See our right-hand column for announcements and news briefs. Scroll down the right-hand column to access the Archives -- links to articles posted in the main column since 2007. See details about our site, including a way to comment, in the yellow text above the Archives.

Tuesday, September 12, 2023

34th Annual Parade of Nations and Multicultural Festival is Sept. 16

This year's Parade of Nations theme is "Fairy Tales from Around the World." Natalia, a senior student at Lake Linden-Hubbell High School, won this year’s Michigan Tech Parade of Nations logo contest. Her art teacher, Heather French, says Natalia loves art and she will be going to college for graphic design. (Logo by Natalia courtesy Parade of Nations)

The world flags have been raised from Hancock to Houghton! The 34th Annual Michigan Tech Parade of Nations, the Keweenaw’s premier multicultural celebration, is gearing up for a stacked event beginning at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023.

Michigan Tech students and local Keweenaw organizations will begin the parade at 11 a.m. on Hancock’s Quincy Green and head across the Portage Lift Bridge to Dee Stadium in Houghton. This year’s theme, "Fairy Tales from Around the World," has been selected to delight children and families who come to enjoy the parade.

The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community will lead the parade from Hancock through downtown Houghton and down to the Dee. Spectators can expect floats decorated to reflect the fairy tales told around the world, walking groups with goodies to toss, and beautiful displays of dress and music!

Following the parade, the Multicultural Festival begins at noon at Dee Stadium. Find food, drink, music, dance, comedy and crafts throughout the day brought to you by MTU student groups and local businesses. Proceeds from student group food sales goes to supporting their organizations.

Flavors to Savor: Student Groups

    African Student Organization
    Bangladeshi Students
    Indian Students Association
    Iranian Community
    Muslim Student Association
    Nepalese Student Organization
    Society of Hispanic Engineers
    Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers

Flavors to Savor: Keweenaw Businesses

    Sky Sushi
    The Forge
    Munchee Machine
    Keweenaw Coffee Works
    Griffin Café
    Border Grill
    Nisu Café
    Pepsi Booth

Learn and Play:

    MTU Study Abroad
    International Neighbors
    ICE Services
    Kids Booth
    Face Painting
    Cross-Cultural Craft Booth
    Gen X, Y, I Podcast

Entertainment:

    Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC)
    Kivijat -- Finnish Dancers
    Frozen Squid Comedy
    Husky Tae Kwon Do and Keweenaw Korean Martial Arts
    Nepalese Student Organization
    Bangladeshi Student Organization
    Indian Student Association

Memories of 2022 Parade of Nations:

Members of Michigan Tech's African Students' Organization gather on Quincy Green in Hancock, ready to march in the 2022 Parade of Nations. Click on photos for larger versions. (Photos by Keweenaw Now)

A group from Bangladesh, wearing traditional dress, gathers for photos before the start of the 2022 Parade.

Displaying their flags and signs, students representing South American countries prepare to march together in the 2022 Parade of Nations.

Led by participants from the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, the 2022 Parade of Nations begins in Hancock with representatives of many countries. Click on YouTube for larger screen. (Videos by Keweenaw Now) 

During the 2022 Parade of Nations, Yoopers for Ukraine head across the Portage Lift Bridge from Hancock to Houghton with their prize-winning float. Watch for their new float this Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023!

As the 2022 Parade of Nations participants arrive in Houghton, they pass the judges. The Michigan Tech Pep Band provides lively music.

For more information on this year's Parade of Nations activities, visit the Parade of Nations website.

Tuesday, August 29, 2023

Folk School at Midsummer exhibit continues through Sept. 13 at Finlandia Gallery; public reception Aug.31

The Finnish American Folk School exhibit in the The Finlandia Gallery, located in the Finnish American Heritage Center (FAHC), Hancock, includes works by Kenyon Hansen, Ceramics (foreground) and Dish Towel Round-Robin Five Looms Five Weavers: Clare Zuraw, Marci Schneider, Sue Ellen Kingsley, John Gale, Phyllis Fredendall (background). (Photos courtesy Finnish American Heritage Center)

HANCOCK -- The Finnish American Folk School in the Finnish American Heritage Center, Hancock, has had a remarkable year of instruction. 18 instructors shared their craft with workshops filled to capacity. The Folk School at Midsummer exhibition, featuring the work of seven of these Folk School instructors, as well as the work by students produced in their workshops, continues through September 13, 2023.

