Here's a video that talks about these efforts.

Photo credit: One Outstanding Barn by jimflix!

Every two weeks we send out our Grand Vision update. In addition to a roundup of recent stories of interest, we feature a photo from our Grand Vision group on the photo sharing site Flickr. If you'd like to see YOUR photo featured here, click to join the Grand Vision group!

Alexandria took this shot of some of the wayfinding signage in downtown Traverse City this summer. She has a cool GV photos slideshow that you can check out.

To subscribe to our emails, just use the box at the top right of this page!

The Traverse City Business News Ticker has this story on a proposed hotel for the Warehouse district in Traverse City:

Another hurdle has been cleared to allow demolition to begin as soon as November in preparation for a proposed four-story hotel in Traverse City’s burgeoning Warehouse District.

The Grand Traverse County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority yesterday voted unanimously to amend the brownfield plan for a Hotel Indigo, a 97-room boutique hotel, planned at the .83-acre site surrounded by Hall and Garland Streets, and Grandview Parkway.

The project’s brownfield plan still requires approval by the City Commission and County Board of Commissioners.

The location has a prime view of West Bay and is currently home to a Midas car repair shop, a re-sale business, an engineering firm and a few small shops. All would need to be taken down soon to keep the project on track, according to developers.

“They chances of doing demolition after November are pretty slim…We can do the demolition through the end of the year,” developer Jerry Allen told the board. “But in January the weather adds substantially to the cost.”

He explained that demolition this year would put the project on schedule for an opening of March 2012. “We want to go full live by Memorial Day,” he said. “We want to get that (summer) season.”

Photo: Traverse City Trip by Eric W.

Now, you have a chance to participate online in MDOT's official public comment session.

Click here to go to MDOT's website where you will be asked to write in your thoughts on the future of rail for Michigan.

Photo: Railroad by Alexandria 31.

The Associated Press has this story on a local Maple City resident famous for his food carvings:

He's best known for his fall pumpkin carvings, but it's what Pat Harrison does the rest of the year that can set mouths to watering.

Harrison, of Maple City, specializes in carving completely edible meals — fruits and vegetables that are carved into whimsical designs, then often cooked and eaten.

Whether it's zucchini squash carved into the shape of a fish and scooped out to hold dip, or Hubbard squash carved into a turkey and baked with a filling of sauteed apples, celery, onions, carrots, spinach, toasted pine nuts, rice and sausage, his creations are as pleasing to look at as they are to taste.

"Anything that gets too mushy or things that are too leafy, I can't do," said Harrison, whose 4-year-old business is called Lord of the Gourd. "Other than that, the sky's the limit."

A former graphic artist and amateur cartoonist, Harrison, 47, attended the food service program at Northwestern Michigan College. But his love of cooking and art were fostered much earlier by his mother, Sally.

"She taught me a lot of what I know about cooking," he said. "I grew up in a family of six kids. If you wanted anything extra to eat you had to make it yourself."

Back then, the family owned a motel in Traverse City that they decorated each fall, he said.

"My mom's the artist in the family. She paints, she draws. She does all kinds of stuff. Every Halloween we'd decorate the motel. It kind of became a fun thing between the two of us to see who could do the best stuff."

Eventually Harrison became good enough at carving pumpkins to give weekend demonstrations at a cider mill and then to develop the craft into a year-round edible business. And all without training.

"I'm completely self-taught. I never, ever saw anyone carve," he said. "There are books out there now, but back then I'd never seen it."

To read the full story, click here.

Photo: Melons by ETCphoto.

7&4 News has this Fact Finder story on how 1 in every 237 homes in Michigan is in some state of foreclosure. Homeowners looking for help are running into a lot of questions:

Do you want to read a staggering statistic? One in every 237 homes in Michigan is in some stage of foreclosure. To make matters worse, many experts say that number is likely to grow here in our state even though across the nation the foreclosure rate is leveling off. One of our viewers found themselves teetering on foreclosure and looking for help but that has lead to a lot of questions. The answers I found for her are the subject of this Fact Finder.

Exhausted, frustrated, and desperate a Northern Michigan homeowner who wished to remain anonymous fiddled with her mortgage statement, and simply explained to me "right now we are currently 93 days behind and we have been served our first set of foreclosure papers." Like many, no amount of hard work or penny pinching seems to be able to fix the situation. She says "we had some unexpected occurrences in our family, funeral expenses, and we had some issues. My husband is self employed and his income is down more than 30%. It makes me sick, makes me sad. I never thought we would be in this situation never."

While in disbelief, like tens of thousands of Michigan residents she is not alone. She says she reached the point where she had exhausted every avenue for help she knew, "I have knocked on every door twice. We have gone through every community agency every help agency and nothing." But her hopes were lifted when the state announced the new Helping Hardest Hit Homeowners program which can provide thousands of dollars in mortgage help for who are behind on their payments. She says "we thought this might be a good option for us so we logged on to the website. It directs you to see if you qualify." And she did until the final hurdle. It dashed her hopes.

