Joe's Friendly Tavern Empire

09/22/2026

09/22/2026

This day in Michigan State history.
Ernest Green: Trailblazer & Activist was born on this day in 1941 was one of the Little Rock Nine, a group of students who, in 1957, were the first Black students ever to attend classes at Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. According to his biography from The History Makers, Green was the first Black student to graduate from the school in 1958. Following graduation, Green attended Michigan State University and continued to engage in activism and protests supporting the Civil Rights movement. MSU Today reports that he attended MSU at the behest of an anonymous benefactor. Green later learned that the anonymous donor was John A. Hannah, President of Michigan State, and an occasional target of protests by Civil Rights activists including Green. Green graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1962 and a Master’s degree in sociology in 1964.
photo: left Ernest Green right John A Hannah

09/22/2026

Looking for something on the lighter side? The Roti Sandwich, fresh grilled Roti topped with Avocado, Sun-dried Tomatoes, Micro Greens, Goat Cheese, Onion and Pesto Sauce.
www.joesfriendlytavern.com

09/22/2026

Benzie Central Football
Week of September 21

✅

09/22/2026

Mark you calendars, it's time for some family fun!

09/22/2026

Based on a bunch of different factors relative to how we judge how nice or not nice a day will be, most of the state of Michigan is looking at a great day on Tuesday, September 22nd, 2026. Limited humidity, crisp air temperatures, and partly cloudy skies will be the main headlines, with some line rain and moisture south of I-96.

Because the nice day index runs from 8 to 8, most of the early morning frost in the U.P. is omitted from this graphic. Bundle up early, but enjoy the rest of your Tuesday.

09/22/2026

Today's Daily Cartoon, by Adam Douglas Thompson.

09/22/2026

Fall Bird Migration Walk - Otter Creek
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

Special Event
8:30 AM September 24, 2026
Free
Discover amazing migrating birds while learning how avian botulism impacts waterfowl populations. Explore the delicate balance of our changing shoreline ecosystem on this Ranger guided hike through Sleeping Bear Dunes. All skill levels welcome! Binoculars will be available to borrow, or bring your own.
Meet at the Otter Creek Loop Trailhead off of Esch Road, just east of Esch Beach. Latitude and Longitude 44.762096, -86.073686

09/22/2026

This day in history, 1953, The famous “four-level” opens in Los Angeles!

On September 22, 1953, the first four-level (or “stack”) interchange in the world opens in Los Angeles, California, at the intersection of the Harbor, Hollywood, Pasadena, and Santa Ana freeways. It was, as The Saturday Evening Post wrote, “a mad motorist’s dream”: 32 lanes of traffic weaving in eight directions at once. Today, although the four-level is justly celebrated as a civil engineering landmark, the interchange is complicated, frequently congested, and sometimes downright terrifying. (As its detractors are fond of pointing out, it’s probably no coincidence that this highway octopus straddles not only a fetid sulfur spring but also the former site of the town gallows.)

Before the L.A. four-level was built, American highway interchanges typically took the form of a cloverleaf, with four circular ramps designed to let motorists merge from one road to another without braking. But cloverleafs were dangerous, because people merging onto the highway and people merging off of the highway had to jockey for space in the same lane. Four-level interchanges, by contrast, eliminate this looping cross-traffic by stacking long arcs and straightaways on top of one another. As a result, each of their merges only goes in one direction—which means, at least in theory, that they are safer and more efficient.

When the iconic Hollywood-Harbor-Pasadena-Santa Ana four-level was born, it was the most expensive half-mile of highway in the world, costing $5.5 million to build. (Today, highway engineers estimate, $5.5 million would pay for just 250 feet of urban freeway.) Road-builders disemboweled an entire neighborhood—4,000 people lost their homes—and excavated most of the hill it stood on, dumping the rubble in the nearby Chavez Ravine, where Dodger Stadium stands today.

Though its design has inspired dozens of freeway interchanges across the United States, many Angelenos dread their encounters with the four-level: It’s as crowded (500,000 drivers use it every day), stressful and treacherous as the cloverleafs of yesteryear. Still, it’s an indispensable part of the fabric and the mythology of Los Angeles.