A reception for the artists will take place from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, August 31, at the gallery. The reception is free and open to the public; refreshments will be served.

Folk school instructors and the classes they presented are listed here: Anita Jain, nuno felting; Wynne Mattila, rug weaving; Alice Margerum, himmeli; Lindsey Heiden, handbuilding: clay tiles; Kenyon Hansen, ceramics on the wheel; Clare Zuraw, knitting, drop spindle and jouhikko playing; Terri Jo Frew, natural inks; Jennifer Szubielak, spinning; Karen Tembruell, birchbark journal; Ginger Alberti, laudelinna sewing; Anna Dijkstra, sock mending; Sandy Lindblom, broom making; Phyllis Fredendall, beginning weaving, inkle weaving, dyeing, garment design; Jim and Harri Kurtti, cookie baking; Elizabeth Brauer, Finnish language; Charlotta Hagfors, rekilaulu; Emmi Kuittinen, folk songs from Karelia.

Students exhibiting work include Melissa Lewis, Mat Moore, Mary Markham, Carol Johnson Pfefferkorn, Nathan Ryckman, Marci Schneider, Monica Maki, John Gale, Stephanie Carpenter, Sue Ellen Kingsley, Hannah Lowney, Emma Wuepper, Kristiina Vanhala, Amanda Moyer Rogers, Jimalee Jones, Linda Lohmann, Kimberly Cook, Tiff DeGroot, and Clare Zuraw.

This past year the Finnish American Folk School studio was full of new and returning weavers. Wynne Mattila returned in the fall to teach the "Over the Waves" workshop to an enthusiastic group. Over the Waves is a traditional Finnish weave structure that has been passed on to Finnish-American weavers. It is called Over the Waves in the Upper Peninsula and Love’s Path in northern Minnesota.

Folk School Co-Director Phyllis Fredendall taught several inkle band weaving workshops, beginning weaving and an intermediate block weaving workshop. Enthusiasm for the weaving process and results filled the studio. The dish towel round robin idea came as a way to continue weaving through the holidays and to explore color and structure in a group. Each weaver designed and set up a warp, allowing weavers to rotate between looms to weave a towel from each of the five different designs. The results hang together for us all to enjoy. 

Folk School Co-Director Phyllis Fredendal, left, assists student Sue Ellen Kingsley with weaving. 

In the fall Anita Salminen Jain taught two nuno felting workshops and led a group in the creation of the Finnish American Folk School Banner inspired by fiber equipment, plants of the dye garden and pollinators. This process combines two protein-based fibers, silk and wool wet felted together.

Finnish American Folk School Banner. Led by Anita Jain with Amanda Moyer Rogers, Mary Markham, Lindsey Heiden, Alice Margerum, Clare Zuraw, Phyllis Fredendall. Wool and Silk Nuno Felted.

Nationally recognized Dollar Bay-based artists Kenyon Hansen and Lindsey Heiden taught workshops in the clay studio. Students made functional wheel spun work and whimsical hand built and mold cast tiles.

Lindsey Heiden is exhibiting clay sculptures of modified animals specifically chosen to represent what she sees and feels daily. Heiden manifests these feelings and moments of nostalgia and recollection into animal characteristics. Her resulting clay hybrid creatures tell a visual story.

Lindsey Heiden Earthenware clay sculpture installation.

Hansen is exhibiting soda fired porcelain clay pieces inspired by the everyday experience, patch work quilts, and the structure and patterns found in nature. His hope is that the pots he makes will contribute to the field of craft and elevate the everyday experience.

Terri Jo Frew, a practicing contemporary artist and professor with the Visual and Performing Arts Department at Michigan Technological University, created two pieces for the exhibit, one using an alcohol-based black walnut ink and the other, a dye made from madder root grown in the Folk School garden.  The black walnut ink was made by the students of the Natural Ink Making Workshop that Frew led for the Finnish American Folk School in the fall of 2022.

L’Anse-based basketry artist, Karen Tembruell teaches nationally led students in birchbark journal making this year.  Tembruell is exhibiting a Foraging Basket made of Birchbark bias double woven with a leather rim and cross body strap, cotton cord, and brass fittings. She is also exhibiting a willow bark, cedar bark, birchbark and cotton cord basket.

Karen Tembreull, Spaced and Laced, 2020. Willow bark, Cedar bark, birch bark and cotton cord.