To watch a video or read the full story, click here.

Photo: Summer Evening by cmu chem prof.

Participants built their own rafts, then floated them down the Boardman River collecting trash along the way.

To watch a video from the event, scroll down below.

The River-Raft Recycling Extravaganza was co-hosted by Right Brain Brewery, Bay Area Recycling and the Watershed Center.

Photo: Boardman River Downtown by earthgirl58.

Crain's Business News has this story on how Grand Valley State University and the University of Michigan will be testing the feasibility of Great Lakes Windfarms:

The Great Lakes are fundamental to creating renewable energy in Michigan, according to research under way by Grand Valley State University and the University of Michigan.

However, it's not the water but the harnessing of wind power over the water that could lead to low-emission sustainable energy for the state.

Grand Valley's Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center will study the wind speeds and patterns over the Great Lakes that could eventually lead to wind turbine farms miles offshore in Lake Michigan, Lake Huron and Lake Erie.

Arn Boezaart, director of the renewable energy center, said his team and the Ann Arbor-based Michigan MemorialPhoenix Energy Institute, affiliated with the University of Michigan, will deploy several buoys equipped with anemometers, Light Detection And Ranging equipment and other instruments to measure speed and gather other information.

The buoys will be placed in the late spring or early summer of 2011 and are scheduled to collect data year-round for at least two years, Boezaart said.

To read the whole article, click here.

Photo: Lake Michigan Sunset by jimflix.

MLIVE.com has this story on the Ford Motor Company's attempt to build electric cars using solar power:

Ford may be trailing General Motors in the rush to produce an electric vehicle, but it's hoping to run a cleaner race: The automaker is outfitting its Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne — which will produce the upcoming Electric Focus — with a 500-kilowatt solar energy production system.

Ford announced last week it will team up with Detroit Edison and Xtreme Power to install the system later this year at the plant, which will also produce the non-electric Focus in 2011 and two new hybrid and plug-in vehicles in 2012.

The plan includes installation of a 750-kilowatt storage facility capable of holding enough energy to power 100 typical Michigan homes for a year. Combined with a future secondary solar system use to power lighting, the automaker says the finished product will be Michigan's largest solar power array and save it roughly $160,000 in energy costs.

To read the full article, click here.

Photo: 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid by ogilvyprworldwide.

Here is an article from Michael Buhler of the Glen Arbor Sun about his installation of solar panels at his home:

Two years ago I installed a photovoltaic (PV) solar array on my garage roof, all in an effort to cut my utility usage, and in a small way do my part toward America’s energy independence. The original article is available online here. To recap, 12 panels with a rated capacity of 1,920 watts (or 1.92 kilowatts per hour, or KWH) were installed on my garage roof. In the garage is the inverter, the brains of the system, which turns the DC current of the panels into AC current; synchronizes that with Consumers Power; charges the backup batteries, and decides if the house needs more power from Consumers, or can sell excess back to the electrical grid.

From day one the system performed to design specifications. But since Consumers was dragging their feet on buying back my power, it was hard to judge what the true capacity was: I could only use locally what was generated; the excess was wasted opportunity. I was soon assigned a new contact at Consumers, a sophisticated bi-directional electrical meter was installed, and regulations were updated. Beginning May 1 of 2009 (once the last of the snow had melted from that long winter), Consumers and I could meter and assess the true impact of the solar array.

The design assumed that the system would supply 25-33 percent of my pre-PV energy. On May 1 of this year I was able to fully evaluate the first year’s impact on my power consumption, and the PV supplied 30 percent. Over the summer that has dropped a little to 28 percent, but I’ve also had weeks of houseguests, and June was cloudy and cool (the furnace was running). So far, PV panels are living up to expectations.

Consumers’ Power Plans

Tom Shirilla is the Green Generation Program Manager for Consumers Energy, and my new liaison. He oversees the over 100 current green energy net metering participants like me, and all told we have about 210 Kilowatts of generating capacity. Most, like me, consume the majority of the power generated; a few are larger operations and true electricity suppliers. “Either way,” Tom says, “these generators offset conventional generation like coal,” and help to supply Michigan’s growing electricity needs.

In 2009 the State of Michigan mandated that by 2015, 10 percent of Michigan’s electricity comes from renewable energy sources. Today that number stands at 4 percent for Consumers. A recent agreement with Vestas-America (the American division of Danish wind turbine producer Vestas, which built Michigan’s first windmill in Traverse City) will supply the electric company with 1.8 Megawatt generators. Each turbine is 1,000 times more powerful than my solar array! And, they spin day and night.

