State officials make some room for the warblers
GRAYLING (May 1) — Thousands of state acres across northern Lower Michigan are partially closed to the public to make the annual spring nesting season safer for the endangered Kirtland's warbler.
A record 1,479 singing males were counted in a census last year and the tiny, colorful birds are expected to begin migrating back to their favored jack pine ecosystems this week, biologists said.
State and federal wildlife officials annually close more than 30,000 acres of suitable nesting habitat to prevent accidental trampling or other destruction of the nests, which the birds build on the ground beneath mid-sized jack pine trees.
Manistee, Cadillac on ethanol wait list
Kingsley (May 1) — If Grand Traverse County's Paradise Township doesn't want a proposed ethanol refinery, Cadillac, Manistee and other communities are waiting in the wings.
"We're enthusiastic about the possibility because the (refinery) is non-polluting," said Glenn Lottie, a Manistee County commissioner. "We won't do anything to hurt Kingsley, but if the company wants to locate here it would be a perfect fit."
NextGen Energy LLC proposed building a $70 million to $100 million ethanol refinery just south of Kingsley. It's also considering sites in Cadillac and Manistee,
A public hearing in Paradise Township this week offered residents a chance to pepper company representatives with questions about the plant, noise, water usage and increased truck and train traffic at the site south of Kingsley on Summit City Road.
The plant would employ 50 or more people and could put about $110 million a year into the local economy from both direct and spin-off enterprises.
Landfill opponents protest
CADILLAC (May 2) —-- Seventeen people protested in front of the Department of Environmental Quality offices over a closed meeting between government officials and an environmental consultant who wrote a report about the troubled Wexford County landfill's future.
The meeting between Grobbel Environmental & Planning Associates and representatives of the county's department of public works, DEQ and Cedar Creek Township, where the dump is located, was closed to the public because no quorum of a public board attended.
The decision to keep them out angered some residents, who believe the Grobbel report points to problems with the contamination "remedial action plan" and suspect the township, county and state are colluding against them.
Sewer gas causes school to close
Thompsonville (May 4) — Officials at Benzie County Central Schools canceled a day of classes at one elementary school after sewer gas drifted into the building and students fell ill.
Superintendent David Micinski said students and staff in one of the classrooms at Betsie Valley Elementary smelled an unpleasant odor several weeks ago that was suspected to be sewer gas, or methane, coming from a roof ventilation system.
Last week, workers made adjustments to the ventilation system but several students in the classroom reported experiencing dizziness, nausea and headaches.
Examination at Munson Medical Center determined the students' symptoms could be from exposure to carbon monoxide, but none suffered long-term health effects, Micinski said. Fire and health department tests did not detect carbon monoxide, but the district called off classes at the school the following day so its architect and engineers could correct the ventilation problem.
Students returned to class after health inspectors tested for signs of the problem gases. The district also has installed permanent carbon monoxide detectors.
Jail inmate injures deputies
TRAVERSE CITY (May 4) — One sheriff's deputy lost part of his pinky finger and two others received minor injures while attempting to restrain a county jail inmate who allegedly tried to hang himself in his cell.
Robert Matthew Duffitt, 30, was taken to Munson Medical Center's psychological ward and could face three charges of assaulting corrections officers after he allegedly tried to hang himself with a towel in the maximum security unit of the jail around 1:45 p.m. Wednesday, Grand Traverse County Sheriff Scott Fewins said.
Three corrections deputies received relatively minor injures when Duffitt resisted efforts to stop him from hanging himself by placing him in a restraint chair. The scuffle lasted about 30 minutes.
Duffitt may have received a small cut on his neck during the incident but was otherwise uninjured.
Charity groups overrun by utility requests
TRAVERSE CITY (May 5) — When Samantha Rusch received an electricity shut-off notice in the mail, the young mother of two sought help from the local Department of Human Services office.
No money here, they said. Try Father Fred.
She turned to the charitable organization on Thursday, and brought along her 3-week-old daughter, Madeline, born with Down syndrome and who must perpetually remain hooked to a wall-plugged Apnea monitor.
