DETROIT – Jason Carr: Outside of the traffic report we don't hear or use the freeway names, do we? What's up with that? It's not like your friend who got into a fender bender on 696 retells the story as, "so I crashed on the Reuther…" No. He says 696 as we all do.
I've spent almost my entire life as a sentient upright being on this planet without ever having referred to I-94 as "the Ford freeway." How weird that sounds! And at the same time you'd never call the Davison anything but the Davison.
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Incidentally, about the Davison: I commute to work every morning 25 miles from the burbs to downtown, following the Lodge/Northwestern Highway/M-10 (ugh, the multiple names!) almost the entire way. And this I can tell you; the Davison Effect is real. The Davison Effect will mess with your head. The Davison Effect is incredibly frustrating.
Here's what happens. It's 5:30 in the morning (or 4:30 or 3:30). You're driving on the Lodge for miles and miles carefree, not needing to change lanes to avoid other drivers for 10, 15, 20 miles at a stretch. And then you round the bend by Wyoming and the first road sign lets you know the Davison exit is 2 ½ miles away. This is when, as if conjured by a genie, random slow cars will suddenly appear, staggered across all lanes. These cars were not there a second ago. It's almost like they were on the shoulder waiting, and when you passed the Wyoming exit you unknowingly triggered an infrared laser that signaled these cars to get into motion-slowly! Must be slow and lane-clogging!
You will then be forced to take evasive action, as your 80 mph carefree jaunt has now become Dodge 'Em cars at Cedar Point. And you can bet your sweet bippy that the guy in the smoking 1988 Bonneville with no tail lights in the right lane-who has two miles(!) to get over to the left lane Davison exit-will not let you pass him and THEN change lanes. Oh no-he's going to do it right now. At a leisurely 50 mph. He's coming over no matter what. Because that is the Davison Effect.
I'm sure you don't believe me. But it's true. I've commuted to Local 4 from my house something like 700 weekdays since I started working here and I know there's something called confirmation bias, which simply means once you notice something you're sure it happens all the time. Well, I'm here to tell you I don't care how empty the Lodge is at 3:30 or 4:30 or 5:30 in the morning-as soon as I or you or anyone rounds that corner at the Wyoming exit, watch out. Those shadow cars are waiting to ruin your day.
And I will never call 96 the Jefferies.
Here’s what we’re working on for Friday, February 21st on Local 4 News Today --
All Morning – Bundle Up!
Brandon Roux: It will be clear and cold Friday morning too as lows dip into the single digits to low teens, and the wind will once again start picking up. So, dangerous wind chills again tomorrow mainly single digits to subzero and that can lead to frostbite if you’re not properly covered up. Highs tomorrow will take off into the mid 30s with with tons of sunshine and winds SW 7-17 gusting 20-25 mph keeping chilly ‘feels like’ conditions around most of the day despite that beautiful sunshine.
- Get the full forecast here
All Morning – Weekend Construction
Another weekend in Metro Detroit means more orange barrels. We’ll help you get around the projects.
- Check traffic conditions in your neighborhood here
6:15 a.m. - Fitness Friday
“Knock, knock!” “Who’s there?" “Orange.” “Orange, who?” “Orange you glad Rhonda’s testing out a new exercise Theory for Fitness Friday?”
6:45 a.m. – Black History Month
This month on Local 4 News Today, we are celebrating Black History Month with some really great stories. Profiles on amazing people and incredible places. Be sure to tune in each morning for a new story. Friday, Rhonda Walker takes us inside the Detroit home that played a pivotal role in the city’s race relations. It’s a story about the mob, murder and history.
ICYMI
❓Today’s Trivia Retake❓
Every weekday morning at 6 a.m., we ask you a trivia question on Local 4 for a chance to win a prize.
- Friday Question: On this day in 1962, the first American astronaut orbited the Earth in a space flight lasting close to 5 hours. Who was it?
- Answer: John Glenn
- Be sure to watch daily at 6 a.m. and click this link to enter for a chance to win.
National Days: February 21st
- National Caregivers Day
- National Sticky Bun Day
- National Grain-Free Day
History Highlights: February 21st
- In 1916, the World War I Battle of Verdun began in France as German forces attacked; the French were able to prevail after 10 months of fighting.
- In 1945, during the World War II Battle of Iwo Jima, the escort carrier USS Bismarck Sea was sunk by kamikazes with the loss of 318 men.
- In 1965, black Muslim leader and civil rights activist Malcolm X, 39, was shot to death inside Harlem’s Audubon Ballroom in New York by assassins identified as members of the Nation of Islam. (Three men were convicted of murder and imprisoned; all were eventually paroled.)
- In 1972, President Richard M. Nixon began his historic visit to China as he and his wife, Pat, arrived in Beijing.
- In 1975, former Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H.R. Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman were sentenced to 2 1/2 to 8 years in prison for their roles in the Watergate cover-up (each ended up serving a year and a-half).
- In 1992, Kristi Yamaguchi of the United States won the gold medal in ladies’ figure skating at the Albertville Olympics; Midori Ito of Japan won the silver, Nancy Kerrigan of the U.S., the bronze.
- In 2013, Drew Peterson, the Chicago-area police officer who gained notoriety after his much-younger fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, vanished in 2007, was sentenced to 38 years in prison for murdering his third wife, Kathleen Savio.
Celebrity Birthdays: February 21st
Celebrating a birthday Friday? Submit a Sunshine Award here and we could say your name on Local 4 News Today during our 6 a.m. show.
Here’s who you’re sharing a birthday with –
- Actress Jennifer Love Hewitt is 41
- Actor Kelsey Grammer is 65
- Actress Sophie Turner (Game of Thrones) is 24
- Actor Kumial Nanjiana (Silicon Valley) is 42
- Actress Ellen Page is 33
- Singer-songwriter Nina Simone is 71
- Blanket Jackson (Michael Jackson’s son) is 18
- Novelist Chuck Palahniuk is 58
- Actor & Director Jordan Peele is 41
- Writer Justin Roiland (Rick & Morty) is 40