Thursday For messages about today's picture, see Cam Notes. This area is for other friendly conversation. Please read our Acceptable Use Policy.

It's a beautiful day. Hope all is well.

Good morning everyone.

Good morning from Calumet, 10 degrees, we are in a warming trend.

Howdy! It's 37° here and a balmy 67 by 2 p.m.

Thanks to everyone for yesterday's advice about alternate routes to the straits.

Good morning :) We got a nice dusting of snow last night...it's beautiful outside. According to the weather channel, we're supposed to get some more snow today.

Maija, have a safe trip to the UP next month. I usually just take US23 to I-75...they're really great about keeping the roads clear. Like always, you just have to be careful about windy days, when the snow gets swept across the highway, making driving bad. I have taken that route in the middle of the winter, and they do their best to keep the salt on the roads.

Another alternate route we take is US23 to I-94 (Ann Arbor) or I-96 (Brighton) to 127/I-27 (Jackson) to I-75 (Higgens Lake). The only major city you go through on this route is Lansing, (bypassing Flint). I can't remember if this route was suggested yesterday or not.

Those Isle Royal Moose are a bunch of cut-UPs

Thanks sur5er. I've driven 23 to 75 countless times in the winter. Just got spooked by Judy's info that police advised avoiding a section because of several accidents. I have seen some bad glare-ice and black-ice conditions around Grayling and Gaylord, including one where I and a bunch of others lost control coming down from a small incline. We all got control as we went under an overpass, and the glare-ice was not on the other side. Several pulled over! All slowed way down. No snow had been predicted; it was a freak squall.

Also once the wet icy snow was so heavy that it encrusted everyone's windshield and headlights. I kept on, having to stop frequently to clear the windshield so the wipers could work for a while. But that was stupid! No one could have seen me on the side of the road.

Both of those incidents happened when I was much younger. Also, now I have a new car. Wasn't so afraid of fender benders when my cars were old. But mostly I am sick of that long boring ride up 75!
maija

Another great one, Yooper!

Maija, I hear you about how bad the expressways can get. I drive with my window partially open, and that way as soon as I don't hear the splashing of the water on the pavement from my tires, I know that the water on the road is starting to freeze.

Although the interstates are usually better salted and plowed, there are some people that don't want to slow down when conditions warrant it...and they are usually the ones behind you. Which is one of the reasons why I like the secondary roads...you can go as slow as necessary when the conditions worsen.

Route 23 (on the east side/Lake Huron) looks like a good bet for a secondary route. From Bay City, it's a straight shot to the Mac...I think someone mentioned that route yesterday. I've traveled route 25 in the thumb area (a continuation of route 23?), and the roads are really nice...in addition to some beautiful scenary of Lake Huron.

OMG, an ice storm on northern I-75? Bet that was a white knuckle drive that you'll never forget.

Does anyone have the URL for the current Lake Superior ice cover. I had it at one time, but lost it.

Not sure if this is the one you're looking for, but give it a try: Lake Superior ice cover map

That's the one. Thanks

John, there's also this page too
http://www.natice.noaa.gov/products/gl-ches/index.htm

Thank you, sur5er. That's what makes this site great. Sharing. I know now to back up my bookmarks before I reload Windows.

Welcome John...glad the link was useful.

Hey folks, I found this interesting website for webcams throughout the UP. At the bottom of this site, it also has weather webcams for the lower state, so you can check out the weather if you are headed up across the Mac.
http://www.weathermichigan.com/miwxcamsUP_F.htm

This site also has a cam for the locks too :)

sur5er.....just got back to work (midnight shift) from my weekend, was getting caught up on pasty cam, and saw your message to me....came in just after I had gone home. Computer at home is a dinosaur that I rarely use....my mother lives with me and she uses it to play games and for her own email. Anyways, I was interested to hear about your daughter and her fiance...is he with Clearwater PD? I am at the Sheriff's Office. Was interested what kind of commitment he has for two years. Just being nosey. Best part of comming back to work is a whole bunch of Pasty Cam...a veritable feast..to enjoy!

