Farmer Q's Returns, DePetro Mulls a Run, and Lundin Negotiates

A quick about-face for Farmer Q's.

The last we heard, the little store on Washington Street cherished for its fresh downstate produce had closed up shop.

The announced reasons? Co-owner Tom Brian had gotten a good job downstate, and he and his wife Susan said they were fed up with the shoddy treatment they had gotten from some of the local farmers, the Food Co-op and the Downtown Development Authority.

Turns out, there was a little more to the story than that.

Whatever the reason, they ain't leaving town. They've closed on the property now occupied by Cliff's Muffler Shop in south Marquette.

Farmer Q's is coming back to life. It should be open by Mother's Day but they won't be taking part in the Farmers Market.

Which is just as well. They had had a rocky relationship with some of the farmers and the DDA, which runs the Farmers Market. They should stay as far apart from each other as possible.

The new location is little more than a glorified gas station at this point but they'll fix it up. Most important, it's got a large parking lot out front, something the market didn't enjoy on Washington Street.

All in all, it's good news for fruit and vegetable lovers in Marquette.
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The race for the six county commission races is starting to shape up.

Three of the incumbents, Steve Pence, Gerald Corkin and Bruce Heikkila have all filed their papers to run.

And five other candidates have taken out packets, indicating a possible run.
The most notable of the five--former Marquette Mayor and City Commissioner Johnny DePetro.

DePetro says he hasn't decided 100% whether he's running but he's talking to friends and constituents who are encouraging him to run.

If he does, it would set up an interesting race in the First District: the incumbent Pence, one of the UP's sharpest and most respected attorneys, taking on DePetro, one of the city's most likable and folksy politicians.

DePetro says he's got nothing against Pence--he's voted for him in the past--
but he just likes working in government. If he does run, it'll be a race of interesting and sharp contrasts.
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While Lundin Mining and the city of Marquette continue working on an agreement to allow Lundin's trucks to use the city's roads on their way from Eagle Mine to the Humboldt Mill, there's increasing focus on a bypass. The bypass would divert the trucks around the northern edge of the city.

The proposed bypass would take the trucks off of 550 near Sugarloaf Mountain, westward and then south to US-41 around Midway Drive.
The trucks, estimated to be about 90 a day, would therefore miss the most populated and congested parts of Marquette.

Lundin, for its part, says it's concerned right now with finding a tentative route for the trucks. Once that agreement is reached with the City Commission, then it will turn to the bypass.

The good news for Lundin and city officials? So far, environmentalists haven't raised any objections to the bypass. Activist attorney Michelle Halley says that issue is not on her plate, and Save the Wild UP is likewise not involved. At least not yet.

Something's going to have to give. Lundin's Eagle Mine is a reality. It starts up within six months or so, and that means huge trucks, loaded with nickel and copper, will be taking to the roads, past homes and businesses. Ninety a day--that's almost one every 15 minutes.

That's a quality of life issue--something we take very seriously in Marquette.

You got news? Email me at briancabell@gmail.com

Abortion Vigil, DDA Dilemma, Patient Golfers, and Das Steinhaus

 

Over the last week you may have noticed sign-holding demonstrators outside the Planned Parenthood offices on Third Street. They're from Forty Days for Life, an anti-abortion group. They'll be there for another month.

 

No incidents, no problems so far. Just a quiet, heartfelt protest.

 

The demonstrators say they've heard enthusiastic support from honking, passing motorists while also encountering a little opposition from the occasional, opinionated pedestrian. Nothing nasty, though.

 

And inside the clinic, workers say nearly every day, someone comes by with cookies, a salad or flowers to show support for what Planned Parenthood in Marquette does. One businesswoman has even pledged ten dollars a day to the organization for every day that the protest outside continues.

 

So it's a peaceful, respectful standoff between two groups that disagree on an extremely important issue. Kinda nice to see, especially when you consider that such disagreements in other places around the globe--like Iraq, Ukraine, Central Africa and China--frequently result in threats, assaults, jailing and even death.

