March 28, 2024

Top Stories of 2007

March 23, 2008
What stories had the most impact on Northern Michigan and the state in general last year? Everyone has a different perspective, but these are a few that we at the Express feel had the biggest impact:

The Death of Craig Carlson: In an exclusive interview with Northern Express, the close-knit family of an Interlochen man told of the evening they called 9-1-1 to get help for Craig Carlson, who was deeply depressed and suicidal. The story reflected the family’s heartache, as well as the challenge of trying to ensure public safety in an uncertain situation.
Craig’s brother and sister called 9-1-1 on November 9, and told the dispatcher that Craig wanted someone to talk to, but warned that he had guns in the house and might wound a policeman in order to get shot himself. Their phone calls triggered an evacuation of the neighborhood and a response of 60 SWAT team officers, who surrounded the home, hiding behind pine trees throughout a frigid November night. The incident ended when a sniper shot Craig, who was standing armed in front of his living room window and shouting threats to a police officer.
The family questioned the professionalism of the negotiator at the scene, who they described as demanding and rude. They also wondered why a mental health professional was never consulted beforehand or brought on the scene to advise officers during the 12-hour standoff.
The family questioned why the response was so massive, why the scene wasn’t videotaped, and why a family member wasn’t allowed to go in the house to calm down Craig and persuade him to walk out unarmed. Finally, they wondered why the sheriff’s department escalated the situation by lobbing tear gas into the house, when there was no apparent reason to do so.
Since the story appeared, numerous letters from throughout Northern Michigan have made it clear that readers believe Carlson’s death (and that of the “Wolfman of Brethren” last year) represents a dangerous and troubling trend in law enforcement.
Grand Traverse County Sheriff Scott Fewins refused to return phone calls to the Northern Express, but said in a WIAA-FM interview that the department has no policy to deal with mentally troubled individuals like Craig Carlson. But this incident certainly begs for forethought, especially in light of the number of emotionally troubled soldiers returning from Iraq.
Extreme Court: A series in Northern Express last year about the Michigan Supreme Court raised serious questions about our top justices and their abuse of power. The stories reported that the court has repeatedly closed the door on people with legitimate lawsuits.
Case in point: In the Nawrocki v. Macomb County Road Commission, the court ruled there is “no duty” for the road commission to maintain safe travel on roads. The result of the ruling means that if you’re driving along and a stop sign is missing at an intersection, and has been missing for months, and an accident has happened there before, the road commission bears no liability. The court ruled the road commission’s liability is for asphalt only, not for signs, bridges, or guard rails. Just asphalt.
One study of the court’s legal decisions showed that “little people” are losing and the financial interests of the state are consistently winning— corporations, wealthy health care providers, insurance companies, and developers—the very same groups that helped fund the $16 million political campaigns of the supreme court justices who were originally appointed by former Governor John Engler.
There’s a movement afoot to provide an alternative to corporate campaign contributions, and that’s public financing. It would provide candidates who qualify with about $2 million this year if the legislation were in place right now. Some people would argue that it’s even more vital to stop indicating on the ballot that the nominee is currently serving as a supreme court justice. It’s almost a written guarantee that the candidate will be re-elected.

Bust and boom: Lots of development dreams stalled out this past year. Two multi-story building projects went poof on Traverse City’s Front Street. The condo project in Suttons Bay became mired in countless legal and financial problems. And Petoskey Pointe remained a gigantic hole at the city’s gateway.
The city of Petsokey gave the Pointe developer a new deadline of March 15 to start, but there are no teeth in the mandate. To meet the deadline, the developers only have to say they have financing and move some dirt.
But there’s been a lot of progress on Northern Michigan’s casino front.
• The massive Odawa Casino opened in Petoskey in June of last year with
’round-the-clock gaming, three restaurants, 100 plasma screen TVs, and a nightclub.
• Over in Williamsburg, an $80 million, seven-story casino and hotel complex is scheduled to open in June, at which time the present casino will close. And plans are afoot to build a substantial marina in Peshawbestown just north of the Leelanau Sands Casino and Lodge. Both are owned by the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians.
• Not to be outdone, the Little River Casino in Manistee opened a special event center with a huge stage and 1,600 seats in August, expanding on an already existing 9,000 square-foot conference center. Just last month, the Little River Band of Odawa Indians proposed building still a second casino in downtown Muskegon, which would be nearly twice the size of its Manistee casino.
Upside: The three casinos have turned around the fortunes of the three tribes. The casinos, hotels and restaurants are a magnet for jobs and headliner entertainment like Lee Ann Rimes, who sold out her concert at The Little River Casino in January. Leelanau Sands brought in grunge band Gin Blossoms and the Odawa Casino in Petoskey will host Creedence Clearwater Revisited this month.
Downside: Attendance has dipped at the Leelanau Sands Casino in Peshawbestown, north of Traverse City, where all this started about 20 years ago in a modest bingo hall—the first native American gaming in the United States.

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