Leelanau.com Blog
leelanau county news • traverse city news • michigan news

I took this photo late yesterday afternoon north of Leland.

You can get it larger right here,  see some more photos from the day in this set and watch a little video below.

(note - it starts kind of loud)

It's 13 degrees under skies that are a curious blue color (our Glossary of Weather Terms calls this condition "sunny")  at 9:25 AM at our Leland office. The barometer is steady at 29.84 inches and falling with a relative humidity of 87%. The forecast for today calls for sunny skies early with clouds moving in this afternoon and highs in the low 30s. Snow is likely overnight (maybe 1") and more snow (2-3") is expected for Wednesday with temps in the low 30s again. Winds will shift to the north late Wednesday, bringing colder temps and blowing snow on Thursday.

Photo: Grand Traverse Light in Winter by Pentax K1000 Gal

Coming Events

Music for Chiapas with Seth Bernard & Daisy May Erlewine (Jan 8). Check the Leelanau Calendar for more!

Looking back, comments, etc.

Click for the Leelanau News Archive from January 2008 and post your comments about the week (news, weather, whatever) below!

Weather Resources

Weather Underground is just about as old as the internet (the first net weather service) and is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Sometimes the above banner will show personal weather system data from Leland, sometimes from Leelanau Coffee and sometimes it comes from a vineyard on Old Mission (it tells you which in the top left of the page it links to).

Bouy 45002 in Lake Michigan is located halfway between North Manitou Island and Washington Island in Lake Michigan. It provides wind and wave data. Also check out Michigan Sea Grant Coastwatch for water temps (the "early evening" images in their archive will give you a better idea of actual temps during peaks swimming hours ... in seasons where you might actually want to swim!).

In Offers to buy 'Loaf' revealed, Eric Carlson of the Leelanau Enterprise brings us up to date on the state of Sugar Loaf in a well-researched article. He says that numerous offers to buy Sugar Loaf Resort from the "unnamed guarantors" of the mortgage have been made ... and rejected.

Real estate agent Allen Reed is quoted as saying that Kate Wickstrom appears to be out of the picture and also that the buildings are now viewed as more of a liability than an asset. Real estate agent and County Commissioner David "Chauncey" Shiflett of Leland agrees with Reed's assessment.  Shiflett helped establish the county's new Brownfield Redevelopment Authority and new Land Bank Fast Track Authority.

Clearly a "blighted or obsolete" property, Sugar Loaf Resort may present an opportunity for a developer interested in benefiting from special tax incentives as well as government loans and grants available for cleanup and redevelopment through the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority.

In addition, the county's newly-formed Land Bank Fast Track Authority has the legal ability to "quiet title" on certain properties where ownership is contested, unclear or potentially subject to forfeiture due to unpaid property taxes - circumstances which might describe Sugar LoafResort. Action by the two county authorities could attract a private developer willing to take on project to redevelop Sugar Loaf Resort.

"I have no idea whether the newly seated Leelanau County Board of Commissioners will support the idea of doing something to improve the situation there," Shiflett said. "But I know that trying to do so is something that I will be focusing on. I know that many of our constituents support the idea of the county taking some action to help revive Sugar Loaf."

Chauncey is quoted at the end of the article saying that:

"In some economies, it might not make sense for a county government to get too deeply involved in something like this, but we're not in a normal economy right now – and now may be the right time for the county to help spearhead an effort to revive Sugar Loaf."

Over the holidays, I looked around at the downtowns, and while I saw some activity, to me it looked like every winter weekend back in the day when Sugar Loaf was a going concern. I'm wondering what you think about whether or not the county government should get involved.

This photo - which you should definitely check out bigger - is part of Marty's Leelanau County set (slideshow).  The set includes one of my absolute favorite computer backgrounds - Grain.

If you want to see some really amazing pictures of Michigan's vanishing rural heritage, check out his Michigan collection.

Leelanau's favorite photo blog, The Leland Report, is offering 2009 Calendars.

