Some high-profile names got together to figure out Michigan's next step in investment. Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Roger Penske, and a handful of others, met to announce InvestMichigan's first two investments as well as the direction to take for the state's investment future.

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"Michigan is at a tipping point, economically," Granholm told me as the meeting broke up. "We need to move in a direction, growing these green, cutting-edge technology companies right here, where we're leading the nation."

Charles Rothstein of Beringea, a Farmington Hills venture capital firm and one of three program managers for InvestMichigan, said the Penske-led council is impressive.

"We're not just giving firms a pile of money. We're giving them smart money and connected money," he said, referring to people like Penske, Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert, Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris and Charter One regional bank president Sandra Pierce, who are available to offer advice in many industries and provide connections to tap key talent.

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The future, here it comes. Michigan-based Dominos pizza and TiVo have hooked up to offer a unique option. You can now, if you have a TiVo, order a pizza right from the darn thing. You can pick it up or have it delivered and, if delivered, track it like a UPS package.

Man, what's next? Flying cars?

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TiVo subscribers can order pizza through several advertising entry points on the TiVo user interface including Gold Star Sponsorship, Program Placement, Interactive Tags in live TV spots, and through Music, Photos, Products, & More by clicking on "Order Your Dominos Pizza Now."

TiVo subscribers can set-up a user name and password on Dominos.com so that each time they use their TiVo remote to place an order, they can log-in with a simple account number. Alternatively, TiVo subscribers can enter their delivery address, build their pizza order right from the television set by selecting type of crust, toppings, and sauces, and get the pizza delivered by their local Domino's Pizza.

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Dearborn's Arab-American National Museum was honored for a digital photography program for middle schoolers.

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A free digital photography program for middle school students offered by the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn has been honored by the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities.

The SURA Arts Academy is one of 15 programs nationally that received the committee's Coming up Taller award Friday in Washington. First lady Laura Bush, the committee's honorary chairwoman, presented the award.

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Whether you like Dearborn's Miller's Bar or Royal Oak's Red Coat Tavern, you favorite burger joint is bound to show up somewhere on the Freep's list of best burgers in town. Not into red meat? Don't worry, check out No. 24. Ferndale's Flytrap has a salmon burger just waiting for consumption.

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When we asked readers this fall to point us toward Detroit's best hamburgers, hundreds of you sent recommendations. We read every one, picked the places that sounded best and then hit the streets in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties to taste them. Six weeks and innumerable antacids later, here are our favorites.

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Bicyclists are organizing and asking Royal Oak to put together some non-motorized friendly goals to increase the safety of riders. Signage and bike paths along roads are key to improving  the well-being of these bicyclists.

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The group wants Royal Oak to create a non-motorized transportation plan that will set goals to increase safety for bikers and walkers by adding bike lanes and signage to roads that remind everyone streets are meant to be shared by cars, bicyclists and pedestrians.

"The situation is bad here. We have to plan change carefully. Cyclists are riding on the sidewalk; they are getting struck crossing driveways or at corners," said Regan, a Royal Oak resident. "We want that to change. Motorists need to know that they are legally entitled to be there."

At the meeting, commissioners appointed Regan and two other cyclists to a task force to write up some recommendations. A meeting between the task force and City Manager Tom Hoover is being planned, Regan said.

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When an expert says something, you gotta listen. And, so, experts are saying that Michigan's economic future is in alternative energy, energy efficiency measures, and climate-change solutions. Not only will these points help bring Michigan out of it's flickering economy but they'll also help the world.

What sounds better than helping yourself and helping the world? Nothin', that's what.

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Ann Arbor racked up another superlative - this time for raising kids in America. Business Week went out and pulled together a number of the best cities in the nation to raise children and Ann Arbor was one of them.

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We knocked out towns with populations of fewer than 50,000 and median household incomes of less than $40,000 or more than $100,000. And we ended up with a list that included some well-known places such as Phoenix, Columbus, Ohio, and Ann Arbor, Mich. But we also found some hidden gems such as Euless, Tex., smack in between Dallas and Fort Worth, which according to Sports Illustrated has the nation's top-ranked high school football team, and Murfreesboro, Tenn., a college town outside Nashville.

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Inch by inch that commuter rail is getting closer to realization. And, here's another inch. Rail stops have been sketched out on the commuter rail line connecting Dearborn and the airport.

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Six miles from the new North Terminal, a planned station on county-owned land at Michigan and Henry Ruff would connect commuters to their flights via an airport shuttle. The station would be one of five along the line that would share track with Amtrak and freight trains and include stops in Ypsilanti and at the New Center in Detroit.

Carmine Palombo, director of transportation for the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, said the train line is a key component of the ambitious plans for a mass transit system that could complement and add to the region's economy.

"The site gives us a lot of accessibility and with getting to and from the airport, it gives us good travel time," Palombo said.

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