In September the Folk School will host Barks and Willow, a basketry symposium led by Karen Tembreull and Marquette area basket artist, Poppy Hatinger.

A Barks and Willow Symposium led by artists Karen Tembreull and Poppy Hatinger will be held from Sept. 8-13 at the Finnish American Folk School. Click on poster for larger image. 

Around the Baltic, many cultures create mobiles using straw. In Finland these are called "himmeli." Folk School instructor Alice Margerum presented a himmeli workshop, and then created a sculpture that combined the himmeli structure with an octahedron shaped paper sculpture. The octahedron is covered in a series of drawings representing the four seasons and  featuring the colors associated with those seasons.

The Vörå Neckwarmer is a cowl designed and knit by Clare Zuraw as a sample for a FAFS class she taught during Heikinpäivä 2023. The pattern is inspired by traditional sweater patterns from the island of Vörå /Vöyri in western Finland.

The Finlandia Gallery is located in the Finnish American Heritage Center, 435 Quincy Street, Hancock. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.- 4 p.m. Please call 906-487-7500 or email gallery@finlandia.edu for more information.

Saturday, August 19, 2023

TAKE ACTION NOW to protect Michigan, Wisconsin waters from sulfide mining: Deadline August 20

The beautiful Menominee River flows between Michigan and Wisconsin. It is threatened by the Back 40 sulfide mine proposed by Aquila/GORO. (File photo © and courtesy Wayne Swett)

Aquila/GORO has proposed metallic lease renewal for areas located in close proximity to the Little Shakey Creek, Shakey River, and Shakey Lakes County Park in Menominee County, Michigan. You can help protect the Menominee River from a proposed open-pit metal mine by signing a letter to the Michigan DNR provided online by Freshwater Future.  

Freshwater Future opposes the lease renewal because the group believes open pit mines should never be located in sulfide bearing rock, particularly near a source of public drinking water. The technique exposes the entire mine to air and water, and thus the production of toxic acid mine drainage.
    
The Coalition to SAVE the Menominee River has worked tirelessly for years to protect the Menominee River from the proposed Back 40 open pit metal mine. Historically, all mining operations involving sulfide-bearing rock have led to significant water pollution and waste disposal issues. After the mining company’s wetland permit was denied by regulators, it forced them to propose a different location for the pit to place mining waste. The new location, 400 acres adjacent to the Shakey River, a tributary of the Menominee River, requires a metallic minerals lease renewal from the State of Michigan. You can help! Submit a public comment urging the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to deny this lease renewal request TODAY. The public comment period ends on Sunday, August 20. Click here for a link to the sample letter.

You can also join the Coalition to SAVE The Menominee River for their third annual Water Celebration on Saturday, September 16! Come to Stephenson Island from noon - 7 p.m. for raffles, contests, craft shows, bake sales, live music, and more activities! 

Join the Coalition to SAVE the MeNOMINEe River at their Water Celebration on Stephenson Island, Marinette, Wis., on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023. Click here for larger version of poster. (Poster courtesy Coalition to SAVE the MeNOMINEe River)

Tuesday, August 15, 2023

Citizens For a Safe and Clean Lake Superior hires new Outreach Director

Jane Fitkin, new Director of Outreach and Communications for Citizens for a Safe and Clean Lake Superior (CSCLS). (Photo courtesy CSCLS)

MARQUETTE -- Citizens for a Safe and Clean Lake Superior (CSCLS) is pleased to welcome Jane Fitkin as their new Director of Outreach and Communications.

A recent Northern Michigan University (NMU) graduate with highest honors in Environmental Studies and Sustainability, she has led numerous local environmental efforts including groups like the Marquette Climbers’ Co-op and NMU Conservation Crew and has advocated with local government planning officials for sustainable infrastructure projects.

Having lived in Marquette for the past four years, Fitkin has developed a strong connection to the local community and environment and sees unnecessary industrial development, like the planned rocket launch site near Thoneys Point, in
Powell Township just 10 miles north of Marquette, as a serious threat.

"We live on the shoreline of the world’s largest freshwater body. Lake Superior is immeasurably important to our way of life, and promoting heavy industry right on the lakeshore is a serious threat to all of us," Fitkin said. "I'm excited to join this effort to protect our lake for all of us."