Rusch, 25, of Traverse City, discovered the Father Fred Foundation was able to pay $200 of the $402 needed to keep the juice flowing after Monday. It's not enough, she said, but it's something.
State officials on Friday took steps to fill some gaps, as Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed a bill to reinstate $22 million for "low-income energy efficiency assistance."
Officials renew gas promotion to lure visitors
TRAVERSE CITY (May 6) — As local gasoline prices race past $3 per gallon, local tourism officials are renewing a free gasoline promotion aimed at luring visitors to the Traverse City area.
The Traverse City Convention & Visitors Bureau rolled out a "Pump Up Your Summer: Drive for 25" promotional campaign this week that will award a free $25 Speedway gas card to visitors who book a room for at least three nights in any of the 48 participating local hotels, motels and resorts during May and June. To qualify, visitors must reserve their rooms through the bureau's toll-free reservation line at 1-800-714-0051.
The CVB's original gas card promotion was launched last year in response to escalating gasoline prices. Bureau officials said for visitors making a 500-mile round trip to Traverse City, the free gas card reduces gas prices by about a third.
Bailey honored for civil rights work
HONOR (May 6) — John V. Bailey grew up on a farm in rural Benzie County, left in the 1960s to join the civil rights movement, and returned to northern Michigan two decades later to confront racial bias at home.
He contends police routinely harassed Native Americans in northern Michigan in the 1970s and early 1980s.
"One time around Traverse City you could be arrested for being Indian," Bailey said.
Bailey set out to get people together to attempt to end the harassment.
Last month, the Great Lakes Bioneers honored Bailey's lifelong commitment to social justice and the environment with its annual award.
The Bioneers may sound like an environmental activist group, but the group's interest spans beyond environmental issues, said Bob Russell, who with a committee of about 18 others organizes a satellite Bioneers conference each year that corresponds with the national Bioneers conference in October.
Accused biter runs day care
GAYLORD (May 8) — A Gaylord school bus driver accused of biting two middle school girls in separate instances also runs a home-based day care now under investigation by state officials.
Patricia Lynn Lawes, 44, was put on administrative leave last week pending an internal investigation by officials at Gaylord Community Schools. Digital video footage from the bus is being reviewed and the driver could be fired by school trustees, something they could consider at a meeting next week.
Police were notified of the alleged assaults.
Lawes recently was transferred to drive another bus route after being reprimanded for speaking inappropriately to students, said school Superintendent Cheryl Wojtas.
Voters nix requests for big-ticket projects
PETOSKEY (May 10) — Petoskey resident Jenny Ross wasn't surprised voters booted a $15 million proposal to build a new athletic complex for football, track and soccer.
And rightly so, she said.
"There are a lot of other things we could spend money on instead. They could just touch up the stadium we have now and not try to make everything all grand," Ross said.
Voters by a 2,457 to 1,473 margin quashed the athletic fields plan and said no to a proposal to finance maintenance costs associated with a new sports complex.
It's simply the wrong economic climate in northern Michigan to ask for big projects, voters such as Ross said, with many people struggling to make house payments and take care of their families, she said.
Similar results were seen in the Grand Traverse County community of Kingsley, where voters handily rejected a $16.5 million bond proposal to finance construction of buildings and other improvements.
Silent protest criticized by state senator
BENZONIA (May 11) — Students and parents from Benzie County's Crystal Lake Elementary staged a silent protest against school funding cuts during a recent Lansing field trip, and drew criticism from a state senator who contends the children were used for political reasons.
About 30 fourth-grade students and 18 parents made an annual trek on May 3 to tour the Capitol and visit other landmarks. Several parents decided to write "-$125" and other messages on the backs of students' and their own T-shirts to protest a potential cut in state school aid, said Lynette Grimes, a parent chaperone and member of the Benzie County Central school board.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm recently notified school districts that their current year funding will be cut by up to $125 per student on June 1, unless legislators devise another fix to the state's budget woes.
Grimes said the exercise was a good example of hands-on democracy and was not a partisan lobbying effort.
But state Sen. Michelle McManus, R-Lake Leelanau, said the students were used as political tools. She heard about the protest messages when Jennifer Smeltzer, another Crystal Lake parent on the trip, called her office to complain before the group arrived in Lansing.
