GRAND TRAVERSE
Channel relocation plan draws criticism
TRAVERSE CITY -- A cable television provider is under heat from community members for a plan to relocate four local access stations.
Charter Communications intends to push Up North 2, Northwestern Michigan College 13, Traverse City Area Public Schools 98 and Government Access 99 to the 900-block of digital cable channels beginning December 1.
The transition could make it tougher for local residents to access the stations, said Joe VanderMeulen, executive director of Land Information Access Association in Traverse City, a nonprofit agency contracted to operate local public and government access stations.
"In our opinion, they're proposing to segregate community television," VanderMeulen said. "They have no idea what this community really wants." VanderMeulen will discuss Charter's channel switch today at a public forum at 7 p.m. at the Traverse Area District Library, 610 Woodmere.
Charter spokesman Tim Ransberger will attend to answer questions.
The four local access stations also will be grouped at the 90-block of analog cable channels. But it's uncertain how long the cable television provider will continue to broadcast in analog format.
Swine flu shutters two school districts
TRAVERSE CITY -- Erica Joneson is a self-employed single mother who works at home. Her son, Cole, typically spends his week days at Traverse City's Montessori program.
But a suspected swine flu outbreak and widespread school closings mean she and Cole will spend plenty of time at home together this week.
"Working at home with a 3-year-old is like trying to read a book at a rock concert," Joneson said. "Looks like I won't be getting as much work done this week." Administrators in two Grand Traverse County public school systems sent well over 10,000 students home for the week after classes Monday, a reaction to absence and illness that soared over the weekend.
Traverse City and Kingsley districts will be closed through Nov. 3 to allow students time to recuperate.
Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District special education programs also will be canceled.
"We are on the upswing of this epidemic in this community and we have some difficult days ahead of us still," said Dr. Michael Collins, medical director for Grand Traverse and Benzie-Leelanau Health Departments.
Nearly 1,000 of roughly 9,860 Traverse City Area Public Schools students were absent Monday, spokeswoman Alison Arnold said. In Kingsley, 310 of the 1,505 enrolled on a Sept. 30 count day were gone, Superintendent Lynn Gullekson said.
Local MSU programs may be in peril
TRAVERSE CITY -- Rick Sayler can't take all the credit for his abundant cherry harvest.
He relies on the Northwest Michigan Horticultural Research Station in Leelanau County each season to determine when he should plant his crops.
"Anything we need to know, they have the information for us," said Sayler, of Acme. "Science is really important to us and those guys are experts at it." But the research station could fall victim to state budget cuts when Michigan's temporary continuation budget ends Saturday.
Some officials expect Gov. Jennifer Granholm to line-item veto funding for Michigan State University's research and extension offices.
"I think it's a safe assumption," said Patrick Cudney, north region director of MSU Extension.
The state allocates $64 million a year to MSU Extension and Michigan Agricultural Experimental Station. But October's payment was $5 million short, and no one seems to know why.
State funding was supposed to be electronically transferred to MSU on Oct. 16, but university officials received a payment that was "less than anticipated, and appears not to include funding for MAES and MSUE."
Brothers to pay for new turf at Thirlby
TRAVERSE CITY -- Don and Gerry Oleson are giving back to a field that provided them decades of gridiron memories.
The brothers, whose family owned and developed swaths of Traverse City property, and who operate a grocery store chain of the same name, agreed to foot the bill for installation of artificial turf on Thirlby Field.
"We have grown up in Traverse City, played football at Thirlby Field and think Thirlby Field needs to be upgraded and updated," Don Oleson said. "It should be something for all of Traverse City to be proud of." An early estimate for the turf project is $825,000, including installation and other landscape projects around the field. The Olesons are committed to covering the tab, and have already turned money over to the project.
"They want it to be a first-class facility," said Jeanne Snow, executive director of the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation, which administers donations for the Thirlby project. "It is truly heartwarming because of the unselfishness of it." The addition of artificial turf represents phase two of renovations to Thirlby Field. Previously, the Oleson Foundation gave $270,000 to the phase one portion of the project.
"We were afraid it wasn't going to get done," Oleson said. "We wanted to do this for Traverse City and for the area. Traverse City has been awful good to us, and still is."
