Tower on hold because of dispute
TRAVERSE CITY — Federal budget wrangling has grounded construction on a new flight control tower at Cherry Capital Airport.
Cherry Capital's $12 million air traffic control tower is among dozens of airport construction projects around the U.S. put on hold this week after Congress failed to pass legislation to keep the Federal Aviation Administration operating.
The move doesn't affect other airport operations, which continued as normal, Cherry Capital officials said. But it will delay work on the new tower and could hold up other pending projects, including a proposed runway extension that would require a partial relocation of Garfield Avenue.
"Basically, everything not related to air traffic control was halted," airport Director Kevin Klein said. "Congress is debating the debt ceiling and everything else; funding the FAA is probably not at the forefront right now. So this could go on awhile."
The FAA's operating authority expired at midnight July 15. Dozens of stop-work orders were issued over the weekend for projects to build and modernize airport control towers and other improvement projects.
About $2.5 billion in federal airport construction grants can't be processed because workers who handle those grants have been furloughed, officials said.
Tourism trifecta hits Traverse City area
TRAVERSE CITY — In a race for hotel rooms between movie buffs, horse lovers and lacrosse players, who wins?
Tourism officials think the answer is Traverse City.
A trifecta of events converged on northern Michigan this weekend, lighting up "no vacancy" signs at hotels throughout the region. The Traverse City Film Festival and Horse Shows by the Bay, which wraps up Sunday, July 31, after five weeks, are joined by a relative newcomer to the busy summer season: the Cherry Bomb Lacrosse Tournament.
Organizers said the tournament, which takes place at the soccer fields on Keystone Road, is bringing more than 6,000 people to the already packed city. Participation has tripled since its launch in 2009.
NMC president to donate pay hike
TRAVERSE CITY — The president of Northwestern Michigan College will receive a 4 percent pay raise this year, but he plans to donate the money to a scholarship program.
President Tim Nelson made the announcement at Monday's board meeting after a contentious discussion among trustees about how his rolling three-year contract is amended.
Nelson's contract raises his salary annually according to a cost of living index for cities with fewer than 50,000 people. This year, that amounts to a 4 percent raise, or $6,732, for a base salary of $175,032.
Nelson said he will donate the raise and additional money for a total of $10,000 to the Global Opportunity Fund. Scholarships will help students with curriculum-based travel.
The only amendment to Nelson's contract that was up for discussion Monday concerned his health benefits. Previously, the community college paid for all of Nelson's health-care expenses; the board approved a change that will require Nelson to contribute the same amount as other executive staff.
The amendment was not included in the board packet prior to Monday's meeting, and Trustee Cheryl Gore Follette said she didn't have a chance to review the change.
Her remarks led to some harsh words from Trustee Walter Hooper, who cursed after she alleged that the board's compensation committee didn't allow for adequate discussion last year when members voted on doubling the $10,000 office-holder allowance for Nelson.
"Bulls---," said Hooper, who serves on the committee.
"It's not bulls---," Gore Follette said.
Board Chairman Bob Brick said the exchange was a breach of decorum. He met with Gore Follette after the meeting, and placed calls to Hooper and Trustee Doug Bishop, also involved in the discussion, to discuss proper meeting behavior.
NMC enrollment may dip this fall
TRAVERSE CITY — Northwestern Michigan College's record-breaking enrollment streak may be coming to an end.
As of mid-July, 3 percent fewer students signed up for fall classes as compared to the same time in 2010. If the trend continues, it will mark the first time the college hasn't broken enrollment records since 2008.
The economic downturn boosted student numbers as unemployed workers returned to the classroom. College officials said lower unemployment rates and a reduction in federal "No Worker Left Behind" funding may be to blame for the enrollment decline.
Commission likes ombudsman idea
TRAVERSE CITY — City commissioners are warm to Mayor Chris Bzdok's ombudsman proposal, and residents could have a chance to weigh in on the matter in a few weeks.
