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Fire runs see decrease in 2023
According to a Facebook post, the St. Clair Shores Fire Department had a total of 8,625 runs in 2023. This is down from 8,722 runs in 2022.
The St. Clair Shores Fire Department had a total of 6,881 EMS-related runs, 1,744 fire-related runs and 115 working fires, according to the Facebook post. Fire-related runs, Fire Chief James Piper said, are anything that is not an EMS call including structure fires and animal rescues.
The average response time was around four minutes and 15 seconds, according to the post.
Piper has seen this dip in runs before.
“It creeps up and then about every two to three years we have a little dip and then it creeps back up again,” Piper said.
He said it was a pretty common year, overall.
“We’re always here and happy to serve,” Piper said. “This is our calling and it’s what we like to do. And so we’re happy that we can be there, ready and staffed, to meet the needs of the city.”
MSU Extension Foundations of Gardening course begins Feb. 1
METRO DETROIT — Registration is now open for the Michigan State University Extension’s Foundations of Gardening winter session.
Foundations of Gardening is a 10-week online MSU Extension course with live sessions from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday nights, beginning Feb. 1 and running through April 11.
Sessions for the comprehensive certificate course are delivered by MSU Extension horticulture experts. Learning modules include readings, videos and interactive activities. The course is entirely electronic. Sessions are set to include plant science for gardeners, soils and plant growth, the basics of plant propagation, entomology for gardeners, smart lawn care, gardening with flowers, environmental gardening, and trees and shrubs. Plant diseases, pests and problems, and growing fruits and vegetables will also be discussed.
The cost for the course is $350. To register or for more information, visit canr.msu.edu/courses/foundations-of-gardening.
Looking for ‘Custodian of the Year’
NATIONWIDE — Cintas Corporation, based in Cincinnati, is holding its 11th annual Cintas Custodian of the Year contest, which honors standout school custodians. Cintas will award $10,000 to the winning custodian and $5,000 in Cintas and Rubbermaid products and services to the winner’s school.
The other nine finalists will receive $1,000 each from Cintas, a cleaning supply package from Rubbermaid and complimentary tuition to one ISSA Cleaning Management Institute (CMI) virtual training event, valued at $1,500. In addition, the top three finalists will receive an all-expenses-paid trip for two to the ISSA Show North America in Las Vegas in November.
The contest is open to all elementary, middle, high school, college and university custodians who have worked at their school for at least two years. Nominations must be 500 words or less about why the nominee is deserving of the award. Cintas will announce the top 10 finalists on March 5. The public can vote for their favorite custodian through April 12, and the finalist with the most votes will be crowned Custodian of the Year in the spring.
Nominations can be submitted until Feb. 9 at custodianoftheyear.com.
DNR expects big fishing season
STATEWIDE — The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has high hopes for the 2024 fishing season based on the fall 2023 fish stocking efforts.
The DNR was able to stock 14.5 tons of fish across 103 locations across the state.
“It was another outstanding fall fish stocking season that will provide enhanced fishing opportunities throughout Michigan,” said Ed Eisch, assistant chief of the DNR Fisheries Division, in a DNR statement. “When added to our successful spring and summer stocking efforts, that brings the total for 2023 to more than 10.4 million fish stocked in Michigan’s waters.”
Six species of fish — brook trout, coho salmon, lake trout, steelhead strain rainbow trout, walleye and muskellunge — are raised at six state and three cooperative fisheries. The fish are released at specific times and locations, with most fish released in the spring.
