Sun Insider

Friday, May 23, 2008

Memorial Day closings

These government offices and businesses will be closed on Monday in observance of Memorial Day:
• Veterans Memorial Library in Mt. Pleasant; also closed Sunday.
• Isabella County offices
• Union Township offices
• Isabella County Sheriff Department business office: Open 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday.
• City of Mt. Pleasant including business offices at City Hall, Public Safety and Public Works. There will be no refuse or curbside recycling collection for city residents Monday. Collection will be one day behind schedule for the remainder of the week.
• Morning Sun offices in Mt. Pleasant and Alma
• City of Clare
• Clare County offices
• City of Harrison
• Secretary of State (all locations)
• Post Offices (all locations)
• Firstbank locations
• Isabella Bank
• National City branches
• Commercial Bank locations
• Chemical Bank locations
• Gratiot County offices
• City of Alma
• City of Ithaca
• City of St. Louis
• Gratiot Area Chamber of Commerce
• Isabella County Transportation Commission
• Isabella County Senior Center/Commission on Aging
• Gratiot County Commission on Aging/Home Delivered Meals
• Isabella County Recycling Center

Reporting: Jeremy Dickman in Mt. Pleasant

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Beal City Baseball and Softball

The Beal City Aggies took on the Pine River Bucks in baseball and softball on Tuesday. Both Beal City teams were victorious.

Shots from both games are available Here.

Sun Photographs by RYAN EVON

Wings eliminate Dallas, head for finals

It came off his face, not his stick.
Even with blood caked on his red beard and his lower lip badly swollen, Kris Draper was still smiling.
Taking a puck to the face to get back into the Stanley Cup finals? No problem.
"It went off my chin. It went in. Who cares?" Draper said. "It's all worth it right now at this time of year."
Draper and Detroit will again play for hockey's biggest prize after eliminating the Dallas Stars 4-1 in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals Monday night. The Red Wings will be making their 23rd Stanley Cup finals appearance, and first since winning it in 2002.

Detroit Red Wings' Pavel Datsyuk (13) a scores over Dallas goaltender Marty Turco as Dallas' Nicklas Grossman (2) defends.

The Red Wings' Brad Stuart (23) and Dallas' Niklas Hagman (15) vie for the puck during the first period
"We were relentless," Draper said. "It was just a solid first period and obviously the difference in the hockey game. ... We're back in the Stanley Cup and it sounds great for us."

Dallas Drake (17) celebrates after scoring in the first period. Drake, a 16-season veteran who is finally going to his first Stanley Cup finals, passed the puck that went off Draper's chin. Then after Datsyuk's power-play goal, when he flicked the puck over a sprawled out Turco, Drake scored his first goal of the playoffs to make it 3-0.

"I've never even gotten close to having an opportunity," Drake said. "I couldn't be more thankful right now than I am." Drake was drafted by the Red Wings in 1989 and played his first two seasons in Detroit (1992-94). He returned as a free agent last summer and finally has the chance to play for the ultimate prize.

Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg (40) skates away after driving the puck past Turco (35) to score shorthanded.

The Stars were on a power play 3 minutes into the second period when Zetterberg stole a puck and turned it into an unassisted goal. Turco could only look on at the puck behind him.

Red Wings goalie Chris Osgood (30) comes out of the crease to slap the puck away during the third period. Stephane Robidas finally scored a power-play goal 2:27 into the third period, but Osgood made 15 of his 28 saves in the final period.
Osgood improved to 10-2 this postseason. It was his 100th career playoff game and his 55th victory - his 48th for Detroit, passing Hall of Famer Terry Sawchuk for the franchise record.
But Osgood wasn't ready to talk about past accomplishments - such as his last Cup championship with the Red Wings 10 years ago (he missed the last championship during a four-season hiatus away from Detroit) - or what he's done so far this postseason.
"We got our team back to the Stanley Cup finals, that's the most important thing," Osgood said. "I don't really think about the past, whether it's a week ago, two days ago, years ago. I'll have time for that when I'm retired, sitting around, not doing much. ... I just play in the now. I try to keep my head clear when I'm playing, not think about anything else, just try to stop the puck."
Hockeytown hosts Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals Saturday night. The Red Wings face the youthful Pittsburgh Penguins in a matchup of teams that didn't play in the regular season.

