Friday, July 29, 2011
Pinwheel Bakery loses thousands of dollars in stock and business. To file claim with insurance company in attempt to recoup costs.
When the power went out about 5:30 p.m. July 20, affecting the north side of West Nine Mile Road including Pinwheel Bakery, owner Ann St. Peter didn't think much of it. She's used to the power going out. "It always goes out on this side of Nine Mile," she said Thursday afternoon. "As a business owner, I was panicked, but I wasn't super panicked." St. Peter, also a Ferndale resident who was also without power at home, said that last summer the north side of West Nine Mile lost power for two days when a branch fell on a wire, cutting out the whole block. And during the four years Pinwheel Bakery has been in downtown Ferndale, St. Peter said the power has gone out "many, many times." "Honestly, I didn't expect it to go on as long as it did…
42.46057
-83.13672
Pinwheel Bakery
220 W 9 Mile Rd, Ferndale, MI
/articles/pinwheel-bakery-opens-after-5-days-due-to-outage-still-isnt-fully-stocked
708607
/locations/4965462
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Residents praise city for efforts during power outage in 90-degree heat.
It was clear Monday night that Ferndale residents and city council members were pleased with the community's response to a power outage that started at 5:50 p.m. Wednesday, ended at 6 a.m. Saturday and affected most of the city. "I want to make a distinction between the city and DTE's response," resident George Chapp said during public comment. "I'm incredibly proud of Ferndale, incredibly proud of the fire department, police department, the Kulick Center. Everyone in the city has been incredibly helpful and very cooperative." DTE Energy said the outage that affected most of Ferndale was due to the 90-degree weather. As many as 5,000 homes and businesses were without power Wednesday night when one of two transformers failed at the West …
42.456008
-83.143111
Gerry Kulick Community Center (Ferndale Recreation)
1201 Livernois St, Ferndale, MI
/articles/outage-frustrates-ferndale-but-brings-community-together
1709331
/locations/4942645
Public comment during Monday's City Council meeting was mostly spent asking DTE for more information, accountability and answers from DTE Energy about Ferndale's 2 1/2-day outage.
George Chapp said a downed electrical wire in his backyard that cut power to 200 people on Sunday in southwest Ferndale has fallen three times since July 4. The last break came just 36 hours after DTE Energy fully restored power to the city, following a 2 1/2-day power outage. At Monday night's City Council meeting, during public comment, Chapp focused his time on DTE Energy. DTE Regional Manager Michael Palchesko and Senior Engineer Carl MacNeil were on hand to represent the company. They had previously given a presentation about the cause of the power outage affecting the majority of Ferndale residents from 5:30 p.m. Wednesday until 6 a.m. Saturday. "I'm not here tonight to hash over the events of the last couple days," Chapp said. "My …
42.460666
-83.131406
Ferndale City Hall
300 E 9 Mile Rd, Ferndale, MI
/articles/residents-still-in-the-dark-despite-council-presentation-from-dte-energy
708354
/locations/4936472
Utility to provide a written analysis of the events surrounding the 2 1/2-day power outage.
After 2 1/2 days of outages in Ferndale, city officials as well as residents were looking for answers from DTE Energy on what happened. "We want to answer two questions," Ferndale Mayor Dave Coulter said. "Number one of which is: What the heck happened? We're not electrical engineers up here. Second, what can we do to prevent the chances that it will happen again?" Ferndale's power went out about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday and, for some, didn't come back until Saturday at 6 a.m. DTE Energy sent Regional Manager Michael Palchesko and Senior Engineer Carl MacNeil to explain what happened and answer questions from residents and city council. DTE blames high heat and high energy load Palchesko reported that at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday one of the two …
42.460666
-83.131406
Ferndale City Hall
300 E 9 Mile Rd, Ferndale, MI
/articles/council-questions-dte-on-maintenance-age-of-substation-answers-fall-short
708354
/locations/4938384
42.46035
-83.14466
W 9 Mile Rd & Dover St, Ferndale, MI
Substation
/articles/council-questions-dte-on-maintenance-age-of-substation-answers-fall-short
/locations/4938385
Many Ferndale residents' possessions of value — and thousands of dollars — were lost during the 2½-day outage.
After the power shut off in above-90-degree weather last week and Carl Larson's house started to cook, he uprooted his fiancée and 4-month-old child to the Atheneum Suite Hotel in Detroit for three days. "It was a mini, unplanned vacation," the 28-year-old Ferndale resident said. "It was unplanned and not all that much fun." Like many Ferndale residents left without power, Larson was forced to adapt and shell out cash on additional expenses. The hotel visit and additional expenses, such as food lost in the fridge, cost him around $700. He said his fiancée is seeking to get back some of those funds from insurance and a reimbursement from DTE Energy. Much of Ferndale's power went out about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday and, for some, didn't come back…
Monday, July 25, 2011
Ferndale Mayor Dave Coulter requested DTE send someone to explain to the city what exactly happened during last week's heat wave.
