Lynda Wheatley | Author

Comfy Halloween Garb

Oct. 23, 2021

Attention, Halloween-loving adults: Dressing up to showcase your wild affection for the holiday does not always require a costume. While we highly recommend seizing any opportunity to spend a night encased in a poofy polyester version of your wished-for self — be that the Queen of E... Read More >>

Light Halloween Frights for Families and Kids

Oct. 23, 2021

Our picks for some extra-special kid-friendly Halloween events happening in northern Michigan this week:

CADILLAC
Treats & Movie in the Park
The businesses in Cadillac’s Downtown District will dress up in their very best spo... Read More >>

Me-OW! State’s First Pet Diagnosed with COVID-19

Oct. 23, 2021

As of last week, Michigan officially has its first COVID-positive pet: a domestic shorthair cat living in Ingham County.

The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) confirmed the cat’s test results were positive for SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes ... Read More >>

7 Questions with Mike Geeter

Oct. 2, 2021

This week, the newly renovated 4,000-square-foot Grand Traverse Events Center will raise its curtain on the much-anticipated Traverse City Comedy Club. The first comedian to sweat under the 150-seat theater’s spotlight? Well, after local comedian and the night’s MC Marti Johns... Read More >>

A Half-million MI School Kids Eating Local This Semester

Oct. 2, 2021

It was only about a decade ago that northern Michigan’s Diane Conners began nurturing a seed of an idea — to bring fruits and veggies from local farms to local schools — but oh, what a decade can do.

One coffee break (with Don Coe, at the time Black Star Fa... Read More >>

Northern Natural Cider Flight

Oct. 2, 2021

Those of us who frequently, and oh so sadly, have to eschew hard cider for fear of the headaches their hidden sulfites will bring to our bean, fall is not lost: the Mackey family — owners of the award-winning Northern Natural Cider House & Winery in Kaleva — have developed... Read More >>

Come to Her Window (at Little River Casino)

Sept. 25, 2021

Grammy-winning guitarist and vocalist Melissa Etheridge will rock the stage at Little River Casino Resort in Manistee on Oct. 2. A rock icon since her critically acclaimed eponymous debut album dropped in 1988 and went certified double platinum, Etheridge has made her mark again and again... Read More >>

Michigan Public Lands: Retain, Exchange, Dispose?

Sept. 25, 2021

Since 2018, the Department of Natural Resources has been on a mission to scrutinize, with the public’s input, approximately 240,000 acres of state-owned land to determine whether those lands contribute to the department’s mission: to conserve, protect, and manage the state's n... Read More >>

Stuff We Love: Shopping Epic Time Capsules

Sept. 25, 2021

Calling all vintage lovers: Moxie Estate Sales is about to open the grandmother of all estate sales on Old Mission Peninsula in Traverse City. A departure from typical estate sales where a moderate amount of home goods, furniture and garage items are liquidated before the home changes own... Read More >>

Big Boost for NoMi Sushi

Sept. 18, 2021

Typically, restaurants don’t begin earning money until after they’ve opened. NoMiSushi, which opened up earlier this month in Charlevoix, isn’t so typical. Before taking its first takeout order, local leaders presented the business with a $25,000 check, a grant awarded t... Read More >>

Special NWS Event: Afghanistan Today

Sept. 18, 2021

Even though the Afghanistan war took place half a world away, there are many connections to that 20-year conflict right here in Michigan. On Thursday, Sept. 23, The National Writers Series is bringing a few of them to the City Opera House stage to talk about America's Longest War. NWS co-... Read More >>

Big-time Small-town Pride

Sept. 18, 2021

Wee McBain has held the honor of being the eighth smallest city in Michigan but that doesn’t mean its 650-some residents don’t have a huge heap of pride in the place they call home.

The evidence: The frequency at which Cornerstone Coffee has to re-order its popular &ld... Read More >>

Crooked Tree Breadworks’ Addictive Granola

Sept. 18, 2021

Over the past few decades, we’ve written about Crooked Tree Breadworks more than a half-dozen times. We’ve waxed poetic about their Cheddar Scallion Scone (and White Chocolate Cherry Scone and Cinnamon Raisin Scone and Currant-Orange), the just-right tang of its sourdough loav... Read More >>

Picking the brains of Middle East experts here in TC

Sept. 11, 2021

You know what never goes out of style? Getting an inside perspective on major world events from intelligent people who were there when they happened. Thanks to the International Affairs Forum at Northwestern Michigan College, anyone interested in getting granular with the wars, women, and... Read More >>

Autumn Style, Head to Toe

Sept. 11, 2021

Fall fashion this year looks a lot like what’s hot in homes: Lots of neutrals with pops of color and touches of texture to keep things cozy. We scoped out some local shops and makers to highlight pieces that seem to do the impossible Up North: embrace the trends while still suiting ... Read More >>

Happy's Taco Shop Lamb Pastrami Taquitos

Sept. 11, 2021

We're suckers for lamb. We're also suckers for tacos. And so by extension, we are unrepentant inhalers of Happy's Taco Shop, those purveyors of tortilla-wrapped joy that have not one but two lamb items ensconced on their menu: the simple but flavorful lamb cheeseburger taco (secret sauce,... Read More >>

Bay Harbor Bow Wow, Balloons, and Color Run Sept. 17-19

Sept. 11, 2021

Some of the nation’s best balloon pilots will converge at the Balloons Over Bay Harbor week Sept. 17–19 for a number of daytime flights and on-the-ground “night glows.” But not all of the action involves hot air. There’ll also be a 3k Autumn Glory Color Run &... Read More >>

You, Wine, and Amanda Giese to the rescue of Cherryland Humane

Sept. 11, 2021

Coming Friday, Sept. 17 to Bonobo Winery on Old Mission Peninsula: Amanda Giese, star of Animal Planet's former Amanda to the Rescue series and owner of Panda Paws Rescue, a Washington state-based organization that takes care of abused and disabled animals. She’s headlining a 5pm&sh... Read More >>

Hope for Line 5 opponents via Line 3’s latest development?

Sept. 11, 2021

Opponents of the ongoing Line 3 pipeline project in northern Minnesota — an oil-moving cousin of the also-contested, also-Enbridge-owned Line 5 pipeline, which runs under the Straits of Mackinac — just got a heavyweight in their corner: the United Nations Committee on the Elim... Read More >>

C.S. Lewis Festival Sept. 10–13

Sept. 4, 2021

Calling deep thinkers and literature lovers of all ages: The Little Traverse Region hosts the 19th annual C.S. Lewis Festival Sept. 10–13, a celebration of the British scholar, lay theologian, and author of the beloved children’s series The Chronicles of Narnia and many other ... Read More >>