Features

Features Kristi Kates A River of Dance from Chicago
By Kristi Kates
The famed River North Chicago Dance Company celebrated its 20th anniversary last year, with no sign of those dancing shoes slowing down any time soon.
Performing in Northern Michigan for the first time ever at the City Opera House in TC, the group will bring their nationally-acclaimed, critically-lauded skills to the region, led by artistic director Frank Chaves, who feels that one of the group’s biggest appeals is in its ability to mix and translate a wide variety of musical genres into expansive, emotional dance numbers that are performed by dancers at the top of their game.

Features Rick Coates The Strange Case of Jacob Cabinaw: Missing a year, his disappearance remains a mystery 3/21/11
By Rick Coates
People sometimes just disappear; often with adults it is by their own
choosing. But typically that disappearance is attached to some reason:
crimes committed, financial pressures, mental illness or stress. There is
usually some sort of indicator that points to a person choosing to
disappear. But what happens when not one of the indicators exists? That
seems to be the case with Jacob Cabinaw of Traverse City.
March 31, 2011 will mark the one year anniversary of Cabinaw’s
disappearance.

Features Robert Downes The Indians in Winter:vHow they survived -- and thrived -- in a frozen land
By Robert Downes
Have you ever wondered how the Indians of Northern Michigan lived through
the cruel, cold winter months just a few generations ago?
Today, we depend on natural gas, forced-air furnaces, electric blankets,
heated cars and expensive down jackets… and still we complain of the cold
and yearn for Florida.

Features Erin Crowell “Fight the Power”:A Rockin’ Look at the First Amendment
By Erin Crowell
How can you marry constitutional law with rock and roll and have it make
any sense?

It’s a question Ken Paulson, president of the First Amendment Center
(FAC), says he gets often before his Freedom Sings presentation, “Fight
the Power: The Music That Changed America.” Presented by the FAC—a
non-profit, non-partisan organization—the multimedia program aims to
remind Americans of the five freedoms of the First Amendment: speech,
press, religious liberty, assembly and petition.

Features Rick Coates Something’s Brewing: Scott Graham heads-up Michigan’s craft brew industry
By Rick Coates 
Currently, Michigan ranks fifth in the United States for the number of
craft breweries, and when the new totals come out next month it is
expected to be fourth in the country. 
Driving that figurative beer truck with a full load in fifth gear and with
the pedal to the metal is Scott Graham, who was named the first executive
director of the Michigan Brewers Guild in 2007. 

Features Kristi Kates Shop Celtic at County Emmet
By Kristi Kates
“Everybody’s got an Irish, Scottish, or Welsh connection,” explains Ed
Karmann, owner of one of downtown Petoskey’s newest stores, the County
Emmet Celtic Shop.
“You know - people want to identify with a group, or a nationality,”
Karmann continues, “and the Irish, Scottish, and Welsh are all fiercely
loyal to their countries.”

Features Rick Coates The Luck of the Irish: Gets a Workout with Comedy Tour
By Rick Coates
According to folklore, the long tradition of Irish humor is rooted in the
tragedy, despair and tough times the Irish have faced through the years.
It is believed that comedy and prayer is what got many an Irish through
the bleakest hours of their history. Comedian Derek Richards of the Irish
Comedy Tour believes there is a simpler theory.

Features Anne Stanton Controversial Cases:Prosecutor Alan Schneider on recent
decisions that raised a ruckus
By Anne Stanton
 Whenever there’s a public flap over a sentence—whether too long or too
lax—the public often looks at the judge or jury to ask what happened.
Yet long before a case ever gets to a courtroom, the prosecutor and his
staff must review the police investigation and decide quickly on a
suspect’s fate.

Features Erin Crowell Everybody Vogue: Manistee prepares for landmark theatre’s reopening
By Erin Crowell
Click, click, pop!
Travis Alden flips the breakers and lets the warm glow of lights fill the
cold, dank basement of the Vogue Theatre. He follows a garden hose lying
on the cement floor to the boiler room in back.
“They used the hose to drain water from the roof into here,” he says as he
sweeps the light from his flashlight over a hole in the floor, filled with
two feet of sitting water. “Last week, the water covered this whole
basement.”

Features Anne Stanton Rock Star for a day: TC photographer makes you look like a million bucks 2/28/11
By Anne Stanton
 Do you remember Glamour Shots, the national chain photography studio that
transformed an “ordinary” woman into a hussy with a red feather boa, sexy
lingerie, and black eyeliner as thick as tread marks? .
“An utter embarrassment,” said John Robert Williams. “No one saved those
pictures! I am all about having a wonderful image that you’ll keep for the
rest of your life—it’s you, only better. But it’s not as easy as just
showing up in front of the camera.”

Features Robert Downes A LIFE IN Balance: Libby Robold’s path to happiness
By Robert Downes
You can’t help but notice that Libby Robold has that sense of inner glow
that signals not just a state of contentment, but also an excitement about
what life has yet to offer.

Features Feeling 40 & Beyond: Author Sarah Brokaw comes to TC
Following in the footsteps of her eloquent father, therapist Sarah Brokaw
will appear at the Traverse City Opera House this Thursday, March 3 to
talk about her new book, Fortytude: Making the Next Decades the Best Years
of Your Life—through the 40s, 50s, and Beyond.
 In her newly released book, Brokaw gives the reader a revealing glimpse
of feeling like the not  “good enough” daughter of Tom Brokaw, the
legendary news anchor who appeared in Traverse last summer. Her mother,
Meredith Brokaw, a lovely woman who sets the standard for aging
gracefully, is a success in her own right as a former author, teacher,
equestrian, and businesswoman.

Features Erin Crowell Health Hazards of a Desk Jockey: Sitting at a desk all day is hell on your body
By Erin Crowell
“Human beings were not meant to sit in little cubicles staring at computer
screens all day.” – from the 1999 film Office Space

If you work at a desk, chances are, you had to work hard to get there –
your days as a pre-teen dishwasher are as far behind as your college
tuition payments. This is the culmination of years of education and
planning. Perhaps this desk is mahogany or there’s a sleek Mac at your
fingertips, along with an expensive office chair from eBay that is as
comfortable as a cradle.

Features Rick Coates Former mobster Michael Franzese comes clean
By Rick Coates
Once you join an organized crime family like the Mafia or the Mob there
are typically only two ways out: death or the witness protection program.
One of the top mob bosses of the Columbo crime family, Michael Franzese,
found a third way: God. He will tell his story this Friday at 7 p.m. at
the City Opera House in Traverse City.

Features Kristi Kates Sparkle Power: Aluminum Show puts the pedal to the metal
By Kristi Kates
Combining movement, plenty of dance, astounding visual theater, and even a
little humor, The Aluminum Show is perhaps one of the more unusual
performances to step onto the City Opera House stage in Traverse City.
An Israeli-based company that’s garnered worldwide recognition for its
artistic and unique approach, the Show has toured across the globe, making
what at first appear to be simple hardware-store implements into an
intriguing and futuristic on-stage world.