Lansing State Journal from Lansing, Michigan • Page D4

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Daily reimbursement includes $75. For more information, contact LJ-0100307383 For Michiganders, Cedar Point easy to get to and close to a major Edwards said. feels like a acation but only a few hours I you go, Edwards recom- ends you try the new- est roller coaster, the Rouga- rou. The sit-down, floorless ride was converted from the tand-up coaster Mantis. It pushes riders at speeds of more than 60 mph and jets down 137 feet through loops, spins and four inversions.

Response to the debut has Edw ards said. think people have been leasantlysurprised by that oaster, because they knew Edwards said. still utilizes the same support structure and track layout, so I hink people might have been a little pessimistic when they heard about the change, but after they rode that ride, comment after comment is, awesome. I expect expects the Rougarou to be one of the top coast- rs for the 2015 season. he 110-year-old Ho- tel Breakers also got a renovation this year.

a night and day differ- Edwards said. really does look like and feel like a waterfront After the park closes for summer, it reopens on Sept. 18 for Halloweekends with scary, adult-themed activities Friday a nd Saturday nights and kids- friendly activities Saturday a nd Sunday afternoons. Cedar Continued from Page 1D More info For all things Cedar Point, visit ww.CedarPoint.com. Michigan Days tickets will be available via www.cedarpoint.com/ ichiganDaysstarting Monday.

To watch a video of the Rougarou, head to www.LSJ.com. Hansen stayed at WILX for ayear after his 1981gradua- ion, then worked in Florida a nd at WXYZ (Channel 7) in Detroit, where Bill Bonds an- hored. had grown up watch- i ng he said. As a 10-year-old in Bloomf ield Hills, Hansen had been fascinated by news reports of the search for Jimmy Hoffa. ow he was working with Bonds, at a time when ratings were stratospheric.

I 1988, he moved over to WDIV (Channel 4), as areporter and anchor; five years later, Hansen was hired focusing on breaking stories. standing in the middle of he (Oklahoma City bombing) And there was the crime coverage, which of The key, Hansen aid, was to get to know the police, the victims and, when ossible, the criminals. I 2004, Hansen began linking with an activist group to reate Catch a segments. Volunteers posed as kids online; then cameras aught those who responded. The result produced strong ratings, a book and a pop-cult ure stir.

Hansen was interviewed on Daily and satirized on Night He even filmed a omic bit for the opening of an Emmy telecast. were just poking fun at in the it, he says. There were also negative views of all this. Critics argued that predators were being ntrapped; the show was acc used of profiting from misfortune. That peaked when a exas lawyer, probed by committed suicide when the police arrived.

2009, had ended. When Hansen left NBC four years later, people attrib- ted it to fallout from the show and from his extramarital affair, which had gone public. ansen, 55, insists his departure very Now working on several projects, including a Kicks tarter push to fund vs. First is a chance to step into a ongoing operation. Schleiff admits that ID has often over-the-top but says rying to balance that with erious efforts.

And Hansen seems to take rime seriously. go out in he field; we really track down the he first episode is fierce, focusing on a Cleveland area where 11wom- disappeared, mostly in 2008. Hansen interviewed neighbors, relatives of the victims and ne key figure. Gay was kid- napped, tortured, and for whatever reason he allowed er to he said. as going to the bathroom before he lets her go, she sees a headless corpse of a woman wrapped in plastic It is the most compelling victim interview that ever A nd yes, done a lot of hem, in a field his son may step into.

Connor Hansen is an SU journalism student who as been an intern at WLNS, a reporter for HOM-TV in Mer idian Township and vice- president and social chairman of Sigma Pi. I important, Hansen said, to avoid bringing a story home. able to separate it, comp artmentalize it what always Hansen Continued from Page 1D The time honored being invited dinner and eing forced to it through a sleep-inducing slide show of your recent vacation has been replaced by instant photo posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the other social media sites. and more travelers are choosing destinations which are not just on their bucket lists but also to create bragging said Tony Huffman, a travel adviser eschewed the term who spoke at this Virtuoso Travel Week in Las Vegas. while ballooning over the Great Wall? Look, Ma, no hands! Virtuoso, a luxury travel company, pairs its 373 independent advisers in 30 count ries with 1,700 rigorously vetted resort properties, hotels, tour guides and cruise ships.

Over 4,000 representa- ives of that group gathered ast week to build relations hips and compare notes to match destinations with traveler desires and demands. is no longer a luxu- a part of our lives, and itsimpact on the econ- my 10 percent of the GDP is said Matthew pchurch, CEO of Virtuoso, which specializes in what it calls art of gift of longevity is that travel i now increasingly multigenerational. Families trav- ling together are on an intentional journey to create children and grandchildren who are he savvy traveler demands an experience beyond ooking airfare and a hotel online. are looking for authentically local, immersive experiences. They want to not just view the art at Musee in Paris, they want the pportunity to paint there, too.

