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Keweenaw Now moves to new BLOG Sept. 1

Posted 08/31/2007  

HANCOCK -- Readers, this Web site, www.keweenawnow.com will move to our NEW BLOG, http://keweenawnow.blogspot.com, beginning Saturday, Sept. 1. All the articles, photos and links published on this site since October 2001 will still be accessible in our Archive, thanks to Smartisans.com. When you go to Keweenaw Now you'll be able to access this valuable record of News, Views and Happenings up to Aug. 31, 2007. Then click on the BLOG link to read the new articles, see photos and, if you wish, take advantage of our new blog feature -- comment on the articles or on any issues of interest to our readers. Thanks to all of you for visiting Keweenaw Now and -- to keep yourself informed -- please visit our new site!

Photo contest deadline extended to Sept. 7

Posted 08/31/2007  

HANCOCK -- Readers, Keweenaw Now is extending the photo contest through Sept. 7, 2007. Just in case you capture that great view of Lake Superior during the Labor Day weekend, it will still be eligible! The photo should express a personal, environmental, economic or spiritual connection people have to Lake Superior. (Photos of local beaches ecologically connected to Lake Superior -- such as Hancock, Houghton or Chassell on the Portage Canal -- are acceptable as entries.) Categories are wildlife, landscape and stewardship/education (e.g., cleaning up a beach or leaving it cleaner than you find it, learning about the lake, etc.). Visit the Keweenaw Now Blog for details and rules.
Photo: Keweenaw sunset with freighter. Photo taken near the Keweenaw Tip from the Isle Royale Queen IV during Reading the Landscape cruise June 30. (Photo © 2007 Michele Anderson) 

Houghton County Fair Visit: part 1

Posted 08/26/2007  

HANCOCK -- From kids' fun to prize-winning tomatoes to tough, competitive horse-pulling, Keweenaw Now captured some highlights of the Houghton County Fair on Saturday, Aug. 25, 2007, at the Fairgrounds in Hancock. See our photo essay, "Houghton County Fair Visit: part 1," now published on Keweenaw Now's new blog. See also our first video -- an interview with some Fair celebrities!
Photo: Inside the Houghton County Fair Exhibit Building, Sean Godmere, 3, son of Shane and Michele Godmere of Centennial Heights, tries his steering skills at the Toddler Driving School -- in the company of Houghton County Fair Queen Genny Gierke of Chassell. (Photo © 2007 Gustavo Bourdieu) 

Calumet Heritage Celebration: Photos

Posted 08/21/2007  

CALUMET -- Keweenaw Now's photographer, Gustavo Bourdieu, wandered around Main Street Calumet's Heritage Celebration in Agassiz Park last Saturday, Aug. 18, and took photos for readers of our new blog. Check out these photos of some highlights of the day and feel free to add your comments on the Keweenaw Now Blog.
Photo: Krista Cone, center, Miss Coppertown 2007, reigned over the Calumet Heritage Celebration last weekend. Pictured with her are other candidates Kelsey Johnson, right, and Kelsey Eddleman. (Photo © 2007 Gustavo Bourdieu)

Folklore research project seeks info on local Finnish-American musicians 

By Hilary Virtanen Posted 08/20/2007  

HANCOCK -- Do you have traditional Finnish musicians in your family tree? Do you have any recollections of a musical neighbor from decades past? If you do, Hilary Virtanen, a Copper Country native and graduate student of Scandinavian Studies and Folklore at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, would like to meet you during her visit to the Upper Peninsula this month. Virtanen hopes to interview descendants and acquaintances of thirteen Finnish-American musicians recorded in 1938 by folklorist Alan Lomax, famed for his work with blues legends Huddy “Leadbelly” Ledbetter and Muddy Waters. Her research is part of an album compilation project conducted by Professor James P. Leary, also of the University of Wisconsin. Read more on Keweenaw Now's new Blog.

