Woodward Ave. to accommodate the center, redeveloping several properties, building new parking decks and mixed-use developments.

According to the Detroit Economic Growth Corp., the new development is anticipated to create approximately 5,500 jobs for the events center alone and approximately 8,300 jobs for the entire residential and commercial mixed-use district. Michigan can anticipate an estimated economic impact of $1.8 billion from the completion of this project, the DEGC said.

This map outlines the location. (credit: Detroit Downtown Development Authority)

“We have outlined a deal that will do far more than build new home ice for the Red Wings. When it’s done, it will redefine Detroit’s Downtown. We will have incorporated all three of our major league sports venues into an exciting, walkable sports and entertainment district that will rival anything in the world,” said George W. Jackson, Jr., president and CEO of DEGC, which managed negotiations on behalf of the DDA.

“A project of this scale requires strong commitments from both private and public partners, and that’s exactly what this agreement represents,” Jackson said, adding,“Today’s agreement represents one step among many that all the partners have to take together, but it is a very significant step.”

Specifically, other additional projects could include, according to the DEGC:

• A 140,000 sq. ft. new mixed office and retail development on Woodward at Sproat St.
• A 25,000 sq. ft. office and retail development along Woodward
• Several parking structures with a total of 25,000 sq. ft. of retail
• Renovation of the Detroit Life Building at 2210 Park Ave. for 3,645 sq. ft. of retail and 35 residential units
• Renovation of the Blenheim Building at 81 W. Columbia St. for 1,833 sq. ft. of retail and 16 residential units
• Renovation of the building at 1922 Cass for 70,000 sq. ft. of office space
• A new hotel-retail development with a 20,000 sq. ft. ground floor

Wednesday’s announcement comes following several years of “mysterious” land deals in a blighted area nearby the planned location, adjacent to  four empty blocks of Woodward Ave. owned by the city.

Touting the project last December, the Ilitch team said it the new arena would be “strategically located to serve some of the most underutilized areas in Detroit’s downtown core, strengthening the link between Detroit’s existing assets through a continuous, walkable environment connecting one district to the next and serving to improve the quality of life for residents and visitors alike.”

(TM and © Copyright 2013 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

“I’m going to try to find another way to help. I’m not leaving Detroit,” said Duggan, speaking to reporters Wednesday morning.

This comes after Michigan Court of Appeals upheld the lower court’s ruling, Tuesday, in split a decision — that Duggan’s name be removed from the primary election ballot.

At issue is Duggan’s residency.

A Wayne County Circuit Judge  Lita M. Popke last week ruled that Duggan’s name must be removed from the ballot after opposing candidate Tom Barrow pointed out Duggan was not a resident and registered voter in Detroit for a year — as required by city charter —when he turned in his signatures to become an official candidate for mayor.

“This is entirely my fault,” Duggan said.”… Never in my wildest dreams did I think you could be knocked off a ballot for filing too soon. If I’d thought there would have been any possibility, obviously I would have held onto them two weeks longer.”

Duggan said it was the first time in his life he ever did anything early, to laughs from the crowd.

“I don’t see putting this town through another four or five months of a fight if either the Supreme Court were to reinstated me or if we were to try and run a write-in (campaign),” he said. “I just don’t think there’s a viable path forward to winning …”

Duggan said it was going to be a close race between himself and formidable opponent Benny Napoleon — who, along with Duggan, has shown to be front-runner in the latest polls.

“I think we’ll always wish that the voters of Detroit could have made the decision for themselves, and not have it be made by judges,” Duggan said. “But this is where we stand, and there’s no point in complaining about it.”

Duggan thanked Detroiters for their support.

“It you look back a year or so ago in the headlines, all this stuff about the idea of a white mayor was seen as crazy by some people in the media. But all of you who have been with me have known, I have been embraced with warmth and kindness in every single corner of this city. I haven’t had a single bad experience.”

Outspoken community organizer Rev. Malik Shabazz told WWJ’s Charlie Langton he’s disappointed. Duggan was notably the first white man to take a serious stab at the mayor’s job since Coleman Young took office in 1974.

