- To Michele Howard, who is poised to become Traverse Area District Library’s next director. TADL board members unanimously picked Howard, of Traverse City, said Caroline Gersch, board president. Howard is currently head of adult educational programming for TADL.

Father’s Day celebrates dads — those mythical beings who reliably bring home a paycheck, fix a leaky roof, provide an endless and sometimes-appreciated stream of parental advice, and instinctively know when a simple game of catch can help a son or daughter through an emotional moment.

The skillet heated up last week in the Line 5 pipeline debate, with news exploding in quick succession like popcorn kernels in hot oil.

Landfills. Bus garages. Airports. What do they all have in common? Possible locations for solar projects.

Four local cherry processors threw the first stone in the fight to remedy international cherry dumping — flooding the U.S. market with cheap, heavily subsidized dried cherries.

— To local graduates who recently walked across a stage and into the next phase of their lives. We wish you all the luck in the world.

Many drivers are cheering action in Lansing that — beginning in about a year — will allow Michigan residents to reduce their automobile insurance costs.

We have spoken to many people this week who have reached out ahead of today’s remembrance of D-Day.

It’s easy — especially as spring rains leave us awash in blooms; hopeful green frames our twinkling blue waters; and Adirondack chairs return to the porch — to see the idyllic side of our community.

— To John and Kim Lefler, the Grand Traverse Area Veterans Coalition and the local veterans' community. Christopher Kowitz, who was in the U.S. Air Force from 2004-2010 and was disabled in an explosion during his time in Iraq, visited northern Michigan recently and was moved by the welcome h…

Few people are on the fence when it comes to the public-private beach debate ... and in Leland, there’s the matter of the fence itself.

A tour of the TCAPS school district Wednesday ended with a job for Ann Cardon, the board of education’s choice for superintendent.

More than 2,000 people went out to the ballgame Tuesday night. They attended the inaugural game of the Pit Spitters, Traverse City’s new team in the Northwoods League, a collegiate summer baseball league.

MSU trustees announced their hiring of a new university president Tuesday morning — a former medical doctor and the current leader of Stony Brook University in New York.

— To the Interlochen Center for the Arts community. After 20-plus years of dreaming, drawn and re-drawn blueprints and fundraising, the Music Center opened its doors to eager Interlochen faculty members, students and alumni during a Thursday evening dedication.

Generally you can divide holidays into those that we cleave to their meaning — and those we fudge.

Today marks the first of several events organized by the Friends of Spider Lake.

In this day of smart, small technology that brings us everything we need to work, play and survive, are we surprised that millennials carry library cards?

Not every student will go to college or choose a career that involves math. But it’s good for every young person to get a taste of all kinds of subjects, including quadratic functions and complex numbers. Otherwise, how will they discover their interests and their talents?

— To Traverse City's Eastfield Laundry for providing free laundry service of blankets offered to Safe Harbor of Grand Traverse guests during the recent shelter season. Blankets are collected for cleaning on a biweekly basis, Safe Harbor Treasurer Wayne Sterenberg wrote in an email to the Rec…

If Michigan’s collection of open records laws was a bathing suit, it’d be a bikini — the kind no one looks good in; the kind that just looks cold.

The Issue:

Editor’s Note: This is a reprint of a Sept. 2007 Record-Eagle editorial on the creation of Michigan’s first state park. You’ll notice that it says “third” in this editorial. Years later we also ran a story about it being the state’s “second” state park. Turns out, Interlochen State Park was …

Hospital birthing centers across the U.S. — particularly in rural communities — have been closing, one after another, for decades. More than 200 hospitals closed their obstetrics units between 2004 and 2014, according to the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration. Three issues — f…

— To Precision Plumbing, which recently donated $1,000 to the Students in Transition Empowerment Program at Traverse City Area Public Schools. The program helps students in uncertain home situations.

Anyone remember the 2014 outbreak of whooping cough in Traverse City?

Traverse City is rightly proud of its long history as a business hub. But all those decades of agricultural and commercial activity left behind faint but lingering ghosts in the ground beneath our feet.

Editor's Note: This editorial has been updated to correct the description of the Kalkaska Kaliseum proposal. It is a millage. 

Editor's Note: This has been updated to correct important voting procedure information: please register to vote and turn in mailed ballots at local clerks' offices.

— To a trio of Kalkaska boys who collected nearly $3,000 in returnable bottles and cans and used the money to buy a dozen pairs of glasses designed to help colorblind students better see the world’s complete rainbow of shades.

The Issue: Water lines, possibly contaminated by lead, will be replaced along Eighth Street

A collective sigh of relief was heaved Thursday by Michigan’s parents, teachers, school administrators, summer camp directors and staff, child care providers and ... anyone who has anything to do with school-age kids, whether they be your grandchildren or the host of high school kids you hir…

We spend a lot of time thinking about other people. Observing and reporting the happenings outside the newsroom is basically what we do all day, every day as journalists. But sometimes the news happens to us.

— To volunteers who on Friday planted a variety of trees, native to the area and commonly found along the Boardman River, at the former Boardman Pond Trailhead in Traverse City.

A federal panel of judges laid down the gavel in no uncertain terms this week — our political boundaries are a political cartoon, drawn with the intent to forward and keep Republicans in our House, Senate and U.S. congressional districts.

The Issue: About $18 million in road construction will spread across the 5-county area this summer — and that’s just MDOT work.

Part of being a Michigander is showing where we live on our hand-map. Also telling the joke about our state’s four seasons: fall, winter, spring and construction.

— To student senators from Traverse City Central and Traverse City West Senior high schools, who have selected Veterans In Crisis as the organization that will receive the donations from the TC Patriot Game. The senators set a goal of raising at least $25,000 this year through sponsorships a…

The Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy’s planned purchase of the former Mitchell Creek Golf Course holds promise — the promise that a patch of open space will remain for future generations in a district that is rapidly being developed.

The lovely white carpet is all but melted. What’s left is the muddier side of our community conscience.

— To Leelanau County Undersheriff Steve Morgan, who was honored Tuesday with the Distinguished Service Award from the Michigan Sheriff’s Association.

Ask any military veteran — orders are most likely to be followed when they are clear and simple.

The opioid epidemic is a boulder dropped into a community puddle. Overdose deaths displace people we love. Addiction impacts ripple from addict out to family, friends. Advocacy, funding, betrayals, crackdowns, help comes in waves that gradually subside.

A $750 car repair bill to keep your beater running a few more months.

When it comes to a tree cutting, timing is everything. Precautions are taken; plans made. Ropes are fixed, safety clothes worn — and still there’s the shouted warning “Tim-ber!” when the cut is made.

— To those who gave Traverse City's Bill Ruck the gift of a new roof. Owens Corning, through its veteran-centric National Roof Deployment Project, donated shingles and other materials, and asked local contractor Story Roofing Company to provide labor.

Coaches are a lot of things — the person who inspires you, who drives you, who gets doused with Gatorade after the winning game.

Long-term contracts can be a good thing for all involved parties. They create stability and predictability. But any official agreement should provide benefit to both sides of any negotiating table — and should include a timetable that specifies when the agreement will be revisited. Because t…

Another car ride, more good news for the Great Lakes.