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Let's hope the Farmers Market fracas that broke out last summer and continued into the winter is over.

A committee considering new rules for the market will present its proposals to the Downtown Development Authority board on Thursday.

Here's what to expect. An increase in the fees for each vendor, but nothing exorbitant. Last year, the fee worked out to less than three dollars per site each Saturday. It'll be more this year and, let's be frank, if you can't afford ten dollars a day for a vendor's fee, you probably don't have a viable business.

Between five and seven more vendors' sites will be opened up this year. That's good. There's been pent-up demand to sell at the market.

The set-up of the market will be different this year, hopefully to facilitate better traffic among the vendors.

Finally, (Controversy alert!!) there will likely be an opportunity for a vendor selling produce from downstate to set up at the market. This was the  issue, of course, that created a nasty dispute between Farmer Q's and local farmers last year and ultimately resulted in Farmer Q's closing up shop.

The DDA is in the difficult position of trying to please both the local farmers, who generally oppose competition from downstate, and local shoppers, who love the fresh produce from downstate.

Sure seems like the best and fairest solution is to allow downstate produce at the market unless and until it competes directly with local produce. Then it has to be pulled. Some local farmers say that's precisely what they'd like to see.

The new regulations should come out Thursday, the 13th. Applications for spots at the market can be submitted on Monday, the 17th.
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If you were hoping that this recent respite from our brutally cold winter was an indication that an early spring was on the way, well, good luck with that.

Weather guru Karl Bohnak says this winter weather pattern--long, frigid periods interrupted by a few days of relief--will likely continue through March into April.

Spring will probably arrive later than usual.

The problem is, the Pacific Ocean just south of Alaska is warm. That keeps Alaska warm, and in turn, keeps us cold. That's just the way it is, and it's going to stay that way.

Wonderful. Can't wait until summer arrives in September.

Something else that's notable. Even though it's been frigid, snowfall is actually down in Marquette County this winter. Like, about 30 inches below average at the Negaunee weather station.

There's still plenty of snow on the ground because the temperatures haven't allowed much melt (at least until Monday), but there hasn't been a serious system snowfall all winter. Just two inches here, five inches there. Nickel and dime stuff, Bohnak calls it. Strange winter.
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And how's the winter affected the Marquette Golf Club?

Surprisingly, it hasn't been too bad.

Craig Moore, the superintendent for the grounds, says they've checked and there appears to be no serious ice accumulation on the course. The heavy snow pack is protecting the grass. That's good news, although winter's not yet over. In past years, significant parts of the Heritage and Greywalls course were damaged because of ice.

When will Heritage open up? Likely in mid-April unless we get another unwelcome visit from the polar vortex. Greywalls will follow a couple weeks later.

As for the persistent and pesky rumors that the MGC is on shaky financial ground, office manager Amy Burdick says absolutely not.

Three straight years of profits, she says, and last year play on the two courses was up 10%, revenue was up 5%.

Membership dues are slow in arriving, as usual. Only 180 have coughed up their money so far; there were 575 paying members last year.

Maybe when we can actually see a blade of grass poking through the snow on the course and the temperature starts hovering above a balmy 40 degrees, we'll start thinking about golf.
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More on the winter theme.

Marquette's new and heralded German restaurant, Das Steinhaus, has made it through the slow season. The entrepreneur and chef Justin Fairbanks concedes there were a couple of dreadfully slow weeks in January, but business through December exceeded expectations, Valentines Day was a record for them, and business has clearly picked up in the last month.

Then, there's this: Das Steinhaus has added a lunch in the last few weeks, their Sunday brunch (sometimes featuring lobster benedict) has exploded in popularity, the staff has increased from 6 to 16 over the last several months, they're now making their own desserts and their creative cocktail selection is becoming legendary.

