Another problem arises at plant
TRAVERSE CITY (Aug. 1) — Problems again plague Grand Traverse County's state-of-the-art, $7.8 million septage treatment plant, and contractors have been given a deadline to fix it.
The plant partially collapsed shortly after it opened in 2005, necessitating months of investigation and costly fixes. This time, the problem centers on the plant's inability to process solid waste pumped from septic tanks and restaurant grease traps.
A device called an Auto-thermophilic Aerobic Digester tank must reach between 120 and 150 degrees Fahrenheit to operate properly, but officials said the temperature plateaued at around 110 degrees.
"We've been working on this for months and we should have been there," said county Board of Public Works attorney and project manager Michael Houlihan.
Houlihan said he's put contractor Gourdie-Fraser/Christman Co. on notice that if officials don't see any progress by an upcoming sewer and water committee meeting, the county will hire an outside engineering firm to get the treatment process fixed.
Plans announced to reopen theater
TRAVERSE CITY (Aug. 1) — Fans who packed the State Theatre for the opening film of the Traverse City Film Festival got an unexpected bonus — the news that the long-shuttered theater would reopen year-round in November.
Film festival founder Michael Moore's announcement was greeted with whoops and hollers from the audience, who began queuing up more than an hour before the showing of "Once," which screened simultaneously at the City Opera House down the street.
At the State, festival volunteers sold popcorn and water along a line that stretched to the end of the block and around the corner of Front and Park streets to the Boardman River.
Under temperatures that hovered around 90 degrees — about 10 degrees cooler than last year — the kilt-clad Grand Traverse Pipes and Drums opened the third annual festival at an afternoon ceremony in front of the theatre on Front Street.
Elk Rapids ready for students
TRAVERSE CITY (Aug. 2) — Elk Rapids Public Schools is prepared to handle a potential influx of students from Bertha Vos Elementary because officials have long planned for growth, the district's superintendent said.
Elk Rapids Superintendent Jon Hoover said he has fielded inquiries from about two dozen Bertha Vos families since Traverse City Area Public Schools said the school in Acme Township was being recommended for closure. Elk Rapids' Mill Creek Elementary is located in nearby Williamsburg.
The TCAPS board voted 4-3 on July 23 to close Bertha Vos, Glenn Loomis and Norris elementary schools at the end of the 2007-08 school year.
But Hoover said despite recent attention focused on Bertha Vos, Elk Rapids anticipated gaining students from throughout the region.
Businesses relieved about rail line
GAYLORD (Aug. 3) — An existing section of railroad track in Gaylord will stay right where it is, a decision that has local officials happily whistling.
David Miller owns Northern Energy and said the threatened removal of a four-plus mile stretch of railroad line would have devastated his business' transportation costs.
He's glad federal authorities denied Lake State Railway Co.'s recent proposal to terminate the line.
Miller's company relies on rail shipping to move 90 percent of its lubrication products, with later distribution across Lower Michigan and parts of the Upper Peninsula. Big changes in product shipment would have been necessary without the track, he said.
"It would all have been transferred into trucks and we're talking dramatic increases in transportation costs — six figures," Miller said.
Construction impacts businesses
MANCELONA (Aug. 4) — It was quiet at Pecar's Flowers along U.S. 131, just south of Mancelona.
Dozens of vehicles usually buzz past the roadside flower shop in a matter of moments, but far fewer wheeled past since the highway closed this week for a major reconstructive overhaul. That project now sends the constant flow of traffic on a backwoods detour around the work zone.
Most flower sales are done in the spring, but homegrown tomatoes and sweet corn sell very well this time of year, said Tom Pecar.
Despite the inevitable loss of customers, Pecar said he's glad the road work is being done.
"If you live out here and drive on it, you know it's a nasty road," he said.