After several conference calls with DTE Energy during last week's power outage that affected as many as 6,000 Ferndale homes and businesses, Ferndale Mayor Dave Coulter requested a representative from the utility come to a City Council meeting and explain to the city's customers what exactly happened. The outage began about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday and lasted through 6 a.m. Saturday during a weeklong heat wave that put a strain on the region's power system. "After a series of (calls) with DTE over our blackout, I talked about communication and asked them to send someone to Monday's council meeting to explain to the residents what happened," Coulter said. DTE Energy has said the outage was heat related. After several days of 90-plus degree …
42.460666
-83.131406
Ferndale City Hall
300 E 9 Mile Rd, Ferndale, MI
/articles/at-tonights-at-council-meeting-dte-rep-to-explain-why-power-outage-occurred
708354
/locations/4931091
42.46035
-83.14466
W 9 Mile Rd & Dover St, Ferndale, MI
DTE substation
/articles/at-tonights-at-council-meeting-dte-rep-to-explain-why-power-outage-occurred
/locations/4931092
Thieves break door and take about $200 from cash register, police say.
Anita's Kitchen employees got to work on Saturday at 5:30 a.m. and found a pile of broken glass near the side door. When they entered the restaurant, they noticed the cash register was missing. "The power was out, the lights were off," Ferndale Police Lt. Detective William Wilsons said. "It appears they took advantage of the power outage." About $200 was inside the register, Wilson said. The outage started on Wednesday at about 5:30 p.m. and continued until Saturday at 6 a.m. Through the 2 1/2-day ordeal, as many as 6,000 customers were without power, some the entire time. DTE Energy claims that the excessive heat – temperatures were in the 90s all last week and hit 100 degrees in some parts of southeast Michigan on Thursday – and …
42.459512
-83.134108
Anita's Kitchen
22651 Woodward Ave, Ferndale, MI
/articles/ferndale-police-say-power-outage-played-roll-in-friday-morning-burglary-of-anitas-kitchen
708630
/locations/4927525
Many Ferndale business owners were hit hard during a nearly three-day blackout, but the damage done is not permanent.
Last week's three-day power outage cost the Inyo Restaurant and Lounge $20,000 in business, $10,000 in spoiled food and $8,000 in tips and wages to employees. “Our servers couldn't make their livelihood," said John Klager, the restaurant's general manager. “Most live hand to mouth. They have loans to pay, so this really cuts into their lifestyle.” Inyo closed Wednesday night after an electricity outage and stayed closed until Sunday, despite the power returning to the area Saturday. Klager said the restaurant's fish and food stock was spoiled, so staff spent Saturday restocking. Klager said this is especially bad for a local nonfranchise business. He said restaurants such as his have slimmer profit margins than chain eateries, making the …
42.46077
-83.13498
The Rust Belt Market
22801 Woodward Ave, Ferndale, MI
/articles/business-is-lost-during-outage-but-not-perspective
1990990
/locations/4931615
42.461133
-83.135203
Inyo Restaurant & Lounge
22871 Woodward Ave, Ferndale, MI
/articles/business-is-lost-during-outage-but-not-perspective
708689
/locations/4931616
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Latest problem blamed on a line that has fallen three times in three weeks, according to resident who lives behind it.
UPDATE: As of 11 p.m. Sunday, Ferndale's southwest end of town had its power restored. After three days of outages in Ferndale that affected as many as 6,000 homes and businesses at its peak, Ferndale's southwest end of town is having issues again Sunday. Starting at about 7:30 p.m. Sunday, several residents reported they were experiencing brownouts, or a dip in voltage. Ferndale Police Chief Tim Collins said the reason was a wire down on Alberta. DTE Spokesman Len Singer said the issue was due to a storm that blew through the area shortly before 7:30 p.m. "It's completely unrelated to the issue this week," he said. However, residents said there was no storm, though one did hit south of Ferndale about that time. About 200 customers were …
42.45373
-83.14512
Beaufield St & Alberta St, Ferndale, MI
power line down
/articles/portions-of-southwest-ferndale-experience-brownouts
/locations/4926094
Saturday, July 23, 2011
"Everything is up and running," utility spokesman says. Mayor and DTE praise cooperation during tough situation.
Though Ferndale is fully powered up, the West Nine Mile and Dover substation won't be 100 percent repaired until Sunday morning, DTE Energy says. DTE will be working on the substation throughout today and the night to get it back up to speed, DTE spokesmen Len Singer said. In the meantime, the utility has "jumpered" circuits and brought in a third generator to keep the power going in Ferndale. Jumpering is, essentially, hooking up customers to another circuit to send electricity to those customers without diverting energy from other customers. "Everything is up and running," Singer said Saturday afternoon. "We're finalizing repairs on the cable, we've brought in a third generator and everything is working fine." Some Ferndale residents …
42.46035
-83.14466
W 9 Mile Rd & Dover St, Ferndale, MI
DTE substation
/articles/substation-fully-repaired-by-sunday-morning-dte-rep-to-attend-monday-council-meeting
/locations/4925856
Mark Blackwell
12:07 pm on Friday, July 29, 2011
That's if they don't reject a single one of the claims. And you and I both know that since no one will ever know how many they grant, it's likely to be closer to "none" than it is to "all." more ›