State repeals tax on services
LANSING (Dec. 2) — A widely unpopular tax on some services in Michigan died quickly, less than 17 hours after it had taken effect.
The state House approved a bill repealing and replacing the 6 percent tax by a 66-42 vote. The Senate had passed the measure, 33-4. Gov. Jennifer Granholm, whose administration helped broker a compromise in recent days, is expected to sign it.
The tax officially became law at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, but businesses weren't required to collect it. The House unanimously passed a bill Saturday granting businesses amnesty. Other votes dealing with tax collection issues will be addressed next week.
Businesses that collected the tax Saturday will have to turn the money over to the state, although it's unlikely any did.
Discovery buys Goodwill playground
TRAVERSE CITY (Dec. 2) — The Goodwill store on South Airport Road gets up to 1,000 donations a day, often sorted by Tari Moore.
But the retail processor came across something unusual one day about two years ago. Folded in a linen was a wallet with no identification, stuffed with $100 bills.
Ninety-eight of them.
"I was just amazed at what I was seeing," Moore said. "I've never seen that amount of money before in my life, and to have it just appear like that, I wanted to get it into the right hands."
She gave it to her supervisor before the agency turned it in to the Grand Traverse County Sheriff's Department.
Six months passed and when no one claimed the $9,800, it went back to the agency to purchase playground equipment at the Goodwill Inn, a homeless shelter on Keystone Road in Garfield Township. The equipment went in before the new inn opened almost a year ago, replacing an old motel on the city's south side that served as the previous shelter.
Single charge filed in cow killing
THOMPSONVILLE (Dec. 4) — DeAnn Mosher holds no ill will against a neighbor who's charged with a misdemeanor for fatally shooting her pregnant breeding cow, Hannah.
Mosher said a charge of reckless or negligent discharge of a firearm against Thompsonville resident Richard Buckner was appropriate, and that her family is working to recover restitution to replace the slain animal.
"I certainly thought there would have been additional charges ... but that is up to the prosecutor to decide what's most offensive and what's most appropriate," Mosher said. "We don't hold any grudges against (Buckner). We live in a small community and I guess we just have to accept some of the things that happen in a small community and move on."
The cow shooting gained national notoriety after Buckner told Benzie County sheriff's officials he thought he had his sights set on a coyote when he downed the 1,400-pound bovine near his Colfax Township residence on Wooden Bridge Road early Nov. 17.
Settlement in race suit
FRANKFORT (Dec. 5) — The mother of a former Frankfort-Elberta Area Schools student received $40,000 to settle a racial discrimination lawsuit against the district.
The Record-Eagle obtained the settlement figure through a Michigan Freedom of Information Act request after school officials refused to provide details.
The district's insurance company covered the payment, Superintendent Tom Stobie said, although the district paid a $5,000 deductible. Insurance premiums did not go up because of the incident, Stobie said.
Principal Jeff Tousley during the 2004-05 school year allegedly asked a black third-grade student to use another bathroom so other students would "feel more comfortable," the suit said.
Future road projects in doubt
HONOR (Dec. 6) — The Benzie County Road Commission will have to wait and see how many projects it can tackle after voters narrowly rejected a recent road millage request.
Voters turned down a six-year, .75-mill levy, by a 2,094 to 2,023 margin Nov. 6. It would have generated about $750,000 a year for maintenance and improvement of existing local county roads, commission manager Bob Weaver said.
The commission will now see how much money is spent this winter before determining if new projects are possible next spring and summer, Weaver said.
"We're going to do the best we can in winter, and when we get out of winter we'll assess where we're at," he said. "If we can do some projects, we will; if we can't, we won't."
Deadline nears for theme park deal
GRAYLING (Dec. 6) — The clock is ticking on an exclusive land purchase agreement between the state and a proposed theme park developer.
State officials said they won't approve an extension to an exclusive deal with a downstate developer who wants to buy 1,800 acres of state land near Interstate 75 in Crawford County. That deal expires Dec. 13, and includes the state's letter of intent to sell to Axiom Entertainment of Rochester for a proposed $161 million amusement park.
Axiom is required to provide the state verified financial information, and has yet to do so, 18 months after the state gave Axiom the sole shot at the property.
"We think that's been an adequate period of time," said David Freed, chief of land and facilities for the state Department of Natural Resources. "If Axiom comes through with their financing, we could still move forward then. We're not saying we won't sell to them, we're just saying we won't continue an exclusive agreement that we would sell only to Axiom."
