Brownstone Hall to host Bernie Larsen, Cry on Cue, Scotty Alan TONIGHT, Oct. 8

HOUGHTON -- Brownstone Hall in Atlantic Mine will present singer/songwriter/producer Bernie Larsen/Cry on Cue/Scotty Alan to the stage at 9 p.m. TONIGHT, Saturday, Oct. 8! All ages welcome.

Cover: $7. Bring your own refreshments and snacks if you'd like -- a small selection of water/pop will be available for purchase. Thanks for supporting live music! Follow the signs past the Copper Country Mall. Check out Brownstone Hall on Facebook: brownstone hall or brownstonehall.com.

From Truthout: Nobel Peace Prize goes to 3 women activists

TRIPOLI, Libya -- The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded Friday to three women activists, two from Liberia and one from Yemen, in recognition of their nonviolent campaigns toward peace and women’s rights in conflict zones....
Click here to read the article on Truthout.

Backroom Boys to play jazz, swing, blues at Omphale Gallery and Café Oct. 7

By Oren Tikkanen*

CALUMET -- This Friday (Oct. 7) is First Friday in Calumet, and the galleries will be open! The town will be quivering with artistic energy, and the epicenter might well be the beautifully re-appointed Omphale Gallery and Café on north 5th Street.

The Backroom Boys pictured here are Oren Tikkanen, seated, on banjo; John Munson, left, with clarinet; and Bob Norden, trombone. Joining them Friday at the Omphale will be Matthew Durocher (not pictured) on upright bass. (Photo courtesy Oren Tikkanen)

The Backroom Boys -- Bob Norden, trombone; John Munson, clarinet/sax; Oren Tikkanen, banjo/guitar; and Matthew Durocher, upright bass -- will be playing jazz, swing, and blues with a touch of New Orleans laid-back fervor.

Julie DePaul Johnson, co-owner of the Omphale Gallery and Café, makes gourmet coffee and treats in the newly remodeled establishment on 5th Street in Calumet. (Photo by Keweenaw Now)

Madame Julie and Mademoiselle Katie Jo will be serving up gourmet treats, and have commented that it would be a shame if their wonderfully refinished floor does not meet with dancing feet -- from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. this Friday, Oct 7, 2011 -- see you there!

* Guest writer Oren Tikkanen is a local musician and storyteller.

Ed Gray Gallery to host "Dancing With Clay" exhibit

CALUMET -- The "Dancing With Clay" show opens at the Ed Gray Gallery with a reception from 6:30 p.m. - 9 p.m. on First Friday, Oct. 7, 2011. This show features invited clay artists from the Great Lakes region. Regular gallery artists along with two artists new to the gallery will be exhibiting their work in this show, which includes mugs and sculptural pieces.

The Ed Gray Gallery is located at 109 Fifth Street in Calumet.

Deadline to apply for Poor Artists sale is Oct. 8, 2011

HANCOCK -- The deadline for artists to apply for the 35th annual Poor Artists Sale is this Saturday, Oct. 8. The Poor Artists Sale is a juried art fair and will be held at the CLK Gymnasium in Calumet on Saturday, Dec. 3. Artists who would like to have a booth space in the largest holiday shopping event of the year should pick up an application at the Copper Country Community Arts Center (CCCAC) in Hancock or visit www.coppercountryarts.com and go to the "artist opportunities" section on the newsletter page. Applications must be received by Saturday, Oct. 8.

The Poor Artists Sale is organized by the Copper Country Community Arts Center, located at 126 Quincy Street, Hancock. The Community Arts Center strives to "Foster an Environment where the Arts and People Grow Together." Contact Cynthia Coté at (906) 482-2333 for more information or stop by the CCCAC to pick up a booth application.

Artist to demonstrate flint knapping at CCAA Gallery in Calumet Oct. 7

CALUMET -- For First Friday, Oct. 7, the Copper Country Associated Artists (CCAA) will host a very special session by guest artist Steve Hecht, who will demonstrate the traditional art of flint knapping. This is a technique for fashioning tools such as arrow points, scrapers and knives from stone -- typically obsidian; but Hecht uses many varieties of rocks and different methods to create his pieces.

