Up North Lowdown

A new fire authority could be coming to the Manistee area. Rising costs and rising call volumes mean the City of Manistee is looking to combine multiple municipal fire departments into a new fire authority — an idea that’s drawn mixed reactions.

Amid a global downturn in wine consumption, northern Michigan wineries are offering experiences beyond drinking. For some, that means snowshoeing, or more live music or, yes, allowing visitors to get up close with live goats. We'll also look in the Line 5 pipeline as Enbridge continues its response to a spill in Wisconsin and laments delays in its plans for the Straits of Mackinac.

Dolly Parton, among the seemingly endless list of her life's accomplishments, also wrote a musical. "9 to 5" will be playing at Old Town Playhouse.

IPR's Ellie Katz is a big fan of Dolly Parton. In fact, Ellie's radio origin story begins with Dolly's podcast "Dolly Parton's America."

Ellie sits down with Michelle Perez, director for the Old Town Playhouse's production of the musical "9 to 5."

Also, we'll hear from Betsy Moore, director of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. A program that delivers over 4,000 books to northern Michigan children every month.

A truck backed into a section of the Line 5 pipeline in northern Wisconsin, causing a spill of natural gas liquids. We'll check in with Katie Thoresen, news director at WXPR public radio in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. Also, we hear about how Michigan farmers are trying to save money by fixing their own gear.

Farmers have lots of land. Data centers and large scale solar need lots of land. We all need energy and we all need food. So what gives? We'll hear how some northern Michigan farmers navigate this tension. And did you know that Dolly Parton played a show in Traverse City? Those details, and more, on today's Lowdown.

A literacy program in five northern Michigan school districts shows some promise. Leelanau County housing advocates want to hear what gets in the way of people living, affording to live in the county.

Anne Stanton steps down in September after years as executive director of the National Writers Series, a program that brings notable authors to Traverse City. She talks about how it all got started and what's next after 17 years leading an organization she helped build into a staple of northern Michigan's arts and culture scene.

The documentary "Coldwater Kitchen" takes us inside Lakeland Correctional Facility in southern mid-Michigan, where inmates are learning to become gourmet chefs. Co-director Mark Kurlyandchik says the film asks us some fundamental questions about the purpose of incarceration. Several of the film's subjects have gone on to careers in the restaurant industry.

Last week, the federal government approved a permit for the proposed Line 5 tunnel project.

Austin Lowes, chairman of the Sault Ste Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, said the permit approval is "one of the most disgusting things I’ve been confronted with as a tribal leader." What does it mean for tribal treaty rights?

Our gardening expert, Dylan Kulik, talks about cover crops and how they can help prime your garden for next year. And we hear about a big land sale in the U.P. — thousands of acres along the Keweenaw Peninsula.