Click here for ordering information and have a very Happy New Year's Eve!

DH Day Farm by 1Cher

News from the Week

Stories from the (abbreviated) week included news that it's becoming easier to get fresh & local food in the wintertime, the liquidation of a real estate development company showing that the economic crisis is reaching us here in Leelanau and photos of Holiday Wishes and a beautiful barn.

The Week's Weather

Our weather was once again on the violent side - a record high on Saturday along with heavy rains that destroyed our snow cover followed up by heavy winds and snow.

December 25, 2008: Flurries, a bit of sun and 20s (25/18)
December 26, 2008: Heavy snow & 30s (40/19)
December 27, 2008: Heavy rain (1") and 50 (53/40) Record high!
December 28, 2008: Snow/rain & 40s (52/25)
December 29, 2008: Windy, flurries & 20s (38/23)
December 30, 2008: Snow & low 20s (24/21)

Click for the Leelanau News Archive from December 2007.

On Thursday, January 8th, Seth Bernard and Daisy May Erlewine will perform at the Old Art Building in Leland to benefit the Music for Chiapas Project, an initiative that supports autonomous Mayan education in Chiapas, Mexico. The musicians will be accepting donations of new and gently used musical instruments for the project. Proceeds from ticket sales will be used to purchase additional guitars, violins and accordions.

Doors will open at 6 PM, with music set to begin at 7 and tickets are available at the door. Chris and Jody Treter of Higher Grounds Trading Co. will kick off the evening with a few words about the Music for Chiapas project.

Susan Fawcett, who will be heading to work in Chiapas as well will be the opening act. For more information about the concert, or about Music for Chiapas, contact Higher Grounds Trading Co. at 231-922-9009 or highergroundstrading.com.

Here's a link to Seth's website and May's website where you can hear much more from this very talented couple and a video of them performing...

The Traverse City Record-Eagle has a cool feature titled Green Through The White: Year-round produce is becoming a reality that looks at a new trend in food that has to make you smile if you're a lover of fresh & local:

Sustainable greenhouse systems, year-round farmers markets and winter CSA programs are cropping up all over cold, cloudy northern Michigan, extending the short growing season and making it possible for locavores to get their greens -- and other veggies -- all year long.

One of the first in the region to go year-round, the Frankfort Farmers Market is offering fresh produce, along with honey, maple syrup, meat, eggs and other products, from its new winter site at the city-owned Recreation Center.

There's a bunch more about where you can get fresh eats in wintertime including the Wellington Street Market in TC and (sometime in 2009) the TC City Market. They mention Black Star Farms' Hoop House and CSA and there's also Oryana. Maybe if enough people express interest, we could get a year-round market in Leelanau County!

Definitely click through to read the rest - at the end, you'll get a tasty recipe from Chef Eric Patterson of The Cooks' House for his Classic French Onion Soup Gratinee!

The photo is Chili & Co. - check out more tasty treats in my Local Food slideshow!

The Leelanau Enterprise reports that McKeough Land Company, developer of the Bay Hill project (Leland Township off M-204 at Hoeft Road) has gone out of business.

“Unfortunately, we just couldn’t weather the real estate and credit crisis,” company president Mike McKeough was quoted as saying in a news release provided in response to an Enterprise query.
“Our cash flow really began to seize up in the beginning of 2008,” McKeough said. “And although we had many terrific properties with apparent equity, like Bay Hill of Leland, we just couldn’t raise the necessary capital to continue operating as McKeough Land Company.”

...A new company, Terra Firma Management, has been established to manage, market and sell McKeough’s holdings, offering many of its properties at “bank pricing” that in some cases may be 65 percent below previous list prices.

Photo: Dark times on Bay Hill by Andy McFarlane

LongingforLeelanau doesn't have too many photos, but the ones she does have a gorgeous - check them out in her slideshow!

As an extra bonus, she uploads them biggie-sized for your computer background!