“Mike Duggan to me, and I’m a black man  — a seriously proud black man — but it’s not about Mike Duggan being white; it’s about him being right,” said Shabazz.

“And no disrespect to the other candidates, but I just feel that Governor Snyder will eat them for breakfast at 9 a.m. and eliminate them at 12 noon, you know.”

Duggan last year quit his job as CEO of the Detroit Medical Center, and it’s not clear what his future holds.

Stay with WWJ and CBSDetroit.com for more on this story.

S. Asli Ozgun-Koca, associate professor of teacher education and mathematics education in the College of Education, recently received a one-year, $3,600 grant from the Community Telecommunications Network to use the latest technology to collect and categorize the problem-solving and mathematical-thinking processes of K-12 students.

The money will be used to buy Livescribe pens to enhance the education of undergraduate and master’s-level WSU mathematics teacher candidates. The pens record written notes as well as the students’ own words, and send them wirelessly to a cloud computer, where they are accessible to candidates with a web-based player.

Titled “Working with Dynamic Digital Student Work as Becoming a Teacher,” Ozgun-Koca’s project will enable candidates to use the recordings to see different steps of student work and hear students describe their thinking. As a result, she said, they then can use that to help students move forward.

“We used to do this with written work, which is very powerful too, but kind of limited,” Ozgun-Koca said.

She believes the recordings will help teacher candidates understand students’ thinking processes more efficiently. The project also will involve building a database that will grow every academic year for use by future candidates.

Many candidates have good backgrounds in mathematics and have had positive experiences with the subject, Ozgun-Koca said, but the same is not true for many struggling mathematics students.

“As teacher educators, this project will give us a way to provide candidates with a way to see mathematics through someone else’s eyes,” she said. “The plan is move them from being doers to teachers by thinking about a problem or situation from a student’s perspective.”

More at www.research.wayne.edu.

Sales manager Josh Mertens said the new office “will improve our contractor and customer interaction and give us a chance to better showcase our quality line of products.”

The new business offices will serve as a quality control center, customer service hub, space for product and training demos and will be a great place to get your questions about Muscle Gloss answered face to face. I

n addition to the business offices, MuscleGloss.com offers an informative blog where readers are able to sign up for a new monthly newsletter to stay updated on all the newest Muscle Gloss news.

Muscle Gloss offers a complete line of easy-to-use and application-specific products, such as industrial grade coatings, cleaners, sealants and treatments, which are durable and made with high quality materials.

More at www.musclegloss.com.

The agreements help students who transferred to Grand Valley complete an associate’s degree at the community college. The initiative applies to students who have completed at least 45 credits at LMC or WCC, but transferred to Grand Valley before earning an associate’s degree.

Grand Valley now has 16 reverse transfer agreements with community colleges across the state, including Grand Rapids, Alpena, Mid Michigan, Muskegon, West Shore, Montcalm, Mott, Lansing, Macomb, Wayne County District, Northwestern Michigan, Jackson, North Central Michigan and Kellogg community colleges.

More at www.gvsu.edu.

The Heat and the Spurs played one of the greatest games in NBA Finals history last night.

The game had a little bit of everything – so much in fact, that the internet is still buzzing with talk about blown calls, lost headbands and lousy coaching by Gregg Popovich.

But few images will resonate from Game 6 quite as much as Mike Miller losing a shoe, and then draining a three pointer early in the fourth quarter. It was a huge play in the game and likely will make Miller a legend in Miami if the Heat can close out Game 7 tomorrow night.

But the lost shoe took on new life this morning thanks to the boys at Guyism.com. Check out this GIF of Miller tossing his shoe off the court and check out where it lands.

http://guyism.com/sports/mike-miller-threw-his-shoe-at-george-w-bush-and-what.html

Well played.

Eight of GM’s vehicles lead their segments in the annual Initial Quality Study from J.D. Power and Associates. No other company had more than two winners.