Klan flag flies at picnic
RAPID CITY (May 13) — County Road 593 is the main drag in this tiny Kalkaska County community, where a handful of mom-and-pop shops cluster around a yellow blinking light that signals the town center.
Everyone in Rapid City knows just about everyone else and many gather on summery weekends to grill steaks, roast pigs and chew the fat.
At a May 6 barbecue, organizers served up a T-bone steak, baked potato and all the fixings for just $10. Overhead flapped a Confederate flag that bore white supremacist and Ku Klux Klan markings.
A Klan banner smack in the middle of a northern Michigan, small-town cookout sponsored by the Rapid City Businessmen's Association caused a stir among some who attended. The flag also focused unwanted attention on this spot-on-the-map about 20 miles northeast of Traverse City.
"The flag included a cross inside a circle, accompanied by the phrases "white power" and "Ku Klux Klan," but its message didn't bother everyone who attended.
"I didn't care one way or another about the flag being up. It's not a big deal," said Tom Tucker, of Rapid City, a cookout volunteer.
Bee die-off troublesome to keepers
TRAVERSE CITY (May 13) —-- Bill Hathaway pulled a wooden frame from one of a dozen beehives in a cherry orchard north of Suttons Bay. There weren't as many honeybees clinging to the frame as he expected, and the hive's lack of eggs was troubling.
Hathaway has raised honeybees for more than 40 years, ever since a swarm invaded a corner of his old home in New Hampshire. Regarded as among the region's most knowledgeable beekeepers, Hathaway is as stumped as any other expert when it comes to explaining Colony Collapse Disorder, a mysterious malady that's wiped out an estimated 25 percent of the 2 million-plus commercial honeybee hives in the U.S.
Northern Michigan fruit and vegetable crops should escape largely unscathed this year from the mysterious bee die-off that's been identified in at least 27 states, including Michigan.
But local farmers, beekeepers and researchers are worried about the long-range impact of CCD.
DDA must amend some of its new market rules
TRAVERSE CITY (May 15) — Rules for Traverse City's Farmers Market that go into effect next year clearly reflect the local pecking order: downtown merchants; farmers; and, last of all, the public.
Downtown Development Authority rules that spell out who can and can't sell at the market are based on two distinctions -- whether the product is locally grown or locally produced, and whether it competes with offerings from downtown merchants.
The distinction between locally grown or produced goods and those imported from outside a seven-county area do protect local farmers. The rules will prevent someone from picking up a load of early-season tomatoes in Kalamazoo, for instance, and selling them here.
Bus driver quits over biting
Gaylord (May 16) —A Gaylord school bus driver quit amid allegations she bit two young girls assigned to her route.
Patricia Lynn Lawes, 44, submitted a letter of resignation to officials at Gaylord Community Schools just hours before she faced termination by the Board of Education.
Two middle school girls were bitten, according to reports, at least one of them on the face, during separate incidents. Both girls were passengers on Lawes' school bus.
Monument marks Indian settlement
ARCADIA (May 17) — A new monument will be dedicated at Point Arcadia, the site of a settlement established by the Anishinaabek people before Europeans arrived in the area.
The monument project is a joint effort between the Arcadia Women's Club and the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians. A dedication ceremony is at Grebe Park.
Point Arcadia is the burial grounds of Chief Kawaxicum, a Chippewa tribal leader who lived to be over 100 years old.
John Williams of Arcadia started examining the Point Arcadia site in the 1970s and discovered artifacts that told researchers more about its history. That work formed the basis for a study published by archaeologist Michael Hambacher.
Members of the Little River Band will participate in the dedication ceremony. About 100 students from Onekama Middle School also will attend.
Glenn Zaring, tribal spokesman, said the event is an opportunity to educate the Arcadia community about the tribe's history and thank residents for the recognition.
Patrick Wilson, tribal ogema for the Little River Band, will speak at the event that will include ceremonial drumming and singing and a presentation from the tribe's historical development director.
The tribe also prepared informational handouts for the students.
