Auto show confessions from a reporter who's called southeast Michigan home all his life

True story: I have never been to the North American International Auto Show.

I'm not sure how many others in southeast Michigan will say the same thing, but I've never been able to or taken the opportunity to go to Cobo Center and see the newest and greatest concept cars.

It's not that the cars aren't fascinating; they are. I've never been a huge car enthusiast, and grew up in a household that wasn't big on cars (My grandfather did work for Chrysler, though, so I am slightly biased when it comes to favorite brand).

So, I ask you, Washtenaw County: what are the best parts of the auto show I've been missing? I'm curious to know. I'm not sure I'll venture up to Cobo this year, but I hope to.

Meanwhile, here's a collection of photos, videos and other tidbits of what's being said about the auto show locally. Enjoy!

Washtenaw County preps for New Year's Eve

As Frank Loesser asked: What are you doing New Year's Eve?

We were curious to see what Washtenaw County was talking about for the celebrations, and we rounded up some postings on Twitter, which you can see below.

What are some of the big events happening around town? (And do you care to invite any of us? :))

Local swine flu updates on Twitter

For everyone who is on Twitter, I thought you would want to know about this.

Public health organizations, hospitals and concerned citizens of Washtenaw County ask residents with access to Twitter to include the hash tag, #WashtenawH1N1, when tweeting about their experiences with H1N1 within the county.

The goal is to provide a single resource for residents of Washtenaw County who want to know where H1N1 vaccine is available, and how long wait times may be at various locations.

Instructions:

To tweet information, log-in to Twitter with your User ID and include the hash tag, #WashtenawH1N1, in your tweet.

To read the information, visit http://twitter.com and search for the hash tag, #WashtenawH1N1.

Once tweets begin to be posted, you will find the real-time stream of tweets here: http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23WashtenawH1N1.

Tweets will be searchable for up to seven days. Information at the top of the list is the most recent.