The NMU influence is substantial here. The staff includes two NMU grads and three current students. Fairbanks, himself, attended  NMU but never graduated when he found himself cooking more than studying. He ended up getting his education at the Institute of Culinary Education in Manhattan.

Oh, one more thing that you can't help but admire. Das Steinhaus offers 60 different beers, all craft beers or imports. You want a Bud Light or Miller Light? Sorry, they don't carry it. They'll steer you to something else.

German food's not for everybody--especially those who love fresh, crisp vegetables and lean, rare cuts of meat--but you can't help rooting for this place. It's local, it's ambitious, and it's different from every other restaurant in town.

You got news? Email me at briancabell@gmail.com

BLP's Baffling Response, Farmers' Market P*ssing Match, and Corkage Confusion

The Bureau of Light and Power has a few people scratching their heads.

Here's the background: Marquette has a fireworks committee charged with trying to fund the city's fireworks display every July 4th. It costs about $30,000. That's a lot of money for a small town, and there's no public funding for it.

That means concerned citizens have to go begging merchants and residents every year to cough up the money needed for the fireworks. It's a tough and tedious job.

Solution! Why not have BLP allow its customers to donate a dollar a month, or even five, to fund the fireworks? A check-off system, a voluntary tax.

Other municipalities do it downstate. It's simple, it's effective, and it eliminates the need for the yearly begging.

Well, the fireworks committee suggested this solution to the BLP board but the utility's executive director, Paul Kitti, responded that the board, without even a formal proposal in hand, had voted no to the idea. Just...no.

No reasons given.

Kitti hasn't responded to a couple of phone calls yet.

Meantime, some concerned citizens are suggesting that the BLP board elections later this year, which would normally draw yawns, may draw considerable interest...and some new candidates...this year.
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The back-and-forth p*ssing match between the local farmers and the backers of Farmer Q's continues unabated. It's a dispute that reflects poorly on both sides.

Jeff Hatfield of Seeds and Spores says he, for one, would have preferred that Farmer Q's stayed and continued its participation in the Farmers Market--if Farmer Q's had agreed not to sell downstate produce that competed directly with produce from the local area.

In other words, cherries and plums from downstate would have been fine at the market, but not carrots and lettuces that were also being grown by the locals.

Seems like it would have been a reasonable solution but because of strong--maybe unreasonable--personalities, it could never be worked out. Too many insults, too many threats, too much bad blood.

Ironically, both sides were convinced that the Downtown Development Authority, which runs the market, was against them.

Oh well. Farmer Q's is gone, along with their appealing bounty of downstate produce. It seems likely that the market crowds--which averaged more than 600 each Saturday--will diminish somewhat without that attraction.

Maybe someone else can step into the breach, with the downstate fruits and vegetables--but without the rancor.

Maybe we can stop the insults and anonymous emails. Maybe we can grow up.
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WJMN, the CBS TV affiliate, is moving ahead with its plans to start up a U.P. newscast.

It's found the site for its studio and offices in a strip mall at the corner of US 41 and Wright Street, just across from the Cenex station. It's leased three units at the mall and combining them into one.

Meantime, the station is seeking an anchor/reporter, a meteorologist, a sports anchor and an engineer, among others, to join news director and anchor Cynthia Thompson.

Station executives had said they wanted to launch the newscast in the first quarter of this year. Seems a little ambitious with only seven weeks to go, but we'll see how quickly they can put it together.
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If you're a wine drinker, you may have heard that the state legislature recently passed a "corkage fee" law which would allow you to bring your own bottle of wine into a restaurant. For a fee imposed by the restaurant.

The idea being, if you've got that special bottle of wine or champagne that you've been saving for that special birthday or anniversary, you can bring it to your favorite restaurant, and the restaurant would simply charge you a "corkage fee" to open it.

The fee might be $25, more or less.

It's a very civilized thing to do.

