Less than Truckload shipping company in Detroit, MI

Flower Day at Eastern Market, a nostalgic celebration of antique cars and Michigan’s largest comic book and pop culture convention are some of the attractions around metro Detroit this weekend.

Here are 5 things to do for the weekend of May 19-21.

Flower season is here, and Flower Day at Eastern Market will feature Metro Detroit Flower Growers Association vendors from all over the Midwest, along with added festivities for all ages.

Flower Day is 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, May 21 at Eastern Market, 2934 Russell in Detroit. Free admission.

Flower vendors are also scheduled to be in Shed 6 every day through Father’s Day from sunrise to sunset and flowers are also available weekly at the Saturday Market throughout flower season.

Flower Tuesday Markets are 9 a.m.-3 p.m. May 23 and 30 in Sheds 5 and 6.

A gathering of retro and restored cars built before 1994 will grace the grounds of a Detroit park at this free family event showcasing vintage vehicles.

A 1926 Model TT Truck once owned by the Faygo Beverage Company, a decommissioned 1990 FMC Firetruck once belonging to the city of Grosse Pointe, and an all original 1958 Lincoln Premier Coupe with plastic seat covers are among the vehicles scheduled to be displayed at the show.

Members of the Detroit Lincoln Group will be in attendance and the Antique Touring Company will offer free rides in a 1929 Model T, Woody Wagon, around the grounds and around the block.

11 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Etheldra Mae Williams Park, 14300 Burgess between Lyndon and Acacia in Detroit. Free.

Michigan’s largest comic book and pop culture convention returns for its 34th year with an enormous lineup of meet-and greets with celebrities and comic book creators, panel discussions, Kids' Den, Anime Room, vendor displays and other attractions.

A few of the celebrity guests scheduled to attend include: Will Poulter, Clark Gregg , Jason Isaacs, Christopher Lloyd, Stephen Amell, Michael Rooker, Sean Gunn, Charles Martinet, Mark Sheppard, Michael Beihn, Jennifer Blanc, Edward Furlong, Bryce Papenbrook, Jeff Dekal, Troy Little and Simon Bisley. Visit motorcitycomiccon.com for a complete list of celebrity and comic guests.

Noon-7 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday at Suburban Collection Showplace, 46100 Grand River in Novi. For ages 13 and up, online tickets start at $30; tickets at the door start at $40; for children 6-12, online tickets are $10; tickets at the door are $20; kids 5 and under enter free.

More than 100 pets from rescue centers throughout the state will be at this pet adoption event hosted by the Mike Morse Law Firm in partnership with Michigan Humane, with giveaways for guests.

Agencies expected to attend include: Midwest Small Breed, No Dogs Left Behind, Good Karma Puppy Rescue, Friends for Animals of Metro Detroit, Bottle Babies Rescue, DACC, Boxer Haven Rescue, Saving Cats & Kittens and Michigan Anti Cruelty Society.

Adoption fees and policies vary by participating groups.

10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, at Mike Morse Law Firm’s parking lot, 24901 Northwestern Highway. in Southfield.

The Dequindre Cut Freight Yard, an outdoor bar and gathering space built from nine repurposed shipping containers on the Dequindre Cut Greenway, returns for the 2023 season. There will be food, beer, cocktails, ice cream, bonfires, free s’mores, music, games and activities for all ages.

Motown Roller Club will also host Fridays at the Freight Ride. Bring your skates, skateboards and bikes to join the group for a ride up and down the Dequindre Cut.

Opening night is 6-9 p.m. Friday. Seasonal hours are weekends through September from 4-10 p.m. Fridays; 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturdays, and 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Sundays at 1905 Alfred in Detroit. Enter the Dequindre Cut at the Wilkins and Orleans entrance for the quickest access. There is free parking in the gravel lot at Wilkins and Orleans in the Eastern Market District. Free bike parking is available on-site at the Freight Yard. Free entry.

Brendel Hightower is an assistant editor at the Detroit Free Press. Contact her at bhightower@freepress.com.