Septage plant probe advances
TRAVERSE CITY -- A downstate engineering firm will probe questions surrounding design and construction of Grand Traverse County's troubled septage plant, an effort to determine whether its architects committed professional negligence.
The county's Board of Public Works voted 7 to 1 this week to hire Grand Rapids-based engineering firm Prein & Newhof for up to $19,500 to investigate septage plant design firm Gourdie-Fraser Inc. and project manager Michael Houlihan.
The county's septage treatment fund will foot the bill. The decision to tap that account nipped a possible squabble between county and township officials over who should pay for the probe, a fight that could have delayed an investigation for months.
"I didn't think I'd ever see it happen," said BPW chairman Pat Pahl. "Some people didn't want to see the investigation proceed and sometimes I think they used the money issue to try and stop it." The plant has been beset by problems virtually since it opened in mid-2005. A wall collapsed a month after it opened and spewed thousands of gallons of septage about the plant grounds. But finances pose the biggest worry for local officials.
LEELANAU
Glen Lake Narrows Bridge reopens
GLEN ARBOR -- Stu Dana has a whole new breed of customers these days.
Melba Ann's near Glen Arbor was hidden from motorists after last year's closure of the Glen Lake Narrows Bridge on M-22, said Dana, owner of the restaurant that lies within walking distance of the bridge.
But the bridge reopened Saturday and with it came plenty of foot traffic inside Melba Ann's.
"We got hit hard," Dana said. "It was like opening up the flood gates. Normally our Saturdays are dismal, but not this past one." When Dana wasn't serving hungry patrons, he navigated confused motorists through the bridge area.
Michigan Department of Transportation officials closed the bridge in December 2008 to implement a $3.4 million removal and replacement project, said Bob Felt, MDOT spokesman.
MANISTEE
Tax breaks bring movie studio to Manistee
MANISTEE (AP) -- When it comes to making movies in Michigan, the summer tourist haven of Manistee doesn't immediately spring to mind. But for Harold Cronk and Matthew Tailford, it's proving to be the perfect place to create their version of Hollywood North.
In summer 2008, the two friends toured western Michigan, looking for the right locale to set up a new movie production company and studio. When they got to Manistee, they immediately recognized the potential: beaches and sand dunes, farm country, million-dollar homes and a Victorian-era downtown that could easily pass for a studio back lot.
Along Manistee Lake, they discovered a marina with several buildings large enough to transform into seven sound stages. Nearby, an old ironworks factory could be converted into preproduction offices for producers and others.
From this vision, 10 West Studios was born. Though much more ambitious production studios are being planned in Pontiac and Allen Park, 10 West is the first tangible evidence that Michigan's 18-month-old film tax credits -- the most generous in the nation -- are doing more than just bringing stars to the state.
With so many independent movies being made, Cronk and Tailford are leveraging their film industry experience, network of contacts and ingenuity to entice low-budget productions to Manistee. To make this plan work, they need to offer an affordable, hassle-free and enjoyable experience.
MANISTEE
Plane goes down near 1-75; two die
GAYLORD -- Two Gaylord men died after their single-engine plane crashed in a ditch just off I-75 south of Vanderbilt in Otsego County.
Witnesses said an Aeronca fixed-wing, two-seat aircraft circled I-75 and apparently attempted to land on the highway before it crashed shortly before 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, said Sgt. Jeff Gorno, of the Michigan State Police post in Gaylord.
The plane narrowly missed at least one motorist, he said.
Gorno would not identify the victims, but said they included two men, 52, and 32, both of Gaylord. He confirmed their deaths to the Record-Eagle about 10:30 p.m.
One victim was transported to Munson Medical Center in Traverse City, where he was pronounced dead. The other was taken to Otsego Memorial Hospital.
The plane was owned by Screamin Aviation LLC of Gaylord, according to Federal Aviation Administration records. Screamin Aviation LLC was listed as in care of Patrick J. McNamara, FAA records show, and the LLC's address was the same as Image North, a radiology specialty clinic in Gaylord founded by McNamara, a Gaylord physician and radiologist.
FAA records showed Screamin Aviation owned three aircraft, including the Aeronca.
