Northern Express - April 20, 2020

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You feel panic.

The police see peace.

A mid-COVID sit-down with TC Police Chief O’Brien

NORTHERN MICHIGAN’S WEEKLY • april 20 - April 26, 2020 • Vol. 30 No. 16 John Robert Williams Photography

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2 • april 20, 2020 • Northern Express Weekly

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Pandemic & Global Warming The behaviors of our nation’s leaders and decision-makers facing the exploding COVID19 pandemic reminds me of their response to global warming. It is human nature to respond to immediate threats we can see and to be skeptical of potential future threats, even when science predicts they will be of disastrous magnitude.

The COVID pandemic and global warming have both been called hoaxes, and their threat minimized. The certainty of immediate monetary loss makes us reluctant to close businesses or to switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy in the face of potential future calamities predicted by science. Numerous governors and health experts describe our COVID response as “too little, too late” or say “When you start to see the numbers rise, it is already too late.” One advised we “Hit it hard and hit it early.”

COVID cases, when unmitigated by social distancing, grow exponentially. The increase of global temperatures likewise accelerates as reflective polar ice melts, and a blanket of warming methane exudes from thawing permafrost. Global warming is like the COVID pandemic in slow motion: viral infections and deaths increase over days and weeks, while global temperatures rise over years and decades.

But while we shall hopefully return to near normal living many months to a few years post pandemic, the changes that global warming will cause to our earth, its plants, animals, oceans and weather will be permanent.

Although the average temperatures are already on the rise, we can still mitigate this future disaster. For the sake of our grandchildren and their grandchildren, let us do so.

Robert Fawcett, MD, Petoskey Heroes or Zeros?

Dear Republican legislators of Michigan: Apparently, it was important to you to recently rush to Lansing to put a check on the governor’s “power grab” because she shouldn’t have the right to exercise emergency powers until the end of June. While you are patting yourselves on the back for “reigning in” the governor, please consider this: This pandemic is killing people, and Michigan is near the top of the list of states in the worst shape and likely to suffer many deaths. If you look at what works against this lethal disease, it is isolating people from one another, and for a long period of time. Are you guys scientists? Doctors? Experts on pandemics?

Please don’t make this political. And please don’t paint yourselves as heroes of democracy or champions of the people. Work with the governor — and science.

Gary A. Medland, Alcona Township The Cure I’m trying to get this out before it’s too late.

If what’s intentionally happening right now in this country was done by Obomination (Obama), things would be different. Every God-fearing (Proverbs 1:7), blue-blooded (I

Peter 2:9), gun-toting (Luke 22:36) American would not voluntarily be lining up to drink the Kool Aid. Since it’s Trump, they are jumping in line to be sheared like the brain-dead (Romans 12:2) sheep that they are. Lie after lie by Mr. Fake News himself. This whole Coronavirus thing is a false flag. Not only is the Trumpster lying, but so is every other politician (Gov. Whitmer) and nearly every media outlet, local, state, and federal.

I personally know influential people in New York, Seattle, and Chicago, and none of them know anyone who has died from this virus. I also know people who have had the virus, and after a couple of weeks are just fine — like the flu, which also kills many people who have health issues. Hello, McFly! If you catch it, please don’t line up to drink the Kool-Aid (vaccine). Simply and cheaply go to the store if you still can and buy Schweppes tonic water, which contains quinine, and some zinc. Start taking these two ingredients together, and you’ll be just fine.

Gordon Lee Dean, Benzonia A Harsh but Crucial Lesson Maybe it is no coincidence that the virus that is wreaking havoc on our daily existences is actually illustrating just what it is we need to do to make us better equipped and prepared to resist and survive this virus and other unexpected maladies in the future.

Because of the Coronavirus outbreak, people around the world are being forced to stay at home. Businesses are shuttered, transcountry/world travel has practically been shut down, and our ability to consume has been drastically reduced in almost every way. The upside of all of this is that the sudden decrease in human activity is amounting to markedly cleaner air around the planet in a very short period of time. Cleaner air means cleaner water and soil. Cleaner air, water and soil will lead to healthier bodies, which, theoretically, means that we will be better equipped, physically, to survive the coronavirus and other diseases in the future without such disruption to our lives or the need for so much medical intervention.

The question is: Are we smart enough to heed the lesson that Mother Nature has provided us (quit consuming more than our basic needs, clean up our environment, and ultimately be healthier in the future), or will we foolishly ignore this valuable lesson and go right back to the destructive, consumption-based lifestyles that have made this current situation much worse than it might otherwise be?

Patrick McDuff, Kaleva Cheers Kudos to letter writers Richard When, Willie Jones, and Kathleen Birdsall. Our world has changed forever, and that change is ongoing. All thinking people must know by now that complacency is over now for those who survive the pandemic. Proactive responses to human error and what ails the earth is so obviously needed. It is good to count these three on board for a better future for northern Michigan and America.

And thanks to all of you at Northern Express, for remaining at the front.

Colin Bohash, Honor Science Matters When we look back to the early days of the coronavirus, our leaders made decisions when only a few cases were occurring and ignored our intelligence community’s warning about the possibility of a pandemic. Nor did we listen to the scientists about the coming plague as

early as 1994. Governors who took action on the virus did so by looking where things were headed instead of what was happening now.

States where Governors took quick action are doing much better, especially California.

Unfortunately, we are doing same thing when it comes to climate change. We are focusing what happening now, rather than where we are headed. The scientists have warned us since the 1980s. about the need to cut our fossil fuel emissions to avoid the consequences of our changing climate.

If we don’t bend the curve, our global temperature is on a path to rise by more than 3 degrees celsius, according to the IPPC. Oceans would be an average 3 feet higher by 2100.

Those rising seas would displace 680 million people in lowing-lying coastal zones.

America’s preparation for a virus outbreak has been weakened even before the current pandemic virus. Back in 2018 ,the Trump administration dissolved the office for virus outbreaks, and in 2019, the White House budget office reduced the health department’s national emergency stockpile requests by half, resulting in our stockpile being quickly depleted in the current crisis. Likewise, with climate change, the current administration has been dismantling programs designed to reduce our carbon emissions.

While our attention is focused on the climbing death rate from the virus (20,000), we are not noticing the premature deaths from air pollution is 90,000. Death rates from the virus are higher in areas with higher levels of air pollution.

CONTENTS features Crime and Rescue Map......................................7 It’s Eerie Out There..........................................10 The Dish Cafe...............................................12 A Woman, her Horse, and a Dream.....................13 A Kinder, Gentler Beer.............................................14

columns & stuff Top Ten...........................................................5

Spectator/Stephen Tuttle....................................6 Opinion..............................................................8 Weird................................................................9 Modern.......................................................16 Advice.........................................................17 Crossword...................................................17 Freewill Astrology..........................................18 Classifieds..................................................18

Ronald Marshall, Petoskey Speed Saves Lives Supporters of Mr. Trump often say his critics just plain hate him, as if hate were a pre-existing condition without cause. This is what we call a brain-saver. It makes it easy to dismiss criticism.

Take the issue of testing: According to Robert Redfield, the director of the CDCP, “25 percent of people infected . . . don’t present any symptoms or fall ill but can still transmit the illness” (Business Insider, March 4, 2020).

In short, it’s an invisible killer, which makes testing, and testing early, so critical.

Yet by the end of January, Trump had only taken the single action he always touts, closing entry from China. But by then the barn door was already wide open. In January, at least 390,000 people arrived on direct flights from China, with another 40,000 slipping in afterward.

From then on, Trump’s focus has been the daily campaign rallies, masquerading as press conferences, in which he blames China, Europe, Obama, the WHO — anybody but himself. And when Dr. Fauci simply acknowledged that we “could have saved more lives” had we started testing earlier, Trump threatened to fire him.

By contrast, nations like South Korea, Germany, Iceland, and Norway began testing early and often. They jumped on the virus and saved many lives. Closer to home governors like Mike DeWine and Gavin Newsom also moved quickly with a clear plan of action. But Trump had no plan, and still doesn’t.

To allow so many of one’s people to die through one’s own indifference or lack of courage is hateful. To compound this by dilatory, indecisive behavior during months when those people could have been saved is also hateful. But then to blame others and even to crow about your leadership … ? For that we need a stronger word than hateful.

Northern Express Weekly is published by Eyes Only Media, LLC. Publisher: Luke Haase 135 W. State St. Traverse City, MI 49684 Phone: (231) 947-8787 Fax: 947-2425 email: info@northernexpress.com www.northernexpress.com Executive Editor: Lynda Twardowski Wheatley Finance & Distribution Manager: Brian Crouch Sales: Kathleen Johnson, Lisa Gillespie, Kaitlyn Nance, Michele Young, Randy Sills, Todd Norris, Jill Hayes For ad sales in Petoskey, Harbor Springs, Boyne & Charlevoix, call (231) 838-6948 Creative Director: Kyra Poehlman Distribution: Dave Anderson, Dave Courtad Kimberly Sills, Randy Sills, Roger Racine Matt Ritter, Gary Twardowski Listings Editor: Jamie Kauffold Reporter: Patrick Sullivan Contributors: Amy Alkon, Rob Brezsny, Ross Boissoneau, Jennifer Hodges, Michael Phillips, Steve Tuttle, Jillian Manning, Al Parker, Intern: Sophie Boyce Copyright 2020, all rights reserved. Distribution: 36,000 copies at 600+ locations weekly. Northern Express Weekly is free of charge, but no person may take more than one copy of each weekly issue without written permission of Northern Express Weekly. Reproduction of all content without permission of the publisher is prohibited.