A U.S. Coast Guard investigation points to an "electronics malfunction" for why a freighter only a few months old and longer than two football fields lost power, then maneuverability, on the Detroit River and ran aground, leaving it stranded for four hours.

The 639-foot merchant vessel — the Mark W. Barker — was freed by a commercial tug boat and moved, by its own power, to a Belle Isle anchorage.

But until repairs are made and the ship is cleared, it cannot continue on its voyage to Milwaukee, the Coast Guard said Thursday. To help officials added, Interlake Steamship Co., the ship's owner, flew a technician to Detroit to mend its damaged systems.

The Coast Guard also has begun interviewing the ship's crew of 21 to uncover more clues to the mishap. The maritime safety agency, however, said a fuller report of what happened on Wednesday is unlikely to be released for a week or more.

"Usually in groundings like this, the vessel can be there for a long time," Coast Guard Lt. junior grade Adeeb Ahmad said, adding he did know when the ship or the investigation report would be released. "This was unique in that within four hours, it was moving again."

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The National Transportation Safety Board, which also is responsible for civil transportation accident investigations, said Thursday it is not looking into the recent grounding. Generally, the NTSB only gets involved in shipping incidents when they involve casualties or are flagged by the Coast Guard.

Fortunately, the Coast Guard said, no one was injured, the ship was not damaged, and there were no leaks of the 20,000 tons of rock salt cargo or the 105,000 gallons of diesel fuel.

Still, the maritime officials added, such an incident potentially could have been calamitous. Two common accidents, collisions and groundings, pose various marine threats. And what adds to the investigation's significance — and company's public embarrassment ― is that the vessel, the Mark W. Barker, is new and the pride of the fleet.

Named after the Middleburg Heights, Ohio-based company's president, the ship was christened just last year. It is the first large bulk carrier built on the Great Lakes since 1981. Interlake also boasts the company is the "most efficient and environmentally responsible in the shipping industry" with of a fleet of 10 ships.

Interlake has described the Mark W. Barker as having a square-shaped, flat-bottomed cargo hold instead of a traditional V-shaped angled bottom and boasted the ship's "forward-looking design" offers "high-efficiency propulsion and maneuverability."

Interlake said it names all of its vessels after executives and their wives. Other ships include the James R. Barker, namesake of the company's chairman and Mark Barker's father, and the Kaye E. Barker, so dubbed after the president's mother.

The Detroit News

Detroit ― A 639-foot Great Lakes freighter carrying 21,000 tons of salt and headed for Milwaukee was stuck for more than four hours in the Detroit River on Wednesday after running aground just feet from the Belle Isle shoreline.

It was freed by early afternoon.

The freighter, the M/V Mark W. Barker, was headed toward Lake St. Clair from Cleveland when it got stuck around 8 a.m., not far from the Dossin Great Lakes Museum on the island's east end. With the help of a tugboat, it was freed around 12:10 p.m. "with the assistance of commercial towing," the Coast Guard said.

No pollution or damage were reported. Coast Guard Lt. j.g. Grade Adeeb Ahmad, public affairs officer for the Detroit sector, said the Coast Guard deployed teams earlier Wednesday to assess the cause and investigate any potential leaks.

The ship, which also was carrying 105,000 gallons of diesel fuel and was headed to Milwaukee, expected to arrive Friday, "experienced a loss of power and maneuverability" at about 7:30 a.m., said Chrissy Kadleck, spokeswoman for the Interlake Steamship Co., a Middleburg Heights, Ohio-based Great Lakes carrier that owns the ship.

"The vessel turned to port unexpectedly and the ship's captain dropped the anchor before the bow grounded on the soft bank of the channel," Kadleck said. "No one was injured in the incident nor does there appear to be any risk of pollution or damage to the vessel."

But "working with the United States Coast Guard and with the assistance of a tug, the vessel was able to back away from the bank and get underway to make its way to the Belle Isle Anchorage, where the crew will continue to assess the vessel and work to determine the cause of the incident," she said in an email.

