More E-Coli in Michigan

29 09 2008

From the Michigan Department of Community Health.

The Michigan Department of Community Health has confirmed 30 cases of E.
coli O157:H7 that match by PFGE (DNA fingerprinting).

Ingham County (MSU students): 9 cases
Lenawee County (jail): 5 cases
Washtenaw County (U of M students): 3 cases
St. Clair County: 1 case
Wayne County: 4 cases
Macomb County: 5 cases
Oakland County: 1 case
Kent County: 2 cases

Ages range from 11-81 years.
Symptom onset dates: 9/8-9/19
Hospitalizations: 13 known (MSU= 4, Lenawee =1, St. Clair = 1
Wayne = 1, Macomb=4, Washtenaw=1, Kent=1)


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O’Neil’s

29 09 2008
  • 1017 E. Grand River Avenue
  • East Lansing, MI 48823-4526
  • (517) 507-3002
  • Website (Jukebox Grill Website)
  • Menu
ONeils on Grand River Avenue in East Lansing.

O'Neil's on Grand River Avenue in East Lansing.

I’m not a morning person.  The fact that I’m even up for breakfast means there was something else going on that caused me to get up.  I was at DeMartin Stadium for a soccer game on a Sunday morning.  J told me to call her when I got my lunch (breakfast) break and she would meet me somewhere in East Lansing for breakfast.  I was released for lunch at 9:00 and I called J and told her to meet me at the Jukebox Grill for breakfast.

I know you’re confused by now because I just called it The Jukebox Grill, but the title is O’Neil’s.  I’m guessing they just changed the name to O’Neil’s very recently.  The menus now say O’Neil’s and we were given a coupon that says they are now called O’Neil’s (formerly Jukebox Grill).  The outside of the building still says The Jukebox Grill, but there’s also a sign in the window that says O’Neil’s.  So, since everything said O’Neil’s, that’s what I’m going with.

O’Neil’s sits right on Grand Avenue with no parking in front.  We found parking behind the restaurant.  When we walked in, we didn’t realize there was an entrance around the side for those parking in the back.  We walked all the way around the front.  We walked in and found a booth near the front.  There are a handful of booths, a couple tables and a lunch counter.  It’s not a very big place.  The booths are all big enough you could probably fit six people in them.  The walls are painted a light yellow color and there’s a big, old fashioned jukebox in the middle of the dining room.  The place has a real homey feel to it. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : breakfast, East Lansing, Local Flavor, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews

More E-Coli…

25 09 2008

There have apparently been cases of E-Coli found outside of Michigan.  I was fowarded the following e-mail from the Michigan Department of Community Health

This afternoon, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has informed
the Michigan Department of Community Health that other states have E.coli
cases with the same genetic link as the 24 in Michigan. Those states include
Illinois (2), Ohio (2) and Oregon (1).


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Categories : Food News

Allen Street Farmer’s Market

24 09 2008
  • 1619 E. Kalamazoo St.
  • Lansing, MI 48912
  • (517) 367-2468
  • Website
The Allen Street Farmers Market on the corner of E. Kalamazoo and Allen Sts.

The Allen Street Farmer's Market on the corner of E. Kalamazoo and Allen Sts.

A few weeks ago, I wrote a review at the Ann Arbor Farmer’s Market (review HERE) and raved about the selection of peppers and fresh herbs.  Jackiecat was quick to point out that a lot of those same ingredients were available at Markets here in town.  She suggested both the Allen Street Farmer’s Market and the Meridian Farmer’s Market. 

I had heard about the Allen Street Farmer’s Market, but haven’t been there yet this summer.  J goes to work at 3:00 and the Market opens at 2:30 so there was really no time for us to go together.  I suppose I could always go by myself, but she eats most of the produce and I’m not very good at picking out what’s good and what’s not.

Since it was recommended I check out, I set down the Wii remote and turned Mario Kart off for a while, jumped in my truck and went shopping.  I found the Allen Street Market on the corner of East Kalamazoo and Allen Streets.  The Farmer’s Market is in a parking lot on the corner.  I saw signs for parking and followed the around the corner to find another parking lot.  It was a pretty tight fit, but I parked then walked over to the tents to see what I could find. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Farmer's Market, Lansing, Local Flavor, Michigan, Reviews

Michigan State E-Coli Found Elsewhere

24 09 2008

This is scary.  When I was in college, I always ate in the cafeteria.  Hell, it was already paid for.  It looks like this may not be the fault of anyone at MSU, but instead, someone else.

The Michigan Department of Community Health says the findings have led investigators to believe the same contaminated food source may be to blame. The Detroit Free Press reports it may involve food delivered to the area.

The other cases involve a student at the University of Michigan and inmates at the Lenawee County Jail.  Scary stuff.  It’s the same strain of E-Coli that killed children who ate at Jack-in-the-Box restaurnants in Chicago in 1993


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Smoking Ban Round-Up

24 09 2008

I had planned on doing this last night, but most of the media in Lansing haven’t figured out the 24/7 news cycle.  I and the rest of the people in this City are still relegated getting news at 6, 10, and 11 PM then waiting for yesterday’s news to come in the form of a dead tree when we get.  Don’t get me wrong, WLAJ and WILX both had stories up last night, but I was hoping for a little more coverage with reaction from both sides.  The only place I could get that was MIRS which I’m not going to quote or link to since it’s a paid service.

