Hello World

Hello readers, my name is Kevin Doby and I am the new staff writer for the Saline Reporter and the Milan News/Leader. I am a recent college graduate, having earned my Journalism B.A. from Western Michigan University at the end of August. While there, I covered University events and Kalamazoo community news for the student paper, the Western Herald.

I have actually been working for Heritage for the past couple of months in multiple capacities, starting in the middle of January. I covered local news in Chelsea and Dexter for a couple weeks followed by another couple of weeks doing news for Ypsilanti and Bellville. Most recently I have spent the last couple of months covering sports for Saline and Milan so if you've been keeping up with the Sports hopefully my name is not totally unfamiliar to you. I am excited to start this new job and stay in these two beautiful communities for the long haul. Going to sporting events and talking to parents/teachers/coaches, I have had nothing but positive experiences and I hope to add to those very soon.

Outside of the newsroom I am interested in sports (Go Lions!), music and am an absolute film buff. I attended high school at Okemos High School outside of Lansing and while there I participated in varsity football, baseball and track. I also spent the summer after my junior year of college living Traverse City working as an archival assistant on the Michael Moore movie "Capitalism: A Love Story" which was interesting in several aspects.

If anybody out there in cyberspace has any ideas for things you would like to see covered in the paper, I would love to hear to hear from you all. I can be reached in multiple ways: please feel free to comment on these blog posts which I will be posting at least once a week, maybe more. I can also be reached through email at kdoby@heritage.com.(Oh and I also love food too, so if anyone has any story ideas that include this young writer stuffing his face that would be great.)

Results of Recent Online Polls

Here are the results from our online poll featured on our Editorial page.

Where do you spend most of your time on the weekends?
At home with family: 67 percent
A mixture of work and home: 24 percent
Out on the town frequenting restaurants and businesses: 9 percent
Out of town with friends or family: 0 percent
*46 votes cast (this poll went online late in the week)

How often do you check Facebook
Once a day or more: 47 percent
I don't have a Facebook account: 36 percent
Once every few weeks or so: 9 percent
Once every few days: 8 percent
*156 votes cast

Is the recession over?
It won't ever end: 44 percent
No, but within a year or so: 36 percent
Too soon to tell: 15 percent
Yes: 5 percent
*125 votes cast

What were your feelings about the Tiger Woods press conference
Tired of it: 57 percent
Predictable: 19 percent
Well done: 13 percent
Disappointing: 11 percent
*116 votes cast

A Fundraising Opportunity for Nonprofits

Want to partner with us?

In these difficult economic times, many nonprofit groups are hurting for funds, especially schools. Thanks to statewide budget cuts, public school systems across Michigan are in trouble. Many programs that we’ve learned to take for granted over the years – athletics, band, etc. – are under a heavy budget crunch.

So why not partner with The Saline Reporter or Milan News-Leader – and help your organization, whether a school group or civic group, raise needed cash?

We are offering $10 for every NEW one-year subscription to The Saline Reporter or The Milan News-Leader that your group sells. That means $100 for only 10 orders; $500 for 50 orders; and $1,000 for 100 orders! There is no limit to our partnership. Sell 500 orders and we will give your organization $5,000!

We understand how difficult it is to raise money with the same old fundraisers year after year. After all, families can only use so much wrapping paper and candles. The Saline Reporter or Milan News-Leader is the gift that lasts. This is why our fund-raising opportunity has such great value.

The newspaper is delivered directly to the homes of our customers 52 times a year, with fresh content and local news and information that is important to the people that live and work and attend the schools in your community. We offer award-winning news coverage, including the areas best and most comprehensive sports sections. In addition, we offer discount coupons, entertainment news, classifieds and more, making a yearly subscription to The Saline Reporter or Milan News-Leader a fantastic value.

A one-year subscription to The Saline Reporter is only $32 and for The Milan News-Leader $26. (A new subscriber is anyone who has not taken the newspaper in the past 90 days).

All you need to do is sell the order, fill out a provided form, collect payment and turn in the orders to us once a month. That’s all there is to it. We will cut your organization a check!

All we need to set up your group as an official partner is the following information:

1. A contact name and number from your organization
2. A W-9 form for payment purposes
3. A logo (in PDF format) for use in the printed materials, which we will supply your group for your sales effort.

It’s that simple.

To set your organization up as an official partner, please contact Bob Riddell at 734-246-0757 or e-mail briddell@heritage.com.

Please share this information with any other groups who may be interested in this fundraiser.

