A Kellogg's worker on strike last night holding down the picket line through torrential rain in Omaha, Nebraska

ST. IGNACE, MI - The Mackinac Bridge’s transportation assistance programs are returning, with increased fees for the travelers who use them.

The Mackinac Bridge Authority, or MBA, has voted to reinstate on Nov. 1 its driver assistance program, as well as its pedestrian, bicyclist, and snowmobile transportation programs. The four programs had been suspended since March 2020 as a health safety precaution due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The return of those programs will include increased service fees, as well as revised liability waivers, the MBA said in a release.

“Suspending these popular programs was a difficult decision, but one that was necessary based on what we knew then about this ongoing pandemic,” Authority Chairman Patrick Gleason said in a statement. “As our committee and staff have examined these programs, it became clear that reinstatement should come with changes to address staff concerns and costs of the services provided, as the programs have been provided at a net loss for the Authority.”

The driver assistance program, in which an MBA employee drives a customer’s vehicle or motorcycle across the bridge, has been used by drivers since the 1980s to help allay bridge-crossing anxiety, take a driving break, or have the opportunity to snap photos while crossing.

Previously offered at no charge, the MBA will now charge $10 per trip to defray the cost of the service, with an increase to $15 per trip starting Jan. 1, 2025.

https://www.mlive.com/news/2021/10/mackinac-bridge-resumes-escorted-crossings-for-vehicles-bikes-snowmobiles-with-higher-fees.html

At the NRSC conference in Palm Beach on Thursday, donors and lobbyists were treated to a presentation on polling that showed Republicans were in a strong spot to take back the Senate, and that Biden’s poll numbers had dropped, particularly among independents, according to people familiar with research. The agenda did not include any panels on election fraud, but instead offered donors a golf session with Jack Nicklaus and discussions about how Republicans are performing on digital fundraising, foreign policy and infrastructure.

In Trump’s address, one of the final events of the retreat, the former president focused on re-litigating grievances he has retained since leaving office.

...

Unprompted, he brought up an unsubstantiated claim he had interactions with prostitutes in Moscow before he ran for president.

“I’m not into golden showers,” he told the crowd. “You know the great thing, our great first lady — ‘That one,’ she said, ‘I don’t believe that one.’ ”

After extensively praising Chinese President Xi Jinping for his intellect and touting his good relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he also returned to his long-standing hatred of windmills, referencing a new plan by the Biden administration to expand the number of offshore wind turbines.

“It’s so sad when you see that they are approving these windmills — worst form of energy, the most expensive,” he said. “You talk about carbon emissions, well they are making them. More goes into the air than if you ran something for 30 years.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-gop-fraud-claims/2021/10/14/f37887fe-2cfc-11ec-985d-3150f7e106b2_story.html

Local Artist Waleed Johnson has begun the finishing touches on the 100th mural on the side of a storage building at Mack and Van Dyke on the east side.

Inspired by the Spirit of Detroit statue, Johnson’s mural depicts an African American woman adorned in the City of Detroit flag and holding the gold sun and spires.

"I'm very grateful to Space Lab, and City Walls for this opportunity and I look forward to making more art in the city." -Waleed Johnson

SCOOP - @SenatorSinema told a group of moderate house Dems meeting on Wednesday that she won't support a reconciliation bill until infrastructure bill passes, according to source briefed on one-hour meeting.

Senator Manchin also on zoom call Simema and Manchin told the group that they won't discuss any artificial deadlines, per source.

Manchin also told group that $2 trillion top line is not a good starting point, per source.