Good friends from Gainesville visited their family in Detroit last week; providing the perfect excuse to get great tickets and let Yeni watch her first baseball game. The Tiger’s stadium is really nice, and our seats along the third base line were just fantastic.

The Tiger’s beat the Indians and we all had a great time. It was fireworks night at the stadium, so we were treated to a nice (and loud) show after the game. The nice thing about being this north is that at 9pm or so, you the sun starts to set and makes a great looking sky. Combined with the Tiger’s having the same orange and blue colors as a certain college team I love, the game made for a great night.

Blue! Orange!

The nice thing about waking up really, really early to take family to the airport? Well, on some days, you might just catch a nice view of a full moon.

Moon over Ann Arbor, MI

To celebrate my youngest cousin’s high school graduation, Yeni and I headed to Albany to join the celebration. Instead of flying, we packed very lightly and took the Harley 650 miles east from Ann Arbor to Albany, mostly following I-90 (we were going to go through Canada, but that’s a different story).

The trip to Albany was amazing and covered parts of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. Cities included Toledo, Cleveland, Erie, Buffalo, Syracuse, and Albany. Normally, when traveling on the Interstate, you really don’t get to see much, and with this trip, we set that as our expectation. Gladly, we were wrong. I had never been West of Albany (yes, I’m one of those type of New Yorker’s) and the scenery simply amazed us. From the rolling hills and mountains to the lakes and rivers, the trip east absolutely provided some great views of the country.

While in Albany, Yeni and I enjoyed great food, great company, and a great time. The weather was slightly more wet than we had hoped, but being surrounded by family is like having a sunny day regardless of weather.

The trip home allowed Yeni to experience riding the Harley through some heavy rain. When we hit the Cleveland area, the sun came out and we enjoyed great weather until we reached the Ohio turnpike — where a very strong wind decided to throw us around until we made it home. Despite the rain and heavy wind, the ride was great and we’re looking forward to the next one.

Total miles: 1302

UPDATE — Monica Conyers has resigned from Detroit City Council effective July 6, 2009. Detroit News Article

This morning, in a Detroit Federal Court, Monica Conyers plead guilty to charges of Conspiracy to Commit Bribery. The presiding judge, Avern Cohn, advised the court that “the defendant now stands convicted.”

At this point, Conyers is still a councilwoman for the Detroit City Council. The Detroit city charter requires Conyers to resign “immediately” the minute she is convicted of a felony, but apparently, in Federal Court this is viewed as when the Defendant is sentenced.

Detroit Rock City shines again. The bottom line though…

Monica Conyers Pleads Guilty

She took bribes. She is married to US Congressman John Conyers (who had not commented as of yet).

Great article here for more information.

DETROIT, MI — The Detroit News reports that my favorite politician, Monica Conyers, reportedly needs to consider a plea offer from the Federal Government regarding a corruption investigation of City Hall. Apparently, the feds want an answer from Conyers by the end of the day (June 16th).

The short story concerns Rayford W. Jackson’s recent guilty plea in Federal Court on Monday. Jackson pleaded guilty to a bribery conspiracy in which “Council Member A” was given more than six grand in bribes in connection with a 1.2 billion dollar contract. This same “Council Member A” had also been bribed by another person, James R. Rosendall, Jr.

And speculation points to Monica Conyers as Council Member A. It’s a interesting read… please read the Detroit News article.

My favorite quote in the article comes from Council President Kenneth Cockrel, Jr.:

I know in my experience with federal investigations, they tend to be slow and meticulous, but when they come, they come like a ton of bricks.

Update – It looks like Monica Conyers doesn’t want to go to jail.

I don’t know why, but watching Monica Conyers is like watching a train wreck… you just can’t stop watching… you know it’s coming… you know it… but you just can’t stop.

Both the Associated Press and Detroit News report that Monica Conyers appears reluctant to take a plea deal. And today, coinciding with the taping of her television show (Ask the Councilwoman with Monica Conyers), the councilwoman stated:

All these things that are going on right now … I believe in my heart that God will deliver me from them. And so I say to all of the people out there: If you’re not praying for me, then you’re just adding to the problem.

Well, I guess that means I’m adding to the “problem,” because there’s no chance that I’m praying for her.

Incidentally, Monica Conyers is 44 and her husband, who is 80 years old, happens to be none other than US Representative John Conyers… aka the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee (that oversees the FBI and US Attorney’s Office).

Monica Conyers did give the AP a statement, however:

I’m not going to talk to you today, tomorrow, next week. What difference does it make?

PS -> I have some great video of Monica Conyers in an earlier post.

Yet Another Update — Monica Conyers has been convicted in the bribery scandal