High winds, waves, power outages hit Eagle Harbor Sept. 3

By Michele Bourdieu

EAGLE HARBOR -- Lake Superior greeted Labor Day Weekend visitors with high winds and rain on Friday, Sept. 3 -- a sudden change from sunny, hot weather in late August. Keweenaw Now captured a few moments of the storm near the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse.

Lake Superior's waves crash against rocks along the shore near the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse in Keweenaw County. (Video clip by Keweenaw Now)

Despite power outages that affected several Keweenaw communities in both Keweenaw and Houghton counties, the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse Complex -- including the restored Lighthouse, the Commercial Fishing Museum and the Maritime Museum with shipwreck displays -- remained open and welcomed visitors.

Volunteers from the Keweenaw County Historical Society, which maintains the Lighthouse and museums, were available to give explanations and answer questions.

The Lighthouse, museums and exhibits are open in September and October from Noon to 5 p.m.

For more information visit the Keweenaw County Historical Society Web site.

See also our new slide show with photos taken in Keweenaw County on Sept. 2 and 3, 2010.

Updated: New exhibit features furniture from recycled bikes

HANCOCK -- Marquette artist Andy Gregg makes functional, eco-friendly furniture from salvaged bike parts. His product line -- including chairs, tables, barstools, coat racks and mirrors -- is modern and stylish with an urban look. An exhibit of his work opens on Tuesday, Sept. 7, at the Copper Country Community Arts Center’s Kerredge Gallery. A closing reception will be announced later this month.

Cynthia Coté, Copper Country Community Arts Center executive director, displays artist Andy Gregg's Milano Lounge Chair, made of recycled bike parts. In the background are some of Gregg's photos, also part of the exhibit that opened today, Sept. 7, in the Kerredge Gallery. Behind Cynthia is a photo of County Road 510 in Marquette County. At left, the large photo is the Final Stage of the Tour de France in Paris, 1992. (Photos by Keweenaw Now)

The artist, who has a fine arts degree in photography, was inspired by designers and architects such as Mies van der Rohe and Charles Eames. In 1994 Gregg was hired to start Blackstone Bicycle Works in Chicago. Its mission was to rescue bikes out of the waste stream and teach inner-city youth how to repair them. In exchange, the kids not only learned job skills, but they also had a chance to earn a bike. During that eight year stint, Gregg soaked up inspiration and a commitment to recycling and had a steady supply of materials. In addition to his furniture, the exhibit includes Gregg’s photography -- featuring gritty daredevil bicyclers, street savvy kids with bikes and other subjects reflecting the artist's interests.

Andy Gregg's description of this photo reads as follows: "The Salmon Trout River, running clear, empties into Lake Superior 9 miles downstream from a proposed SULFIDE MINE. The river and lake are under immediate threat by the Kennecott Mineral Company's Eagle Project, proposed to be located directly beneath the river."

Supported in part by a grant from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, this exhibit will run through Oct. 2. The Community Arts Center is located at 126 Quincy Street in Hancock. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. For more information call (906) 482-2333.

Kids Consignment Sale Sep. 24-25 to benefit indoor playground

HOUGHTON -- The Keweenaw Family Resource Center (KFRC) will be holding a fundraising Kids Consignment Sale from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 24-25, at the Copper Country Mall on M-26 in Houghton. Proceeds from the sale will benefit the KFRC Tree House Indoor Playground.

Anyone wishing to be a consignor should register by the deadline -- Monday, Sept. 13. Contact Ivette at 906-523-5295 or email KFRCKidsConsign@gmail.com. KFRC's current goal is to have 50 consignors.

Items for the sale should be high-quality and gently-used. These can include clothing, gear, sporting goods, toys, equipment, furniture, etc., for all ages, stages and sizes, as well as maternity clothes and accessories, nursing apparel, diaper bags and much more.

The half-price sale starts at 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 25. Payment must be cash or check only, no credit cards. New Moms and Moms-To-Be can sign up for the First-Time Mom's Club and shop before the sale starts (no strings attached!).

Sen. Levin speaks at Small Business Roundtable in Houghton

U.S. Senator Carl Levin discusses climate and energy issues with Sarah Green, Michigan Tech University Department of Chemistry chair, following Sen. Levin's visit to a Small Business Roundtable Meeting on Aug. 20 at the Franklin Square Best Western Inn Shelden Grill in Houghton. Also pictured is Ed Lahti, local inventor. (Photo by Keweenaw Now)

By Michele Bourdieu

HOUGHTON -- U.S. Senator Carl Levin was a guest speaker at the Aug. 20 Small Business Roundtable Meeting with the Keweenaw Economic Development Alliance (KEDA) in Houghton. The purpose of the visit, according to Phil Musser, KEDA executive director, was to talk about small business issues. The Senator also spoke briefly to the media and individual constituents after the meeting.

Sen. Levin is on the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee and is a strong advocate for Michigan small business interests.

"His membership on that committee means that he has impact on small business issues," Musser said. "We want to be able to communicate with him what our priorities are. One of those priorities (which he mentioned in his talk) is called Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)."

