by Becky Andrus | Nov 9, 2020 | Uncategorized
Governor Whitmer Statement on Pfizer Vaccine News, President-Elect Biden’s COVID-19 Response Team Announcement
LANSING, Mich. — Today, Governor Gretchen Whitmer released the following statement after Pfizer announced that an early analysis showed that their COVID-19 vaccine is 90% effective, and after President-Elect Joe Biden announced his COVID-19 Response Team comprised of health experts from across the country:
“This is great news for our families, our frontline workers, and our small business owners. Michigan has always been on the forefront of innovation, and I am proud to see that Pfizer, a Michigan business and one of the largest pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities in the world, will produce the vaccine in our great state. We must remember that when the vaccine is ready, it will take time to distribute, and we need everyone to continue doing their part to protect each other from COVID-19. That’s why it’s so important that President-Elect Biden has announced a team of medical experts to lead our country’s COVID-19 response. It is crucial that leaders across the country listen to science and the recommendations of health experts, and President-Elect Biden has made it clear that he shares that commitment. I look forward to working closely with him and medical experts everywhere to fight this virus and save lives.”
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by Becky Andrus | Nov 9, 2020 | Regional News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2020
CONTACT: Ron Tennant, Grand Rapids Fire Department, 616-456-3900, [email protected]
First responder media event Nov. 10 to promote
National Traffic Incident Response Awareness Week
WHAT:
The Michigan Traffic Incident Management Action Team and the Delta Township Fire Department are hosting a media event to bring awareness to National Traffic Incident Response Awareness Week (Nov. 9-15) and the hazards faced by those working unplanned incidents on Michigan’s roads. The event will highlight the importance of drivers slowing down and moving over for emergency vehicles, as well as safely managing traffic incidents and preventing secondary crashes. First responder vehicles and a traffic incident management demonstration will be available.
WHO:
AAA Michigan
Eaton County 911
Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) staff
Michigan State Police staff
Michigan’s Fire Service Michigan Towing Association
Michigan’s Traffic Incident Management Action Team
WHEN:
Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2020
10 a.m.
WHERE:
Delta Township Fire Department
811 N. Canal Road
Lansing, MI 48917
EVENT INFORMATION:
Due to recent Michigan Department of Health and Human Services orders, the event will be limited to a maximum of 50 attendees. All attendees will be screened for COVID-19 symptoms and will be required to wear face coverings and maintain social distancing.
BACKGROUND:
Each year across the country, hundreds of emergency responders are struck and injured or killed while responding to traffic incidents. This year’s National Traffic Incident Response Awareness Week theme is “Slow Down. Move Over. Be Safe.” It focuses on the fact that everyone has a role in traffic incident response. Simply slowing down, moving over, and driving safe around incidents and first responders can save lives.
Unfortunately, first responders are still being struck and killed or injured at an alarming rate. Safety, emergency, local, and state groups and organizations around Michigan will use the week to educate drivers and local public safety professionals about the dangers of traffic incident response in an effort to prevent injuries and deaths.
Michigan residents can join the effort by ensuring their vehicle is in good working condition, packing a roadside emergency kit, and remaining in their vehicle until help arrives. When driving near an incident scene, Michigan’s Move Over Law requires motorists to slow down to at least 10 mph below the posted speed limit and move over if possible. This law applies to stationary emergency vehicles with flashing lights activated, including roadside tow trucks and courtesy vehicles operated by MDOT. It also applies to garbage trucks, road maintenance, and utility service vehicles that have amber lights flashing.