“We knew they were improving,” said David Sargent, vice president of global automotive at J.D. Power. “We knew they’d probably have a pretty good year. We didn’t realize they were going to be quite this good. Quite frankly, they were a little bit surprised, too.”

Among the GM vehicles being honored in their categories: Buick Encore, Cadillac Escalade, Chevy Avalanche, Camaro, Silverado and Tahoe and GMC Sierra.

“Nothing energizes us more than receiving the verification of quality from our customers,” said Alicia Boler-Davis, vice president Global Quality and U.S. Customer Experience. “The overall ownership experience of the people who buy our cars and trucks is founded on providing vehicles with innovative technologies, while ensuring highest levels of initial and long-term quality and services they can rely on.”

The annual J.D. Power study measures problems that buyers have with new vehicles. Over the years, the nature of those problems have changed. There are fewer issues with engines and transmission. Most of the complaints focus on creature comforts, electronics and other amenities.

Sargent says General Motors has made a lot of progress in a short time.

“Obviously a few years ago, we were talking about whether General Motors was going to even survive, or not,” he said. “People were questioning the results of their vehicles. Today’s results show that they are building vehicles with initial quality that’s better than anybody else in the industry.”

Those who work for GM are encouraged to see that owners are noticing the improvement.

“There is a very, very new, heightened focus on, y’know, you need to be better than the guy next to you, and you need to proved the better vehicles,” said GM spokesman Klaus-Peter Martin.

Porsche was the top automotive brand, with most companies showing improvement. Nissan was a notable exception. Sargent says many of its problems were caused by new vehicle launches.

Chrysler, which has had issues with quality, also saw improvement. Sargent says both GM and Chrysler learned a lot from the problems leading up to their 2009 bankruptcies.

“The trauma they went through a few years ago did focus their attention and made them realize even more than they probably did already, they have to provide products that consumers want to buy.”

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

Next week, we’ll begin celebrating our nation’s independence when the Detroit Ford Fireworks boom and glow over the Detroit River. It’s a great show and a tremendous way to remember all those who fought in the American Revolution as well as those who have fought in all the wars since. We are indebted to them all and owe them our thanks and respect.

I have long been a military history buff so let me share just a couple of fast facts about the American Revolution.

 • In 1776, Americans had the highest standard of living and the lowest taxes in the Western World.
• The Americans recruited people living in the Detroit region as spies and sympathizers for the American cause. On Aug. 23, 1777, Lieutenant Governor Henry Hamilton of the British army issued orders that all strangers entering Detroit and any suspicious activity must be reported immediately to the military authorities. The first group the British military suspected of treason was Detroit’s French inhabitants.
• After 1777, the average Continental soldier was young, single, without property, poor and in many cases an outright pauper. For three-quarters of the war, few middle-class Americans bore arms in the Continental Army, although thousands did serve in militias.
• A total of 25,000 Americans died during the Revolutionary war. About 8,000 died in battle and 17,000 died of sickness, went missing in action or died of other things.

Since our nation was founded men and women have defended it and all that it stands for. As they returned from battle the transition from military to civilian life often proved a challenge. At Strategic Staffing Solutions we believe we can offer an opportunity to those individuals leaving the military that will help them succeed in their new lives.

We just launched the pilot military program, the S3 Combat Recruiting Support Team. Under the program, four military veterans joined the company in our San Antonio office. They will reach out to qualified individuals who fit the job descriptions required by S3’s customers and then turn those names over to our recruiters.

While they are based in San Antonio the team also will provide sourcing support for all our branches, including Detroit. In short, they will help us give our customers the best consultants possible. We do that by fishing in the right ponds to find them. The military is certainly one of those ponds. It requires people to think fast, learn quickly, adapt easily, build solid relationships and have strong ethics. That fits S3 to a T.

The four people we hired have strong credentials, which re-enforces the value veterans bring to the workforce and how those skills can transfer to the private sector.

Two are retired Air Force senior noncommissioned offers and former Air Force recruiters (one with an MBA from Columbia Southern). One was an intelligence analyst in the Army. One led 300-plus combat intelligence missions in Iraq and Kuwait without loss of life or equipment and has a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Texas A&M-San Antonio. Another retired noncommissioned officer was a field medic in the Navy attached to the U.S. Marine Corps and is now completing his military career as a senior instructor at the Tri-Service Radiography School at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio.

