DNR to look again for wolves in region
GAYLORD (Feb. 1) — State wildlife officials this winter will again try to find gray wolves in the northern reaches of Lower Michigan after not finding a trace of the elusive creatures here since 2004.
Patrick Lederle, wildlife research supervisor for the state Department of Natural Resources, said wolf surveys in the Lower Peninsula that turned up nothing cost the state less than $10,000 for the last two years.
Officials said they will again spend the money on salaries, travel, vehicles and fuel to search a third year.
Efforts now will focus only on reported sightings and also in Emmet, Cheboygan and Presque Isle counties.
Pathfinder School to close in June
INTERLOCHEN (Feb. 2) — Interlochen Center for the Arts will close the Pathfinder School in June, citing declining enrollment and financial losses.
Pathfinder's current enrollment includes 100 full-time students in the first through eighth grades and 44 students in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten.
The decision to close came seven years after Interlochen took over Pathfinder, a private school located on a 22-acre campus several miles north of Traverse City along M-22.
Jeffrey Kimpton, Interlochen's president, said recent projections of future enrollment and private giving showed that keeping Pathfinder open wasn't financially feasible. The school receives no tax dollars and relies primarily on tuition and donations.
Man who killed teens to be released
TRAVERSE CITY (Feb. 2) — The man who killed Penny Morris' daughter leaves prison today.
It's another day to cope with her loss and continue a quest to change laws she believes enabled habitual driving offender Timothy Schubert to speed and cause a crash that killed Christan DeWitt, 16, and Adrian Morris, 17.
"The best I can (do) is to make it count and make the roads safer for other kids," she said.
Schubert, 40, is to be released from prison after serving his full two-year sentence for two counts of negligent homicide in the August 2004 traffic deaths on South Airport Road.
Company charged for alleged dumping
TRAVERSE CITY (Feb. 2) — A company that allegedly pumped raw sewage into a city storm drain is accused of a criminal misdemeanor.
Blair Township-based Flood Fighters Inc. was charged in 86th District Court for pumping up to 2,000 gallons of raw sewage into a downtown storm drain last month. The charge carries a penalty of up to 90 days in jail and a maximum fine of $500.
Because the charge is against the corporation and not an individual, there won't be any jail time, deputy city attorney Karrie Zeits said.
A fine is likely if Flood Fighters is found guilty, said Zeits.
City officials alleged that on Jan. 21-22 Flood Fighters pumped up to 2,000 gallons of raw sewage out of the basement beneath the Whiting Hotel at 152 E. Front St. and into a storm drain in the alley behind the building.
Nitrates still a problem for some
ELMIRA (Feb. 4) — Well water that runs from Phyllis Huff's tap is OK to drink now, although last year it was loaded with nitrate contaminants.
In October, state and local officials told the residents of a neighborhood in Otsego County's Elmira Township not to drink their water because of high nitrate levels known to cause health problems, especially with infants and children. Now, recent water tests show that potentially harmful nitrate levels are within acceptable limits at Huff's home on Camp Ten Road.
Local health and state agriculture officials said the likely cause of the nitrate contamination in the area is fertilizer used at nearby farms that historically grow potatoes, alfalfa and other crops.
Irrigation systems in the area use groundwater to spread fertilizers and pesticides across the sandy soil to promote healthy crop growth. Robert Pigg, groundwater monitoring coordinator for the Michigan Department of Agriculture, said residents should still regularly sample their well water and officials will study the unusual fluctuating nitrate levels.
Cherry industry kicks off campaign
TRAVERSE CITY (Feb. 4) — The very mention of tart cherries can evoke pleasant thoughts: grandma in her apron, lifting a freshly baked pie from the oven on a long-ago summer day, back when calories and trans fats didn't seem to matter.
They do now, of course. So the industry wants to cultivate different images -- perhaps a successful young woman mixing dried cherries into her breakfast smoothie. Or an energetic, fit retiree downing a glass of concentrated cherry juice before his morning jog.
