May 12, 1955
Passengers crowded in to ride the last run of the Third Avenue elevated, "The El", in New York City. The way-above-ground train trip down memory lane went from Chinatown to the Bronx.

Birthdays Today
Florence Nightingale Health activist, nurse b: 1820 - 1910

Local Goings On

• Longtime islander follows lake's ups and downs  -- Larry Havens has a homemade chart documenting the ups and downs of Lake St. Clair since 1935, spread out on an old metal bench at Delta Hardware on Harsens Island.  He traces the lake's swings with a finger work-roughened from a lifetime of driving sheet piling and building docks and seawalls.  "They used to say there was a seven-year cycle, but that's not true at all," said Havens, a longtime Harsens Island resident and a retired marine contractor.  "Bottom line is precipitation."  That squares with what Keith Kompoltowicz, a meteorologist for the United States Army Corps of Engineers, is seeing.  "The largest factor in all of the Great Lakes in terms of water levels is the changes in the weather patterns and the changes in the hydrologic cycle -- the movement of water in the system, how much is coming in through snow and rain, how much is leaving through evaporation and through the normal outflow of a lake," Kompoltowicz said.

• Scientists wade into water level worries  A group of scientists on both sides of the border is trying to figure out what is affecting water levels in the upper Great Lakes.  And the group is looking for the public's help.  The International Joint Commission, a binational agency formed by the United States and Canada to administer the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909, launched in March 2007 the International Upper Great Lakes Study to investigate water levels. The study team will have a public meeting from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at the Great Lakes Maritime Center, 51 Water St., Port Huron.  Chief among the issues to be addressed at Tuesday's meeting is how dredging and possible erosion in the St. Clair River could be accelerating water loss from Lakes Michigan and Huron.  Gene Stakhiv, the U.S. co-chairman of the study team, said the meeting will give ordinary people a chance to comment on how water levels in the Great Lakes and connecting waters such as the St. Clair River affect their lives

• Cemetery fees rescinded  The Clay Township Board of Trustees has rescinded an increase in the fee people must pay to have a graveside service at Oaklawn Cemetery.  Township Supervisor Jon Manos said the fee has been rolled back to $150 for township residents and $300 for nonresidents, which is what it was before it was increased last year to $650 and $800, respectively.  Board members unanimously approved the rate reduction on Monday.  "We re-evaluated and found that not to be what we really wanted," Manos said. "That raised the ire of some people so we just re-evaulated."  The graveside service fee is added to all other costs involved with having someone buried at Oaklawn and applies only if a family chooses to have a small ceremony or prayers said at the cemetery.

• Legislators plan to meet with islanders   State Rep. Phil Pavlov, R-St. Clair Township, and State Sen. Jud Gilbert, R-Algonac, will meet with constituents from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Delta Hardware on the island. "They'll come down and talk to the folks," said Nick Sarzynski, owner of Delta Hardware. St. Clair County Commissioner Pam Wall, who represents District 7, which includes Harsens Island, also will be at the meeting, Sarzynski said. Delta Hardware is at 3062 S. Channel Drive. For more information, call Delta Hardware at (810) 748-3368.

MAKE TODAY A GREAT DAY!