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Women's rights ... Life & death choices ... Negative attitude ...
Two Americas at stake ... Defending worker's rights  ... Liar on the run...

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Features Robert Downes

Fresh from the recording studio with a brand-new hollow-body Gretsch guitar strapped to her back, couldn’t be happier with the way things are going with her music.

She’s been working on her first CD since July and is currently enjoying the kind of wordof-mouth buzz that is bringing her and a new generation of singer-songwriters to the forefront of the music scene in Northern Michigan.

Dining Ross Boissoneau She got a job in the coffee shop at Grand Traverse Resort, and within two years worked her way up to sous chef at Aeyrie, the resort’s restaurant at the top of the tower. That’s where she was working when Waldrup offered her a job as second-in-command at his new operation.

Features Erin Crowell Like (and unlike) many people my age, I don’t have children. I have a dog. And even though Charley, my four-year-old border collie/lab mix, doesn’t serve to supplement my lack of offspring, she does, however, take the form of a quasi child.

Both require discipline, time, love and poop duty.

Features Patrick Sullivan Tina Marie Stoll faces charges of armed robbery, her fate literally hanging by a hair. She left for Tennessee days after the robbery, but was brought back to Michigan once lab tests confirmed a hair found at the crime scene matched her mitochondrial DNA profile.

Letters

No action on climate ... Has medical know-how ... Options for Division St. ... Biomass disinformation ... Republicans & rape ... The obvious differences ... TC Chamber blues ... Stanton brings experience ... Keilitz cares ... Stephen Tuttle's Proposition Picks

Dining Kristi Kates It was opened earlier this year by Jan Breithaupt and her son Scott, and it’s still going strong even as the leaves turn. It’s true - sweet treats know no season, especially when those treats are yogurt concoctions as good as those being offered at the new Mitten’s Frozen Yogurt Bar in Charlevoix.

Hot Dates Northern Express Party Like It's HalloweenHalloween is one of the biggest party nights of the year for nightclubs in Northern Michigan as hordes of costumed revelers turn out to dance the night away.Traditionally, the

Dining Ross Boisonneau But in the years since, their patrons have helped the restaurant evolve. While it still boasts some surprises, the Cedar Rustic Inn now specializes in what some might think of traditional food, such as pot roast and fried chicken, but all expertly prepared.

Letters

Vote yes for clean energy ... 'Simple Life' not so simple ... Lessons of the past ... Climate action & Prop 3 ... Facts, not propaganda ... The propositions ... McDowell & business ... Republican tax hike  ... Greening of Detroit ... Vote for Kirsten Keilitz ...  Coffia's clean campaign ... Melanie Stanton the best ... Prop 2 protects our jobs ... 'Extra, Extra...'

Features Patrick Sullivan The race for the Michigan’s 1st Congressional seat is one of the hardest fought in the nation this election cycle, and the result is that Michigan residents from Marquette to Manistee have been besieged with television advertisements from each of them and political organizations working on their behalf.

Features Northern Express Community

If you've ever tried crossing Division Street as a pedestrian, or have endured its half-mile-long traffic jams during rush hour, you know that this is a highway in need of re-invention.

TC Proposition 1 offers a solution 'down the road,' but would involve giving up a strip of parkland along Division. The proposal has aroused passions both for and against. Following are the thoughts of four noteworthy citizens:

Features Patrick Sullivan

It appeared at first to be a crime that made no sense at all. A man was attacked on the side of a rural road in East Bay Township southeast of Traverse City Aug. 12, stabbed over 20 times and left to stagger to a nearby house to call for help.

Features Erin Crowell

For awhile, all I hear is the rustling of dry corn stalks in the wind. Then, I hear the laughter of a child somewhere toward the west. I can’t see anyone, but I know they are wandering like me through this maze of maize.

Letters

Birthday bust

What constitutes probable cause? This is one of many questions that has been going around in my head since my house was raided last Wednesday!

Last Wednesday should have been a celebratory day in my life. My boyfriend had just bagged a trophy buck and it was the eve of my birthday. My festive spirit was quickly halted when I received a call from TNT informing me that they were at my house. When I returned home from work, I found many police cars and officers at my house. My boyfriend was being detained in a police car, and officers were going through my personal belongings. I found out later that the officers busted into my house, and had held my boyfriend and house guest at gun-point.

I was told that based on two tips from informers and my boyfriend’s history, they felt just cause in raiding my house, instead of knocking on the door and politely asking, which they said was the usual protocol!

One of the informers told police that my boyfriend, Zach, had an illegal marijuana grow room and was manufacturing marijuana. The second informer, which was a recorded citizen tip, stated that Zach was selling crack-laced joints. Both of which were lies!

Zach told the officers as soon as they entered that there was a grow room. The room belonged to me, and I had my medical marijuana card. They proceeded anyway. If there had been an investigation, why didn’t the officers know this bit of crucial information before they came into my house? They found no evidence of illegal substances! They also found no evidence of any type of sales. They found nothing out of the ordinary, except a few immature plants over my limit and a few pills with no prescription attached.

The medical marijuana laws are “milky.”

Although there is a limited number of plants allowed, what really constitutes as a plant? The few that were removed from my house were small immature plants that contain no THC.

The point to my letter is why did the police feel justified in raiding my house...