Living

News, Trends & Alerts Affecting Your Life

Life has been a bit crazy. More than that it has been stressful. Even normal days have gone a little nuts and lately I find myself at the end of the night in bed and hungry. It seems pointless to get up at that point and decide to just go to sleep.

So imagine my surprise when I stepped on the scale after my shower the other day with my hair wrapped in a towel and found the scale down over 5 pounds. Nice. Even with wet hair and a towel.

During a recent appraisal, a client asked me to value her objects based on what I thought she would get if she sold them. After providing a value for her stamped brass sheet-covered wood box, she exclaimed, "That is less than I paid for it!"
If I heard this once, I have heard it a thousand times. What a person pays for an object is not a factor, except to that person, when selling it.

When University of Michigan student Betty Echlin learned she had won a $5,000 scholarship, it changed her life.

Echlin, 43, wants to be a teacher and has been taking classes part-time at U-M-Flint since 2002.

"I'm on a biological clock," said Echlin, who lives in Mount Morris. "I was so ecstatic when I got it and I never thought I qualified. I felt so honored. It was very humbling."
The scholarship allowed Echlin to quit one of her two jobs and attend school full-time.

The money for that scholarship and several others was collected through fundraisers held by the nonprofit Lucile B. Conger Alumnae Group. The organization's biggest fundraiser is the annual Conger Home Tour, which takes place Thursday in Ann Arbor.

Q. We're cold when we're in our basement TV room. It seems as though the furnace doesn't supply enough heat to make it comfortable. We're starting to think that a small, portable heater might work to make the room warmer, and we'd also save some money using it. What are some options in portable heaters? Are the ones using gas or kerosene safe? What about electric heaters? S.D. Kalamazoo.

LANSING -- A six-month ban on baiting deer and elk in the lower peninsula was replaced with a permanent ban Thursday following a unanimous vote by the state's Natural Resources Commission.

The NRC heard testimony from supporters, critics, state veterinarians and Dr. Mike Miller, who is the head wildlife veterinarian for the state of Colorado. Miller is considered the world expert on Chronic Wasting Disease.

Press Photo/Howard MeyersonWayne Andersen and his Labrador retriever, Jane, are on the lookout for ducks.

SCOTTVILLE -- Two mallards peel out of the cattails to the left and take off down river in a flurry of wings. Wayne Andersen is ready for them.

His 12-gauge Remington shotgun comes up off his lap. He puts a bead on the first, and touches off a load of No. 5s.

The left duck drops hard. The second goes to after-burners.

Waterfowl hunters who headed to Saginaw Bay, Jackson County, Allegan, and/or Muskegon for the weekend should find more water in most of their favorite potholes and marshes. Summer rains have helped to replenish many dry areas, state wildlife officials said this week.

"With the wetland conditions looking as good as they do, we can expect a pretty good opener," said Barb Avers, the waterfowl specialist for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. "A good number of birds are showing up across the state.

Sandhill crane enthusiasts, birders and nature lovers will come together this weekend for Cranefest XIV at Michigan Audubon Society's Baker Sanctuary in Bellvue where thousands of sandhill cranes fill skies in the hours before dusk.

The two-day festival, at the Kiwanis of Battle Creek Youth Area adjacent to the sanctuary where the birds land, offers music, art, guided hikes and an opportunity to witness the spectacle of cranes circling and landing.