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It looks like the Island’s next ferry will be a traditional steel boat similar in design to the existing Emerald Isle, with a slighty expanded capacity. The decision to proceed with development of that design was made yesterday at a packed Baver Island Transportation Authoty meeting at St. James Township hall. The authority had been consdering a small, carbon fiber design with a hull that its designers said would cut fuel consumption and allow faster transit times. But, public sntiment was cleary in favor of a traditional design with concerns expressed about the lifespan and untested nature of the carbon-fiber proposal. At the end of the meeting, the board voted unanimously to proceed with the steel design, but with concern expressed about the long term economic viability of the authority. Current designs for the new boat envision a 150-foot vesel designed in 2012 by Elliott Bay Design Group to carry about 150 passengers and 24 vehicles, featuring diesel propulsion and eco‑friendly design elements. Deck plans for current steel vessel design. Photo of Elliot Bay drawings Down near Flint, Sandisk has canceled plans for a $63 billion semiconductor plant. The project promised 10,000 jobs and had made Michigan its preferred location. Governor Whitmer blamed national economic turmoil for the decision. The state had committed $260 million in taxpayer-backed incentives and site preparation funds. The 1,300-acre megasite took years to assemble and remains one of the nation’s top-rated locations for advanced manufacturing. Officials say they’ll continue to market the site to other potential investors. Meanwhile, down in T-C, the school board has approved $650,000 in design work for a proposed $17 million indoor sports complex near East Middle School. The year-round facility would host games, practices, and tournaments. In Muskegon, plans are underway to transform the historic S.S. Milwaukee Clipper into a 48-room floating hotel. Built in 1904, the 361-foot ship once ferried passengers across the Great Lakes. Plans include bars, restaurants, a theater, and panoramic lake views. For Lake Michigan, the National Weather Service has issued a high swim risk warning for today covering beaches along the lake from Little Traverse Bay all the way to the south end of the lake, including Beaver Island. Waves on the lake could build as high as 7 foot with 35 mph winds. National Weather Service graphic |
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Now, here’s a look at events happening on your Emerald Isle… First your meeting planner. A-A meets Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 6:00 at the Christian Church. BITA meets today at noon to discuss options for a new boat. That’s at the St. James Township Hall. JTAC meets Thursday at 4:30. Heritage Group Board meets Thursday at 5:30. On the fun front today… Thursday, at 9:00, there’s Pickleball on the Peaine Township Courts. Also at 9:00, the Trails Association presents a guided mushroom hike with island mushroom expert Gina Mangra. Meet at the BIC Center with plans to be hiking until about 1:00. At 10:00 a trifecta of activities: Tai Chi in the Hangout at the BIC Center, C-O-A Cardio Drumming out at the Peaine Township Hall and Women’s Bible Study at the Christian Church. Again, all those events starting at 10:00. At 11:00, the COA has a Crafter’s Social at the Peaine Township Hall. AT noon the Music Festival presents Dave & Krisit at the Wild Strawberry Café, Andy Dupris with a mini concet at the BIC Center in the Hangout that will be broadcast live on WVBI, and at 2:00 the Real Ingredients playing at Daddy Franks. At 4:00 head over to the Beaver Island Gallery for a free workshop to make ornaments for display at the Museum Week Art Show. Call 2115 to register. At 6:00, the Music Festival stage light sup with Chris Winkleman and non-stop music until midnight with Katy Gullien and the Drive taking the stage at 11:00. And don’t forget Thursdays are Burger and a Beer Night at the Shamrock. Friday, kicks off live with the Omlette radio show featuring interviews with Music Festival performers at the Wild Strawberry from 5:00 to 7:00 a.m. There’s Senior + Vets Coffee + Donuts is on at the BIC Center from 8:30 to 11:30. At 9:00, there’s Chair Strength Training in the Hangout at the BIC Center and Pickleball on the Peaine Township Courts. Summer Yoga is at 9:30 with a basic flow session in the theater at the BIC Center. C-O-A has a Walkersize session at 10:30, a walk from Heritage Park to the St. James Campground and back. At noon there’s another mini concert in the Hangout at the BIC Center with Smilo & the Ghost. That’ll be broadcast live on WVBI. AT 1:00 Nathon Walton plays live at the Print Shop Museum. AT 2:00, Audrey Dupris will be at Whiskey Point. And the