The grower-funded Cherry Marketing Institute is kicking off a campaign to broaden the appeal of tart cherries by transforming their reputation. No longer are they a mere ingredient in fattening desserts. Now they're a "superfruit" — bursting with antioxidants that may ease pain from arthritis and gout while helping ward off heart disease and cancer.
Property is 'beautiful, unique'
NORTHPORT (Feb. 6) — Future developments will never be seen jutting off the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula under a pair of pending land preservation proposals.
The state is set to buy two conservation and public access easements that surround Leelanau State Park in a partnership with the Leelanau Conservancy in Leland.
State officials are considering payment of $930,000 from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund in an initial deal for 42 acres, which boasts 640 feet of the peninsula's western Lake Michigan shoreline.
The conservancy bought the land for $1.8 million in 2004 and the easement was recently appraised at $1.6 million.
Parking deck plan hits wall with vote
TRAVERSE CITY (Feb. 7) — City negotiations with Federated Properties for public parking came to a screeching halt, thrusting the politically divisive project into a "holding pattern."
City commissioners ceased talks for the lease and eventual ownership of 216 parking spots in a 100-foot-tall building at 145 W. Front St. The financing plan was reworked after city voters in August overwhelmingly denied a city bond to pay for the parking.
"From our perspective, everything has now stopped," said City Manager Richard Lewis.
Marina alters dock plan
BELLAIRE (Feb. 8) — A marina scaled back plans to install a floating dock system on Clam Lake by reducing the number of proposed slips.
DeWitt Marine manager Warren Corteggiano said officials altered plans to appease neighbors and lake residents who said the proposal would have placed docks too far offshore into the narrow lake.
DeWitt eliminated 18 slips from the plan, reducing the number of proposed new docks from 58 to 40, Corteggiano said. Most of the changes occurred to the northernmost proposed dock, situated at the narrowest part of Clam Lake near the mouth of the Torch River.
Initial plans called for docks to stretch more than 130 feet offshore. That has been reduced to about 100 feet, Corteggiano said.
"We removed the outside slips on the north dock, which was the controversial unit," he said. "There's a 202-foot dock-to-dock passageway now."
The marina has a permit application pending with the state Department of Environmental Quality.
Veterans park site will be moving
TRAVERSE CITY (Feb. 8) — Monuments at Veterans Memorial Park will move to a more tranquil scene.
City commissioners unanimously approved a new park site on the north side of 11th Street between Division Street and Elmwood Avenue.
Seven rectangular monuments currently are clustered in a circle at a park at Division and Bay streets, but a coalition of veterans' groups requested they be moved to a spot more suitable for ceremonies and visits.
The new location is near the Traverse City State Office Building. The monuments now are situated at a busy intersection and shielded from traffic by a few trees. They honor those who served in wars such as the Civil War, World War I and II, Korea and Vietnam.
City Manager Richard Lewis said other monuments along the city bayfront will remain in their places, unless veterans request they be moved.
Society closes on Fishtown purchase
LELAND (Feb. 9) — A local preservation group reeled in its purchase of the historic Fishtown property in Leland.
The Fishtown Preservation Society's board of directors closed on the property, culminating two years of fundraising to acquire the century-old fishing village and tourist draw on Lake Michigan in northern Leelanau County.
The group reached a $3 million purchase agreement with the Carlson family of Leland in June and surpassed its initial $2.5 million fundraising goal in December that allowed it to complete the transaction.
The deal includes 11 properties on the north side of the Leland River between the Cove Restaurant and the Manitou Island Transit Co., plus the fishing boats Janice Sue and Joy, and the Carlson family's related fishing licenses and equipment.
Auto parts plant to shut its doors
MANTON (Feb. 10) — A $5 million-plus state tax credit wasn't enough to keep a 30-year-old local auto parts plant from its demise because of slumping domestic auto sales.
Around 150 workers at the Avon Automotive plant in Manton learned the plant will be shuttered and much of its work will be shifted to a plant in Mexico. The plant manufactures molded rubber parts primarily for Ford and DaimlerChrysler.