Reporting by Stephen Hawkins in Dallas
AP photos by Matt Slocum and LM Otero

Monday, May 19, 2008

Alma High School Baseball

Some shots from the first game of Alma's double header against Chesaning on Monday.

These shots should be available Here for purchase.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

GREG NELSON: I'll stop griping about women

I guess I’m starting to be a chronic complainer. That’s just not a proper male characteristic. Usually that’s a trait of the opposite gender.
Recently I’ve been writing about a few of the gripes I have about various things but I kind of got carried away with those I have about women, which didn’t leave me enough space for more important things.
This week I promise not to mention anything about females. Besides it doesn’t do any good because they never change. It’s always up to the man to adapt if a relationship is to last longer than 15 minutes.
OK, OK, I know, I promised. But it’s a fact that most ladies have a tough time making up their minds about how they want their husbands or boyfriends to act.
They say they don’t want a “yes man,” but when you disagree with them they get upset.
Women claim they want someone who is forceful and willing to take charge, yet when the guy makes a decision that doesn’t turn out so well they never let him forget it.
Most like men with a good sense of humor and an outgoing personality who can be sociable in any setting. However, if the poor guy talks to another woman at a party for more than three minutes they are ready to trade him in for a shy introvert.
Sorry, I forgot. No more griping about females. For some reason though, even at the expense of my own well being, I feel an obligation to be a spokesman for the “real” oppressed sex.
I’m willing to take the abuse for all the others of my gender to let the truth be known.
I’ve had a number of men tell me that I’m their “hero” and to “keep it up” because no one else is speaking up on their behalf. Of course they say this when there isn’t another female, especially their wife or girlfriend, anywhere in sight, but I understand. I don’t blame them.
There’s a movie called, “What Women Want,” but I’ve never bothered watching it since I’m not sure women know what they want because when they get what they think they want, they want something different.
Even when a woman finds the “perfect man,” which by the way, there are millions of us out there, they still try to change him.
Yes, I realize 99.9 percent of females say there is no such thing, but the only reason they believe that is because they are impossible to please.
Whoops, I think I’m getting off track again. I really do have other gripes like how the Tigers are playing, angle parking on downtown streets, party politics, the treatment of smokers, the high price of gasoline, and the glut of those TV reality shows, among others.
I just feel the need, however, to point out some of these female facts because they have been getting away with such behavior for generations.
Women are constantly harping about how unappreciated they are. That’s the furthest thing from the truth.
Men just have a different way of expressing their gratitude, like belching or passing gas for a half-hour after eating a great meal their wife prepared. That’s like the ultimate compliment. What more needs to be said (or heard)?
Heck, just the other day I didn’t even yell or make my wife Lori stop vacuuming the living room even though I was trying to watch a crucial part of the Red Wings’ game on TV. I just let her continue because I knew she had to get a couple more loads of laundry done, the toilet cleaned, the lawn mowed, and the water softener fixed before making me dinner. Showing that type of appreciation just doesn’t seem to require words.
I don’t think it should always be up to the male to try and understand the female, it should be the other way around. We are really very simple creatures, not nearly as complex and emotional as women. I think...
Oh, oh, I did it again. I’ve reached the end of my column, which means I don’t have any more room to expound on my other gripes.
I know I promised not to complain about women this week but it didn’t quite work out that way. That’s probably the first thing women should know about men, even though we have good intentions, guys sometimes forget things. (Probably because our minds ar so boggled trying to figure out what the females in our lives really want).
Just to show what kind of guy I am I’ll let women have their say. Send me your biggest complaints about men and I will include them in an upcoming column. I’ll probably have to come up with another topic that week because I really can’t think of much they would have to carp about.
But for now I’m done grousing, about everything, especially the opposite sex... I promise.
Yeah, right.

Greg Nelson is a Morning Sun staff writer. He can be reached at gnelson@michigannewspapers.com or by calling 989-463-6071, ext. 15.