Artist Steve Hecht works on his flint knapping in the Calumet Art Center. He will demonstrate this traditional art for the public on Friday, Oct. 7, at the Copper Country Associated Artists Gallery in Calumet. (Keweenaw Now file photos)

Hecht has been flint-knapping for about fifteen years. His interest in rocks and minerals led him to many shows where this was taught.

The demonstration will take place from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 7 at the CCAA Gallery in Calumet. Attendees will be able to learn methods by limited participation and observation; but, since it generally takes many hours for a pro like Hecht to create a single piece, this will not be a take-home project. Attendees may enter a drawing to to win the completed piece.

Flint knapping is hard on the fingers without protection.

The CCAA gallery is located at 112 Fifth Street in Calumet. From October through the Christmas season the gallery will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Saturday in addition to First Fridays.

Please check out CCAA's new Facebook page for a picture and more info.

Main Street Calumet Farmers and Artisans Market now indoors

CALUMET -- Main Street Calumet’s Farmers and Artisans Market has relocated from its former site in Agassiz Park in Calumet to a new indoor location at the Merchants and Miners Building at 200 Fifth Street (corner of Fifth and Portland Streets) in downtown Calumet.

The market will still be held on Fridays; however, the new location has prompted expanded hours -- from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. It will still feature fresh produce, locally produced food items, the work of local artists and craftspeople and the products of local merchants. The market will regularly spotlight local performing artists, presentations by organizations and individuals -- and much more.

For additional information about Main Street Calumet’s Farmers and Artisans Market please visit Main Street Calumet’s website at www.mainstreetcalumet.com, contact them by email at info@mainstreetcalumet.com or phone 906-337-6246.

Documentary film on Native action to be shown Oct. 6 at Ojibwa Casino

BARAGA -- The documentary film, Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action, will be shown at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 6, in the Chippewa Room of the Ojibwa Casino in Baraga.

Nearly all Indian lands in the U.S. face grave environmental threats -- toxic waste, strip mining, oil drilling and nuclear contamination. Filmed against some of America’s most spectacular backdrops, from Alaska to Maine and Montana to New Mexico, Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action profiles the against-all-odds struggles of Native American leaders who are taking on powerful energy companies and government agencies to protect the environment for all Americans.

This film is part of the "Mining Impacts on Native Lands" Film Series. The goal of this monthly film series is to increase community awareness and capacity in the midst of growing mineral interest throughout the region. Featured films will focus on the environmental and social impacts of mining, particularly on Native communities. All films are free and open to the public. Mining updates will be provided and discussion welcomed.

Click here for a preview of the film.

Gallerie Boheme to exhibit "Small Art" by local artists, opening Oct. 7

CALUMET -- Gallerie Boheme, in Calumet, will open an exhibit titled "Small Art" on Friday, Oct. 7. It will feature small artworks by local artists Stuart Baird, Kerrie Corser, Cynthia Coté, Margo McCafferty, Tom Rudd and North Carolina artist Ursula Vernon.

Tom Rudd and Margo McCafferty, The Early Morning Show, color reduction relief print. (Photo courtesy Tom Rudd and Margo McCafferty)

The public is invited to the opening of this new show from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 7.

Gallerie Boheme exhibits exceptional works by Calumet and Keweenaw-area artists and craftspersons. The gallery is located in Calumet on the north end of Fifth Street at 423, near Artis Books and the Omphale Gallery and Café. Business hours are 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, July through October, other times by appointment. For additional information contact Tom Rudd at (906) 369-4087 or Tom Dumble at (760) 285-5128.

Utah journalist sends updates on Rio Tinto - Kennecott

SALT LAKE CITY -- Sallie Dean Shatz, Utah photographer and writer and Keweenaw Now guest photographer, sends news of Rio-Tinto - Kennecott's mining operations in Salt Lake City.