Answered Prayers
TRAVERSE CITY (Aug. 4) — Fr. Iakovos Olechnowicz sits among the round conference tables in the fellowship area of the church that has become his newest appointment. A few steps away stand rows of chairs and a small altar that comprise the sanctuary of the Traverse City Orthodox Church.
Surveying the room Fr. Olechnowicz seemed satisfied with the storefront on Hastings Street that, until a few weeks ago, held nothing but potential for the congregation. Since 1999 the Traverse City Orthodox Mission Church has been renting space in other area churches, meeting twice a month and setting up and tearing down their paraments for each service.
"I felt it was critical to establish a space for us throughout the week," Olechnowicz said, explaining one of his first priorities. "In our church there is a whole array of services that are performed throughout the week. Now we will be able to have a whole liturgical life."
The small Traverse City congregation is part of the Eastern Orthodox Church, a Christian church that traces its hierarchy back to the apostles. Today's Eastern Orthodox Christian church is a confederacy of orthodox churches with cultural ties to Russia, Serbia, Greece, Poland and other ethnicities that all share the same faith.
Crops are wilting in bone-dry fields
TRAVERSE CITY (Aug. 5) — Stressed field crops, undersized fruit in local orchards and toasted lawns are testaments to another bone-dry summer in the Grand Traverse region.
Weather that's been great for beachcombers and boaters has been brutal for folks who depend on moisture during the growing season to carve out a living in northern Michigan.
"It's as bad as we've seen in 25 years," said Frank Lipinski, who farms more than 200 acres of corn near Buckley. "When you see your crops dying in front of your eyes, it's pretty discouraging."
Precipitation this year in the Grand Traverse area is running at about half its long-term average. Typical precipitation levels usually are above 18 inches by early August, but by late last week only a shade over 9 inches had fallen.
Fair ready for its 99th year
TRAVERSE CITY (Aug. 5) — The phones already were buzzing off the hook when Laura Robinson walked into the main office at the Northwestern Michigan Fairgrounds.
Robinson, a member of the fair board, was part of a large crew of volunteers who roamed the grounds off M-37 on Blair Townhall Road.
They made last-minute preparations in the final hours before the gates opened on the 99th annual event.
"It's been crazy out here," Robinson said. "If you sit around too long they'll put you to work." Vendors and exhibitors also spent the day setting up. Members of 4-H clubs arrived early to decorate the stalls that will house their animals, including pigs with names like Ninja, Vanilla, Fred and Fanny.
The opening day schedule features a demolition derby and the 4-H dog show.
Band lists 2% distribution groups
PESHAWBESTOWN (Aug. 5) — The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians recently released a list of distributions to local governments under its consent decree with the state of Michigan.
Two percent of the tribe's half-year gambling revenue from video devices are locally distributed under terms of Tribes v. Engler.
The tribe received 96 funding applications and awarded 40 applicants. The total amount available to allocate for this 2% cycle was $774,763.68, according to the tribe's press release.
That's All, Folks!
TRAVERSE CITY (Aug. 6) — Oscar-winning film director and festival founder Michael Moore surprised audiences with outtakes from his current hit movie "Sicko" as people waited in lines for the last few shows of the third Traverse City Film Festival.
Moore took the stage at the Old Town Playhouse for the first of two showings of this year's "Mike's Surprise" — a screening that isn't announced until the showing itself.
"You'll be the first audience in the world, literally, to see this footage," he said, explaining that some of it was "too crazy" or "too sad" to include in the cut of the movie about America's healthcare system released to theaters.
Much of the material will be included as extras on the DVD, he added.
While movies were still rolling, dozens of others celebrated at the closing night party at Grand Traverse Commons.
Winds fan U.P. fire to 14,000 acres
NEWBERRY (Aug. 7) — A fire on remote, mostly uninhabited land in the Upper Peninsula pushed past fire lines and grew to about 14,000 acres amid erratic winds, temperatures in the 80s and a lack of rain, the state said.