Porter Abbott, Northport Letters continues on page 6

Northern Express Weekly • april 20, 2020 • 3

this week’s

top ten Sleeping Bear Temporarily Closed Too many visitors not practicing social distancing measures forced the closure of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore until further notice.

The decision came after repeated (and ignored) pleas from Superintendent Scott Tucker for visitors to avoid coming close to other people while visiting the park.

In making the April 14 announcement that all hiking trails, beaches, parking lots, and picnic areas would be closed (and beach fire prohibited), park officials said the measure was necessary because of what they’d witnessed at the park the previous weekend.

“In response to observed visitor behavior and guidance from public health officers, [the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore] is announcing additional closures to support efforts to promote social distancing and slow the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19),” read the official announcement.

The move also means that the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive, seasonally closed since November 2019, will remain closed.

2 tastemaker

Nada’s Veggie and Beef Boureks

Usually, we’re all about Nada’s fresh-made hummus, chicken schawarma pita (so garlic-y good and with a wonderfully mean punch of pickle), and tabbouleh (parsley, bulgur wheat, green onion, and tomato dressed with bright lemon juice and olive oil). But with things all weird in the world, the gourmet deli has been closing earlier than usual — about 4pm most days. Turns out, it was a blessing in disguise, one that forced us from our usual comforts to the few ready-to-go items remaining in the deli case that day at 5pm: veggie or beef boureks, and Nada’s curry chicken and cherry chicken salad. As expected, both chickens were dependably solid — moist quality chicken chunks, just-right mayo and spices, and never-skimpy dottings of dried cherries and crunchy celery throughout each.

But it was the boureks that unexpectedly won the day. Wrapped in generous but light (and somehow not greasy) egg roll skins, the boureks had an almost pastry-like mouthfeel. And despite their disparate fillings — carrots, peas, and cabbage v. finely minced ground beef — each delivered the gently sweet and slow-warming heat a good curry should. Curry and cherry chicken, $10 per pound; bourek, $3.50 each. Call ahead to order and ensure deli hours, especially on Fridays, when loyal regulars often beat seat-of-their-pants fans to the case: (231) 947-6779. Find Nada’s Gourmet Deli inside Saco’s liquor store at 542 W. Front St. in Traverse City.

Good News: Rainbows Over (Northern) Michigan The state might be shut down under the cloud of COVID-19, but that’s not stopping the Rainbows Over Michigan movement from spreading joy across the Mitten. The effort asks folks to paint rainbows, colorful art, and inspiring quotes in their front windows or sidewalks as a way of spreading positivity to neighbors and passersby during quarantine. Up North, even shops are getting in on the game. Here, some cheery love from venerable Petoskey shop Grandpa Shorters.

Search RainbowsOverMichigan on Facebook for window painting tips and join the movement.

4

Hey, read it!

Doomsday Book

All of this quarantine cramping your style? Don’t panic: We’ve got your PPE by the page-load! For a distraction from the daily epidemia drill, we recommend acclaimed author Connie Willis’ “Doomsday Book.” Plucked from the tomes of 1992, this definitive dystopia follows Kivrin Engles and her team of time travelers as they train for an investigation of 14th-century England. But, when the technician tasked with her time-calculations falls suddenly ill, Kivrin finds herself stranded in 1348 — the same year the Bubonic Plague befell Europe. As dueling pandemics descend between centuries, can Kivrin’s fellows sort their slip-up before the Black Death takes its toll? A satisfying blend of sci-fi and history, this is the story to — literally — withstand the test of time.

5 National Writers Series

LIVIng Through The CoronaVIrus The ConversaTion ConTinues…

The National Writers Series invites you to tell your story about life in this new world. We are living in a time that will go down as history — and we want to know how you’re getting through it.

Write it down — the future needs your story.

NWS is awarding prizes, aptly named MyCorona, in all age categories!

Ad paid for by a generous NWS donor.

LifeIntheTimeofVirus.org 4 • april 20, 2020 • Northern Express Weekly

6

Outstanding Educator Noms …

Tardy But Not Absent

Across the region, educators are scrambling to adapt and to learn how to reach students who are sheltering at home.

Perhaps since this new reality has only recently taken hold, the Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District announced this week it’s extending the deadline to nominate teachers for its Outstanding Educator Awards.

Know a teacher, support staff member or school administrator who has gone above and beyond in how they’ve adapted to what’s turning out to be the strangest school year ever?

You can now nominate someone through the TBAISD website until May 29. Each nomination must include a letter of support from the nominee’s supervisor, as well as supporting documents from colleagues, parents, and students. Individuals with five or more years’ experience from public, private, and parochial school districts in Antrim, Benzie, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, and Leelanau counties are eligible.

Q-Tip: Want your hair to survive this pandemic? Avoid these color kits at all costs!

If your mousy brown and gunmetal grays are struggling with your salon’s temporary closure, Salon Verve Master Stylist Heather Shaner has some words of warning: Avoid box coloring kits of the drugstore beauty aisle variety. They have high amounts of a chemical substance called paraphenylenediamine (PPD), peroxide, and/or ammonia, which, she says “opens your cuticles so wide, they never close down.” Translation: You’re in for a rat’s nest of damage that gets rattier each time you dye it.

Worse yet, she says, “Color doesn’t lift color — it gets darker and darker as it builds on itself.” So if or when you do head back to your salon for a pro color job, your stylist will have to peroxide your strands and then do a series of color corrections, often over the course of months (and at great expense), to get back to your original color without frying your hair further. (Case in point: one of Shaner’s clients spent more than six months and $800+ reverting from a box-dye black to her original brown.)

More dangerous still is henna, she warns. “Once you’ve done henna, you can’t do an oxidative color over it … without a chemical reaction/melting of the hair.”

Instead, Shaner suggests trying a temporary root touch-up powder until you can get back to your colorist — she recommends Rootflage (www.rootflage.com) — or simply embracing your new au natural style with some of the non-harmful pro products Shaner and other Salon Verve stylists use on clients.

Our super-low-maintenance fave: Original & Mineral’s Surf Bomb Sea Salt Texture Spray.

A wee bit on wet hair gives roots a lift, loose waves a little structure, and all strands a soft — not crispy — texture (without any blow-drying whatsoever).

Pandemic bonus: If you buy it or any products offered through Verve’s website right now, Simply Organic Beauty will kick the Traverse City salon an extra commission bonus to help it through the shutdown. See Salon Verve’s Online Shopping link at www.thenewlookoforganic. com to support the salon — and your tresses.

Stuff we love Paying Local Farmers to Feed Families in Need On April 7, Groundwork Center For Resilient Communities spearheaded a fundraising campaign to help local food pantries purchase food from local farmers, a win-win proposition for two groups feeling a sharp pinch since the pandemic hit Michigan. The goal: a modest $30,000.

Little more than a day later, however, donors surpassed that number. So Groundwork went bigger, extending the deadline and raising the bar to $100,000. By the campaign’s close at midnight April 14, community members exceeded even that, donating $130,597. Now, with help from Northwest Food Coalition, Food Rescue, and Manna Food Project, a network of over 100 food pantries, meal sites, and baby pantries across an eight-county region know they can depend on local farmers’ stored crops — things like potatoes, carrots, onions — and expect a secure a steady supply of healthful, nutritious food through the months to come. “At a time when many farms have the last of their storage crops lined up for restaurant sales and are counting on cash flow to fund spring plantings, the ability to clean out their cellars and get paid for feeding low-income families in our community can be a godsend during the COVID-19 crisis,” said Nic Welty, farmer at 9 Bean Rows in Lake Leelanau. (Pictured: Ryan Romeyn, of Providence Organic Farm in Antrim County, is one farmer whose leafy greens won’t go to waste.)

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bottoms up Short’s London Fog Short’s Brewing Company’s Soft Parade Shandy has officially hit store shelves (an event the Short’s gang heralded by adding it to the beer available for direct delivery to residents in Antrim, Grand Traverse, and Kalkaska counties). Normally, we’d be salivating for this early taste of summer, but the at-home decree and late-April rain put us in a melancholy mood last week, so we opted for something a little darker, Pip: Short’s London Fog, a English brown ale steeped in Earl Grey tea and a malty-sweet creaminess that comes courtesy of vanilla and milk sugars. Were it not in a long-neck, we’d have put a pinky up and sipped; as it was, we slugged it down. And believe it or not, before we’d finished our first bottle, the sun came out.

A sign of spring’s promise if ever we’d tasted one. 6.8%ABV. Though it’s not one of the brews Short’s delivers locally, you can find a list of dozens of local shops that carry Short’s at www. shortsbrewing.com. We found ours for $14.99 at Saco’s, 542 W. Front St. in Traverse City.

Northern Express Weekly • april 20, 2020 • 5

letters

PRAISE AND BLAME

Continued from page 3

Do Your Homework I used to vote a split ticket for whomever I thought the better candidate. In the 80s I voted for Reagan. During his tenure, airport control tower workers went on strike, and Reagan authorized temporary replacement workers (permanent) to break up the strike. I mentioned to my father that Reagan had showed them, thinking that he was keeping taxes lower. Dad said, “Watch, they will come after all blue collar, hourly workers next.”

We now have replacement workers for all union strikers and “right to work.” Some people confuse this with “Right to Life.”