In her investigative article, "Tall Tailings," with her photos, published in the August 2011 issue of Catalyst, an online magazine (pp. 12-14), Shatz writes about Rio Tinto - Kennecott's plans to mine their two billion ton pile of tailings from the Bingham Canyon Mine. Her statements about the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers are of interest to anyone looking for regulation by our federal agencies to protect air and water quality.

On the EPA, Shatz notes, "Large staff turnovers have erased institutional memory related to this issue. Impending budget cuts and the current Congress's attempts to strip the organization of its enforcement powers have made their job more difficult."

On the Army Corps of Engineers (whose job is to consider the Environmental Impact Statement when waters of the United States are involved in order to protect them) Shatz says, "The Corps appears to have a tendency to consider and then say yes: Nationally, it rejects only about one percent of the applications it receives and approves the rest with some mitigation."*

Shatz recently updated us with a Sept. 13 article on a land swap between Kennecott and the Mormon Church, which, she says, eliminates some issues mentioned in her August article.**

* Click here to read the Catalyst magazine article and go to p. 12 of the magazine. See also Shatz's photo of Tim DeChristopher in an article about his sentencing on p. 8.

** Click here to read about the land swap.

Editor's Note: See our April 28, 2011, article with Sallie Dean Shatz's photo of Meg Townsend speaking with Rio Tinto CEO Tom Albanese and Chairman Jan du Plessis after the April 14, 2011, Rio Tinto AGM, during which she spoke and presented du Plessis a petition from 200 doctors protesting the form of mining being used in Rio Tinto - Kennecott's Eagle Mine near Big Bay, Michigan.

Community Arts Center to feature paintings by Susan Hooker, opening Oct. 6

HANCOCK -- The new exhibit in the Community Arts Center's Kerredge Gallery is "Kimonos and Bubbles" -- mixed media paintings by Hancock artist Susan Hooker.

The public is invited to an opening reception from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 6.

Many international experiences have influenced the work of Susan Hooker. Traditional painting techniques from Germany to Japan and Korea have contributed to the development of her unique style.

The Copper Country Community Arts Center is located at 126 Quincy Street in Hancock. For more information call 482-2333 or visit the website: www.coppercountryarts.com.

Letter to Mining Journal: "Money challenges"

MARQUETTE -- In a letter to the Marquette Mining Journal, posted Oct. 3, 2011, Gabriel Caplett of Skandia writes about public funds being wasted on large, wealthy corporations and mining companies while local community needs go unfunded.

"Wow, Cliffs' Renewafuel biomass plant is closing already," he writes. "It's amazing the amount of time and forfeited money that has been spent giving Cliffs outrageously generous local and state tax breaks for Renewafuel, and the amount of money Tilden Township recently forfeited to give Cliffs a huge tax break for its mining operations. This to a company that has been posting record profits and has so much cash it has been buying up other companies."

Caplett also points out what the projected County Road 595 for Kennecott could cost the taxpayers -- "tens of thousands of dollars on county staff time and other costs to get it permitted for Kennecott."

If built, the road could cost $100,000 a year to maintain, Caplett adds, while the present budget is vastly insufficient to maintain existing roads....

Click here to read the letter.

Rio Tinto blasts into Michigan sacred site

From Stand for the Land
Posted Sept. 28, 2011

EAGLE ROCK -- On September 14, Circuit Court Judge Paula Manderfield refused a request by the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and other petitioners to delay underground work at the Eagle Mine site in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

By doing so, she cleared the way for Kennecott Eagle Minerals, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto, to blast through the base of an outcropping known to Anishinaabe peoples as Eagle Rock, or Migi Zii Wa Sin, to gain access to a copper-nickel ore body that lies some 2400 feet away, beneath the Salmon Trout River. The portal structure went up several days before the hearing, showing Kennecott’s confidence in a courtroom decision favorable to their interests. ... Click here to read the rest of this article and comments on Stand for the Land.

