ZIP Code
A ZIP Code is a postal code used by the United States Postal Service in a system it introduced in 1963. The term ZIP is an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan; the basic format consists of five digits. An extended ZIP+4 code was introduced in 1983 which includes the five digits of the ZIP Code, followed by a hyphen and four additional digits that reference a more specific location; the term ZIP Code was registered as a servicemark by the U. S. Postal Service, but its registration has since expired; the early history and context of postal codes began with postal district/zone numbers. The United States Post Office Department implemented postal zones for numerous large cities in 1943. For example: The "16" was the number of the postal zone in the specific city. By the early 1960s, a more organized system was needed, non-mandatory five-digit ZIP Codes were introduced nationwide on July 1, 1963; the USPOD issued its Publication 59: Abbreviations for Use with ZIP Code on October 1, 1963, with the list of two-letter state abbreviations which are written with both letters capitalized.
An earlier list in June had proposed capitalized abbreviations ranging from two to five letters. According to Publication 59, the two-letter standard was "based on a maximum 23-position line, because this has been found to be the most universally acceptable line capacity basis for major addressing systems", which would be exceeded by a long city name combined with a multi-letter state abbreviation, such as "Sacramento, Calif." along with the ZIP Code. The abbreviations have remained unchanged, with the exception of Nebraska, changed from NB to NE in 1969 at the request of the Canadian postal administration, to avoid confusion with the Canadian province of New Brunswick. Robert Moon is considered the father of the ZIP Code; the post office only credits Moon with the first three digits of the ZIP Code, which describe the sectional center facility or "sec center." An SCF is a central mail processing facility with those three digits. The fourth and fifth digits, which give a more precise locale within the SCF, were proposed by Henry Bentley Hahn Sr.
The SCF sorts mail to all post offices with those first three digits in their ZIP Codes. The mail is sorted according to the final two digits of the ZIP Code and sent to the corresponding post offices in the early morning. Sectional centers do not deliver mail and are not open to the public, most of their employees work the night shift. Mail picked up at post offices is sent to their own SCF in the afternoon, where the mail is sorted overnight. In the case of large cities, the last two digits coincide with the older postal zone number thus: In 1967, these became mandatory for second- and third-class bulk mailers, the system was soon adopted generally; the United States Post Office used a cartoon character, which it called Mr. ZIP, to promote the use of the ZIP Code, he was depicted with a legend such as "USE ZIP CODE" in the selvage of panes of postage stamps or on the covers of booklet panes of stamps. In 1971 Elmira Star-Gazette reporter Dick Baumbach found out the White House was not using a ZIP Code on its envelopes.
Herb Klein, special assistant to President Nixon, responded by saying the next printing of envelopes would include the ZIP Code. In 1983, the U. S. Postal Service introduced an expanded ZIP Code system that it called ZIP+4 called "plus-four codes", "add-on codes", or "add-ons". A ZIP+4 Code uses the basic five-digit code plus four additional digits to identify a geographic segment within the five-digit delivery area, such as a city block, a group of apartments, an individual high-volume receiver of mail, a post office box, or any other unit that could use an extra identifier to aid in efficient mail sorting and delivery. However, initial attempts to promote universal use of the new format met with public resistance and today the plus-four code is not required. In general, mail is read by a multiline optical character reader that instantly determines the correct ZIP+4 Code from the address—along with the more specific delivery point—and sprays an Intelligent Mail barcode on the face of the mail piece that corresponds to 11 digits—nine for the ZIP+4 Code and two for the delivery point.
For Post Office Boxes, the general rule is. The add-on code is one of the following: the last four digits of the box number, zero plus the last three digits of the box number, or, if the box number consists of fewer than four digits, enough zeros are attached to the front of the box number to produce a four-digit number. However, there is no uniform rule, so the ZIP+4 Code must be looked up individually for each box; the ZIP Code is translated into an Intelligent Mail barcode, printed on the mailpiece to make it easier for automated machines to sort. A barcode can be printed by the sender, it is better to let the post office put one on. In general, the post office uses OCR technology, though in some cases a human might have to read and enter the address. Customers who send bulk mail can get a discount on postage if they have printed the barcode themselves and have presorted the mai
Walled Lake Western High School
Walled Lake Western High School, is a secondary school of the Walled Lake Consolidated School District, located in Commerce Township, Michigan in Greater Detroit. The school serves portions of the township, most of Walled Lake, most of Wixom and portions of Novi. Opened in 1969, Walled Lake Western was the second high school in Walled Lake. Western's mascot is the Warrior and the school colors are Royal Blue and Silver. Kirsten Haglund, who graduated in 2006, was named Miss America 2008; the International Baccalaureate program started in the 2012-2013 school year for grades 11 and 12. In 2009, Walled Lake Western High School was ranked in the top 5% of all schools in the nation by Newsweek magazine; the ranking is calculated by the “number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and/or Cambridge tests taken by all students at a school in 2008 divided by the number of graduating seniors." Beginning in the fall of 2013, Western will begin the International Baccalaureate Diploma program for 11th and 12th grade students as an alternative to AP Testing.