Bank set to move into new building
TRAVERSE CITY (Dec. 8) — The Bank of Northern Michigan has new, $4 million digs downtown and will look for some company.
The bank moves into the three-story, 15,000-square foot office building at the corner of Union and State streets, Executive Vice President John Paul said.
The bank will occupy the bottom two floors of the traditional brick building, and is looking for a tenant for the 5,000-square feet on the third floor.
A grand opening will be held Jan. 22-23.
A Heart-Warming Story
TRAVERSE CITY (Dec. 8) — Carol Rose knew she needed help when she saw the supplies of children's winter clothing run low at the Women's Resource Center Thrift Shop in Traverse City.
She had no idea how much help was on the way.
Since Rose contacted the Record-Eagle and other media outlets, who reported the need this week, the store has been deluged with donated clothing — coats, snow pants, hats, gloves and boots, all in different colors and sizes.
"I give away 10 coats, and 15 more come in," said Rose, the thrift shop's manager. "There shouldn't be anybody without a coat in Traverse City this year."
Funds allow for 90-acre expansion
TRAVERSE CITY (Dec. 9) — Almost $555,000 from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund will make dreams come true for Long Lake Township Supervisor Karen Rosa.
The money will be used to buy land and expand Cedar Run Creek Natural Area by more than 90 acres, Rosa said. The partially wooded preserve will now stretch from Grand Traverse County into Benzie County's Almira Township.
"It's kind of a dream we had at the township to acquire this land and forever (have) it open for our kids and grandkids," she said. "It's pretty exciting to have this for future generations."
The trust fund grants money from the sale and lease of state-owned mineral rights.
About $7.5 million of the nearly $34.5 million awarded for land acquisition and development across the state this year will go to projects in Grand Traverse, Leelanau, Wexford, Antrim, Manistee and Crawford counties.
Glenn Loomis to host students
TRAVERSE CITY (Dec. 11) — Traverse City's public Montessori program is staying in town.
Its home beginning next school year will be Glenn Loomis Elementary, following a 5-1 vote by the Traverse City Area Public Schools board of education. The program has been housed at Central Grade School since 2000.
Board member Suzann Brooke was not present.
Superintendent James Feil recommended Glenn Loomis over the other finalist, Sabin Elementary, which closed in 2005. The board had final approval.
Some Glenn Loomis parents in attendance remained upset that another group of students was moving into their building. Montessori parents tried to reassure them, saying their children also were being displaced.
Wal-Mart may be expanding
TRAVERSE CITY (Dec. 12) — Retail giant Wal-Mart may expand its Garfield Township store to a supercenter, featuring a supermarket and 24-hour operations.
A company spokesman confirmed that Wal-Mart is conducting "due diligence" on expanding its store in the Grand Traverse Crossings mall on South Airport Road, after looking into other potential locations in recent years for a new supercenter outlet.
"We have been looking for a supercenter in the Traverse City area for some time now," said Nick Infante, a senior manager of public affairs for the Arkansas-based company. "Right now, we're focused on the current site."
The local Wal-Mart store opened in the mid-1990s and covers more than 123,000-square feet, according to township assessment records. The discount center is classified as a "Division 1" store, compared to a supercenter outlet that offers a full line of grocery products and produce, including an organic food section and expanded wine area, Infante said.
Baby born in video store parking lot
CHARLEVOIX (Dec. 13) — Movies to go weren't the only items C.J. and Breann Winnell picked up at their local video rental store.
They got a baby there, too.
The couple's daughter, Claire Anne, was born early Dec. 5, as wind and snow swirled around her parents in the parking lot at Family Video in Charlevoix.
"I went to bed having minor contractions, but you have those through the last month, so I just went to bed," Breann said.
At 3 a.m., it was a different story.
C.J. had the car warming outside, bags ready for the hospital and Breann tottering to the car. They only made it about a quarter-mile from their home before Claire Anne made her grand debut.
Family Video employee Kelly Jones said a photograph of Claire Anne is kept right next to the cash register.
"I think it's pretty cool," she said. "We were all thrilled."
Officials reject ADU ordinance
TRAVERSE CITY (Dec. 19) — Residents made their stance on accessory dwelling units very clear during the past year.
When it was city commissioners' turn, and they sided with the many residents who wanted to maintain the character and density of their neighborhoods.
City commissioners rejected zoning ordinance amendments that would allow the rentals in residential districts.
