|
Peaine Township has approved buying about thirty acres from the Little Traverse Conservancy for a recreation area, including the four-acre Frank and Baker Memorial Dog Park. The project honors Adam Kendall, Kate Leese and their beloved dogs. Funding is separate from the Conservancy’s planned Kendall and Leese Nature Preserve. Donations to the preserve will not pay for the township’s land purchase or dog park development.
#Recreation
On Beaver Island’s sister island of Arranmore, fire service staffing is drawing urgent concern. Island representative John McCafferty says just three firefighters
serve more than five hundred residents, with no driver appointed. He criticized fire officials’ absence from an Islands Committee meeting in Dungloe. A local councillor is calling for an emergency meeting with county and fire service leaders, saying staffing
gaps leave islanders vulnerable.
Benzie County faces budget uncertainty after voters rejected its main operating millage for the second time this year. The tax provides more than sixty percent of the county’s budget, supporting services including police, parks and courts. A tax allocation board will now set rates without a public vote. Officials say no cuts have been decided, and existing revenue should carry county operations through next September.
#RegionalGovernment
Michigan needs to speed up academic recovery and direct more school funding to students living in poverty. That’s the message from a new EdTrust-Midwest report. Fewer than forty percent of third graders are proficient in reading, and more than a quarter of students are chronically absent. The group recommends stronger teacher training, more counselors and better access to advanced courses, along with clearer tracking of education spending.
#Education
A feathered sign of winter has returned to northern Michigan. Sleeping Bear Dunes staff say snow buntings are back. The little birds spend summers nesting in the Arctic, then head south to Michigan and other northern states for a milder winter. No word on whether any have appeared yet on the Island.
#Birding
Northwest Michigan could see lake-effect snow later this week, but the chill may be brief. MLive reports another warming trend could bring parts of Lower Michigan near sixty before Thanksgiving. Here on Beaver Island, rain could mix with snow Thursday night and Friday. Island highs stay in the low-to-mid forties through the weekend, reaching about forty-seven Tuesday.
#Weather
|
|
Now here’s a look at upcoming events on your Emerald Isle…
First, your meeting planner through the end of next week. The St. James Township Board meets today at 5:30. The Peaine Township Board meets next Tuesday at 5:30. Next Thursday, the Beaver Island Emergency Services Authority meets at 2:00, and the Joint Telecommunications Advisory Committee and the Beaver Island District Library Board both meet at 4:30. A-A meets Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 6:00 in the evening.
On the fun front…
Wednesday
Also on today, American Mah Jongg starts at 10:00 at the BIC Center. The library is looking for volunteers at 11:00 to help put the garden beds to bed for winter. Afternoon Bingo starts at 1:00 at the BIC Center. After school, kids can create their own fall leaves as part of After School Art at the library. Also after school, Parent-teacher conferences continue at the school from 3:30 to 9:00. And Time for Art runs from 5:00 to 7:00 at the BIC Center with Cindy Ricksgers. This week printing from the lino-blocks made last week.
Thursday
Highlights for the rest of the week include…
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
And looking ahead to highlights for next week…
Monday
Tuesday
|
|
Those are the highlights. Find a full listing of events at calendar dot W-V-B-I dot net.
|
|
Today’s BIC Center Name of the Day is Lucinda. If that’s your name, come on down to the BIC Center today to pick out a free drink of your choice.
|
|
On our Birthday List: Ronan Wearn, Ryann Turner and Meg Roggensack are celebrating today. Happy Birthday to Meg, Ryann and Ronan and, if we missed you on the list, Happy Birthday to you too from everyone at the BIC Center and WVBI.
|
|
TRAFFIC: No delays inbound or outbound to the airports. The Island Beltway is running smoothly. There are no bridge delays. Still, let’s be careful out there. Especially in the school zone.
|
|
On this date in 1918, the guns fall silent as the armistice ending fighting between Germany and the Allies takes effect at eleven in the morning—the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. The anniversary became Armistice Day, renamed Veterans Day in 1954 to honor American veterans of all wars. Today, we thank our Island veterans and all who have served. Also this date in 1940, the Armistice Day Storm batters the Great Lakes, sinking freighters and driving other vessels ashore. Here on the Island, sustained southwest gales reportedly raised Lake Michigan’s water level by four to four-and-a-half feet. Fishing tugs and the mail boat had to cast off from their docks or beach as the wind strained lines and water came to the top of the docks. The storm raged through the night. The next morning, the boats had all survived, their was repairable damage to docks, but lots of expensive fishing gear—nets and boxes—out in the big lake were lost.
