Michigan

Residents seek change of address

The folks on Crapo Street in Highland Township are a little unhappy with their address.

Although the Oakland County street is pronounced ‘Kray-po’, most people call it ‘Krapp-o’ and the embarrassment has prompted residents to ask for a new name.

Highland Township Trustees — intent on honoring former Michigan Gov. Henry Howard Crapo for whom the street is named — agreed to ask for a change to Governor Crapo Street, The Daily Oakland Press reported last week.

Township leaders say the township’s historic Highland Station area wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for Crapo, despite a name that makes people snicker.

Highland Station was a train station developed when Crapo pushed to run rail lines through the township.

Washington, D.C.

Old sneakers give recycling a bounce

Visitors to Oregon congressional offices this week have been confronted with an unusual sight: boxes of old, smelly sneakers crowding the front lobby.

As a tie-in with Oregon-based Nike, the offices are vying to see who can collect the most sneakers for the footwear company’s Reuse-A-Shoe program. It’s a nationwide recycling campaign aimed at grinding up old sneakers and turning them into material for playgrounds, soccer fields, basketball courts and tracks.

Democratic Rep. Peter DeFazio’s office amassed six boxes — each filled with 20 pairs of shoes — in the friendly competition, timed in honor of America Recycles Day on Saturday.

Washington, D.C.

Newest Mars photos suggest ancient rivers

Photos sent back by NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor strongly suggest that there were once long-lasting rivers on the now-dry planet. A fan-shaped apron of debris — believed to be the remains of long-ago flowing water — has been spotted on the Martian surface.

“This latest discovery by the intrepid Mars Global Surveyor is our first definitive evidence of persistent surface water,” said Jim Garvin, NASA’s lead scientist for Mars Exploration in Washington.

Scientists believe the curved ridges of layered rock are traces of flowing water that changed its course over time. The importance of the finding is that the atmosphere of Mars is so thin now that, over most of the planet, any liquid water would quickly evaporate or freeze. So any evidence of long-standing surface water in the past suggests the climate was once very different.

The new photos are published in the journal Science.

Alaska

Ice hotel owner expects hot demand

A honeymoon on ice might seem a little frigid.

But Alaskan resort owner Bernie Karl figures his Aurora Ice Hotel, a 30-foot-high Gothic palace near Fairbanks, will be a hot tourist destination.

“I’m sure there will be some interesting comments from our guests,” Karl said.

Destination resorts carved out of snow and ice already entertain guests in Scandinavia, Greenland and Canada. An ice hotel in northern Sweden sleeps more than 100, while a snow and ice complex in Quebec includes a building with a ceiling 18 feet high.

By comparison, the ice hotel at Chena Hot Springs will cater to far fewer guests with only six bedrooms planned so far. Karl hopes to open soon after Thanksgiving.

Sleeping on ice won’t come cheap. The resort’s Web site has set rates of $878 per room for a two-night stay and $1,067 for three nights.

The fee covers complementary survival gear, including Arctic-grade sleeping bags, and a backup heated suite in another portion of the resort for the less hardy guests. Guests also get free access to the hot springs.