Word of the plant closing comes less than six months after the state approved a $5.3 million business tax credit for Avon plants in Manton and Cadillac to help retain more than 550 local jobs. Avon's customers, specifically Ford Motor Co., announced major production cutbacks within days of the state grant announcement and company officials suspected it wouldn't be enough to save the Manton operation.
New project tests deer herd for TB
HILLMAN (Feb. 11) — A truck rolled to a stop, two federal wildlife officials jumped out and raced through fresh snow to collapse a mesh trap set on private land in Montmorency County, where a fresh capture began to stir.
It's not how most people hunt deer, but these men weren't interested in a fresh kill: they wanted to test the animal for bovine tuberculosis.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Service is partnering with the state DNR to live-trap and test deer in the area where bovine TB is now a "self-sustaining disease in the deer herd," said Stephen Schmitt, wildlife veterinarian with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
Northeastern Lower Michigan is the only place in the country with that claim for a wildlife population, he said.
New director brings it home
TRAVERSE CITY (Feb. 12) — The historic City Opera House is in the final stages of its $7.5 million restoration effort, and it's Sheryl Hayward's job to bring it home.
Hayward is the new executive director of the City Opera House Heritage Association, which is close to reopening the historic structure in its full 700-seat capacity after fundraising and renovations spanning almost three decades. She took over in mid-January for former director Geri Greenspan.
The association has put nearly $6.8 million into the restoration and has about $700,000 to go to complete the remaining detail work. Around $100,000 will allow completion of the third-floor restrooms that will make it "completely functional," Hayward said. The Opera House is hosting numerous events over the winter and spring and a formal "kick-off" event will be in June.
Hayward, 47, is the daughter of longtime Peninsula Township planner Gordon Hayward. She said once fundraising is complete her focus will shift to attracting and coordinating events at the Opera House to make it a regional draw for the downtown area.
Acme ropes in horse show
ACME (Feb. 13) — Move over movies and cherries. A horse show is poised to gallop into the ranks of northern Michigan's signature summer events.
Horse Shows by the Bay Inc. is ready to break ground on a riding and jumping facility along M-72 in Acme and welcome a record number of entries for its three-week event starting in mid-July.
Its expansion and move to a permanent home excites local tourism officials, who said it has the potential to become another major commerce engine for the Grand Traverse area, along with the National Cherry Festival and Traverse City Film Festival.
Talk radio market expanding
TRAVERSE CITY (Feb. 14) — The local talk radio market will get a little more crowded with a planned AM station swap that will introduce some new voices and views to the airwaves.
Rick Stone, owner of WJML AM-1110 in Petoskey, announced an agreement to acquire WLDR AM-1270 in Traverse City from Fort Bend Broadcasting of Traverse City. As part of the deal, Fort Bend is purchasing Stone's WWKK AM-750 in Petoskey.
Stone plans to introduce WJML's talk and news format into the Traverse City market through WLDR-AM, a 50,000-watt station that covers both the Traverse City and Cadillac areas and extends as far south as Mount Pleasant and Ludington.
Stone expects some "tweaking" to the programming lineup once the swap is completed. He expects to mix in some personalities from WWKK-AM, a liberal-progressive-based format compared to WJML's conservative offerings, into the programming to create a "balanced" offering of commentators.
Girl to go on dream trip
ELK RAPIDS (Feb. 16) — Two years ago for a 'dream vacation' school assignment, Maggie Marshall wrote about going to Africa.
This summer, the Elk Rapids 7th grader is actually doing it. As the winner of a National Geographic essay contest, she'll spend 10 days on safari in South Africa.
She wrote her essay, 'Exploring the Stumps,' about kayaking along the swampy shoreline of Elk Lake, after seeing a notice in her National Geographic Kids magazine. She included a picture and mailed it off. That was last November.
"I forgot all about it," she said. "It had been such a long time, so I didn't think I'd won."