Bzdok on Monday asked commissioners to consider hiring a city ombudsman.
Such an individual would spend all of their time handling residents' complaints, questions and concerns, and would objectively investigate allegations of wrongdoing by city officials.
The ombudsman would act as a problem-solving "go-to" person and could help improve the city's relationship with its citizens, Bzdok believes.
Commissioners largely support Bzdok's proposal, but they want more answers first, about pay and whether the position would be full- or part-time.
Because Bzdok only recently proposed the idea, the commission decided to let word get out and set a public hearing in a few weeks.
Cherry Republic's revised plan OK'd
TRAVERSE CITY — One hurdle cleared, and now it's back to the city commission for Cherry Republic developers, who hope to snag more than $2 million in public money to expand the business downtown.
Grand Traverse County's Brownfield Redevelopment Authority on Wednesday approved Cherry Republic owner Bob Sutherland's revised plan for a four-story structure at East Front and Cass streets.
City commissioners soon may see the new plan, likely just weeks after they dealt the plan a setback when they rejected an offering that included a civic square proposal that drew commissioners' criticism.
County brownfield officials continue to back the project, though it's still raising questions about the extent of public money sought by developers. The latest plan scraps the civic square proposal and replaces it with a request for an estimated $1 million to bury utilities in an alley behind the project and other work to be performed by Traverse City Light & Power.
Some city and county officials want to spend up to $2.5 million in public money on the project, which would include public restrooms in a new Cherry Republic building, streetscape work and cleanup of a city parking lot.
Developers need the city to kick in that amount to raise a similar amount from the state for demolition, sit preparation and site cleanup.
Police reports delay Schwander trial
TRAVERSE CITY — A Traverse City teen accused of killing Carly Lewis won't stand trial next month because authorities continue to wait on police reports.
Grand Traverse County prosecutors and Robert Jensen Schwander's attorney can't move ahead with their case — the trial was scheduled for Aug. 31 — until they receive reports from the Michigan State Police crime lab in Grayling.
Assistant county Prosecutor Noelle Moeggenberg this week said she has yet to receive police reports that detail the scene at a vacant building where police believe Schwander killed Carly, 16, as well as the site where her body was recovered. On June 14, police found Carly's nude body wrapped in a plastic bag and buried in a sand pile at Traverse City's public works complex off Barlow Street.
Prosecutors charged Schwander, 17, with an open count of murder one day after police found Carly's body. He is being held without bond at the Grand Traverse County Jail.
Apartment fire incident investigated
TRAVERSE CITY — City firefighters wouldn't have overlooked a sleeping family had they broken into a locked apartment while evacuating a burning building last week, City Fire Chief Jim Tuller said.
Four people were left behind in an Alpine Apartments building for about a half-hour after firefighters evacuated the burning, 12-unit structure early July 18. Occupants eventually awoke to find the floor covered in water, and they escaped without injury.
Firefighters said they repeatedly pounded on the door of the ground-floor unit that housed the family, but they should have forced entry to make sure no one was inside, Tuller said.
"Kicking on the door, banging on the windows didn't produce any kind of response, so it was assumed that that apartment was vacant," said Tuller, who is conducting a review of the apartment incident. "What should have happened, and what will happen in the future, is that the door will be forced and a search will be made ... The only way we can be 100 percent certain is to actually put firefighters in a room."
The fire started in the building's attic, and authorities believe the likely cause was a lightning strike from a severe line of thunderstorms that moved through the region that night.
Tuller continues to investigate the incident. No discipline will be doled out, he said, but he doesn't expect his crews to repeat their mistake.
Ex-Meijer lawyer won't be charged
TRAVERSE CITY — A downstate prosecutor said he can't prove a former Meijer Inc. lawyer lied under oath during proceedings for a local official's lawsuit against the retail giant.