In 1999 I became vice president of my local union and more politically involved. Since unions are basically Democrat or Republican people, government deems union funds cannot be used for political purposes. Companies owed by stockholders are allowed to donate to political parties because they are owned by people. Unions, if making a donation, have to do it through P.A.C. (Political Action Committee). Believe me, unions do not donate millions of dollars like we see shown on TV. In the 19 years as vice president and president of my local union, my opinion is that the Republican party is using Right to Life and the Second Amendment to maintain control.

Their only real concern is the corporations and the one percenters; not babies and not guns. Just control! Under President Obama we came back from a recession. I’ve heard him referred to as “that [expletive] in the White House.” I have the upmost respect for him.

Volumes of ads aired on television are paid for by committees with their own agendas, often lies. Do your homework — do not rely on what you see on TV. Vote informed! If you haven’t a

decent income, how can you raise a child and properly care for them? Can you afford guns, ammo, etc.? As for MAGA, America has never stopped being great.

Dean R. Kolk, Manistee Sheriffs’ Irresponsible COVID Message The noise coming from the quartet of northwest Michigan sheriffs this week was not sweet music. It was dangerously off-key, and the message was tone-deaf and irresponsible.

The message signaled a green light that it is OK to disregard what the governor is asking us to do to control the COVID spread.

It also indicated that each sheriff would decide which part of the governor’s order is worth enforcing. What a great example to give. How ironic they think the governor overstepped her authority, but they have the authority to not enforce executive orders.

And the talk about protecting civil liberties? How does that work with those who think civil liberties means they can do whatever they want? What about the civil liberties of those who want protection from the reckless behavior of others?

Hopefully, the sheriffs saw photos of the demonstration in Lansing. Folks exercising their civil liberties to infect or be infected, in defiance of the governor’s basic order to exercise social distancing and wear masks.

Exhibit A as to why the latest order was needed. The sheriffs should pray that the reckless and dangerous behavior in Lansing doesn’t take root in our/their counties.

Peter Raphael, Maple City

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spectator

by Stephen Tuttle COVID-19 has created plenty of opportunities for both praise and blame. We’ve seen people at their best, some at their worst, and are daily reminded of how inefficient the federal government can be.

Let’s start with deserved praise.

There are the first responders who are at risk on every shift but even moreso now. Every medical call now comes with another level of potential trouble. Law enforcement personnel must keep themselves safe from us while keeping us safe while keeping us safe from each other. Not so easy.

Healthcare workers are used to being around some level of contagion all the time. But not like this, and not without proper personal protective equipment (PPE). In addition to their regular patient load, they now try to contain an overload of infectious new patients. Their determination to stay on the job has come at a price; worldwide, 100 doctors and nurses have already died from the virus — 27 in the U.S. alone — and those numbers will inevitably rise. Healthcare workers account for at least 9,000 positive tests in the U.S. and fully 20 percent in Ohio.

Then there are the people we usually ignore, those stocking the shelves or at the checkout counter, and the drivers delivering those goods. They work with increased risk, too; at least six deaths and hundreds of COVID-19 infections. Without them, we’d have nothing to hoard.

High praise for teachers trying to keep track of their students and figure out how to teach via long distance. Some students have been e-learning, or have had that ability, for years.

The challenge is reaching those students who do not have computers, and teachers have demonstrated some remarkable creativity in accomplishing that.

PETOSKEY | HARBOR SPRINGS | GAYLORD | TRAVERSE CITY

6 • april 20, 2020 • Northern Express Weekly

Alas, there is justifiable blame aplenty, too.

We have to start with China. They didn’t create this in a lab or intentionally spread it — they rely on a worldwide economy, so crashing it would be foolish — but they waited at least six weeks after identifying the virus to tell the rest of the world. They have questions to answer, as does the World Health Organization (WHO).

Even people we usually criticize are praiseworthy. Some governors, mayors, and local officials of both parties (notably a Republican governor in Ohio and Democrats in Washington, Michigan, and New York) listened to the medical experts and were quickest to sound the alarm and take action in the face of some significant criticism.

The same goes for all those folks still making deliveries of packages and mail. And those working in the distribution centers sorting and arranging that mail and those packages.

BUILDING CENTERS & DESIGN SHOWROOMS

into free hand sanitizer, manufacturers rearranging their operations to produce medical equipment and protective gear, restaurants providing food, and all the people keeping their distance and wearing masks to protect the rest of us.

Even people we usually criticize are praiseworthy. Some governors, mayors, and local officials of both parties (notably a Republican governor in Ohio and Democrats in Washington, Michigan, and New York) listened to the medical experts and were quickest to sound the alarm and take action in the face of some significant criticism. Told by the president to fend for themselves, they did, despite withering logistical problems.

And there were unexpected helpers, too. People sewing and creating PPE at home, distillers turning what would have been sold spirits

But neither can be blamed for the ponderously slow response of too much of the rest of the world. Leaders in the U.S., the U.K., France, Italy, and Spain, as examples, downplayed and dismissed the threat, despite a flood of warnings from medical experts. It is understandable all were trying to protect their economies, but they prioritized economics and politics over lives far too long.

We now know President Trump received warnings as early as mid-December and increasingly more alarming warnings thereafter.

His early public comments were full of rosy misinformation and nonsense when we needed an actual leader, not a cheerleader.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has to accept responsibility for their initial, faulty testing. We still don’t have any kind of coordinated national testing system, a result of the disjointed national response.

The governors who still have not issued stayat-home orders have served to further spread the virus even in their lightly populated states, as South Dakota has discovered. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Congressional Democrats aren’t blameless, either; they criticized our government’s one early, inadequate response as going too far.

Of course, we always have the scam artists, hucksters, and fraudsters slithering around, selling fake cures and false hope. The price gougers are back, ready to exploit any disaster for a buck.

We’ve created an entire new community of heroes, people willing to step up, oftentimes at considerable risk. It’s a shame we need them.

Our national response is still pathetically inadequate. The widespread testing and tracing we should have started at least two months ago would now require a nearly impossible effort.

We’re going to have to wait for a vaccine.

In the meantime, much praise to all those helping. And much hope the folks in Washington, D.C., won’t make things even worse.

Crime & Rescue BEULAH MAN JAILED FOR MURDER A 23-year-old Beulah man is in jail following an investigation into the shooting death of a man at a home in rural Benzie County.

Benzie County Sheriff’s deputies investigated after a man who was worried about 56-year-old Alexander Kosta Sarantos called police to say that he had visited Sarantos’ house on Cinder Road near Beulah and saw several bullet holes in the front window.

Deputies arrived at the home on the evening of April 11 and forced their way in, discovering the body of the victim, who appeared to have been shot. Deputies said Sarantos was not armed.

After a search of the residence and aid of the state police crime lab, detectives searched a suspect’s home nearby. After collecting evidence there and conducting an interview, they arrested the suspect, Taylor Manol, a 23-year-old Beulah man. Manol was charged with open murder.

CAR THEFTS INFO SOUGHT Someone rooted through unlocked vehicles and stole things from cars parked in Selma Township near Cadillac.

Wexford County Sheriff’s deputies said the vehicle larcenies occurred late April 15 or early April 16 in driveways on Fern Avenue and West Lake Mitchell Drive.

Anyone with information about the crimes is asked to call the sheriff’s office at (231) 779-9216.

CHILD SEX SUSPECT CAPTURED The FBI and Charlevoix County Sheriff’s deputies announced the arrest of an accused sexual predator shortly after offering a $5,000 award for the man’s capture.

Matthew Dietz, 41, was charged in September 2018 with two counts of sexually assaulting a child under the age of 13 and two counts of accosting a child for immoral purposes.

Deputies investigated after two children told their parents that Dietz “made advancements and had sexual contact with them,” police said.

A federal warrant for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution was issued against Dietz in March.

The reward was announced in a press release April 15, and later that day deputies announced on Facebook that Dietz had been arrested.

by patrick sullivan psullivan@northernexpress.com

The suspect was arrested, and deputies discovered that he had just cut off a tether that he had been ordered to wear in a felony domestic strangulation case. Deputies also found a handgun under the driver’s seat.

The suspect faces a bond violation and other charges, including fleeing and eluding and secondoffense driving while license suspended.

MISSING TEEN FOUND SAFE A Traverse City teenager who had been missing for three weeks was discovered downstate after the state police put out an alert in search of her whereabouts.

The 17-year-old was found safe and healthy in Flint, and her family set off to retrieve her April 14.

The girl had a history of running away, but in previous instances she had stayed fairly close to home and maintained limited contact with her family, police said. This absence was significantly longer, so even though the teenager had left voluntarily, her family asked the police to help locate her.

Investigators are also looking into property found in the suspect’s vehicle. Anyone who was the victim of a break-in should call the sheriff’s detective bureau at (231) 995-5002 to make a report.

DRIVER ARRESTED Leelanau County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a woman for drunk driving after she nearly careened into a patrol car.

A deputy was stopped at the entrance to Glen’s Landfill in Kasson Township at 2am April 12 when a white SUV came along M-72, crossed the centerline, and almost struck the patrol car.

The deputy made a traffic stop and discovered that the driver, a 35-year-old Traverse City woman, had been drinking and showed signs of intoxication.

The woman was arrested for second-offense drunk driving.

BURGLARY SUSPECT INVESTIGATED A man who was spotted by neighbors attempting to break into several houses was arrested; investigators found property in his vehicle they suspect came from other burglaries.

Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s deputies were called at 3pm April 15 after neighbors on Lakewood Road in Long Lake Township spotted a man attempt to break into several houses and then drive off, hitting several mailboxes on West Long Lake Road.

