Hospital Deadline, Golf Course Rejection, and Another Frigid Winter

 

WELL, HERE IT is, the end of August, the supposed deadline for a decision on the relocation of Marquette General Hospital, so it should happen this week, right?

Don't count on it, if the city's Roundhouse location is one of the two final candidates, which we hear it is.

The thing is, the City Commission's subcommittee on the hospital would have to approve a possible deal and then the City Commission as a whole would have to vote publicly on it before the city could assure Duke LifePoint that the deal is a go.

That's not likely to happen by the end of this week.

Now, if DLP has already decided it's selecting the Township site behind the Westwood Mall, that's a different story. It could happen this week.

But what we hear is that DLP is still having talks with the city over the Roundhouse site--questions answered, details clarified--while communications with the Township have been silent for about a month. That may mean DLP is totally satisfied with the Township offer while it's got doubts about the city's offer.

Or it may mean...

Oh hell, who knows what it means?
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IN CASE YOU'RE wondering why the Marquette Golf Club ended talks with Duke LifePoint a week ago, here's why.

The club, after building the highly acclaimed but financially taxing Greywalls course almost a decade ago, remains about four million dollars in debt. It's a tough nut to crack.

A substantial offer from DLP for half of the Heritage course could have solved the problem but DLP's offer was somewhere in the neighborhood of three million plus. After taxes and various costs, the club would have cleared maybe two million at most, probably less.

And they would have been left without a clubhouse and a pro shop. If they had rebuilt those and taken care of other maintenance issues, their remaining cash from the sale would barely have made a dent in their debt.

And they would have been saddled with a nine hole course and an eighteen hole course divided by a huge hospital complex which, for the next couple of years, would have been nothing more than an ugly, dusty construction zone.

Hardly a wise strategy to attract new golf club members.

What could Duke LifePoint have offered to change a few minds? "Ten million would have been a good number," according to one member, half jokingly. Or maybe not.
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THE TRIALS AND tribulations of ABC 10 continue.

News director and anchor Rick Tarsitano has left the Ishpeming-based station for a more lucrative position on Lake Michigan--Chicago's WGN.

Bigtime. Big station. And both Rick and his wife are from the Chicago area.

He'll be a sports producer there, not on the air for now, but don't rule that out in the future. He's a talent who provided some much needed stability at the chronically underfunded ABC 10.

"Mama, don't let your babies grow up to be TV journalists..."

Rick's had to walk a rocky path ever since he got into TV a few years back. He was hired as an off camera producer (for peanuts) at TV6 and struggled to get on the air, despite having a strong work ethic and obvious talent. He was frustrated. Then he was explicably canned.

Then, he caught on as a reporter at ABC10 (for fewer peanuts)...at one point considered going back to TV6...then with the departure of ABC 10's news director Cynthia Thompson, he found himself appointed the new news director and anchor and who-knows-what-else (for a few more peanuts).

And now, less than a year into his tenure, he's off to Chicago in an entirely different role.

Ya gotta be flexible as a TV journalist. And willing to live on peanuts. Small market TV does not lead to riches.

Meantime, ABC 10, the little engine that could, will continue to chug forward. A new news director and anchor have yet to be named.
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AS IF POWERHOUSE TV 6 needed any more advantages...

The Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns TV6, recently announced that it's also taken ownership of WLUK in Green Bay. Yeah, the same WLUK that used to broadcast Fox programming and Green Bay Packer games in the UP.

None of that will change because Fox UP (also owned by Sinclair) now has rights to that, but the ownership change is significant because now the news departments of TV6 and Fox UP will be able to readily trade stories with WLUK. Together, they'll be offering blanket coverage of the UP-Green Bay region.

The rich get richer.
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BY NOW WE'VE all heard the dismaying news that this upcoming winter may be as bitterly cold as last winter. So says the Farmer's Almanac which claims an 80% accuracy rate.

So what says local weather guru Karl Bohnak? Surely, he'll dispel such nonsense.

Well, as a matter of fact...no.

He says water patterns in the Pacific Ocean point toward a cold winter. Looks like we'll have a weak El Nino which also lends itself to a cold winter.

There is a greater likelihood of an eastern US-based frigid winter, rather than a Midwest-based freeze, but here in the U.P, we're still likely to feel it.

Bohnak reminds us that we had a frigid winter in '95-'96, and that was followed by record-breaking cold in '96-'97, so there's precedent for this.