by Becky Andrus | Nov 9, 2020 | Feature Writers, High School Sports
Top Five Games:
By Sammy Taormina
Romeo at Stoney Creek: The Cougars are having a special season and made everyone in the State know who they were after pulling off a huge 28-21 victory over Chippewa Valley last week behind a 250 yards and three scores off 44 carries for running back Cam Burford. Burford also got an interception last week as well. Ryan Echout has been outstanding at quarterback as well for the Cougars and the Stoney Creek defense has been stout under defensive coordinator Gary Griffith. This will be the first meeting between these two neighborhood schools. Romeo has been a weird team to figure out this season but they are peaking at the right time. The Bulldogs has won three straight games including a controversial 15-14 upset win at Macomb Dakota last week behind a controversial fourth and goal by running back Brian St. Clair that according to the replays that I saw was that he threw the football into the end zone when his forward progress should had been stopped but the football was recovered by wide receiver Luke Rolfs in the end zone. The officials gave the touchdown to Romeo which upset many Macomb Dakota players, coaches, and fans and thus putting Romeo in the district finals. The Bulldogs are a hardworking team very similar to the Cougars but they are riding a ton of momentum but so is Stoney Creek. The running back battle should be very interesting between Burford and St. Clair. The quarterback matchup between Logan Rolfs and Echout is also going to be interesting as well. The coaching matchup is not too bad as well between Curt Rienas and Nick Merlo. This should be a very interesting matchup at Stoney Creek.
Groves at Warren Mott: This is going to be the first meeting between the Falcons and the Marauders. Warren Mott is coming off a 49-14 beat down of Berkley behind wide receiver KJ Allen whom had five catches for 128 yards and three touchdowns while running back N Christian Gilbert had six carries for 128 yards and two touchdowns against the Bears. They also have a very good quarterback throwing to them as well in James Chaney. He had three passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns himself against Berkley. Chaney is more than capable of putting numbers himself in the zone read. He had 29 carries for 188 yards and two rushing touchdowns and was five for nine for 46 yards and a passing score earlier in the season against Utica. Groves is coming off a 30-21 victory over arch rival Seaholm behind the play of quarterback Kaleb Garner threw for two touchdown passes both to wide receiver Orion Kendra. The Falcons also have Jaden Mangham for Warren Mott to deal with as well. The coaching matchup is very interesting between Brendan Flaherty and Tom Milonov. This is going to be a very interesting district finals.
Oak Park at Wyandotte: The Knights have earned their first two game winning streak of the season after beating Detroit University-Detroit Jesuit 27-21 last week. This is going to be the first meeting since 2012 with Wyandotte. The Bears beat Oak Park 10-6 in the 2012 regional finals which motivates Coach Greg Carter. Wyandotte has been rolling people. They earned a 38-13 victory over Detroit Renaissance last week. The Bears feature a very good quarterback in Jalen Pitchford. Pitchford has had a monster year this season on both sides of the football (also plays on defense.) Wyandotte also has a ton of talented players as well in running back Logan McGraw and wide receivers/defensive backs Donavan Canterbury and Richard Clark. They are well coached under Coach Ron Adams. Oak Park is back healthy and they has their fair share of athletes as well in running back Davion Primm along with quarterback James Burnley and linemen Rayshawn Benny, among others. This should be very interesting in Wyandotte on Friday night.
North Farmington at South Lyon: North Farmington made a huge statement last week behind the play of quarterback Jacob Bousamra and running back Justus Whitehorn whom were both very impressive combining for five touchdowns in their 44-28 victory over Fenton last week. South Lyon is coming off an impressive 42-37 home victory over Walled Lake Western. The Lions are a very young team which they weren’t expected to do much but they have grown up in a hurry. This will be the seventh meeting all time between these two teams with South Lyon holding a 4-2 season series edge and the first meeting since 1995 when both teams were in the Western Lakes Activities Association. It is shaping up to be a very interesting game in South Lyon.
West Bloomfield at Sterling Heights Stevenson: This is going to be one of the most hyped matchups in the State on Friday night. Who doesn’t love a good OAA Red vs MAC Red matchup??? It will be the first meeting between these two teams. The Titans have a ton of experience back from a team that made the Division One State Semifinals last season. We don’t know about the health of Jordan Ramsey. Ramsey did not play in their 19-14 victory over Southfield Arts and Tech. He hasn’t played in a few weeks due to injury but Sterling Heights Stevenson has some very talented players to fill the void for Ramsey in Jordan Kwaitkowski, Tony Schumate, and quarterback Biagio Madonna. Kwaitkowski and Schumate combined for 200 rushing yards and three touchdowns against the Warriors. Kwaitkowski caught a pass for a score in that game as well. The Titans have heard a ton about the Lakers and especially running back Donovan Edwards. Edwards had two scores in a 56-3 blowout of Troy on Friday night in the Swamp but they saw their four game shutout streak snapped with a Ryan Peluso field goal. The quarterback matchup is going to be very interesting between Alex Short and Madonna. The running back battle should be the key matchup between Edwards, Dillion Tatum, and Mekhi Elam. The battle in the trenches are also going to be interesting between Michigan commit Giovanni El-Hadi going up against one of the best defensive lines in the State led by Amir Herring and Brandon Davis-Swan. The coaching matchup is also going to be very interesting as well between Coach Ron Bellamy and Coach Justin Newcomb. There are going to be a ton of storylines heading into this game at Runkel Field on Friday night.