Updated: Volunteers help rid local beaches of invasive knapweed; presentation on invasives to be Sept. 29

By Michele Bourdieu

Botanist Janet Marr, left, helped McLain State Park with a project recently funded by the UP Resource Conservation and Development Council -- removing invasive spotted knapweed from areas of the Park in order to protect the beach from its spread. Here she is pictured with volunteers who helped collect these bags full of the invasive plant on July 30, 2011: from left, Marr; Jason Oyadomari, Finlandia University biology professor; Steve Albee of Hancock; Michigan Tech forestry student Alex Mehne; Chuck Mehne, Alex's Dad,visiting from Kalamazoo; and Lee Verberkmoes, McLain State Park superintendent. Marr will join Erik Lilleskov, research ecologist for the U.S. Forest Service, in a presentation on invasive species Thursday, Sept. 29, at Michigan Tech. Click on photos for larger versions. (Photos by Keweenaw Now unless otherwise indicated.)

HOUGHTON -- Janet Marr, contract botanist for the Houghton Keweenaw Conservation District, will join Erik Lilleskov, research ecologist for the U.S. Forest Service, in presenting "Invasive Species as Agents of Global Change," from 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 29, in Noblet 143 of Michigan Tech's Forestry building.

The presentation -- free and open to the public -- will offer the opportunity to

• Explore the global impact of altered ecosystems
• Find out about invasive species in the Copper Country
• Learn how to identify invasive plants of the Western U.P. which threaten the biodiversity of the Keweenaw.
• Discover how you can help control their spread and protect our native plants.
  

This event is sponsored by the Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative, Michigan Tech Center for Water and Society, Keweenaw Land Trust and the Keweenaw Unitarian Fellowship.

Photos: Pulling Knapweed at McLain State Park

Volunteers assist Botanist Janet Marr, center, in pulling invasive spotted knapweed at McLain State Park on July 30, 2011.

Janet Marr, left, and volunteers pull invasive knapweed from a hillside area near the breakwater at McLain State Park. In the foreground, second from right, is Lee Verberkmoes, McLain State Park superintendent, who worked with Marr in securing funding from the UP Resource Conservation and Development Council for spotted knapweed mapping, control/removal, and restoration in this popular Lake Superior lakeshore park.

Alex Mehne, left, Michigan Tech forestry student active in the Botany Club, invited his Dad, Chuck Mehne, who was visiting from Kalamazoo, to join the group of volunteers at the McLain State Park knapweed pull on July 30, 2011 -- a father-and-son shared effort for a Saturday morning in the Keweenaw! Alex also assisted Janet Marr with her garlic mustard removal campaigns in area neighborhoods this summer.

Steve Albee of Hancock helps Janet Marr carry a bag of knapweed up the hill to be disposed of by McLain State Park. Note protective gloves volunteers like Alex Mehne, at left, are wearing. "Spotted knapweed has a substance that is an irritant, and gloves, long sleeve shirts, and long pants should be worn," Marr advises.

Spotted knapweed on the beach at McLain State Park. This invasive plant loves dry areas and must be pulled straight up to remove the roots. It also grows along roadsides all around the Keweenaw and spreads rapidly. (Photo © and courtesy Janet Marr)

The restoration aspect of the McLain State Park knapweed removal project will include planting more of this protective dunegrass. (Photo © and courtesy Janet Marr)

Picnic and knapweed pull at Bete Grise Preserve

Members of the Houghton Keweenaw Conservation District and the Stewards of Bete Grise Preserve met for a knapweed pull, picnic and presentation by Janet Marr on Aug. 1, 2011, at the Bete Grise Preserve. They collected several bags full of the invasive plant, growing mostly along the Gay-Lac LaBelle Road. Pictured here, from left, are volunteers Evan McDonald, Chuck Brumleve, Gina Nicholas, Mark Klemp, Sue Haralson (in front of Mark), Anton Pintar, Paul and Anita Campbell, Joanne Thomas and Nick Wilson. The event was also sponsored by the Rapid Response Invasive Plant Intervention Team of the UP (RRIP-IT-UP) and organized by Sue Haralson, Houghton Keweenaw Conservation District administrator.

Gina Nicholas and Chuck Brumleve, both residents of Bete Grise, pull spotted knapweed plants along the Gay-Lac LaBelle Road at the Bete Grise Preserve.