Western belongs to the Kensington Lakes Activities Association. In 1984, the Warriors baseball team captured the school's first state championship; the football team won the state title in 1996, again in 1999. Their field is known as Warrior Stadium due to the school's nickname. Craig DeRoche - Former Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives Kirsten Haglund - Miss Michigan 2007 and Miss America 2008 David Booth - NHL player for the Detroit Red Wings Josh Jones - NFL player for the Green Bay Packers Walled Lake Western High School
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the President of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D. C. and has been the residence of every U. S. President since John Adams in 1800; the term "White House" is used as a metonym for the president and his advisers. The residence was designed by Irish-born architect James Hoban in the neoclassical style. Hoban modelled the building on Leinster House in Dublin, a building which today houses the Oireachtas, the Irish legislature. Construction took place between 1800 using Aquia Creek sandstone painted white; when Thomas Jefferson moved into the house in 1801, he added low colonnades on each wing that concealed stables and storage. In 1814, during the War of 1812, the mansion was set ablaze by the British Army in the Burning of Washington, destroying the interior and charring much of the exterior. Reconstruction began immediately, President James Monroe moved into the reconstructed Executive Residence in October 1817.
Exterior construction continued with the addition of the semi-circular South portico in 1824 and the North portico in 1829. Because of crowding within the executive mansion itself, President Theodore Roosevelt had all work offices relocated to the newly constructed West Wing in 1901. Eight years in 1909, President William Howard Taft expanded the West Wing and created the first Oval Office, moved as the section was expanded. In the main mansion, the third-floor attic was converted to living quarters in 1927 by augmenting the existing hip roof with long shed dormers. A newly constructed East Wing was used as a reception area for social events. East Wing alterations were completed in 1946. By 1948, the residence's load-bearing exterior walls and internal wood beams were found to be close to failure. Under Harry S. Truman, the interior rooms were dismantled and a new internal load-bearing steel frame constructed inside the walls. Once this work was completed, the interior rooms were rebuilt; the modern-day White House complex includes the Executive Residence, West Wing, East Wing, the Eisenhower Executive Office Building—the former State Department, which now houses offices for the President's staff and the Vice President—and Blair House, a guest residence.
The Executive Residence is made up of six stories—the Ground Floor, State Floor, Second Floor, Third Floor, as well as a two-story basement. The property is a National Heritage Site owned by the National Park Service and is part of the President's Park. In 2007, it was ranked second on the American Institute of Architects list of "America's Favorite Architecture". Following his April 1789 inauguration, President George Washington occupied two executive mansions in New York City: the Samuel Osgood House at 3 Cherry Street, the Alexander Macomb House at 39–41 Broadway. In May 1790, New York began construction of Government House for his official residence, but he never occupied it; the national capital moved to Philadelphia in December 1790. The July 1790 Residence Act named Philadelphia, Pennsylvania the temporary national capital for a 10-year period while the Federal City was under construction; the City of Philadelphia rented Robert Morris's city house at 190 High Street for Washington's presidential residence.
The first U. S. President occupied the Market Street mansion from November 1790 to March 1797 and altered it in ways that may have influenced the design of the White House; as part of a futile effort to have Philadelphia named the permanent national capital, Pennsylvania built a much grander presidential mansion several blocks away, but Washington declined to occupy it. President John Adams occupied the Market Street mansion from March 1797 to May 1800. On Saturday, November 1, 1800, he became the first president to occupy the White House; the President's House in Philadelphia became a hotel and was demolished in 1832, while the unused presidential mansion became home to the University of Pennsylvania. The President's House was a major feature of Pierre Charles L'Enfant's' plan for the newly established federal city, Washington, D. C.. The architect of the White House was chosen in a design competition which received nine proposals, including one submitted anonymously by Thomas Jefferson. President Washington visited Charleston, South Carolina in May 1791 on his "Southern Tour", saw the under-construction Charleston County Courthouse designed by Irish architect James Hoban.
