GET READY FOR it—A TV sitcom, “Way UP North,” to be based in Marquette. Mendacium Productions, out of Hollywood, will be shooting the series, starting in July, with the first airing to occur during the fall season, either on ABC or Fox. Both networks are negotiating with Mendacium…“We think it’s going to be hilarious,” says executive director Josh Ingyu. “And it’s going to shine a light on a region that most people, frankly, don’t know about.”
Four main characters in “Way UP North,” according to Mendacium’s press release: a crusty 74-year-old Finnish widower with an obsessive interest in ice fishing…an incurably sarcastic 46-year-old lesbian who lives off the grid with her seven cats… and a feisty mother and her lovable but gender-confused teenage son…Yeah, sounds like Hollywood.
SEEMS LIKE WE might have to re-define “workforce housing.” Construction is slated to begin on a new 46-unit apartment complex in Harvey as soon as the snow melts. One-bedroom units (818 square feet) will rent for $2750 a month, two-bedrooms (1034 square feet) will go for $3125…“We are creating these units for working people,” Costas Plenti, the Greek-based developer told us by phone from Athens. “And by that, we mean two hardworking, intelligent, successful people. So yes, I feel most comfortable calling these apartments, as you say, workforce housing.”…The units will be available for occupancy in May of 2027.
NOT EXACTLY WHAT we need at this point…The Highpoint Hospitality Group is planning to meet with the Planning Commission next month to propose construction of an exclusive 24-room hotel just east of downtown…Exclusive, as in $600-a-night suites—in the off-season—and $1000-a-night during the summer months…The amenities? A full-service spa, a rooftop pool, an exquisitely appointed lobby (above), an 8-person pontoon parked at the hotel dock, two electric-powered snowmobiles with a charging station, a 24-hour-a-day restaurant with a full-time chef, and a “meditation room.”
Seems a bit over-the top, but Highpoint says it’s operating two such, highly successful hotels in Jackson, Wyoming and Austin, Texas.
A SOLUTION TO our snow-clogged streets? Sales representatives from the Danish firm Vrovl Lort Inc are planning to visit Marquette next week in an effort to promote their newly designed snow-melter…Officially, it’s the A140TripleX, but its nickname is “Monster Melt.”…An appropriate name, given that the 48’ by 88’ machine weighs 68 tons and can melt 200 tons of snow per hour…Seems like that might create some street flooding…Still, city officials, after this year’s winter storms, are said to be interested in the “Monster Melt” but the price tag of $1.6 million might be a bit daunting…The machine, as you might expect, is also a gas-guzzler—to the tune of 400 gallons an hour.
TWO DOWNSTATE LEGISLATORS are proposing major changes for our voting procedures this November. Namely, voting by appointment—meaning that voters would have to set up appointments to vote ahead of time, either by phone or online. Walk-ins would not be allowed under the proposed legislation, but voters would be given a one-hour window to show up at their precincts to cast their ballot. “If we’re serious about exercising our most precious right in America,” explains State Representative Lou Neeh (R-Rigged), a co-sponsor of the bill, “then we can certainly take the time to make an appointment to exercise that right.”…The bill is expected to go before both state houses in Lansing in July.
A NEW CLUB makes its debut on NMU’s campus tomorrow. Antifa is holding its organizational meeting at the Northern Center at 7 pm…Antifa currently has chapters on 78 college and university campuses nationwide…“It’s time for college students to take to the streets again,” says organizer Paige Turner, an NMU sophomore. “And if we create some trouble for authorities, so be it. We’ve got to fight for what we believe in.” Turner says priority number one for Antifa in Marquette is to make NMU tuition-free for all students.
IT’S NOW BECOME official—The Upper Peninsula Squirrel Farm has been certified as a nonprofit squirrel refuge in Skandia…71-year-old Jess Kiddin has been operating the farm unofficially for the last decade, accumulating more than 300 of the animals that were donated (or dumped) by neighboring residents. Now Ms. Kiddin has nonprofit status. “This means I’ll be able to buy more nuts and more feeders for my animal friends,” she says. “The little guys and gals deserve a good life, and I’m doing my darndest to give it to them.”…The farm currently features 48 feeders and 22 squirrel baths distributed around the 12 acre farm. Residents are welcome to drop off any live and captured squirrels at the farm during daylight hours seven days of the week.
PREPARE FOR THE southeast quadrant of the Lower Harbor Park to be roped off from July 8th through July 22th. That’s become a favored courting and nesting spot for the endangered black-billed seagull (Chroicocephalus bulleri) during the last few summers…“Ever since, I want to say 2020, we’ve noticed the black-bills just love that spot—the grass and the proximity to the water,” says Abe Ozo, the president of the Great Lakes Seabird Society. “Maybe it’s the smells or the litter. We just don’t know. But we just ask the public to respect these little birds because, at last count, there were fewer than 800 of them in the world.”…While the park is roped off, humans are encouraged to watch the elaborate courting rituals of the black-bills but to maintain a distance of at least 20 feet from them. And keep your dogs at home.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men.”
—Roald Dahl
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