Community Calendar for Wednesday, January 6th, 2021

From studios in the BIC Center on America’s Emerald Isle, this is the WVBI Community Calendar for Wednesday, January 6^th, 2021. 

First, some news…

Michigan health officials yesterday reported receipt of another 140,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine. They arrive as the state has struggled to administer the first 380,000 already sent to the state. The new delivery brings the number of doses received to over half a million, but so far, the state has administered just over 140,000 of them—putting it pretty much at the bottom of the list for the nation according to an analysis by Bridge Michigan.

New COVID-19 case numbers state-wide continue to look good. The statewide had 2,291 new cases, down from the 2,496 a day average over the New Year’s reporting period.   There were 72 new deaths, though, which is up from the 40 average over New Year’s.  There were also 117 reclassified deaths reported. The seven-day running average for new cases is down to 2,927—a decrease of just over 100.  For deaths it is still 84—that number still high because it includes deaths reclassified from prior dates some of which are likely outside the seven-day period we look to average. In the eight-county region we’ve followed from the start, there were 50 new cases a day, up from an average of 45 over New Year’s. There were four new deaths, also up.  Charlevoix had two new cases and no new deaths.  The deaths were in Antrim, Benzie, Grand Traverse and Kalkaska—with one each in each of those four counties. Averages for the region are 55 new cases and two deaths a day.

Statewide there are now 138,168 active cases—down by over 3,000.  Our region has 2,427—down just two. 

Last reported average positivity rate statewide is up by almost a half a point to 9.7% and nearly steady 8.1% for our safe start zone.  The rate in Charlevoix county is 2.2%. The C-D-C target is 3%.  Hospital occupancy reports continue to look good.   75.1% of in-patient rooms are in use statewide and 69.5% in our region.  For I-C-Us, the rate is 76.6% for the state and 67.4% locally. Those numbers are for overall utilization—not just for COVID-19.  The COVID-19 case count in our local hospitals is steady. Munson Hospital in Charlevoix has one COVID-19 patients, in a regular room.  At McLaren in Petoskey, they have seven patients–all of them are in their I-C-U. 

On the island, the Health Center reports another test run and no new results back.  There are three tests pending. No new positives since December 7^th—so we are quickly approaching the point where all known cases on the island will be more than 30 days old.

Complete data for our region plus summaries for the state, the T-C safe start zone and the U-P are in today’s script online.

Data from January 2, 2021

Now, a look at what’s happening on your island… 

Meeting planner for the week—just one left: B-I-C-S Board Committee of the whole meets tomorrow, Wednesday, at 4:00. It’ll be a virtual meeting. Details including information on remote access are in the calendar entry online.

Big shopping news: Tomorrow, the resale shop is reopening. Their winter schedule will be two days a week—Thursdays and Fridays from noon to 4:00 p.m.  You’ll need to wear a mask inside and practice social distancing. For a limited time, there are free Christmas decorations out in Carol’s barn. In the main shop, they have all sorts of winter clothing and gear—plus if you are looking for something to do, check out their new jigsaw puzzle collection and selection of board games.

The Community Center is open this week from 1 to 3 through Friday as the staff continues renovation work in the Hangout. Depending on how island COVID-19 data look and subject to new orders from the state, regular hours and movies may resume on the 9^th.  Planned for Saturday the ninth are Fantastic Mr. Fox at 4:00 and Misbehaviour at 7.  You can check out the schedule for the rest of the month online at Bic Center dot org.  It’s also in today’s script.

Keep up to date on COVID-19 news with the W-V-B-I COVID-19 info page. Click COVID-19 Info in the menu at W-V-B-I dot net.

Weather, here there and everywhere – presented every day with the support of Hogarth’s Pest Control:

Today

Mostly cloudy, with a high near 35. Calm wind becoming northeast around 5 mph in the morning.

Tonight

Mostly cloudy, with a low around 24. Northeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm.

Thursday

Partly sunny, with a high near 30. Northeast wind around 5 mph.

Thursday Night

Partly cloudy, with a low around 20. Northeast wind around 5 mph.

Friday

Mostly sunny, with a high near 31. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph.

Friday Night

Partly cloudy, with a low around 23.

Saturday

Mostly cloudy, with a high near 33.

Saturday Night

Mostly cloudy, with a low around 24.

Sunday

Mostly cloudy, with a high near 32.

Sunday Night

Mostly cloudy, with a low around 25.

Monday

Partly sunny, with a high near 32.

Monday Night

Mostly cloudy, with a low around 25.

Tuesday

Mostly cloudy, with a high near 32.

TRAFFIC: None, Nada, Zip.  It’s that quiet time of year.  But, roads are snow covered and slick, so  let’s be careful out there. 

BIRTHDAYS:  Patti Cull is celebrating.  Happy Birthday to Patti and, if we missed you on that list, happy birthday to you too, from all of us at WVBI and your Beaver Island Community Center. 

ON THIS DAY in 1838 the telecommunications revolution begins as Samuel Morse taps out a coded message that travels over two miles of wire near Morristown, New Jersey. Messages were short and electronically ephemeral—kinda like SnapChat today, but for different reasons. (Bing.com)

WORD OF THE DAY: pugilism (noun) [PYOO-juh-liz-um], which means: boxing. The sport of boxing had its Olympic initiation more than 2,500 years ago in the 23rd Olympiad of 688 BCE. The ancient Romans adopted the sport from the Greeks, and we adopted the word pugilism from them: the Latin word pugil means “boxer.” (The word is related to the Latin pugnus, meaning “fist.”) Boxing faded out with the decline of the Roman Empire, but resurged in popularity in the 18th century. By the century’s end, pugilist and pugilism were firmly entrenched in the English lexicon, and pugilism now sees additional use in reference to metaphorical sparring, as in a political debate. (Merriam-Webster)

Now, to wrap up for this first Beaver Island Wednesday of 2021…

Here’s a thought for the day from telegraph inventor Samuel Morse—this not his first message, but one sent when he demonstrated his invention to Congress: “What God hath wrought?”

On a lighter note: It’s not clear whether Morse’s quote is about the telegraph or Congress.

That’s the Community Calendar for this Beaver Island Wednesday, January 6^th, 2021. I’m Kevin Boyle reporting from W-V-B-I’s Langford Family Studios wishing you a great day and asking: why not go ahead and make it the best day ever?  And, thanks for listening. 

###