He is reputed to have met with Hoban then. The following year, he summoned the architect to Philadelphia and met with him in June 1792. On July 16, 1792, the President met with the commissioners of the federal city to make his judgment in the architectural competition, his review is recorded as being brief, he selected Hoban's submission. The building has classical inspiration sources, that could be found directly or indirectly in the Roman architect Vitruvius or in Andrea Palladio styles; the building Hoban designed is verifiably influenced by the upper floors of Leinster House, in Dublin, which became the seat of the Oireachtas. Several other Georgian-era Irish country houses have been suggested as sources of inspiration for the overall floor plan, details like the bow-fronted south front, interior details like the former niches in the present Blue Room; these influences, though undocumented, are cited in the official White House guide, in White
Commerce Township, Michigan
Commerce Township the Charter Township of Commerce, is a charter township of Oakland County, suburb of Detroit, located in the U. S. state of Michigan. The population was 40,186 at the 2010 census; the terrain is rolling hills with large expanses of suburban development. The Huron River runs north-south through the township. Commerce was a weekend and summer resort for Detroiters because of the area's small inland lakes and peaceful seclusion, but due to recent development the cottages are now all permanent homes. There has been a sharp increase in population in the last few years on or near the several lakes and golf courses. Much of Proud Lake State Recreation Area is within the township; the northern terminus of M-5 is in Commerce. The busy highway would have continued north to Interstate 75, but because of the area's high property value and the many lakes that dot the landscape such a project would have been far too costly. In 1994, David Hahn, a 17-year-old Eagle Scout, constructed a makeshift nuclear reactor in his backyard in Commerce Township, exposing himself and his neighbors—and maybe as many as 40,000 people in the area—to radioactive materials, drawing the attention of the EPA.
The event became a short-lived media sensation, a book by Ken Silverstein called The Radioactive Boy Scout was written about the incident and published in 2004. Most of the Township's southern areas are covered by the following cities. Walled Lake is a city in the south central portion of the Township. Northern Wixom covers the extreme southwest portion of the Township as the southern part of the city covers the northwest portion of Novi. Wolverine Lake is an incorporated village in the Township. Additionally, there are 4 unincorporated communities in the Township: Commerce is located at Commerce and Sleeth Roads, it was platted in 1836. Glengary is located on Benstein Road between Oakley Glengary Roads. Oakley Park is located on. Union Lake is an unincorporated community joined in the northeastern part of the township joining the townships of West Bloomfield and White Lake. According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 29.8 square miles, of which 27.6 square miles is land and 2.3 square miles, or 7.61%, is water.
As of the census of 2000, there were 34,764 people, 12,379 households, 9,754 families residing in the township. The population density was 1,261.1 per square mile. There were 12,924 housing units at an average density of 468.8 per square mile. The racial makeup of the township was 96.73% White, 0.50% African American, 0.19% Native American, 1.31% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.32% from other races, 0.95% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.16% of the population. There were 12,379 households out of which 42.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.4% were married couples living together, 7.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 21.2% were non-families. 17.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.3% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.81 and the average family size was 3.19. In the township the population was spread out with 29.5% under the age of 18, 5.6% from 18 to 24, 34.1% from 25 to 44, 23.7% from 45 to 64, 7.1% who were 65 years of age or older.
The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.0 males. The median income for a household in the township was $72,702, the median income for a family was $79,976. Males had a median income of $61,087 versus $36,125 for females; the per capita income for the township was $33,104. About 2.4% of families and 3.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.8% of those under age 18 and 4.4% of those age 65 or over. The two school districts within the boundaries of Commerce Township are Walled Lake Consolidated Schools and Huron Valley Schools. Walled Lake Northern, Walled Lake Central and Walled Lake Western High Schools are all located within the township. Romig, Walter. Michigan Place Names: The History of the Founding and the Naming of More Than Five Thousand Past and Present Michigan Communities. Great Lakes Books Series. Detroit, Michigan: Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-1838-X. ISBN 978-0814318386.
Charter Township of Commerce
Ultimate (sport)
Ultimate known as Ultimate frisbee, is a non-contact team sport played with a flying disc. Ultimate was developed in 1968 by a group of students at Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey. Although Ultimate resembles many traditional sports in its athletic requirements, it is unlike most sports due to its focus on self-officiating at the highest levels of competition; the term frisbee used to generically describe all flying discs, is a registered trademark of the Wham-O toy company, thus the sport is not formally called "Ultimate frisbee", though this name is still in common casual use. Points are scored by passing the disc to a teammate in the opposing end zone. Other basic rules are that players must not take steps while holding the disc, interceptions, incomplete passes, passes out of bounds are turnovers. Rain, wind, or other adversities can make for a testing match with rapid turnovers, heightening the pressure of play. From its beginnings in the American counterculture of the late 1960s, ultimate has resisted empowering any referee with rule enforcement.
