Fishing pressure has been light due to deer hunting season, DNR says

News has been light lately so you get a fishing report from theAP via the Duluth News Tribune:

From Alpena, the whitefish spawning run is now close to its peak as of this report. As the spawning frenzy ends, the whitefish will resume feeding and will take eggs and other small baits more readily than before. A good spot to fish is along the reefs of Thunder Bay, especially near Partridge Point. Steelhead, brown trout and whitefish have been caught below the Ninth Street Dam in the Thunder Bay River. The key is to fish early in the morning or evenings.

Near Oscoda, whitefish have been caught off the North Pier and while surf-casting. Anglers are using a single hook with an egg or wax worm and small spoons or plugs. A few walleye have been caught off the piers. Anglers have been waiting for the minnows to come in, as the walleye will follow them into the river system.

Good numbers of fish have been caught near the mouth of the Au Sable River. Whitefish have been caught near the bottom on boiled eggs or wax worms under a slip bobber. The better fishing has lasted all day long on the overcast days. Anglers have done better in the early mornings or late evenings when it is bright and sunny. Steelhead can be found all the way up to Foote Dam. Fish have been caught when drifting spawn bags or wax worms. Drift boats have caught fish when casting plugs.

Near Tawas, the whitefish are now in, and anglers have done well when fishing off the Tawas Pier. The better fishing has been on the overcast days when the waters are not so clear. Anglers are floating a single egg or wax worm just off the bottom. A fair number of brown trout also have been caught on spawn, small plugs or spoons. There have been reports of snagging whitefish, so anglers are reminded that snagging is not a legal method of take for any species.

Standish demolition makes way for depot renovation

The Bay City Times reports on the efforts to turn the Standish Depot into a travel and information center.

An empty, crumbling storefront marking Standish's busiest intersection has a date with death. Thank the preservationists. Their work to renovate the Standish Depot - long hidden from view because of the old Fletcher gas station/sporting goods store - means the building on Main Street at M-61 has to go.

The depot has sat hidden behind Fletcher's for 75 years, since the service station's 1930s construction. The depot group plans to transform the property into a park, graced by the depot. The restored depot, in turn, is to serve as a state travel center, guiding motorists to attractions locally and northward, especially along the US-23's shoreline Heritage Route, which begins at Standish.

"I see this demolition project as giving the depot back to the community," said Ruth Caldwell, a depot committee member and Standish business woman. "The old building should be down and gone in December. We want to end the year right."

Property tax levies finalized

The Iosco News has a followup story on the millage rate increase I originally wrote about on October 6, 2004:

All Iosco County property owners will pay more taxes, with both the tax base and the millage rates increasing in every township and city, largely due to the generosity of voters in passing almost every millage question put to them this past year.

Property owners of Iosco County will pay an estimated $29,915,602 in property taxes and special assessments levied on the Dec. 1 and July 1 tax bills, compared to $26,769,973 this year.

The millage rates include a tax of 3.9901 mills for county operations; a 0.2968 mill levy to support Commission on Aging programs; a 0.4509 mill levy for Iosco County Medical Care Facility (ICMCF) operations; a 0.3421 mill levy to pay for the ICMCF Alzheimer's wing; a 0.4417 mill to support county ambulance operations; a 0.0977 mill tax to support the Iosco Transit Corporation; and a 0.5 mill tax for the Iosco-Arenac District Library.

The lion's share of the total levy goes to support schools and includes the 6.0 mill state school tax, as well as local school issues. Each total includes two millages to support operations of the Iosco Regional Educational Service Agency: 0.2172 allocated operating and 0.6522 voted operating. Additional school levies in the Oscoda school district are 2.0 mills for school improvement project and 0.7821 mill for the sinking fund. Non-homestead additionally pay 16.7888 and 1.2112 mills for operating.

The final tax rates which comprise the totals are those imposed by the individual cities or townships. AuSable Township: 4.6678 mill general operating and 1.2 mill fire and is the same for homestead and non-homestead.

