This Thursday (Nov 2) at 9:00 AM Leland School will host candidates for state and national office and 1000 students for the only webcast student mock election and rally in the United States. The webcast is produced and sponsored by MichiganLiveEvents.com and you can tune in LIVE over the internet at Absolute Michigan.
Between the first day of school and the day of the election, students in Leland's government class work diligently on completing the project, managing their work through student-directed committees that handle everything from signs and decorations to creating video ads, designing ballots and delivering speeches on behalf of their chosen candidate. Each year the event has been expanded and improved and this year, in addition to being the statewide headquarters for the National Student/Parent Mock Election, Leland will be the only location to broadcast candidate and student speeches, interviews, student voting and associated hoopla live over the internet.
The National Student/Parent Mock Election. The National Student/Parent Mock Election makes students and parents aware of the power of their ballot by actively involving them in a full-fledged campaign and national election.
The Traverse City Record-Eagle has a feature looking at both signs of the Farmland Preservation Measure on the Nov. 7 ballot in Leelanau County. If approved by voters, the measure would raise just under $1 million in the first year to support the county's farmland preservation program. Farmers who qualify could voluntarily sell their property development rights to the county, and the land would remain on the tax rolls.
Read Farmland millage on ballot and the 2006 Leelanau Election Preview in the Record-Eagle and get the ballot language from the Leelanau Government web site.
Also see the Save Leelanau Farmland site. (note: we looked for an opposition site, couldn't find one. If you are aware of one, please send the link!)
Photo credit: Leelanau Farm Scene by Philosopher Queen
Yesterday's Detroit News had a great feature on Chris & Jody Treter and their Higher Grounds Coffee Trading Co., Michigan's only 100% organic and fair-trade coffee producer. After having first year sales of just $60,000, Higher Grounds is now approaching half a million dollars. It sells about 100,000 pounds of coffee each year throughout Michigan.
Chris says "Most coffee in the world is grown off the sweat of extremely poor peoples' backs. If consumers could travel and see those families, most would change their habits."
Higher Grounds seeks to do exactly that, and we encourage you to read SUSAN AGER: The joy of the grind in the Detroit News and visit the Higher Grounds Coffee web site.
News from the Week
The week's top story was an article from ESPN that Leland grad Alisha Glass has led Penn State to 17-0 Volleyball Start that is well worth your time. Other stories included news that a Suttons Bay Library Millage will be on Nov. 7 Ballot, a collaboration between area schools, the Fresh Food Partnership (FFP) and Honor-based Food for Thought to make Get Jammin' Apple Jam, a 2-for-1 with a soccer photo and information about Proposal 5, and some cool Sleeping Bear barn photos by John Clement Howe.
The Week's Weather
The weather was cold and cloudy for the most part with a good deal of rain (with some slushy wanna-be snow mixed in). When the sun was out, it revealed that we still have some gorgeous color!
October 19, 2006: Cloudy & low 40s (45Ëš/39Ëš)
October 20, 2006: Cloudy & low 40s (44Ëš/37Ëš)
October 21, 2006: Partly sunny & low 50s (52Ëš/35Ëš)
October 22, 2006: Cloudy, rain & 40 (42Ëš/35Ëš)
October 23, 2006: Cloudy, rain/snow & 40 (43Ëš/33Ëš)
October 24, 2006: Cloudy, breezy, light rain & low 40s (44Ëš/36Ëš)
October 25, 2006: Sunny & 40s (48Ëš/28Ëš)
Click for the Leelanau news archive from October 20th - October 26th, 2005!
The Record-Eagle has a nice feature on a collaboration between area schools, the Fresh Food Partnership (FFP) and Honor-based Food for Thought to make Get Jammin' Apple Jam. Students will market and sell the jam and the project is a joint fundraiser for the schools and FFP, a nonprofit group that purchases locally grown fruits and vegetables and delivers them to people in need.
Read Students get to the core of the matter with apple jam in the Traverse City Record-Eagle.
Also see the Fresh Food Partnership and Food for Thought web sites!
Photo credit: Throw Down Another by docksidepress.
I played a little "eeny-meeny" game trying to decide between a dry (but informative!) article on education funding as it relates to the 2006 elections and a photo from last week's Leland vs. Northport soccer game. Then I decided to just do both.
The Record-Eagle has an excellent analysis that says that while the list of organizations & politicians who oppose Proposal 5 is a long one, there are those who feel that politicians who talk about the importance of education should put their money where their mouth is. Proposal 5 would grant automatic increases each year equal to the inflation rate. It would also reduce the funding gap between the richest and poorest districts over the next five years and provide some financial protection for schools that are losing students and the per-pupil funding that comes with them.
Read Proposal 5: Debate over education funding heats up in the Traverse City Record-Eagle.
The Record-Eagle reports that the Suttons Bay-Bingham District Library will appeal to voters again to authorize a lower and shorter-term millage. The library is requesting 0.47 mills for five years to pay for operations at the library. Voters rejected a .77 mill measure in August with no ending date.
Read Library millage back on ballot in the Traverse City Record-Eagle.
I posted this photo on Michigan in Pictures today and liked it so much that I had to share it here as well!
Barn at the Eckhert Farm, Autumn View, photo by John Clement Howe.
The Eckhert Farm is located in the Port Oneida Rural Historic District in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
Thanks to Jim Sorbie of Empire for pointing me to John's photos!
It isn't often we get to point to an article from ESPN in relation to Leelanau County. This very in-depth article says that when 2005 Leland graduate Alisha Glass accepted a scholarship to play volleyball for Penn State, she became part of one of the most successful programs in Division I women's volleyball. However, when she became the starting center as a freshman, she became the leader of the team and one of just 10 players have held that position on a permanent basis for the Nittany Lions.
Regarding Alisha's performance (and Penn State's 17-0 start), Penn State teammate and last year's AVCA Freshman of the Year Nicole Fawcett said:
"I was more surprised at the beginning, but now everything is starting to click and it's not a surprise anymore. When you start with a freshman setter, you never know what is going to happen. But the concerns aren't there anymore because her volleyball IQ is very good for as young as she is.
Read Glass steps up to challenge of leading No. 2 Penn State from ESPN.
Photo by ESPN.
A day at the (Empire) beach, photo by Justin Warnes
News from the Week
The top story was news that the 2007 Tour de Leelanau will be a part of the USA Cycling Tour. The Leelanau bike race (planned for September 16, 2007) will be the final leg of the USA Cycling Professional Tour. The Tour will include 15 races in 11 states with 40 days of racing by the top foreign and domestic UCI professional teams. In layman's terms, this means the 2007 Tour de Leelanau will be a very big deal indeed! We also had some news about how Leelanau County's recycling program will work and a report on the District soccer tournament.
The Week's Weather
The week's weather was cold, cloudy, windy & rainy (with snow last Thursday & Friday). Not at all pleasant (except for Sunday!).
October 12, 2006: Very windy, rain, snow & 30s (Ëš37/28Ëš) Record low!
October 13, 2006: Windy, snow, rain & 30s (42Ëš/33Ëš)
October 14, 2006: Mostly cloudy & 40 (42Ëš/34Ëš)
October 15, 2006: Sunny & 50 - a beautiful fall day! (51Ëš/30Ëš)
October 16, 2006: Cloudy, some rain & low 50s (53Ëš/42Ëš)
October 17, 2006: Cloudy, rain & 50s (55Ëš/46Ëš)
October 18, 2006: Cloudy & 50s with late evening rain (55Ëš/43Ëš)
Leelanau news archive from October 13th - October 19th, 2005!
