Catch Mitch Albom's "For One More Day" this evening

If you've watched WXYZ-Channel 7 at all this week, then you've likely seen the spots promoting the movie version of Detroit-author Mitch Albom's book, For One More Day.

Produced by the queen of Daytime talk, Oprah Winfrey, Albom's tale of redemption stars Michael Imperioli, best known as Christopher from 'The Sopranos', as a washed up baseball star who gets to spend one more day with his mother, Posey. Detroit-born Ellen Burtsyn plays Posey.

Harpo Films produced the film for ABC. Oprah Winfrey and Kate Forte are the executive producers.

Lloyd Kramer ("Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet in Heaven") directed the film, and Mitch Albom wrote the teleplay.

The previous collaboration by Oprah Winfrey, Kate Forte and Mitch Albom, "Tuesdays with Morrie," yielded four Emmy® wins, including Outstanding Made-for-Television Movie and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Mini-Series or Movie.

For One More Day premieres tonight at 9 pm.

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Detroit Deputy Receives Special Honor

Deputy Jody D. Nidiffer of the U.S. Marshals Service in Detroit was one of 15 law enforcement officials across the U.S and Canada honored today by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC).

U.S. Representative Nick Lampson of Texas recommended Nidiffer and Detective Sergeant David Wurtz of the Oakland County Sheriff's Office for the award for their work in the recovery of Genevieve Nielsen.

Nielsen was abducted on Mother's Day weekend in 1976 by her non-custodial father and reunited with her mother on Mother's Day weekend in 2006. Genevieve was found living in Arizona under an alias. Her father had led her to believe that her mother was killed in a car accident.

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John Bagley - and Bagley, the Dog in the D

Merry Christmas, Detroit!

It was a very merry one for me. My husband and I expanded our family with a new puppy, Bagley.

Why Bagley?

If you're familiar with Detroit, you already know about Bagley street, located on the city's near west side.

What you may not know is the street was named in honor of John J. Bagley, a Detroit resident.

Who was John J. Bagley?

Born in Medina, New York in 1832, John J. Bagley moved to Detroit during his mid-teens. Bagley's family didn't have much money, so he began working as an apprentice for tobacconist-Isaac Miller at age 15. Seven years later, he bought out his mentor and renamed the business the Mayflower Tobacco Company. Mayflower took off under Bagley's leadership - and so did Bagley's wealth and power.

During his short life - Bagley died at 49 - the native New Yorker held several positions within the city of Detroit - including Alderman (1860-1861) and Police Commissioner (1865-1872) - and later served two back-to-back terms as Governor of Michigan.

Along with his involvement in local and state politics, Bagley also helped form the Detroit Metropolitan Police Commission, the Michigan Mutual Life Insurance Company, and the Republican Party.

Aside from the Detroit street named in his honor, John J. Bagley is remembered in Detroit by the Bagley Memorial Fountain, which was dedicated after the late-Detroiter's death and created per his will as a gift to the people of Detroit.

Designed by noted-architect H. H. Richardson, the fountain was modeled after the ciborium in St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice. It is Richardson's only known work in Detroit and was recently placed on the site of the future Cadillac Square Park, part of Campus Martius Park.


For more information on the people behind some of Detroit's most well-known streets, check out this article in the Detroit News.

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Kilpatrick Appointed Co-Chair of Mayoral Task Force

Among the 1,139 members of the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM), Detroit's Kwame Kilpatrick was recently appointed Co-Chair of the Task Force on Poverty, Work and Opportunity.

Kilpatrick joins chair Antonio Villaraigosa, Mayor of Los Angeles, and four other mayoral co-chairs on the task force, which is charged with developing a new policy agenda on poverty. The six-member group will present the agenda at the USCM Winter meeting in January 2007.

In June 2006, Mayor Kilpatrick was chosen as one of the USCM's 13 Trustees.

In addition to this role and his appointment to the Poverty, Work and Opportunity Task Force, Kilpatrick serves as co-chair of the USCM Cities and Borders Task Force and chair of the Council for the New American City Task Force.

Created in 1932 on the eve of Franklin D. Roosevelt's Presidential Inauguration, the United States Conference of Mayors is the official non-partisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more.

Dearborn-Mayor Michael Guido is the current President of the USCM.

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Eminem: shoes for a cause

Best known for his hotly-debated, chart-topping tracks and the ability to turn raw talent into gold, Detroit's-Eminem recently added a new skill-set to his multi-faceted resume: shoe-designer.

Earlier this year, the record-breaking rapper teamed up with Nike to design eight pairs of limited-edition shoes from Nike's Air Max series, including the original Air Max 1 (also known as the Air Max '87), the Air Max '90, -'93 (aka 270), -'95, -'97, 2003, the 180 and the new Air Max 360 (aka Max 2006).

After the shoes are created, Eminem will number and sign eight pairs of each.

All 64 pairs will then be auctioned off to benefit the Marshall Mathers Foundation, a non-profit created to assist charities working with troubled youth in Southeastern Michigan, and ninemillion.org, a global organization which seeks to educate and provide sports-related activities to the more than 8 million youth rufugees around the world.

The signed shoes will be available at Nike stores in London, Berlin and Paris starting with Nike Londontown Thursday, August 31.

They will also be available on eBay for four weeks beginning September 12.

Scheduled dates and specific auction items are as follows:

Aug. 31: NikeTown London:

Shoes to be auctioned: Air Max '87 - 1 pair; Air Max '90 - 1 pair

Sept.12: eBay:

Shoes to be auctioned: Air Max '87 - 7 pairs; Air Max '90 - 7 pairs

Sept. 16: NikeTown Berlin:

Shoes to be auctioned: Air Max 180 - 1 pair; Air Max '93 - 1 pair

Sept. 19: eBay:

Shoes to be auctioned: Air Max 180 - 7 pairs; Air Max '93 - 7 pairs

Sept. 22: Nike Store, Paris:

Shoes to be auctioned: Air Max '95 - 1 pair; Air Max '97 - 1 pair

Sept. 26: eBay:

Shoes to be auctioned: Air Max '95 - 7 pairs; Air Max '97 - 7 pairs

Sept. 28: NikeTown London:

Shoes to be auctioned: Air Max 2003 - 1 pair; Air Max 360 - 1 pair

Oct. 03: eBay:

Shoes to be auctioned: Air Max 2003 - 7 pairs; Air Max 360 - 7 pairs

For more information, please visit Eminem's website.

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