Festival Stage comes alive at 5:00 with Dave and Krisit and non-stop music until 1:00 A-M, with Nathan Walton & the Remedy coming on stage at midnight. [On the radio, Kick off your weekend with our fantastic Friday lineup! After the 6:00pm news, enjoy “That Thing with Rich Appel” featuring top forty hits from the 70s. At 9:00pm, tune into “The Titus Jennings Experience” offering music from all genres, followed by “The Midnight Special” with Marilyn Rea Beyer at 11:00pm for music, farce comedy, and late-night escape.] Highlights for the rest of the week include… Saturday, there’s Pickleball outdoors at 9:00. The Music Festival grounds will have Dave & Kristi for the Breakfast Club and a musical start to the day. The Artisan’s Market is on out by the lighthouse at Whiskey Point. That starts at 10:00. At noon, Heat Above plays on the porch at the Wild Strawberry. At 1:00, there’s a mini concert in the Hangout at the BIC Center with Jonathan Plevyak. That’ll be broadcast live on WVBI. At 2:00, Chris Michaels plays at Daddy Franks. The Festival Stage comes alive at 3:00 with an Open Mic session and Audrey Dupris takes to the stage at 3:30. At 4:00 on the festival grounds there’ll be kids time with jugglers, games, crafts, screen printing and prizes. The music continues through the evening wrapping up with the Distant Stars taking the stage at 12:30. [On the radio, tune in for Country Classics at 5:00 Saturday evening with host Sheri Timsak. At 7:00, Jackson Smith and Steve Girbach are in with Songs from the Trail. Mark Beltaire takes over at 9:00 with Rockin’ the Boat and continues at 10:00 with the Blues Cruise. Cousin Dan wraps up the evening with the Too Good Radio Show starting at 11:00.] Sunday, there are services and Episcopal Mission at 9:00 and the Christian Church at 10:00, and Mass at Holy Cross at 12:15. There’ll be some Music Festival afterglow with Dave & Kristi playing at Whiskey Point at 6:00 and Paul Lamb playing at the Beachcomber at 9:00. Looking ahead to highlights for next week… Monday is the first day of Kids Camps at the Historical Society. Summer Yoga is at the BIC Center at 9:30 in the Theater with a Basic Flow session followed by a Therapeutic Chair session at 11:00 . C-O-A has Cardio Drumming at 10:00 and a Crafter’s Social at 11:00, both out at Peaine Township Hall. Also at 11:00, Anne Pritchett will be at the library to talk about her book crazy French girl. And Monday wraps up with a magic show at the BIC Center. Trino’s Magic House Party will be in the theater with great fun fro the whole family. There’s no charge for admission, but you do need to reserve a seat at tickets dot bic center dot org. And, for a meal after, remember that Monday evening is all you can eat pizza night at the Beachcomber. Tuesday, there’s Chair Strength Training at the BIC Center at 9:00. Pickleball is outside on the township courts at 9:00. Babes and Toddlers mix it up at the library at 10:00. At 10:30, there’s C-O-A Walkersize with a walk from Heritage Park out to the St. James Campground and back. At 1:00, drop by the BIC Center Hangout to play Mah Jongg [mah jawng]. Then stay up late to see Saturn right next to the Moon at about 3:00 A-M Wednesday morning. Wednesday, Summer Yoga is on at the BIC Center at 9:30 with a restorative session. At the library, there’s Kids Storytime, Crafts and Art for three years and up at 10:00 and then for 10 years and up at 11:00. At the BIC Center, there’s Bingo at 1:00 in the Hangout. At 3:00 C-O-A has Fun & Gamers out at Peaine Township Hall. At 7:00, the library hosts retired C-M-U professor and former Biological Station Directo Jim Gillingham for an author event. He’ll discuss and sign his new book about the Amphibians and Reptiles of the Beaver Archipelago. Also at 7:00, there’s BINGO at the Gregg Fellowship Center. Doors open at 6:15 for fellowship. |
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NAME OF DAY: The BIC Center Name of the Day is Cindy. If that’s your name, come on into the BIC Center today to pick out a free drink of your choice. BIRTHDAYS: Garret Cole is on our list today. Happy Birthday to Garrett and, if we missed you on the list, Happy Birthday to you too from everyone at WVBI and your Beaver Island Community Center! |
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TRAFFIC: No delays inbound or outbound to the airports. The island beltway is running smoothly with no bridge delays. But it is very busy in town when the ferry arrives, and the warm weather means lots of folks at the public beach plus hikers and bikers everywhere. Plus, baby turtles are busy crossing. So, let’s be careful out there. |
