5 YEARS AGO January 10, 2019
When Suttons Bay resident Brooke Johncox received a ukulele for Christmas in 2017, she soon discovered she was in good company. Having long desired to own one, Johncox, 39, said her new instrument was on her mind when she bumped into an old friend, Brook Courson, a week later. “I hadn’t seen her in a long time,” Johncox said. “And she asked what I had been up to. I said, ‘I just got a ukulele, and I think I’m addicted to it.’ And she said, ‘A bunch of us just got ukuleles!’”
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Just 11 years old, the $10.6 million Leelanau County Government Center apparently needs a new heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) system that could cost around $1 million to install. Nobody knows how much it will cost because the new system hasn’t been designed yet. At its first monthly executive meeting of the year Tuesday morning, the Leelanau County Board of Commissioners agreed to spend $86,750 to have a firm design a new HVAC system for the 67,000-square-foot, three level building that houses most county government offices and several courtrooms.
10 YEARS AGO January 9, 2014
Julius Bunek has been a busy man. The Lake Leelanau plumbing, heating and electrical contractor’s phone was ringing while record low temperatures gripped the county. “I’ve been getting probably five calls a day,” Bunek said, adding that some calls were from residents with frozen pipes, others with broken pipes and still others who asked him to check on water at their seasonal residences. “It’s been so cold, even my RV anti-freeze is turning to slush.”
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Sugar Loaf Resort will undergo a thorough interior inspection by the Leelanau County Construction Code Authority sometime this month — whether the resort’s owner is there or not. Building official Steve Haugen, head of the Construction Code Authority, said he continues to hear from Eneliko “Liko” Sean Smith, who claims to be the new owner of the resort, and who promised to meet Haugen at the resort this month when the inspection is scheduled.
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Leelanau County Commissioner Melinda Lautner calls herself decisive. She’s not afraid to vote her conscience, even if that means voting against the grain. It’s a trait that has fueled opposition, especially from liberals in the county. But it’s also a trait she believes has made her the longest serving commissioner currently on the board, as she’s held her seat since being elected in 1994.
25 YEARS AGO January 14, 1999
The County Board’s Ways and Means Committee recommends an upgrade of between $60,000 and $70,000 to the 9-1-1 radio system.
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County building permits in 1998 set new records. A 23-year high of $51,241,911 in new construction was established last year — more than $7 million greater than the previous high recorded in 1995. Many of the permits issued were for second or third vacation residences, according to Inspections Director Robert VanDyke.
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Long-time Suttons Bay village manager Marylouise “Punky” Idema is retiring for health reasons.
50 YEARS AGO January 10, 1974
Further negotiations were conducted Tuesday between Lawrence Haig and the Leelanau County Board of Commissioners over Haig's requests to the county to sell him land or provide access to his landlocked 40-acre parcel of real estate in Kasson Township, but no agreement was reached. The county is still postponing any definite decision on the matter including a request by Haig to purchase enough land to provide a 2-foot road across the county-owned land to his property, until it has a more accurate description of the property which Haig wants to buy.
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Sheriff Department to get 3 new patrol cars A low bid of $8,378.41 or $2,792.80 per vehicle for three new Leelanau County Sheriff Deportment patrol cars was accepted Tuesday by the Leelanau County Board of Commissioners. The bid was submitted by Jack Kohn Ford Agency of Beulah.
75 YEARS AGO January 8, 1948
Carole Ann Wepking, who lives on the south shore of Glen Lake not far from Burdickville, has a novel way of leaving the school bus every afternoon, perhaps not every afternoon, but Monday she must have been feeling particularly good. After stepping from the bus she ran up the slope toward her house, turned, rolled over in the snow two or three times, and then sat in the snow grinning at her friends in the bus. Carole Ann will be six years old in March, and is getting along fine in her first year in school at Empire.
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Although Judge Parm C. Gilbert has not been well for the past two years, and has been inactive for some time, he formally ended his career as the judge of the 13th judicial district last Friday, when Charles L. Brown, newly-elected judge of the district was sworn in office. Judge Gilbert has been an influence for good in the Grand Traverse region for many years and his particular interest was in the children of the region.
100 YEARS AGO January 10, 1924
Gerald Selby was given a pleasant surprise at his home last Thursday evening by a number of his friends spending the evening with him, the occasion, being his birthday anniversary. Games and music made a merry time. Nice refreshment were served later which the guest departed wishing their young friend many happy returns of the day.
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Notice to the Public! My wife Martha Ann Ashmore having left my bed and board. I hereby notify the public that I will NOT pay or assume any bills or accounts contracted by her. Dated Nov. 17 1923, E. Carl Ashmore, Cedar, Michigan.
