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May 2005 News

Keweenaw County Zoning Ordinance update progresses

Posted 05/31/2005 

EAGLE RIVER -- The Keweenaw County Planning/Zoning (P/Z) Commission has been making progress with their update of the County's 1975 Zoning Ordinance, thanks to the expertise of Mark Wyckoff of Planning and Zoning Center, Inc., Lansing, whose assistance is funded by a grant from the Coastal Zone Management Program of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. In recent work sessions with the P/Z Commission, Wyckoff offered advice on uses and on the zoning districts in which the uses would be appropriate. He also advised the commissioners to inform county and township officials, and the public, of their progress. The P/Z Commission will hold its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, May 31, following a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. on a request for a special use in a Resort Residential (RR) district. more
Photo: During the Keweenaw County Planning/Zoning Commission's May 11 work session with Mark Wyckoff, right, Grant Township residents Anita and Paul Campbell, standing left, and Commission Vice-Chair Janet Shea discuss zoning districts on the Keweenaw County Zoning Map. The meeting was held in the Houghton Township Hall in Eagle River. (Photo © 2005 Michele Anderson)

Women's Water Walk around Lake Huron heads for Mackinac Bridge

Posted 05/23/2005 

CHEBOYGAN, MICH. -- Despite rainy weather, the Women's Water Walk around Lake Huron is expected to reach the Mackinac Bridge at about 5:30 a.m. on Monday, May 23. "It started in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., on Apr. 30, and we're actually about five days ahead of schedule," said Pauline Spruce, the only participant from the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC). The group includes about 25 men and women from Michigan's Grand Traverse Band and Saginaw Chippewa Band of Mt. Pleasant, as well as representatives from First Nation reservations bordering Lake Huron in Canada. Walkers take turns carrying a symbolic copper water vessel to call attention to the need to clean up the pollution in the Great Lakes. This is the group's third walk, following their walk around Lake Superior in 2003 and Lake Michigan in 2004. Photos will soon be published on their Web site.
Photo: During the May 2003 Women's Water Walk around Lake Superior, walkers near Beaver Bay, Minn., carry a copper pail of lake water to call attention to pollution of the Great Lakes. This year the group is walking around Lake Huron. (2003 Keweenaw Now file photo. Photographer unidentified. Reprinted with permission.)

Hancock Council approves speed bumps in subdivision

Posted 05/22/2005 

HANCOCK -- Responding to a petition from about 20 residents, the Hancock City Council approved a resolution to place speed bumps on Crestwood Drive in the Sylvan Estates subdivision of west Hancock. Residents had addressed the Council during recent meetings, explaining the danger -- especially to small children in the neighborhood -- from cars often exceeding the speed limit. Expressing some reservations about speed bumps, Hancock Police Chief Mike Beaudoin noted they must be accompanied by signs warning motorists to slow down below the 25 m.p.h. residential speed limit. Other communities, including Houghton, Mich., and Portland, Ore., find that speed bumps require emergency vehicles to seek alternate routes to avoid the bumps that slow them down in rescue operations. more
Photo: Warning signs at entrance to Hancock Campground warn motorists of speed bump and children in the area.  (Photo © 2005 Michele Anderson)

Bill Sewell named National Hospice Volunteer of 2005

Posted 05/19/2005 

HANCOCK -- National recognition has been given to William Sewell, longtime hospice volunteer and Professor Emeritus from Michigan Technological University (MTU), by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) with the award of "Patient and Family Volunteer of the Year." During April ceremonies in Atlanta, Ga., Bill received this award for his years of dedicated service to the terminally ill and their loved ones. Bill has been a hospice volunteer for Keweenaw Home Nursing and Hospice and is on the board of directors for Portage Lake Hospice, the oldest volunteer hospice organization in Michigan. He is a founding member of, and also serves on, the board of the Omega House Community Hospice Project. more
Photo: J. Donald Schumacher (left), President and CEO of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, congratulates Dr. Bill Sewell for his "Patient and Family Volunteer of the Year" award on Apr. 23 in Atlanta, Ga. (Photo © 2005 Omega House)

Local residents, community leaders discuss design for better development

Posted 05/16/2005 

HOUGHTON -- The first of two "Better Development by Design" workshops attracted about 60 residents, local government officials and planners, who discussed citizen concerns about preserving what is attractive about the local area while developing communities economically. At the May 10 workshop, held in the Ballroom of Michigan Tech's Memorial Union Building, issues ranged from downtown revitalization to the M-26 corridor development to village zoning and recreation planning. The second workshop, free and open to the public, will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 17, in the same location. Refreshments will be served at 6 p.m. more 
Photo: During the small group discussion at the May 10 design workshop at Michigan Tech, Mary Sue Hyslop (standing), Keweenaw Community Foundation (KCF) executive director, encourages Hancock residents to attend the second "Better Development by Design" workshop to be held on Tuesday, May 17. KCF is one of 18 sponsors of the workshops. (Photo © 2005 Michele Anderson)

Wildlands Update newsletter discusses proposed metallic sulfide mining in the Upper Peninsula

Posted 05/14/2005

MARQUETTE -- The Northwoods Wilderness Recovery's special May 2005 issue of its newsletter, Wildlands Update, gives an overview of the proposed metallic sulfide mining projects in Marquette and Menominee counties and notes current mineral exploration for the future in Marquette, Baraga and Houghton counties. The newsletter also includes information on the recent Non-ferrous Mining and Reclamation Act of Michigan, which amends the 1994 Natural Resources Protection Act (PA 451). Several articles explain the risk for watersheds, fish and wild areas and opposition from citizen groups, including Native American Tribal resolutions against the proposed mining. Read the newsletter.
(If needed, Adobe Acrobat Reader can be downloaded for free to read the pdf file.) See also four letters to the editor on the Eagle Project for sulfide mining, published in the May 2005 issue of Marquette Monthly. The letters include one from Students Against Sulfide Mining and one from local church leaders.

Hancock residents concerned about walkability

Posted 05/07/2005 

HANCOCK -- Local residents would like to see better pedestrian access to the Portage Lift Bridge, concerned citizens told Hancock City Council members at their recent meeting. Hancock residents Merle Kindred and Allyson Jabusch noted the difficulty of accessing the bridge on foot from the Ramada Inn in Hancock. Councilwoman Mary Tuisku suggested Michigan Tech civil engineering students might study the issue and help the city come up with a comprehensive plan for the bridge entrance to Hancock, focusing on pedestrian safety and walkability. more
Photo: Concerned residents say this steep path up the embankment near the Portage Lift Bridge in Hancock is presently the only pedestrian access from below the bridge. (Photo © 2005 Michele Anderson)

Calumet's Historic Vertin Building exhibits local art

Posted 05/03/2005  Updated 05/24/05

CALUMET -- Calumet's Historic Vertin Building, formerly a department store dating back to the copper boom era, recently celebrated its 120th birthday. On Friday, Apr. 29, the Vertin Gallery held a reception for local artist Phyllis Fredendall, instructor for the Finlandia University International School of Art and Design, and her students -- creators of an art installation titled "Stories and Place, a Celebration." At an Open House on Apr. 30 and May 1, the Gallery welcomed the public to view the work of several local artists, photographers and writers, some of whom now have studios in the building. See a new page of photos showing construction of the Finlandia art installation. more
Photo: Large windows of the Historic Vertin Building, at the corner of Sixth and Oak streets in Calumet, display works of several local artists, some of whom have their studios in the building, which dates back to 1885. (Photo © 2005 Michele Anderson)

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