Kent County Prosecutor William A. Forsyth won't issue a perjury charge against former Meijer attorney Timothy Stoepker of Dickinson Wright PLLC in Grand Rapids. Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Al Schneider asked Forsyth to investigate because the incident occurred during a deposition in Kent County in 2007.
Forsyth said there's not enough evidence Stoepker committed perjury, especially since questions that prompted the alleged perjury were "ambiguous, compound and imprecise."
Schneider didn't argue with Forysth's decision.
Oleson Foundation helps Vogue Theatre
TRAVERSE CITY — Traverse City's Oleson Foundation has given $50,000 to the Vogue Theatre in Manistee to help with restoration.
"The Vogue ... will be the spark for the City of Manistee, just as the State Theatre has been in Traverse City," said Marty Oleson, a member of the Oleson family, owners of a chain of grocery stores, including one in Manistee.
The theater's restoration was launched in February with the help of Michael Moore, an Academy Award-winning filmmaker who lives in northwest Michigan.
The grant also is a challenge to get other foundations and donors to help, said Kathy Huschke, the foundation's executive director. A capital campaign is beginning; donations can be made online at www.manisteefoundation.org.
Man gets year for fatal icy crash
TRAVERSE CITY — Marilyn Brewer kissed her husband goodbye before he left their Copemish home on a cold February morning.
Two hours later, she received a distressed phone call that bore bad news. Her husband, Danny Brewer Sr., 62, died in a traffic crash at the intersection of Karlin and Zue roads in Grant Township.
"I'll never forget that morning," she said of the Feb. 12 crash. "I just wish things could start all over again."
She spoke Friday during Caleb G. Butler's sentencing in 13th Circuit Court. Butler, 20, of Buckley, drove his truck through an icy intersection in February and crashed into Brewer's vehicle. Brewer died at the scene.
Judge Thomas G. Power sentenced Butler to a year in jail and two years of probation for what he called "very reckless behavior that had a catastrophic outcome."
School thief receives 4 months
TRAVERSE CITY — A drug habit prompted a former Traverse City Area Public Schools custodian to dip into a teacher's purse and steal cash.
Jason D. Cook's addiction also spurred him to steal a student's book money. Cook, 34, orchestrated a series of petty thefts from teachers and students at Eastern Elementary School in order to support his taste for drugs.
But his crime spree came to a halt after surveillance video caught him emptying jugs full of change into a bucket at the school.
"I am very, very sorry for my actions," Cook said during his sentencing Friday in 13th Circuit Court. "The drugs took me over as a person. I don't want to be a drug addict."
Judge Thomas G. Power sentenced Cook to four months in jail and 1½ years probation.
Power also ordered Cook to pay $1,150 in restitution to cover his thefts.
Cook pleaded guilty last month to a felony count of larceny in a building. His charge stems from a Traverse City police investigation into missing money at Eastern.
State law won't allow ticket plan
TRAVERSE CITY — Officials tanked a plan to ticket drunken people on city streets after they discovered state law prohibits such actions.
City staffers had a plan to issue $50 tickets to people who display drunken behavior in public, part of an effort to crack down on what officials contend are ongoing problems near a group of bars on Union Street. But the idea is dead in the water after the city found out that state law forbids municipalities from issuing tickets for public intoxication.
Golf pro sentenced to year of probation
BEULAH — A Traverse City man who heads up golf operations at a Benzie County resort pleaded guilty to impaired driving.
Bradley D. Dean, Crystal Mountain Resort & Spa's golf director, pleaded guilty on Monday to a misdemeanor count of operating while impaired in Benzie County's 85th District Court. Eighty-sixth District Judge Mike Stepka sentenced Dean, 45, to a year of probation.
Benzie County prosecutors dismissed a count of operating while intoxicated in exchange for Dean's guilty plea.
On June 25, Benzie County sheriff's deputies arrested Dean after he crashed his vehicle along Mountain Side Drive. He had been drinking, deputies said.
Dean has been named Michigan PGA Teacher of the Year three times, according to the resort's website.
