Features

Features Erin Crowell Travel by CouchSurfing: Save a penny, restore your trust in humanity
By Erin Crowell
“Most of my treasured memories of travel are recollections of sitting.”
– Robert Thomas Allen

When he was young, Jesse Coots heard the story about his grandparents leaving the farmhouse back porch light on every evening.
“For travelers,” Coots said, “so they knew they had a place to stay overnight.”
He recalls stories from his father about the hand-dug well and how there was always a ladle there for thirsty passersby.
“We’ve lost that,” Coots said reflectively, now 33 and living in his grandparent’s 1826-built farmhouse in upstate New York. “Everyone’s afraid nowadays.”
In 2007, Coots continued his family’s tradition of inviting travelers a place to stay by joining CouchSurfing.org, a worldwide community that connects nomads with their hosts.
“We’ve hosted quite a few people from five different countries including Germany, Russia and France… and from five or six states,” he said.
Coots, along with his wife Jolene, have opened their home to complete strangers.
For free.

Features Rick Coates Regrooming Mt. Holiday: Citizen support has put a new face on an old friend
By Rick Coates
Over the past 60 years, many Northern Michiganders have learned to ski
and snowboard on Mt. Holiday Ski & Recreation Area, located east of
Traverse City.
In recent years the operation had been challenged by financial issues,
some unruly behavior, the passing of the longtime owner, and being
closed for three seasons. But now, thanks to a nonprofit organization
formed by local citizens, Mt. Holiday has returned to the glory days
of its past.

Features Rick Coates Gordon & Bullough:
TC football standouts help lead MSU to its best season ever
By Rick Coates
This weekend the Michigan State Spartans will head to the Capital One
Bowl in Orlando to play the Alabama Crimson Tide. The Spartans
finished the regular season 11-1, with a share of the Big Ten
Championship, and ranked seventh in the country.
Two former Traverse City high school football standouts Eric Gordon
and Max Bullough played major roles on this year’s team.

Features Mike Terrell Refreshing, remote Black Mountain: 30 miles of trail on the wild side south of Cheboygan
By Mike Terrell
Thoreau said, “The mere existence of wilderness refreshes us.”
Take a trip to Black Mountain Forest Recreation Area – located
southeast of Cheboygan – and you instantly understand what he meant.
As I pulled away from the area after a couple days of midweek
cross-country skiing last year, my body felt tired, but my soul was
refreshed and uplifted for the time spent there.

Features Rick Coates Deported: Liz Larios faces life in Juarez
This is Part II of the story of Liz Larios and Russell Horn. Part I
appeared in the November 29 issue and may be read online at
www.northernexpress.com in the archives section.
Liz Larios and her family were deported to Juarez, Mexico from
Traverse City the day before Thanksgiving after spending years in the
region. Liz’s fiancé Russell Horn sold everything he owned and raised
$3,000 to join her in Mexico. The couple spoke to Express contributing
editor Rick Coates in a phone interview last week.

Features Anne Stanton WikiLeaks: ‘It’s too much power for one person,’ says retired diplomat
Last week, the Express reprinted a Michael Moore editorial on
WikiLeaks, “Leaks Don’t Kill People, Secrets Do.” Here is another
viewpoint from Jack Segal, a retired State Department diplomat.

By Anne Stanton

Most Americans who have heard reports of WikiLeaks believe the release
of thousands of secret State Department communications will do more
harm to this country than good, according to a Pew Research Center
survey released on December 10.

Features Jack Segal Another Christmas in Afghanistan…
By Jack Segal
Surrounded by the joy of the holidays, it’s easy to forget the 150,000
young American and Allied soldiers whose Christmas dinner will come in
the form of a “Meal-Ready-to-Eat” – today’s version of “C Rations.”
Watching the snow fall this morning from my warm kitchen, I thought of
those brave men and women patrolling the cold, hostile hills and
valleys of Afghanistan. I wondered what they thought of the Afghan
world they were experiencing this holiday season.

Features Anne Stanton CAFO farmers: ‘Our cattle are healthier’
Last week, Northern Express wrote about a confined animal feeding
operation in Mesick. Here, two owners of CAFOs in Alpena and Mount
Pleasant talk about their operations and their value to society.

Features Anne Stanton WIND TURBINES: Draft of discontent in Manistee and Benzie
By Anne Stanton
Winds of controversy are sure to arrive at Benzie Central High School on
Tuesday, December 21, when residents are invited to attend a panel
discussion on the industrial wind turbines planned in southern Benzie and
northern Manistee counties.
There are definitely two sides to the proposed construction of 112 wind
turbines by Duke Energy’s Gail Windpower Project -- and potentially other
energy companies -- seeking to erect wind turbines.

Features Anne Stanton Up in Smoke: Legal battles create ongoing drama for medical marijuana growers
By Anne Stanton
 Medical marijuana grower and patient Cecil Drost was able to drive off for
a Florida vacation last week instead of going to jail, relieved that
Charlevoix Prosecutor John Jarema decided to drop all charges against him.
But Drost anxiously wonders if he’ll be compensated for the estimated
$100,000 worth of medical marijuana plants that were seized in the raid.
Drost’s 32 plants were destroyed on September 20, after the Joint
Operational Law Enforcement (JOLT) multi-jurisdictional drug team flew
over Drost’s property in a black helicopter.

Features Anne Stanton The Stressful Saga ofArchie Kiel
By Anne Stanton
Archie Kiel of Rapid City is out of jail after serving 42 days for the
felony conviction of possessing and manufacturing less than 20 marijuana
plants. Kiel was the subject of a story on medical marijuana growers in
the Express in August, 2009 and has been in one legal battle after
another ever since.

Features Anne Stanton The Future of Farming: Small dairy farms struggle to survive as factory farms move in
By Anne Stanton
A drive down a quiet paved road outside of Mesick reveals a contrast
in the old and the new: Old McDonald’s versus Factory Farming.
At one end of West Four Road is farmer Mike Hampel’s place. About 50
cattle stand among neat rows of stumpy brown cornstalks. A few gaze
curiously as a lone car passes by. Inside a large shed are tools and
several vehicles in the midst of repair. Two white stray cats,

Features Anne Stanton The Free Range Option: Local farmers offer healthy choices
By Anne Stanton
If there can be good news in the trend toward confined animal feeding
operations (CAFOs), it’s this. A growing number of farmers are trying
a health-oriented tack. They are marketing their free-range cattle,
turkeys, chickens, eggs and cattle to local residents at premium
prices.

Features Erin Crowell Biathlon, By Golly! Hot shots combine skiing and target shooting at Crystal Mountain
By Erin Crowell
Cross country skiing. It’s a wonderland excursion, swooshing through the white woods on a freshly groomed trail – breathing with the rhythm of every push and glide, silence enveloping…then suddenly… pop! pop! pop!
Screams, laughter and a paint-plastered target.
It may not be the intense, competitive sport we saw in Vancouver this past winter, but the new biathlon course at Crystal Mountain Resort & Spa has all the same elements – just substitute bullets with paintballs and medals with high fives.
Happening every Sunday, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., participants can strap on a pair of cross country skis or snowshoes and test their marksmanship skills by shooting at a group of targets via paintball marker while walking or skiing along an off-road trail.

Features Ross Boissoneau Your Tickets to Winter Theatre: What’s on stage ’round the region
By Ross Boissoneau
If all the world’s a stage, then theatre enthusiasts across the region
will have ample opportunities to travel the globe over the next few
months.