Witnesses spotted the same vehicle crash into a power pole on N. West Silver Lake Road and then drive off. Witnesses followed the vehicle and reported its whereabouts to dispatchers, leading deputies to stop the suspect near North Long Lake and Zimmerman roads.

The 21-year-old was arrested for drunk driving and leaving the scene of a crash. He is under investigation for burglary.

STRANGULATION SUSPECT FLEES POLICE A 23-year-old Traverse City man who was on bond for felony domestic violence was arrested after he crashed his car while fleeing from police.

Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s deputies were called to a wooded area in East Bay Leelanau Township at 2:15pm April 12 to investigate a complaint about gunshots.

Deputies located the suspect, who was sitting in a vehicle and refused to get out, deputies said.

The suspect then floored his vehicle and sped off at a high rate of speed, which led to a police benzie chase.

The suspect ended up on Three Mile Road near Potter Road where he crashed into a patrol car that had stopped so that deputies could get out and place stop sticks across the road. A patrol sergeant who was in that car was treated and released manistee from Munson following the crash.

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Northern Express Weekly • april 20, 2020 • 7

EARTH DAY INTERRUPTED

opinion Cathye Williams

For Traverse City area news and events, visit TraverseTicker.com

At any other time, I would be using this April column to write about spring, renewal, and hope. But this year, Earth Day, like everything else, will be a virtual event. Our ritual tree plantings and neighborhood cleanups will be sidelined as we wait for pandemic cases to peak and subside.

through mansions and bungalows alike. Yet in terms of social justice, disparate outcomes will still occur. Make no mistake: When the stats are in, people of color and those living in the poorest zip codes will have suffered the most — both from climate change impacts and from COVID-19.

In the coming weeks, perhaps months, we’ll emerge from our homes, ready for embraces, in-person happy hours, and conversations untethered to technology.

Some will be more able than others to pick up the pieces and move forward. How will we have changed? What will we have learned? What will we do differently?

Consider this: Who is more likely to have paid leave, adequate healthcare, or home-owners insurance? Who has the resources to relocate, or the ability to work from home if needed — with pay? Who has access to the technology their children need to learn from home? Who can afford to keep a surplus of food, toilet paper, diapers, or medicine on hand? Whose lungs, weakened by living near sources of

With that lesson in mind, it’s difficult not to draw connections between the current COVID-19 crisis and the slower moving but ultimately far more deadly climate crisis. They are both global in scope, predictable, and both have prospects and prescriptions for mitigation — actions we all can take.

A lot, I hope. We were woefully unprepared for this pandemic, even though knowledge about a viral threat — and opportunity to prepare for its impacts — dates back years. Knowledge about global warming and the opportunity to prepare for its impacts dates back decades.

And we are still woefully unready.

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8 • april 20, 2020 • Northern Express Weekly

This Coronavirus crisis is a tragic lesson in the fact that it’s the job of scientists and experts to provide data and advice, and it’s the job of elected officials to listen and to lead. With that lesson in mind, it’s difficult not to draw connections between the current COVID-19 crisis and the slower moving but ultimately far more deadly climate crisis. They are both global in scope, predictable, and both have prospects and prescriptions for mitigation — actions we all can take.

As different as they are in size and scope, both a tiny germ and an immense climate system are equally capable of bringing human society and enterprise to a grinding halt. They each strain our capacities to protect life. Whether in the face of this pandemic or fires, floods, and storms, our physical, economic, and public health infrastructures have come up short.

Relief is available to many at the top but not enough at the bottom. Our heroic first responders and frontline workers are too few, and they are underfunded and underequipped. Economic recovery is slow, and many will never recover. On one coast, hurricane season will soon be here, with predictions for another record-setting year, and wildfires on the opposite coast are not far behind. With these added threats on the tails of the pandemic, our response capacity at every level — local, state, and federal — could be stretched to the limit.

Another similarity in these crises is who bears the brunt. Certainly, the virus doesn’t recognize race, gender, or socioeconomic status; anyone can succumb to infection.

Likewise, hurricanes and wildfires tear

pollution, will be less able to defend against or recover from disease? Are we prepared to answer these questions now, and for the next disaster? And the one after that?

This pandemic crisis has shown us that we have the ability to mobilize for the greater good — that we can use less, share more, and make better decisions as consumers and as stewards of public trusts. For some, this experience might be their first time really seeing themselves as part of a greater whole, and for understanding the vulnerability of both. Through the historic economic relief package just passed, we see that there is political will for a more just system and public support for expenditures that will strengthen and save us from more costly future damages.

Some worry that the pandemic is distracting us from tackling climate change, that we don’t have the resources and political will to focus on too many crises at once. I don’t believe we have the luxury to tackle our crises one at a time.

We need leaders to respond to this pandemic and simultaneously apply both innovations and lessons learned to build our resiliency and fight climate change even more fervently.

Building clean energy systems and resilient food systems will both reduce multiple threats and strengthen our response to them.

Climate change isn’t our only problem, but this pandemic illustrates how disruptions of natural systems can make other problems — such as inequity, hunger, disease, and war — worse. Because of this interconnectedness, it simply makes sense to do everything we can to protect each other from the spread of this disease. And to keep doing everything we can to protect each other and the earth from the threat of climate change.

Cathye Williams serves as a volunteer and media liaison for the Grand Traverse area chapter of the Citizens Climate Lobby, www. citizensclimatelobby.com. She writes from Benzie County.

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Life Imitates Netflix Authorities executed a search warrant relating to a narcotics investigation in the South Texas town of Mercedes on March 25, but what they seized wasn’t drugs. Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Sammy Parks told the Associated Press that officers had been warned there were exotic animals on the 5-acre property, and game wardens who joined the search found a white Bengal tiger, bobcat, kinkajou, porcupines, llamas, emus and deer. While no arrests were made, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department had to euthanize three of the animals; the remainder were removed to the Austin Zoo for examination and rehabilitation.

How the World Has Changed Amy Simonson and Dan Stuglik proceeded with their planned wedding on April 4 in Pokagon, Michigan, but the coronavirus pandemic forced them to get creative. While the original guest list of 150 people had to be pared down repeatedly as restrictions were placed on public gatherings, Stuglik was determined that his bride not walk down the aisle between empty pews in the Old Rugged Cross Church. He hit upon the idea of filling the church with cardboard cutouts of family and friends and stopped by Menasha Packaging Co. to ask for help. Employees Ted Harris and Luke Arendash jumped at the chance. “(Stuglik) was just looking for a general person shape, but I was able to make it a little bit more realistic audience for them,” Harris told The Herald Palladium. The company supplied more than 100 cutouts of varying sizes, shapes and hairstyles. The newlyweds moved their reception to October and canceled their honeymoon in Newport, Rhode Island, but Stuglik said they “both have peace now, because it’s stripped down to what it should be, which is us and God, getting married.”

Our four-legged friends are taking advantage of the COVID-19 lockdown in multiple cities, United Press International reported: On March 31, 122 Kashmiri goats took over the Welsh town of Llandudno, eating gardens and sleeping in the yards; on April 6, residents of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, reported a large herd of deer casually wandering through neighborhoods; in Gir, Gujarat, India, citizens were warned on April 5 to stay inside not only because of the pandemic but because a large lion was nosing around the city; at a Fast Stop store in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, a bear took the low-traffic opportunity to dumpster dive on April 3; and in the Central Region of Singapore, witnesses captured video of a horse galloping through the empty streets of Bukit Timah on April 6. She had escaped from the Paisano Polo Academy, where the owner said she’d only been loose for about 20 minutes.

Recent sunny weather in the Czech spa town of Lazne Bohdanec, where sunbathing naked is allowed, brought out more than a hundred eager sunbathers -- nude and not -- but police were soon on hand to warn they still needed to wear face masks, as ordered by the Czech government, reported the Daily Mail. “Citizens can be without clothes in places designated for this

purpose, but they must have their mouths covered and must observe the numbers in which they can go out into nature,” police spokeswoman Marketa Janovska told local media. “We understand that many people do not have a garden and want to ventilate in the countryside,” she added. About half of the 150 people were not wearing masks, but no fines were issued.

Coronavirus Cosplay Police on horseback and motorcycles in Hyderabad, India, are reminding civilians about the dangers of COVID-19 by wearing large red masks and headdresses in the shape of the virus as they patrol.

Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar said the masked officers would be stationed at various city junctions, Fox News reported.

Ironically, the city organized a rally on April 7 to kick off the awareness campaign, displaying signs reading “Please Avoid Gathering” and “Social Distancing Is Social Responsibility.”

Crowd Control According to his attorney, Rumson, New Jersey, resident John Maldjian, 54, intended for his “Stay at Home” Pink Floyd cover concert to be viewed only on Facebook Live by his friends on April 4. However, at the last minute, Maldjian decided to play his guitar on his front porch, which drew a crowd. What started with a few neighbors eventually grew to about 30 people in his front yard when police showed up to enforce social distancing orders, NJ Online reported. One of the “partiers” allegedly became abusive, according to police, but attorney Mitchell J. Ansell said his client had “absolutely no malicious intentions ... and never wanted this to escalate.” Maldjian was charged for violating emergency orders.

A 21-year-old woman and her 61-yearold father, of Key West, Florida, told Monroe County Sheriff ’s officers they were on a boat off Wisteria Island April 4 where they spotted a group of about 20 college-aged people drinking on the beach, the New York Daily News reported. The woman said they approached the group and asked them to obey social distancing orders and keep the noise down, but the people became violent and struck both victims in the head with a baseball bat.