Then Maggie, 13, came home from volleyball practice to find a message for her on the answering machine. More than 4,000 kids from all over the country wrote on the subject of being an explorer in their world. Ultimately, a group of 15 were selected.
"I jumped up and down, I got so excited," she said. "I've always really wanted to go on safari in real life and see the cool animals."
Tondu lawsuit looks to be over
MANISTEE (Feb. 16) — The Michigan Supreme Court rebuked legal tactics used by Tondu Corporation in a battle over taxes it owes Filer Township and Manistee County for a coal-fired power plant, likely putting an end to a 14-year-old lawsuit.
The denial of an application for leave to appeal a decision that upheld a tax assessment of Tondu's TES Filer City Station is a windfall for Filer, the county, and other local governments which stand to gain a share of the roughly $1.5 million Tondu owes in back taxes and interest.
In an order released Feb. 9, justices Maura Corrigan and Robert Young Jr. scolded Tondu's attorney Samuel McKim III for attempting to file page-after-page of repetitive and confusing arguments in an effort to get the justices to hear an appeal of a 2006 Court of Appeals decision.
Manistee County Commissioner Allan O'Shea said the order is cause for celebration because it marks the last chapter in a costly lawsuit.
MDOT questions group's selection
TRAVERSE CITY (Feb. 18) — A proposed $1.35 million contract to study transportation and land use in Grand Traverse County could be at risk over questions about the process used to award the contract.
A memo from Michigan Department of Transportation official Susan Richardson warns that the state won't accept the contract if the Traverse City Transportation and Land Use Study board can't clear up questions about how the contractor, Mead & Hunt Inc., was selected.
TC-TALUS is the oversight agency for a local committee charged with devising a comprehensive land use and transportation study for the Grand Traverse area.
The committee formed in early 2005 and has access to $3.3 million in federal funds administered by MDOT.
The consultant selection group focused on a team led by Mead & Hunt after interviewing Mead and one other group to craft the transportation study.
MDOT questioned whether the committee handled both proposals fairly.
Man sues estate of lottery winner
ARCADIA TOWNSHIP (Feb. 19) — A man who says a multistate Mega Millions winner stabbed him is suing the millionaire's estate.
Timothy D. Doan is suing the estate of Ralph Stebbins, who he says stabbed him in the chest during an argument at an auction in Leelanau County.
Stebbins was charged with assault, but the case never went to trial because he died of a heart attack at his Arcadia Township home near Lapeer. Stebbins was 43.
Doan is seeking $10 million for a punctured lung and a lacerated finger.
His attorney, David Black, said that Stebbins was unhappy that Doan was engaged to Stebbins' daughter. The engagement was called off, and Black said Doan suffers night terrors from the attack.
Stebbins and his wife, Mary, won a $208 million lottery in April 2005.
Parents push for curriculum changes
TRAVERSE CITY (Feb. 20) — Maribeth Swan said learning math in Traverse City Area Public Schools is like building a house without a foundation.
Swan joined about 100 parents and community members who gathered to push for changes to the district's "reformed math" curriculum.
The citizens group, We All Count, wants the district to find a math curriculum that blends traditional and reformed math. Parents also seek a program that relies on textbooks instead of hand-outs, includes sample problems, addresses basic math skills and includes a glossary to help students and their parents understand the work.
Dianne Walker, a retired TCAPS math teacher, is leading the group. She said the effort came after many years of parents expressing individual concerns.
Meijer's suit against officials thrown out
ACME (Feb. 21) — A judge tossed out a conflict of interest lawsuit against four Acme Township Board members and urged Meijer Inc. to end its long-running litigation with the township.
Thirteenth Circuit Judge Philip Rodgers dismissed a suit brought by Meijer against Acme Supervisor Bill Kurtz, Treasurer Bill Boltres and trustees Erick Takayama and Frank Zarafonitis.
The Grand Rapids-based retailer sued the four individually over allegations they were inappropriately tied to Concerned Citizens of Acme Township, an organization that in 2004 successfully sued to block The Village, a proposed development along M-72 that included a Meijer store.
