Oops. Debbie Stabenow’s husband suffers from Eliot Spitzer’s Disease.
I see at least two only-in-Detroit details in the following paragraph; see if you can spot them:
Thomas L. Athans was stopped Feb. 26 by undercover officers investigating a possible prostitution ring in a room at the Residence Inn near Big Beaver and Interstate 75. Athans paid a 20-year-old prostitute $150 for sex in a Troy hotel but was not arrested, according to police reports obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by The Detroit News. The police report said officers observed Athans enter a room under surveillance and leave 15 minutes later. Detectives followed and stopped Athans’ silver 2002 Cadillac DeVille on Interstate 75 near Square Lake Road.
UPDATE:
Well, at
least the
girl dresses for
Michigan weather:
John said on April 2, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Color, Make, Year, and Model…
The wheels merit more description than the ho.
81 chars
Danny said on April 2, 2008 at 12:23 pm
…Residence Inn near Big Beaver…
I laughed when I saw that.
79 chars
nancy said on April 2, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Excellent work, John. Anything else could cost his wife votes with the UAW.
Yes, Danny, there really is a Big Beaver Road in the suburbs, and what’s more, its exit number on I-75 is? …69.
193 chars
brian stouder said on April 2, 2008 at 12:24 pm
My nn.c training kicked in, and I immediately began anticipating the car details (the fact that he was driving a Cadillac instead of some German touring car will go a long way toward buttressing his defense, no doubt); and the prostitution ring near Big Beaver was worth a chuckle…and this passage a little further down caught my attention
After being released, Athans was issued a ticket by Troy police that same day for driving with a suspended license.
Scherlinck said the undercover officers that interviewed Athans did not have a computer that would have allowed them to check whether his driver’s license was clear and valid. A check performed later in the evening revealed Athan’s license was suspended. A ticket was mailed to his address in Lansing. Athans appeared in Troy District Court on Thursday where the ticket was reduced to “no operator’s license in possession.” He paid a $115 fine. His license, which had been suspended from June 25, 2007 through March 11 due to a failure to comply with a judgment in Charlotte, is no longer suspended according to Michigan Secretary of State records.
1121 chars
Danny said on April 2, 2008 at 12:27 pm
BTW, a few weeks ago when some were discussing the style guide and whether or not party designation is standard or mandatory, I meant to weigh in.
Kirk and Jen, if I remember correctly, said that it was standard, but I wonder if it is for mayoral references. If a politician is below state-level office, all politics truly are local. No matter what letter follows his/her name, the pot-holes better damn well get fixed.
423 chars
Danny said on April 2, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Nancy, I was thinking about that blinking font thing and it reminded me of this story I read over the weekend about how some “Web Hooligans” had posted web pages that could induce epileptic seizures. Weird, huhn?
EDIT: Probably not good for migraines either.
351 chars
Connie said on April 2, 2008 at 12:52 pm
It’s the leaving 15 minutes later that caught my attention.
59 chars
whitebeard said on April 2, 2008 at 1:09 pm
I agree with Connie, 15 minutes does seem rather fast, even by Michigan standards; oh, hold on, does Michigan even have standards at that level of social interaction
165 chars
nancy said on April 2, 2008 at 1:13 pm
It was a BJ. Fifteen minutes sounds about right for that.
Actually, I’m wondering what the life of a travelin’ prostitute is like these days. Or if she travels at all. But you have to like the way the internet has put pimps out of business, don’t you? Check in to the Residence Inn, put an ad up on Craigslist, et al., entertain for a while, move on.
Also, Stabenow is 11 years older than her husband. People will talk.
426 chars
Jen said on April 2, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Danny, at the newspaper where I work, we don’t put in party affiliations for local officials, such as mayors, council members, etc. Of course, our city is small enough that everyone knows everyone’s affiliation (Republican, mostly, except for one town that’s pretty heavily Democrat). And, even the Democrats are pretty conservative. The only exception is for election stories. It isn’t until we get to the state level that we list party affiliation.