Special assessment idea is dropped
Traverse city (May 18) — Elmwood Township leaders abandoned the idea of a special assessment to fund the township's fire department after residents resoundingly opposed the measure.
A township-wide special assessment district in the Leelanau County community would have replaced a 0.3765-mill, voter-approved fire levy that officials said isn't generating enough revenue to keep up with costs. The millage brought in $84,530 in 2006, and was supplemented by $157,000 from the general fund.
Board members voted 6 to 1, with trustee Paul Walter opposed, to drop the district idea. The decision followed the second in a series of public hearings during which residents criticized a special assessment that would not require voter approval or have an expiration date.
Environmental groups blast fine
Traverse City (May 19) — Area environmental groups call a $35,000 fine against the Cherry Tree Inn and Suites for sending a bulldozer into Lake Michigan a "slap on the wrist."
Last Thanksgiving weekend a bulldozer went up to 122 feet into East Bay, where it dredged and moved large quantities of Great Lakes bottomlands, state and federal officials said. A fine negotiated between the inn and federal and state regulators is woefully inadequate, some local environmentalists said.
The Cherry Tree Inn, located north of Traverse City off U.S. 31 in a corner of the bay identified as a natural wetlands area, is owned by Omni Hospitality of Medina, Ohio.
"The bulldozing went far beyond the boundaries of both federal and state laws," said Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council board member Gregory Reisig. "Any fine less than $100,000 is nothing more than a slap on the wrist and will not discourage future violations."
Omni attorney Joseph Quandt of Traverse City said the $35,000 penalty is significant.
"You have to go a long way to find a wetlands violation where a $35,000 penalty was assessed," Quandt said.
Banks of Boardman get shored up
Traverse City (May 20) — Foot and webbed-foot traffic is partly to blame for erosion along a stretch of the Boardman River that runs by the downtown Farmers Market.
The solution is to place large boulders along the river to stabilize the bank and deter ducks. The 700 feet of bank restoration is to wrap up before the National Cherry Festival.
The Farmers Market area is included in $640,000 worth of projects to be completed this summer using grants from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and funds from the City of Traverse City.
Work is under way at Hannah Park, located on the river off Sixth Street. The installation of river rock will help stop erosion and new oil and grit separators will filter water. A buffer of dogwoods, willows, native grasses and other vegetation will be planted along 1,300 feet of bank. Three wooden fishing platforms also will be built there.
Thousands attend NMC barbecue
Traverse City (May 21) — About 8,500 people turned out to enjoy the 51st annual Northwestern Michigan College Barbecue's traditional menu that features buffalo steakettes, baked beans, potato salad and other picnic fare. They braved unseasonably cool temperatures that hovered in the 40s, but the clouds broke midday as picnickers arrived for lunch under the pines.
The barbecue is one of Traverse City's largest community gatherings and an opportunity for the college to showcase its offerings.
Dennos Museum Center and Rogers Observatory were open to the public and an outdoor stage featured live entertainment, including Ryan Dobry's Diamond and Denim Dancers and bluegrass ensemble Sour Mash.
Volunteers worked a line of grills, cooking up 12,000 buffalo burgers donated by Oleson's Food Stores. The late Gerald W. Oleson and his wife Frances, founders of Oleson's Food Stores, started the annual picnic in 1956 to raise funds for NMC programs. This year's picnic proceeds will benefit the NMC Film Series, the Great Lakes Culinary Institute, the Great Lakes Water Studies Institute, WNMC and the college's Great Lakes Campus.
Beulah library finds space to grow
Beulah (May 22) — After 56 years in cramped quarters at the Beulah Village Hall, the library moved to a 3,000-square-foot home of its own in downtown Beulah.
The new building is the culmination of two years of work by volunteers who raised the money, hired the contractor and monitored the project to completion.
The new location comes with a new name — the Darcy Memorial Public Library, in honor of a therapy pet dog owned by volunteer Carol McAnulty, who donated $100,000 to the library. The village donated land for the new building, sparking a fundraising effort that started in 2005 and garnered more than $500,000.
Major contributions included $50,000 from the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. The new library features the Tanner Collection of Michigan Indian History, a collection of Michigan Native American maps and treaties that will be available to the public for research.