The size of the fire made it larger than the 1999 Tower Lake fire, another big U.P. blaze, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
No injuries had been reported, the DNR said. There also were no reports of damage to structures, but several structures in the area were threatened and precautionary evacuations had been ordered for Luce County Road 420 near Pine Stump Junction. It was not clear how many people were affected in the area, which includes two sportsmens' clubs.
The fire was about six miles north of Newberry in Luce County and about 10 miles from Tahquamenon Falls State Park.
Planners approve marina, tunnel
TRAVERSE CITY (Aug. 8) — Elmwood Township officials approved a new marina as part of an $11.5 million commercial development — including a pedestrian tunnel under M-22.
Township planners approved a conditional use permit for developer Ron Walters' West Shore Yacht Club, a 28-slip large-boat marina in West Grand Traverse Bay.
The project also includes a 42,000-square-foot mixed-use project on the west side of M-22 called West Shore Crossings that will feature a yacht club building, three residential units, some retail/commercial space and a pedestrian underpass beneath the state road.
The site is located immediately north of the Dock Side Party Store.
"I think the project fits in reasonably well with that area," planning Commissioner Steve VanZoeren said.
Walters next will seek approval for the marina plan through the state Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and wants to begin construction early next year. He hopes to have the marina, designed for boats 50 to 70 feet long, ready for much of the 2008 boating season.
Fair attendance is up significantly
TRAVERSE CITY (Aug. 10) — The numbers Laura Robinson looked at gave her a moment's pause.
"Wow" was her first reaction after comparing the Northwestern Michigan Fair's attendance from this year to last. Robinson, a member of the fair board, said attendance is up significantly across the board, with 30 percent increases on Sunday and Monday and more than 10,000 more people walking through the gates on Wednesday when compared to the 2006 event.
Already, the fair had counted 29,488 people entering the fairgrounds on Blair Townhall Road through Wednesday, and president Gordy Wilder doesn't see any reason why the strong attendance will change heading into the final weekend.
"My honest opinion is that we're going to beat other years," Wilder said. "We got some good grandstand events."
Fundraising shows 'Promise'
NORTHPORT (Aug. .10) — Fundraising efforts for the Northport Promise scholarship program are off to a running start, with two pledges totaling up to nearly $250,000 in the last two weeks.
The Northport Promise, modeled after the Kalamazoo Promise program, would pay up to four years of college tuition for students who graduate from Northport Public School and attend any public, post-secondary school in Michigan.
A group of Northport area residents launched the initiative in February in an effort to boost dwindling enrollment in Leelanau County's smallest public school district, where 153 students were enrolled in 2006-07.
Work at troubled plant is heating up
TRAVERSE CITY (Aug. 11) — Grand Traverse County's septic tank waste is finally cooking itself clean at the county's troubled septage treatment plant.
Faced with a deadline to either fix a glitch in the treatment process or bring in new experts to solve it, Gourdie-Fraser Inc. engineer Jim Minster announced the biological treatment process at the plant reached the minimum temperature needed for proper operation.
The latest problem involved a large concrete tank known as an Auto-thermophilic Aerobic Digester. The ATAD tank must reach between 120 and 150 degrees Fahrenheit for bacteria to convert the solids left over from the treatment of septic tank waste into a harmless soil additive.
Minster told the county's sewer and water committee the ATAD tank was at 130 degrees and beginning to climb by about 5 degrees a day.
"It's great news, great news," said Chris Buday, director of the Grand Traverse County Department of Public Works.
Supervisor Kurtz resigns
ACME (Aug. 11) — Acme Township Supervisor Bill Kurtz dropped a bombshell resignation, departing as leader of a board mired in a drawn-out battle with developers.
He cited health issues and ongoing lawsuits from Meijer Inc., and The Village at Grand Traverse LLC as the primary reasons for his withdrawal.
"We've got a great board, and I think we've stuck with the master plan. Unfortunately, when you are dealing with developers, and they attempt to wear you down, and, eventually, that is how they win these," Kurtz said. "I am just hopeful that we can come to a resolution and that things will end up that Acme will be still a great place to live."
