Labor Day’s meaning lost amidst beach supplies

By Jacob R. Wheeler Sun editor and occasional columnist What is marked in your calendar for Labor Day Monday: a day on the beach; a barbecue on the deck; a cocktail party in the garden? How about 12 hours toiling on the assembly line in a hot factory? Or maybe you’d like to march in […]

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Zebra mussels are here to stay

By Christina Campbell Sun staff writer It was only a matter of time. For years, Glen Lake has been the last holdout against the Leelanau County zebra mussel epidemic. But this summer, swimmers are seeing native Glen Lake clams coated with the mussels. These massing molluscs have now infected every main recreational lake in the […]

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Personal Watercraft: lake lice or a harmless thrill?

By Christina Campbell Sun staff writer What do you think of when you hear “Personal Watercraft?” A Jet Ski®? A Sea-Doo®? A Wave Runner®? A shallow-draft, aquatic craft propelled by a water jet drive and capable of achieving planing speeds? Or do you just cover your ears and wait for the whine to dissipate?

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Coyotes roam Alligator Hill; Incidents With Dogs Reported

By Jane Greiner Sun staff writer Mary Sutherland frequently walks her dog along the foot of Alligator Hill just off Forest Haven Road where she lives. On a recent walk in the woods beside Forest Haven where the pavement ends, her son Bob’s dog, Mabel, bounded up the hill on its own even as her […]

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Living with the gypsy moth

By Wayne and Mary Ellen Koser Following are excerpts of an article that first appeared in the Summer 1974 edition of The Explorer, a scientific magazine published by The Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Thirty years later it is still relevant as gypsy moths continue to plunder our forests.

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Is the Empire Schoolhouse a goldmine or a Pandora’s box?

By Thomas Benn Sun contributor The clock is running out on the old Empire schoolhouse. Built in 1901, this architectural marvel has been gathering dust and slowly disintegrating for the last 35 years in what may be the village’s most important crossroads commercial location. Sitting on five lots at the gateway intersection of Highways M-22, […]

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Local Women Attend Cougar Tracking Seminar

By Jane Greiner Sun nature correspondent Sandra Catlin of Honor and I recently attended the Cougar Tracking Seminar put on by the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy. Catlin has twice spotted a black cougar on the roads between her home and her job in Glen Arbor. Having seen a cougar with her own eyes (when they supposedly […]

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LUXURIOUS LE BEAR RESORT A GIVEN ON LAKE STREET

By Jacob Wheeler Sun editor All eyes are on quaint Glen Arbor. Two summers from now a gigantic, $40 million luxury resort including 14 fractional-ownership condominiums will occupy the pristine land by the boat ramp on Lake Street where Le Bear restaurant and a couple giant parking lots are today. Current restaurant owners Janet Niewold […]

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RUMBLES ON ICE MOUNTAIN

By Chase Edwards Sun staff writer On a warm July day in Northern Michigan’s rural Mecosta County an Amish carriage drives by the Ice Mountain spring water plant. The simple black carriage juxtaposed against the $100 million bottling facility, a Nestle subsidiary that pumps 400 gallons of spring water per minute and bottles it for […]

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WILDERNESS, DUNES RESTRICTED IN PARK’S PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE

By Jacob Wheeler Sun Editor No, the National Park Service will not close the dune climb. But the areas of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore open to the public will likely undergo major changes in late 2003, when the final version of the NPS General Management Plan is published. The National Park recently held […]

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