By the end of 2012 Consumers hopes to have 150-200 windmills installed in Mason County, near Ludington. This will raise their green generation to 8 percent. They plan to meet or exceed the 10 percent goal by 2015. If individuals can continue to find new ways to conserve, and with this new generation capacity, we all reduce our need for additional traditional plants, and might even lower the need for coal (which by far is the least expensive — yet most polluting — way to generate power).

Conservation

The real story began five years ago, when I changed a few light bulbs, unplugged some unused transformers, turned off the heated drying in the dishwasher, and acquired a power-sipping computer.

To read the full story, click here.

Photo: Sunset at Sleeping Bear Point by jimflix.

Every two weeks we send out our Grand Vision update. In addition to a roundup of recent stories of interest, we feature a photo from our Grand Vision group on the photo sharing site Flickr. If you'd like to see YOUR photo featured here, click to join the Grand Vision group!

cmu chem prof (Phil Squattrito) took this picture in the vineyard at the Chateau Chantal winery on Old Mission Peninsula north of Traverse City. View it bigger in his Traverse City area slideshow.

To subscribe to our emails, just use the box at the top right of this page!

Click play below to watch the video!

Yesterday (8/11) at the Northwestern Michigan Fair there was a Cooking with Kids event.

400 kids and parents participated in the tasty fun!

It was all about having them taste the difference (if you will) of local foods and get them off the elephant ears and fried snickers.

FOX 32 News was there and you can watch this video report of kids connecting with local food and farmers!

The Traverse City Business News has this story profiling three of our region's biggest residential projects:

Over the past two years, three of the region’s mid- to high-end residential projects have withstood every insult that the worst economy in decades could throw at them.

The onslaught had many components: rising unemployment, a credit meltdown, and a general downward spiral in the real estate and stock markets. And for a time, auto retirees – one of the most important consumer categories for the region – faced the potential collapse of their pension funds.

It would be hard to imagine a more toxic situation for a real estate market that depends to some extent on a steady flow of retirees from downstate and elsewhere. Fortunately, at least some of those dangers are now past.

Nonetheless, real estate developers still had to draw on reserves of stamina to make it through the hard times. We check in with three promising developments that started at the worst possible time in recent history to learn how they lived to tell the tale.

The article profiles these three development projects:

• Douglas Valley (near Manistee)
• Incochee Woods (near Slabtown in west Traverse City)
• Sapphire Shore (West Bay frontage, at Crane Hill Road and M-22 in Elmwood Township)

To read the full article, click here.

Photo: Northern Michigan flower by jt354.

The Holland Sentinel has this article on how car pooling numbers have dwindled in the past two decades:

The days of hitching a ride to work with your buddy or joining the neighborhood carpool seem to be over, or at least dying down.

As more fuel efficient cars hit the market, gas drops below $3 a gallon and more people own vehicles, the need to carpool doesn’t seem as pressing as it used to be. As a nation that is struggling to find more ways to go green and to save in an economic slump, it seems now, more than ever, is the time to carpool.

But Nick Schirripa, spokesperson for Michigan Department of Transportation, says driving and owning a car is part of the American Dream – it’s not really something we want to share. “Historically, our culture has been built on one person, one car, being able to go wherever, whenever at your own pace. It’s an ingrained cultural behavior.”

0 – The amount it costs to download Avego’s iphone application designed to find fellow car-poolers. The application, called Shared Transport 2.0, was released in June and provides a way for drivers to fill their empty seats with passengers looking for rides. Seems a little creepy? Drivers can choose to filter the results by gender, accept all rider requests or choose to get matched with similar drivers.

388 – The number of Michigan carpool listings on eRideShare.com. To find a carpool, just join the site for free, place your listing or search for a listing in your area by clicking on the member ID. Rides are alphabetized by city name and most lay down ground rules for the carpool. Some questions to ask if you’re looking to join a carpool: Where will the pick-up point be? How many days a week will you be carpooling? Will the carpool be smoking or non-smoking? Will there be any unscheduled stops? How long will you wait for someone before you leave?

11 – According to a Census Bureau estimate from fall 2009, 11 percent of the country’s workers carpool to work, but just 20 years ago, 23.5 percent of workers carpooled. Schirripa says one of the biggest contributors to this trend is more fuel efficient cars which the Obama administration pushed with Cash for Clunkers. If you want to calculate how much you spend on gas a year log onto http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/ and try the Cost to Commute Calculator.

Photo: Downtown Traffic by Alexandria 31.

It all takes place the weekend of August 28th and 29th.

What is Permaculture?

As a system of design, Permaculture provides a new vocabulary and pattern language for observation and action, attention and listening, that empowers people to co-design homes, neighborhoods, and communities full of truly abundant food, energy, habitat, water, income, and yields enough to share. – Keith Johnson

Peter & Keith are experienced permaculture site designers and teachers. They have been teaching and consulting on permaculture design for 26 years. They have developed an intimate knowledge of various regional landscapes and resources. With their wealth of experience in temperate climate permaculture systems they can offer a range of teaching and design services to regional and distant clients.