Horse show kicks up rave reviews
ACME (Aug. 12) — Horse Shows by the Bay rode off into the sunset after a successful debut at its new grounds, and organizers expect the show will continue to grow both in popularity and in its economic clout in the area.
The fourth annual competition attracted a record number of entries and rave reviews for its new riding and show facility north of M-72, event co-founder Alexandra Rheinheimer said. Almost 1,200 horses were entered in various hunter, jumper and dressage competitions, reflecting a 30 percent increase per week compared to the 2006 event.
Competitors traveled from throughout the country, Rheinheimer said, with entries coming from Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania and throughout the state and Midwest. Riders competed for $350,000 in prize money.
"We were very excited," Rheinheimer said. "Many of the barns have talked about returning and are already planning for next year."
Leelanau Cheese captures top award
SUTTONS BAY (Aug. 13) — Leelanau Cheese Company's aged Raclette has been named the best cheese in North America at the American Cheese Society's 2007 Competition held in Burlington, Vt.
The selection was made from among more than 1,200 entries to take the "Best of Show" award. The Suttons Bay-based cheese company owned by John and Anne Hoyt produces its raclette with pasteurized milk from one farm. It's a labor-intensive cheese, prepared in nine-pound wheels and aged nine months.
"The number of cheeses in this year's competition represents a 27 percent increase over last year, making it the largest cheese competition in American history," said David Grotenstein, chairman of the judging and competition committee, in a press release.
Allison Hooper, president of the American Cheese Society board of directors, said the competition "really showcases the emerging trends and the leaders in the world of American cheese."
Parking deck nets another petition
TRAVERSE CITY (Aug. 14) — Jim Carruthers collected signatures from fellow Traverse City residents more than a year ago to force a vote on a West Front Street development that included public parking.
Now, he and other critics of the 145 West Front St. plan are petitioning for another city-wide vote.
The publicly funded project that opponents crushed at city polls last year has new legs, thanks to a funding pledge from the Grand Traverse County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority. Carruthers thinks it's time to remind city officials of residents' misgivings about the project's 100-foot-tall size, the "flawed" public process and its developer, Federated Properties.
He is gathering signatures on a petition that calls for a special election on the project, though he fears the city will not hold a vote.
"Whatever we do, the city will deny this," Carruthers said. "They'll think of a reason, but at least we'll be able to get people to rally around this."
Courtade to make room for students
TRAVERSE CITY (Aug. 14) — Traverse City Area Public Schools will expand a neighboring elementary building to make room for students who will be displaced by the closing of Bertha Vos Elementary.
Board members voted unanimously, with trustee Alice McNally absent, to approve the plan that would add up to eight classrooms at Courtade Elementary using money from a 2004 bond for building renovations.
Bertha Vos, located in Acme Township, will close at the end of the 2007-08 school year along with Glenn Loomis and Norris elementary schools.
Dry weather mixed bag for businesses
GAYLORD (Aug. 15) — Water sprinklers gushed and spun on green fairways at The Otsego Club in Gaylord, where dry conditions have turned the rough a bit on the brown side.
Grass burn-outs dot non-irrigated rough areas, said Kris Klay, general manager at the golf resort in Otsego County, while the club's electrical costs are up as much as 15 percent because of the demand on fairways sprinklers.
"They are fully drying out and taking every drop they can," he said.
But Klay said the onslaught of sunny, warm days means no rain-outs and more golfers.
The dry summer represents a mixed bag for businesses throughout northern Michigan. Some like it hot, while others are thirsty for at least the occasional rainstorm.
Barb Waldorf owns Longs Canoe Livery near Grayling on the Manistee River. Water levels are way down this summer, she said.