Authorities said both sustained head injuries in the attack; the attackers jumped into three boats docked nearby and took off, and no one has been arrested.

Using the Weapons at Hand Michigan State Police responding to a call in Gibson Township, Michigan, on April 6 seized a muzzleloader pistol from a man involved in a dispute over a camping trailer, authorities said. Trooper David Kaiser said officers discovered a 58-year-old man and a female relative had arrived at the property to pick up the trailer, but the 55-year-old man who lived there questioned its ownership.

The resident fired the muzzleloader, hitting no one, said Kaiser, then allegedly used the gun to strike the older man, which prompted the woman to grab a shovel and hit the resident on the head. MLive reported police arrested the resident for felonious assault; further charges are pending.

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Northern Express Weekly • april 20, 2020 • 9

Traverse City Police Chief Jeff O’Brien

IT’S EERIE OUT THERE. THERE’S NOBODY OUT AND ABOUT. Northern Express sat down with Traverse City’s police chief to learn what’s happening around town during the new “normal.”

By Patrick Sullivan Even before Friday, March 13 — the day Michigan went into a semi-lockdown and schools across the state shut their doors — local officials were devising a plan for handling the quickly approaching crisis.

Traverse City Police Chief Jeff O’Brien said he and other local officials had been in planning mode, holding meetings, watching webinars, and learning whatever they could from other police departments to prepare for this totally unprecedented event.

So far, their efforts have paid off.

Members of O’Brien’s department, along with the Grand Traverse County Sheriff ’s Office, with which they share headquarters, have had no coronavirus positives yet, despite continuing to patrol the streets and arresting people who misbehave.

Northern Express talked over the phone with O’Brien exactly one month into the crisis — on April 13 — to learn what’s happening in Traverse City after dark, how the coronavirus lockdown has changed policing and public safety, and whether people should be worried about a breakdown in law and order.

No need to wait for the answer to that last question: O’Brien’s answer is an emphatic no — and for that he credits the judicious coordination among city and county officials, fire departments and law enforcement, the emergency manager, the health department, and representatives of just about every large organization in the region.

“As a whole through this Joint Operations Committee, I feel we have a good support

system in place to assist with civil order,” O’ Brien said.

Northern Express: The strangeness and uncertainty of this crisis has people on edge.

What does it look like from your vantage point?

Chief Jeff O’Brien: As a chief, I can plan for a lot of dangers. I can plan for civil disobedience. I can plan for parades. I can plan for a lot of things, but it’s really difficult to plan for a pandemic. It’s the great unknown.

So, what I’ve been taught to do in my training is to look at what other people have done, because we learn by modeling other people.

So right away when this thing hit, Capt. [Jim] Bussell and Capt. [Keith] Gillis and I, we were on webinars, we looked at anything we could possibly read from Washington, from California, from New Jersey — they’re just ahead of us. What those law enforcement officers were doing there, we just took their models and implemented them here.

Express: How do you think the stay-athome order is going? How do you think people are handling it?

O’Brien: We have to make some of these sacrifices now in our freedoms to save people’s lives. This is not a joke. This is very, very real, and we need to take our advice from the health officials that are advising us. The health department and the health officials don’t have the capacity to make law.

The governor has the capacity to make that law, under the Emergency Management Act, which goes back to the mid-1970s.

10 • april 20, 2020 • Northern Express Weekly

North Peak was one of several businesses vandalized by what appears to be one individual during the shutdown.

Now, there is a check and balance there. The legislature has to approve it. And she just went back, she wanted 70 days, and they said, “No, we’ll give you 23, and then we’ll reassess.” So, there’s a check and balance — she’s not going to rule Michigan. She has the best interest of Michigan at heart; she’s just the person who has to give the message. I don’t own a business. I know those folks are frustrated, and some of them are probably going to go bankrupt. This is totally a gamechanger in our society. How we come out of this, it will be really interesting. A lot of the gun people are also complaining, because we do inspections, and they’ve been suspended because we’re not really open. However,

within that act, the Emergency Management Act, she cannot take guns away, she cannot confiscate weapons. It’s right in that act. So that safety net is there, too. She’s not coming after our guns.

Express: It sounds like you’ve heard a lot of the pushback over the governor’s orders.

O’Brien: I think it’s important for people to know that it’s temporary. Now, if these restrictions go beyond the COVID outbreak, then I’ll be the first in line to redress the government. It’s important that the citizens here in Traverse City understand that police officers here take an oath to uphold the

Constitution. And we’re going to do that.

We’re not going to violate the Constitution.

That’s our main focus. Every day we go to work, we swear an oath, we swear to protect it, and that’s what we’re going to do, so I hope people feel comfortable in our community that that’s what we’re about.

Express: How are you doing? How is everyone’s health?

O’Brien: Knock on wood, we have not had a COVID positive as of yet. The sheriff ’s department, which we share a building with, hasn’t had one. The fire department doesn’t have any positive cases. I have great team here, and my command officers have come up with some brilliant ideas about how we schedule our people and how we can keep them safe.

But health-wise, we’re good. Of course, like everyone else, when you look at yourself, your mortality, I think I’ve really reassessed my priorities in life, and what was really important a month ago is not so important to me as other things are. To have time to slow down and to reflect and to think, and to really kick out a lot of the false gods in my life, it’s been very reflective and very refreshing to me personally. It’s something that everyone has probably gone through, I would think.

Express: Have you been able to get the department equipped with the gear you need?

O’Brien: We were able to find N95 masks.

The supply side is a little bit strained, and we’re working on that. Once you declare a state of emergency, which the state has, the county has, then it goes through the federal government.

With the scope of this — 50 states in a state of emergency — [the federal government is] focusing on the hot spots, getting that personal protection equipment to those areas that really need it first, because you burn through that stuff really quick. But we’ve been educating ourselves on how to reuse it and decontaminate it. We’ve put in a decontamination site in the city, a place isolated for officers to shower, where they can send their laundry. So we feel that we have a pretty good plan in place. But I’m hoping that we don’t get a lot of positives here in Grand Traverse County.

Express: It seems like there are so few people out nowadays, especially late. Are people out getting into trouble? What are officers seeing?

O’Brien: I took a one-month review since this happened — we consider March 13 the start of this, so I looked through April 13 and, really, the biggest calls that we’ve done have been self-initiated by the officers. We had about 270 calls that were just property inspections. We’re just getting out of the

cars and looking at businesses and making sure they’re not B&E’d. That incident downtown [windows at several local businesses were shattered in early April], we caught that individual. We’re trying to link them together. We’re trying to build a case, starting with Brick Wheels and then a few other businesses downtown.

Express: Looking at court records over the last month, it seems like there have been more shoplifting cases* than usual in Grand Traverse County. Have you noticed that?

all of them end up in arrests — a lot of them are just arguments. It’s not doubled or anything.

We have taken a few people to jail during this last month. It is really concerning, though. If someone is isolated, now they are isolated even more. The Women’s Resource Center does have openings in their shelter. And they also have a hotline number. That’s (231) 941-1210.

There is a national domestic violence hotline, that’s (800) 799-7233. So, there’s still support out there, and it’s important that people understand that. They need to call.

We have to make some of these sacrifices now in our freedoms to save people’s lives. This is not a joke. This is very, very real, and we need to take our advice from the health officials that are advising us.

O’Brien: I would think that. We don’t have much retail anymore here though.

Express: Those must be happening at the bigger retailers in the county.

O’Brien: We only have, what, three grocery stores [in the City of Traverse City]?

Three major grocery stores — Tom’s East and West, and then Family Fare. So, I am not seeing a lot of larcenies or retail fraud. We had four in the month, we had about nine larcenies, a few assaults. I’d say disorderly conduct is still a major crime that we deal with. We’ve had about 100 of those, and then suspicious situations. We’re getting a few of those calls for people that are congregating, and we’re just telling them that they need to break up, they need to keep it under 10 [people], keep your social distancing.

Express: Nobody’s throwing big, wild parties?

O’Brien: No, not at all. You know, it’s really subdued. It’s kind of eerie around town. It’s just, there’s nobody out and about. We’re a little concerned if this goes on much longer and then the weather gets nice, and people start going to the beach, then we’ll have to make sure that people keep their distance down there also.

Express: What about domestic violence cases? I know there’s been a big uptick in them across the state because of the stay-athome order. What services are available for people who are at risk at home?

O’Brien: I don’t think we’re particularly seeing an upswing in domestic violence. We deal with domestic violence every day, even before this. There’s not a day where we don’t deal with a domestic violence situation. Not

Express: Following the closure of the homeless shelter Safe Harbor, what’s going on with the homeless population? How do the police keep that population safe under these circumstances?

O’Brien: We had tried to keep that shelter open as long as possible, and I know Mr. [Marty] Colburn [Traverse City’s city manager] went one-on-one with Safe Harbor, with George Thompson and Mike McDonald [board members], to keep it open, and then it just got to the point that logistically, with Goodwill, which provides a lot of support to them with paid employees, and then their doctor just said, “You know, this is just not safe, to house them in such close proximity.” We tried a tent outside to feed them, and then it just got to the point where, with the scope of this, we just can’t do it. It’s more harm than good to keep it open.

Express: The volunteers that run Safe Harbor are usually older, and many of them would have been in a high-risk group, so there weren’t really any good options, were there?