The Village and Meijer officials appealed to the state appeals court, where the case remains.
County in talks to sell property
LELAND (Feb. 22) — Leelanau County opened a negotiation window with a pair of local businessmen who want to redevelop the soon-to-be vacant county seat.
Robert "Gene" Kelly of PDM Lumber Co. in Bingham Township and Leland dentist James Varley offered $2.4 million for the 2.5 acres in the village of Leland.
The site has an appraised value of around $2.5 million and will be empty when county offices move in 2008 to the new governmental center under construction in Suttons Bay Township.
County commissioners voted 5-1 to close bidding for the courthouse campus and set up a 45-day negotiating period with Varley and Kelly. The potential developers will present their plans to the board's property subcommittee.
Business owner has a beef with attorney
TRAVERSE CITY (Feb. 22) — Cindy Warner said she needs more parking for her West Front Street ventures.
But a recent debate over a decades-old city charter amendment could have big ramifications on proposals for public parking in the area, and Warner questions a local attorney's opinion that any publicly funded parking deal could require a vote of city residents.
Others dismissed Warner's concern as a political distraction.
Warner owns J&S Hamburg and plans to move the diner next door, into the first floor of a new development by Federated Properties at 124 W. Front St. Warner said her plans require more parking on West Front. She said she doesn't care how parking is funded but guessed developers need public money to make projects "feasible."
The city commission stopped negotiations with Federated for public parking in its other project across the street from Warner's site. That plan would use upwards of $5 million in state brownfield funds to pay for public parking in the 145 W. Front St. development.
Priest removed, accused of abuse
GAYLORD (Feb. 23) — A retired priest was permanently removed from ministry because of decades-old sexual misconduct accusations, said Bishop Patrick R. Cooney of the Diocese of Gaylord.
The Rev. Raymond J. Pilarski, 79, retired in 1998 after serving at various northern Michigan parishes, including both St. Augustine in Hillman and Jesus the Good Shepherd in Atlanta since 1983, as well as parishes in Alpena, Tawas City, Wilmot and Bay City.
Pilarski denied the accusations, but Cooney's decision to remove the priest was confirmed by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome.
The incidents allegedly occurred during the mid-1970s, when church records show Pilarski was assigned to St. Mary in Alpena.
GT Band eyes land for retail center
ACME (Feb. 24) — The Grand Traverse Band will seek federal trust status for 145 acres in Acme and Whitewater townships with plans for a major retail center adjacent to the Turtle Creek Casino.
Tribal officials said they have a pending trust status application with the U.S. Department of Interior to take over the property on behalf of the band.
If approved, the move would remove the property from local tax rolls and township zoning controls.
The band has plans for a major retail development on the site; officials likened it to several tribal-corporate development partnerships going on in Palm Springs, Phoenix and Seattle.
Developers reveal their plans for land
LELAND (Feb. 24) — A proposed development would bring new homes to Leelanau County's soon-to-be vacant county seat, but it might not bring the county a quick influx of cash.
Robert "Gene" Kelly of PDM Lumber Co. in Bingham Township and Leland dentist James Varley offered $2.4 million for the 2.5 acres in the village of Leland and plan a mix of residential uses.
Their concept includes small, single-home sites and a large lot that would be rezoned for multi-family use such as condominiums.
Varley said the exact number of units hasn't been determined but wouldn't exceed the 23 sewer hookups currently available on the property. The developers would demolish all buildings on the site except the historic jail.
Work starts on animal shelter
GRAYLING (Feb. 25) — Construction workers are in the dog house in Grayling.
That dog house will be rather swanky, though.
Construction is underway on a new $400,000 facility for the Crawford County Animal Shelter, a project that will double existing capacity and improve conditions for the 500 dogs and cats that end up there each year.
Concrete is poured and wooden frames and walls are going up at the new site, situated in the northwest corner of the county's fairgrounds, north of town along Old U.S. Highway 27.
