A freighter carrying coal to a power plant has run aground in the Detroit River.

Patricia Baca is with search and rescue at the U.S. Coast Guard in Detroit. She says the channel the vessel was trying to navigate is a difficult one:

"It is, because it’s not navigated very often by the commercial mariners. They only go in there maybe, like, four times a year. And this happens to be one of the four times a year." 

Baca says four tug boats are trying to free the McKee Sons freighter – which got stuck early this morning near Grosse Ile. A Coast Guard investigation is under way.

A special lounge at Detroit Metro Airport is open for members of the military and their families traveling over the holidays.

David Pope checked into the lounge before his return flight to Okinawa, where he serves in the Navy. He says it’s nice to have a quiet spot away from other travelers to start the long trip:

This week the energy company involved in an oil spill that reached the Kalamazoo River is revising the amount of total oil that leaked from a ruptured pipeline near Marshall. Enbridge Energy submitted the update to US Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration this week.

I don’t know Jim Stamas personally. He is a state representative from Midland who will be the majority floor leader when the new legislature takes office next month.

He’s a fairly conservative Republican, and I’d guess that on some policy issues we might disagree. But he did something this week I thought totally appropriate. He is bringing back a dress code for the legislature. He thinks members ought to wear business attire when they are doing the people’s business.

Online sales are reportedly up about 12 percent this holiday shopping season. That could be bad news for Michigan tax collectors.  Michigan residents are supposed to pay sales tax on items bought online, but few do. 

 Caleb Booth is a spokesman for the state Treasury Department.  He says the state lost out on $328 million dollars in uncollected sales taxes on online purchases in 2009. 

Governor-elect Rick Snyder announced yesterday that he'll keep Kirk Steudle as Director of the Michigan Department of Transportation in his new administration. That could mean continued debate over whether to build a new bridge to connect Detroit to Canada, Laura Weber reports. As Weber explains:

Steudle has drawn heat from Republican lawmakers over the past few years for his support of a second bridge span between Detroit and Canada. The legislators were unhappy with a detailed traffic report from the department, but Steudle says that information will be rolled into continued analysis of the bridge. Governor-elect Snyder says just because he tapped Steudle to continue as director doesn’t mean the bridge will be built. But the discussion will continue.

The proposed Detroit River International Crossing would compete with the Ambassador Bridge.

Retailers Optimistic About Holiday Sales

New data show Michigan retailers are optimistic that they’ll see increased sales during the holiday season. The Michigan Retail Index showed November had the best monthly year-over-year sales increases since 1999.  The Index is put together by the Michigan Retailers Association and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. The National Retail Federation predicts holiday sales will improve by 3.3% this year, Steve Carmody reports.

Snyder Announces Directors for State Police, Transportation

Governor-elect Rick Snyder announced yesterday that he’ll keep Kirk Steudle, current Director of the Michigan Department of Transportation, on the job in his new administration. Steudle has been director of the department since 2006. Snyder also announced that he will appoint State Police Lt. Col. Kriste Etue to be the Director of the Michigan State Police. Etue is currently the department’s deputy director and, when she begins the new job in January, will be the first woman to hold the post.  As The Detroit Free Press reports, Snyder:

…still needs to make several key cabinet additions. Still unfilled are director positions for the departments of human services, corrections and labor and economic growth.

Snyder takes the oath of office on January 1st, 2011.

Number of Homeless Kids Rise

The state has released its latest count of homeless children (grades K-12) in Michigan.  The state counted 23,000 in 2009-2010, up from 7,500 kids two years ago, Kyle Norris reports. Shereen Tabrizi, with the Michigan Department of Education’s office of field services, says the state’s high unemployment rate and foreclosures are some of the reasons for the increase.

A small group of striking musicians from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra brought holiday music to three area homeless shelters Wednesday.

The musicians’ made their final stop at the Ruth Ellis Center in Highland Park, which provides shelter and other services for homeless and other at-risk gay and lesbian teens.

But the free concert attracted more than just the shelter’s clients.

Warren Mayor Jim Fouts says he wants to meet with his Detroit counterpart to discuss how the region’s water and sewer system is managed.

The request comes in a letter sent today, days after a federal indictment detailed allegations of kickbacks and corruption related to water department contracts.

School districts reported 23,000 homeless kids in grades K-12, for last year’s school year.   But keep in mind, those were only the kids who actually showed up to school and who identified as homeless.

Lot’s of young people don’t want to admit they're homeless to an adult, or they don’t consider themselves homeless if they sleep on a friend’s couch for months at a time.