Waldorf said customers haven't complained about the low river; they've just reported how some obstacles are more difficult to navigate past with the current conditions. Fewer people are renting canoes, but that could also be due to high gas prices and unemployment levels, she said.
Wal-Mart to cancel purchase agreement
MANISTEE (Aug. 16) — Wal-Mart still wants to build a store in Manistee, but won't do it on city-owned property in Filer Township.
The retail giant notified Manistee city officials it would terminate a purchase agreement with the city for nearly 20 acres of land at Red Apple Road.
Wal-Mart spokesman Nick Infante said the property, a former dump now used as a compost site, posed concerns about environmental work and utility location. The company also questioned if it is the best site to attract the most traffic.
"We are not bailing on Manistee. That site just didn't work for us," Infante said.
Sculpture honors downtown advocate
TRAVERSE CITY (Aug. 17) — Bob Purvis sculpted steel into art with no knowledge the creation would turn into a tribute to a longtime advocate for the local culture scene.
The Suttons Bay sculptor was thrilled to learn his piece would be installed as public art in downtown Traverse City in memory of Nancy Sundstrom.
Sundstrom died this year at age 50. She was a writer, acted and directed local plays and served as the Downtown Development Authority marketing director from 1996 to 2003.
A permanent home for Purvis' sculpture has not been found, but officials plan to place it downtown.
Burn ban put into effect
TRAVERSE CITY (Aug. 18) — Outdoor burning is banned in a 75-county area covering most of Michigan in an effort to prevent fires amid extremely dry conditions and an Upper Peninsula blaze that saps the state's firefighting resources.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm put the ban into effect. It prohibits burning or smoking in all uninhabited or unattended forest areas across most of northern Michigan and the entire U.P.
"The conditions are such that the threat of any fire getting started from any heat source or flame is pretty probable. Even the live vegetation ... is easier to ignite as well," said Paul Kollmeyer, fire prevention specialist for the Department of Natural Resources. "Over a third of the fires we get each year are caused by either people burning in forested areas or people smoking in forested areas."
Old is new again at Buckley show
BUCKLEY (Aug. 19) — Tom Moran paused and pondered why folks keep coming back in droves year after year for the Buckley Old Engine Show.
"I think it brings back a lot of memories for people about when they were children or young adults," said Moran, a third-generation farmer from Williamsburg relaxing under a tent in front of his prized 1949 Co-op tractor on display at this weekend's 40th annual show. "And the memories are what bring people back."
Everything old is popular again at the engine show, where thousands flocked under cool blue skies to hear the noise, smell the soot and watch the steam pour from the antique and unique equipment at the show.
Two new eateries to open in TC
TRAVERSE CITY (Aug. 19) — Kurt Fischer remembers when he was in high school and couldn't wait to get out of Traverse City.
Now he's glad to be back and hopes to add to the city's growing variety of downtown eateries.
His Catch Island Grill in the former Pete's Pub & Grille building at 120 Park St. is scheduled to open in early October. It joins the new Red Ginger restaurant — located in the former Kurtz Music store at 237 E. Front St. — that is slated to open in mid-October under owners Dan and Pam Marsh.
Both operations want to carve out a new niche among the downtown's expanding restaurant offerings. Red Ginger will feature an upscale Asian-style menu with attractions like a sushi bar, while Catch Island Grill is described as a "Caribbean-style" eatery with an emphasis on fresh and salt water fish and other seafood.
Study goes public
TRAVERSE CITY (Aug. 20) — For more than two years, the majority of community leaders weren't privy to details of a "world class" comprehensive land use and transportation study planned for the Grand Traverse region.
Even most locals intimately involved in the process, including a 30-member group that framed the study, and a transportation planning organization that hired the consulting team, don't exactly know how the study will be conducted.
"The consultants made the point that the only people to see their presentation on what they are going to do and how they are going to do it was the eight-member (interview) committee," said Matt Skeels, executive director of TC-TALUS, a transportation planning group. "So they wanted to come to town, meet the people they work for, and get a feel for the community."
