BENZIE
Fishermen fall
through ice on lake
FRANKFORT -- Authorities warned people to stay off the ice after three fishermen fell through Crystal Lake.
Three men -- Andrew Ahrens, 40, of Pinckney, Joel Collier, 51, of Essexville, and Randy Collier, 62, of Lupton -- went through thin ice near the south end of Crystal Lake in Benzie County March 13. Authorities pulled the three men to shore, and all refused further medical treatment.
An early spring thaw resulted in thin ice across the lake, according to a statement from the county Sheriff's Department.
"All people should stay off of the ice, it is not safe," Sheriff Rory Heckman said.
CHARLEVOIX
ACLU critical of lockdown at local school
CHARLEVOIX -- A local American Civil Liberties Union chapter wants Charlevoix Public Schools to adopt clear policies for searches and lockdowns after a search it said infringed on students' rights.
The ACLU of Michigan's Northwestern Branch in Suttons Bay this week wrote school Superintendent Chet Janik and Charlevoix County Sheriff Don Schneider in relation to a May 2008 incident at Charlevoix High School.
The ACLU alleges the lockdown -- commonly practiced in schools for incidents in which safety is threatened -- violated students' constitutional rights to expedite a vandalism investigation.
"It did upset a number of not only students, but parents," said Steve Morse, chairman of the ACLU branch's legal committee. "The parents have been seeking some kind of resolution." Janik disputed the ACLU's version of the events and intends to respond.
GRAND
TRAVERSE
Practice makes
perfect for bee champ
TRAVERSE CITY -- Austin Wolfgram used both hands to point at his father in the crowd during the Grand Traverse Regional Spelling Bee after he correctly spelled "elixir." Austin, 13, of Cherryland Middle School in Elk Rapids, incorrectly spelled the word earlier in the week as he practiced. He signaled to his father during the March 14 bee to show he knew the practice helped him during the competition.
A couple dozen words later, Austin won the bee and a trip to the country's capital to participate in the national competition.
Austin won the regional bee with the word "meloplasty," following a lengthy back-and-forth battle with Nicole Blakkan-Esser, 11, of West Middle School in Traverse City.
"M-E-L-O-P-L-A-S-T-Y," Austin said, and then a wide grin spread across his face when a look from the judges told him he'd won.
Nicole previously stumbled on "coriander," misplacing the "i" with an "e." She took second place.
Traverse City OK's
DNR swim-zone deal
TRAVERSE CITY -- City commissioners promise to gather input from boaters before making any decisions about swim-zone expansion on Grand Traverse Bay.
A long-running legal battle between the city and state came to an end Monday when commissioners voted to approve a settlement agreement with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment.
The deal gives the city authority to triple the size of a swim zone west of the city-owned marina, and double the size of another zone east of the marina. City officials also can move the western zone around, provided it doesn't exceed maximum parameters.
Now commissioners must determine how much to expand, if at all. Both zones currently are 400 feet long, and area boaters repeatedly fought back against the idea of enlarging the zones.
Commissioners on Monday said they plan to listen to boaters before making a final decision on swim-zone parameters.
"We have every intention of being as fair and as open as we can be," Commissioner Mary Ann Moore told a crowd of boaters. "We are aware of your concerns, and we will deal with them fairly."
County wants 28 years of records returned
TRAVERSE CITY -- Grand Traverse County asked a judge to order its former public works attorney to turn over an estimated 42,000 pages of documents related to county business, including records for its troubled septage treatment plant.
The county filed the action last week against former attorney Michael Houlihan, after the Board of Public Works spent more than four months attempting to negotiate a price for recovering 28 years of records from its ex-lawyer.
"It's one of those things that just seemed to me relatively disingenuous on Mr. Houlihan's part to think we would pay him for files on our business that we paid him to create," Board of Public Works Chairman Chuck Korn said. "It just seemed a little odd." The county said in court documents that Houlihan's actions are an attempt to use his control of the county's files "for his own personal gain." Houlihan's initial bill for spending 163 hours organizing, reviewing, indexing and copying files related solely to the septage plant was over $32,000.
The county offered $3,000 for copies and said it never asked for Houlihan's additional work.
"Ongoing file organization and maintenance is a task that plaintiff believes would be a part of a reasonable attorney's duty to adequately represent his client," wrote attorney Scott Howard, who succeeded Houlihan as BPW attorney.
Local leaders talk K-12 cuts with Granholm
TRAVERSE CITY -- Gov. Jennifer Granholm said she won't support any more spending cuts to public K-12 education and called on lawmakers to be decisive in seeking pension incentives that could shrink state payrolls.
Her urgent message, delivered Tuesday in a conference call with local school superintendents, comes as districts prepare to trim staff, services -- or both -- for another year.
In the call Lynn Gullekson and Mike Murray, the respective superintendents of Kingsley and Suttons Bay schools, Granholm discussed reductions in the pipeline for 2010-11 and stressed the need to stave off further spending cuts.
All Michigan school districts received a $165 per-student funding cut this year.
The conference call is among several the governor held in recent weeks with local school officials across the state to discuss K-12 funding.
"We have shrunk the base on which we fund our public schools, which is very damaging," Granholm said. "It means a massive cut to schools unless the Legislature acts." Granholm in last month's executive budget proposed keeping education spending level by changing the state's sales tax to include services.