by Becky Andrus | Nov 9, 2020 | Regional News
Governor Whitmer Recognizes Front Line Nurse Practitioners This Week
LANSING, Mich. — Governor Gretchen Whitmer has proclaimed November 8-14th as Nurse Practitioner Week in Michigan. Nurse Practitioners (NPs) are a vital part of Michigan’s health care system and have provided trusted heath care throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I want to thank nurse practitioners across the state for providing high-quality care to their patients both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Governor Whitmer. “Our nurse Practitioners have worked tirelessly to diagnose and treat patients with COVID-19 and to combat community spread nationwide. We owe it to them and to all of our health care heroes on the front lines to continue to do our part of fight COVID-19. That means wearing a mask, practicing safe physical distancing, and washing hands frequently.”
NPs focus on health promotion, disease prevention, and health education and counseling, as well as guiding patients to make smarter health and lifestyle choice. There are more than 290,000 licensed NPs in the United States, and 8,449 in Michigan providing primary, acute, and specialty care to patients of all ages and walks of life.
To view the proclamation, click the link below:
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by Becky Andrus | Nov 9, 2020 | Regional News
Governor Whitmer Proclaims Nov. 8-14 Winter Hazards Awareness Week
LANSING, Mich. – With winter weather rapidly approaching, Michigan residents are encouraged to make winter emergency preparedness a priority.
“Michiganders are no strangers to winter weather,” said Gov. Whitmer. “I’ve proclaimed this week as Michigan’s Winter Hazards Awareness Week to remind everyone to take a few steps to prepare for winter and ensure you and your family are ready for winter weather.”
Severe winter weather poses health and safety concerns with extremely cold temperatures, freezing pipes, potential propane shortages and power outages. Michiganders should consider the following actions to be prepared for the upcoming winter months.
To prepare your home for winter:
- Weatherproof your home by installing weather-stripping and caulking and insulating walls, doors and windows.
- Insulate any water lines that run along exterior walls, so pipes are less likely to freeze.
- Lock in a propane rate and have a backup heating plan, such as a generator, wood stove or fireplace.
- Have furnaces inspected by a qualified professional and change the air filter.
- Have your fireplace and chimney cleaned and inspected. Contact your local fire department for a referral or look for a local inspector online.
- Install battery-operated carbon monoxide (CO) detectors near every sleeping area.
- Clean gutters to prevent ice dams from forming. Roof ice dams can cause water to build-up, leading to interior damage.
- Clear storm drains along the curb to enable water to drain. If plugged, water has the potential to go into low-lying areas and flood basements.
- Have an emergency preparedness kit stored safely in your house that includes water, non-perishable food, a first aid kit, extra batteries, a battery or hand-crank powered radio, emergency lighting or flashlights, extra blankets and warm clothing.
To prepare your vehicle for winter:
- Have your radiator serviced before winter and make sure to replace windshield wipers and wiper fluid with a wintertime mixture that will not freeze.
- Replace any worn tires and check air pressure regularly.
- Have your brakes, brake fluid, oil, car battery, heater and exhaust checked to make sure everything is running efficiently.
- Keep an emergency preparedness kit in your vehicle stocked with batteries, battery powered or hand-crank radio, flashlight, windshield scraper, jumper cables, mobile phone charger, shovel, blankets, first aid kit, non-perishable food and bottled water in the event you get stranded or stuck.
To view the proclamation, click the link below:
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