Day 164/365

     There was yet another shooting last night; a house about one street over from the shooting I covered yesterday afternoon was shot up, killing a six year-old girl and leaving her father critically injured. Apparently they were just in town visiting family, and there's no word yet on whether or not the father was a target. Because of the escalating violence, the former mayor of Saginaw held a press conference this morning asking those who may have information relating to the murders but have kept quiet to come forward, whether it be to the police or to watchdog groups like the ones present this morning. While the former mayor, Gary Loster, talked about yesterday's victims, he mainly talked about Milton Hall, a homeless man that was shot 30-40 times by Saginaw police during a standoff back in July. The Milton Hall fiasco has caused a lot of anger in the area, mostly directed towards police, since most citizens are calling it an act of extreme police brutality. There's an ongoing investigation into the police department's actions, but not much has been said, leading people to try to take measures into their own hands, drawing national attention from CNN and garnering upcoming visits from Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. 

Day 163/365

     Today's post is from a shooting I covered in Saginaw. It's still under investigation, so I don't know the full story. What I understood from the entire neighborhood of people watching the police tape the area off was that a young man was in the neighborhood to help his grandmother with some yard work and was shot while he was on his bike near her house. He ran into his grandmother's house where he died before he could be taken to a hospital. I was standing with people who knew the victim pretty well, and who took his death and how it came about pretty hard, (understandably so). One woman, (I'm not sure how she knew the man), was so distraught that at one point she passed out from crying so hard. I'm at the point where I think I'd take just about any other sound right now to replace hearing her in my head. 

Day 162/365

     Day 162's post is of a politician looking to get elected into the U.S. Senate this November. He made a few stops at some small businesses in the area, one of them being a huge Christmas store up here in Frankenmuth, (pictured here, incase you didn't notice the trees). I was a tad more interested in the store than I was in him, to be honest. I've heard about Bronner's ever since I moved up here, and no matter how many stories you hear about the astounding amount of Christmas-related items it's completely full-of, (year-round too!), nothing quite prepares you for just how much there actually is. It'd be interesting to see how much crazier the displays get as the holiday season gets closer, I think. 

Day 161/365

     It felt like I did nothing but drive around this past Monday/day 161. Whether it was running errands or making the drive back to Michigan; the majority of the day was spent in my car. The drive back up to Saginaw had me going through all different types of weather, (pretty much everything except for snow really), so I took a quick picture of the sky in between a steady rain shower and the sun coming back out. After that I played around with some effects just to give it a more painted feel, because I felt like it.  

Day 160/365

     It's a pet post for day 160! I did absolutely nothing today, and it was wonderful. After being at an outdoor festival in the hot Saginaw weather all day yesterday, I drove back to Ohio since I need to be here to get plates for my car tomorrow. Needless to say, I had absolutely no energy when I got in last night, so today was a much-needed lazy day. Apparently Finch got the memo. 

Day 159/365

     Yesterday/Saturday I covered an all-day musical festival that was supposed to be a tribute to Stevie Wonder. Apparently Wonder was born in Saginaw and lived there until he was four years-old, so obviously the city can claim him as its own, (heavy sarcasm incase you didn't detect it). Anyways, the event organizers were hoping Stevie would show up - he didn't. He did call towards the end of the festival though, right before his protégé, Harrell Holmes, (pictured), closed the festival. 

Day 158/365

     Another football photo fro Friday/Day 158! It was at 'perfect light-time' so I had some fun shooting. I only had a close call with getting almost-tackled once... okay maybe twice... but all in all it was fun! I just need to invest in some bug spray before my next game. 

Day 157/365

     Sorry for the delay with the past few days' posts; I worked nights this week and it was crazier than usual. Thursday/Day 157 was the kickoff of high school football season up here in Michigan so that's been the majority of what I've covered this week. This one isn't an action shot, but I liked it how it lined up.

Day 156/365

     Today one of my assignments was to get photos of a former Detroit Red Wings hockey player, Kris Draper, visiting the local minor league baseball stadium in Midland. While I was waiting for Draper to arrive at Dow Diamond I got to sit by the dugout and watch the Great Lakes Loons warm up and have batting practice. It was such a nice day out; it was a perfect afternoon for baseball. Unfortunately, I didn't get to stay for the game, but I'm hoping that I get assigned to cover one before this season's over. We'll see!

Day 155/365

     Tonight I had an assignment to get photos of a boxing coach/trainer who's going to be inducted into the Bay County Sports Hall of Fame. I've never gotten to see boxing up close, so sitting in on one of his sessions was really interesting. I got a traditional portrait of the trainer that you can see here on MLive if you want, but I decided to go with this photo for today's entry instead.