Peter is a native Illinoisan who grew up in the university city of Champaign-Urbana. He has lived in various regions of the U.S., taught permaculture extensively from Canada to Chile for 15 years, and was recognized in 2005 with the Diploma of Permaculture Design for his 18 years of publishing, teaching, design, and community work. He has trained over 1000 students.

Keith was raised in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and has been a commercial landscaper, stonemason, and organic gardener for over 33 years in places as varied as subtropical California, the White Mountains of New Hampshire, the mountains of W. North Carolina. He's been teaching Permaculture for 13 years and has instructed more than 600 students.

To register for one or more events, click here!

Schedule:

Saturday, August 28th 1-5pm
The Ecological Homestead: Permaculture and Food Production in Small Spaces

If you're interested in producing more food from your backyard, this is the workshop for you. Improved workshop description coming soon. At Birch Point Farm, 7506 E. Birch Point Rd, Traverse City (in Leelanau County). Sliding Scale donation of $25 to $75/person.

Saturday, August 28th, 7-9pm
Introduction to Permaculture Design

Introduction of miniature rural and urban communities that meet most human needs within their regions. These models of bioregional self-sufficiency arise from a tide of cultural creation that has been in motion for fifty years and centuries in some cases. Its basic pieces have already been road-tested over several millennia. Permaculture is one of several models which addresses the increasing destabilization of civilization.

At Higher Grounds Trading Company at the Grand Traverse Commons in Traverse City. Donations of any size are appreciated.

Sunday, August 29th, 1-5pm
The Ecological Farm: Permaculture for Big Spaces

If you've got 2 or 3 acres, or 40 or 160 acres or anywhere in between, this is the workshop for you! Improved workshop description coming soon. At Birch Point Farm, 7506 E. Birch Point Rd, Traverse City (in Leelanau County). Sliding Scale donation of $25 to $75/person.

Sunday, August 29th, 7-9pm
Gardening in Nature's Image: Guild Design and Pest Management in the Home Garden

This presentation is designed to pinpoint two key areas of permaculture design. First, how to design your gardens so that plants actively support each other. This is a big step past "companion planting" and an important part of permaculture design on any scale. Second, how to mimic nature to keep pest insects and other unwanted creatures at bay, without expensive and potentially toxic applications. Go beyond organic!

Held from 7pm to 9pm at Higher Grounds Trading Company at the Grand Traverse Commons in Traverse City. Donations of any size are appreciated.

To register, click here!

Please click here to complete the short survey!

The results of this Climate Action Survey will directly influence the Action Plan that will be created. Why are we planning for climate action? Measuring greenhouse gases (rather than just measuring electricity use) is one of the most efficient ways to find out how we use our resources – all our resources – and where we can get more efficient.

We will use the results to further engage decision makers, utility providers and citizens like yourself to make our visions a reality. Take our short online survey and help our region save money and save the planet. Isn't that worth 5 minutes of your time?

In 2008, SEEDS completed a greenhouse gas emission baseline analysis for Grand Traverse County and Traverse City municipalities, as well as the Grand Traverse County-wide community. This was the first step toward accomplishing the US Conference of Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement – which Traverse City signed onto in 2007 with much community support.

This baseline analysis provides a benchmark from which we can measure future progress. SEEDS is using this survey to launch the next phase of this process, creating a Climate Action Plan.

Photo: Platte River by HappyHiker4.

In my humble opinion, there’s no better way to get from Wisconsin to mainland Michigan than hopping on the S.S. Badger, a 400-foot-long vehicle and passenger ferry that has been plying the waters of Lake Michigan for more than 50 years.

Once in Michigan, we drove north to Traverse City on Grand Traverse Bay in the heart of the state’s cherry universe and our base for the next three days. Not only does the town have an attractive center with many renovated buildings, but it’s filled with artsy shops, bookstores and good restaurants. Not to be missed is the Cherry Republic, a store on Front Street that champions the region’s main fruit and sells everything — you guessed it — cherryish.

If you like wine, you love this corner of Michigan for it has more than 18 wineries. The region also has a passel of golf courses for those who like whacking little white balls.

One of the best things about Traverse City is its proximity to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The big park has giant sand dunes, restored, 19th Century farmstead, one exceptionally cool blacksmith shop, light houses and rescue boats from the old life-saving service that plucked thousands of sailors and passengers from the cold waters of Lake Michigan.

My kids, ages 7 and 9, especially liked the monstrous sand dunes, which were more than 400 feet tall in some places. They climbed them and then raced back down as fast as they could, sometimes tumbling spectacularly in the — fortunately — soft sand.

Though we didn’t make it out to the two offshore islands that are part of the park, I’d one day like to return and take the small ferry out to either North or South Manitou Island for a few days of sea kayaking and camping.