Instead it relies on the sportsmanship of players and invokes "Spirit of the Game" to maintain fair play. Players call their own fouls, dispute a foul only when they genuinely believe it did not occur. Playing without referees is the norm for league play but has been supplanted in club competition by the use of "observers" or "game advisors" to help in disputes, the professional league employs empowered referees. In 2012, there were 5.1 million Ultimate players in the United States. Ultimate is played across the world in pickup games and by recreational, club and national teams at various age levels and with open, women's, mixed divisions; the United States wins most of the world titles, but not all of them. US teams won 4 out of 5 divisions in 2014 world championship, all divisions in 2016 competitions between national teams. USA won the 2017 beach world championships, but the Russian women's team ended the American previous undefeated streak by defeating team USA in the women's final. I just remember one time running for a pass and leaping up in the air and just feeling the Frisbee making it into my hand and feeling the perfect synchrony and the joy of the moment, as I landed I said to myself,'This is the ultimate game.
This is the ultimate game.' Team flying disc games using pie tins and cake pan lids were part of Amherst College student culture for decades before plastic discs were available. A similar two-hand, touch-football-based game was played at Kenyon College in Ohio starting in 1942. From 1965 or 1966 Jared Kass and fellow Amherst students Bob Fein, Richard Jacobson, Robert Marblestone, Steve Ward, Fred Hoxie, Gordon Murray, others evolved a team frisbee game based on concepts from American football and soccer; this game had some of the basics of modern Ultimate including scoring by passing over a goal line, advancing the disc by passing, no travelling with the disc, turnovers on interception or incomplete pass. Jared, an instructor and dorm advisor, taught this game to high school student Joel Silver during the summer of 1967 or 1968 at Mount Hermon Prep school summer camp. Joel Silver, along with fellow students Jonny Hines, Buzzy Hellring, others, further developed Ultimate beginning in 1968 at Columbia High School, New Jersey, USA.
The first sanctioned game was played at CHS in 1968 between the student council and the student newspaper staff. Beginning the following year evening games were played in the glow of mercury-vapor lights on the school's student-designated parking lot. Players of Ultimate frisbee used a "Master" disc marketed by Wham-O, based on Fred Morrison's inspired "Pluto Platter" design. Hellring and Hines developed the first and second edition of "Rules of Ultimate Frisbee". In 1970 CHS defeated Millburn High 43–10 in the first interscholastic Ultimate game. CHS, three other New Jersey high schools made up the first conference of Ultimate teams beginning in 1971. Alumni of that first league took the game to their universities. Rutgers defeated Princeton 29–27 in 1972 in the first intercollegiate game; this game was played 103 years after the first intercollegiate American football game by the same teams at the same site, paved as a parking lot in the interim. Rutgers won both games by an identical margin.
Rutgers won the first ultimate frisbee tournament in 1975, hosted by Yale, with 8 college teams participating. That summer ultimate was introduced at the Second World Frisbee Championships at the Rose Bowl; this event introduced ultimate on the west coast of the USA. In 1975, ultimate was introduced at the Canadian Open Frisbee Championships in Toronto as a showcase event. Ultimate league play in Canada began in Toronto in 1979; the Toronto Ultimate Club is one of ultimate's oldest leagues. In January 1977 Wham-O introduced the World Class "80 Mold" 165 gram frisbee; this disc replaced the light and flimsy Master frisbee with much improved stability and consistency of throws in windy conditions. Throws like the flick and hammer were possible with greater control and accuracy with this sturdier disc; the 80 Mold was used in Ultimate tournaments after it was discontinued in 1983. Discraft, founded in the late 1970s by Jim Kenner in London, Ontario moved the company from Canada to its present location in Wixom, Michigan.