O’Brien: They lost that whole volunteer base. That was gone because a lot of them had to isolate. We were hoping that when the younger people came back from college maybe they would step up, and that didn’t necessarily happen. We’re still providing support to [homeless people] in the field.

They are in tents. They’re in the field where our homeless people go in the summer.

I feel confident that Goodwill and Safe Harbor, that they have a very good grasp on it, and they are making sure people’s needs are met, and their medical needs are met.

It’s reassuring.

Express: This crisis must have already severely impacted the recovery community.

When people need substance abuse help these days, where do you refer them? There aren’t the options that were there a month ago, are there?

O’Brien: No, not really. We’ve had several overdoses within the month, and we’ve taken them to the hospital. The Hope Not Handcuffs group, we met last week. We did a Zoom meeting. We’re still going forward. I think from what I’ve seen, Matt Zerilli and Madeline Begley from Addiction Treatment Services, they do a talk every morning on Facebook. The support is still there, it’s just there electronically. It hasn’t broken down, let me put it that way. They are doing a great job making sure everybody still has their support system.

Express: What’s something most people aren’t doing but should be doing? What’s something most people are doing but shouldn’t be doing?

O’Brien: I think everybody has been very well behaved. I would really suggest that, in order for everybody to keep their sanity, that they look at getting out and walking. People should continue to exercise. They should go out and walk and run, they should be able to go out on hikes and use our nature trails.

My family has been quarantined from the beginning of this. They’re just doing a lot of crafts, a lot of art, puzzles. My oldest son has been helping his grandmother — my wife’s mom — with technology, just keeping her up to speed on the computer and printer. She’s been shut in for over a month all by herself.

She lives alone, so it’s really important that we teach that generation how to use that technology to connect. But I really think people are just really kind of mellow. I see a lot of patience in people, whereas before I didn’t see that much patience. I’m seeing a lot of understanding, a lot of kindness. That’s the feeling that I’m getting.

Express: People have realized that they have to take stock of their priorities.

O’Brien: I hope it stays that way. I hope that can continue after this passes. And it will pass. I hope that we can reflect on ourselves and think, That wasn’t so bad. When I went to the bank, people smiled, and they were nice, and when I went to the grocery store, people were smiling, they were nice. *According to data from the Grand Traverse County Sheriff ’s Office, shoplifting is up over last year, but retail fraud cases have not skyrocketed. There were 78 retail fraud cases between Jan. 1 and April 14, 2019, while there were 92 case during the same period this year.

Northern Express Weekly • april 20, 2020 • 11

The Cuban: Spicy pulled pork, ham, pickles, mustard and swiss.

The Southwest: Chicken, guac, Mexican cottage cheese and salsa on a spinach tortilla.

The Dish Cafe Dishing up takeout while taking time to craft new dishes

By Jillian Manning For 14 years, husband and wife duo Randy Waclawski and Patty Hickman have owned The Dish Cafe, located steps from the busy corner of Front and Union streets in downtown Traverse City. The bright, intimate space offers a healthy take on fastcasual dining, featuring crowd-pleasing salads, smoothies, soups, and sandwiches.

“We are typically open for lunch and dinner,” says Waclawski. “We’re quick service during the day and then shift to a little more slowed down, personal service in the evening, with more food and drink specials.”

THE EATS The menu is full of options your nutritionist would approve of, like the Buddha Bowl (quinoa, almonds, kalamata olive tapenade, hummus, onion, tomato, cucumber, feta, lemon parsley vinaigrette) and the Sesame Wrap (broccoli, cucumber, carrot, chow mein, green curry sesame dressing), as well as classic recipes made better, like the Avocado Grilled Cheese or Go Green Quesadilla with pesto, broccoli, tomato, spinach, and cheddar.

While vegetarian and vegan dishes abound, carnivores will find plenty to love in the signature Cuban sandwich, Western Club, or San Diego Salad. And when their doors are open, The Dish features a rotating

medley of soups, including their beloved tomato basil and spicy black bean.

Local beer and wine are also available, alongside a selection of cocktails, and are a perfect complement to a seat at the floorto-ceiling front windows — or, in warmer months, at the on-sidewalk bistro tables outside — for downtown people watching.

If any of that is making your mouth water, never fear. The Dish has kept the kitchen open during the COVID-19 crisis, thanks in part to the eatery’s experience with to-go orders. (On an average pre-pandemic lunch day, about 30 percent of the orders are for takeout, Waclawski estimates.)

SNEAK PEEK AT SUMMER EATS “During the shutdown, we have been open during the week for takeout lunch, heatat-home dinners, and beer and wine to go,” he says. “Takeout business has been keeping us going, paying a few bills, and mostly just keeping us sane, and we’ve been working on a new menu to open back up with.”

Waclawski offered a few sneak peeks at the new menu, including: • Ahi Tuna Bowl: warm black rice, greens, pickled carrot, cucumber, avocado, seared tuna, green onion, sweet soy reduction, and a creamy sriracha dressing • Lamb Skewer Mediterranean Plate: spiced lamb skewers with couscous salad, hummus, and yogurt dill dressing.

• “We’ve also been perfecting a Rueben

12 • april 20, 2020 • Northern Express Weekly

with pastrami, with a smoky dressing and sauerkraut, as well as a way to offer mac and cheese all day.”

The new menu is a bright spot, as Waclawski admits, “There are good days and very defeating ones.” When COVID-19 put a halt to foot traffic, Waclawski and Hickman were forced to significantly reduce operations.

HARD DAYS, HIGH HOPES “One of the hardest days of owning this place was the day a couple weeks ago, that we had to lay off most of our staff,” Waclawski says. “We love our staff, work with them every day, and miss them so much. We had to make the decision to just keep two people, mostly to minimize who is coming and going from our building.”

They have taken on a new employee, however: their 5-year-old son, who now has the run of the dining room if both Waclawski and Hickman need to come in for prep or lunchtime. “He loves to use the vacuum, so the rugs are clean, to say the least!” Waclawski said.

Despite the challenges, Waclawski says there are still positives to be found.

“We have found extreme generosity from the community. Many people have called to say they just want to buy lunch for our first responders and healthcare workers.

We’ve decided that bagged lunches are the most safe, since everything is individually wrapped. The awesome thing about these

sponsored lunches is that people are supporting us while at the same time saying thanks to these other essential workers.”

Waclawski and Hickman have been in the restaurant industry since their teens — Hickman is a graduate of NMC’s culinary program — but neither have ever seen times like these. They’re looking forward to brighter days.

“It’s hard not having the day-to day conversations and interaction with the hundreds of people we’re used to seeing every day,” Waclawski says. “We just can’t wait for our staff and customers to come back through the doors, pour them a happy hour draft, and just catch up.”

For the time being, The Dish Cafe is open 11am–4pm Monday through Friday for takeout and curbside orders. Find it at 108 S. Union St., Traverse City. (231) 932-2233, www.thedishcafetc.com

Aleta Daniels and her training partners, Tara.

A Woman, her Horse, and a Dream Petoskey native with minimal horse-race experience is training for the toughest horse race in the world.

By Al Parker Aleta Daniels is prepping for what she calls a “soul-shaking” adventure.

The former Petoskey resident is training for the Ride the Wild Coast endurance horse race in South Africa, a 370-kilometer (230-mile) trek across some of the most rugged territory in the world.

Long-distance horse racing is growing internationally, and the RTWC, launched 2016, is said to be the world’s toughest. That’s exactly as its founders intended. Blending the spirit of the frontiersman (or frontierswomen) and the modern horseback adventurer, the race is a test of horsemanship, survival, stamina, and navigational skills across an iconic wilderness.

BUT ARE YOU EXPERIENCED? Daniels, however, has no experience at all in this type of competition. It’s sort of the equivalent of a weekend golfer deciding to head to Georgia to play in that little ol’ Masters Tournament they play every year.

She applied and was accepted into the prestigious race — it only accepts a maximum of 20 riders from across the world — because of her long background with horses.

“I’ve never been a big competitor, but I’ve always had horses in my life,” said the 34-yearold. “A friend encouraged me to sign up.”

Daniels, who now lives in Virginia, serves as executive director for a nonprofit organization, Keep Prince William County Beautiful. In her off-hours, you can find her riding over the Virginia countryside with her training partner, Tara, a 13-year-old bay standardbred horse that she rescued from a kill pen.

“Throughout my life, I’ve sought adventure but always carried a nugget of fear in my stomach,” she wrote in the Go Fund Me listing she launched to help fund her adventure.

“I’ve convinced myself not to attempt those adventures that call to me on a soul level because of the parade of what-ifs that made their way through my mind at every turn. I’m finally making my stand against those what-ifs and saying yes to the thrilling adventure that makes my bones shiver delightfully.”

INSPIRATION FOR ALL OF US The race goes beyond Daniels’ personal goals; she said she vows to use the adventure as a foundation for reaching out to her community, especially areas considered “underprivileged,” and encourage them to dream bigger and be their own motivators to reach new goals.

“In short, I pledge to use this race for the greater good of my community,” she said. “To be perfectly clear, I have never competed in anything of this caliber, with horses, or of my own power. I’m not a competitive rider, but you bet your butt I’ll be upping my riding game immensely this year.”

Entry fee into the race is $7,200, which will cover the basic necessities to race: a GPS tracking device, service of emergency medical teams, veterinary care for the horses, food during the race, use of four horses per rider, and other provisions among them. Daniels estimates that airfare to South Africa and other gear she’ll need will bump the total cost to about $10,000.