After a potluck picnic at the Bete Grise Preserve beach, volunteers listen as Botanist Janet Marr demonstrates the best way to loosen the roots of invasive knapweed with a narrow tool. "The smaller the blade the better (that'll help assure less disturbance to the ground and exposure of seeds from the seedbank)," Marr explains. At far left is Cynthia McDonald (not pictured above), who also joined the group.

Janet Marr displays a sample of Centaurea (a relative of spotted knapweed) during her presentation at Bete Grise.

Despite the attractive flowers, this plant, Hypericum perforatum (commonly called St. John's wort), is also invasive.

Janet Marr displays some Hypochaeris radicata, also known as a false dandelion, or hairy cat's ear.

Learn more about these invasive plants and what you can do to help protect the ecology of the Keweenaw from their spread by attending the presentation by Janet Marr and Erik Lilleskov from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 29, in Noblet 143 of Michigan Tech's Forestry building.

Michigan Tech to dedicate new solar energy research center Sept. 28

By Marcia Goodrich, senior writer

HOUGHTON -- The Keweenaw Research Center (KRC) will dedicate Michigan Technological University’s first facility devoted to solar energy research at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 28.

The Michigan Tech Solar Photovoltaic Research Facility includes an array of solar panels and an advanced energy-monitoring system at KRC’s Engineering Design Building, near the Houghton County Memorial Airport. The two-kilowatt system will generate enough energy to charge all of the electric snowmobiles competing in the SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge, held at KRC every March.

But this photovoltaic system isn’t just about saving money on the electric bill.

"The new facility will be used primarily to advance solar-energy research and education," said KRC Director Jay Meldrum....

Click here to read the rest of this article by Marcia Goodrich on the Michigan Tech News.

Keweenaw Nordic Ski Club Board to meet Sept. 28

HANCOCK -- The Keweenaw Nordic Ski Club (KNSC) Board will be holding a meeting at 7 p.m. this Wednesday, Sept. 28, at the Hancock Chalet at the Fair Grounds. Members and the public are welcome. Questions? Email KNSC President Jay Green at jbgreen45@charter.net or call 906-487-5411.

Working People's Rally to be held Sept. 27 in Marquette

MARQUETTE -- A Working People's Rally will be held from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 27, in front of the U.S. Post Office in Marquette. All are invited to join the rally with this theme: "Mr. Casperson, why are you picking on teachers and not creating jobs for Michigan's economy?"

The Post Office is at 202 W. Washington Street, #1, Marquette.

Wind turbine saves electricity for local organic farmers

By Michele Bourdieu

Installed last May 2011 and connected to the Ontonagon County REA (Rural Electrification Association), this wind turbine is already saving organic farmers Sue Raker and Fred Galloway many kilowatt hours of electricity for both present and future use on their property near Calumet. Click on photos for larger versions. (Photos by Keweenaw Now)

CALUMET -- Just about two miles from Lake Superior near Calumet, on a Keweenaw farm well positioned for winds, owners Suzanna Raker and Fred Galloway watched with anticipation last May 2011 as engineers raised a wind tower and turbine that not only would generate electricity for their home and farming needs but would earn them kilowatt hour credits with the Ontonagon County REA (Rural Electrification Association) grid for the future.

While the farm is already equipped with several solar panels that feed batteries for the house and for farm use, such as electric fences to protect beehives, the wind turbine is expected to provide even greater savings in electricity costs.

These 16 solar panels feed batteries to provide electricity for the house and farm needs. Smaller solar panels on the farm are used for other uses on the property, such as the sauna and electric fencing.

"I'm pretty excited about it," Galloway said. "Combined with the solar, it should pretty much do away with our electric bill."

Since the installation of the turbine last May, the good news is just that.

"We don't have a power bill. Every month we have a credit," Raker said recently. "We're producing 350-400 kw hours a month, with a credit of about 50 kw hours per month.

Christopher Stahl, president of Lake Effect Energy Corporation -- based in Harbor Springs, Mich. -- was present on the property during the installation of the 120-foot-high wind turbine, Model ARE 110 built by the Xzeres Company.* Lake Effect delivered the wind turbine, installed it and interconnected it with the REA.