Military people know the value of teamwork, and of being resourceful. That’s what won the Revolutionary War and the wars that followed. It is also how those leaving the military for a civilian life will succeed in their new careers. At S3 we are very pleased to be part of that transition.

More at www.strategicstaff.com.

FRASER (WWJ) - You’ve probably heard the phrase, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” This story takes that to a whole new level. A Fraser Michigan company has collected “stuff” for decades, and is now repurposing it for a brand new business.

Standing out among all their stuff including tens of thousands of license plates — Donna Kostrick and her husband of 62 years Fred Kostrick have a thing for tags.

“When we started this it was just a hobby. We made signs and gave them away,” says Donna Kostrick. “People would say, ‘why are you giving it away? Why don’t you start making what people want and start charging them?’”

Doesn’t matter from what state, or even from what year. They like and accept them all. Their hobby is now a thriving family business called License Plate Heaven.

All the Kostricks from mom, dad, son, daughters and even the grandkids participate in the business. They make pretty much anything from these precious metal plates. Daughter Sue Dorris said, “We make signs, maps, airplanes, purses. You know that’s why we say ‘License Plate Heaven’ where license plates get a new life.”

Just two years into the official license plate upcycling business, License Plate Heaven is making a big impact – all over the earth. On pretty much every continent. “I grew up in 1932 so that means my parents had scratch to make a living and we were taught not to throw things away.”

The Kostricks store all their excess license plates in a semi-tractor trailer parked at their Fraser site. It’s packed with tens of thousands of license plates. They are collected, washed, categorized from every state and from every year since way back in the 1920’s. Their oldest plate is from Michigan, 1925.

50-thousand plates are from all U-S states. Another 50-thousand plates are from throughout Mexico. They’re being cut, reshaped, re-tooled and given a new life — satisfying a growing world-wide customer base. “We have orders from Japan, Germany, Ireland – all over the world, really.”

What license plate are they missing? Croatia, the former Yugoslavia, is missing from their collection and they’d love to have one.

Learn more about License Plate Heaven on their official site, Facebook and Twitter.

New charges against Kelly Rhodes of Salem, Ore., were disclosed Wednesday when she appeared in court on a charge of moving the body.

Authorities said Mary Gertrude Grenia, of Salem, Ore., was found dead March 12 behind the Goodwill store in Port Huron Township, about 55 miles northeast of Detroit. Authorities said Grenia’s body was hidden for more than a week under snow and blankets. She was identified using X-ray comparison from medical records.

Sheriff’s officials initially believed the woman was not a victim of foul play — until an investigation showed otherwise.

The 49-year-old Rhodes was charged with open murder and abuse of a vulnerable adult. Open murder means a jury can determine if it’s first or second-degree murder.

The Port Huron Times Herald reports the new charges came after prosecutors received an autopsy report Tuesday. Prosecutor Mona Armstrong declined to comment.

Graham Sweeney of Hamilton, Ontario,  in March told the Herold.

Rhodes was traveling to marry him in Canada when her mother died. He said he received a call from Rhodes on March 9 when she woke up after sleeping in her vehicle and found her mother dead.

Rhodes allegedly told Sweeney she was dropping off furniture at the Goodwill store when someone she met in the area called a person to cremate the body. Sweeney said Rhodes paid that person $200.

“She was conned,” he said.

After her mother’s body was identified, was Rhodes was arrested at a relative’s home in Belleville, Ill.

A message seeking comment was left Wednesday for Rhodes’ attorney, Sharon Parrish.

(TM and © Copyright 2013 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

It all began early Wednesday morning when a trooper tried to make a traffic stop on Clyde Road near Argentine Road in Livingston County’s Oceola Township.

Trooper Thomas Pinkerton said the driver of a Jeep Cherokee with no tail lights refused to pull over.