Through the SBIR program, government agencies set aside some of their money for small business research to help commercialize products of interest to that agency, Musser explained.

"This is very important money for young companies who don't have a lot of money to do research or commercialize," Musser noted. "I estimate that companies in this community have received 75 or more SBIRs. Those range in size from $50,000 to $750,000."

Musser said these grants are important for helping young companies get their products into the marketplace.

"Senator Levin has been one of those who helped start that program and is a strong supporter of it. It comes up periodically for renewal and he supports full funding of the SBIR program," Musser added.

Musser said Bill and Ellen Campbell's Nitrate Elimination Co., Inc., (NECi) in Lake Linden, founded in 1993, is a good example of SBIR money helping a new company market its products.

According to Ellen Campbell, NECi vice-president, NECi sells its easy-to-use nitrate test kits for environmental testing and agriculture throughout the US. NECi's enzyme-based nitrate analysis method can be used in everything ranging from testing home well water to automated nitrate analysis in the lab. In addition, their products for very accurate nitrate testing in laboratories are sold internationally.

NECi also recently received a new $90,000 grant from the US Department of Agriculture's SBIR program for developing a greener, enzyme-based method for detection of phosphate.

"Our agricultural customers have told us that they are more likely to test their soil and runoff if they can check nitrate and phosphate at the same time," Ellen Campbell explained.

In addition, since part of the company's development funds came from the SBIR program, the Campbells are able to sell their products at a better price.

"The SBIR program has been the key to our survival and our ability to remain in the UP," Ellen Campbell said. "Our company is pioneering the use of purified enzymes for analytical chemistry. Many lab tests require the use of hazardous or toxic chemicals. We are working to replace these chemical methods with enzyme-based methods. This is a new concept -- enzyme-based methods are rarely used outside the medical lab."

Along with many local business owners, representatives of departments at Michigan Technological University, many of whom are KEDA members, attended the meeting with Sen. Levin.

After the meeting, Sarah Green, chair of Michigan Tech's Department of Chemistry, spoke to Sen. Levin about her concern that the Senate pass the climate bill.

"He said he agrees it's important," Green said.

Green noted her disappointment in the present energy bill, which, Levin told her, has a chance to pass in the Senate.

"It's going to take pieces of the original climate bill and call it the energy bill," she said. "At this point any bill that makes steps toward reducing our carbon footprint is a step forward. That bill has many good elements, but Levin (and others) say only some parts may still come to the floor this year. Nobody yet knows what parts it will contain. They are calling it an 'energy bill' instead of 'clean energy jobs.'"

Green added she believes the Senate needs to pass some version of the House bill.

"They haven't even taken it up, so I don't know if it has a number yet," Green noted. "It's known as the 'clean energy jobs bill.'"*

Green said she also spoke with Levin about standards for vehicle emission. Levin's view, she noted, is that states (like California) shouldn't be allowed to set higher standards than a national federal standard for vehicle emissions.

Other issues

Since the press was not allowed at the meeting but only given the final 15 minutes to interview Sen. Levin, Keweenaw Now asked him about two issues -- Afghanistan and Kennecott-Rio Tinto's sulfide mine.

Sen. Levin said he made a reference to Afghanistan in his talk at the KEDA meeting, but didn't talk about it in detail to the group.

Asked whether he thought the U.S. would have to accept the Taliban having a role in the Afghan government at the expense of human rights, Levin replied that the Taliban is very unpopular and can be defeated.

"They (the Taliban) can be defeated, but they can only be defeated by the Afghan people and their army, which has got a lot of respect," Levin said, "and I believe our mission should be to build up that army -- to transition responsibility for Afghan security to the Afghan Army. They've got to take responsibility for their security. They have the respect of the people ... They're fighters. The people hate the Taliban, so if you put those ingredients together they can defeat the Taliban. It's got to be our supporting their effort. It can't be our being in the lead."**

On the mining issue, Sen. Levin said he wasn't very familiar with the Eagle Project mine; however, his Upper Peninsula Regional Representative Amy Berglund told Keweenaw Now Levin's staff is aware of Rio Tinto-Kennecott and other mining companies now active in the Upper Peninsula. She said they are open to receiving information on the mining from concerned citizens.

*See the Web site ClimateProgress.org for more information on the "energy bill."

** See our April 3, 2010, article, "Local soldier describes humanitarian mission in Afghanistan."

Mural by Hancock artist, Afghanistan veteran, to be unveiled Sept. 2

HANCOCK -- Finlandia University Graphic Design/Illustration sophomore Dominic Fredianelli, a National Guard Veteran returned recently from Afghanistan, has brought an urban art form to Hancock -- in a very big way.

Detail of Dominic Fredianelli’s 12 x 120-foot mural, which he has painted on a south-facing exterior wall of the Finlandia University Jutila Center campus. (Photos courtesy Finlandia University)

His 12-foot by 100-foot painting -- a chronicle of the first 24 years of Fredianelli’s life -- will be unveiled at a reception for Fredianelli at 4 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 2, outdoors near the south-facing side of Finlandia’s Jutila Center campus. The public is invited and refreshments will be served.

