Glen Arbor Sun’s most-read stories of 2018

Photo by Taro Yamasaki

From staff reports

The year that just passed was a monumental one for the Glen Arbor Sun. In 2018 we expanded the newspaper’s distribution, advertising and story coverage to include all of Leelanau County. We brought aboard copy editor Kathy Young and photographer Taro Yamasaki to shoot photos (he won a Pulitzer Prize for his work with the Detroit Free Press, before retiring to Burdickville). Frequent contributor Linda Alice Dewey and founding editor Jacob Wheeler carried the Glen Arbor Sun banner in our town’s Fourth of July parade. (The banner quoted Thomas Jefferson: “When the press is free, and every man able to read, all is safe.”) … Then in mid-August, layout and design editor (and close friend) Mike Buhler died suddenly.

Our 10 most read stories from 2018 include four gems by Dewey (about the demolition of a cherished home in the National Lakeshore; the new owner of the Braemmer Mill; riparian rights on inland lakes, and ticks carrying Lyme disease), three by Wheeler (about Border Patrol arrests of immigrants, and the deaths of icons Lou Batori and Dean Robb), and one each by Madeleine Hill Vedel and Bob Sutherland.

Death was a far-too-common theme in our reporting this year. Leelanau lost 107-year-old Lou Batori in February, Buhler in August, and wine magnate Bernie Rink, newspaperman George Weeks and civil rights lawyer Dean Robb all within one week in late November/early December.

Thanks for your readership. Here’s our top 10 list below:

 

1. Iconic North Bar Lake home within National Lakeshore to be demolished, Jan. 9, by Linda Alice Dewey

2. Arrest puts Leelanau’s immigrant community on edge, April 13, by Jacob Wheeler

3. Old mill’s new owner: smart, young, free and open to whatever develops, October 20, by Linda Alice Dewey

4. Hungarian born Lou Batori dies at age 107, February 15, by Jacob Wheeler

5. Explaining riparian rights and recreational boating on Michigan’s inland lakes, August 13, by Linda Alice Dewey

6. Iconic civil rights lawyer, Suttons Bay resident, Dean Robb dies, December 3, by Jacob Wheeler

7. A Father’s Day story: Bob Sutherland remembers his dad, Dale, June 17, by Bob Sutherland

8. 9 Bean Rows transitions to Wren in Suttons Bay, August 10, by Madeleine Vedel

9. Coastal, outdoor wine bar open in Glen Arbor’s recreational district, May 17, from staff reports

10. Ticks carrying Lyme disease have arrived in Leelanau County, June 18, by Linda Alice Dewey