Stahl said several factors must be studied during the wind site resource assessment to determine the height of the tower.

Christopher Stahl, president of Lake Effect Energy Corporation, left, chats with organic farm co-owner Fred Galloway during the installation of the wind turbine on the property last May. Co-owner Sue Raker is in the background.

"Height is a very important factor because of turbulence," Stahl said. "The machine has to be in a clear air stream."

Stahl predicted this would be a great project with excellent output because of the location.

He said the first step in doing the assessment is to study the soil conditions to see how many pounds per square foot the soil can hold.

"That determines the size of our foundation," he explained.

For this tower a six-foot deep hole was excavated. A pad of concrete 14-ft square is part of the foundation.

Stahl brought a crew of five to do the installation of the tower last spring.

Three of the Lake Effect Energy crew members work on attaching the blade to the wind tower during installation in May 2011. Pictured here are, from right, Pete Cummings, Lake Effect vice-president; Zach Luhellier, a recent Northern Michigan University graduate; and Sam Simonetta (a former Michigan Tech student), mechanical engineer and senior certified site assessor.

They were Pete Cummings, vice-president; Chuck Dobry, a steel expert and certified welder who used to build bridges; Ryan Johnston, structural engineer; Zach Luhellier, a recent Northern Michigan University graduate; and Sam Simonetta (a former Michigan Tech student), mechanical engineer and senior certified site assessor.

"If you do solar electric or if you do wind, you're dealing with water, electricity, batteries -- you're going to have certain responsibilities," Raker said. "To be effective and safe, they require engineering."

Raker expressed confidence in Simonetta's professional skills.

"Sam is experienced and reliable," she said. "He's been a proponent of wind for a long time. Sam has used wind power on his own property east of Marquette for over 10 years."

Simonetta has been able to apply his engineering background from Michigan Tech.

"I do all the secondary engineering -- all the component layouts and all the auto-CAD (Computer Automated Design)," he said. "Pete Cummings does the majority of the construction."

Installing the wind turbine

The Lake Effect crew members prepare to raise the wind turbine, attached to a crane, on the Galloway-Raker farm near Calumet in May 2011. Crane operator Mike Nelson (left, background, in dark shirt) is from Midway Rentals in Negaunee, Mich.

Here is a video, taken from a safe distance, showing the tower and turbine being lifted by the crane. The length of the video is the time it took to raise it -- about 2 and a half minutes:

The wind turbine is lifted by the crane to a vertical position. (Video clip by Keweenaw Now)

Fred Galloway, at right, observes as the Lake Effect crew members secure the base of the wind tower.

Once the base is secured, Sam Simonetta climbs the tower to unhook it from the crane.

After skilfully unhooking the tower from the crane, Simonetta descends safely to the ground.

The Color Purple

Stahl noted the purple color of the blades is meant to discourage birds, but is not really required or necessary on machines less than 20 kw; and this is a 2.7 kw "point of use" system (i.e., a system used at the location where it is installed).

However, Raker said she insisted on the purple color.

"In the E.U. and U.K., two separate studies, conducted over eight years, found that the color purple discouraged insects, bats and birds," Raker noted.

She said the extra cost for the purple color is worth it for the birds and insects.

"Our farm is a certified organic farm. On an organic farm everything fits together. It's synergistic," Raker explained.

The couple's house, built in Baraga County in 1895, is an example of recycling the old and making it energy efficient. Virtually everything -- from the hardwood floors to the trim on the doors -- is made from recycled materials.

The well insulated farmhouse has a foundation made from stones that were all collected from rock piles on (this) property. The windows have heat mirrors that block UV rays, but allow heat to come through in the winter -- aided by an overhang from the roof.

"We took it apart and brought it here, log by log, numbered the logs and put it back up," Raker said. "We super-insulated it."

In addition to the special heat mirrors on the windows, Raker said, they used special insulating panels on the roof and insulated the walls with rigid insulation and a non-deteriorating vapor barrier.