Heather Courtney, originally from Houghton and now a reporter for an NPR (National Public Radio) station in Texas, will film the painting’s unveiling.

Since 2007 Courtney has been filming a documentary that follows Fredianelli and several of his friends and fellow soldiers, all them in the 1431st Engineer Company of the National Guard, Calumet, Mich. Each of the young men graduated from Hancock High School in 2005; all were deployed to Afghanistan in 2009; and all have now returned to the Upper Peninsula .

It was a progression of smaller events that led to the creation of the large mural. In response to his desire to work on an independent project, Fredianelli’s academic advisor, Studio Arts professor Yueh-mei Cheng, set him up in a studio at the Jutila Center, where he began to create a large mixed-media oil painting on canvas.

"I designed this special project for Dominic, instead of giving him the regular class assignment, as he needed some way to freely express the emotions he accumulated when he was in Afghanistan," said Cheng. "Making art can be therapeutic. The purpose of the project is for Dominic to release emotions from the impact of war, deaths, and nightmares."

This is not Fredianelli’s first try at creating an outdoor mural, but the current project is the largest so far. On four panels, he has depicted -- in reverse order, if viewing the painting from left to right -- his personal history as a soldier and young man, as a teenager and as a small boy.

One might not expect a young man under 30 to have experienced enough to fill 1,200 square feet, but Fredianelli is an exception.

Dominic Fredianelli works on his 12 x 120-foot mural, which he has painted on a south-facing exterior wall of the Finlandia University Jutila Center campus.

The four-panel mural includes a 12-foot self-portrait of Fredianelli the soldier, a 10-foot image of an Afghani civilian, and two dominant words: Soldier and Change. Other images include a river that he describes as one of the most beautiful places he encountered in Afghanistan, the Twin Towers, a mosque, a church and the Quincy Mine Hoist.

Fredianelli says that some of the meanings the painting may convey to the viewer are deliberate on his part, while others "just happened" as part of the creative sketching and painting process.

Fredianelli began pursuing a bachelor of fine arts (BFA) at Finlandia in fall 2007. After two semesters of study, his National Guard Unit was deployed. He returned to the U.S. in 2009 and then completed an automotive technician certificate in Wyoming. After a few months in Marquette, Mich., he returned to his home town and resumed his BFA studies at Finlandia.

Fredianelli, along with 30 additional U.S. armed services veterans, is attending Finlandia with the assistance of the GI Bill and other veterans’ programs. He is the son of Sharon and Brian Fredianelli of Hancock.

For additional information, please contact Lisa Broemer at 487-7375, or e-mail lisa.broemer@finlandia.edu.

Pamela Kotila exhibits comics at Reflection Gallery through Sept. 30

HANCOCK -- The Finlandia University Reflection Gallery, Hancock, is hosting an exhibit of comic illustrations by Pamela Kotila through Sept. 30, 2010.

The exhibit, titled Pandora! Volume 1, displays the first volume in a series of books in which Kotila has rethought and revamped her original Pandora comics, a page-by-page webcomic she created in 2003.

An image from Pamela Kotila’s Pandora comic series. (Image courtesy Finlandia University)

An opening reception and artist talk will take place from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 2, at the Reflection Gallery in the Jutila Center. The reception is open to the public and refreshments will be served.

Kotila says she has wanted to tackle this project for many years, but felt it was important to continue the original storyline rather than spend time redoing what was already done. She has long been waiting for the right opportunity to lessen the clutter and add some scenery to the original Pandora illustrations. She says an advanced illustration class she completed at Finlandia in fall 2009, as well as her evolving talent for creating comics, gave her the motivation and enhanced skills to revisit the design of the Pandora comics.

"My talent for comics was increasing," Kotila explains. "I had also started drawing backgrounds. Finally, the time was right to open the box."

The artist Pamela Kotila. (Photo courtesy Pamela Kotila)

In using the first Pandora as a guide, Kotila assures fans of the original story that they will find "a lot of familiarity in this work, both in the story and the characters."

She adds that the story has been filtered, condensed, and sometimes expanded to create a smoother reading experience.

"I now have the advantage of using characters I understand, rather than characters I was working to understand," Kotila explains. "I have also chosen to change the style of the panels so that the story flows page to page, rather than depicting one joke or single situation per page."

Kotila notes she has chosen to work in a comedic medium because comedy is an excellent tool for change.

A Finlandia University alumna, Kotila completed a bachelor of fine arts at Finlandia University in 2010. She served as content and copy editor of Finlandia’s student newspaper, The Roar, throughout her college career.

The Reflection Gallery is located on the second level of Finlandia’s Jutila Center campus, Hancock.

For additional information, please contact Yueh-mei Cheng, professor of studio arts, at 906-487-7375 or e-mail FinlandiaReflectionGallery@gmail.com.