This Lake Superior shoreline view shows the pretty sandstone cliffs at the proposed Granot Loma/Thoneys Point launch area. (File photo courtesy Citizens for a Safe and Clean Lake Superior)

According to Dennis Ferraro, president of CSCLS, Fitkin will be assisting with the citizen petition effort in Powell Township to amend zoning regulations to ban spaceports and rocket launches in the township, as well as carrying out various other community events.

"Jane is a great asset to our current campaign here at CSCLS and she brings the leadership, policy and communication skills to broaden our future efforts to protect our beautiful Freshwater Coast," Ferraro said.

The mission of Citizens for a Safe and Clean Lake Superior is to protect and improve the precious environmental resource of the coastal habitat, shoreline and fresh water of Lake Superior and its watershed in Marquette County; to oppose individual, corporate, or governmental action which may jeopardize that resource; and to encourage community action to preserve the quality of life provided by this Lake Superior Coastline environment for generations to come.

Saturday, August 12, 2023

Eisenhower Dance Detroit to offer U.P. RootEDD program, contemporary dance performances August 13-19

This week the Rozsa Center welcomes Eisenhower Dance Detroit, offering the public -- ages 14 and above -- a local program of dancing, grounding and self-care from Sunday, August 13, to Saturday, August 19. (Poster courtesy Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts)

HOUGHTON -- The Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts will present Eisenhower Dance Detroit for U.P. RootEDD, a family friendly summer vacation experience during the week of Aug. 13-19. These professional contemporary dancers will also give two performances on the Rozsa stage -- at 6 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 13, and at 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 19.

Find out about the program of dancing, grounding and self-care at 9 a.m. Sunday in the Rozsa. The program, for ages 14 and above, will feature the following:

  • Classes in a variety of styles and disciplines
  • Ballet, contemporary, jazz, partnering, contemporary ballet, alignment, EDD repertory, choreography, etc.
  • Beach yoga, outdoor ropes courses, hikes, paddle boarding, guided improvisation by campfire, journaling and so much more!
  • Opportunities and free time to explore the beauty of the Upper Peninsula.

Eisenhower Dance Detroit is "A professional repertory company that, through outstanding performances and educational services, strives to deepen the understanding and appreciation of contemporary dance regionally, nationally, and internationally and to reflect on and explore issues of social significance."

U.P.ROOTEDD OPENING PERFORMANCE

Eisenhower Dance Detroit dancers. (Photo courtesy Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts)

General admission tickets are available for an opening performance at 6 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 13, in the Rozsa. This will be a short performance by the professional contemporary dancers of Eisenhower Dance Detroit with a Q and A immediately following -- kicking off a week-long summer dance training and retreat experience! Click here for tickets.

U.P.ROOTEDD CULMINATING PERFORMANCE

A culminating performance by the U.P.RootEDD participants with a feature performance by Eisenhower Dance Detroit will be at 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 19, in the Rozsa. General seating and open to the public. Click here for tickets.

Rozsa Introduces "Pay As You’re Able" Ticketing for its Upcoming Season

The Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts, the Michigan Tech Visual and Performing Arts Department, and Visit Keweenaw are thrilled to announce the launch of Pay As You're Able Ticketing for the upcoming Rozsa season, including all Presenting Series events. After successful testing and positive audience feedback last year, the Rozsa is excited to extend this innovative ticketing structure to its entire season, making it easier for everyone in the community to experience the magic of live performances.

Pay As You're Able Ticketing is designed to remove financial barriers and promote greater accessibility to the performing arts. The program allows guests to pay what they can afford
for their tickets, enabling them to choose from various pricing options based on their circumstances.

Pay As You’re Able Presenting Series tickets go on sale August 15, 2023, and can be purchased online at tickets.mtu.edu, by phone at 906-487-1906, or at the Rozsa Box Office. See Tech Today, Aug. 11, 2023, for details.

Tuesday, July 11, 2023

Estivant Pines 50th Anniversary: Open for traffic after improvement project

Explore the stunning and remote Estivant Pines Sanctuary in the Keweenaw, near Copper Harbor. (Photo courtesy Visit Keweenaw)

UPDATE: The Estivant Pines will celebrate its improvements and legacy with a trail rededication and 50th anniversary celebration from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 27. The Michigan Nature Association looks forward to welcoming the public to the pines and teaching about the forest.

