Consumers Energy seeks public input on dam study

The Bay City Times has an update on a story I originally mentioned back on July 29, 2004 regarding Consumers Energy's study to remove the dams along the AuSable:

Consumers Energy Co. is studying how much it will cost to tear down 11 hydroelectric dams on the Au Sable, Manistee and Muskegon rivers. But the power company has no plans to remove any of its dams, which are federally licensed to operate until the year 2034, according to William A. Schoenlein, director of hydro generation for Consumers Energy.

Consumers is preparing a dam-retirement study only as a requirement of the operating licenses. On the Au Sable River, the company will determine the cost of three options: Removing the six power dams, partially removing them, or leaving them in place but not using them to generate electricity. Schoenlein said Consumers is accepting public comments through Dec. 3 on the retirement options. The comments will be included in the study plan.

Copies of the draft study plan for the Au Sable River dams are available at the Robert Parks Library in Oscoda; the Alcona County Library in Harrisville and the Oscoda County Library in Mio.

Comments can be e-mailed to hydro@cmsenergy.com or mailed to Consumers Energy Hydro Generation Department, 330 Chestnut St., Cadillac, 49601, attention Retirement Study Plan.

Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary Breaks Ground on Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center

A Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary press release announces the ground breaking on a 20,000 square foot facility in Alpena.

When completed, the facility will feature a maritime heritage "discover center" featuring over 8,000 square-feet of exhibits on the Great Lakes, shipwrecks, archaeology, and maritime history. The center will also have an auditorium for showing films and live video feeds from Thunder Bay shipwrecks, an archaeological conservation laboratory, and an education resource room.

"The new center will be a national destination that will allow people of all ages to share in the discovery, exploration and preservation of the Great Lakes' historic shipwrecks and rich maritime past," said Sanctuary Manager Jefferson J. Gray. "In addition, the laboratories, archives, dockage for research vessels and a field station for visiting scientists will make the center a regional research facility, not just for historians and archaeologists, but for other scientists working to ensure the health of the Great Lakes."

Located in Lake Huron, the 448-square-mile Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve was established in 2000 to protect an estimated 200 historically significant shipwrecks ranging from nineteenth century wooden side-wheelers to twentieth century steel-hulled steamers. The Sanctuary brings to the American public the lore of Great Lakes maritime heritage through exploration, education and research.

Visit the web site located here: http://thunderbay.noaa.gov/

Wurtsmith Yankee Air Museum is getting ‘Women in Aviation' exhibit

The Oscoda Press reports that the Women in Aviation exibit at the Willow Run Yankee Air Museum has landed at the Wurtsmith Air Museum following the fire that destroyed the historical hanger at Willow Run.:

The Women in Aviation exhibit had been removed from the Willow Run museum about two months prior to the fire that recently claimed a building full of aviation history. The exhibit is owned by a group of Michigan women pilots called the "Ninety-Nines," who made news locally this July when they painted a compass rose on landing strip at the Iosco County Airport.
"Luckily, this exhibit had been removed and packed away before the fire," said Jim McLaughlin, chairman of the local chapter of the Yankee Air Force. "They came to see us last week and said they'd like to bring the ‘Women in Aviation' exhibit here, and we told them that that was great," McLaughlin added.

McLaughlin said that the Michigan chapter of the national group of female aviators called the "Ninety Nines" owns the exhibit and is planning to move the historical items to Oscoda early next month. Local members of the Yankee Air Force would then incorporate the display into their own exhibit about women in aviation.

"We'll take the winter to get it all set up," said McLaughlin, "and then we'll be ready to show it off with the normal spring opening of the museum on Armed Forces Day in May."

"We're still trying to figure out our relationship with the Yankee Air Museum at Willow Run," said McLaughlin. "They lost everything but a few airplanes in the fire. At this point, they say they are going to rebuild," he related.

I wrote about the Ninety-Nines back on July 12, 2004 regarding the compass rose mentioned again in this article.

Former City Hall may welcome Heritage Route drivers to Tawas

The Bay City Times reports on the efforts to repurpose the old Tawas City Hall as a welcome center for travelers on the US-23 Heritage Highway.

A group behind the creation of the new US-23 Heritage Route, which runs from Standish to Mackinaw City, says the stone-sided structure on the shores of Tawas Bay would be a nice stopping point on the 200-mile trip. "It's been a landmark there for years and years," said Thomas Ferguson, head of Michigan's Sunrise Side Travel Association.

The house-like building was mothballed in 1999 when Tawas City determined the building had structural problems and was unsafe for city offices.

Ferguson said his hope is to find some grant or foundation money that could rehabilitate the building for use as an interpretive center about Great Lakes history. The facility also would serve as a welcome center on the Sunrise Side Coastal Heritage Route, he said. The Tawas City Council recently passed a resolution supporting the concept and has scheduled a public hearing for Monday to add the building to the city's recreation plan.

How To Speed-Read the Net

I made a small update to the website today by adding an "atom" feed -- see left sidebar link named "Site Feed". This article: How To Speed-Read the Net - Ditch your browser—RSS makes surfing for news a joy. By Paul Boutin explains what I've added. Basically, if you have an RSS/Atom feed reader installed on your PC/Mac you can simply include this site as one of your subscriptions and get automatic updates whenever I add an item. No need to constantly check this site for updates -- updates come automatically to you.

The invention of the Web browser added pictures to the Internet, but all those images still haven't made reading online a pleasant experience. If you're someone who uses the Web as your main source of news, you probably have 60 bookmarks that you never use, or you open 30 browser windows simultaneously to keep track of the articles you want to read—but you never get around to all of them.

