Monthly Archives: July 2019

The Faster Horses Festival grounds at Michigan International Speedway Saturday night.  Photo by Jeff Steers, JTV. By Jeff Steers JTV News High winds in the Brooklyn area caused a delay of more than three and a half hours at the Faster Horses Festival held at Michigan International Speedway. The delay – just before 6:30 p.m. – pushed back the start of Randy Houser from 6:15 to 9:50 p.m. Old Dominion was scheduled to perform after Houser and Toby Keith was the headliner for Saturday night. The weather delay was a welcome change for those in attendance at the three-day festival. Temperatures dropped by nearly 20 degrees following the storm that blew through southern Michigan. Keith was scheduled to hit the stage at MIS approximately 11:40 p.m. Sunday activities are scheduled to begin at 2:10 p.m. and with headliners the Zac Brown Band performing at 9:25 p.m.

Consumers Energy crews are preparing to work through the night to restore customers impacted by violent storm activity that began last night and continued throughout the day Saturday. More than 1,400 Consumers Energy employees and contractors are engaged in the restoration efforts. This includes about 120 employees from out-of-state energy providers to help restore power. “We appreciate everyone’s patience as we work to safely and quickly get the lights turned back on,” said Brian Zionskowski, a journeyman lineworker for Consumers Energy from Traverse City. “Our crews cannot stress enough that every downed power line should be treated as ‘live.’ Trying to move or clear one may put you in danger; instead, please call 9-1-1 and we’ll take care of it as quickly as possible.” More than 200,000 homes and businesses have lost power since fierce winds, lightning, flooding rains and hail began Friday evening. More than 1,500 downed wires have been attributed to the storm. As of 9 p.m. Saturday, about 137,000 were without power.  Approximately 2,000 customers in Jackson County are without power; the largest concentration in eastern Jackson County in the Waterloo area. For the second straight evening, balloon launches and the night glow at the Hot Air…

A violent storm system packing high winds, lightning and hail has rolled across Michigan’s Lower Peninsula causing widespread electric outages to Consumers Energy customers. A second wave of storms is anticipated later today bringing with it the possibility of additional power outages for Consumers Energy customers throughout the state. As of 8 a.m. today, more than 155,000 customers remained without service after the initial storm system as associated  high winds, lightning strikes, flooding rains and hail uprooted trees, brought down hundreds of electric lines and caused equipment damage in many areas. Communities affected in the Jackson area include Parma, Rives, Albion, Napoleon, Jackson and Brooklyn. The unstable weather and approaching storm caused the cancellation of balloon launches and the Night Glow scheduled Friday evening at the Hot Air Jubilee.   “This series of storms has caused widespread outages, and additional storm activity throughout the weekend could cause additional damage and outages,” said Guy Packard, vice president of electric operations for Consumers Energy. “Our crews are working around the clock to restore service to our customers, but this will be a multi-day restoration effort.” “We encourage those affected by the storm to seek alternative ways of staying cool during the extreme temperatures…

Brett Young was one of the entertainers Friday at the Faster Horses Festival at MIS.  Photo by Jeff Steers, JTV. By Jeff Steers JTV News Delaware resident Michelle Zenorini put another notch in her Keith Urban belt. The New Castle resident was one of thousands attending the Urban show Friday Night at Michigan International Speedway during the Faster Horses Festival. It was Zenorini’s 97th Urban concert and she lined up for the front row seats at 8:30 a.m. on Friday. “It was such a good lineup, I had to come,” Zenorini said. “I have heard that during your 100th show he (Keith Urban) pays for your expenses.” She was probably right as someone standing next two her had saw the country music entertainer more than 100 times. Her Facebook page also shows Zenorini photographed with Urban. The three in her party may have felt a little old as most of the crowd up close consisted on 20-something country music fans. “They are really music fans,” Zenorini said. “It is amazing that they know all of the words to some of the songs. “It just tells you we are getting up there.” Friday’s lineup included Tyler Rich, Lindsey Ell, Lanco, Brett…