450 chars
Hattie said on April 2, 2008 at 2:13 pm
Well, maybe her fertility has gone down, causing her to lose that old sex appeal. A guy last night was going on and on about that in my presence. He was a dried up old stick himself.
182 chars
Harl Delos said on April 2, 2008 at 2:14 pm
There’s something just wrong about that story. Residence Inn isn’t cheap. That one is $119 for the cheapest room.
It’s only 15 minutes, right? A Republican would have chosen The Motel 8 at exit 69 (1145 W Maple) for $59. And I’d think a Democrat would have hired a more expensive hooker.
But maybe now we know why Air America has such financial troubles. Poor management.
But you have to like the way the internet has put pimps out of business, don’t you?
I suppose they still need someone to handle the bribes for them. Might be a business opportunity there for someone. Provide services on a menu pricing basis to independent hookers.
Athans might be looking for a new career soon. Should someone suggest this to him?
752 chars
Harl Delos said on April 2, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Well, maybe her fertility has gone down, causing her to lose that old sex appeal. A guy last night was going on and on about that in my presence. He was a dried up old stick himself.
Senator Obama set off a firestorm when he told Senator Clinton that she was “likeable enough”. Apparently, if he had said “plenty likeable”, it would have been OK, but “likeable enough” wasn’t.
I’m not sure why it wasn’t Ok, but you can blame that on a genetic defect; I’m male. And it’s been a decade since I last was single, so I’m out of practice, but it seems to me that among the rules for chatting up ladies are
1. don’t go “on and on” about anything, even compliments
2. don’t call her as dried up as an old prune
Have the rules changed?
748 chars
Danny said on April 2, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Scientists mix human and cow DNA in embryo…
Now, they claim to have done this in the UK like it is some big deal, but haven’t they been doing this in Wisconsin since the 18th century?
Paging, Sue. We need a Wisconsinite to the white courtesy phone, please.
368 chars
Sue said on April 2, 2008 at 3:05 pm
No, Danny. I think you’re thinking about those liberal California cows (I don’t know if you have the “Happy Cows come from California” ads by you, but they play all the time in WI, for some reason). Some unreasonable males I know refer to Wisconsin women as “heifers”, possibly because they tend to be rather large. When that happens, I tell them to google “Lambeau Field Bikini Girls” or “Packers Bikini Girls” and tell me what they think. The only mix in Wisconsin seems to be wholesome AND hot. So there. For Wisconsin perversion, I suggest you google Ed Gein or Jeffrey Dahmer. No cows involved, but Ed was obviously a deer hunter. Note to the librarians out there: before security systems, the Ed Gein book was sure to disappear and need replacing a couple of times a year at the library where I worked.
817 chars
Danny said on April 2, 2008 at 3:12 pm
Heheh. Yeah, we see those stupid Happy Cow ads too. I didn’t know that they were playing them in WI as well. I bet they don’t go over too well there.
BTW, I sit right next to a cheesehead here at work. I forget the exact location, but he was near Waukesha bearing in Pewaukee. Also one of best friends is from Ashland, up on Lake Superior.
347 chars
Sue said on April 2, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Waukesha is one county south of me. Don’t know if your coworker has been away from WI long, but you might be able to get a rise out of him by asking him his opinion on either the water wars or light rail. Waukesha County is in the thick of the fight on both of these issues. Ashland is a beautiful area but too cold for me. Superior is a scary lake, even in summer. If Lake Michigan and Lake Superior were sisters, Michigan would be the happy sporting one and Superior would be the one you never messed with.
513 chars
brian stouder said on April 2, 2008 at 4:11 pm
Superior would be the one you never messed with.
Say whatever you want to about Gordon Lightfoot, but all I think I know about ‘the big lake’, I learned from him!
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they called ‘Gitche Gumee’
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy
386 chars
del said on April 2, 2008 at 4:50 pm
When we took a ferry off the Keewenaw peninsula into Lake Superior they told us that the water in the lake stays pretty much at 39 degrees year round. That can’t be right though can it? The bay we waded into was shallow and warmer than that.
>>But maybe now we know why Air America has such financial troubles. Poor management.
