Each year, the Enterprise offers a recap of community news, reflecting life in Leelanau County.
The following is a compilation of the papers front page news for the first three months of the year as summarized by the editorial staff.
Jan. 2, 2025
The federal government’s war on sugar won’t sour efforts by the cherry industry to find a healthy future.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USDA) which after 30 years is changing the definition of “healthy” as allowed on food labels, has determined that dried cherries may continue to be labeled as healthy despite their sugar supplements.
The new definition will go into effect in 2026.
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M-72 will be closed near Greilickville Jan. 13, weather permitting to prepare for a round-about at the M-22 intersection in spring 2025.
Traffic heading east or west will be detoured onto east and west will be detoured onto county roads and Traverse City streets.
According to a Michigan Department of Transportation press release, the project will take about four weeks complete with an estated end date of Feb. 10.
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The Village of Northport will be ringing in the new year with its iconic anchor drop once again at the Northport Inn, right in the heart of the village.
“It’s a pretty fun display right there for Northport,” said Lynden Johncock, co-owner of the Inn. “Every year, it seems we get more and more people at the anchor drop and it’s always fun to see, so it kind of incentivizes us to up our game a little.”
Jan. 9, 2025
Steve Yoder was elected as chairman of the county Board of Commissioners at the organization meeting of the board. He is the youngest board chairman in county history.
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County commissioners agreed to dissolve the county’s Energy Futures Task Force (EFTF) and made moves toward eliminating their Housing Action Committee as well.
The group gave its annual gave its one-year in October and asked to be renewed for another four years of meet in December, The board did not approve of either of their requests, but they also did not disband or terminate EFTF— until now. Local Republicans heavily opposed the EFTF’s clean and renewable energy initiatives. Leelanau GOP leadership, candidates, and campaign contributors also alleged that the EFTF members broke state laws and violated the county’s conflict of interest policy.
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The county lost an icon with the passing of Empire resident Dave Taghon this week.
Taghon was a hometown boy whose name became synonymous with the Village of Empire.
He was active in church, and operated the town’s only gas station for many years. But what most people associate him with the Empire Area Heritage Group that operates the community museum. He was 81.
Jan. 16, 2025
In preparation for a Jan. 8 housing workshop, Housing North interviewed the county community members. When asked about the lack of available homes, Kevin Murphy, co-owner of the New Bohemian Cafe in Northport and he worried the county would soon be filled with many beautiful homes with no one living in them.
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Winter sports lovers have a little pep in their step this week.
For the first time in recent history, there’s been consistent snow to ski sled and slide.
Jan. 23, 2025
They say money can’t buy happiness, but more than $9 million should go a long way toward preserving the health of the 14th large inland lake in the state.
That’’s how much the Friends of Lake Leelanau, a public foundation established by three riparian owners in mid-2021, has raised and earned interest as it turns attention from fundraising to funding projects that protect the environment and enhance recreational opportunities for Lake Leelanau.
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Leelanau County’s new Board of Commissioners extended weekly stipend payments to County Clerk Michelle Crocker and Chief Deputy Clerk Jennifer Zywicki. These stipends were scheduled to end Feb. 21 but now will be paid through May 30.
Crocker and Zywicki had been getting paid to assist the county’s new finance department since December 2022, as the department had seen high turnover and the clerk’s office used to manage the county’ payroll before a separate department was established in 2021. Each was being paid $250 per week, but since November, the stipends were reduced to $62.50 per week.
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A 180-acre property owned by Glen Lake Community Schools is still being considered as site for affordable housing despite the school board’s decision to table the issue.
The Sleeping Bear Gateway Council (SBGC) presented to Empire Township regarding affordable housing education and the plotting of 180-acres forested school property owned by the school district. The property could be used for attainable housing for the educational staff and community members.
Jan. 30, 2025
Dollar General is looking to expand into Leelanau County again.
The Cleveland Township Planning Commission is holding a public hearing and a site plan and preliminary review for Dollar General’s request for approval to build a store at the corner of Maple City and Cemetery roads.
Dollar General has stores in all 82 counties in the state and the retail chain has tried to open a couple of stores in Leelanau County before.