This story wouldn’t be complete, however, without mentioning Neal Hughes, who once worked at a Detroit steel mill and now volunteers as a blacksmith during the summer months at the park. (His wife volunteers at one of the lighthouses.)

Neal showed us how to work the old forged, explained how the different tools in the smithy’s shopped were used and even made wrought iron hooks for my kids to hang their hats back home in Madison. Living history doesn’t get much better than that.

To read the full article, click here.

Photo: Cherry Capital by CMU Chem Prof.

The Detroit News has this article exploring the possibility of a double-dip recession:

With the recovery from the country's worst economic collapse since the Great Depression losing steam, some economists fear the United States is headed into a double-dip recession.

But after nearly three years of layoffs, foreclosures, cutbacks and canceled credit, others are asking: Who'd notice?

Despite four quarters of growth, the national unemployment rate still hovers near 10 percent, foreclosures and personal bankruptcies are on the rise, credit is locked up tight and the housing market is awash in unsold and uninhabited homes.

It's the closest a growing economy can come to feeling just as bad as a shrinking one, says Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C.

"For most people," Baker said, "it's not all that different."

To read the full article, click here.

Photo: Money, Money, Money by _J_D_R_

The Record-Eagle has this Food and Farming related news from their staff reports:

Kids can play with their food at the Northwestern Michigan Fair this week.

Cooking with Kids will be held Wednesday, Aug. 11, from 3 to 7 p.m. Kids will have a chance to work with some of the region's most creative chefs.

Eric Patterson and Jennifer Blakeslee, owners of The Cooks' House; Darren Hawley, executive chef at Crystal Mountain Resort and Spa; and Melissa Denton, a personal chef with Mindful Living, will help kids make a snack that is quick, affordable and kid-friendly.

The free event will be held in the fairgrounds gazebo.

There will also be a Taste the Local Difference farmers market at the fairgrounds, in the Commodities Building near the gazebo. The market will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day, selling fruit, vegetables, dairy products, baked goods and meat.

The Michigan Land Use Institute and Cherry Capital Foods are helping vendors at this year's fair to incorporate local ingredients into their products.

The fairgrounds are at 3606 Blair Townhall Road. For more information on Cooking with Kids, contact Diane Conners at MLUI, 941-6584, ext. 16. For more information about the farmers market, contact Karly Wentzloff at ext. 11.

Photo: Juicy Cherries by ETCphoto.

Boost Northwest Michigan a path to funding your business will give entrepreneurs the opportunity to present a two-minute pitch (no slides) to an audience of experienced investors from the Blue Water Angel Network of Midland, Michigan.

The event will be held at the Left Foot Charley Winery in the Grand Traverse Commons on Wednesday August 11th from 4-7pm. A dinner will be held after the event at Trattoria Stella.

The event is sponsored by the Great Lakes Entrepreneur Quest and the Michigan Small Business & Technology Development Center.

For registration and further information: Miche Suboski at Miche@Suboski.com or 586.929.4782

Photo: South Manitou Island by HappyHiker4.

Circle of Blue is reporting that "Michigan says it's ready for next drilling boom:"

A new natural gas exploration and production boom in Michigan could be opening in the wake of a surprisingly prodigious gas well in one central Michigan county that touched off a record-setting state lease sale.

Is Michigan ready to oversee production in the deep Collingwood Shale, and safeguard the state’s land and freshwater resources? One state official says yes. But a former state regulator and respected environmental consultant is more cautious.

Tom Wellman, manager of the mineral and land management division of Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE), is a veteran of hydrocarbon development and regulation. He helped oversee the last great Michigan natural gas boom in the late 1980s and through the 1990s in the Antrim Shale—now the nation’s 13th largest source of natural gas.

Wellman told Circle of Blue that Michigan has a good record of managing oil and gas development and protecting its natural resources.

“Michigan has very strong casing and sealing standards which have been successful in protecting fresh water resources,” Wellman said. Casing and sealing involves inserting a large-diameter pipe into the well hole and cementing it in place to seal the well off from freshwater aquifers.

“The use of hydraulic fracturing to complete gas and oil wells is not in any way a new technique,” Wellman added. “It has been used in thousands of wells in Michigan and across the U.S. over the past 20 or more years. In Michigan it has a very safe track record.”

A Problem With The Frack?

But environmental consultant Chris Grobbel, a former environmental quality analyst with the state Department of Natural Resources, is not so sure. Grobbel has witnessed the state’s oil and gas industry from all sides, both as a state water quality specialist and while working for companies conducting cleanups.

When it comes to the Antrim and Collingwood formations, “I’m not comfortable in saying we’re comparing apples to apples,” Grobbel said. He noted that the Collingwood formation is far deeper than the Antrim Shale, and that vast amounts of water and chemicals are used to separate the natural gas from the rock.