Pinkerton lost sight of the vehicle, but it was soon spotted by a Livingston County Sheriff patrol unit — and a chase began.

Reaching speeds over 100 mpg, the pursuit took them from M-59 to I-96 in the Brighton area. It all ended on Lyon Parkway in South Oakland Township when police say the young driver lost control and crashed into a group of trees.

Inside the jeep, along with the 14-year-old male driver, police found another 14-year-old boy and three girls from Fenton — ages 14,14 and 15.

No one was hurt. Police say alcohol was a factor in the incident.

The two boys, one from Hartland and one from Howell, were lodged in a secure juvenile facility, pending charges from the Livingston County Prosecutor’s Office.

The girls were turned over to their parents.

No names have been released.

Benjamin Nuzzi is a family man and former active duty United States Marine Corp. Sergeant marksmanship instructor. Nuzzi is no stranger to either weaponry or to having small children under foot. “Many individuals would argue that gun-safety precautions defeat the purpose of having a gun in the first place. Having to first remove, unlock, chamber and fire would take too long, costing precious seconds in a life-threatening situation. And to an extent, that is true. However, you must ask yourself, what is the greater threat to my children’s lives: a weapon present 100 percent of the time or a potential home invasion?”

Here are some of Nuzzi’s tips for gun safety:

• Any weapon not used for a potential home-defense situation should be locked away with ammunition locked away in a separate location. There is no excuse for someone being harmed with a range/sporting weapon.
• Weapons used for home defense, such as pistols, should always be kept out of sight of little eyes. Nuzzi keeps a “false book” hidden under non-descript papers.
• Always use trigger locks. Keep the key where you need it, i.e., in reach of your bed, but never next to the lock.
• Never keep the weapon with a round in the chamber. Pulling the slide on most pistols, thus chambering a round, is too difficult for most children to do. And always keep the weapon on safe.
• Take time to know your weapon. Practice with it and make time for the shooting range. This will reduce the time it takes to engage in a dangerous situation.

Talking to children and teaching them about gun safety is of paramount importance, says Stephanie Himel-Nelson, a navy spouse and the director of communications at Blue Star Families. “We’ve taught our children a bit about guns. If they ever see one, they know they shouldn’t touch it and must immediately find a parent or other adult,” she says. “In addition, we don’t allow toy guns in our home because we want our children to understand that weapons are not toys.”

Nuzzi agrees. “Don’t make gun use taboo,” he says. “Teach your family about firearms and firearm safety. Want to dissuade children from playing with guns? Take them to the range and let them hear one fire. They are loud! Once a child learns that guns are not fun toys, much temptation will be removed.” And so, hopefully, will many gun-related accidents.

Corey Whelan is a freelance writer in New York. Her work can be found at Examiner.com.

“… After a diligent search — pursuant to our responsibilities under the search warrant — we did not uncover any evidence relevant to the investigation on James Hoffa,” said Bob Foley, FBI Special Agent in Charge with the Detroit Field Office.

“I’m very confident of our result here — after two days-plus of diligent effort —  and at this point we’ll be closing down the excavation operation, and we”ll be returning the property over to the property owner in the condition in which it was found,” Foley said.

Foley said, however, the case remains open.

This week’s dig, which began Monday morning, was the latest of many spanning nearly two decades.

Monday afternoon, investigators uncovered a “suspicious concrete slab,” which, as it turned out, didn’t contain any evidence. Likewise, on Tuesday, a reported “hit” by a cadaver dog turned out to be a bust.

It was the result of extensive FBI interviews with former FBI underboss Tony Zerilli, who earlier this year told a reporter that Hoffa was buried in a shallow grave on the Oakland Township property which is believed to be owned by a family with mob ties.

Zerilli, at one time second in command in the Detroit mafia, said he was told by a mafia enforcer that Hoffa was abducted, killed, and brought to the Buhl Road farm In Oakland Township. The original plan, according to the mobster, was to bury him there temporarily and then take his body up to northern Michigan and bury him at a hunting lodge.