Residents and officials have said “no” in the past, often saying the chain was encroaching on the area’s locally-owned businesses and small-town character.
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M-72 will be closed just west of the M-22 near Greilickville Monday.
The closure will last approximately four weeks with an estimated end date of March 3 and marks the beginning of work to install a roundabout at the intersection. The project is scheduled for completion late this year.
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More than 20 persons turned out for a Leelanau Township Planning Commission meeting to examine a proposal from the county to install and communications tower on Kitchen Road.
Despite poor communications for emergency services and nearby residents, many have expressed concern about the tower would negatively impact the environment and infringe on person property rights.
Feb. 6, 2026
Cleveland Township temporarily stopped Dollar General from expanding to Leelanau County by putting a six-month moratorium on zoning and building in their business district.
Township Supervisor Tim Stein said they stopped the discount chain store’s expansion because they are concerned Dollar General could be a threat to the township and the purposes of its zoning ordinance, which is to promote the health, safety and general welfare of people in Cleveland Township, among other things.
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Plans for a 200-foot tall communication tower on Kitchen Road will not move forward after the Leelanau Township Planning Commission voted 4-2 to deny the special land use application.
The decision comes a week after the planning commission held a lengthy public hearing, where those both for and against the tower voiced their concerns about the proposal.
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Leelanau County Sheriff Mike Borkovich said his office is ready to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the new administration’s crackdown on immigration.
Homeland Security Investigations announced Monday that they are “working to apprehend immigration violators in Michigan and Ohio.”
Borkovich admits that he doesn’t know how these efforts will affect Leelanau County and its significant immigrant and migrant population, including farm workers. He says that ICE has not announced any planned operations in the county to his office.
Feb. 13
The role of a local law agency in assisting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), was discussed Tuesday before the county Board of Commissioners during their executive session.
Sheriff Mike Borkovich appeared before the board at its to discuss several issues, including defense of his intentions to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the new administration’s crackdown on immigration.
Investigations announced last week that they are “working to apprehend immigration violators in Michigan and Ohio.”
Borkovich admits that he doesn’t know how these efforts will affect Leelanau County and its significant immigrant and migrant population, including farm workers.
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The Glen Lake Board of Education denied the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) request to turn a piece of the Lakers’ 180-acre prime forest into a workforce or affordable housing project. “We need to continue managing this property ... I think it was a great plan but on the wrong property,” Glen Lake school board president Cory McNitt said.
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A new cherry vinegar produced in Northport will be available for people to try as soon as April.
Sarah and Phil Hallstedt, owners of Hallstedt Homestead Cherries, are also the founders of their newest business venture, Red Truck Orchards. With the cherry season being short and sweet, their newest project will allow people to taste and enjoy local cherries all-year round.
Feb. 20, 2025
The status of a proposed 200-foot communications tower in Leelanau Township remains up in the air.
The county Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday night to discontinue its lease of property for the tower site after the Leelanau Township planners denied a special land use permit for the site, located on Kitchen Road.
The county-proposed tower was planned to address dead spots in 911 coverage on the tip of the peninsula. A 2021 broadband inventory found that Leelanau Township is the “most underserved” population in the county.
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The Leelanau County Road Commission announced Tuesday plans to halt the construction of Alpine and White Road bridges in Solon Township.
The stoppage of planning and construction resulted in uncertainty about funding from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NCRS), an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that is footing most of the bill.
Feb. 27, 2025
Bob DeKorne has been connected to the rest of the world for about six months.
The Cleveland Township resident was among the Leelanau households for whom broadband communication was provided as part of the county’s broadband initiative.
“I believe they ran (cable) down School Lake Road and Wheeler to Trumbull as well,” DeKorne said. “I’ve gotta say, it works well.”
DCS Technology Design, a telecommunications engineering firm based in Michigan focused specifically on rural broadband issues from an infrastructure viewpoint surveyed property in the county. Survey findings showed Leelanau County had about 22,700 occupied parcels with 5,045, or about 22% of the county, without access to cable or fiber and little to no access to other high speed broadband services.