A repair crew will diagnose the power issue and fix it before the ship gets back underway, said Chief Petty Officer John Masson with the 9th District in Cleveland.

The ship had its maiden voyage in July 2022, according to the company.

St. Clair Shores native Ed Pascua, who captains a fishing charter boat out of Belle Isle every morning, watched the mishap unfold from the water.

"As it approached, it started turning. ... I seen him turning sideways and then I said, 'I think this guy's in trouble,'" Pascua said. "Then we seen him drop his anchor, I'm assuming to try to slow him down before he got to the island. ... And then we seen the front end raise as it hit the shallow water."

Pascua was about 300 yards away from the freighter when it ran aground. He has been running the charter service for 20 years and fishing on the Detroit River for 45 years but has never witnessed anything like the grounding. It did not affect the morning's fishing haul, Pascua said.

"They did make the initial turn, and then it didn't seem to turn back," Pascua said.

Diane Reid of Shelby Township was on Belle Isle and saw the ship, which "jack-knifed," she said.

“I saw this one go by and then you know, I didn't think anything of it," Reid said. “And then my friend texted me and said that there was a boat run aground. … I knew it wasn't on this end and so I came down here and I looked and I was like, 'Whoa.'"

The Mark W. Barker, named after the Ohio company's president, is the Interlake Steamship Co.'s first new ship since 1981. Built in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, it was the first new ship built on the Great Lakes in 35 years, the company said.

Founded more than a century ago, the Interlake Steamship Co. boasts being the largest privately held U.S.-flag fleet on the Great Lakes and has a fleet of nine vessels. It annually transports 20 million tons of raw materials, including iron ore, flux stone, stone and coal.

After the freighter ran aground, a small crowd gathered at Belle Isle to watch it in the water, marveling at its size and what happened.

Dan Dempsey, 67, of St. Clair Shores said he'd never seen a ship run aground near Belle Isle before.

"I've lived here my whole life and have a boat, I'm on the water all the time," Dempsey said. "I heard (about) it through friends, knowing they'd be involved and knowing that I'd be running down here. ... I had to check it out to see what happened. It looks like it's pretty solid."

Maezine Denson, 68, of Detroit still remembers when a boat capsized under the Ambassador Bridge years ago and her parents took her to see it.

"When I heard about this, I had to come down to see it for myself — I was surprised it was still here," Denson said. "This is what we do in our retirement age, we find events to run to ... and we meet interesting people and learn interesting stories."

Two years ago in December 2020, engine failure stranded a freighter, the Harvest Spirit, for two days in the Detroit River's Livingstone Channel before it was moved with tugboat assistance. A second vessel, a cargo ship named the Gardno, struck the river's bottom while trying to sail around the Harvest Spirit.

hmackay@detroitnews.com

LSU’s 40-12 record is its best through 52 games since 2015, when the Tigers were 44-8 … LSU’s 17-9 SEC record this season is the Tigers’ best conference mark through 26 games since the 2017 club was also 17-9 in league play.

No. 4 LSU Tigers (40-12, 17-9 SEC) at Georgia Bulldogs (28-24, 10-17 SEC)

DATES/TIMES • Thursday, May 18 @ 5 p.m. CT (SEC Network +) • Friday, May 19 @ 5 p.m. CT (SEC Network +) • Saturday, May 20 @ 12 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)

STADIUM • Foley Field in Athens, Ga. (3,291)

RANKINGS • LSU – No. 4 in USA Today; No. 5 in D1 Baseball; No. 5 in Baseball America (No. 4 in NCAA RPI) • UGA – unranked (No. 37 in NCAA RPI)

RADIO • LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates, including 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge • Live audio at www.LSUsports.net/live; Live stats at www.LSUstats.com

ONLINE • All three games will be streamed on SEC Network +

LSU SERIES RECORD VS. GEORGIA LSU leads the all-time series with Georgia, 70-26-3 … LSU has won 11 of its last 14 SEC regular-season series versus UGA, including a 2-1 series victory last season (April 29-May 1) in Baton Rouge … this weekend marks LSU’s first visit to Athens since March 22-24, 2019, when UGA won two of three games over the Tigers.