The newspaper of record, The Lansing-State Journal, which is based in the state capital, doesn’t even cover the State Capitol.  The only article I could find on-line, and I had to do a keyword search to find it, was an AP article.  I’ve never lived in a town with a newspaper this bad.  It’s actually quite sad. 

Here’s what I found from two of the TV outlets and Detroit newspapers.

Read the rest of this entry »


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Clean Smoking Ban Up for Vote! – FAILS

23 09 2008

I’m a little behind on this.  I just got a phone call telling me to turn on House TV.  HB 4163 is on the floor right now and they are debating. 

3:42 PM – The bill’s sponsor, Brenda Clack (D-Flint) is urging colleagues to support because they will NOT be the first State to do this.

The board is open and they are voting on concurring with the Senate substitute.

3:53 PM – The board is still open for record roll call.  There’s a lot of yellow still on the board.  As for our local reps, Joan Bauer, Mark Meadows, and Barb Byrum have all voted yes.

4:00 PM – An announcement was made that the board will be closed in one minute.  Still a lot of Representatives haven’t voted.

4:03 PM –  Board is closed.  I’m waiting for the clerk to read the results.  It’s too close to tell by just looking at it.

4:07 PM – By my count, the measure failed, but 19 Representatives have not voted.  The Chair is recognizing those who have not voted.  Tempoarry excuses for four of the Reps have been granted and two Aye votes have been added.

4:10 PM – Two more late Ayes and two more Nay’s.  It’s going to turn out to be a very, very close vote.

4:12 PM – 50 Yes vote and 49 No votes.  However, the the majority of the members serving have NOT voted in favor.  They needed 56 Aye votes.  There are 11 Representatives that did not vote so that means, the motion was not concurred.  HB 4163 did not pass today because not everyone voted.

Majority Floor Leader Tobocman moved to reconsider the vote by which HB 4163 failed and moved to pass that motion for the day.  What that means is the Democrats have the option to bring the vote up again later in the week or the session.


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Weekend Update

21 09 2008

If you haven’t been following along all weekend, there have been a lot of posts over the last three days.  So you don’t miss anything, I’ve broken down the reviews into the three cities we’ve been to.  You can either click on these links or just scroll down.

Traverse City

The Cooks’ House (awesome, awesome, awesome lunch in TC)
The Cherry Stop
Kilwin’s Chocolate Shopped
Gallagher’s Farm Market
Boone’s Long Lake Inn
Moomer’s Homemade Ice Cream

Grand Rapids

Malarky’s
The Fresh Market
The Black Rose Irish Pub
Fulton Street Farmer’s Market

East Lansing

Spartan Hall of Fame Cafe


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Spartan Hall of Fame Cafe

21 09 2008
  • 1601 W. Lake Lansing Road
  • East Lansing, MI 48823
  • (517) 337-4680
  • Website
  • Menu
Spartan Hall of Fame Cafe is East Lansing

Spartan Hall of Fame Cafe is East Lansing

After two long days touring Northern and Western Michigan, we got home and just wanted to relax.  We unloaded the car then laid down on the couch and watched Michigan State beat Notre Dame while I blogged about our trip and J took a nap.  Not long after the game got over, J woke up and we started talking about dinner.  Neither one of us felt like cooking, but we neither of us really had a taste for anything either.  We talked about a few places, but one of us wasn’t interested in any of them.  Finally, I said, “What about Hall of Fame Cafe on Lake Lansing?”  We thought that may not be a good move since the game just got over, but we hopped in my truck to go give it a shot.

Spartan Hall of Fame Cafe is part of a small chain of cafes located in college towns.  The other cafes are in Columbus, OH (Buckeye HOF Cafe), Huntington, WV (Marshall HOF Cafe), and Louisville, KY (Cardinal HOF Cafe).  The East Lansing location sits just off US 127 in East Lansing near the Eastwood Towne Centre.  There looked to be quite a few parking spaces left so we pulled in to see if we could get a table.  There were a few people waiting, but they must have been parts of groups.  We were met by a hostess and shown to a booth in the dining room right away. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Bar, Cafe, East Lansing, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches, Sports Bar

Fulton Street Farmer’s Market

21 09 2008
  • 1145 E. Fulton St.
  • Grand Rapids, MI 49503
  • (616) 454-4118
  • Website
The entrance to the Fulton Street Farmers Market in Grand Rapids

The entrance to the Fulton Street Farmer's Market in Grand Rapids

We didn’t plan on going to the Farmer’s Market.  In fact, it wasn’t even on the radar when we got out of bed.  I hadn’t even heard of it.  After enjoying lunch at The Black Rose Irish Pub (review HERE), we headed out to the Frederick Meijer Gardens.  We pulled up and thought, “Wow, this looks really cool.”  We got inside thinking there’d be a little bit of an admission charge, but $12?!  To look at flowers?  No thanks.  We passed and got back in the car not knowing what to do now.  I looked at the local attractions section of J’s Garmin GPS and the words “Farmers Market” came up and it was only three miles away.  I hit go and we headed back the other direction to see what kind of Farmer’s Market we were going to find.

The Fulton Street Farmer’s Market is in a parking lot on Fulton Street.  There’s quite a bit of parking around the vendor location and we found a spot right away since we were arriving near the end.  The Farmer’s Market had a pretty cool set up.  There’s a permanent structure that extends the length of about half of the parking lot.  There’s a metal skelton all the way down to hang things from and wooden display counters that are also permanent fixtures. Read the rest of this entry »


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