The Rush to Biomass Environmentalists plead: ‘Slow down!’ By Anne Stanton Al Gore wrote recently that we can’t wish away climate change. “We are continuing to dump 90 million tons of global-warming pollution every 24 hours into the atmosphere—as if it were an open sewer,” he wrote in a New York Times editorial. Environmentalists have long embraced Gore’s message. But the alternatives to coal? Not an easy answer. Arguments are flaring nationally because alternatives can also poison, upset, and degrade the environment. Traverse City is no different. A proposal by Traverse City Light and Power (TCL&P) to build a biomass plant in town was largely opposed in two heavily attended public meetings held two weeks ago. If built, the $30 million plant would burn primarily wood chips culled from the forests in the Grand Traverse region. It would also compete with a number of other current or proposed biomass plants in the region for sources of wood -- a situation which opponents say would put too much stress on Northern Michigan’s forests.
Get Your Irish On St. Patrick’s Day Happenings for the Irish in Ye... By Rick Coates When the Bun Brady Division of the Ancient Order of Hibernians formed 30 years ago St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in the area were simply raising a few pints of green beer at local pubs and family dinners and parties in the homes of the Irish descendants in the region. That has all changed.
The Disney Queen: Tammy Sofonia has been Mickey’s guest 53 times By Erin Crowell Tammy Sofonia knows a lot about Disney theme parks. Well, that might be an understatement, considering the Traverse City Passageways Travel agent has been to Disney World, in Orlando, 53 times. Factor in the international trips to Euro Disney and Tokyo Disney, and you’ve got an expert park hopper. The Express talked with Sofonia—who is a graduate of the Masters College of Disney Knowledge— and got the inside scoop on what’s so alluring about a mouse with lots of real estate.
Celtic John: So What’s Up His Kilt Now? By Rick Coates It seems like a simple proposition on the surface. Simply spend $45 (if you are in Traverse City and live in Interlochen) if you have been enjoying a night on the town with some adult beverages, or risk getting behind the wheel of your vehicle and driving while intoxicated.
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