this week’s
top ten Lake Erie’s Win Shows Promise for Our Shores
One of the Great Lakes got a big win late last week. Gov. Whitmer released the final adaptive management plan to help state-led and partner-supported projects reduce the amount of phosphorous entering Lake Erie. Of all nutrients, phosphorus poses th highest risk to the Great Lakes (and Michigan’s inland lakes) because it limits biological activity under most any condition, fueling dangerous levels of algae growth, i.e. scum on the water surface that ruins recreational and property values, clogs water-intake pipes, and can harbor bacteria that are harmful to humans, pets, and wildlife. The latest iteration of Gov. Whitmer’s overall plan — to cut total phosphorus and soluble reactive phosphorus by 40 percent by 2025 — focuses on Lake Erie, which is the most troubled lake, showing levels about twice that of Lake Michigan’s in the last decade. However, as those along our northwest Lower Michigan coast know all too well, algae blooms along Lake Michigan are none too rare. At least seven lake sturgeon — a fish currently listed on Michigan’s threatened species list — were found washed up on the Lake Michigan shoreline within the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in April 2020. Their deaths were thought to have been caused by type E botulism from cladophora algae mats and had caused similar die-offs in Lake Ontario, Lake Erie and Green Bay. “Michigan has already reached its target of a 20 percent phosphorus load reduction by 2020, but we have a way to go yet to meet our overall 40 percent goal,” says Gary McDowell, director, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD). “By partnering with our sister agencies, local conservation districts and continuing our outreach with farmers, I’m confident we will make a quantifiable improvement to water quality in the state.”
Music, Mystery, and an Unmasked Livestream Option On the Winter Solstice, presented by Blissfest, will feature jazz, folk and roots music in the spirit of the season. Don’t miss Rachael and Dominic Davis, Hadassah Greensky Trio, Djangophonique, and The Hype at Crooked Tree Arts Center in Petoskey on Tuesday, Dec. 21 at 7pm. And, in a much better version than your office’s Secret Santa, audiences will be gifted with a mystery guest host — and the option to buy livestream tickets if in-person performances aren’t your thing. $25 members, $30 general admission, and $10 livestream access only.
Hey, read it assembly
4
The unnamed protagonist of Natasha Brown’s “Assembly” appears to have crested the peak of success. She’s a high-ranking finance executive, her plush apartment is full of investment art, and she’s “in” with her boyfriend’s highfalutin family. But the precariousness — and outright prejudice — that comes with being a Black woman in Britain seems to render her hard-fought victories void. A sudden cancer diagnosis is all the push she needs to pull at the threads of her patchwork identity, start unraveling her painstakingly assembled life, and wonder: Is it one she actually wants to live? A scathing account of societal exploitation, Brown’s debut tears contemporary colonialism to shreds, before literally closing the cover. Just over 100 pages in length, this book will stay with you for years.
5
s n o i t a r b e Cel New Year’s Eve
2
tastemaker Salted Cashew Caramel Baklava
The Baklava Shop launched in Lewiston in 2011 for one reason: The community couldn’t get enough of the Prince family’s specialty sweet. “When my kids brought treats to school, [ours] was always baklava,” says shop owner and family matriarch, Georgette. Built around goodies made from and inspired by her Lebanese grandmother’s original recipes, the bakery boasts a rotating array of both seasonal and standard bakes. But it’s their Salted Cashew Caramel Baklava that puts hum-drum holiday platters to shame. The brainchild of Georgette’s daughter Sarah, this sumptuous blend of sweet and salty begins with 10 layers of flaky phyllo, each separated by a thin coat of butter. From there, Georgette adds one pound of carefully ground and toasted cashews — “Too big, and the baklava falls apart,” she warns — before sandwiching the whole shebang between another 10 sheets of her paper-thin pastry. Brushed with butter and baked to golden perfection, this ooey-gooey holiday treat is doused in scratch-made simple syrup, which they’ve infused with caramel and brown sugar, and finished with a sprinkle of toasted nuts. At only $20 a dozen, we dare you not to eat the box. $20 for 12 pieces. 2889 Kneeland St., Lewiston. Ordering ahead is recommended: (989) 785-5438, baklavashop@frontier.com
4 • December 20 & 27, 2021 • Northern Express Weekly
DOWNTOWN PETOSKEY
Three-course Prix Fixe 4 – 10pm A la Carte All Night in Bar
231.348.3321
EVENING GALA 10pm – 2am Upstairs Celebration | $5 Cover Champagne Toast, Featured Cocktails, Party Favors Classic Lunch Menu 11:30am – 4pm Three-course Specialty Menu 5 – 9:30pm A la Carte Menu in Bar 5 – 9:30pm
NYE BASH 10pm – 2am DJ Bill the Cat | No Cover 231.347.0101 Champagne Toast, Party Favors WINEGUYSGROUP.com
RESERVATIONS RECOMMENDED
