I was happy to see that Map Detroit now offers maps of additional spots in metro Detroit, including Detroit’s New Center area, Royal Oak and Birmingham.

I like Map Detroit’s interface, but what I really like most about the site and the maps are the filters, which can be used to find everything from parking to shopping to entertainment venues.

aparently there is something wacky going on in the U.P. these days, eh? there’s an official Bigfoot research crew heading up there to investigate some new clues. get ready to see some grainy, out of focus, fifteen seconds worth of “solid evidence” to surface soon after. this is going to be a short post because i’ve got to track down a gorilla suit and make hotel reservations in Manistique. look for me on YouTube!

it’s me…i’m the new guy and they call me Max. to get the ball rolling i’ll introduce myself by telling you what i’m all about so here goes something: i’m about 50% rock & 50% roll. wether the wheels i’m rolling on are attached to an SE Floval Flyer, a Dogtown longboard or a ‘31 chopped & channeled Ford Coupe it’s fine with me. i’m about driving fast and listening to Van Halen; i’m about driving slow and listening to Loretta Lynn. i’m about chicks in guys pants instead of the other way around. i’m about not feeling guilty about guilty pleasures. i’m about waffle soled Vans. i’m about getting a tattoo that you’ll still think is cool twenty years from the day you got it. i’m about an un-restored Vespa scooter. i’m about Generation X…the band, not the pop culture label. i’m about the search for Animal Chin. i’m about the sexiest girl you’ve ever seen who can’t go out with you tonight because she has to change her oil…but she tells you to stop by her place later if you want to, she’s got a sixer of High Life and she’s willing to share and most importantly i’m about not being bought & not being sold which means that greedy, corporate, fat-cat, blowhards will always have more time and money than i do but i believe that ultimately i’ll end each day not looking over my shoulder as i lay down for a good nights sleep. i understand that only one out of ten of you will get this so you other nine can either skip my posts or learn to deal with it. i’ll try not to ruffle any feathers here but don’t quote me on that, sometimes i get all worked up and let the un-checked facts, half truths, lies, slander and non-sense hit the ol’ Air King. so to quote the mighty Steve Perry, “i come to you with open arms”.

A few weeks ago, I started noticing “seat belt safety zones” around the city. If you’re not familiar with them, they are areas of local roads where state troopers or local police can pull people over for not wearing their safety belts. I’ve seen three separate zones so far: one on Woodward Avenue around 7 Mile, and two different ones on East Jefferson Avenue.

Here are my two thoughts on this:

(more after the jump …)
(more…)

Yesterday GM, Dow Chemical, and twelve other major corporations joined the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), an alliance whose goal is to pressure the US Government to enact laws to cut greenhouse gas emissions levels significantly over the next forty years. GM’s entrance into the alliance has drawn praise by some environmental groups and leery suspicion at best by others, including the Sierra Club and its President Dan Becker, who believes GM to be smokescreening their poor environmental record thus far.

I take GM’s announcement to be a good sign and hope that Ford and Chrysler follow suit soon. However, Becker’s skepticism is well-founded. It will be interesting to see how serious GM will be about taking real action toward reducing the carbon emissions of its cars and trucks and developing new vehicles that will provide better gas mileage. Hopefully this will happen sooner, not later. Please comment to let us know what you think. Are GM’s intentions really as sincere as they claim?

Confused about what areas of the Lodge Expressway are totally closed, where M-10 is down to one lane, and where it is only closed on nights and weekends? I know I was. I must not have been listening when the Dodge the Lodge announcement was made in February, because for some reason I have been under the impression that all of it is totally shut down. I was wrong.

Today after discovering this handy map produced by WWJ, I found out that only the area from I-696 to the Davison is totally closed. The portion from the Davison to I-94 is open, but down to one lane (I will continue steering clear of that). But from I-94 to Jefferson, the map notes that the Lodge is open except on nights and weekends - a fact I was not aware of and something I will take advantage of.

Just when I start to get used to LaSalle Bank Midwest’s name and moniker, I learn today that LaSalle and its subsidiaries likely won’t be around much longer.

As part of the proposed Barclay’s/ABN Amro merger, Bank of America confirmed today that it will purchase LaSalle Bank for $21 billion. If the deal goes through, and it’s looking that way, all current LaSalle branches will become Bank of America branches.

LaSalle’s predecessor was Standard Federal Bank, which has hometown roots: Standard Federal began as Standard Savings & Loan Association in 1893. Its first office was located at Lafayette and Griswold in downtown Detroit.

As Southeastern Michigan comes to grips with the Troy office shooting last week that left one dead and two people injured, we were stunned again late this morning as media outlets began disseminating information about the horrific shooting incident at Virginia Tech this morning. Both of these incidents are terrible tragedies. We at Metroblogging Detroit express our deepest condolences to everyone affected by these shootings.

Lieutenant Gerry Scherlink with Troy Police just released information on the suspect in this morning’s Troy office building shooting. The man’s name is Anthony Lacalamita III. He is 38 years old, 5′8″ and about 180 pounds with short dark hair. Police say he may be wearing a brown or blue sweater and navy blue pants. Police are also on the lookout for LaCalamita’s vehicle, which is a 2007 silver Ford Fusion with the license plate number BEY 0843. If you have any information on the shooter or the car’s whereabouts, contact Troy Police immediately at 248.524.3477.

Lieutenant Scherlink also indicated that LaCalamita may have been recently terminated from one of the businesses in the building, possibly G&C Accounting. Police ask drivers to please avoid the area near the building, which is at 1301 West Long Lake Road, just west of Crooks.

WXYZ-Channel 7 just had a bulletin across the television screen that three people have been shot at a Troy office building on Long Lake Road. No information has been released on the three individuals or the shooter, and it is not yet known whether the shooter is still in the building. The building is currently in lock-down. I’ll have more information as it becomes available …