One problem: the bill was signed into law by the governor in late December but it doesn't take effect until March 14th. There are reports that at least one local restaurant jumped the gun on the law and has already started charging corkage fees for outside wines.

The Liquor Control Commission says that's grounds for a steep fine, or suspension or revocation of a liquor license.

It's probably best to wait until March 14th.


You got news? Email me at briancabell@gmail.com

Farmer Q's Fallout, School Snow Daze, and Beer Bonanza

Fallout continues in the wake of Farmer Q's closing up shop downtown.

The shutdown was precipitated, the owners say, by the persistent opposition to them by local farmers and the Marquette Food Co-op at the Farmers' Market.

Farmer Q's sold produce from downstate. Their fruit and vegetables were  attractive and popular but they weren't technically "local." Foul, cried the local farmers. Unfair!

Well, they won. Farmer Q's has pulled up stakes and abandoned Marquette and the Farmer's Market.

Which means, according to one wag on Facebook, that we'll now have a scintillating selection of cucumbers, zucchinis and handmade soap to choose from at the Farmers' Market. A bit of an exaggeration, perhaps, but there's some truth to it.

Farmer Q's plentiful and colorful fruits and vegetables drew many of us to the market on Saturday mornings. Now, that draw will be gone, the crowds could very well shrink, and the market, which the Downtown Development Authority has turned into a remarkable success, could suffer in the short run.

The question that has to be asked: Who is supposed to benefit from the Farmers Market?

1) The local farmers, who are from outside the city and don't pay city taxes? They pay less than three dollars a day for a booth at the market.

2) The local merchants (like Farmer Q's) who do pay city taxes?

3) Or the customers, who reside mostly within the city?

The answer is probably all three but the emphasis should be on local merchants and customers. They're paying the taxes.

We all love local farms and local produce, but something got out of whack here. We needlessly lost a taxpaying vendor that many of us loved.

And then there's the case of Garden Bouquet, the downtown flower and art store that's noticed a big decline in sales on Saturdays when the Farmers Market is up and running. The store hasn't been able to get a booth yet so it finds itself paying taxes for a market (featuring out-of town-florists) that is actually hurting its business.

Ironic, frustrating, and yes, out of whack.
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We're barely halfway through winter, and already Marquette Area Public Schools have used up eight snow days. They're allotted six for the year.

No reason to panic yet. Last year the district used ten snow days (Was the winter that bad?) and had to extend the school year by three days in June.

This year, the district might be able to squeeze in another school day or two during President's Day weekend in February or on Good Friday. The administration will talk to the union about that.

But otherwise, the school year will just be extended beyond the official last day of June 10th. More snow days to come? If so, just tack them on to the end and hold off on the family vacation.

The recent days off, of course, have been for "cold," not snow. If the National Weather Service predicts a wind chill of minus 25 degrees or colder at the bus stops, that's enough to cancel school, per administration policy. Fifteen minutes outside in that kind of cold can give Junior frostbite.

Better safe than sorry even if it means delaying summer vacation.
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Are you looking for a local business success?

Look no further than the Blackrocks Brewery. The brewery opened three years ago and quickly became a favorite among craft beer afficionados.

Then last September, it began mass producing its Coconut Brown, Grand Rabbits, 51K, and a specialty brew...and the beer was flying off the shelves.
Merchants couldn't keep it in stock.

That early fever has abated somewhat but demand is still outstripping supply. Blackrocks is now distributing to stores from Munising to Bessemer with the expectation that it'll be the entire U.P. within months, and then it's across the bridge to the Lower Peninsula.

The brewery recently acquired some new fermenters so production, which is now at about 20,000 cans a week, will increase to 30,000. Eventually, it expects to reach 50,000.

By the way, Blackrocks will release a new beer, unidentified so far, this summer.

The lesson here: Brew a good beer, market it properly, and people will drink it. By the case.

You got news? Email me at briancabell@gmail.com