RSS ("Really Simple Syndication" or "Rich Site Summary," depending on whom you ask) has three distinct advantages over Web browsing and e-mail, the two most popular ways to read news online. First, no ads or graphics clutter the headlines and article summaries.

Second, an RSS reader automatically updates itself with the latest items from the sites you tell it to watch, so it's always fresh. You don't have to hop from site to site, or constantly click "refresh," to know what's been published by the sites you frequent most. Lastly, you can include customized RSS "feeds" that cull material from multiple news sources into a single data stream.

Once you've installed an "rss/atom" reader (check article for recommendations) simply include this URL in your subscription list:

https://sandsii.tripod.com/atom.xml

AuSable board hikes millages 12.76 percent

The Oscoda Press covers this Township Board meeting and the approval of a 12% millage increase for 2005:

After a public hearing, brief debate, and two roll call votes, the AuSable Township Board of Trustees acted Wednesday, Sept. 29, to raise property taxes 12.76 percent.

The increase will appear on the 2005 tax bills which will be in the mail around Dec. 1. It will mean the owner of a home valued at $100,000, with a taxable value half that, will pay $5.70 more in general operating millage and $27.50 more for fire millage, for a total of $33.20.

Septic Problems - South End -- Update

Jerry has this update on the problems we have been having with the south end septic field:

When the south tanks were cleaned it was called to our attention there was something wrong as it took three loads to clean them out. We were advised to first check the electrical on the pump and then if that failed to call Don's plumbing. Lamrock was called and they checked the electric and the floats on the pump and all was working.

Joan later discovered the red light was on (last Tuesday). Don's plumbing was called. All the flanges on the pump piping were rusted out causing the pump to not work properly. These were repaired!! In addition there is a blockage of sand in the exit piping which takes the water to the leech field. The tanks were pumped again yesterday so Don could repair the pump. It will be several days before enough water is in the tank for the pump to try and get rid of it. The hope is that the repaired pump will output enough force to push any sand through. If this fails or the red light goes on in the meantime our next move is to contact Scott excavating. At this point the problem may be our leech field or just piping problems.

Don will call me in the next few days to advise if we need to proceed with Scott.

All for now-never a dull moment!!

Hear the one about the fish that got away? They're going to Lake Michigan

I've heard for a while now that salmon fishing this year has been poor. This article from The Bay City Times helps identify the causes:

Schools of big chinook salmon are leaving Lake Huron, and new evidence shows the popular sport fish are swimming over to Lake Michigan. State fisheries experts believe a lack of the salmon's primary food source - small forage fish known as alewives - in Lake Huron is causing the fish to seek new waters.

Ten percent of all young salmon planted by the Michigan Department of Natural Re-sources have a tiny coded wire embedded in their snouts. By examining wires removed from adult salmon taken by fishermen, the DNR has learned up to half of the marked fish being caught at some Lake Michigan ports were originally stocked in Lake Huron.

The chinook that remain in the lake also are smaller on average than they were a few years ago, possible evidence they are working harder to find food, he said.

The DNR isn't sure what will happen next to Lake Huron's salmon fishery. Johnson said the agency has never seen so few alewives in the lake to feed the salmon. "This doesn't fit the cycles we've seen in the past. It's more dramatic," Johnson said. "We've never seen alewives in such low numbers, and chinooks won't stay around in places where there isn't food," Johnson said.

Fisheries experts believe three things combined to decimate alewife numbers: a boom in the salmon population a few years ago; two cold winters that may have killed many of the small fish; and competition for food from zebra mussels.

Since alewives have fared better in warmer Lake Michigan, the salmon from Lake Huron are seeking them out by swimming through the Straits of Mackinac, Johnson said. The distance isn't considered unusual because saltwater salmon swim for a thousand miles or more, he said.

Johnson said other forage fish, such as smelt or herring, may begin to replace the alewives in Lake Huron, and the salmon may adapt to make them a preferred food source.

The lack of alewives is also likely to help the natural reproduction of other sport fish, such as perch and walleye, Johnson said. Alewives are known to feed on perch and walleye fry, he said.

Read the whole article for more quotes from Barb Kinsman at Bunyan Town.

The tale of the kite

The east shore of Lake Huron is an outstanding area for kite flying. During the summer there is hardly a day that doesn't have a nice steady breeze just right for getting that kite up in the air -- almost with no effort. Today's post comes from a human interest story posted in the Bay City Times about one of my personal favorite hobbies:

Jack Quinn decorates the sky like a painter would a canvas. His kite works as a brush, dotting the landscape with vibrant hues and swirling movement. Quinn, better known as Kiteman Jack, has been teaching children and adults how to fly stunt kites for nearly 20 years. He and his wife, Diana, own and operate Kiteman Jack's kite shop, at Newman Street near the fishing pier, in East Tawas. His kites are often spotted at the East Tawas city park and his popularity as a local entertainer continues to grow.

Originally from Davison, the Quinns began spending summer weekends camping in East Tawas. Jack would fly his kites near the pier and would sell them when people would inquire. Children often gathered to watch the kite shows and would even knock on the Quinns' camper door, Diana Quinn recalled. They would ask: "Can Kiteman Jack come out and fly his kites?" "He's been in with the kids all along," said Diana, 61. "So when we opened the store, what could we name it other than Kiteman Jack's?"

East Tawas Mayor Robert Elliott Jr. said he's happy to have business owners like the Quinns. "He's a heck of an asset to our community," Elliott said. "That guy is outgoing and very friendly and his wife is just like him. It's amazing the comments we get from people. They love to see those things flying and they buy them."

Nice article - if you get a chance read the whole thing (and go buy a kite).