Kimball Electronics leaving Gaylord
Gaylord (May 22) — Kimball Electronics announced plans to close its factory in the city's industrial park and lay off all employees who don't transfer to other facilities owned by the international company. The first of three waves of layoffs will come in August and the last by year's end, said Martin Vaught, company spokesman at the Indiana headquarters.
The area is still reeling from the March 2006 closure of the Georgia-Pacific factory that left more than 200 people without jobs. After that, Kimball Electronics became the largest manufacturing employer in the community, said Joe Duff, city manager.
Workers at the high-tech factory make electronic components for a variety of uses, including automotive, medical and industrial purposes. After two large contracts were shifted to factories in Asia, the work load in Gaylord steadily declined.
The lost contracts were worth $10 million, a significant loss since the company bought the Gaylord site in December 2006 from Reptron Electronics.
All 216 affected workers are able to apply for transfers to other Kimball locations in Jasper, Ind., Tampa, Fla., or a factory in Mexico, Vaught said.
Electric cars exempt from meters
Traverse City (May 23) — Drivers of fully electric cars need not feed city parking meters.
City commissioners voted 6-1 to support an ordinance to allow electric cars, though not hybrids, to park for free at city parking meters, but still subject to time limits. The parking perk goes into effect May 31.
Commissioner Ralph Soffredine cast the lone dissenting vote, saying it wasn't "fair" that the cars would get the special privilege.
The Downtown Development Authority recommended the change, supported by E Company, which offers a rental fleet of electric cars in Traverse City. DDA officials said the parking program would encourage the use of energy efficient vehicles.
School board member quits
Traverse City (May 24) — A Glen Lake Community Schools board member resigned after he said his input on district issues repeatedly was rebuffed.
David Harris was elected to the board as a write-in candidate in May 2006. He stepped down about one year into his four-year term.
Harris said he expressed numerous concerns about the district's curriculum policy, but his efforts were of no avail and he could not get his issues placed on the board's agenda.
Groening said Harris' departure isn't a sign of a larger communication problem within the board.
Harris holds a doctorate degree, was a professor of education at the University of Michigan before retiring in Glen Arbor, and previously served as curriculum administrator at the Oakland County Intermediate School District.
The seat will be up for election in May 2008.
Workers asked to leave cars home
Traverse City (May 26) — For one week, Kate Hogan doesn't put her work clothes on when she gets up in the morning.
Instead, the Hagerty Insurance human resource manager packs them in a backpack before she begins her 40-minute bike ride to work.
She said it's the least she can do to support Smart Commute Week.
Hogan and thousands of others will use alternative modes of transportation for TART Trails' 13th annual Traverse City Smart Commute Week. The five-day event promotes biking, walking, carpooling and taking public transportation to work.
"It gets people out of the car," TART program specialist Missy Luyk said. "You see actual faces, and there are more pedestrians out and about. It makes the community more friendly."
Luyk said that the rising gas prices could motivate more Traverse City residents to join in during the week.
Bellaire to host movie premier
Traverse City (May 26) — Michael Moore's new movie "Sicko" received rave reviews and worldwide attention at the Cannes Film Festival. But now for the real test: Will it play in Bellaire?
Moore plans what will be the "unofficial North American premiere" of his documentary that skewers the American health-care system in Bellaire on June 16 to benefit the Antrim County Democratic Party. "I'm doing this at my wife's request," said Moore, a part-time Antrim County resident whose wife, Kathleen Glynn, is vice-chairwoman of the county party and executive producer of the movie. "Everyone is invited."
The group is "ecstatic," said Jim McKimmy, chairman of the county party.
There will be two showings at the Bellaire Theater and a premiere party at Lulu's Bistro.
Suit looms over alleged violations
Traverse City (May 27) — Commissioners in Grand Traverse County may have violated state public disclosure laws for the second time in less than a year, despite their stated intentions of having open government in the county. This time, one of their own has pledged to take them to court over it.
Since taking office in January, Commissioner Christine Maxbauer has videotaped committee and board meeting to post on her Web site and/or broadcast on the tctv2 public access channel. At their annual goal setting meeting on the board told Maxbauer they didn't want her to videotape the meeting.
