Garfield Township
GOVERNMENT
Where the Wild River Rolls
Conservation Resource Alliance shares the top items on their to-do list to restore northern Michigan’s waterways and lands. "We're wild about rivers…and so much more." That’s the motto of Conservation Resource Alliance (CRA), a “rewilding” nature nonprofit headquartered in Traverse City. Since its formation in 1968, the CRA has expanded across 15 northwest Michigan counties and encompasses a trio of on-the-ground programs—River Care, Wild Roots, and Wild Link—each catered towards restoring natural habitats and improving environmental resilience throughout the Great Lakes and beyond.
Safety and security training exercises held at TC West High School
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich., (WPBN/WGTU) -- Traverse City Area Public Schools held its safety and security training at West Senior High School on Thursday. More than 100 people, made up of students, law enforcement and other officials, reenacted emergency drills that would require students having to move to a different location.
Raising funds to help assist Veterans
LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - The American Legion held a Commemoration Ceremony on Friday, to dedicate brick pavers. The ceremony is part of an ongoing fundraising campaign that has taken place over the past three years. This campaign has raised more than 12 thousand dollars to help in the support of veterans.
After unsuccessful bid for Sundance, Traverse City hunts for new signature event
After throwing its hat in the ring to become the next host city for the iconic Sundance Film Festival, Traverse City remains on the hunt for a new summer event to fill the gap left by the loss of its homegrown film festival. Traverse City last month made an unsuccessful...
Bringing a Barn Back to Life
Updates planned for the 1876 Fire Barn in Fife Lake. The 1876 Fire Barn in Fife Lake is approaching its sesquicentennial—that’s 150 years. The Fife Lake Area Historical Society cares for the barn, thought to be the oldest building in the village. (It was originally a school in Southtown brought to Fife Lake to become the firehouse.) The barn houses “uniforms from 120 years ago, large wheeled fire fighting equipment, a 1937 fire truck,” and more, per the organization’s website. This summer, the historical society is working to restore the barn to its former glory with much-needed repairs and a fresh coat of paint to the tune of $18,000. The community is rising to the occasion, with Forest Area Federal Credit Union, Fife Lake Township, the DDA, and individuals contributing to the funds. See the fire barn for yourself on Saturdays and Sundays from 1-4pm. Learn more at fifelakehistoricalsociety.org.
Downtown TC: A budget battle and an attempt to woo Sundance
The Downtown Development Authority, which manages services like events, parking, garbage collection and more, needs the city commission to approve a new budget by July 1, or risk shutting down. Then there was an unsuccessful bid to host the Sundance Film Festival. Yup, that's right. The Sundance Film Festival. Spoiler:...
TC Downtown Development Authority's amended budget up for a vote
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich., (WPBN/WGTU) -- The budget for Traverse City's Downtown Development Authority is heading back to the city commission. In a special meeting on Thursday, the DDA board approved the latest version of its budget. Prior story: Downtown Development Authority postpones its search for new executive director. DDA staff...
Juneteenth in Traverse City
Several Juneteenth events and observances are happening in Traverse City this week. First, Northern Michigan E3 and Right Brain Brewery are teaming up Saturday, June 15, for a Juneteenth Run/Walk/Stroll from 2-5pm. Then on June 19, Traverse Area District Library and the Dennos Museum Center will offer a free day at the Dennos museum (11am-4pm) and a 3pm film screening of One Person, One Vote?, the untold story of the electoral college and its slavery origins. (Tickets are free but require registration at dennosmuseum.org/events/films.) Later that same day, Northwestern Michigan College will host its third annual Juneteenth celebration from 5-8pm outside Founders Hall on the Front Street Campus, complete with food trucks, games, and other activities for all ages. (The party will move inside in the case of inclement weather.)
Patience for the Right Path
For eight years, Kalkaska leaders, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, and members of the North Country Trail Association, the Grand Traverse Hiking Club, and the Northern Michigan Mountain Bike Association have been planning to reroute a portion of the North Country National Scenic Trail (NCT) to the south end of the Village of Kalkaska and through the downtown district. The new trail will eliminate “road walk” sections of the trail and provide public access to the North Branch of the Boardman River. This June, they finally broke ground on the project, which will bring the trail along the river and include a new ADA-accessible trailhead and boardwalk. The half-million-dollar project involved fundraising with multiple organizations and is expected to be completed the first week of September, with an official ribbon cutting and luncheon on Saturday, Sept. 28.
Traverse Area District Library earns Certified Autism Center designation
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich., (WPBN/WGTU) -- Traverse City is making an effort to become an autism-certified community to make visiting the area more inclusive. The Traverse Area District Library received its autism certification last week. The certification training helps library staff learn how to make the environment more autism friendly. Library...
Revised DDA Budget Appears Headed for Approval
Traverse City Downtown Development Authority (DDA) board members unanimously approved changes to their proposed 2024-25 budget at a special meeting Friday – including a marketing funding change that City Commissioner Heather Shaw said would switch her position from opposing to supporting the budget. That should clear the way for the DDA budget to secure a required minimum five approval votes at the city commission’s meeting Monday, avoiding a looming DDA shutdown at the end of the month.
Right, Wrong, Trust, and Progress
Barbara and I have lived in Traverse City since 2018, and we moved here permanently in 2022. One of the things that attracted us to TC was the positive energy and balance between growth and planning in the city. We recently completed the City Academy and could not be more...
The Downtown Debate
In 1978, Traverse City established a Downtown Development Authority (DDA) in accordance with a Michigan statute passed in 1975. The DDA is a component of the city government and is primarily financed by tax increment financing (TIF) districts, in which baseline property tax values are established when the TIF district is created and revenues beyond that baseline are then “captured” by the DDA. Some property tax revenues intended for Northwestern Michigan College, Grand Traverse County, the Traverse Area Library District, and Bay Area Transportation Authority are also captured by the DDA.
The History of TIF 97
Recently there’s been a lot of talk about Tax Increment Financing, or TIF, as it relates to downtown parking, infrastructure upgrades along the Boardman River, and the Rotary Square. Locally the TIF has done a good job with redeveloping our core downtown neighborhood as planned, but other neighborhoods in Traverse City now need the increased revenues promised by the TIF when first adopted.
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