Susan from Florida,

My daughter's fiance is with the St. Pete's PD. Since they put him through the academy, he has to stay on the force for at least two years.

Co-winkiedink that you are also in law enforcment. I worked in LE and in the field of victimology/domestic violence and authored dv/crime victim programs in Michigan.

Incidently, Florida is the only state that has crime victim programs incorporated statewide in thier police departments. Congrats on a job well done.

I advocated for the same type of crime victim programs in Indiana's police departments, and used Florida as a model of what can be done through police departments in insuring assistance for all crime victims.

Have a safe one.

sur5er....thanks for the kind words...am in communications dept...but several of ours have gone from here into victim advocate dept and our domestic violence unit from patrol. This job has been an education in itself, as I'm sure you know. I was not aware that we are the only state with victim advocate statewide. Hopefully more will implement them...they sure do a lot of good for people in great distress. Tell your daughter I appreciate her "snow withdrawal"...suffer from those symptoms myself!

What a wonderful site. I think the photos are awesome.

Susan, that is one job I could not do...dispatch. I used to marvel at how adept our dispatchers were...and some of the calls they handled. OMG! Definately an education in and of itself. I marvel your ability to handle to stress that comes with the territory.

Yep, Florida is the only state with statewide pd victim assistance units. Florida's attorney general has made some remarkable advancements in the field of victimology.

Although there is funding through the Crime Victim Fund, many states for some reason do not want to implement crime victim programs in police departments. I have found that it is a lot of politics...and little understanding of what crime victims are going through and their need for assistance.

Hubby and I are planning on returning to Michigan, one of these days...so hopefully by then, Michigan will be in gear with the pd crime victim programs, and I will get back to work :)

C'mon UP folks, you need crime victim programs in your police departments.I need to come home :)

sur5er...would love to take all of those kudos...you're right, they have a pressure-cooker job and it would drive me right around the bend. My end of Comcenter is teletype, switchboard, fcic/ncic stuff etc. Plenty of pressure (timewise, with warrant/vehicle confirmations), but usually not too bad, especially on mids. Spent 13 years on evenings being driven to brink of insanity (some would say I went over the edge long ago) and finally got to the relative peace and quiet of this shift. You'll probably get to Michigan before I do...still have several years before I can retire. Grew up in Fenton, but it would definately be second choice to the UP. I keep checking the real estate listings up there. hoping I'll find just the right thing and be able to at least have the property purchased before I get there. Hope you'll be there soon and hard at work again. I know I will miss it...maybe will do some part time work or volunteer stuff...will keep my fingers crossed for you that you are able to find (or maybe even instigate) something victim advocate related!

Sur5er, have you approached the Michigan State Police about your idea? Worth a try...then you can import it to California. We're in the dark ages about victims programs.

Candy,

I have a few friends who are in the Michigan State Police...and they are just now getting around to educating troopers in how to work with victims. One of the state troopers is doing a documentry on Michigan crime victims...and he will be interviewing me for it, on the topic of victimology.

Sad that California is one of the states that lacks in pd crime victim programs...like a majority of the states. I can't understand it, especially when there are wonderful pd programs that can be used as models and easily duplicated.

When I was advocating for the programs in Indiana, I was in constant touch with the Department of Justice/Office for Victims of Crime. Kerr was so impressed with the model that I had presented for one of the city pd's that he wanted it duplicated in each of the 400 plus pd's in Indiana...and he said there was enough funding for these programs in the Crime Victim Fund.

Unfortunately, it boiled down to Indiana politics. (Sigh). So, I just do victim advocacy on my own, from my home.


Here is the website for the programs that Susan and I were referring to in our posts. In my research for Indiana and the Department of Justice, Florida was the only state that is this dedicated to its crime victims. Kudos to Florida's crime victim units :)
http://myfloridalegal.com/directory