Officials with the nonprofit shelter applied last year for a $20,000 low-interest rural development grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, but that money never made it to Grayling.
Instead, a low-interest federal loan will be used to construct and equip the new shelter. The loan will be paid back over 30 years.
City saves on deck bond after refinancing
TRAVERSE CITY (Feb. 26) — The city will save more than expected from the refinancing of a bond that paid primarily for a State Street public parking deck.
Refinancing the more-than $9.5 million bond will save the city $526,358 in net present-value dollars.
City officials had estimated the refinancing would save about $464,000 in net present-value dollars.
The savings are realized throughout the life of the bond, to be paid off in April 2028.
The savings will remain in the city's tax increment financing fund, where it could be available to pay for projects in the downtown tax district.
Interest rates on municipal bonds have decreased since the city issued the bond in 2002, resulting in the cash flow boon from refinancing. The 540-space Larry C. Hardy parking deck, situated downtown between East Front and State streets, opened in 2003.
'Strong as an ox, with a kind heart'
WALLOON LAKE (Feb. 27) — Justin Paton was known in his platoon as a guy with a big smile and an even bigger heart.
His friends and colleagues in the U.S. Army sometimes teased him about his eternal optimism: "Hi, you've reached Justin. Hope you're day is going as good as mine!" his outgoing phone message said, but they also admired it.
They appreciated that he rarely was in a foul mood and admired the way he always "found the time to wave to (Iraqi) children," said Brigadier Gen. John Bartley, who spoke at Paton's services.
Bartley, reciting what Paton's colleagues said about the fallen 24-year-old Alanson soldier at a military ceremony in Iraq, gave the crowd gathered at the Walloon Lake Community Church a glimpse into a side of Paton most had not seen.
His company commander called him the "most organized soldier I'd ever seen," and a fellow infantryman remarked that Paton was "as strong as an ox, but with a kind heart. He would never hurt anyone he cared for."
He was killed Feb. 17. His unit was conducting a "census" operation, Bartley said, in the town of Taramia, south of Baghdad. Paton's job was to provide cover as other soldiers went door-to-door through the neighborhood, questioning residents about insurgent activities.
He was killed by gunfire while keeping watch on a rooftop.
Kolke Creek plan reviewed
GRAYLING (Feb. 28) — A trial is under way in which a judge will decide on a groundwater cleanup plan involving Kolke Creek, part of the headwaters to the venerated Au Sable River trout stream.
The trial continues before 46th Circuit Judge Dennis Murphy with complicated scientific testimony about hydrological properties of the area, and a proposed pollution cleanup strategy.
The case involves a groundwater remediation plan in Otsego County's Hayes Township. Merit Energy in 2005 gained state approval to pump more than a million gallons a day of treated wastewater to nearby Kolke Creek.
A lawsuit was filed last year by the local conservation group Anglers of the Au Sable, in conjunction with nearby riparian property owners.
Plaintiffs hope to halt a state-approved method of air-stripping petrochemicals from the groundwater and then dumping the treated water into another watershed. They propose what they contend would be a more environmentally sound cleanup method for a toxic groundwater plume that continues to migrate toward residential homes in the rural area.
Bingham Twp. supervisor ousted
TRAVERSE CITY (Feb. 28) — Residents in Bingham Township resoundingly voted to oust Supervisor Robert Foster in a decision his critics call a turning point in township politics.
Foster lost his seat by a 506-360 vote in the eastern Leelanau County community. The recall election was spearheaded by a group of residents who alleged he disregarded his statutory duties as supervisor.
The ballot listed five specific examples, including Foster's alleged verbal harassment and intimidation of other elected officials and placing the township at risk by indicating he had permission from the Army Corps of Engineers to groom Hendryx Park beach.
Bingham resident Marge Johnson, chairwoman of the Committee to Recall Robert Foster, credited grassroots support for the recall effort's success.
"The committee did a lot of hard work. It paid off," Johnson said. "We're looking forward to the future."
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