“The chemicals being used vary from company to company and they’re proprietary,” Grobbel said. “There are as many as 900 out there that we know of and some 600 chemicals are allegedly in each of these products. It’s a soup, and there’s a lot of variations between companies in their own mixtures and they don’t have to disclose what they’re using so they don’t.”

A New Hydrocarbon Production Era in Michigan

Until last May, when natural gas companies spent a record $178 million to snap up state mineral leases in 20 counties, hardly anybody outside the oil and gas industry had ever heard of the Collingwood Shale.

They do now. A subsidiary of the Encana Corporation, Canada’s largest natural gas producer, drilled a deep well in Missaukee County that produced an average of 2.5 million cubic feet of natural gas a day for 30 days. At current prices, that’s $12,500 worth of gas a day, or $375,000 a month from one well.

Over the past two years, Encana has bought up the mineral rights to 250,000 acres of land across the state. Other companies are doing the same. A new state mineral lease auction is scheduled for October and could encompass 500,000 acres.

Along with the land grab has come heightened concern over the effects the development could have on Michigan’s environment, including its lakes, streams and groundwater. Other states, among them Pennsylvania and New York, are taking a harder look at natural gas production practices following heated public hearings and complaints that drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” is leading to contaminated drinking water and aquifers.

In Michigan, the new play is focused on the Collingwood Shale—a 40-foot-thick vein of rock nearly two miles beneath the surface. Like similar shale formations underlying other states, the Collingwood formation appears to be a rich source of natural gas, which burns much more cleanly than coal or oil.

The downside consequence of deep shale production is “fracking,” the use of millions of gallons of water mixed with thousands of pounds of chemical that is pumped under high pressure into the well to fracture the rock and free the gas from the fissures and pockets where it’s trapped.

The first well in Missaukee used 5.5 million gallons of liquid, according to the developers. While most of the fracking fluid is water, it also includes several other additives—a lubricant like glycol, a sand-like material to keep the fractured rock open, anti-foaming agents and biocides to suppress bacteria growth.

Just as potentially toxic as the fracking fluid itself are the other long-buried materials that they bring back to the surface, he added. Some 20 to 30 percent of that fracking fluid is pumped back to the surface.

To read the full article, click here.

Photo: Tower for drilling horizontally into the Marcellus Shale Formation for natural gas, just north of Pennsylvania Route 118 from WikiCommons.

Up North Media was at the event and produced a full video of the event.

If you would like to watch it online, click here.

Photo: Roundabout from Wikimedia Commons

Every two weeks we send out our Grand Vision update. In addition to a roundup of recent stories of interest, we feature a photo from our Grand Vision group on the photo sharing site Flickr. If you'd like to see YOUR photo featured here, click to join the Grand Vision group!

We figured since the 2010 Traverse City Film Festival in in full swing, we'd feature this photo by Trish P. See more in her Traverse City slideshow and also check out the Traverse City Film Festival's photos!

To subscribe to our emails, just use the box at the top right of this page!

MyNorth.com has this story on Northern Michigan's next generation winemakers:

Northern Michigan is home to 27 Michigan wineries dotted mostly throughout Traverse City, Leelanau County and the Old Mission Peninsula. And the numbers are growing. Now, as a new generation of Northern Michigan winemakers settles in, we check in with three to see how their ideas are likely to shape the future of wine in Northern Michigan.

Featured in the article are:

• Cornel Olivier, 2 Lads Winery
• Shawn Walters, One World Winery Consulting
• Sam Simpson, Good Harbor Vineyards

To read the full article, click here.

Photo: Shawn Walters, Cornel Oliver, Sam Simpson by MyNorth.com.

A study to be released today (7/26) by the Brookings Institution, based in Washington, D.C., ranks metro Detroit ninth among the nation's 100 largest metropolitan areas for the dollar volume of its 2008 exports, $26.9 billion. Detroit ranks fifth in export-related jobs, with 239,910 area residents producing goods and services for export, the study said.

Detroit's exports are heavy with auto parts, but increasingly include professional services. As Detroit struggles to reinvent its economy, the potential for service exports to contribute is enormous, said John Austin, a member of the state Board of Education and a nonresident fellow at the Brookings Institution who contributed to the report.

"It's easy to see car parts moving around the world. We're doing great in Brazil, and GM's doing fine in China," he said. "But we don't see this growth share of our exports to the world in high-end knowledge services — medicine, design, accounting, deal-making.

"The fact that Detroit is really one of the top places and punches above its weight shows the future of an economy."

The report, titled "Export Nation: How U.S. Metros Lead National Export Growth and Boost Competitiveness," underscores the importance of exports to urban economies.

"True economic recovery and job growth in America will depend on substantial growth in the amount of goods and services we sell to other nations," said Bruce Katz, vice president and director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings and one of the principal authors of the report.

Read the full article here.

Photo: Detroit Skyline by Bernt Rostad.