TC approves filming permit ordinance
TRAVERSE CITY -- City officials tweaked a new ordinance designed to foster film production in Traverse City after local filmmakers offered input.
City commissioners last week approved a revised ordinance crafted by Community Development Director Bryan Crough. It will allow the city to grant filming permits and meet production companies' needs in a quick and organized fashion.
Commissioners approved the ordinance Monday after Crough spoke with local film producers. A few suggested changes after a draft of the ordinance was presented March 1, and commissioners directed Crough to collect input and modify the ordinance.
"Everyone who gave us input, we took it, and from what I gather, everyone is comfortable with what we came up with," Crough said.
A $500 bond deposit required in the first draft was scrapped after filmmakers said the cost could be prohibitive to smaller productions. The final draft leaves a bond amount to the discretion of the city manager, who can make a determination based on a production's size.
"We don't want to be prohibitive, but we still want to have the discretion," Crough said.
Overturn 'loophole'
tax case, groups say
TRAVERSE CITY -- A successful tax appeal on a modest three-bedroom home in northern Michigan has stirred up cash-hungry local governments, which are pleading with the state Supreme Court to reverse the decision.
The Michigan Municipal League and Michigan Assessors Association argue the state appeals court has created a "loophole" that could prevent local governments from boosting the assessments of certain properties.
In December the appeals court said it was illegal for Charlevoix to uncap and nearly double the taxable value of a home after the death of a co-owner. James Klooster had added his son, Nathan, to the deed in 2004, five months before his death.
The court said the elder Klooster's death did not trigger a transfer in ownership under state law. In Michigan, the taxable value of a home can't go up much unless there's a new owner, typically through a sale.
A second Court of Appeals decision in February determined that Traverse City improperly lifted the taxable assessed value on a woman's bayfront home on Peninsula Drive. Terrie Taylor's father listed her as a joint tenant on the property deed about a month before his death in 2005, and the city boosted the assessment and increased the woman's taxes by about $4,000 the next year.
The court ruled ownership did not change hands because of the joint tenancy, and the taxable value should have remained capped. Traverse City also plans to appeal the ruling.
YMCA dodges Garfield Township zoning snag
TRAVERSE CITY -- Garfield Township rectified a zoning snag that threatened the new Grand Traverse Bay YMCA complex on Silver Lake Road.
Recreational facilities historically were not an allowed use in agricultural zoning districts, but the township's planning staff crafted a permit by labeling the YMCA an "institution" similar to a hospital, school, prison or church. The township planning commission then granted it a special use permit in 2006 to begin work on the first phase of a $25.5 million multi-use recreational center.
"Recreational facilities were not an allowed use, but that apparently wasn't a problem for our previous zoning administration," township Supervisor Chuck Korn said. "Those employees are no longer with the township. We have qualified people now." Township Planner Brad Kaye called the previous interpretation "a little bit of a stretch" and shelved a request submitted last fall by the YMCA to amend its permit. The YMCA wanted to add a maintenance garage on the site and make some other minor changes.
Kaye said township zoning previously didn't address recreational facilities anywhere in its ordinance, other than athletic fields and playgrounds.
The planning commission agreed to draft an amendment to address the void. Last week the township board unanimously voted to allow recreational facilities as a use by right in agricultural and commercial districts, and some industrial zones.
Wildfire season
heats up in a hurry
TRAVERSE CITY -- One glowing ember floated away from a leaf fire in James Keast's yard on Four Mile Road, igniting a hillside where he'd dumped hay from his rabbit cages.
Keast grabbed his metal rake and garden hose and quickly doused the flames before they raced out of control. The fire temporarily flared despite his precautions.
"We burn in a barrel, sticks and leaves. We wet the area around the barrel, keep a hose handy and never leave it," Keast said.
Keast's brief brush fire didn't get away from him but shows why fire experts are anxious this spring. State and local officials anticipate a troublesome wildfire season in northern Michigan, one that started weeks early and is expected to last into summer months.
Every spring, wildfire danger escalates between the snow melt and when vegetation greens up. The problem this season is the region's already in a drought and conditions are not expected to improve anytime soon.
"When we lose the snow, it doesn't take very long to get really dry," said Jim Keysor, a National Weather Service meteorologist. "We are tinder-dry right now."
Unemployment rises
in most Mich. regions
TRAVERSE CITY -- Unemployment rates rose in January in 16 of Michigan's 17 major labor markets.
The state said Thursday that seasonally unadjusted jobless rates increased everywhere except in the Lansing-East Lansing area, where the rate was unchanged.
Unemployment rates throughout the region continue to spike, surging past 17 percent in the 10-county northwest Lower Michigan area.
"We're looking at rates that are very, very high," said regional labor analyst Jim Rhein. "Nobody was able to get away from this." The January unemployment rate of 17.3 percent across northwest Lower Michigan is the highest Rhein said he's seen for the region in recent years.
Area counties also continue to move down in their state rankings in recent months. Leelanau County's 13.3 percent jobless rate ranked 16th among Michigan's 83 counties; in November, Leelanau had the third-lowest county jobless rate in Michigan at 10.1 percent.
But Rhein remains optimistic because the unemployment rate increased by less than a percentage point between December 2009 and January 2010. Rhein said unemployment rates tend to increase more after the holiday season because construction and retail jobs are cut.