When Maxbauer told them it was her legal right to tape the meeting, she said Commissioner Larry Fleis told her if she recorded the meeting it wouldn't go forward.
Maxbauer said she'll continue to tape meetings even though it offends some board members.
"When I walk into a meeting there are all these hateful stares, and quite honestly I don't anticipate it's going to get any better," she said.
Landmark, homes spared from fire
BEAVER ISLAND (May 27) — Ordinary folk pitched in to put out a wildfire that threatened expensive vacation homes and a historic landmark on Beaver Island.
Island resident Frank Solle said the fire broke out sometime before 2 p.m. and was extinguished in about three hours after it burned eight to 10 acres.
"It was in kind of a critical location and it could have turned ugly," Solle said. He said around 60 volunteers helped the island's two dozen volunteer firefighters as the pilot who owns Island Airways circled the fire and helped direct the effort to put it out.
Solle said the fire came within about a quarter mile of a residential area and also came close to the island's historic Protar Home, the house of an early settler that is maintained by the Beaver Island Historical Society.
Conditions on the island are dry. The island has received .83 inches of rain so far this month while an average May sees 2.7 inches of rain on the island, said Bruce Smith, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gaylord.
Film festival to take over State Theatre
Traverse City (May 30) — Downtown's State Theatre will host films on winter weekends beginning late this year and offer movies throughout the week during summer months beginning next year, the result of a long-anticipated deal between Rotary Charities of Traverse City and the Traverse City Film Festival.
"We feel with the success of the film festival, there is support for this," said Michael Moore, Oscar-winning documentary director and founder of the nonprofit film festival.
Plans are to open the State by Thanksgiving weekend with state-of-the-art projection and sound equipment and show foreign, documentary, classic and independent films.
Rotary Charities will hand over the theater, subject to a $600,000 mortgage. The festival will not pay for the building, as long as it meets benchmarks by 2012 that require the theater be open a certain number of days per year.
Harold "Buzz" Wilson of Leelanau County pledged to fund needed improvements, including repair of a leaky roof and updating the electrical system. He also plans to purchase a top-notch popcorn popper.
Wilson and film festival officials estimated that repairs and upgrades could cost $500,000 to $600,000.
Bass festival better than ever
Mancelona (May 31) — After nine months of preparation the Mancelona Bass Festival is better than ever.
The 52nd Mancelona Bass Festival features better fireworks and a bulked-up entertainment schedule. Besides entertainment, the festival also boosted the firework show.
Festival-goers can watch from the Mancelona High School parking lot, West Limits Road or Palmer Park.
The idea behind the first festival — a bass fishing tournament — remains a staple for locals.
"Most of the people in the fishing tournament have been doing it since I've been doing it," said Larry Roote, who's headed the event for 24 years.
Roote said the biggest bass he's seen win the event weighed in at 6 pounds, 4 ounces; first place typically ranges from four to six pounds.
The festival has grown considerably since that first bass fishing tournament in 1955. Originally, the festivities went from Friday through Sunday, with more activities, the festival, which draws between 15,000 to 20,000 people, had to add days.
Theme park idea excites Grayling
Grayling (May 31)— There's no Main Street in this little northern Michigan community. But one is on the way.
Plans are afoot for state officials to sell 1,800 acres of public land in Crawford County for development of a $160 million theme park called Main Street America.
"We were looking for a location that transitions through all four seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter, and Grayling does that nicely," said Patrick Crosson, project manager for Axiom Entertainment of Rochester.
Axiom intends to build a year-round family amusement park a few miles south of Grayling and hire 2,000 employees, 700 at full-time status.
Attractions will include roller coasters, a water park, indoor surfing, snowmobile and race car tracks, snowboarding areas, a working farm, a 200-acre campground, an amphitheater, a hotel and plenty of shopping. Construction could begin this year with a partial park opening in the summer of 2010, local officials said.
An appraisal of the land must now be contracted and completed, which will take at least a couple of months, said David Freed, DNR chief of land and facilities.
Property sale negotiations will then begin with Axiom, he said.
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