Discraft introduced the Ultrastar 175 gram disc in 1981, with an updated mold in 1983. This disc was adopted as the standard for ultimate during the 1980s, with Wham-O holdouts frustrated by the discontinuation of the
Michigan
Michigan is a state in the Great Lakes and Midwestern regions of the United States. The state's name, originates from the Ojibwe word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake". With a population of about 10 million, Michigan is the tenth most populous of the 50 United States, with the 11th most extensive total area, is the largest state by total area east of the Mississippi River, its capital is Lansing, its largest city is Detroit. Metro Detroit is among the nation's largest metropolitan economies. Michigan is the only state to consist of two peninsulas; the Lower Peninsula is noted as shaped like a mitten. The Upper Peninsula is separated from the Lower Peninsula by the Straits of Mackinac, a five-mile channel that joins Lake Huron to Lake Michigan; the Mackinac Bridge connects the peninsulas. The state has the longest freshwater coastline of any political subdivision in the world, being bounded by four of the five Great Lakes, plus Lake Saint Clair; as a result, it is one of the leading U.
S. states for recreational boating. Michigan has 64,980 inland lakes and ponds. A person in the state is never more than six miles from a natural water source or more than 85 miles from a Great Lakes shoreline; the area was first occupied by a succession of Native American tribes over thousands of years. Inhabited by Natives, Métis, French explorers in the 17th century, it was claimed as part of New France colony. After France's defeat in the French and Indian War in 1762, the region came under British rule. Britain ceded this territory to the newly independent United States after Britain's defeat in the American Revolutionary War; the area was part of the larger Northwest Territory until 1800, when western Michigan became part of the Indiana Territory. Michigan Territory was formed in 1805, but some of the northern border with Canada was not agreed upon until after the War of 1812. Michigan was admitted into the Union in 1837 as a free one, it soon became an important center of industry and trade in the Great Lakes region and a popular immigrant destination in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Although Michigan developed a diverse economy, it is known as the center of the U. S. automotive industry, which developed as a major economic force in the early 20th century. It is home to the country's three major automobile companies. While sparsely populated, the Upper Peninsula is important for tourism thanks to its abundance of natural resources, while the Lower Peninsula is a center of manufacturing, agriculture and high-tech industry; when the first European explorers arrived, the most populous tribes were Algonquian peoples, which include the Anishinaabe groups of Ojibwe, Odaawaa/Odawa, the Boodewaadamii/Bodéwadmi. The three nations co-existed peacefully as part of a loose confederation called the Council of Three Fires; the Ojibwe, whose numbers are estimated to have been between 25,000 and 35,000, were the largest. The Ojibwe were established in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and northern and central Michigan, inhabited Ontario and southern Manitoba, Canada; the Ottawa lived south of the Straits of Mackinac in northern and southern Michigan, but in southern Ontario, northern Ohio and eastern Wisconsin.
The Potawatomi were in southern and western Michigan, in addition to northern and central Indiana, northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin, southern Ontario. Other Algonquian tribes in Michigan, in the south and east, were the Mascouten, the Menominee, the Miami, the Sac, the Fox; the Wyandot were an Iroquoian-speaking people in this area. French voyageurs and coureurs des bois settled in Michigan in the 17th century; the first Europeans to reach what became Michigan were those of Étienne Brûlé's expedition in 1622. The first permanent European settlement was founded in 1668 on the site where Père Jacques Marquette established Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan as a base for Catholic missions. Missionaries in 1671–75 founded outlying stations at Saint Ignace and Marquette. Jesuit missionaries were well received by the area's Indian populations, with few difficulties or hostilities. In 1679, Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle built Fort Miami at present-day St. Joseph. In 1691, the French established a trading post and Fort St. Joseph along the St. Joseph River at the present-day city of Niles.
In 1701, French explorer and army officer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac founded Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit or "Fort Pontchartrain on-the-Strait" on the strait, known as the Detroit River, between lakes Saint Clair and Erie. Cadillac had convinced King Louis XIV's chief minister, Louis Phélypeaux, Comte de Pontchartrain, that a permanent community there would strengthen French control over the upper Great Lakes and discourage British aspirations; the hundred soldiers and workers who accompanied Cadillac built a fort enclosing one arpent and named it Fort Pontchartrain. Cadillac's wife, Marie Thérèse Guyon, soon moved to Detroit, becoming one of the first European women to settle in what was considered the wilderness of Michigan; the town became a major fur-trading and shipping post. The Église de Saint-Anne was founded the same year. While the original building does not survive, the congregation remains active. Cadillac departed to serve as the French governor of Louisiana from 1710 to 1716.
