Offbeat

The US Navy’s past and present is on display in Detroit this week.

Detroit is just one “Navy Week” stop on a Great Lakes tour commemorating the War of 1812.

The war pitting the newly-independent US against Great Britain was more or less a draw—though it’s seen very differently just across the border in Windsor, Ontario.

But everyone agrees that the war gave birth to the modern US Navy.

Michigan will get $90,000 from the US Department of Transportation to help prevent damage to underground pipelines. The federal agency announced the grant today. It's granting $1.5 million total to 22 states. The money will support advertising efforts for MISS DIG.

"The number one cause of pipeline damage is people excavating on their own property without knowing what’s underground," said Judy Palnau, a Michigan Public Service Commission spokeswoman. The MPSC applied for the grant.

Dawn Yarbrough is from Benton Harbor. These days she lives part time in Milan, Italy. But, she has been spending more time in her hometown lately to start a new public television show called Harbor Lights. It will focus on positive things happening in Benton Harbor. Some of the programs  Dawn highlights include the local boys and girls club, a group that teaches teens how to make and allows them to sell their work at an art fair and a school program that brings students from St. Joseph and Benton Harbor together to discuss issues of race.