Kids Day 2012 -- a free daylong event packed with fun activities for children -- will hit the Midland Mall from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. More than 50 area kid-oriented organizations will set up tables including the Chippewa Nature Center, Midland Gymnastics Training Center, Mid-Michigan Children's Museum and more.
"The event is held for the kids of the community and surrounding area," said organizer Linda Malekadeli. "It not only provides information as to what services are available for kids, but also as something to do on a cold, snowy day." Malekadeli said a variety of crafts and activities will be offered at each booth with center stage entertainment throughout the day. The White Pine Pipes & Drums and Highland Dancers will kick off the event at 10 a.m. followed by a martial arts demonstration by Yats' Tae Kwon Do.

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North Point Ministries will be holding a Soup and Salad Luncheon fundraiser on Sunday, Jan. 29, immediately following the morning service. All proceeds of the luncheon will be given to Pastor Sean and Carol Rodgers, former youth pastor of North Point Ministries, for the life-saving kidney transplant needed for their son, Brandon Rodgers. At age 10, while the Rodgers family lived and worked in Midland, Brandon had one bad kidney removed. Three years ago he was diagnosed with stage I kidney failure. In October 2011 Brandon had to be put on dialysis. He is currently on dialysis every night for 10 hours awaiting transplant surgery. Brandon's mother, Carol, is a match for the transplant and will be donating a kidney for her son. Brandon is currently on the transplant list but requires bladder surgery before the transplant can be done. They are hoping to do the transplant by summer. Brandon is currently a high school senior.

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If you love sports, promise critics around the country, you're going to love the Reduced Shakespeare Companys "The Complete World of Sports (abridged)." And if youre not a big sports fan, the bad boys of abridgment are going to hit this one right out of the park. Thats the thing, said Reed Martin, who brings the Monty Python-meets-ESPN edition Friday, Feb. 3, to the Midland Center for the Arts. Sports is just the jumping board. Weve done six or seven of these already, and were getting pretty good at it. If you like comedy, youre going to have fun.

It was a busy day for the Michigan Department of Transportation on Tuesday as dozens of residents showed up at a public meeting in Midland to learn more about a proposed 1.3 million roundabout in the city. The roundabout would replace the crossover where eastbound traffic on Lyon Road crosses the westbound U.S. 10 Business Route to join Patrick Road. The crossover has had a high number of accidents, with 28 angle crashes in the last five years and 20 crashes with injuries in the same time period. "This is a safety project," said Bill Mayhew, manager of the MDOT Transportation Service Center in Mount Pleasant. The Federal High Administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation have done studies about roundabouts and they reduce crashes by 76 percent and they reduce fatalities by 90 percent. Those are real reductions. The purpose of this project is to save lives and reduce crashes.

The Midland Public School Board of Education announced this week that Central Middle School will close following the end of the 2012-2013 school year. Carl Ellinger, superintendent of Midland Public Schools, said that the closure will save the district 410,000 annually.  "We will start working with staff members in preparation for the last year," Ellinger said. "There will be some celebrations and some reassurances for students it is important to our board to continue to provide students with a high quality education in the last year of operation."

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Rep. Dave Camp, R-Midland, and others supporting Mitt Romney's bid for the GOP Presidential nomination, have stepped up their attacks against fellow contender Newt Gingrich. Camp, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, says Gingrich endangered welfare reform from passing in the mid-1990s, according to a report from the Detroit Free Press, despite the fact Gingrich often takes credit for helping the reforms pass.

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Nothing breeds success like success, and after an enthusiastic response last weekend to Bob Hausler's first Songwriters Showcase, that means a fresh round of talent coming Sunday, March 25, to the Midland Brewing Co. Performing in the round are folk singer Jen Cass, who most recently performed at the Bay City Folk and Acoustic Music Festival; Donny Brown, a prolific songwriter and producer who also plays drums for The Verve Pipe, and roots musician Dave Boutette. "We had more than 60 people turn out," and they were an appreciative audience as well, said Beth Hausler.

When Chris Moultrup and his team from the Midland-based MidMichigan Innovation Center started making plans for TEDxMidland, coming Saturday, Jan. 28, to the Midland Center for the Arts, they saw it as a creative meet-and-great. "We wanted to introduce TED technology, entertainment, design to the market," the center's program director said of the non-profit creative think tank. But with its 100 tickets nearly gone, he said, it appears that the concept of sparking ideas through thought-provoking presentations and the resulting discussions is already a hit in Midland. Richard Saul Wurman held the first TED conference in 1984 in Monterey, Calif., demonstrating the Sony compact disc and 3D graphics from Lucasfilm, along with a new way to map coastlines through newly discovered fractals. But it was a financial failure, and Wurman and his partner Harry Marks didnt hold another one for six years.

Two downtown Midland businesses one old and one fairly new will swap buildings in February. Both owners say the change will help them. Jeff and Jo Currier, who own Ways to Wellness at 140 Ashman St., decided to buy the building at 122 W. Main St. where Meier Camera is located. Jeff said the wellness store, which opened in August 2010, needs more room. Jerry Meier, owner of Meier Camera, said his family has been involved with the business since the early 1960s. His business is changing because of the digital photo industry, so the smaller space will suit him just fine, he said. The move will occur Feb. 18, a Saturday. On the following Monday, Meier Camera will reopen. Ways to Wellness will reopen on Tuesday, Feb. 22, Jo said. "I'm thinking of doing this in a day or two and going to be open again on Monday," Meier said. Well see.

Midland Symphony Orchestra presents "Inside the Music," a multi-media, educational lecture on classical music featured in the MSO's 2011-2012 season. Local music connoisseur and discographer Etcyl Blair will speak at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 23, in the Lecture Room at Midland Center for the Arts, 1801 W. St. Andrews Road. Admission is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. For more information contact the MSO Office at 989-631- 5930, ext. 1502 or e-mail dimond@mcfta.org.