ANTRIM
Accused teacher resigns from board
BELLAIRE -- A local high school teacher accused of having sex with a student resigned his position on Mancelona's school board.
A judge arraigned Frank E. Moser last week on two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. Moser, who taught English and social studies at Forest Area High School near Fife Lake since 2001, was elected this year to his second term on the Mancelona Public Schools board.
Moser resigned from the Mancelona board shortly after his arrest recently, fellow board member Bill Avery said.
Antrim County authorities allege Moser had sex with a female Forest Area High School student, 17, at his Mancelona home in November.
BENZIE
Land projects get boost from state
ELBERTA -- Big chunks of state money will help launch two land preservation projects in Benzie County.
About 58 acres in the Village of Elberta with critical dune habitat and 1,425 feet of Lake Michigan shoreline will be protected from development, while a 1.65-acre tract in Lake Ann will allow for a public park on Ann Lake. Both projects received grant dollars this month from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund, for about $1.16 million and $478,000, respectively.
The land preservation project was assisted by the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy so it can become a public recreation and natural area. A match of nearly $386,400 is required for the state grant and an additional maintenance endowment for the parcel is in the works, said Chris Sullivan, a land protection specialist with the conservancy.
The conservancy will continue to raise funds for the project, he said.
Judge denies firms attempt to join suit
GRAYLING -- A federal judge last week denied Traverse City-based Savoy Energy's request to join a three-year-old lawsuit that he decided five months ago. U.S. District Judge David Lawson of the Eastern District of Michigan denied Savoy's motion to intervene in a case that involves blocked mineral exploration beneath a wilderness area known as the Mason Tract.
Lawson refused the company's request in a scalding opinion issued Monday.
"During all this time, Savoy was not heard from, although the case received considerable public attention, and the preliminary injunction prevented Savoy from proceeding with its drilling project. Then, once the smoke of battle cleared, Savoy emerged from the woods on September 4, 2008 to file its motion to intervene, seeking to urge an appellate court to walk through the battlefield, as the saying goes, and shoot the wounded," Lawson said.
Lawson ruled Savoy's request was untimely and was a disservice to the litigants, including the government and court.
GRAND TRAVERSE
Panel eyes hike in cemetery fees
Traverse City -- A committee of citizens studying city spending and services wants the city to increase fees at Oakwood Cemetery to better cover its costs.
The city-owned cemetery averages $350,000 a year in expenses, but only about $90,000 in revenue.
The committee, composed of 26 city residents and business owners, doesn't expect cemetery revenues to cover all the costs or make a profit, committee spokesman Michael Gillman said.
Current fees range from $400 for a flush grave marker to $500 for upright memorials, and include charges for future maintenance. Grave openings and closings cost $475 to $575, depending on the service.
About 100 years ago, the cemetery charged $5 for a lot and $5 for upkeep.
The citizens committee suggested that increased revenue from higher prices go into a perpetual care trust fund, with interest money earmarked for maintenance.
Townships raising water, sewer rates
TRAVERSE CITY -- Residents of several local townships who are connected to water and sewer systems will pay higher rates, due in part to the failing state and national economy.
Officials in one township in Grand Traverse County, in fact, are prepared to boost rates 46 percent to cover debt payments and rising operational costs.
East Bay Township residents were hit by a rate increase in October and soon will suffer a double-whammy. The township board increased the monthly base sewer rate by $4 to $21.50 and the water rate by $6 to $19 per month.
Both increases take affect Jan. 1. Rates then will automatically rise by 3.5 percent a year.
In Acme Township, residents recently saw rates jump from $25 to $30 a month for sewer.
Several other local townships made adjustments last year. Elmwood Township sewer users faced rate increases of about 90 percent in 2007 to $28 a month. Its rate isn't scheduled to rise in 2009.
Garfield Township adopted automatic increases last year, so residential sewer bills will go from $19 to $19.70 and water will jump from $10.35 to $11.50 a month.