"There are too many holes in the ordinance," Commissioner Deni Scrudato said. "This would be the beginning of the demise of single family neighborhoods."
Scrudato and Commissioner Jim Carruthers said they were inundated with phone calls and e-mails from residents against ADUs. Commissioners Chris Bzdok and Jody Bergman were alone in wanting to permit the rentals.
Authority votes to increase toll
DETROIT (Dec. 22) — The Mackinac Bridge Authority Board voted to boost fares — gradually — for crossing the five-mile span that links Michigan's two peninsulas.
The toll for passenger vehicles goes from $2.50 to $4.50 in 2014, increasing incrementally through the years. Motor homes and large trucks now paying $2 per axle and $3 per axle, respectively, will pay $6 in 2014.
The first toll increase to $3 for autos, and $3.50 for trucks and motor homes, will take effect March 1, 2008. Toll increases in later years will take effect at the beginning of those years.
Board votes to keep lifetime benefits
TRAVERSE CITY (Dec. 23) — Larry Inman may disagree with the notion of providing lifetime health benefits to retired Grand Traverse County Road Commissioners, but he and seven other county board members aren't willing to yank away the perks.
A board majority recently rejected a move to scrap publicly funded health benefits for four retired road commissioners. The ex-commissioners currently receive single-coverage health benefits at a total cost of about $10,800 a year.
Maurie Dennis, William Walton and James Burkholder are former road commissioners who use the insurance benefit, while Roger Thompson receives $1,680 deposited into a flexible reimbursement account and is reimbursed for medical expenses, ranging from a bottle of aspirin to co-pays for doctor visits.
Fellow county Commissioner Christine Maxbauer sought to rid the county of that expense.
Meijer's Secret Plan
TRAVERSE CITY (Dec. 23) — Retail giant Meijer secretly funded a plan to orchestrate last February's recall of Acme Township's elected officials, a potential violation of state campaign finance laws.
Meijer paid a public relations firm at least $30,000 in a failed effort to remove Acme's board after years of zoning disputes over Meijer's plans to build a store along M-72 in Grand Traverse County. Meijer's public relations firm crafted recall language, devised election strategy, wrote campaign literature, and used local residents as figureheads in the recall.
Meijer never reported its contributions to the recall effort. Michigan law requires reporting of all campaign contributions and bars corporations such as Meijer from contributing to political campaigns.
The Grand Rapids-based firm said it settled a lawsuit filed by Acme Treasurer William Boltres and acknowledged its improper financial contributions to a pro-recall group.
Meijer's actions came the day before the Record-Eagle was to publish an investigative series that detailed Meijer's role in the recall.
Local site draws visitors
GAYLORD (Dec. 25) — There's a snowman in Otsego County for the whole world to see.
And many have.
"It's incredible how many people are interested," said Ken Borton, of rural Gaylord.
A couple of winters ago, Borton and his wife, Sheryl, set up an Internet camera in their backyard for downstate snowmobiling friends to monitor snow depths — an innocuous beginning for a site that this year gained a lot of popularity.
"A few weeks ago we got 12,600 hits in one day when it snowed so much," Ken said.
The couple averages about 5,000 daily hits on their Web site, www.snowmancam.com, where visitors can watch live, streamed footage of snow and any critters at their backyard feeders.
Volunteers fill stomachs and hearts
TRAVERSE CITY (Dec. 26) — Don Kunkel pulled into the driveway and unloaded bags of food from the trunk of his car.
His wife, Betty, carried two in each hand as she climbed the steps to Yoko Saldivar's front door.
As drivers for a local holiday dinners program, run by a Buckley couple, the Kunkels were assigned to eight homes delivering meals to families in need.
The Kunkels, of Traverse City, have volunteered at least five times before, and "feel like a small part of something really special," Betty said.
More than 120 people volunteered in some capacity, whether it was preparing the meals or stuffing the bags with treats. The program is run by coordinator Sandra Svec, who started it nearly two decades ago as a way to help people in need have a full meal during the holidays.
The program reaches across the region, with some drivers making deliveries in Suttons Bay and Fife Lake.
Plane crash kills one
TRAVERSE CITY (Dec. 28) — Tristan Graham is used to dozens of planes flying over his East Bay Township home, but something didn't look right about the one he spotted wobbling through the sky.
"It looks like it was shaking back and forth," Graham, 31, said of the small craft he saw approaching Cherry Capital Airport shortly before 7 p.m.. "Two or three seconds later I saw a flash."