Back row: Ed Hoogterp, Ed Petrick, Matt Case, Kelly Thayer, Jon Maue, Ingemar Johannson. Front row: Mary Pitcher, Sharron May, Anne Damm, Marty Dillon, Jim MacInnes, Shauna Fite, Mary Carroll.

This article was written by Shauna Fite (Policy Specialist at the Michigan Land Use Institute for Benzie County) and this piece was originally published in the Benzie County Record-Patriot on July 28th, 2010.

More than 20 Benzie residents, community leaders, and local officials are now working together to further the goals of the regional, citizen-based Grand Vision planning process in Benzie County.

The group is planning a countywide event this fall—not only to update the community on the local and regional progress the Grand Vision is making, but also to involve more people in developing plans for the county that reflect the Grand Vision’s findings.

Those findings are based on comments gathered over two years from close to 15,000 people in the six-county Grand Traverse region. They show that the region’s residents, by more than a two-to-one margin, favor concentrating growth in existing cities and villages, improving roads, and building a public transportation system that better connects communities across the entire region.

There are already “working groups”—with residents from across the region—concentrating on what Grand Vision participants said need the most attention: transportation, housing, natural resources, energy, village and city investment, and food and farming.

Some Benzie residents—citizens, business people, and government leaders—are already participating in the regional working groups.
For example, public transit agencies, including the Benzie Bus, are collaborating to better connect the region’s different transit systems to both widen and improve service.

In fact, transit is one area where Benzie County offers a shining example of matching Grand Vision values to our community’s. Benzie Bus is winning high marks as a quality public transit system. Led by Executive Director Susan Miller, who is part of the Benzie group, this three-year-young transit agency has provided 38 new jobs and services 7,000 passenger rides per month.

The agency continues to grow: Its new facility is rising on US-31, the county’s main traffic trunk, and includes a garage, maintenance facility, and offices.

“We are positioned right now with our building project, our location, our momentum to be a key player in the Benzie Grand Vision,” says Mrs. Miller.

Since state and federal funds are paying for the entire project, there will be no mortgage when the project is completed next summer. So the new facility will provide a major, unencumbered lift to an already popular transit system.

Benzie is also proving to be a leader in a top Grand Vision issue that affects our health and local economy: food and farming.

If your children are enrolled in a Benzie County school, rest easy knowing Renee DeWindt is in charge of feeding them. Ms. DeWindt, food service director for the Benzie Central and Frankfort-Elberta school systems, manages menus for seven schools—and is loading cafeteria trays with a wide variety of locally produced, fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs, honey, beef, and squash.

Last year, Benzie Central’s program paid for itself and is reinvesting dollars into this fall’s activity.

Ms. DeWindt says that, given the county’s high poverty rate, more than 50 percent of Benzie County students are eligible to receive free and reduced lunches. That qualifies both school districts for USDA grants, which funds, among other things, a relatively new, countywide summer food program, Benzie Kids Eat.

That means that this summer Ms. DeWindt is serving free breakfasts and lunches at six sites in Benzie. The program, which has no income or other eligibility requirements, serves close to 500 meals every day, including lunches for 4-H Summer Club and SEEDS Youth Corps programs.

“It’s about feeding kids, taking care of your community, and teaching them a better way to take care of themselves,” she says.

Ms. DeWindt also snagged a $60,000 USDA grant that will help our neighbors to the south who operate the Manistee Economic Alliance. The grant allows them to replicate her program in Onekama schools starting this September.

Her first-year goals: serve 100 percent local, farm-fresh eggs and establish salad bars in all Benzie County and Onekama schools.

Benzie’s local food leadership is attracting attention downstate, too. Ms. DeWindt spoke at this year’s National Farm to School conference, Taking Root, in Detroit.

The Benzie Grand Vision group also highlights some of the things individuals can do to make the bigger picture for the region come to life.

One example is clean energy. In April, Ted and Marcia Curran—longtime Frankfort residents who regularly participate in Grand Vision functions—installed 12 photovoltaic solar panels on their roof.

They told the Benzie vision group that, in their first two months, the panels prevented the release of nearly 800 lbs. of climate-changing CO2 from the coal plant that supplies their electricity. The Currans’ first monthly electric bill that included the panels’ power output was only $18—half of that was for the power; half was for fees and taxes.

They couple also said that, over the last 50 days, many of them hazy or cloudy, they used less than two kWh per day from the grid. The panels supplied the rest.

They monitor their electricity use with a digital meter installed by Consumers Energy and are using a 30 percent federal income tax write-off to help finance their project. The two reminded the group that there are even more incentives for businesses that invest in their own clean-energy production.

“More people should consider installing PV solar,” said Mrs. Curran. “It is the right thing to do for transitioning to the new energy economy, for protecting the environment, and combating global warming. It is only a beginning, but is definitely a step in the right direction.”

