Investigative Article

Windy’s Landing horse rescue, a sanctuary for the “least chosen”

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“When I walk up the grassy drive toward the barn at Windy’s Landing, it’s the miniature horses Doc, Roxy, and Toby that catch my attention first,” writes Bronwyn Jones. “They graze contentedly in their small pasture but also startle a bit if you approach them on their blind side. They are three of five 1-eyed miniatures all sent to auction by their previous owners due to deformities and blinding infections or cancer in one of their eyes. They’ve been recently rescued from a Michigan kill pen by Nancy Parshall, founder of Windy’s Landing, a newly incorporated horse rescue and animal sanctuary in Lake Leelanau.”

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Looking up the coast for clues to solve the housing riddle

The region’s need for housing has been well documented. That’s particularly true for homes priced for sale between $150,000 and $300,000, as well as long-term rentals commensurate with that price. In Leelanau County, with a median price of $640,000 and an average price of $937,506, the challenge is acute. Perhaps part of the answer lies in looking north. Emmet County’s housing market mirrors that of Leelanau in many ways. It is a popular resort and vacation area with a number of high-end second and vacation homes. In trying to get arms around the problem, the Leelanau Peninsula Economic Foundation undertook a survey of county businesses, which concluded the number one barrier to doing business is the lack of workforce housing. Now the Leelanau County Housing Collaborative, an arm of the LPEF, is asking workers, employers, and other community members to take part in the Leelanau County Attainable Housing Survey. The survey is designed to gather public input on housing needs and community priorities to help inform future housing solutions across the county.

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Bear Man VanSteenhouse sues Leland Township in federal court over youth ministry dispute

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Legal supporters of Youth for Christ in Leland and Bear man Jim VanSteenhouse announced in a press release today that they filed suit against Leland Township yesterday afternoon in the federal district court for the Western District of Michigan as part of their bid for a youth ministry in a building VanSteenhouse owns in the heart of Leland’s business district. The Leland Planning Commission this spring rejected Apollos Properties’ bid for a special use permit following months of deliberation, legal analysis, and passionate public debate.

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August primary sets stakes for big Michigan November election

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When Leelanau County voters cast their ballots in the primary election on Tuesday, Aug. 4, the outcome of their decisions may resonate far beyond these sunny summer days. Who wins the closely watched intraparty contests for Michigan Governor, U.S. Senator, and Congress could set the paths forward for the Democratic and Republican parties at a time of political upheaval in this country. This story breaks down the Democratic primary race between Callie Barr and Kyle Blomquist, who are bidding to take on incumbent Republican Jack Bergman in the November race for Congress—and why Barr and Blomquist, and fellow Republicans challenging Bergman in the Aug. 4 primary, believe the incumbent is vulnerable in 2026.

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Smokey Bear tried to tell us: climate change and Northern Michigan’s July 2026 smokeout

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In 1944, the Smokey Bear public awareness campaign launched with the famous tagline, “Only YOU can prevent forest fires.” Poorly extinguished campfires, reckless use of fireworks, even smoldering cigarette butts carelessly discarded can ignite a woodland conflagration of immense and tragic proportions. And then there’s the CO2 emissions tinderbox we’ve created. According to the Canadian Climate Institute, “Accelerating climate change, largely from the burning of fossil fuels, makes wildfires bigger, hotter, and more destructive.” Now it’s all come home—to my home and yours.

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Nation of immigrants: Sleeping Bear naturalization ceremony rose above caustic political debate

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Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore hosted a naturalization ceremony on July 21, 2016, for 20 new United States citizens, who hail from 15 different countries. They are white, black and brown; their names and native country religions are Protestant, Catholic and Muslim. Like American immigrants for the last 238 years, they are hardworking, creative and devoted to their new nation.

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Extended ICE Detention at North Lake: the psychological impact on Michigan detainees

For many of the people detained at North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan, there’s no way to know how long they’ll be there. “I feel abandoned,” said Kamal Tijani, who arrived in the U.S. from Nigeria in 2017. “In here, sometimes you feel down, and sometimes you feel like you know nobody cares about you… you call your friends, and they don’t pick up.” Tijani has been at North Lake in Baldwin since October of 2025—meaning he’s spent nine months in ICE detention. North Lake is ICE’s largest detention center in the Midwest, located just 80 minutes from Leelanau County. The facility currently holds approximately 1,500 detainees, with a capacity of 1,800.Over half of the people held there as of March had no criminal convictions or pending charges. They’re held as “immigration violators”—a civil charge.

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Gazing into a pool of courage

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On the occasion of the nation’s 250th birthday, Leelanau resident and reverend Lucy Waechter Webb shares a journey her family took earlier this year to Webster Groves, Missouri, to celebrate Benny Gordon, Jr, an African-American civic leader who fought Jim Crow segregation and pushed for the opening of the local swimming pool for everyone. Webb’s great-grandfather, “Happy” Appel, the mayor of Webster Groves, denied Black residents access to swim in the city pool. She recently learned about her family’s role in this story when she began asking questions about her ancestry and her people’s relationship to the history of racial violence in this country.

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Profiting from pain: bearing witness inside ICE’s Baldwin immigrant prison

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Elmwood Township resident Scott Perry traveled to Baldwin last month to see for himself what was really happening at ICE’s North Lake Processing Center operated by the for-profit prison corporation, Geo Group. “There was an organized protest at the gate and I wanted to see who would be there. I went to hear what the messages would be, who would be working, and set eyes on the largest immigrant detention center in the Midwest,” he writes. “When you follow the money, it starts to make sense. The Geo Group receives $150 per day per inmate, from our tax dollars. At the time of this publication, that totals more than $40,000, just from my new Venezuelan friend I met inside. North Lake holds approximately 1,500 detainees, with a capacity of 1,800 beds. That amounts to $240,000 per day for Geo Group.”

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Glen Arbor Arts Center observes the Nation’s Semiquincentennial with American Tree

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As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, the nation’s layered story of people and place comes into sharper focus. Across the country, this milestone is being marked through ceremony, exhibitions, and public celebration, as communities revisit the question of what it means to inhabit—and be formed by—this history. The Glen Arbor Arts Center responds to that question with American Tree. The exhibition contemplates the role trees played in the formation of the United States 250 years ago—and the role they will continue to play as the nation moves into its next 250 years.

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