Graham and his neighbors on Park Lane Street, just west of Five Mile Road, huddled outside by the police tape as dozens of emergency responders descended on the area, blocking off streets and directing cars for hours in the freezing temperatures.
Two people were aboard a twin-engine Cessna 310 when it crashed, killing one and sending another to Munson Medical Center with third-degree burns, officials said.
Charges filed in fatal crash
TRAVERSE CITY (Dec. 27) — An Interlochen woman's blood alcohol content topped four times the state's legal limit when she slammed into another vehicle and killed an elderly Lake Ann man.
Authorities say tests showed Patricia Ann Steele's blood-alcohol level was .36 when her van crossed the center line on U.S. 31 South near Interlochen Dec. 12 and collided with a car carrying Gerald and Elaine Frost of Lake Ann.
"That is a high blood-alcohol content," Grand Traverse County Undersheriff Nathan Alger said. "You would think with something like that you couldn't even function."
Steele, 48, is charged with operating while intoxicated causing death, a 15-year felony, and operating while intoxicated causing serious injury, a five-year felony.
She also is charged with second-offense operating while intoxicated and having an open intoxicant in her vehicle, both misdemeanors.
Students headed south again
TRAVERSE CITY (Dec. 29) — The last time Stephanie Arnot went to the Gulf Coast with her classmates, she watched from a bus window as the remains of Hurricane Katrina streamed by.
She had seen news accounts of the wreckage in parts of Louisiana and Mississippi following the 2005 storm, but somehow it all looked worse in person.
She has no idea what she will see this time.
"It was strange, because we would be walking down the street and there would be a boat in someone's yard, and half of a bridge would be wiped out," said Stephanie, 17, a senior at Traverse City Christian School. "I've heard that there's still a lot of work to be done."
More than 130 students from the school, which includes grades seven through 12, will travel to Chalmette, La., on Jan. 19 to assist in rebuilding efforts.
Officials push for Meijer probe
ACME (Dec. 30) — Erick Takayama and Frank Zarafonitis believe they were "bashed pretty good" by Meijer Inc. officials during a failed February recall attempt.
Now the Acme Township trustees want to know a lot more about Meijer's role in the recall and whether the Grand Rapids-based retailer violated state law that bars corporations from contributing to political campaigns.
"I hope we have the option to pursue this," Zarafonitis said. "(Meijer representatives) were pretty vocal, pretty nasty at meetings."
Documents produced through a lawsuit show Grand Rapids public relations firm Seyferth Spaulding Tennyson Inc. billed Meijer more than $30,000 to secretly manage the recall attempt of the township board over ongoing zoning disputes.
Area harbors to receive federal aid
FRANKFORT (Dec. 30) — Josh Mills believes Frankfort's harbor is an essential aspect of the coastal community, and provides a scenic centerpiece for visitors and hub for the local sport fishing industry.
Mills, the city's manager, contends $108,000 in federal money appropriated to the harbor for 2008 through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plays a major role in keeping the port vital.
"I would imagine that they are going to do some minor repair or maintenance work to the breakwalls. They will probably set new stone around the edge of the breakwall to help with wave action," Mills said, though he was unsure of the Corps' exact plans. "It's essential for safety and ... to preserve and enhance the sport fishing opportunities that we have."
Frankfort's harbor is among about a half-dozen in northern Michigan expected to receive federal operations and maintenance funding through the Corps. President George W. Bush signed an act that approved the funding. Army Corps officials have about a month to prioritize projects and the money could be apportioned by Jan. 25. Arcadia, Charlevoix, Leland, Manistee and Petoskey harbors will also receive aid.
Dam study narrows options to six
TRAVERSE CITY (Dec. 31) — A Boardman River dams study will take a new step next year as an oversight committee begins to hone in on specific alternatives for the watershed's future.
The Boardman River Dams Committee will consider focusing on plans that range from removing all four dams to modifying them to control the passage of fish and cold water.
"(T)here's a wide range of preliminary thoughts and ideas out there in the community," said study technical coordinator Mike Donahue. "We're reserving all judgments or speculation until the data or information is in so members of the community can sit down and walk through this rationally."
Members of a sub-committee narrowed an initial list of 81 options to six they'd like the committee to study in detail. The full committee will discuss those at its Jan. 22 meeting.
Once the list is finalized, the committee will use data and community input to examine environmental, economical, social and cultural effects of each plan. The committee hopes to make a recommendation to city and county officials by December 2008.
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