detroit

Good reporting from former GR Press writer Danny Knobler. This issue is finally getting some national attention. It's been under the radar in Detroit, too.

When you look at all the circumstances, a release seems like the most prudent choice. $18 million is just too much to pay Magglio next year, even if he turns it around. But last night's grand slam is a reminder of what a painful decision that would be. And I'm sure Mr. Illitch is attached; Maggs has been a huge asset to the team on and off the field since he got here.

Quoted: How do you know when a once-elite player like Magglio Ordonez is done? Danny Knobler isn't sure -- nobody is -- but Maggs' suffering stats and big salary mean an outright release by Detroit is a real possibility.

This article is about much more than rare sloops, and a lot of fun to read. You're going to want to learn about that goat on the wall.

Quoted: “There were only 27 Crescents ever built,” Hume says, noting that 24 are here at the club. He is clearly a dedicated admirer. “The Crescent is the most valuable object in the universe!” he says with glee.

Could be another great HBO series, and a nice thing for the area, assuming it's filmed here. I liked the book a lot.

Quoted: Actor-producer Rita Wilson will be in charge of developing a one-hour series out of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Jeffrey Eugenides novel, "Middlesex."

Quoted: HBO has not commented yet on whether the series will actually be filmed in Detroit, but going off of recent trends (the network's new series "Hung" was filmed in the metro area), there's a good possibility.

I had assumed that Chef Symon didn't spend a lot of time here, but apparently that's not the case (or it is, but he hides it well). Nice interview.

Quoted: I think it was one of those things that in the '50s and '60s it was very sophisticated to get a cocktail and a nibble. And then it kind of turned a little bit into … I don't want to say a train wreck of a happy hour kind of thing, but you know "eat a 40 buckets of wings and 25 cent beers." Which was fun when I was in college, but I think it just happened that fine dining moved away from it a little bit.

This publication was defunct for several months. Now they're back, boasting the best Michigan daily news roundup anywhere. And if you don't like the writing, or are loyal to the schools they make fun of, there's a nice photo to lead things off today.

Quoted: Turns out, Davenport has dorms and a hockey team called the Panthers and everything! Go figure. One of their dorms was evacuated yesterday because of some weird smell. This whole thing was probably set up by the Davenport Board of Trustees to promote that they have dorms.

Sam Roberts Band

Quoted: Republicans demonize the UAW

Very tough stuff to read. The mixed feelings continue.

Quoted: No, Billups saved the good stuff for the local guys, opening up to Michael Rosenberg of the Detroit Free Press in a way that will likely put a knot in the stomach of every Pistons fan who reads his column, starting with the opening paragraph:

Republican opinion-makers have found a new demon: the US auto industry. Especially demonic are its efforts to build more fuel-efficient cars and Democrats' encouragement of these efforts. Hooray, because Detroit could afford to be taken down a notch or two.

The author (no science in his background) uses the bulk of his space to break down the science behind the Volt. His thesis is that gas goes bad if it stays unused in the tank too long. So stop trying to save gas or your gas will go bad, idiot unionists.

Quoted: You have in GM's Volt a perfect car of the Age of Obama -- or at least the Honeymoon of Obama, before the reality principle kicks in.

Quoted: The public now has no idea what to expect -- except miracles, reconciling all opposites, turning all hard choices into gauzy win-wins. Thanks to Detroit, his honeymoon is about to end before it begins.