Notes from the November 6, 2004 Board Meeting

These are my notes from the November 6 board meeting:

• Septic system update -- Don's Plumbing looked at the entire system and determined that the flanges were rusted. The exit piping was also rusted and filled with sand preventing the flow into the second tank. The pump motor appeared to be fine. Don's Plumbing replaced the flanges and cleaned the exit piping. After the flanges were replaced the pump was tested and appears now to push sand through. The problem seems to be fixed. Bill suggested adding yeast to the septic system on a monthly basis. Jerry agreed to pick up some and set up a schedule with a few of the permanent resident owners.
• The sprinkler system was closed down for the season.
• The snow contract was signed. Snow will be plowed whenever the snowfall is 2 inches or more. Permanent residents will have their walks shovelled. Northwoods reminded us that some additional owner cooperation would be helpful when plowing. He will plow one side of the lot, then the other. Owners could help out by moving their cars from the side being plowed.
• The siding replacement project hasn't been started yet.
• Officer assignments for the 2004/2005 period were decided: Jerry will continue as President, Mike will assume the Vice Presidency, Kirk will continue as Treasurer, and Bob will continue as Secretary.

Downstate couple 'haunted' by color tour

The Bay City Times covers this story of strange sightings of lights at the Tawas Point Lighthouse:

A weekend color tour up north led to a frightening new avocation for Julie and Harry Joseph after a photo they took at the Tawas Point Lighthouse turned up something unearthly. The Sterling Heights couple, who visited the lighthouse with three others on their tour, captured an image that shows a light in the sky moving toward the structure. What's unusual, they say, is that none of the five people in the group remembers seeing the light with their naked eyes.

So they got on the Internet and started doing some research and found at least a plausible explanation: The lighthouse is haunted. At least that's been the story for more than 100 years, since a little girl - believed to be the daughter of one of he lighthouse keepers - died of pneumonia in the late 1800s, according to a book "Haunted Lakes II," by Frederick Stonehouse.

The Josephs knew nothing about the lighthouse's ghoulish reputation until they got their film developed and did an Internet search. They found several sites that documented reports of ghosts at the Tawas Point Lighthouse.

"We didn't actually see anything unusual," she said. "The light was on at the top, the beacon, but nothing else. Then we saw the picture, the light moving toward the lighthouse. I'm totally a believer," she said. "I've always been kind of intrigued by stories like that. This was quite a neat experience, and it sparked our interest in doing a little more research."

For more information visit the Tawas Point Lighthouse information page.

NE Michigan voters showed up at polls in record numbers (but not in Oscoda Township)

The Bay City Times reports on voter turnout last week for the presidential election. This is what they have to say about turnout in Oscoda Township:

A few northern communities bucked the trend of voter participation above 60 percent. Among those were Iosco County's Oscoda Township, where about 57 percent of registered voters cast ballots despite several hotly contested races for township seats.

"It just shocks me, because we had long lines (at the polls)," said Diane Manderochio, Oscoda Township clerk.

When the final ballots were tallied, the local contests weren't enough to greatly increase the 52 percent voter turnout seen in the 2000 presidential race, she said. Voter participation in Oscoda was 6 percent lower than Iosco County as a whole, where 63.4 percent of registered voters cast ballots.

Restored Lake Huron light to open for tours (DeTour Reef)

The Marquette Mining Journal describes the openning of the DeTour Reef Light to tours in 2005:

A mile offshore in northern Lake Huron, the newly restored DeTour Reef Light - fresh from a two-year, $1 million restoration project - will offer tours in 2005. The structure was built in 1931 on a 60-foot-square, 20-foot-high concrete crib in 24 feet of water. It is a square steel-framed tower of three distinct levels that rises 63 feet above the deck to mark a dangerous reef to help guide ship traffic between Lake Huron and Lake Superior via the St. Marys River.

Visit the DeTour Reef Light Preservation Society site for more information and current news.