“This will be hard, the hardest thing I’ve done to date,” she said. “I’m not pursuing this adventure simply for the sake of having done it ... I’m using it as a platform for honest sharing of what it takes to participate in an event of this caliber.”

She’s been training, working in the gym, doing yoga, cardio, running, aqua fitness, and spending hour after hour in the saddle since last October to take part in the grueling race, set for Oct. 17–25, early spring in South Africa.

AND THEY’RE OFF RTWC begins with a mandatory threeday training camp where riders go over rules and get acquainted with the horses that are provided by the race organizers. The actual racing starts at 8am Oct. 20; with a five-day window for completion.

Riders will begin the challenging race in Port Edward, coping with rough terrain of rocky paths, cliffs, beaches, rivers, and wild vegetation.

Over four or five days of riding (and sometimes walking their mounts), the racers will encounter hard-packed sands on windswept beaches, coastal hills slashed by ravines, tight forested trails, and soft sand — especially risky terrain because it can trigger tendon injuries.

To complete the race, riders and horses will have keep a steady pace, averaging 50–65 miles per day, all the while dealing with fatigue and nature’s elements. They’ll be looking for the quickest, safest route, not knowing what obstacles are ahead.

Riders will travel through 12 stages during the race. At each stage, the horses are thoroughly checked by race officials, and riders are heavily penalized if the mounts are overworked. Three types of horses are used in the event — Arabians, for speed; Arabians cross-bred with Boerperde (a robust horse from South Africa that’s known to be trustworthy, hardy, and ambitious, and much like the old Boer horses that are now extinct), for hardiness and temperament; and pure Boerperde, suited to the rough conditions of the Wild Coast.

THE COMPETITORS Racers come from across the globe, including Hungary, Australia, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, France, Ireland, and the U.S. Last year’s race featured 14 riders — seven men and seven women. Australian Emma Manthorpe won.

“We congratulate Emma, as well as all the participants, and recognize their grit, tenacity and exceptional horsemanship,” said race organizer and co-founder Barry Armitage of Rockethorse Racing in a prepared statement.

“The race is always grueling, despite the fact that the Wild Coast is a paradise of a location.”

Several of last year’s riders are expected back, according to Daniels. So will that experience will give them a big edge?

“Absolutely,” said Daniels. “They know what to prepare for. I have no idea.”

The race also has a social conscience component, with a portion of its revenues going to the Southern Lodestar Foundation (SLF), a South African agency that funds projects focusing on health, nutrition, physical activity, and nutritional education.

“Honestly, I’ve had horses for a very long time, but I’ve never clicked with a sport before,” said Daniels. “Now I’ve found mine.”

Daniels is hopeful that by October the Coronavirus travel restrictions will be lifted, and the race won’t be canceled.

“If that happens, I’ll be devastated,” she said, then joked. “After all, it’s the best kind of social distancing you can do.

Want to follow Daniels or help fund her quest? Check out (www.gofundme.com/f/j4eqtrace-the-wild-coast.

WHAT IS THE WILD COAST?

The legendary Wild Coast region is a section of coast of South Africa’s Eastern Cape. The traditional home of the Xhosa people — a Bantu-speaking ethnic group — and the birthplace of Nelson Mandela, the region is cut by countless rivers, massive cliffs and rocky crags, vast grasslands, mountain foothills, bushland, and thickets.

Northern Express Weekly • april 20, 2020 • 13

A KINDER, GENTLER BEER

Climate-conscious local brewers are doing their part to reduce their environmental footprint.

By Craig Manning Could climate change impact what’s in your pint glass?

In late January, brewers and beer drinkers alike packed The Workshop Brewing Company in Traverse City’s Warehouse District to find out the answer to that question.

The brewery was the venue for a “Beer & Climate” event, co-hosted with the Grand Traverse Area Citizens’ Climate Lobby, the local branch of a nationwide, non-partisan grassroots organization aimed at advancing the conversation about climate change.

With the focus on how climate change impacts the building blocks of beer, the Workshop’s Head Brewer Michael Wooster walked attendees through some of the ways climate change could affect beer — and, by extension, beer drinkers — by impacting its core ingredients.

BLAME IT ON THE RAIN “Really, the problem lies in the raw materials that we use as brewers and in how climate change is affecting growing seasons and yields and things like that,” Wooster said. “Those things have a direct correlation to the price we pay for raw materials, which in turn correlates to the price that we then

have to charge for beer.”

While every beer is different, the primary ingredients tend to be the same across the board: barley, hops, yeast and water. Malted barley acts as the primary source for fermentable sugar in beer, which means it drives the fermentation process and the alcohol content. Hops, though originally used as a preservative because of their acid content, are popular today for the bitterness, aroma and unique flavor they lend to beer — particularly IPAs. Water, finally, is the basis of the beverage and makes up 90-95% of what you’re actually drinking when you crack open a bottle of beer.

Climate change is currently impacting all three of these ingredients in some way.

Drought is the big problem for barley, which Wooster says is the core driver for raw materials costs in beer production. Part of the reason higher ABV beers are more expensive, he notes, is that they require more barley to produce. If heat and drought start to affect barley crop yields — something Wooster says experts have predicted — it could mean higher prices for beer drinkers.

With hops, drought is a concern, but so is excess rain. Andrew and Jamie KidwellBrix, the husband-and-wife team that own and operate Traverse City’s Earthen Ales, know of at least one local hops producer that

14 • april 20, 2020 • Northern Express Weekly

lost an entire crop last year dear to flooding from a very rainy spring. Another lost their crop because the rain prompted a notorious agricultural pest — the European corn borer — to search for a new food source.

As for water, much has been said or written about the freshwater crisis that could face the planet in the coming decades.

It’s already impacting brewers; according to Jamie Kidwell-Brix, several major breweries based in “water-constrained areas” – including the Chico, California brewing giant Sierra Nevada, along with numerous other California breweries – have since opened brewing facilities in other less dry parts of the country.

OUR SLIGHT EDGE Northern Michigan’s location to the Great Lakes means it’s insulated against some of these challenges. Furthermore, its status as an agricultural region means brewers have access to local hops and barley — along with other ingredients — and don’t necessarily need to freight everything in from long distances.

Still, any climate change factors that hit the brewing industry at large could affect northern Michigan, too. For that reason, numerous breweries in the area are doing their part to reduce their environmental

footprint and minimize the impact they might have on the climate.

Both Workshop and Earthen Ales, for instance, have opted to pay a little extra to ensure that all of their electricity through Traverse City Light & Power is coming from renewable resources. Workshop makes a point of sourcing roughly 90% of its hops from local producers, only going outside the area for specialty hops that are necessary for the pungent, citrusy notes common in certain types of IPAs (particularly the recently popular “hazy” IPA).

SMART, SENSITIVE BREWERS When the Kidwell-Brixes started Earthen Ales, they did so with the environment in mind. Before moving to Traverse City to start a brewery, both had worked on climate, energy and sustainability initiatives for the City of Ann Arbor. Urban planners by trade, Andrew had spearheaded the city’s climate action plan while Jamie had drawn up its sustainability master plan. Even the name “Earthen Ales” was intended as a reminder for the pair to keep pursuing the same green values in the world of beer.

From LED lighting to on-demand hot water, Earthen Ales tries to capture efficiency gains wherever it can. That approach trickles down to the brewing process itself, which

Since opening in 2013, Brewery Terra Firma has reclaimed more than 40,000 gallons of brewery process water annually and re-used it as “fertigation” on its crops via a low-tech, efficient process developed in cooperation with Michigan State University and the Michigan DEQ. You can savor their efforts now by ordering its beer for curbside pickup (usually runs 1pm–7pm Weds through Saturday; call first) or home delivery: (231) 929-1600

Jamie says is all about “not fighting the climate” of northern Michigan. For example, since lagers require colder water for brewing, Earthen Ales brews them exclusively in the winter, when the cold outdoor temperatures can do a lot of the work. On the other side of things, for summertime brewing projects, the brewery uses special Norwegian yeast strains that ferment well at warmer temperatures. In both cases, Andrew says the brewery saves some water and some electricity by not having to chill water down for the brewing process.

For John Niedermaier of Brewery Terra Firma, finding ways to repurpose brewery waste is the key to reducing brewery impact – not just on the environment, but also on public infrastructure. The brewery, known for its agricultural setting and approach, harvests all liquid waste and spent grain and puts it back into the crops.

“All of that material is really a problem in the industry,” Niedermaier said. “There’s a lot more waste generated when you make beer than there is beer itself.”

For every pint of beer made, there’s six or seven pints of liquid waste alone, which winds up at the local wastewater treatment plant, Niedermaier said.

“It’s really a burden to the waste treatment plant, to the point where it actually cuts down on the lifespan of the plant,” he said.

Another factor that might help create a more climate-conscious beer industry is the ever-increasing number of craft breweries.

While more brewers mean more production and more resource use, it also means a localization of beer that could cut down on the costs and emissions that come with product distribution.

“The most responsible beer to buy would be the one that was brewed in your neighborhood,” Wooster said. “When you go to a local brewery, not only are you interacting with your community and spending your dollars in your community, but you’re also reducing the impact that your enjoyment of craft beer has on the environment.”

Wooster sees the proliferation of the local breweries as a good thing reminiscent of earlier days.

“We see all these breweries popping up all the time, and some people say it’s getting oversaturated, but I think it’s actually becoming something that better resembles what the beer industry was before prohibition, where you have more neighborhood breweries and it’s more of a local experience,” he said.