The flag flies high at the point as storm clouds gather. Photo by Becca Foli from Up North Digital Network Archive
|
|
Our Merriam-Webster Word of the Day is valorous [VAL-uh-russ], an adjective meaning brave or courageous. An appropriate word for Veterans Day. It traces back to a Latin verb meaning to be strong or well, and shares that ancestry with valiant. For example: “Today we honor the valorous service of those who stepped forward when their country called.”
|
|
Now, to wrap up for this Beaver Island Wednesday …
|
|
Here’s a thought for the day from President Ronald Reagan: “The greatest honor we can bestow upon our veterans is to ensure that their sacrifices were not in vain.”
|
|
And on a lighter note…
Because he had his own drumsticks.
|
|
That’s the W-V-B-I Community Calendar Report for this Beaver Island Veterans Day, Wednesday, November 11th, 2026. I’m Kevin Boyle reporting from W-V-B-I’s Langford Family Studios wishing you a great day and asking: why not go ahead and make it the best day ever? And thanks for listening.
|
|
###
|
|
WEATHER
|
|
[Current Condition Report, then…]
|
|
Veterans Day
|
|
|
|
Air Quality Index this morning is 4.
|
|
Fire Danger: Low
|
|
Out on the Big Drink…
Photo from the North Lake Michigan Buoy. Provided by the National Data Buoy Center
|
|
Veterans Day
ESE wind 5 to 10 kt becoming NNE in the afternoon. Rain likely, mainly after 1pm. Waves 1 ft or less.
Tonight
NNE wind 15 to 20 kt, with gusts as high as 25 kt. Rain likely before 4am, then a slight chance of rain after 5am. Waves 1 ft building to 4 ft.
Thursday
N wind around 20 kt. A chance of rain and snow showers before 10am, then a chance of rain showers after 5pm. Waves 3 to 4 ft.
Thursday Night
N wind 15 to 20 kt. Rain and snow showers before 3am, then a chance of snow showers. A slight chance of waterspouts after 9pm. Waves around 3 ft.
Friday
N wind around 15 kt. Snow showers likely before 9am, then rain and snow showers likely between 9am and 3pm, then a chance of rain showers after 3pm. A slight chance of waterspouts. Waves around 3 ft.
Friday Night
N wind around 15 kt. A chance of showers before midnight. Waves 2 to 3 ft.
Saturday
N wind around 15 kt. Mostly cloudy. Waves around 2 ft.
Saturday Night
N wind around 10 kt. Mostly cloudy. Waves 1 ft or less.
Sunday
N wind 5 to 10 kt. Mostly cloudy. Waves 1 ft or less.
|
|
Water Temps: 54 at the mid-lake buoy southwest of Gull Island. No other buoys reporting.
|
|
Photos from webcams at wvbi.net and mackinacbridge.org
|
|
Coming up in our Community Calendar Report…
A memorial dog park is planned for Peaine Township. Arranmore raises concerns about fire staffing, and Benzie County faces budget uncertainty after another millage defeat. Plus, a call to improve Michigan schools, winter birds return from farther north, and snow could mix with Island rain—but is another warm spell on the way?
Those stories along with more local and state news, a run down of local events, birthdays, this date in history, a thought for the day and yet another even worse turkey joke are up after this global and national news from F-S-N…
[Time check.]
|
|
Today’s featured image: We celebrate Veterans Day with this shot of the Star Spangled Banner flying high at Whiskey Point as storm clouds gather over the lake-a reminder of the Armistice Day Storm that battered the Island in 1940. Photo by Becca Foli from Up North Digital Network Archive
|