A team of seven firms hired for $1.3 million to lead the community through a goal-setting and transportation plan that's tied closely to land use issues will offer a public presentation.
A second presentation will be made to members of the Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce.
Planning team member Mead & Hunt Inc. has been compiling existing traffic and zoning data in preparation for a Sept. 11 public kick-off of the study.
No-swim advisory at Clinch Park Beach
TRAVERSE CITY (Aug. 22) — Health officials cautioned swimmers to avoid water contact at Clinch Park Beach in Traverse City, citing elevated levels of E. coli bacteria.
The Grand Traverse County Health Department issued the advisory, warning beach-goers to refrain from swimming at the beach.
Tests taken showed high bacteria levels.
This notice is the latest of several beach cautions sent out this summer by health officials. The health department and The Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay conduct water quality tests at area beaches at least once a week.
An official blamed the Clinch Park levels on recent rains and strong east winds that blew contaminants into the water.
Tests will continue at the site until levels return to acceptable marks.
Cherry Fest, City to talk partnership
TRAVERSE CITY (Aug. 23) — The National Cherry Festival owes the city nearly $87,000 for services during its 2006 and 2007 events and wants to reinvent its relationship with the city.
Festival Executive Director Tom Menzel soon will sit down with city officials to figure out how the city can partner with the financially troubled event. He wants to pay at least some of the estimated $86,897 owed to Traverse City, but if the city immediately forces total payment it could finish the festival, Menzel said.
The city bills for services such as police and fire, public works and lost revenue during the eight-day event. Talks with the city will center on those contract elements and use of the Open Space park.
"The future of the National Cherry Festival, going forward, probably hinges on these discussions," Menzel said.
Immersed in history
TRAVERSE CITY (Aug. 23) — The Grand Traverse Bay Underwater Preserve Council has been looking for new and interesting dive sites since May. In addition to sunken boats and ships, the group is looking for experimental, remote-control airplanes from World War II era.
Members have already found what they believe are an ancient petroglyph that looks like a mastodon, a 150-year-old dock, a "perfectly intact" horse-drawn carriage and geological features believed to have been formed when the bay was much deeper than it is now.
"We're really searching for the whole gamut of cultural materials in the diving area," said Mark Holley. The underwater archaeologist for the council, he was trained at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and teaches at Northwestern Michigan College.
Soon, the group will search for unmanned aircraft believed to have crashed in the bay more than 60 years ago after having been launched off the deck of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier. The hunt is based on research conducted by Jerry Taylor of Kingsley, who has collected an accordion file full of photos, news stories and military documents on the planes over the last two years.
Church fights to keep roof overhead
GAYLORD (Aug. 24) — Gary Chappell truly doesn't want to lose his church.
Gaylord Community Church on East M-32 in Gaylord started an expansion project two years ago, hired architects and went to work. Now that addition is on the verge of collapse and the church is facing financial ruin because of it.
"About two weeks before we were to enter the building and occupy it, the general contractor told me we had a problem. They found not only was the roof sagging, but the walls are spreading out, about six inches for each wall," said Chappell, an assistant pastor and 11-year church elder.
Church leaders filed a lawsuit in 46th Circuit Court against McHugh Architect Engineering Corp., the company hired to design the building expansion.
The pending lawsuit alleges McHugh lied about his company's ability to design the addition, provided defective design plans through professional negligence and also committed both fraud and breach of contract.
"The roof system was failing before it was fully constructed," said Jerome Swantek, Otsego County building official.
Financial woes hit septage plant
TRAVERSE CITY (Aug. 24) — There are still more financial problems for Grand Traverse County's septage treatment plant.
The latest culprit: too little rain.
Grand Traverse County Administrator Dennis Aloia informed the county board that the septage plant won't meet its debt obligations again this year and may have to borrow between $200,000 and $250,000 from the county's general fund.