These three examples—the Benzie Bus expansion, farm-to-school programs in both county school systems, and private investments in clean energy—confirm that Benzie is already achieving Grand Vision goals. The Benzie Grand Vision group is here to support these and other efforts—whether official or private.

As our group works on its fall Grand Vision event, members will publish more articles highlighting other projects and initiatives that reflect the Grand Vision in Benzie County. We invite you to share yours. Please contact me so I can let the group know about your project or help you get involved with the Benzie Grand Vision group.

Reach me at shauna@mlui.org or 231-941-6584, ext. 25. Shauna Fite, a longtime Benzie resident, is the Michigan Land Use Institute’s policy specialist for Benzie County.

And today, Interlochen Public Radio is reporting that a Complete Streets bill has been approved by the Legislature and sent to Governor Granholm for her signature:

The Legislature has approved measures to require transportation planners to consider installing bike paths and sidewalk ramps when they design roads. The "Complete Streets" design principles are geared to make roads friendlier for all pedestrians.

State Representative Pam Byrnes says lots of advocates for people who face challenges getting around helped draft the legislation.

"Not only the disabled, but the seniors, AARP was very involved in this, Michigan Environmental Council, the bicyclists, Healthy Michigan Healthy kids… there were a number of groups that were stakeholders," she says.

Byrnes says she hopes to see more pedestrian-friendly roadways in the near future. Some "Complete Streets" supporters say they also hope new road designs will attract and keep young workers in the state.

"We already have some municipalities that have Complete Streets ordinances already in effect. So what this would do is basically force the road agency and the municipality to sit down together when there's going to be a road-improvement project. So it could actually be effective in the very near future," she says.

Traverse City Mayor Chris Bzdok has voiced support for the plan.

Photo: Commonwealth Avenue by Adam Pieniazek.

Click To Watch Video

On July 28th, the Grand Vision Transportation and Growth and Investment Working Groups hosted an informational forum on how Regional Wayfinding can be utilized to make the Grand Vision a reality.

The forum was led by Mark VanderKlipp, President of Corbin Design. Earlier that day, Mark spoke with Melissa Smith about the ideas behind the forum on 7&4 News Today. You can watch that video here.

The forum was held at 3pm on the University Center campus of Northwestern Michigan College. You can read our story from the forum below:

Why Consider Wayfinding?

A key issue to transit is finding it.

Because the GV is a six-county effort there is an on-going conversation to see how the six transit agencies in our region connect. One of the goals of the Transit Subcommittee is to make finding transit easier (for example the bus stops).

What better way then, to explore how to do that, than to consider Regional Wayfinding.

But what is Wayfinding?

“Direction for people in motion,” said Mark VanderKlipp, President of Corbin Design. “Wayfinding helps to organize perception in the visitor’s mind.”

VanderKlipp led the informational forum on how Wayfinding can be used not only to improve finding transit, but also to create a region's sense of self, in effect, its brand.

Wayfinding, then, contributes to a sense of place and security.

Typical goals include:

• Define the region
• Connect Communities
• Design Brand Unity, Awareness
• Use Existing DOT assets
• Increase Visitor Confidence
• Flexible Systems Clarifying Circulation, Parking, Transit Opportunities

click to enlarge

An example that VanderKlipp used was work that Corbin Design did in Fox Cities, Wisconsin. The project covered 18 communities with a population of 225,000 people. You can see an example of the wayfinding used in the region with the photos on the right.

Downtown Traverse City has already engaged with Corbin Design to use wayfinding to define the Warehouse District – i.e. where it is, how to get there.

So what is the relationship to the Grand Vision?

There are the obvious, direct correlations. The Grand Vision thinks on regional terms. There are six counties involved (Antrim, Benzie, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Leelanau, Wexford). The goals of the Transportation committee is to improve the region's transportation system. Growth and Investment works towards improving the region's prosperity in existing/planned growth areas.

Housing works to improve the region's housing options. Food and Farming seeks to increase the region's  local agriculture. And Natural Resources seeks to protect the region's water resources, forests, natural areas, and scenic beauty of the region.

click to enlarge

And thus, to accomplish this, it becomes important to connect communities.

When you connect communities through wayfinding, there is a perception of equality for all the communities said Jeff Corbin. Corbin was also on hand for the forum. He is the founder of Corbin Design. For instance, he said, in Columbus, Indiana there was an economic investment increase in all areas that was covered by the regional wayfinding system. Corbin pointed out that when the project started all those communities were not equal. One was larger, one was down-trodden, others were on different planes in relation to the others.

But through the development of a regional wayfinding system, the result was that all the communities were placed on equal footing. Consequently, all communities received increases in economic development.

If you would like to learn more about Wayfinding you can visit Corbin Design's website.

There they have case studies of Regional Wayfinding from across the nation and across sectors (Transportation, Hospitals, Corporate/Retail, Government, Entertainment).