Do You Support a Sales Tax for Online Purchases?

Leave a comment to join the conversation about the Marketplace Fairness Act.

Op-Ed: Jim Nash Aims to Pass a Clean Environment on to Future Generations

The Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner plans additional oil drilling and fracking town hall meetings.

I want to thank the voters of Oakland County for their support of my candidacy for Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner. My time serving as Oakland County Commissioner was an honor and the most rewarding experience of my life. I have had the opportunity to serve with so many dedicated public servants and community volunteers, at the county, region, state and national levels. We can be truly proud of the people who work for us and those who volunteer in so many important capacities. From the beginning, I focused my efforts on green building and sustainability, both as county policies and in public/private planning and economic development efforts. I have worked with dedicated public employees in these areas also, through the …

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Vote for Your Favorite Easter PEEPS Creation

Which of these designs do you like best? Tell us in comments.

Three Patch readers submitted entries for our PEEPS creation contest. Using the marshmallow candies, they made "5 Golden Peeps", "Peeps on the Virgina Beach Boardwalk" and "Peeps on the Farm". Two of the Patch users have a chance to win a Prize Pack worth $25. It includes a PEEPS® Plush Chick Basket valued at $15 and an electronic gift card valued at $10 from PEEPS and COMPANY®. Use the comments section to vote once for your favorite Patch entry. The two with the most votes will each win a prize pack. Voting ends at 12 p.m. EST on March 30. Which of the three entries is your favorite? Vote once in the comments below for "5 Golden Peeps", "Peeps on the Virgina Beach Boardwalk" or "Peeps on the Farm".

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Joni Hubred-Golden

1:49 pm on Saturday, March 30, 2013

Thanks to everyone who voted, we'll have an announcement soon about our winners!   more ›

Enter Patch's Easter PEEPs Contest!

If you've got a creative streak and a passion for PEEPs, enter Patch's Easter PEEPs contest for a chance to win a prize package.

Editor's note: This contest is now closed. PEEPS, those famously delicious and delightful marshmallow candies, aren't just for eating anymore. These days, crafty PEEPs creations are all the rage. You can find them on display on Pinterest. And transformed into everything from the White House front lawn, to re-creations of children’s books, historical settings and other unusual situations. Think you can invent something fun with PEEPS? Now's the time to show us! Enter Patch's Easter PEEPs photo contest. Here's how: Read the complete contest rules here.

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Teresa Mask

5:15 pm on Thursday, March 28, 2013

And thank you to the user who submitted the creation via pdf. Need your name.   more ›

Boiled Cabbage Gets St. Paddy's Day Makeover

To accompany corned beef, we forgo boiled cabbage for a slightly fancier (and just as easy) braised version.

St. Patrick’s Day is a holiday that Americans of all backgrounds have embraced wholeheartedly. For some, the celebrations don’t go beyond wearing a green sweater to work or putting green dye in a Budweiser. For others it’s an excuse to make one last hearty winter meal before spring: corned beef and cabbage. [What are your St. Patrick's Day food traditions? Leave a comment!] Appropriately enough for a holiday celebrated with much more gusto in the United States than in Ireland, corned beef was born on the Isle of Manhattan, not the Emerald Isle. It was eagerly adopted by Irish Americans and somewhere along the line it became  the traditional dish associated with St. Patrick’s Day. Instead of the usual boiled dinner, we're changing it up a …

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Superstorm Sandy's Ongoing Recovery is a Great Lakes Priority, Levin Says

The economic impact of damage to shipping in Michigan will be felt across the country.

More than four months after Superstorm Sandy devastated parts of the Eastern United States, recovery and reconstruction efforts are far from complete. And while most of the attention has rightly focused on the need for aid to areas in the Northeast that were devastated by the storm’s landfall, Sandy’s power was so great that its effects were felt as far west as our own Great Lakes. When Sandy reached land in October, it cut a deadly path across the country. More than 120 deaths are blamed on the storm, and Americans will never forget the scenes of devastation in the storm’s wake. Sandy was not just powerful, it was huge. Hurricane force winds were recorded in an area more than 900 miles across, making it the largest Atlantic Ocean …

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Prayer at Oakland Township Board Meeting Hits a Nerve

Patch readers sound off after the American Civil Liberties Union objected to the invocation of Jesus' name during the governmental gathering. Leave a comment to share your thoughts!

The American Civil Liberties Union recently objected to the invocation of Jesus' name during a prayer before an Oakland Township Board meeting, touching off a flurry of impassioned responses from Patch readers. Some cited the ACLU's letter of objection as evidence of moral decay in the United States, while others argued the prayer's wording violated the tenet of separation of church and state. A YouTube video of the Nov. 27 meeting shows Trustee Judy Keyes delivering the prayer, in which she stated, "We ask that you guide us Lord to search for what is right, what is good and to always seek the truth. We ask for your blessings on everybody in this room and all of Oakland Township. In Jesus’ name I pray – amen.” Here's a sampling of the …

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Leslie Ellis

9:06 am on Thursday, March 7, 2013

Hi, Bob. Thank you for reposting your comment without the profanity. I appreciate your contributions to the site.   more ›

Patch Drives

After Duct-Taped Van Dies, Patch's Car-Shopping Mom Finally Gets a New Ride

Patch readers will remember Angela Youngblood from her "Patch Drives" test-driving series last year. Read about her new vehicle — and about how her big, old van turned into a teachable moment for her whole family.

Editor's note: Rochester mom Angela Youngblood chronicled her car-shopping adventure across Oakland and Macomb counties last year for a series we called Patch Drives. Patch readers went along as Youngblood test drove a Honda Odyssey, Ford Flex, MINI Cooper, Chevy Suburban, Dodge Journey and Chrysler Town & Country. Here is the long-awaited ending to her research and travels. Last spring, I was van shopping.  I was searching for the right fit for our family.  You all went along for the ride while I tried out different SUVs, minivans and even a MINI Cooper. Eight long months have passed and I finally got my new ride. Let me back up a bit.  Since we last talked, the van has been falling apart little by little, sort of like my pride.  After …

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Letter to the Editor: Hugger Teachers, Staff 'Made Best of Bad Situation'

A Hugger Elementary School parent thanks the school community for working together when road problems affected the transportation to and from the school Tuesday morning.

Dear Editor: I am writing as a parent of a student at Hugger Elementary, who was trapped at Hugger for 115 minutes Tuesday morning. (Editor's note: Sheldon Road, which is the main entryway to Hugger Elementary, closed on Tuesday morning because of icy conditions. According to a spokesman for the Road Commission for Oakland County, an accident on Sheldon (which is gravel in that area) forced the Oakland County Sheriff's Office to close the road for a period of time in the morning, which coincided with the start of the school day. Some students and parents were already at the school when the road closed.) The morning was a total disaster and danger to all of the Hugger community. I pray that there were no injuries, and all of the children …

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Sally Anglim

9:20 pm on Sunday, February 3, 2013

Thanks also to Don Maskill, Hugger principal, who, as I've heard several times this week, was busy helping to push many parents' and teachers' cars out of ditches on Sheldon. What a great addition he has been to our Hugger family!   more ›