Peninsula Township residents can expect to see their water bills increase $1 to $22 a month Jan. 1 to pay for a new water tank, but sewer rates won't change.
BATA opens search for director
Traverse City -- A full plate awaits the Bay Area Transportation Authority's next executive director, including finding room in the budget for his or her salary.
The public bus system had a tough year, coming up more than $366,700 in the red. But it appears BATA is headed back on track after the board of directors made several budget cuts and increased revenues in the past few months.
At this point, though, there's no money to pay a new director.
"The dilemma was how to afford an executive director, and right now our plan is, we figure we've got to move ahead," BATA board Chairman Rob Bacigalupi said. "Let's move ahead, let's get an executive director on board, and once that person comes on board, then we can kind of resolve the issue of adjusting the budget to make sure there's room to pay the executive director."
Former Director Joseph DeKoning retired in March after more than 16 years with the organization. His annual salary was $71,761.
Utility moves forward on project
Traverse City -- Electric utility officials approved spending $250,000 on design and engineering for a west side power line, amid mounting uncertainties surrounding the project.
Traverse City Light & Power's board of directors hopes to run an upgraded electrical transmission line down M-72 to Bay Street, parallel to Grandview Parkway. It would connect to Wolverine Power Cooperative's proposed electrical substation at the corner of M-72 and Bugai Road in Elmwood Township.
Several hurdles exist, and Light & Power could end up spending money to design a power line that might never come to fruition. Ed Rice, Light & Power's executive director, wrote a memo to the board acknowledging that it could be "a non beneficial expense."
Still, board members unanimously approved the payment of an estimated $250,000 for design and engineering.
Elmwood Township has to approve the project, and Light & Power officials fear township residents will fight it in court.
Traffic fatality lawsuit settled
TRAVERSE CITY -- The family of a Lake Ann man killed in a head-on traffic crash filed a lawsuit, then settled with the woman who caused the collision.
Gerald Frost, 74, died Dec. 12, 2007, when a van driven by Patricia Ann Steele crossed the center line on U.S. 31 South and slammed into his vehicle. Frost was pronounced dead at the scene, and his wife, Elaine Frost, 77, suffered a broken leg and other serious injuries.
Steele's blood alcohol content at the time was .36, more than four times the state's legal limit of .08. A half-empty bottle of vodka was found in the van, police said.
Gerald Frost Jr. in April filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Steele, 49. The suit sought money to cover funeral and burial services, medical expenses and other items and was settled last week.
Frost Jr. said his family received $100,000 from Steele's insurance company and $50,000 from the Steele family. The money largely will be spent on Frost Jr.'s mother, Elaine Frost. She is still undergoing surgeries from the crash, Frost Jr. said.
Law requires septic tank inspection
TRAVERSE CITY -- Buyer's remorse won't include raw sewage leaking from failed septic tanks, if Long Lake Township's new inspection ordinance works as planned.
Long Lake Township's board recently voted to require septic system inspections whenever a property is sold. The move came about because of concern over damage that failing systems pose to groundwater, personal health and the community's namesake lake.
Long Lake joins just a handful of townships and 11 counties in Michigan that require inspections.
Benzie County adopted a similar ordinance in 1990 over concerns that faulty systems degraded water quality in Crystal Lake, said Bill Crawford, director of environmental health for Benzie County.
School district facing $2M in cuts
TRAVERSE CITY -- The region's largest school district could make at least $2 million in cuts for next school year, but administrators say another round of school closings will not be an option.
The announcement will be part of a series of recommendations Traverse City Area Public Schools Superintendent James Feil plans to present to school board members Monday.
The meeting will start a board-level discussion about what can be cut in advance of next year's budget process.
Initial projections indicate the district will need to grapple with a $3 million deficit for the 2009-10 school year, and Soma said planning for it likely will involve $2 million worth of reductions across the district and drawing $1 million from its fund balance.