Swell.

One ray of sunshine here: September should be an average month, maybe even a bit warmer and sunnier than average.

Woohoo. Let's throw a beach party just before we head down to Getz's to buy our mittens and swampers.

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

 

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Caggiano's Past, YMCA's Future, Co-op's Move, and Farmers Market Opening

Gabe Caggiano, WJMN's anchor on its brand new 11 pm newscast, is not your typical bright-eyed kid eager to shine in his very first broadcasting job.

He's been around the block a few times. He's worked as an anchor, reporter, writer and columnist. He's been employed by Inside Edition and Al Arabiya. He's moved around from Texas to New England to Maryland to DC. He covered the first Gulf War and the White House.

He was even an actor on TV several years back with credits from Matlock and Radioland Murders.

He's got talent. He's won a few awards.

And he's got a bit of a reputation. A TV columnist in Austin referred to him as "very likely the most hated man in Austin television journalism." To be fair, that was back in the 90s, and God knows, we've all made mistakes and enemies.

But some of the criticism has followed him over the years--hotheadedness, insensitivity, egotism.

Now he's in the UP at WJMN. He does a nice job. Let's hope we see more of the talent and less of the flaws.

By the way, an attempt to interview Caggiano was rebuffed by him until he got corporate approval. Maybe that's a good sign. Discretion.
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Speaking of WJMN, the CBS station has been broadcasting local news for just about three weeks now, and there's not much to criticize.

Cynthia Thompson's team looks professional and energized. The news set, graphics and production values are superb.

In fact, you might say the overall presentation reminds you a lot of TV6, the longtime number one station in Marquette. What WJMN lacks is TV6's storied history, the leadership of Steve Asplund, and perhaps most important...Karl Bohnak.

People love weather in the UP and they love Bohnak who's very possibly the most trusted and popular man in the Upper Peninsula. It's very tough for a 20-something meteorologist to come in and compete with that.

As for Rick Tarsitano's troops at ABC10, they continue, despite a shortage of resources, to put on a remarkably strong newscast, and their website is robust and current with a strong social media presence.

WJMN's website, by contrast, has a strange, minimalist look. Not sure why. Looks like something circa 2003.

In any case, they've joined the fray. The UP now has three legitimate TV news and website sources. We viewers are the winners.
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This may have slipped your mind, but the YMCA, after getting a three million dollar federal loan last year, is getting ready to start a major expansion and renovation at its Marquette facility.

Like doubling its size.

It all starts on June 1st with the resurfacing of its pool deck. That'll take a couple of weeks.

But then comes the exciting stuff: two new basketball and volleyball courts, bleachers, a concession stand, an indoor running track, a gym for gymnastics, a climbing wall, new high-tech machines, an expanded exercise and weight room...and a seniors locker room.

Huh? A separate locker room for oldsters?

Yep, apparently that was the request of some seniors--to dress and shower away from the rabble-rousing young folk.

Seems like the YMCA could find a better use for the money than that.

Still, a lot to celebrate here. Construction will continue through late summer, fall and early winter. Should be done in January.

Meantime in Negaunee, members are getting an entirely new, bigger and better facility. That, too, should be ready in January. (Correction: the Negaunee facility will be open in June.)
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The Marquette Farmers Market is getting ready to open after a tumultuous off season. It's time to forget all the dissension and instead, focus on the food and the crafts

The first Saturday of the season is May 17th.

Forty-three full season vendors will be selling their goods--36 are returnees, 7 are new, and the word is, there are more produce and meat vendors this year than last year. All of them are from the UP. Hoop houses and green houses here have extended the season and the varieties.

No vendors selling produce from downstate applied to sell at the market this year.

As usual, there were many more wannabe vendors than spots available, so about 30 of them will have to settle for daily spaces. The Downtown Development Authority expects to create 3-7 new spaces by mid-summer when the market is re-configured.

All in all, it sounds like local farmers are determined to make farming in the frozen tundra of the UP work.

Which is great for those of us who love local produce and meat.
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And who's not eagerly awaiting the opening of the new Marquette Food Co-op on Washington Street? That's May 22nd.

It'll be triple the size and double the inventory of the charming but cramped store on Baraga Street.

The new store will also feature a meat and seafood counter, a deli, and a little café. With Wifi.

Yikes. We're becoming bigtime.