They want to stay on a working farm in Tuscany or Napa and help prepare and cook farm-to-table cuisine. They ant to be said Jack zon, a Virtuoso adviser with Ovation Vacations. are illing to get dirty and be in olitically intriguing places ith a touch of turmoil, but lose out the day in the comfort of a luxury hotel and with the assistance of and security provided by a guide. They want the guides to hang out with them and take them where the locals go more than in their traditional, academic role of dispensing historical said Kelly Grumbach, with Quintessentially Travel. One Virtuoso tour operator, Norman Howe, of Butterfield a nd Robinson, is already planning guided trips to Iran and Cuba.

Areview of autumn bookings, compiled by Misty Belles, reveals that traditional favorites Italy, Mexico and the United Kingdom are the top three most opular destinations; but, growing fast by percentage are Vietnam, Indiaand French Polynesia. cruises a re up 41percent, and African afaris are very popular with said Belles. And announcements by luxury cruise companies at Virtuoso Travel Week included part- erships with celebrity chefs, such as French homas Keller; and a ship outfitted with an in-cabin spa or unlimited treatments throughout the cruise. In addition to posting on social media, some travelers rite viewers on various travel sites websites, which elp but provoke the question do you the era of personal trainers, hairdressers, thera- ists, nutritionistsand personal chefs, a trusted travel a gent seems vital to make worthwhile, quality decisions with your time and said Upchurch. For more information visit ww.Virtuoso.com Michael Patrick Shiels may be ontacted at aol.com His talk show can be heard weekday mornings in Lansing on 9 2.1FM.

Savvy travelers crave intrigue, authenticity, history MICHAEL PATRICK SHIELS TRAVEL LOS ANGELES Back in 1999, Me a presented real-life urban politics a an epic battleground. he non-fiction book tepped back a decade, to a court order requiring public housing in Yonkers. Passionate people raged; colorful haracters emerged. This was, said Kary A ntholis, a of race, politics and And it as ideal for David Simon, the former Baltimore newsman who had launched and imon wanted to do for TV, but other projects The intervened. Now, 16 years later, finally produced and co-written a six- our HBO mini-series.

great irony is that near Yonkers), the same fight, with the same rhetoric is going on right Simon said. Public-financed housing as once considered a splen- id idea, said LaTanya Richardson, who plays one of the new residents. was built to help people who came back from the hen it became something lse, Simon said, stacking the poor and hyper- segregating the poor in mass ive housing often in areas where jobs had van- i shed. By the that approach had changed; scattered housing was proposed. till, the old image giant towers of crime and despair ingered.

So Nick Wasicsko, who had been a cop and a city councilman, campaigned against ublic housing. In 1988, at 28, he became the young- st big-city mayor, The government, Simon said, was white, (with) no outlet for black political action or Latino political act ion in motions seethed, the courts stayed firm and Was- icsko began to lean toward compromise and compliance. about the real Nick asicsko, I fell in love with im, and I really wanted to understand who he said Oscar Isaac, who plays him. his is a giant, Shakespearean story but in the sense of darkness. Wasicsko took some eroic steps; for the title of er book, Lisa Belkin adapted he F.

Scott Fitzgerald quote: me a hero, and write you a There were powerful orces pushing in that direction, including Hank Spallone, a nother cop and councilman. was very aid Alfred Molina, who plays him. would walk into a room and kind of suck up all the died in 2009, but Simon did have one chance to meet im. told a great story about Hank meeting them in a Molina said, 45 minutes late and then say- i ng, I sit. I sit.

I And then spoke or about a These men were surrounded by swarms of angry people. did have to embrace to make the mini-ser ies, director Paul Haggis aid. Using the actual locations, when possible, he had 400 speaking roles. He had a giant story of a time for heroics and or tragedy. COURTESY IMAGE HBO Oscar Isaac portrays Nick Wasicsko, a cop and a city councilman who became the youngest big-city mayor, at age 28.

He crusades against public housing. new mini-series Me a debuts MIKE HUGHES FOR THE LANSING ST A TE JOURNAL WORTH WATCHING Me a 8-10 p.m. on three Sundays, beginning Aug. 16, HBO. Opener reruns that night at 1:05 a.m.; also 5 p.m.

Tuesday, 9 p.m. Wednesday, 11:30 p.m. Saturday Aug. 22), 4:30 p.m. Aug.

23; more on other HBO channels.