The Nov. 5 election will determine which party controls the Leelanau County Board of Commissioners (BOC), and which policies and initiatives they pursue next year. The Commission is currently deadlocked between three Democrats and three Republicans, with one seat vacant. In District 6, which serves Cleveland, Empire and Glen Arbor Townships, incumbent Democrat Gwenne Allgaier faces Republican challenger Mark Roberts.
By the time Donald Trump arrived three hours late in Traverse City for a campaign rally at a hangar near the airport on Friday, Oct. 25—11 days before the presidential election—the thousands of MAGA faithful gathered there were cold, tired and hungry. Toddlers dozed in their parents’ laps or curled like branches around their shoulders. Two women huddled together against a lamppost outside the hangar while they puffed on cigarettes. An exhausted couple lay on the cold concrete near the press area, eating corndogs. Hundreds left when they realized that Trump wouldn’t arrive any time close to his 7:30 scheduled appearance. The crowd gathered in Traverse City represented a cross section of northern Michigan. Some had driven across several counties to get here. There were medical workers, realtors, food service workers, and a few college students. They were very young, middle aged, and old, some very old. They showed kindness and compassion to their fellow attendees. When an exhausted and dehydrated person fell over, strangers raced to him and offered support, water bottles, and encouragement. Nevertheless, a sense of caution, even mistrust, undergirded some at the rally.
The Nov. 5 election will determine which party controls the Leelanau County Board of Commissioners (BOC), and which policies and initiatives they pursue next year. The Commission is currently deadlocked between three Democrats and three Republicans, with one seat vacant. In District 3, which serves Suttons Bay and the area east of Lake Leelanau, Democrat Lois Bahle faces Republican Will Bunek. Incumbent Doug Rexroat, a Republican, is not seeking reelection. Bahle previously served on the BOC after defeating Bunek in a special recall election against him. That May 2022 recall election was precipitated by controversial statements Bunek made in September 2021, during a board committee meeting, when he pushed to zero out funding for Early Childhood Services which Leelanau voters had narrowly approved in a 2019 millage. When asked what he learned from the 2022 recall effort against him, Bunek doubled down on his push to zero out voter-approved funding. “It is astonishing that someone can be recalled for lowering unnecessary taxes,” Bunek said. “The BOC continues to lower the early childhood millage, this year by $200,000. It always takes four votes to accomplish anything at the BOC.” Prior to the 2022 recall election, Bahle had narrowly lost two previous County Commissioner elections to Bunek, in 2020 and in 2018. Bahle lost to Rexroat in the November 2022 general election.
It’s safe to say every American of a certain age remembers what they were doing when terrorist extremists struck on Sept. 11, 2001. For some, it drastically changed the trajectory of their lives. Callie Barr is the Democratic candidate for Michigan’s 1st Congressional District, but her road to politics was neither anticipated nor aspirational. A fifth-generation Traverse City and Cheboygan resident, Barr and her then-boyfriend Matt were high school students on that fateful day. Mere hours after the Twin Towers were hit, leaving Americans reeling in shock, Matt enlisted in the Marine Corps. He left for boot camp the day after he graduated from Cheboygan Area High School and later was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. The couple married in-between tours when Barr was 18 and Matt was 19, and went on to move five times over 15 years. While Matt was in his second deployment, Barr graduated as valedictorian of her class at Cheboygan. She earned her secondary education degree from Central Michigan University and settled into the comfortable role of a high school English teacher. Their lives were upended when Matt returned from his tour with an undiagnosed traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Even so, he knew he was one of the lucky ones.
A series of surveys and public meetings this summer in Empire has been followed by joint sessions of the village council and the village planning commission. The task: to involve interested parties in the creation of an update to the village’s master plan, to set it up for the next five years and potentially beyond. While master plans are used to provide long-term vision and guidance, it is necessary to update them as circumstances change, whether that is area business, housing, land use, utilities, or transportation.
The Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes has hired Laura Ann Johnson as its first executive director. Johnson, a long-time board member and volunteer with the Friends, will be responsible for leading the organization into a new era of growth while continuing its mission of protecting resources and heightening visitor experiences in partnership with Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. In addition, longtime Friends of Sleeping Bear volunteer Kerry Kelly was honored by TART Trails with the Jim Mudgett Trail Pioneer Award.
Leelanau Christian Neighbors (LCN) has announced the recent purchase of a house located at the corner of M-204 and Co Rd-641 in Lake Leelanau — a strategic acquisition aimed at mitigating the affordable housing and rental crisis in Leelanau County. This initiative was made possible through LCN’s Affordable Housing Fund, underscoring the organization’s commitment to aiding those with inadequate resources the opportunity to live and thrive in the community.
To mark its 25th anniversary as a National Park partner, Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear is selling a commemorative poster of the Olsen Farm by Greg Sobran as part of the nonprofit’s anniversary activities. Visit PHSB.org to learn more.
The League of Women Voters of Leelanau County will hold four evenings of candidate forums featuring candidates for Leelanau County Board of Commissioners, starting tonight, Sept. 12, from 7-9 pm at the Leland Township Library. Citizens can also attend via Zoom. Visit the Leelanau League’s homepage for information to register.
We chatted with the experts, the bookworms, and bookstore owners, and here’s our roundup of local books, or books written by local authors, that were published this year. Find them at Leelanau County’s locally-owned, independent bookstores: Cottage Book Shop in Glen Arbor, Bay Books in Suttons Bay, Dog Ears Books in Northport, and Leelanau Books in Leland; or at your local library. Happy reading!