Laura's Detroit Blog

It’s nice to be courted.

As the election for president continues, Michigan looms large as a battleground state. For instance, The Detroit News quotes Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer as saying, “Barack Obama will not be president of the United States if he doesn’t win Michigan.” The state was also mentioned repeatedly as a “must win” for Obama on MSNBC's Morning Joe with Joe Scarborough on August 24th as he spoke with Governor Mitt Romney (R) and Former Democratic Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D) .

This kind of recognition means that Michigan will be a central focus in both candidates’ campaign strategies leading up to November:

• According to the The Michigan Messenger, Obama picked truck driver Roy Gross, a Taylor resident, to speak on Thursday night at Invesco Field in Denver, the same night Obama will be accepting the Democratic nomination. Gross will talk about the teetering Michigan economy.
• According to the Detroit Free Press, Michigan Democrats are hosting over 200 “watch parties” on Thursday night in celebration of Obama’s acceptance of the Democratic nomination. About two-fifths of the parties will be hosted in the Metro Detroit Area. According to the article, McCain’s website is also soliciting hosts for watch parties during the Republican National Convention.
• Michigan will receive a visit, along with Pennsylvania and Ohio, from Obama and Biden immediately following the close of the convention.

The Detroit News narrows the swing factor further, zeroing in on Oakland County as holding the key for the candidates. This will undoubtedly result in even more visits from the candidates over the next two months.

What does this mean for Michiganders in general and Oakland County residents in particular? Get thee to the polls!

Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick Arraigned in Assault Case (8/22/08)
Photo by Bill Pugliano / Getty Images

Everything out of Detroit these days revolves around the multiple efforts to get Kilpatrick out of office; but what happens then? With the problems plaguing our mayor, who will act for him if he is unable due to court proceedings or a night in jail? More importantly, what happens if he resigns or one of the efforts to get rid of him actually works? With Governor Granholm's hearing coming up in September, it may be time to find out more about who will replace Mayor Kilpatrick.

The total medal count for Olympic athletes with Michigan ties is 19. Even if the medals are counted by event rather than by athlete, Michigan still beats both New Zealand and Poland. For the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Michigan has a connection with four bronze, four silver and eleven gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics:

Elizabeth (Betsey) Armstrong

• Silver in Women’s Water Polo

Alison Gregorka

• Silver in Women’s Water Polo

Kara Lynn Joyce (Swimming):

• Silver in Women’s 4 x100m Freestyle Relay
• Silver in Women’s 4 x100m Medley Relay

Kate Markgraf

• Gold in Women’s Soccer (Football)

Randi Miller (Wrestling)

• Bronze in Women’s Freestyle 63 kg

Michael Phelps (Swimming):

• Gold in Men's 100m Butterfly
• Gold in Men's 200m Freestyle
• Gold in Men's 200m Butterfly
• Gold in Men's 200m Individual Medley
• Gold in Men's 400m Individual Medley
• Gold in Men's 4 x100m Freestyle Relay
• Gold in Men's 4 x100m Medley Relay
• Gold in Men's 4 x200m Freestyle Relay

Allison Schmitt (Swimming):

• Bronze in 4 x200m Freestyle Relay

Lindsay Tarpley

• Gold in Women’s Soccer (Football)

Peter Vanderkaay (Swimming):

• Gold in Men's 4 x200m Freestyle Relay
• Bronze in Men's 200m Freestyle

Adam Wheeler (Wrestling):

• Bronze in Men’s Greco-Roman 96

According to The Detroit News, a new radio ad is causing yet another media stir around Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. The sentiment of the ad, that the mayor is innocent until proven guilty, is a fair admonishment to the public that he shouldn’t be tried in the press. Aside from the corny background music, the only real problem with it is that it was the brainchild of Adolph Mongo, the man behind the 2005 “lynching” ad that sought to paint Kilpatrick as a victim of the white media.

The more recent radio ad, however, is not as base or blatant as the “lynching” ad in capitalizing on the city’s racial divide. Even if it is a more subtle and sophisticated attempt along those lines, it’s hard to argue with the content of the ad itself – I just hope the City of Detroit isn’t ultimately paying for yet another cost associated with defending its mayor.

The ad is certainly more than adequately countered by the Kilpatrick bashing to be had from other circles. YouTube.com has a fairly long list of Mayor Kilpatrick parodies, but the Free Press has perhaps the best parody, set to the music of the Beatles' Nowhere Man.

Well, I finally tried it: geocaching, a high-tech version of hide-and-seek that uses a hand-held, Global Positioning System (GPS) to find secret caches. Of course, you have to have the GPS to be able to play, so the activity isn’t entirely free unless you have a gadget-loving buddy who always wants to drive and never asks for gas money. For the most part, the sport (?) is still under the radar of most Metro Detroiters; but you’d be surprised just how many caches are hidden in your local park, store parking lot or nearby woods; there are over 10,000 in Michigan alone.

The fun in geocaching comes from the thrill of the hunt. Ultimately, the thrill is dependent on the imagination and ingenuity of the person who hides the cache. Some of the best caches are hidden in parks, woods, or even the Detroit Zoo. Still others are interesting because they tell a story, such as Moscow32’s Harry Potter series, or include a puzzle.

My advice is to tag along with an established geocacher and see whether you like the activity before investing in a GPS device. Pick a cache in a park or nature area and participate in a small group (two to three people maximum) so you have a chance to use the GPS personally.