THE KEWEENAW, Michigan (July 11, 2023) -- The Estivant Pines Nature Sanctuary trail is open now with an upgraded experience for adventurers -- in time for its 50th anniversary. The trail was closed briefly while Rock Solid Trail Contracting made improvements with the Michigan Nature Association (MNA), owner of the Sanctuary since 1973.*

"When boardwalks age, they create a lot of upkeep work and in the process become unsafe as they degrade and become slippery when wet," said Nancy Leonard, Michigan Nature Association conservation coordinator. "Visitation to the Estivant Pines includes folks of all ages and of varying hiking abilities. Slippery board walks and steep grades [were] a hindrance to some. Looking forward to the 50th anniversary of the Pines, we realized that it was time to address these issues and to make an upgrade [to] the core trail."

Leonard explains Rock Solid Trail Contracting is an industry leader for trail work of this scale. Michigan Nature Association (MNA) was excited to enter an agreement with Rock Solid on the project. Leonard says building better on the Pines will bring a greater accessibility level for hikers and one that requires less maintenance over time.

"This year’s project centers upon the core trail," said Leonard. "The two loops, Memorial and Cathedral, will remain the same. Boardwalks are being removed and raised gravel tread will be laid in place. Culverts will be added to channel the water from natural seeps and away from the trail. A section of the lower trail that includes a steep grade will be replaced by a new trail bed nearby that will lessen the grade. An accessible side spur will lead to an area of meditation beneath a grand old pine."

According to MNA's Web site, the 570.5 acre sanctuary protects one of the last old-growth white pine stands in Michigan. Some of the trees are more than 125 feet tall and date back 300 years. The two loop trails intersect, offering a 2.5 mile hike.

The improved trail is open to traffic now.

"Most major improvements are indeed completed; however, the remaining task of applying the hard-packed gravel tread will be completed later this summer," Leonard added. "In the meantime, hikers are enjoying the trail as we speak."

How to get there:

The sanctuary is located in Keweenaw County. Follow US 41 east through Copper Harbor. From US 41, turn right onto 2nd Street at the Community Center and sign for Manganese Lake.
Follow 2nd Street (also called Manganese Road) for 1.2 miles and then turn left onto Clark Mine Road. Travel 1.2 miles and turn right onto Burma Road. Travel another .5 miles on Burma Rd. to the trailhead and parking area. For additional information, contact the MNA office at (866) 223-2231.**

A celebration of the pines is planned for this summer (date to be announced). Make sure to check out the best hikes like Estivant Pines when you’re in the Keweenaw.

Notes: 

* For MNA's details about the Estivant Pines Sanctuary, click here.

** For more photos and a map, click here.

Wednesday, June 28, 2023

Menominee cultural site listed on National Register of Historic Places

From: Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin
June 23, 2023

Pictured here within a Menominee ceremonial dance ring, from left, are Archaeologist Dr. David Overstreet, Menominee Tribal Historic Preservation Director David "Nahwahquaw" Grignon, Tribal member Tony Brown, and Menominee High School students Kahkamahot Waupekenay, Glen Miller, Lupe Corn, Lois Turney, and Aaliyah Webster, with their teacher, Dawn Wilber. Click here for larger photo. (Photo courtesy Menominee Tribe)

KESHENA, WI -- The Menominee Tribe is extremely happy to learn that its nomination to have the Sixty Islands or Anaem Omot (Dogs Belly) area in Wisconsin and Michigan be added to the National Register of Historic Places was approved. This recognizes critical burial and historic sites at the place of the Menominee Tribe's origin.

Chairwoman Gena Kakkak was overwhelmed with gratitude, saying, "We are so very thankful to the National, Park Service for including this site on the National Register of Historic Places. Our ancestors can now rest better in their places of burial. Our original spiritual and ceremonial grounds are recognized and our children can continue to learn and find their heritage in our places of origin."

Tribal Historic Preservation Director David Grignon called this a historic day for the Menominee people. Grignon has worked for years with archaeologist David Overstreet to achieve the historic preservation nomination in both Wisconsin and Michigan.*

"It was a long time in coming," Grignon said, "but now our sacred sites, mounds and historic sites on the Menominee River at Sixty Islands are recognized."