But Feil said he will not recommend closing another school.
Board members in July 2007 voted to shut Bertha Vos, Glenn Loomis and Norris elementary schools as the district tried to find savings in the face of an impending shortfall. The schools closed in June.
KALKASKA
Pilot in fatal crash identified
KALKASKA -- Investigators continue to probe a rural Kalkaska County plane crash that killed a New York man.
It's not yet clear why the single-engine, six-seat Cessna went down just off M-66 in Orange Township in blustery weather Dec. 6. The aircraft slammed into a house at about 3:15 p.m. while its occupants were outside shoveling snow.
Lake George, N.Y., resident Keith Harris, the plane's pilot and sole occupant, died in the crash. No one on the ground was injured, though a significant portion of the home was destroyed.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will jointly investigate the incident.
Man charged with bicyclist's death
KALKASKA -- A Rapid City man who faces criminal charges in the death of a Kalkaska County bicyclist is set to appear in court for a preliminary examination.
Stephen Ciarkowski, 50, was arraigned on charges of operating while intoxicated causing death, and negligent homicide for the death of bicyclist Carl John Ray in July. He will appear in court in Kalkaska on Monday.
Ciarkowski allegedly collided from behind with Ray while he pedaled down Rapid City Road in Kalkaska County.
Ciarkowski was arrested and arraigned Nov. 26 and was released from custody after posting 10 percent of a $100,000 bond.
Operating while intoxicated causing death is a 15-year felony, while negligent homicide is a two-year high court misdemeanor.
Kalkaska County Prosecutor Brian Donnelly waited several months for the results of blood tests sent to the Michigan State Police crime lab. Those results allegedly showed Ciarkowski was under the influence of methamphetamine at the time of the incident.
LEELANAU
GT Band chairman takes office
PESHAWBESTOWN -- Derek Bailey took office last week as chairman of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians.
Election results from a special September election were certified on Monday. Bailey won that race, months after tribal voters initially backed two-term incumbent Robert Kewaygoshkum in a May election that a tribal court subsequently overturned.
Several election challenges further delayed the process, but the final dispute was settled last week.
Bailey was sworn into office at 2 p.m. Thursday at the Leelanau Sands Casino Showroom in Peshawbestown.
New year brings fresh faces
Suttons Bay -- A new year brings fresh elected officials and a new administrator to Leelanau County.
County Administrator David Gill will retire at the end of December after six years in the position.
Three recently elected county commissioners will take office in January, joining four incumbents who won re-election in November.
And the outgoing board of commissioners, along with other elected officials and department heads, narrowed down 27 county administrator applications to four finalists: Tom Menzel, of Traverse City, who stepped down as executive director of the National Cherry Festival; Peter Garwood, of Bellaire, Antrim County coordinator and planner; Patrick Yoder, of Suttons Bay, a former chairman of the Leelanau County board who served as interim administrator for Wexford County; and Robert Sobie, of Olivet, an assistant professor of public administration at Western Michigan University and director of information systems for Eaton County.
The county board will conduct public interviews in January and the new administrator probably will start in mid-February, said board Chairman Bob Hawley.
WEXFORD
Veterans Affairs to open 3 area clinics
CADILLAC -- The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs intends to open four new clinics in the state in 2010, three in the northern Lower Peninsula. They will be part of 31 new outpatient clinics opened in 16 states over the next two years.
New VA clinics are planned for Cadillac, Grayling and Cheboygan, with a fourth in Bad Axe. A new clinic opened in October in Alpena.
The clinics will provide primary medical care, including outpatient medical services with mental health components, said Carrie Seward, a VA spokeswoman. The goal is to have available VA care within 30 miles or 30 minutes for Michigan's veterans, some of whom currently travel much farther than that, she said.
The Cadillac and Cheboygan clinics are expected to serve 1,200 patients in the first year, while the Grayling clinic will see 1,500 patients in the first year, according to federal projections.
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