More Information:

• Profile of Geocaching in Detroit

By this time next week, we’ll all be going through Olympics withdrawal; but a fix is coming in November when medaled gymnasts from the 2008 Olympics in Beijing grace the Detroit area. The event is called the Gymnastic Superstars and will be at Joe Louis Arena on November 2nd. Several Olympic gymnasts will perform, including all-around gold medal winner Nastia Liukin and silver-medalist Shawn Johnson. Other gymnasts include Chellsie Memmel, Morgan Hamm, Paul Hamm, Shannon Miller and Blaine Wilson. Disney stars Jordan Pruitt and KSM will also be on hand to perform some new songs. Tickets run from $29.50 to $79.50.

More Information:

• Tickets

Michael Phelps (L), Ryan Lochte, Ricky Berens and Peter Vanderkaay during medal ceremony to 4 x200m Freestyle Relay (8/13/08)
Photo by Alexander Hassenstein / Getty Images

So far, so good. Our Olympic athletes with Michigan ties are racking up the medals. So far, Michigan has a connection with three bronze, one silver and seven gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics:

Kara Lynn Joyce (Swimming):

• Silver in 4 x100m Freestyle Relay

Michael Phelps (Swimming):

• Gold in 200 m Freestyle
• Gold in 200m Butterfly
• Gold in 200m Individual Medley
• Gold in 400m Individual Medley
• Gold in 4 x100m Freestyle Relay
• Gold in 4 x200m Freestyle Relay

Allison Schmitt:

• Bronze in 4 x200m Freestyle Relay

Peter Vanderkaay (Swimming):

• Gold in 200m Freestyle Relay
• Bronze in 200m Freestyle

Adam Wheeler (Wrestling):

• Bronze in Men’s Greco-Roman 96 kg

Sales tax in Michigan is a day-to-day fact of life when in comes to most products, but how does it work when a house is bought or sold? Well, for one thing, the “sales” tax is known as transfer tax and operates under a different statutory scheme. Several entities charge a transfer tax on real estate transactions, including the state of Michigan and the county in which the property sits.

Generally speaking, the state transfer tax is $7.50 per $1,000 of the sales price. So if you sell your house for $200,000, you, the seller, would pay approximately $1,500 state transfer tax when the deed to the buyer is recorded.

Little Known Exemption

Hard to believe, but the declining housing market may give a seller one advantage in 2008. Because some home sellers will be selling their home for less than the amount at which they bought it, the seller may be exempt from the state’s transfer tax. There are, of course, several requirements for this exemption as set out in the Attorney General Opinion that defines it:

• The property must have been occupied as a principle residence, classified as homestead property;
• The property’s State Equalized Value (“SEV”) for the calendar year in which the transfer is made must be less than or equal to the property’s SEV for the calendar year in which the transferor acquired the property; and
• The property cannot be transferred for consideration exceeding its true cash value (twice the SEV) for the year of the transfer.

Tips:

• Don’t request the exemption unless you are sure you meet each of the above requirements. If you don’t qualify you will be assessed a 20% penalty.
  
  
• Think twice when negotiating sales price. It may be in your best interest to take a little less money for the property to keep the sales price equal to or less than the true cash value in order to save on transfer tax.
  
  
• If you already paid transfer tax on the sale of a property and think you would have qualified for the exemption, you may be able to get a refund from the Michigan Department of Treasury.
  
  
• County transfer tax is not affected.

Living near the Canadian border has its advantages. During the Olympics, one of the big advantages is our ability to access Canadian TV, namely CBC’s Olympics coverage. According to GlobeandMail.com, CBC will show 282 hours of coverage versus NBC’s 225 during the Beijing Olympics. And the coverage does not neatly mirror NBC’s coverage. Instead, it provides a unique perspective of an international event.

For one thing, CBC is a public broadcasting network rather than private, which means it will show events live rather than package up the highlights tight and pretty for prime-time replay. The exception to this is swimming and gymnastics, events that are held in the morning in Beijing and, therefore, can be shown live in the evening in at least the eastern half of Canada and the U.S. There are also fewer commercials to interfere with coverage of a particular event.

The Canadian coverage is less slick and produced than its U.S. counterparty but in many ways more comprehensive. For instance, the coverage is less about highlights and includes lesser-known sports and athletes from around the world. There is also a lot of coverage of Canadian athletes, whether favorites in their respective events or not.

Of course, opinions will vary about whether commentators are better between the two networks; but, at least during opening ceremonies, the lack of air-filling chatter proved refreshing.

Olympics Coverage:

• CBC’s coverage runs from 6 a.m. to noon, 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. (sometimes 6 a.m.)
• NBC’s coverage runs from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., 8 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. and midnight to 1:30 a.m.

What do you think?

What do you think of CBC's coverage versus NBC's?

Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's reign seems to be winding down. The real question may be when and how he will finally vacate office. While he may not go voluntarily, several efforts are underway to get him out:

• The city council's forfeiture hearing starts August 18th.
• The governor's removal hearing is scheduled for September 3rd.
• Detroit resident Angelo Brown's recall petition is gaining signatures toward a February recall vote.
• According to the Detroit Free Press, city business leaders met with Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, attempting to broker a deal that would include Kilpatrick's resignation.

How do you think the saga will finally end?

More Information:

• Timeline of Mayor Kilpatrick Scandal
• Mayor Kilpatrick Track Record