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The Village of Northport will receive approximately $58,228 from 2024 recreational marijuana tax revenue thanks to its one cannabis dispensary in Leelanau County, Olean’s.
The Michigan Department of Treasury announced Friday that nearly $100 million is being distributed among 302 local entities and tribes as part of the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act.
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The Northport Village Council will hold a special meeting today to interview four candidates for the village manager position.
Michael Green will interview first, with Matthew Marske, Douglas Dorando, Leah Moskovitz and Jered Ottenwess.
In December, it was announced that current Northport Village Manager Jim Dyer accepted a one-year employment contract to serve as the next full-time Leelanau County administrator.
March 6, 2025
More than 60 people gathered at the Sleeping Bear Dunes Phillip A. Hart Visitor Center Saturday afternoon to protest recent employee layoff s to the National Park Service (NPS).
People across the country participated in the “nationwide day of action” at their respective national parks on March 1, which was also the anniversary of when Congress established Yellowstone, the first national park in the United States.
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Leelanau business owners are waiting to see if tariffs will have a small or large effect on their local business and the Leelanau economy.
“The main concern is the uncertainty of what’s happening and changes that are happening day-to-day,” said Dan Young, owner of Tandem Ciders said.
The 25% tariffs were implemented Tuesday for Canada and Mexico, and a 20% tariff was placed on China, which was initially placed at 10%. Canadian energy products were placed on a 10% tariff.
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A patch of Eurasian watermilfoil has been verified as growing in Glen Lake, setting off alarms within the Glen Lake Association (GLA) after receiving good news in August that none was found in a lake-wide survey.
“The GLA is actively working to formulate a treatment plan for the identified EWM colony in Little Glen,” a statement on the association’s website reads.
March 13, 2025
Commissioners sparred over the finishing details of the broadband project on Tuesday at its executive meeting as another $900,000 payment is due for the project, which is 96% complete.
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Tricia Denton loves lemonade.
The Maple City area woman has had a lot of lemons to work with as of late. More than 100 people showed up for her “retirement” party late last month at the Little Traverse Inn.
“I was amazed how well it was attended,” she said. “I could feel the love in the room.”
Denton through her involvement with Leelanau Clean Water, the Glen Lake Association, Parenting Communities, the Leelanau Community Choir and the League of Women Voters Leelanau County, was diagnosed with Primary Lateral Sclerosis (PLS).
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At a recent executive meeting, a Leelanau County Commissioner raised concerns about 2% funding allocations from the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians (GTB).
District No. 3 commissioner Will Bunek said too much of the 2% allocation funding is going to non-profits when the funding should be used for government entities including Suttons-Bay
Bingham Fire Department and Suttons Bay Public Schools, to name a couple possible recipients.
March 20, 2025
The Northport Village Council will enter into contract negotiations with Jerred Ottenwiess to serve as the next village manager. Council trustees deliberated and voted 4-1 for Ottenwiess over the other manager finalist, Douglas Dorando.
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Federal funding for public libraries is at risk following one of President Donald Trump’s latest executive orders aimed at gutting the government and its essential functions.
Local library staff have been monitoring the situation since the order was announced on March 14, and have been reaching out to the public via social media, urging those that can to contact their elected representatives to share their concerns regarding the anticipated drastic cuts.
March 27, 2025
Depending upon interest level, a 39-page Federal Court of Appeals decision confirming commercial fishing regulations reads like superfluous mumbo-jumbo or a Bible for the 50-plus-year legal battle over Indian fishing rights.
The opinion by the three-judge U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, , confirms the strongly held — and now upheld — position of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians (GTB) that it holds sole jurisdiction over Native American commercial fishing in the waters off the Leelanau Peninsula.
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Ferry service to the Manitou islands will again been relegated to South Manitou.
For the second straight season — and fourth of six seasons — Manitou Island Transit (MIT) will not provide ferry service to North Manitou Island because the permanent National Park Service built dock is clogged with sand.
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Local officials made the most of a snowy Monday morning. The Michigan Department of Transportation was joined by state and local officials and partners for a “groundbreaking” to mark the start of a $25.8 million investment to rebuild portions of M-72 and M-22 inTraverse City and Elmwood Township.