The $4 barrier

Another week, another price record
It wasn’t pretty: Friday afternoon, Michigangasprices.com reported a Sam’s Club station near Flint was charging more than $4 a gallon for gasoline.
Sam’s Club. You know, the place with gas so cheap it drives down the prices for miles around.
Michigan’s ever-increasing fuel prices setting more new records this week. Statewide fuel price leader Speedway moved the price to $3.999 for a gallon of unleaded on Tuesday, and by the end of the day, the price across central Michigan settled within a few cents of that point.
Diesel prices made a major jump to a painful $4.59 a gallon in many places, and there’s no end in sight.
Average mid-Michigan prices were up 45 to 48 cents from a month ago; statewide, prices were up 46 cents from a month ago and 59 cents a gallon from a year ago.
Here is a look at some representative prices for a gallon of unleaded regular gas as of Friday afternoon:
Average price by county:
• Clare $3.96, up 6 cents from one week ago;
• Gratiot: $3.98, up 9 cents from last week;
• Isabella: $3.99, up 10 cents;
• Midland: $3.96, up 8 cents.
• Montcalm: $3.96, up 8 cents;
• Lowest reported prices in region: Greenville, Midland: $3.94
• Highest prices in region: Alma, Clare, Mt. Pleasant,: $3.99
• Lowest prices in state: Mt. Morris, $3.76
• Highest prices in state: Beaver Island, $4.99; Paradise, $4.17
• Statewide average Friday: $3.94
• Year ago: $3.35
• Lowest metro-area average: Detroit: $ 3.89
• Highest metro-area average: Traverse City, $3.99
• Lowest mid-Michigan diesel price: Stanton, $4.49
• Highest mid-Michigan diesel price: Alma, Greenville, Mt. Pleasant, St. Louis, $4.59
• Statewide diesel average: $4.56
Sources: Michigangasprices.com, Oil Price Information Service through Michigan AAA.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Frustration in Dallas

Detroit coach Mike Babcock stands on the bench arguing his case with referee Kelly Sutherland after an apparent Detroit second-period goal was disallowed to no avail. Pavel Datsyuk put the puck past Marty Turco on a power-play shot from the right circle midway 7: 34 into the period, but on-ice officials immediately called it off, saying Tomas Holmstrom interfered with Turco from inside the crease.That set the tone for the Red Wings' 3-1 loss to the Dallas Stars.

Had it counted, Detroit would've been up 1-0. Instead, the game remained tied.

- until Ericksson scored with 22.7 seconds left in the period, putting Dallas in front for the first time all series.

The excitement was short-lived. Just 49 seconds into the third period, and 1:12 after Ericksson's goal, Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg zipped a shot past Turco to tie it at 1.
The Red Wings went on a power play a few minutes later, but failed to capitalize. Seconds after their advantage ended, the Stars went on a power play and Modano cashed in quickly, setting up in the slot and whizzing a one-timer by Osgood.
Morrow then added another with 5:26 left, drawing huge roars from a crowd featuring so many Red Wings fans that an octopus was thrown onto the ice to big cheers after the national anthem.

Detroit Red Wings' Dan Cleary (11) is sandwiched between Turco (35) and Nicklas Grossman as they vie for the puck.Turco made 34 saves, turning away 14 shots in the second period and 15 more in the third period. That included last-minute barrages of 6-on-4 and even 6-on-3 for the final 35.3.

Detroit Red Wings' Kirk Maltby (18) and Dallas Stars' Brad Richards (91) vie for the puck against the boards. The Stars came in knowing how hard it is to close a team out because they went from leading the last round 3-0 to needing four overtimes in Game 6 to finally knock out the San Jose Sharks.

Of course, the Red Wings have experience in being up 3-0, having swept Colorado with an 8-2 victory in Game 4.
But Detroit came out defensive, taking only five shots while concentrating on defense. The Red Wings flipped over to an offensive mindset in the second period, but just couldn't get the breaks - or the official's rulings - that they needed.

Reporting: Jaime Aron in Dallas
AP photos by Tony Gutierez and Donna McWilliam