The farm also has a small windmill on a field for aerating the pond and pumping water. It acts as an air compressor. A greenhouse is heated with passive solar tubes.

This greenhouse on the property is heated by passive solar energy: The blue Kal-Wal tubes at right absorb solar heat and release it slowly and evenly.

Raker anticipates that having more wind energy with the turbine will especially help in the winter when the farm uses more electricity and there is less sunlight for the solar panels.

The total cost of the wind turbine and tower was $51,000, Raker noted. One fourth of that was a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Energy Access Program (REAP).

"These grants are designed for small rural businesses and farms," Raker said. "We used the Organic Valley Cooperative grant system available to all producing members of the cooperative. We've been in that co-op as grower members since 2006."

A guaranteed loan from the USDA Farm Service Agency covers the other three fourths of the cost.

Raker, who is a veteran, said the Veterans Administration is now backing solar for veterans' homes under certain conditions.**

When asked about the motivation for adding wind energy to the farm, Raker said, "We just do it because we want to do it and it's the right thing to do and it works."

* Click here to read about Lake Effect Energy Corporation of Michigan. Click here to read about the Xzeres Wind Company.

** For information on solar loans for Veterans, see www.homeloans.va.gov or call a veterans benefits counselor in Iron Mountain at 906-774-3300 and hit O for operator.

Keweenaw Krayons to offer Art Afternoon Sept. 24

MOHAWK -- From noon to 3 p.m. this Saturday, Sept. 24, Keweenaw Krayons is saying farewell to summer and its Art On Wheels program, and hello to fall classes and offerings with Art Afternoon, a free event for youth and families.

To celebrate the end of a great summer for the Art On Wheels program, artist Sarah Kirchner will be leading sand painting and collograph, or ink printing, activities for youths and families. Cupcakes will be served. Keweenaw Krayons director Elise Matz will also announce the winner of the Art On Wheels Logo Contest. The winning logo will be featured on Kk Art On Wheels promotional materials and merchandise when the program resumes next summer.

The Art Afternoon portion of the event features artists who work in a variety of mediums. Guests can stop at a demo and sign up to learn more about upcoming classes. Artists who teach painting, sewing and mosaics, voice and guitar, among other things, will be there for conversation and questions.

Darlene Basto will be among the Art Afternoon artists. Keweenaw Krayons is pleased to announce that she is returning to teach a four-session course in Qigong Wellness -- an introductory class of foundational movements, breathing, self-massage and meditation techniques that lead to "maximized vitality" where the mind, body and spirit are functioning with the least physical, mental or emotional restraint. Gentle movements are done sitting and standing (no floor work).

This weekly class will be held at Keweenaw Krayons from Tuesday, Oct. 4 through Tuesday, Oct. 25. For more information and registration, visit www.keweenawkrayons.org.

Keweenaw Krayons is located at the Horizon School in Mohawk.

Petition signing to Recall Rick Snyder, Tom Casperson to be held Sept. 24 in Houghton

HOUGHTON -- The local organizers for the Committee to Recall Rick Snyder will be having a signature collection effort to recall Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and State Senator Tom Casperson from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. this Saturday, Sept. 24, at the City of Houghton Waterfront Park (Chutes and Ladders park) during the Upper Peninsula Building Trades Rally/Picnic.*

The recall Rick Snyder petition drive has been extended past the original 90-day window the committee had anticipated, so the signatures from May and most of June are now invalid. Anyone who knows he or she signed the petition to recall Rick Snyder prior to June 25, 2011, can now re-sign at this event on Saturday.

Any Michigan registered voter can sign the petition. It is not necessary to be a resident of Houghton County.

The local signature collection efforts that took place in June are as follows:

The community room at the Keweenaw Co-op -- June 4, 2011
Downtown Houghton during the Houghton Arts and Music Festival -- June 11, 2011
Bridgeview Park during Bridgefest -- June 18, 2011.

Click here to read about the June 18 signature collection.

* Click here to read about the Upper Peninsula Building Trades Rally/Picnic Sept. 24. The petition signing is not an official part of this Rally.