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Stripped of safe haven status, local schools face immigration enforcement threat
Investigative ArticleLeelanau 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.
Foreign assistance is as American as apple pie
Dispatch from Afar, Historical Feature, Letter to editor/OpinionAs young international development workers in Africa in the 1980s-1990s, we wondered why people often displayed a photo of President John F. Kennedy in their homes. Here’s why. In 1961, President Kennedy proposed the establishment of USAID (the United States Agency for International Development) the same year he called for the creation of the Peace Corps. USAID is not partisan, write Phyllis & Dan Craun-Selka, residents of Lake Ann, Michigan, who worked with USAID for some 35 years in 30 countries. Our foreign policy depends on the 3 Ds- Defense, Diplomacy, and Development working together to keep America safe. Department of Defense leaders will tell you that USAID prevents wars. President Reagan increased the USAID budget linked to a national policy to promote democracy and business around the world. President George W. Bush’s PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Program for AIDS Relief), authorized by Congress, became the most successful aid program ever, so far, saving more than 26 million people. PEPFAR has made America safer and more secure with the AIDS pandemic under better control.
Leland Gliders ski Vasa race
Sports/Adventure, Upcoming EventThe Leland Gliders club—coached by Karen Kirt—will participate in the North American Vasa cross-country ski race near Traverse City this weekend. The Gliders will join for the seventh year in a row. They are the only Leelanau County ski club racing in the Vasa, the region’s preeminent cross-country ski race. Kirt’s group includes two seventh graders, a sixth grader and a fourth grader, all of whom will ski the Junior Vasa on Saturday afternoon.
Glen Arbor businesses celebrate “Galentine’s Night”
Upcoming EventGather your friends and embark on a fun-filled Galentine’s Night in Glen Arbor on Friday, Feb. 7, from 4–7 pm. Enjoy a night of shopping, recreation, and special activities at participating businesses—whether you’re celebrating Galentine’s Day or simply looking for a fun night out.
Cleveland Township Board stops proposed Maple City Dollar General with zoning, building moratorium
Business Feature, Recreation GuidesAt a special meeting tonight, the Cleveland Township Board unanimously passed a moratorium on any applications for zoning or building in the Business 1 and Business 2 zoning districts until Aug. 4, with the option to extend for another six months. The Planning Commission meeting scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 5, has been cancelled. That moratorium stops, for now, a proposed Dollar General development at the corner of Maple City Road and Cemetery Road in Cleveland Township.
Boughs that won’t break: Sleeping Bear Dunes employees should stand strong against Trump’s attempt to humiliate federal workforce
Letter to editor/OpinionSleeping Bear Dunes and other federal employees opened their work emails last week to find threatening form letters from our own government. From a new regime hell-bent on shrinking and neutering our United States government and the crucial services it provides to our citizens and people around the world. Addressed to nearly every public servant, the generic letters question their worth, belittle their service, and encourage all to resign. A simple one word reply to the email is all that’s needed to end a lifetime of service. It is wrong to treat people as replaceable and unwanted tools, but that is the clear sentiment behind the current flurry of messages. Seasonal worker programs like the one that shaped my life are at stake. The federal workforce deserves to know they are appreciated and assured that their work is important.
Samantha Brown’s “Places to Love” features northern Michigan
Upcoming EventFor 25 years, Samantha Brown has crossed the world hosting a popular travel television program. This year, her “Places to Love” will feature Traverse City and the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Traverse City Tourism will host a free premiere of Brown’s Places to Love (PBS) on Tuesday, Feb 18, at 5:30 pm at the City Opera House. The event is free, and a cash bar featuring local beer and wine will be available.
Shady Lane Cellars launches book club
Business Feature, Recreation Guides, Upcoming EventNew this year at the Suttons Bay-based estate winery, Shady Lane Cellars, pair a glass of wine with a thrilling new read. Shady Lane Cellars Book Club debuts this month. The first selection is “Murder in the Merlot” by Michigan’s own Aaron Stander, author of the Ray Elkins mystery series and host of IPR’s Michigan Writers on the Air. The novel is paired with Shady Lane Cellars Hartwick Red, a red blend barrel-aged in French oak with expressions of dried cherry, espresso and earthy truffles. The first meeting is set for 5-7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 30.
Cleveland Township Board stops proposed Maple City Dollar General with zoning, building moratorium
Investigative Article, NewsTwice 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.
Celebrating songs of Leelanau, “where people live in houses they built with their hands”
Local PersonalityThis year we’re launching a new story series that celebrates the songs inspired by Leelanau County and the Sleeping Bear Dunes. Whether they were written last month or 100 years ago, their lyrics and melodies pay homage to this peninsula and the shoreline we love. We launch the series with the late Louan Lechler’s folk song, “I’m proud to say I live in Leelanau County, where people live in houses they built with their hands”—an homage to the homesteaders, the hippies, the craftsmen, the jacks of all trades who choose these woods to call home.