Oglebay Norton to Sell its Fleet

Oglebay Norton Co. the company that once owned the Edmund Fitzgerald is looking for a buyer of its fleet of great lakes freighters. This would allow the company to concentrate on its mining operations as well as reduce some of its debt. Catch the full story -

AP News from the Traverse City Record-Eagle

Shortage of $.02 Stamps

Due to the recent rate hike of stamps up to $.39 there has been a run on the $.02 stamps to make up the difference for those that still have $.37 stamps. I needed 16 $.02 the other day and while the clerk was digging for them commented on how she hoped they had that many to give me. Luckily, they had enough for me. You would think they would have been better prepared for this considering they knew it was coming for quite some time now. If you haven't gone out and purchased your $.02 stamps you might want to do that before your local post office runs out.

Postal Service short on stamps-Lack of 2-cent items unsettles customers in wake of Sunday's rate increase to 39 cents.

Residents Continue to Leave Michigan

Nearly 48,000 more people left Michigan than moved here from July 2004 to July 2005. The people leaving are no longer young people fresh out of college, but those that have been laid off or had their companies shut down. Michigan is not the leader in having residents migrating out of the state. California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York all had more people leave their states than move in and in greater numbers than those who left Michigan.

Exodus from Michigan continues-Economy, joblessness cited as reasons residents, especially younger folks, seek greener pastures.

Talk America Customers in West Michigan Without Phone Service

Approximately 500 Talk America customers in west Michigan have been without local and long distance service for the past few weeks. Work has been done recently to restore phone service to about half of those experiencing problems with the remainder to be fixed by Monday, January 9. The Regional BBB has received over 200 complaints in the past year regarding Talk America with "an inordinate number" of those from Michigan customers. An unknown number of Talk America customers have cancelled their service and Talk America is offering a free month of service to make up for the lack of phone service.

Customers waiting for phone to ring

Increased Demand on Michigan's Electricity Needs

Michigan's current electrical system will be overloaded in as little as three years and an additional power plant will be required by 2014. This is based on a report by the Capacity Needs Forum using information they collected for over a year. This means an investment is needed in new power plants as well as improvements to existing power plants. New plants and improvements will be costly and who might the costs be passed on to? The customers, of course.

Public Interest Research Group in Michigan (PIRGIM) disputes the findings of the report and suggests that through energy conservation policies Michigan can avoid building new power plants. See what PIRGIM says about Michigan's energy crisis.

Lansing State Journal: Report: State will need more electricity as early as 2009