During the July 23, 2022, Water Festival, held by the Coalition to SAVE the Menominee River on Stephenson Island in Marinette, Wis., Menominee Tribal Historic Preservation Director David Grignon speaks about protection for the Menominee cultural resources located near the Menominee River and the Tribe's origins on the banks of the River. (File photo © and courtesy Karen Slattery)*

Menominee Tribal member Dawn Wilber, who teaches Menominee culture and language at Menominee High School in Keshena, Wis., and who has co-organized four annual Menominee Canoe Trips to call attention to the need to protect both the sacred sites and the river, commented on the news of this historic listing.**

"We just cannot say thank you enough because everything was done in the name of preserving the culture, historical and sacred sites of the Menominee people and our most beloved and beautiful Menominee River!" Wilber writes. "Our people now and our people that are yet to come are so grateful and will be so grateful for all these actions. It is the most amazing news that we’ve heard in a long, long time."

Dawn Wilber is pictured here with her nieces and nephews, who attended, along with other students, Wilber's June 29, 2022, Ancient Tour of Menominee sacred sites. The tour preceded the fourth annual Menominee Canoe Trip. (File photo © and courtesy Dawn Wilber)**

The Anaem Omot or Sixty Islands area of the Menominee River is located about 16 miles east of Stephenson, Michigan. Settlement remains date back roughly 10,000 years to the last Ice Age.

The tribe has worked for several years to advocate for this listing and to protect the culturally sensitive areas that include burial mounds, garden beds and ceremonial sites. Menominee tribal members and advocacy groups remain connected to this area for cultural purposes.

Burial mound near the Menominee River, not far from the proposed Back 40 mine site. (Keweenaw Now file photo)

One important need for this protection is the threat posed by the proposed Back 40 sulfide mine for gold, copper, zinc and lead -- which could be built very close to the river and the sacred sites. 

The 5th Annual Menominee Canoe Trip, June 29 to July 3, 2023, will again offer participants an opportunity to canoe on this beautiful river to call attention to the dangers of potential sulfide mining. This year it will also be an occasion to celebrate the fact that the Sixty Islands cultural sites are now approved for the National Register of Historic Places.

Early morning, peaceful scenic view of the Menominee River just before the canoe launch on Day 2 of last year's Canoe Trip. (File photo © and courtesy Wayne Swett)

The Menominee Tribe, having no migration story, are the original people of this land from time memorial. For more information on the Menominee Tribe visit their Web site: https://www.menominee-nsn.gov/

Editor's Notes:

* For background on the opposition to the Back 40 Mine and more on David Grignon's talk, see the Keweenaw Now Sept. 8, 2022, article, "Coalition to SAVE the Menominee River holds Water Celebration featuring Native, non-Native speakers on Back 40 mining project."

** See also the July 14, 2022, Keweenaw Now article, "Water protectors complete 4th Annual Menominee on Menominee Canoe Trip against threat of Back 40 mining project."

Friday, June 16, 2023

Eighth Grader stuns MPSC at meeting on Line 5 proposed tunnel under Straits of Mackinac

This map shows the location of the existing Line 5 dual pipelines -- dotted lines to the west of the Mackinac Bridge (at right, in red) between St. Ignace and Mackinaw City, Michigan. Enbridge hopes to replace the 70-year-old Line 5 with a pipeline inside a tunnel under the lakebed of the Straits. (Image courtesy US Army Corps of Engineers) 

From Oil and Water Don't Mix
Posted on their Web site June 13, 2023
Shared with permission

The Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) staff recently recommended that the commissioners approve the permit to place the Enbridge Line 5 crude oil pipeline into a tunnel through the Great Lakes. But then eighth grader Anna Stuntz stepped up to the mic.

Oil and Water Don't Mix -- a group of organizations and citizens across Michigan working to keep oil out of the Great Lakes and spur a transition to a clean energy economy -- organized the public to attend the June 9, 2023, MPSC meeting to let the commissioners know what they think of the plan to create new fossil fuel infrastructure through the Great Lakes. Anna framed a stunning argument for a reason to deny the permit:

Anna Stuntz addresses the Michigan Public Service Commission with a poem that expresses her opposition to the Line 5 pipelines and Enbridge's plan for a tunnel under the Straits. (Video courtesy Oil and Water Don't Mix)

CLICK HERE to join Anna and send a message to the MPSC: NO OIL TUNNEL.

You can also sign a petition against the tunnel to Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Legislature HERE.

Editor's Note:

See this info from a tunnel expert: "Red Flags: Proposed Great Lakes Tunnel Project." 

For information on Line 5 from MPSC CLICK HERE.