Swedetown Creek comments requested 

Posted 08/12/2007  

HANCOCK -- A group of concerned citizens is requesting that residents write to Hancock City Manager Glenn Anderson to express their views on the City of Hancock's potential sale of Government Lot #5 parcels immediately east of Swedetown Creek along Highway 203 for three residential lots. The area in question represents the south side of the river mouth and protects forests, wetlands and sandbars. Read the article on Keweenaw Now's new blog.
Photo: Swedetown Creek, near the proposed land sale, is a recreational area for residents. (Photo © 2007 Joe Kaplan. Reprinted with permission.)

Planning Commission hears public comment on proposed waterfront sale 

Posted 08/06/2007  

HANCOCK --The City of Hancock's potential sale of Government Lot #5 parcels immediately east of Swedetown Creek along Highway 203 was the subject of several public comments presented to the City of Hancock Planning Commission on July 23, 2007. This city-owned property is opposite a public access recreational spot, also city property, used as a boat launch at the place where the creek empties into the Portage. Residents have expressed opposition to the city's proposal to sell the lots because of their proximity to a recreational area. The Planning Commission approved requesting a registered land survey of the entire Government Lot 5 to assist the commission to study the use of the property as requested by the City Council and to request that it be due prior to the Commission's August 27th meeting. Read the article on Keweenaw Now's new blog.
Photo: Hancock resident John Slivon, left, addresses the Hancock Planning Commission and City Manager Glenn Anderson, right, on the proposed sale of public land near Swedetown Creek. Click on photo for larger version. (Photo © 2007 Michele Anderson)

DEQ grants preliminary approval to Kennecott sulfide mine application, schedules public hearings 

Posted 08/01/2007  

LANSING, MARQUETTE --Despite an internal investigation focused on the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ's) mismanagement of the application review process for a proposed sulfide mine under the Yellow Dog Plains and Salmon Trout River, near Marquette, the DEQ announced on July 30, 2007, that it "has resumed its review of the Eagle Project Mine permit application and reinstated its earlier proposed decision to approve a series of permits to the Kennecott Eagle Minerals Company." The DEQ calls this decision "only a proposal," noting that public hearings have been scheduled near Marquette at the West Branch Community Center (on old KI Sawyer Air Force Base) in Forsyth Township September 11-13, as well as at the Lansing Center on September 19. The public comment period will remain open through October 17, and written comments can be sent to DEQ/DNR Kennecott Comments, Office of Geological Survey, P.O. Box 30256, Lansing, Michigan 48909-7756, or by e-mail at DEQ-Kennecott-comments@michigan.gov. National Wildlife Federation attorney Michelle Halley said acid mine drainage and the mine's roof caving in are among public concerns that still have not been addressed. "The application is deficient and the operation would undeniably cause pollution," Halley said. Read more in the July 31, 2007, Mining Journal article, "Mine backers, foes get set for hearings." Visit Save the Wild UP for more information on this update.

Photo contest deadline extended to Aug. 31

Posted 07/31/2007  

HANCOCK -- Keweenaw Now is extending the deadline and broadening categories for our Lake Superior Photo Contest through Aug. 31, 2007. Send us your favorite photo of Lake Superior or a related body of water, beach, etc., in the Lake Superior basin. Categories include landscape (the beauty of the lake), wildlife (if you can catch them) or responsible action / education (e.g., doing something to leave the beach cleaner than you found it, learning /teaching about lake ecology, etc.) We will accept photos of or near the lake taken any time this summer -- between May 1 and Aug. 31, 2007. Winners will be posted on our new blog, www.keweenawnow.blogspot.com.See blog for contest rules. P.S.: If you have a short community announcement, post it as a comment on the blog!
Photo: Limnologist Judith Budd tests the lake level at a point near Copper Harbor for participants in the Reading the Landscape Shorelands program on June 30, 2007, aboard the Isle Royale Queen IV. Click on photo for larger version. (Photo © 2007 Gustavo Bourdieu)

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 July 2007 News