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On this day in 2018 officials including Michigan Governor Rick Snyder break ground for the Gordie Howe International Bridge that will connect Detroit, Michigan to Windsor, Ontario. The six-lane cable stayed bridge was then expected to open in 2020 but now is scheduled to open this fall. The bridge is named after Canadian ice hockey player Gordie Howe, whose celebrated career included 25 years with the Detroit Red Wings, and who died two years before construction began. |
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Our Merriam Webster Word of the Day is fugitive (noun) [FYOO-juh-tiv] which refers to a person who runs away to avoid being captured or arrested. Fugitive entered English as both a noun and an adjective in the 14th century, coming ultimately from the Latin verb fugere, meaning “to flee.” As a noun, it originally referred, as it still does today, to someone who flees a country or location to escape persecution or danger, as from war, making it synonymous with fugere descendent refugee. The noun soon expanded beyond those fleeing peril to individuals trying to elude law enforcement especially by fleeing the pertinent jurisdiction. The adjective fugitive describes those literally running away or intending flight, but also has multiple figurative uses, being applied to that which is elusive, of short duration, or of transient interest, among other things. |
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Now, to wrap up for this Beaver Island Thursday… |
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Here’s a thought for the day from Detroit Red Wings star and international bridge namesake Gordie Howe: “I always tell kids, you have two eyes and one mouth. Keep two open and one closed. You never learn anything if you’re the one talking.” |
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On a lighter note…something else from Gordie Howe: All hockey players are bilingual. They know English and profanity. |
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That’s the W-V-B-I Community Calendar Report for this Beaver Island Thursday, July 17th, 2025. I’m Kevin Boyle reporting from W-V-B-I’s Langford Family Studios, wishing you a great day and asking you: why not go ahead and make it the best day ever? And thanks for listening. |
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Today A 20 percent chance of rain before 8am. Cloudy through mid morning, then gradual clearing, with a high near 67. North wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Tonight Clear, with a low around 56. North wind 5 to 10 mph becoming light northwest after midnight. Friday Sunny, with a high near 73. Southwest wind around 5 mph. Friday Night A 40 percent chance of showers, mainly after 2am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 63. West wind around 5 mph becoming south after midnight. Saturday A 30 percent chance of showers before 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 75 on the shore 81 inland. South wind 5 to 10 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Saturday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 60. Sunday Sunny, with a high near 77/83. Sunday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 62. Monday Mostly sunny, with a high near 78/85. Monday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 66. Tuesday Mostly sunny, with a high near 79/86. Tuesday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 66. Wednesday Partly sunny, with a high near 80/86. |
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Fire Danger Level on the Island set at High. |
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Out on the Big Drink… |
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Today N wind 15 to 20 kt. A slight chance of showers before 7am. Waves 2 to 4 ft. Friday Variable winds 5 kt or less. Increasing clouds. Waves 1 ft or less. Saturday S wind 5 to 10 kt becoming NNW in the afternoon. A chance of showers before 1pm. Waves 1 ft or less. |
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Water Temperature: It’s 67 in Little Traverse Bay. The North Lake Michigan buoy southwest of Gull is reporting 64 with four to five foot seas.
Mid Lake Michigan photo at time shown. Provided by NWS |
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Photos from webcams at wvbi.net and mackinacbridge.org |
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🚢 Beaver Island’s next ferry will be steel, not carbon fiber. A packed meeting at St. James Township Hall ended with a unanimous vote to move forward with a traditional design similar to the Emerald Isle. The community voiced strong support for durability over speed. 🧑🏭 In other news: A $63B semiconductor plant near Flint is off the table, TC schools greenlight a new indoor sports complex, Muskegon eyes a floating hotel aboard the Milwaukee Clipper, and the National Weather Service warns of dangerous waves today on Lake Michigan — including near Beaver Island. 🌊 |
