Bay de Noc Great Lakes Sport Fishermen is changing its focus to Brown Trout. The group had been instrumental in planting walleye on Little Bay de Noc. They will not be running that program this year. Instead, they are partnering with Verso Corporation to plant Brown Trout into the bay. Club president Jody Norman says it is not necessarily a shift in priorities.

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Bids on the construction of Gladstone’s wastewater treatment plant will be opened on April 7. The Gladstone City Commission Monday scheduled a special meeting for April 13 to review the bids and determine what they want to do on the $17 million project. City Commissioner Brad Mantella says the project will make major changes to the city’s wastewater plant.

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In response to concerns that the Department of Natural Resources may be focusing its fish plantings of walleye in other locations than Little Bay de Noc with the strain from the bay, Patrick Hanchin, DNR Lake Superior Basin Coordinator, says the number of walleyes being planted in Lake Superior is misleading because it is the smaller fry compared to the older fingerlings planted in Lake Michigan.

The concern from Bay de Noc Great Lakes Sport Fishermen is that more Little Bay de Noc strain of walleye are being planted in Lake Superior than Little Bay de Noc.

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The Escanaba Downtown Development Authority will be taking a look at its master plan to see if they want it updated. DDA Director Scott Czasak says the plan is now ten years old. He says the DDA board wants to examine the current plan before deciding if it needs major changes.

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The Executive Director of the Escanaba Downtown Development Authority, Scott Czasak, is leaving his position for a new job downstate. He told the DDA Board yesterday that he is taking a job as village manager of Brooklyn, Michigan.

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Far fewer students in the area are expressing interest in going to college than before the COVID-19 pandemic. Escanaba School Superintendent Coby Fletcher says it could be because with online learning, students no longer get that university experience. But he also says students are starting to realize they don’t need a four-year degree to get a good paying job.

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Two years ago, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sayklly’s Confectionary and Gifts turned to local delivery to get their chocolate and fudge Easter eggs out in time for the holiday. Last year, co-owner Jim Kirby stood at the door to allow only ten people at a time in the downtown Escanaba store to meet COVID-19 restrictions. This year, Kirby says, there are no restrictions as they get ready or their second busiest holiday of the year.

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The director of the MSU Forestry Innovation Center in Delta County says the potential for maple syrup production in the Upper Peninsula is untapped. With a 5 to 8 percent industry growth, Jesse Randall is encouraging Yoopers to consider producing maple syrup.

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The former Super One site in Escanaba may be redeveloped for housing. But Escanaba City Manager Patrick Jordan says before Dial Corporation can develop the property for multi-family housing, the Escanaba City Council needs to address the zoning of the property.

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Three of the developers for the city and county property that includes the Delta County Jail have teamed up in an effort to convince the Escanaba City Council to go with local developers for the property. The city administration recommended the bid proposal from Red Deer or Konrad Construction of Illinois. They scored the most points in a survey of an ad hoc committee that was to make a decision to the council.

Jared Drown with the Terrace Bay Hotel says they have teamed up with Matt and Beth Sviland with the Lakeshore Flats proposal and North Shore Marine Terminal and Logistics to offer a $40 million investment that meets the desires of all three proposals.

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Delta County Board of Commissioners voted to have its planning commission to hold a public hearing on an ordinance that would basically say that the county is no longer enforcing zoning ordinances. The board voted 3-to-2 to end the county’s involvement in zoning ordinances in February. Delta County Administrator Emily DeSalvo the current ordinances stand until a new ordinance is approved.

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Voters in Gladstone will decide whether or not to allow marijuana businesses in the city through a proposed ballot initiative in November. Gladstone opted out of allowing marijuana business when the recreational marijuana initiative was first approved in 2020. Although it passed statewide, Gladstone voters voted against the proposal. Gladstone City Commissioner Brad Mantella says they want to know agin how voters feel.

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Residents in Escanaba took steps to help their neighbors in the 1930s during the Great Depression but Charles Lindquist says the community struggled as the economic disaster deepened.

Lindquist is an author and president of the Delta County Historical Society. He is giving a free presentation Wednesday on the community effort and the programs that became overwhelmed by the enormity of the times.

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The Robomos robotics team is hosting the FIRST Robotics competition this week at the Escanaba High School. Students from across the U.P. and Michigan will challenge their robots during competition on Friday and Saturday. Gage Kaluka with the Robomos says it is good to bring the competition back to Escanaba.

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State Sen. Ed McBroom wants to eliminate the 6-cents sales tax on fuel. It would be in addition to the 27.2-cents-a-gallon excise taxes that the House this week voted to pause for six months in reaction to rapidly rising fuel costs. McBroom says he has been trying to get rid of the 6-cent sales tax on fuel for a long time.

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The head of Visit Escanaba says a shortage of motel rooms in Delta County is causing a housing shortage as visitors turn to short term rentals to find someplace to stay.

Robert Micheau talked about the problem at a special meeting of the Escanaba City Council Tuesday. The council is considering four proposals that include development on the former Delta County Jail site including the possibility of motels. He says motels are beyond capacity during the summer and fall months.

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A spill over crowd listened to four development proposals for the former Delta County Jail and city property at a special meeting last night of the Escanaba City Council.

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The community mental health task force at the Delta Schoolcraft Intermediate School District met yesterday to regain momentum it may have lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. ISD Superintendent Doug Leisenring says a facilitator helped the group to refocus its efforts on several aspects that the task force is trying to achieve.

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The Escanaba City Council has delayed action on two separate agenda items at last week’s meeting. One of them is a plan to require sidewalks on all properties within the city. Escanaba Mayor Mark Ammel says a lack of enforcement over the years has caused a problem for those trying to move about the city.

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Gladstone residents may get an opportunity to decide whether or not they want to allow recreational marijuana sales in the city. The city commission heard a presentation on the subject this week. Gladstone City Manager Eric Buckman says they are looking at putting the question on the ballot in November.

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An ordinance will be ready at the Delta County Board of Commissioner’s April 5 meeting that would essentially end the county’s involvement in zoning regulations. The board voted at its last meeting in February that the county would no longer be responsible for zoning. Delta County Administrator Emily DeSalvo says they want to give enough time for the townships to understand how it might impact them.

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Gladstone is holding its third and final budget workshop tonight as city commissions review the proposed budget for 2022-23. At last night’s workshop, the commission reviewed items from the general fund as well as budgets for the Gladstone Downtown Development Authority and Economic Development Corporation.

Gladstone City Manager Eric Buckman says the biggest challenge in the budget this year is a half million dollar payback in the city’s retirement system.

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Several hundred people went through the former Washington Elementary School over the weekend to rummage through old equipment that the Escanaba School District was giving away to clear out the old building. It is going to be torn down this spring as part of the bus pick up and drop off project at the Upper Elementary School.

School Superintendent Coby Fletcher says there was a lot of old stuff available even some nostalgic items.

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