PITCHING MATCHUPS Game 1 LSU – Jr. RH Paul Skenes (10-1, 1.69 ERA, 79.2 IP, 14 BB, 152 SO) UGA – Fr. LH Jarvis Evans (2-0, 4.67 ERA, 17.1 IP, 5 BB, 21 SO) Game 2 LSU – Jr. RH Ty Floyd (6-0, 4.53 ERA, 59.2 IP, 27 BB, 69 SO) UGA – Jr. LH Charlie Goldstein (3-1, 4.50 ERA, 44.0 IP, 15 BB, 45 SO) Game 3 LSU – So. LH Javen Coleman (1-1, 6.00 ERA, 9.0 IP, 9 BB, 15 SO) UGA – Jr. LH Liam Sullivan (4-2, 5.83 ERA, 58.2 IP, 29 BB, 70 SO)

QUOTING LSU COACH JAY JOHNSON “We’re excited for this trip, we’re going to go to Athens to wrap up the regular season, and we want to finish it the right way. We’re excited to get on the road – we have some work we need to continue to do. It will be a very business-oriented trip, but I think it will be good for us to be together and work on improving our team. Georgia has a very talented, veteran roster, and (UGA head coach) Scott Stricklin is an excellent coach, so we know we’ll be facing another tremendous challenge in the SEC.”

ABOUT THE TIGERS • LSU enters the final weekend of the regular season in second place in the SEC Western Division, 1.5 games behind division leader Arkansas … the Tigers are in third place in the overall league standings, 1.5 games behind Arkansas and 0.5 behind Florida, which leads the SEC Eastern Division.

• LSU’s 40-12 record is its best through 52 games since 2015, when the Tigers were 44-8 … LSU’s 17-9 SEC record this season is the Tigers’ best conference mark through 26 games since the 2017 club was also 17-9 in league play.

• LSU has reached the 40-win mark in back-to-back years for the first time since the 2016 and 2017 seasons … LSU finished 40-22 in 2022.

• The Tigers are No. 1 in the SEC in team batting average (.314), and LSU has collected 100 doubles, 13 triples and 104 home runs … the LSU pitching staff is No. 6 in the SEC with a 4.68 cumulative ERA, and the Tigers have recorded 570 strikeouts in 438.1 innings while allowing a .226 opponent batting average and 46 home runs.

• LSU centerfielder Dylan Crews has increased his reached base streak to 56 straight games, which includes all 52 games this season and the final four games of last season.

• Junior right-hander Paul Skenes defeated Mississippi State last Friday night, working 7.0 innings and allowing one run three six hits with one walk and 13 strikeouts … he was credited with his first complete game of the season, as LSU established an 11-run margin in the bottom of the seventh inning to activate the 10-run rule … Skenes improved to 10-1 on the year, and he leads the nation with 152 strikeouts – his strikeouts total is already No. 7 on LSU’s all-time list for single-season strikeouts … Skenes is No. 1 in the SEC in ERA (1.69), innings pitched (79.2) and opponent batting average (.162).

• Sophomore third baseman Tommy White is hitting .619 (13-for-21) in LSU’s last five games with five doubles, two homers and 11 RBI … in LSU’s SEC series last weekend versus Mississippi State, White batted .571 (8-for-14) with three doubles, one homer, five RBI and three runs … White has 86 RBI, already the sixth-highest single-season total in LSU history … he is No. 1 in the nation in RBI per game (1.79), and he is No. 2 in the nation in total RBI.

• Junior leftfielder Tre’ Morgan recorded the first two-homer game of his career when he launched two dingers in last Sunday’s game versus Mississippi State … Morgan drove in six runs and scored five times in the weekend series against the Bulldogs.

