Centerville Township cedes to EGLE in dispute over using sewage as farm fertilizer

Last spring, a farmer in Centerville Township started applying a kind of fertilizer to his fields: Sewage pumped from septic tanks, often called “septage.” That kicked off a local fight about whether it’s legal to apply that septage waste and sparked concerns about contaminating the land and water. Neighbors and officials concerned about the use of septage to fertilize fields pointed to the township’s zoning ordinance which requires a special permit for septage application on land. But Centerville Township attorney Chris Bzdok said at a township board meeting in mid-March that their hands are tied when it comes to stopping the use of septic tank waste on a local farm. The site falls under the purview of the state Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, which had granted a permit to use septage at that site. This story was originally reported by Interlochen Public Radio in mid-March.

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Your Sleeping Bear Dunes experience this year may feel very different — thanks to Trump’s and Musk’s wrecking ball

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UPDATE (March 12): The National Park Service once again has the green light to hire seasonal workers, but the late start has hampered the ability of Sleeping Bear Dunes to populate its seasonal roster. As of Glen Arbor Sun press time, approximately 80 percent of the National Lakeshore’s more than 100 seasonal positions remained vacant. The federal government chaos and the inability of seasonals from outside the area to find housing has prompted a slew of declines from candidates who were suddenly called and offered seasonal positions in March. Sleeping Bear Dunes staff have been paralyzed in other ways, too. Government-issued credit cards used by Park staff are frozen. They can’t buy ammunition or ranger supplies; they can’t even buy toilet paper for outhouses at hiking trails.

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Stripped of safe haven status, local schools face immigration enforcement threat

Leelanau County Sheriff Mike Borkovich will face tough questions from commissioners, and comments from citizens, at the Board of Commissioners meeting on Feb. 11 — following his recent statements that, if asked, he would cooperate with federal agents arresting and deporting undocumented immigrants. However, Borkovich considered immigration raids at Leelanau County schools “unlikely”. During a Jan. 10 meeting with the superintendents of the county’s four public schools, he said he didn’t think it would be “necessary” for federal agents to visit local schools. Days after Trump’s inauguration, a handful of Leelanau farmers met with Borkovich in an effort to convey to the sheriff the importance of immigrant and migrant farmworkers to the region’s agricultural economy. The Hispanic community is crucial to Leelanau’s agricultural workforce. Out of 22,000 county residents — according to the latest Census — as many as 1,000 identify as Hispanic or Latino. Many have an undocumented parent or family member living here in northern Michigan, now as rooted here as the pine trees, though they may have crossed illegally into the United States years ago.

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Cleveland Township Board stops proposed Maple City Dollar General with zoning, building moratorium

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Twice in 2019 Dollar General tried to build stores in Leelanau County. Twice the discount chain goliath was defeated by local zoning and citizen opposition. Leelanau remains the only county in Michigan without a discount chain store. Midwest V, the same company that targeted Maple City and Empire six years ago, now wants to build a dollar store at the corner of Maple City Road and Cemetery Road in Cleveland Township — 0.6 miles north of downtown Maple City. The Cleveland Township Planning Commission will hold a public hearing about the proposed development on Wednesday, Feb. 5, at 7 pm at the Township Hall.

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Preparing families for immigration enforcement as federal crackdown fears grow

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The Trump administration, which takes power on Jan. 20, has threatened to deport millions of undocumented immigrants from the United States. Some of them have lived in our communities for decades and form the backbone of our workforce. Here in northern Michigan, they are integral to our farms and food production. To stand with them, the Glen Arbor Sun is publishing part of the handbook, “Preparing Your Family for Immigration Enforcement,” which was compiled by the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC) and reprinted in our Jan. 16 print edition, with MIRC’s permission, both in English y en Español.

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Grand Traverse Band, New Community Vision, re-acquire Mashkiigaki on former Timber Shores property

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The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians and the New Community Vision (NCV) nonprofit have reacquired land historically known as “Mashkiigaki” (formerly called Timber Shores)—which totals more than 200 acres along West Grand Traverse Bay between Suttons Bay and Northport. The Band gets more than 188 acres, including 1,800 feet of pristine shoreline; NCV gets 24 acres along M-22. The transfer deed was recorded on Dec. 26. New Community Vision has worked for two years to acquire and preserve the former Timber Shores property, which developers unsuccessfully tried to turn into an RV park until they were stopped by a ballot referendum in 2022. NCV is collaborating with Peninsula Housing to develop attainable housing on its portion of the land. Mashkiigaki is one of the largest undeveloped coastal properties in the Grand Traverse region.

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Bear crazy: DNR study seeks answers to human-bear conflict

With so many reports of bear sightings in northern Michigan—the Michigan Department of Natural Resources estimates there are 2,000 black bears living here, with more than 10,000 in the Upper Peninsula—author Tim Mulherin selected the black bear as a subject of interest as part of his research for a book on Michigan’s wildlife. The Empire “sugar bear” made headlines when it broke into Grocer’s Daughter Chocolate this past April; in our May edition of we examined how humans struggle to coexist with black bears as our encroachment upon their habitat continues. Last spring, the DNR connected Mulherin with researchers from Utah State University, who are conducting a study called the Baldwin Bear Project. The project “aims to understand the ecology and human dimensions of black bears in Michigan,” with an emphasis on examining the growing population here.

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Glen Lake School pumps brakes on affordable housing initiative in nearby forestland

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Glen Lake School will not consider turning 180 acres of forestland which it owns on Benzonia Trail into affordable housing—at least not yet. School Board members were to hear presentations at the meeting on Monday, Dec. 9, concerning the property which is currently managed by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Informational presentations were scheduled that would feature forestry and conservation director Ellie Johnson explaining how Glen Lake’s forest can be used under current DNR provisions, as well as a session from the Sleeping Bear Gateways Council, which was approached by Glen Lake School in summer 2023 to consider how the land in question could be used for affordable housing—an acute and dire need in Leelanau County, where home prices have surged. Instead, Glen Lake superintendent Jason Misner announced that the board would hear no such presentations.

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Democracy in Leelanau: what unites us in politically divided times

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In the run-up to the heated and divisive Nov. 5 presidential election, we decided to produce a series of short video profiles which featured Leelanau County residents of different generations, different genders, and different political persuasions. The goal was to explore what unites us—what traits we have in common—in these politically divided times. We asked 10 residents the following questions: “What do you like about living in Leelanau County?”; “What are your favorite autumn traditions?”; “What are you eating these days?” and “What does living in a democracy mean to you?” The message in these video profiles is to show that—while your neighbor or your family member might display a different political yard sign and vote differently than you—we have more in common than we think, and we should remember and embrace what binds us together despite the caustic atmosphere around the election campaigns.

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How to vote for Palestinians: Kamala Harris or third party?

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In October, the local organization Mideast: JustPeace held a community gathering to talk frankly about the dilemma those of us who care about Palestine and the Middle East face: cast a protest vote, or vote for Vice President Kamala Harris, knowing that things are likely to be worse under Donald Trump. Or at least equally bad. So in this presidential election year, what are we to do? Our choices are poor as far as American policy toward Israel is concerned.

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