The Co-op will close down on May 20th and 21st while it makes the move to the new location.
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Now that the snow has finally melted, you've probably noticed with dismay that your spruces and junipers are rust-colored on the outside and on top.

Dead? You can't be certain.

Gardening guru Barb Kelly says the best advice she's heard is that you should wait four to six weeks before lopping off any branches. Give them a chance with warming temperatures to come back.

If you're impatient, break open a branch and see if there's any green left. If it just snaps off easily, it's likely dead.

Yeah, Kelly says, this is the worst winter for plants she's ever seen here. The dwarf Alberta spruces, one of our most popular varieties, were especially hard-hit.


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

Asplund Takes the Reins, Marquette Mountain Takes a Plunge, and StoryCorps Comes to Town

A relative calm has descended upon the newsroom at WLUC.

Steve Asplund, the hardest working man in the news business, has been named the news director at the station. Rather, re-named. He was news director for a few years back in the mid-90's, as well.

And don't worry, he'll remain as the 6 pm anchor. What most viewers don't realize is that Asplund's most important work has always been done off-camera, as assignment editor, producer, writer, photographer, editor, fill-in engineer, snow plow operator. Hell, if TV6 had a cow out back, Asplund would be milking that in his spare time.

He works 70-80 hours a week. No lie. He loves his work, he loves the station.

That's why it was almost criminal what he had to endure for the last two years during the tenure of the former news director, Regena Robinson. For some reason, Robinson locked Asplund, the assistant news director, out of the entire decision-making process in the news department. The hostility was palpable.

Maybe it was a personality clash. Regardless, it was a waste of Asplund's skills and enthusiasm, and it made for a very uncomfortable newsroom because Asplund was universally liked and respected by both the veterans and the youngsters in the news department.

But he kept his head down, worked his 70-80 hours a week, and now he's got the job he deserves. WLUC is the better for it.

(Full disclosure: I was the WLUC news director from 2004-2011)
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Meantime, a former TV6er, Rick Tarsitano, who was surprisingly terminated by Robinson a year ago, is in negotiations to become the new news director at ABC10.

He's been a reporter at ABC10 for the last year, but in the wake of Cynthia Thompson's resignation as ND, Tarsitano was appointed interim news director and has done a creditable job. Now management wants to make him the permanent news director.

No one could quite figure out why he was forced out at TV6. Another personality clash? The fact was, Tarsitano was one of the most talented reporters in Marquette when he was let go.

Now we're going to see what kind of management skills he has. He'll be facing a stiff challenge: ABC10 doesn't have nearly the money or resources that WLUC has, and it'll be facing a brand new competitor when WJMN starts its UP newscast in the next month or so.

And who is WJMN's news director and anchor? That's right, Cynthia Thompson, formerly of both ABC10 and TV6. TV news in the Upper Peninsula is a never-ending merry-go-round.
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It's been a weird season at Marquette Mountain.

The best snow in years and yet the numbers are down. Way down.
Vern Barber, the GM, figures the mountain has attracted almost 30% fewer skiers and snowboarders this season.

Go ahead, take a guess why.

Yep, it's too freaking cold even for skiers. When you consider that the thermometer has climbed above 30 degrees for only a few days in the last three months, and has generally stayed below 10 degrees, it's easy to understand why we've stayed off the mountain.

The only thing that's kept Marquette Mountain afloat this season has been its ever-expanding race schedule. Teams, young and old, come here from all over the Midwest to race. And unlike the casual skiers, the racers don't have a choice; even if it's minus 10 and the wind is howling, they're going to be racing (and spending money in Marquette) because they've already registered and paid the fees.

Barber says this is the coldest winter he's experienced in his 32 years on Marquette Mountain. Sounds about right.
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You got a great story to tell?

You'll get your opportunity to tell it and preserve it for posterity when National Public Radio's StoryCorps trailer rolls into town this July.

StoryCorps brings people together--parent and child, brother and sister, friends, teacher and student, neighbors-- to sit down and tell their stories.
It might be a childhood memory, it might be a hunting story, it might be something traumatic.

But the stories are usually evocative, poignant and fascinating.

StoryCorps is hoping to find 200 such stories in the U.P. A couple of them will likely end up being broadcast on NPR nationwide. The rest will be taped and stored at the Library of Congress. They'll become a part of this nation's history.That's pretty cool.

Participants will also be given a copy of the interview--something to hand down to your grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Public Radio 90 will be announcing in the next couple of months how you can sign up for StoryCorps.

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