French attempts to consol
Interstate 96
Interstate 96 is an east–west Interstate Highway that runs for 192 miles within the Lower Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. The western terminus is at an interchange with US Highway 31 and Business US 31 on the eastern boundary of Norton Shores southeast of Muskegon, the eastern terminus is at I-75 near the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit. From Grand Rapids through Lansing to Detroit, the freeway parallels Grand River Avenue, never straying more than a few miles from the decommissioned US 16; the Wayne County section of I-96 is named the Jeffries Freeway from its eastern terminus to the junction with I-275 and M-14. Though maps still refer to the freeway as the Jeffries, the portion within the city of Detroit was renamed by the state legislature as the Rosa Parks Memorial Highway in December 2005 in honor of the late civil rights pioneer. There are four auxiliary Interstates as well as two current and four former business routes associated with I-96. Grand River Avenue originated as an Indian trail before Michigan statehood.
It was used as a wagon road across the state. The roadway was included in the State Trunkline Highway System in 1919 as M-16 and the United States Numbered Highway System as US 16. Construction of a freeway along the length of the corridor was proposed in the 1940s, included as part of the Interstate Highway System in the mid-1950s; this construction was started in 1956 and completed across the state to Detroit in 1962. The proposed route for the Jeffries Freeway in Detroit was moved in the 1960s. I-96 was completed on November 1977, in the Detroit area, closing the last gap along the route. Since additional interchanges and lanes have been added in places to accommodate traffic needs. I-96 is maintained by the Michigan Department of Transportation as a segment of the larger State Trunkline Highway System. In 2011, the department's traffic surveys showed that on average, 201,200 vehicles used the highway daily between 6 and 7 Mile roads in Livonia. Near Norton Shores, 20,638 vehicles did so each day between Fruitport roads.
These are the lowest counts along the highway, respectively. As an Interstate Highway, all of I-96 is included in the National Highway System, a network of roads important to the country's economy and mobility. In addition, the highway in Detroit has been named the Rosa Parks Memorial Highway by the Michigan Legislature to honor the civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks; the segment from Livonia west to I-275 is the Jeffries Freeway, named for a former mayor of Detroit, Edward Jeffries. I-96 begins at a three-quarter cloverleaf interchange with US 31 northeast of the Muskegon County Airport in Norton Shores, near Muskegon. At the starting terminus, the highway has a grassy median and two lanes in each direction as it travels southeasterly through rural Muskegon County; the freeway is paralleled by Airline Highway in an area with a mix of fields and residences as far as Fruitport. I-96 bypasses that village to the north and east before crossing into Ottawa County at Fruitport Road. After a distance of about five miles in the county, the trunkline reaches Nunica.
The highway turns eastward toward Coopersville. The freeway runs parallel to the Grand River, about 2.5 miles to the north. Near Ironwood Drive, I-96 goes through Marne. Beyond Marne, I-96 passes the western end of M-11 and crosses into Kent County, curving around a rest area for the eastbound lanes; the freeway runs eastward through a light industrial area of the suburb of Walker as it enters the Grand Rapids metropolitan area. At the interchange with Alpine Avenue, M-37 merges onto the freeway and the two run concurrently past the studios for WZZM-TV with its iconic weatherball, a 16-foot-wide sphere 100 feet above the ground that uses colored lights to display a weather forecast. Adjacent to the studios are the ramps from eastbound I-96 to southbound US 131 and from northbound US 131 to westbound I-96; these ramps mark the northern end of I-296, an unsigned auxiliary Interstate Highway designation applied to them and the US 131 freeway south to downtown Grand Rapids. I-96 turns northeasterly past a commercial area to a three-quarter cloverleaf interchange that provides all of the other connections with US 131 next to a crossing of the Grand River.
East of the river, I-96 and M-37 pass through the northern suburb of Comstock Park, intersecting Connector M-44 near Lamberton Lake. Past that interchange, the freeway angles southeasterly and southward, bypassing Grand Rapids to the northeast. East of downtown, I-96/M-37 meets I-196 at a partial interchange. East of the interchange is another for M-44 where M-37 separates from the freeway to turn southward. Through this series of interchanges, I-96 curves to the east and turns back southward after passing through them. There are two more interchanges for M-21 and Cascade Road before I-96 meets the eastern end of M-11 at 28th Street; the next interchange for 36th Street provides access to the Gerald R. Ford International Airport; the freeway continues to the east of the airport and intersects the eastern end of M-6 at an interchange over the confluence of the Thornapple and Grand rivers. The freeway exits the edges of the Grand Rapids urban area past the interchange with M-6, turning due east and paralleling the northern edge of Cascade Road.
I-96 curves to the south of Pratt Lake near the county line, crossing into Io
