Up North Lowdown

It’s a big dose of nature on this week’s Up North Lowdown: How storm debris can turn into electricity, our gardening expert guides us through good fertilizer for northern Michigan soil, and we receive a shipment of bees!

This week on the Up North Lowdown, we’ll meet the host of a new podcast from Classical IPR called Intermezzo ... plus OUR host Ed Ronco goes on stage in Traverse City and dies. But on purpose.

How damaged trees spell economic hardship for many in northern Michigan. Plus, funding cutbacks for regional arts groups, and we hop through some Easter egg traditions.

After the ice storms, the conversation is shifting from response to recovery, and utilities are figuring out how to prepare for the next storm. Also, Marc Maron talks to us about his career in comedy, podcasts, film and more.

An ice storm wreaked havoc on northern Michigan this week, leaving thousands without power and heat and littering the region with the debris of snapped trees and downed power lines. We'll hear voices from the storm. Also, a look at how tensions between the U.S. and Canada could impact the Great Lakes, a look at 50 years of service from Traverse City's Women's Resource Center and we go into the garden with our friend Dylan.

This week, we check in with our environment and climate reporters about two big northern Michigan stories, with significant updates on both. We also speak with filmmaker Rich Brauer about his "Dogman" series of movies and the magic of cinema. And a local musician is about to tour with a superstar.

A business in Empire puts energy improvements on hold amid a federal funding freeze. Still, the owner of the Lively NeighborFood Market is hoping the money — which he wants to use to install solar panels and reduce electrical costs — will eventually come through. This week, we'll also talk about a new project we're calling "The Next Four Years." We've been asking people in northern Michigan what they expect out of the second Trump administration. We'll also hear about one approach to spending opioid settlement dollars. And then there's the tale of the alligator under the bed.

Why a Leelanau County township's cease-and-desist notice had little effect on the use of sewage as farm fertilizer. We'll also hear about the competitive race to get kids registered for a summer camp in Traverse City, and what it says about child care in northern Michigan. And we talk with author Howard Lovy about his debut novel — partly set at Interlochen in the mid-1980s.

As Traverse City's airport expands, officials see an opportunity to address climate change. Also, the difficulty of tracking how opioid settlement dollars are spent. We'll hear how an old asylum in Traverse City inspired a new novel. And we meet the journalist behind a newsletter that's by, for and about the Indigenous people of Michigamiing (Michigan).

This week we have three conversations we think you need to hear.A lawsuit against Benzie County in federal court alleges that sheriff’s deputies could have prevented a murder. We hear from the victim’s son, who is bringing the case.And, federal job cuts hit close to home. A conversation with a Cadillac woman who lost her job at the Forest Service.Also, in his career as a freelance trumpeter, Interlochen alumnus Aaron Smith has played for TV and film, in the pit orchestras of national touring musicals, even backed up Beyonce. Now, he’s talking to us about his career. And, the tragic turkeys of Suttons Bay.That's all this week on the Up North Lowdown from Interlochen Public Radio.