• Junior right-hander Ty Floyd posted a career-high 10 strikeouts in last Saturday’s game versus Mississippi State … Floyd worked 6.0 innings and limited the Bulldogs to just one run on five hits with one walk and 10 Ks.

• Junior catcher Hayden Travinski is hitting .700 (7-for-10) in his last four games with one double, three homers and six RBI … he started two games behind the plate in the Mississippi State series, and he hit .600 (3-for-5) with a homer, two RBI and two runs scored … Travinski has homered once in each of LSU’s last four SEC series – at Ole Miss, Alabama, at Auburn and Mississippi State.

• Junior outfielder Brayden Jobert is batting .438 (7-for-16) in LSU’s last five games with two homers and 10 RBI.

ABOUT THE BULLDOGS • Georgia enters the final weekend of regular-season play in a tie for sixth place with Missouri (10-17) in the SEC Eastern Division … the Bulldogs would currently be the No. 12 seed in next week’s SEC Tournament. • Georgia is No. 7 in the SEC with a .289 team batting average, and the Bulldogs have 94 home runs and 33 steals in 39 attempts … Charlie Condon is No. 2 in the SEC with a .415 batting average, and he has collected 10 doubles, one triple, 24 homers and 65 RBI … Connor Tate is batting .390 with 19 doubles, 15 homers and 53 RBI. • The UGA pitching staff is No. 13 in the SEC with a 6.41 cumulative ERA … the Georgia pitchers have recorded 477 strikeouts in 445.1 innings while allowing a .271 opponent batting average and 77 home runs.

Frank Ragnow gutted through a toe injury last season to make the Pro Bowl for the second time in his career, but the Detroit Lions center did not undergo corrective surgery this offseason because he said his latest injury is "inoperable."

Ragnow tore the plantar plate in his left foot in Week 4 of the 2021 season, then missed the rest of the year. He said at his charity skeet shooting event Thursday he re-tore his plantar plate on the opening drive of last year's Week 1 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles and has "no healthy tissue left" in his toe.

"So it would have to be an experimental procedure to get that done and that’s not something the NFL O-linemen are in the business of," Ragnow said.

Ragnow missed one game with his injury last season and played through considerable pain the final 16 weeks. He allowd one sack in 16 starts, according to a Free Press charting of plays, and was voted to the Pro Bowl as the anchor of one of the NFL's best offensive lines.

Ragnow practiced sparingly at times last season and said the Lions are "being smart with it" in workouts this offseason.

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"It’s a deal where it’s kind of inoperable, so it’s kind of something that we’re trying to navigate," Ragnow said. "Manage. But hopefully, its not going to be near to the altitude of last year where it was like brutal."

Last season, Ragnow called his injury "really frustrating" and joked that he lived in the training room. He said dealing with constant pain tested his focus on every play.

"We’re not rushing (back), making sure I get enough rest cause last season was one to forget in terms of that, so we’re trying to be smart," Ragnow said.

Asked Thursday if he expects to deal with the injury for the rest of his career, Ragnow said he does not believe that will be the case.

"Cause it’s like turf toe, right?" Ragnow said. "It’s the most severe degree turf toe. It just depends on how it impacts different guys. Like it’s different cause your sesmoid’s moving and stuff, but a lot of guys, they don’t even get the surgery so it just depends. But hopefully it scars over and that’s kind of how it’s been and it’s a lot better."

The Lions return four starters on their offensive line in Ragnow, tackles Taylor Decker and Penei Sewell and left guard Jonah Jackson. Right guard Halapoulivaati Vaitai is expected to return from back surgery, and took part in Thursday's charity event, and the Lions signed veteran interior lineman Graham Glasgow this offseason.

Glasgow will serve as Ragnow's primary backup this fall if he does not win the starting right guard job.

"It was tough (last season), cause I just was so mad that it happened again," Ragnow said. "Like I was over it, had a great training camp, feeling good, and then the first game of the season happened so I just had to fight through it

"(The Lions are) being great. And I’ll be pretty normal, they’re just going to take care of me. Like an old vet, I guess. Year 6, already an old vet."