The septage plant will reimburse the county for last year's loan before seeking new funds, said public works director Chris Buday. The plant repaid a $148,000 loan from Traverse City in February, he said.
Burns help restore Camp Greilick
TRAVERSE CITY (Aug. 25) — There are about 500 acres at Camp Greilick in rural Grand Traverse County, where some spots are starting to regain characteristics of the original ecology there.
"We're trying to get back the oak-pine barrens," said Cliff Wagner, camp ranger.
Daniel Schillinger, forester with the Grand Traverse Conservation District, said barrens restoration work on about 200 acres at the camp came from a prescribed burn two years ago.
Another burn is planned for the spring, along with tree-planting and native grass-seeding, he said.
Platte is getting a makeover
LAKE TOWNSHIP (Aug. 26) — Amanda Brushaber squinted in the morning haze and recalled a time when three bustling boat liveries served visitors seeking a day of fun along the clear, shallow waters of the Platte River where it quietly crosses under M-22.
"Working here is special for me," said Brushaber, of the National Park Service, who grew up in Benzie County, spent many fun times along the Platte and now heads up a project to restore the former Water Wheel and Casey's Canoe Livery sites to their natural conditions.
Work is scheduled to begin on the project that will restore more than 400 feet of the Platte River to its natural appearance and function. It also will remove all of the crumbling concrete retaining walls and exposed steel sheeting, reducing the risk of injury to boaters, kayakers and tubers.
The site technically lies within the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. That's why the National Park Service is leading the project, in coordination with the Michigan Department of Transportation and the Department of Environmental Quality.
Local wineries take honors
TRAVERSE CITY (Aug. 27) — Grand Traverse area wineries dominated those receiving the top honors at the Michigan Wine and Spirits Competition held recently in East Lansing.
Judges included Doug Frost, master of wine and master sommelier, California winemaker Scott Harvey, two other master sommeliers and internationally known authors, winemakers and wine educators. They sniffed, sipped and discussed some 365 wines, all made in Michigan with Michigan produce. In total, 36 wineries won a total of 227 medals.
Wineries from the Leelanau and Old Mission Peninsulas took five of the six Best of Class spots.
Allen pushes tourism bill
TRAVERSE CITY (Aug. 28) — A proposal in Lansing would pry up to $30 million a year from Michigan's cash-strapped budget to pay for more tourism promotion outside of Michigan.
Backers of Senate Bill 690, introduced by a group that includes Sen. Jason Allen of Traverse City, said the plan would more than pay for itself by generating heightened sales and gas tax revenues through increased travel to the state.
They hope that pitch will work on state lawmakers faced with a $1.6 billion budget shortfall for the 2007-08 fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.
Nature area planned for donated land
GRAWN (Aug. 29) — Elmer Schmuckal envisions a natural area where local school kids can get hands-on lessons about trees, bugs, soil and other aspects of the natural world.
The lifelong Blair Township resident and his wife Rose will attend a ceremony with township officials that symbolizes a first step in turning that vision into reality.
Schmuckal, 91, donated roughly three acres along M-37 to the township in 2004, and officials constructed a new sewer pump station on the property in 2006.
Work on the $14,000 facility is complete, and the township's focus has shifted to designating the remaining land as a peaceful place where the public can learn about Michigan's natural resources.
Bird die-offs return to lakeshore
EMPIRE (Aug. 30) — Dead birds and fish again are washing up in waves at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
And park biologist Ken Hyde is concerned that this year's die-off of gulls, loons, ducks and cormorants affects more species, particularly the endangered piping plover.
Bird and fish deaths became evident by August last year. More than 2,600 fish-eating birds were found dead on Lake Michigan beaches north and south of the Platte River mouth by late 2006.
This year, biologists recorded die-offs by early summer.
The culprit is Type E botulism, a naturally occurring toxin in lake sediments that's apparently entering the food chain through invasive species such as zebra and quagga mussels and round Goby fish.
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