Zerilli, now 85, was convicted of organized crime as a reputed mafia captain. He was in prison when Hoffa disappeared from a Bloomfield Township restaurant — but says he was informed about Hoffa’s whereabouts after his release.

Zerilli’s attorney, David Chasnick, said Wednesday his client still believes the information he gave is accurate, adding that the the FBI’s search may have been too limited.

Investigators have pursued thousands of leads in the decades since the Teamsters boss went to lunch on July 30, 1975, at the Machus Red Fox to meet a mob-connected Teamsters boss and Detroit mob Captain Tony Jack Giacalone — and was never seen again.

The federal government has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in the hunt for Hoffa, according to sources talking to CBS Detroit.

The 2006 Milford farm dig alone cost $250,000, sources said, and before that, in 2003, the feds excavated a swimming pool and the surrounding area a few hours north of Detroit. They subsequently tore apart a home where Hoffa’s blood reportedly stained the floorboards.

In September of last year, radar equipment was reportedly brought in by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to scan a driveway on near 12 Mile and Gratiot in Roseville. But soil tests showed no signs of human DNA.

“I’ve talked to several high-level members of organized crime families (about this),” said Detroit mob expert and author Scott Bernstein in a CBS Detroit interview. “And a very highly placed member made a comment, ‘If we had to do it all over again, we would have left him in the middle of Telegraph Road.’”

It’s believed that Hoffa was making an attempt to regain control of the Teamsters union following his release from federal prison in 1971, and organized crime figures from around the country ordered Hoffa’s death to stop that from happening.

Investigators have been digging this week under a New York City house once occupied by a famous gangster, James Burke.

Meantime, in southeast Michigan, the FBI ended an excavation for any remains of Hoffa, the former leader of the Teamsters union who disappeared from a metro Detroit restaurant in 1975.

Detroit FBI spokesman Simon Shaykhet said there’s no tie between the two digs.

The latest tip about Hoffa came from a reputed Mafia captain, Tony Zerilli, who claims Hoffa was buried under a concrete slab in a barn on the northern Oakland Township property, about 20 miles north of Detroit. Zerilli said the plan was to leave Hoffa’s body in that field for a bit, before moving it to some land near a hunting lodge in northern Michigan.

The dig ended Wednesday after an FBI official said no evidence was uncovered as an excavation team dug up the property.  The dig, which began Monday morning, was the latest of many spanning nearly two decades.

It’s believed that Hoffa was making an attempt to regain control of the Teamsters union following his release from federal prison in 1971, and organized crime figures from around the country ordered Hoffa’s death to stop that from happening.

MORE: Nothing Found: Hoffa Dig Ends In Disappointment

Hunt For Hoffa: Complete Coverage

(TM and © Copyright 2013 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

1. How did the Spurs let that game get away last night? I will admit it, I don’t like the Heat. I happen to respect the heck out of LeBron James and the immense amount of pressure that he is under, but I can’t root for him. San Antonio had Game 6 in the bag last night and somehow it slipped through their fingertips. You have to make free throws and you have to secure rebounds and the Spurs did not do that. Ray Allen bailed out LeBron. Period.

2. I am a big Gregg Popovich fan. I love his in-game interviews with the sideline reporters and I think he is brilliant as a coach. But he messed up last night. Tim Duncan not being on the floor for Miami’s final possession in regulation was a huge mistake and then in overtime, why wasn’t Tony Parker on the court for the Spurs second to last touch? I didn’t get it last night and I still don’t understand it.

3. Can we please stop comparing James to Michael Jordan? The Spurs are basically daring LeBron to shoot the ball from 16 feet and out. No team would have EVER given MJ that kind of airspace. Enough with the comparisons.

4. I have to give the Tigers’ Jhonny Peralta his due. For the past few years, I have given Jhonny a lot of grief because, quite frankly, he was a real dog his last two seasons in Cleveland. I saw it firsthand. Jhonny seems to be rejuvenated this season and is hitting the ball hard and has really carried that bottom of the Tigers order. He is also laying off that breaking ball low and away and that has brought his OBP way up. .385 is the highest it has ever been for him.