Picnic in the Park Packed with Fun

Despite the oppressive heat today, Milan's Community Picnic was a success as dozens of local residents came to Wilson Memorial Park. One of the highlights -- and a break from the heat -- was a sea of rain courtesy of the Milan Area Fire Department as Mark Evans, 13, under the watchful eye of his father, Milan Fire Department Lt. Fred Evans. Mark used the hose to spray a group of children who played in the water.

Fred's daughter, Amber, donned a blue bathing suit and was the first to get a soaking. She was quickly joined by Alex McLaughlin of Monroe and a group of children. Alex, who taunted Mark and dared him to spray him, while dancing across the open parkland, dodging droplets of water, was hilarious.

But that wasn't all the picnic had to offer. A three-legged race included Ypsilanti residents Devyn and Carlos Carthage, as well as other children and adults. They seemed to have a lot of fun. Next up was an old-fashioned potato sack race. I captured Carter VanHaren, Alex and Devyn in one shot, and a really cute photo of Heaven Riggs and her 2-year-old daughter, Mackenzie Perez of Dundee, in the race.

Of course what's a picnic without food. At the grill was Marty Ritchie, feeding a long line of hungry people. Alex, who was visiting his grandma in Milan, had a big plate full of food. I also met Stacy Johnson, William Riggs, Tracey Riggs and Kelsey Rafferty, who also enjoyed the hot dogs, baked beans and chips.

Check out video of the event on our Web site. Click on the link in the upper left-hand corner of our home page. It should be up by Monday morning.

Fun in Milan

Milan was hopping tonight with families. Parents, grandparents and children filled Wilson Memorial Park as Gemini, a family-oriented musical group, performed as part of the Concert in the Park series, which was followed by a movie in the park.

I took some photos for The Milan News-Leader, as well as some video. While getting names of people I captured digitally, I noticed people from all across the area were there to enjoy the show, not just residents of Milan.

Lelana Rakebrand, 7, who helped Gemini in one performance, traveled from Britton. Reigis Recchia and his son, Reed, came just down the road from Saline, and Logan Frantz, a cutey in a Superman T-shirt, traveled all the way from Canton.

And then there were David Behen and his daughter, Isabel, who also performed with the group. They came from Ypsilanti Township. When I jotted down their last name, I thought to myself, "I know that name. Why do I know that name?" It took me half the trip home from Milan to Pittsfield Township down Carpenter Road to figure it out. David Behen, if I have this correct, is the former deputy administrator for Washtenaw County. He recently took a job as leader and vice president of Information Management Solutions and Services' Government Solutions Practice.

I recognize the name because I edited the press release for publication. While we didn't run it yet in the Milan paper, it was published in our new Ann Arbor newspaper, the A2 Journal. If you haven't check out our new paper yet, visit us online at www.a2journal.com.

My recent visit to Milan shows me that Milan is a happening place -- a city that attracts visitors from across southeast Michigan. That's good news for local merchants and the community as a whole as people walk away with a good feeling about Milan.

Here's a video of the Behens performing with Gemini. Check out more video via a link on our Web site.

Milan High School Graduation in Pictures

It has been a busy week in Milan, with the Milan Community Fair from Wednesday through Saturday and high school graduation today. The graduation ceremony featured the Milan High School Band performing "Pomp and Circumstance," the concert choir singing the "Star Spangled Banner" and welcoming remarks from Principal Ron Reed. Class President Emily Hendricks got teary-eyed during her speech as some 177 graduates and their families looked on. Valedictorian Joseph Cadagin also spoke and Milan High School teacher Jeff Davis delivered the commencement address. The class of 2009 featured 17 summa cum laude graduates, four magna cum laude and 26 cum laude graduates. Below are some photos from the ceremony. A video should be up on our Web site, www.milannews.com, by Monday morning and there will be full coverage in Thursday's print edition.

New Reporter Starts

As some of you may know already, Sue Collins has left her position at The Saline Reporter and Milan News-Leader because she is moving to Atlanta later this summer. Last week, our new reporter for Saline and Milan, Krystle Dunham, started covering the community.

Krystle has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Central Michigan University. For the last year, she has been a freelance writer for The Jackson Citizen Patriot. She also has reported for The Brooklyn Exponent and is a former intern at the Saline and Milan papers. Krystle is familiar with the communities, having written stories for us as a freelance writer for the last year.

Krystle’s primary responsibility will be to report for the Saline and Milan newspapers, writing general news and features, taking photographs, shooting video and helping in other areas, including design and contributing to this blog.

We look forward to working with Krystle and hope you do, as well. Please join us in welcoming her. She can be reached at kdunham@heritage.com.

Discover Milan Day in Pictures

Discover Milan Day was a huge success Saturday. Here are some photos that I took and some Martha Churchill is sharing with the newspaper. Video is on our Web site, as well.