That’s what AM talk radio wants us to believe. The more obvious answer is that AM radio reaches Red State America as its signals travel farther. If you want to reach rural America advertise on Paul Harvey’s syndicated show. Blue state sympathizers are in urban areas where FM radio is dominant. So its a business model thing.
671 chars
MichaelG said on April 2, 2008 at 5:12 pm
That was fifteen minutes portal to portal. No stand by time, no nuthin. He paid the fifteen minute rate and left a $50 dollar tip. Wonder if there is any possibility of them bonding.
What do you say to your wife? “Umm, honey…”
236 chars
Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on April 2, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Lake temp in ten feet of water, ten feet down, tends to be pretty stable — dunno, 39 doesn’t sound unlikely. The shallows by the shore fluctuate (see marine limnology for details), not only by air temp but sun angle, cloudiness, and wind direction.
Reading this, re: my comment on the previous thread — i don’t feel judgmental at all, just sad. For both of them . . . well, the three of them. Assuming Ms. Stabenow has a voting interest other than by status.
466 chars
Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on April 2, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Ah, Wikipedia (insert standard qualification here). Under Lake Superior, wotcher lookin’ fer:
Shipwrecks
The last major shipwreck on Lake Superior was that of SS Edmund Fitzgerald in 1975.
According to an old sailor’s tale, Lake Superior never gives up her dead. This is because of the low temperature of the water, estimated at under 36 °F (2 °C) on average around 1970.[6] Normally bacteria feeding off a sunken decaying body will generate gas inside the body, causing it to float to the surface after a few days. The water in Lake Superior, however, is cold enough year-round to inhibit bacterial growth, meaning bodies tend to sink and never surface.[13] This is alluded to poetically in Gordon Lightfoot’s famous ballad, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”.
If you’re more geek than ghoul, then try: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limnology
859 chars
basset said on April 2, 2008 at 9:24 pm
some years ago I worked with a Bay Mills Chippewa from Detour Village, right at the eastern tip of the UP. Asked him once what they called the big lake, he said as far as anyone he knew was concerned it was Superior and he’d never heard of Gitchee-Gumee.
255 chars
Peter said on April 2, 2008 at 10:20 pm
Hey Sue, maybe you can shed light on a rural myth for me.
I had a coworker from Manawa, and one time we talked about Ed Gein, and he told me when he was a kid the state fair had an exhibit on Ed, including a recreation of his house – if that’s true I’m so pissed I missed it!
276 chars
sue said on April 2, 2008 at 11:01 pm
The only thing I heard was that some carnival owner bought his car and displayed it as the deathmobile for awhile. I know his house was burned shortly after he was arrested – arson. In the 25 years I’ve lived in WI, I’ve never seen an ad for any Ed Gein displays. Yet everyone knows who he is. Apparently he died a few years back, with the reputation at the hospital where he lived as a sweet old guy. Huh.
411 chars
Dexter said on April 3, 2008 at 12:26 am
Big Beaver Road? I-69? Exit 69?
I guess for me, who is more “in touch” with happenings in Michigan than what goes on in Ohio, where I live, and who drinks Vernor’s and shows where I live by pointing at the bottom of my hand , just below that last line, it’s not surprising that all humor associated with those names and road designations left me years ago. I watched I-69 being built and liked to sing “Get your kicks on Route 66
I’ll get mine on I-69.”
My fave Michigan oddity is the story of how Novi was named.
It’s so simple it’s a forehead slapper.
Number 6 stop on the Pony Express. No kidding.
609 chars
Terry WAlter said on April 3, 2008 at 6:49 am
Speaking of WisconSIN honeys. With the GM truck plant being built here, we had an influx (infestation?) of WisconSINites. My son was friends with 2 brothers down the street. In their house resided a man & his wife, & her somewhat less unattractive sister. One day,I was getting ready to head out to the race track. One brother came down & my son thought it would be good if he could come along. So he went back home to seek approval. He came back, with initial approval, but he still had to ask “his real mom”. It turns out, the younger sister was his biological mother. Very cozy arrangement, wouldn’t you say?
625 chars