The Kidwell-Brixes agree. While certain breweries can still command a lot of attention on a nationwide scale – Founders Brewing Company, based in Grand Rapids, is

With “pre-beer” careers in energy and sustainability, Earthen Ales’ Andrew and Jamie Kidwell-Brix make sure the earth — and their customers — get extra love on Earth Day, April 22. Last year, they even served B’Earth Day cake. This year, the celebration won’t be at their Traverse City brewery, but you can still toast with EA beer at home: Order it in to-go vessels of all sizes at www.earthenales. com. Pickup is 2pm–7pm Wednesday, April 22.

officially distributing to all 50 states as of last year – those breweries are in the minority.

“Everyone can’t be everywhere,” Andrew said, noting that a localized brewing model not only cuts down on distribution costs, but also reduces the footprint caused by bottling, canning and other packaging.

Jamie says she is hopeful that the growth of the local brewing model will make it possible for beer communities such as Traverse City to band together to achieve more climate-conscious methods of production.

Several larger breweries, she says, have systems that can recapture carbon dioxide — a natural biproduct of the beer fermentation process — and repurpose it for carbonation and other purposes. Those systems are extremely expensive and aren’t necessarily an accessible investment for breweries operating on a smaller scale. What Jamie would like to see is something of a brewing collective in northern Michigan, that could share the investment and then mutually benefit from the technology.

“What’s really interesting about Traverse City is that we have a cluster of breweries.

There are a lot of us now. I’m hopeful that, at some point, we can all work together on some of that cutting-edge sustainability stuff,” she said. “Scale doesn’t always have to be by ourselves.”

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Northern Express Weekly • april 20, 2020 • 15

MODERN

The Killers Exercise Caution

The Killers

ROCK

BY KRISTI KATES

The Killers have a new song on deck called “Caution,” their first release since leaving their hometown of Las Vegas. Citing the likes of Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, and Bruce Springsteen as influences on “Caution,” which comes from the band’s upcoming full-length album, Imploding the Mirage (Island Records), the single also features former Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham. Additional appearances throughout the album include Blake Mills, Lucius, and War on Drugs’ Adam Granducil. The album was produced by Foxygen’s Shawn Everett and Jonathan Rado.

A decade after his arrival on the hiphop scene (and with some help from Jay Z), New Orleans/New York artist Jay Electronica has returned with his first fulllength album project — and Jay-Z is the first voice heard on the set. (Z also appears on several additional tracks on the album.)

Titled A Written Testimony, the debut album has been released on all platforms and includes the tunes “Shiny Suit Theory (feat. The-Dream),” “The Blinding (feat.

Travis Scott),” “Ghost of Soulja Slim,” and “The Overwhelming Event” …

Norah Jones is preparing to release her seventh studio effort, Pick Me Up Off the Floor, which will arrive on blue Note Records on May 8. Norah worked with Wilco front

man Jeff Tweedy on two tracks for the album, including preview single “I’m Alive,” which Tweedy co-wrote. (He also plays acoustic and electric guitar and bass on the tune.)

Pick Me Up also includes contributions from Jones’ longtime drummer, Brian Blade, as well as other instrumentals from Pete Remm (keyboards), Mazz Swift (violin), Mauro Refosco (percussion) and backing vocals from Sam Ashworth and Ruby Amanfu …

Spike Jonez’ upcoming rockumentary about The Beastie Boys — titled Beastie Boys Story — tells the story of three friends who formed one of the most accomplished and admired hip-hop groups of the early scene and includes contributions from band members Adam Horovitz and Mike Diamond (the third bandmate, Adam Yauch, died of cancer in 2012). The movie is slated to run on Apple TV on April 24, coinciding with the 26th anniversary of the Beastie Boys’ landmark 1994 album Ill Communication. Jonez also worked with the Boys for a new photo book, also called “Beastie Boys,” which is in outlets now …

LINK OF THE WEEK Speaking of The Killers’ “Caution,” check out the brand new visualizer music video for that very track at https://youtu.be/ wtF7_oZ65bw …

THE BUZZ Grand Rapids outfit The Tomas Esparza Blues Band is prepping to release its new album, Anytime Blues, this spring …

Detroit lo-fi indie band Don’t has released its own debut full-length album, Lightning Slow, which (true to its title) took four years to make …

Fellow Detroiters John “TBone” Paxton (trombone soloist) and RJ Spangler have joined forces for an album called Back in

Your Own Backyard, a selection of 100-year old jazz and R&B tunes …

And also out of Detroit, Iggy Pop and The Stooges’ Fun House album is turning 50 years old, and it’s getting a massive box set, out July 16, to celebrate … and that’s the buzz for this week’s Modern Rock.

Comments, questions, rants, raves, suggestions on this column? Send ’em to Kristi at modernrocker@gmail.com.

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the ADViCE GOddESS Opener Sesame!

Q

: I’m a single woman. I’d love to get into a relationship. Often, when I’m at a bar, I see a guy I’d like to chat up, but I won’t even approach because I don’t know what to say. Are there some pickup lines men love to hear?

—Looking

A: There are a number of lines men would love to hear from a woman -- among them, “I’ve really enjoyed my drink, and now I’d like to enjoy you” and, “Don’t you have a tattoo I should be licking?

However, there’s what men love to hear, and there’s what’s actually effective when you’re seeking a relationship that lasts long enough for you to learn to pronounce the guy’s name: “Is that Fred, like ‘Fred’?”

Evolutionary psychologist Maryanne Fisher and her colleagues researched which pickup lines, used by women on men, are most effective. “Effectiveness,” Fisher writes, “was defined as success in securing a phone number or agreeing to meet again.”

Pickup lines fall into three categories: “direct,” “innocuous,” and “flippant.” “Direct lines clearly convey interest” through unambiguous requests and flattering remarks, explains Fisher -- for example: “Want to have a drink together?” “You have really nice eyes,” and “Can I have your number?”

Innocuous lines, on the other hand, “hide the intention of the speaker and act more as conversation starters.” Examples include: “Can you recommend a good drink?” “I’ve seen you before; do you work here?” and “Where did you get that tattoo? Did it hurt?”

Flippant lines involve humor -- or, um, attempts at it, like an example Fisher references from previous research: “Can I get a picture of you so I can show Santa what I want for Christmas?” Another flippant charmer: “Is that really your hair?”

Fisher explains that, like innocuous lines, “flippant lines are theorized to protect the user from rejection, as they can disguise a failed attempt as a simple question or a joke.” Unfortunately, both flippant and innocuous lines also seem to “protect” the user’s target from knowing that the purveyor is interested.

Fisher’s research, like previous research, found that men preferred direct pickup lines to the innocuous and flippant ones.

This isn’t surprising. Men tend to be bad at

BY Amy Alkon

picking up hints, and many are terrified of overestimating a woman’s interest and waking up to their name hashtagged with #MeToo. When a woman uses a direct pickup line, and especially when she spreads additional direct lines around in conversation, she’s telling a guy she’s interested in seeing more of him, as opposed to seeing whether she should Mace him.

Unfortunately, there’s some nuance to the Fisher team’s findings — what might be called (sorry!) beauty inequality. Direct pickup lines were preferred by men when the women using them were really attractive. Direct lines were less effective for less attractive women — except when they were scantily clad.

Also, men will tell you they love when women ask them out. (Of course they do. It’s like they’re standing on a dock fishing when, out of nowhere, a plate of perfectly cooked salmon flies out of the water and lands on the bench beside them.) Unfortunately, evolutionary psychology research suggests that for women, overt pursuit of men, like asking them out, is a risky strategy.

The research comes out of what evolutionary biologist Robert Trivers, in 1972, called “parental investment theory”: Because women have a high potential cost from any sex act — pregnancy and a kid to feed — they evolved to be the choosier sex, and men coevolved to expect female aloofness, especially from women with high “mate value.” When women seem too eager, men tend to devalue them, seeing them as desperate or just hookup material.

Synthesizing Fisher and Trivers, my takeaway is that you should be unambiguous in showing interest in a guy — and ideally, repeatedly unambiguous. Use flattering remarks to make your interest plain, but stop short of highly sexual remarks, which are likely to mark you as hookup fodder, or asking a guy out. Your goal should be flattering a guy into understanding that you’re interested in him.

This allows you to see whether he’s got real interest in you -- enough for him to lay his ego on the line and hit you up for your number.

Do this regularly — being flirtatiously forward — and you should come to understand that you have the power to summon men into your life. Maybe not all the men you want, but more than you would have thought. This, in turn, should keep you from going all desperate -- to the point where you seek out men you’d previously, um, overlooked...like that construction worker: “Hey, you! You in the hard hat! You had me at ‘Those boobs real?’”

“Jonesin” Crosswords "Cool, Cool" --another door opens. by Matt Jones

ACROSS 1 Completely chill 5 Cat’s resting spot 8 “Sweat smile” or “money-mouth face,” e.g.

13 Et ___ (Latin for “and others”) 14 Golden ___ O’s (cereal variety that somehow exists) 16 Fix with a needle 17 ITEMS IN THE FREEZER 20 ITEMS IN THE FREEZER 21 Affectionate greeting (that I’m guessing there will be a lot of when this is done) 22 Raphael’s weapon, in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” 23 Gallery offering 24 RaÌz c˙bica de ocho 27 Long sandwich 29 Makeshift car cleaners 32 Exclamations that have their moments?

34 Ewe’s mate 36 Answer a stimulus 40 ITEMS IN THE REFRIGERATOR 44 Phone maker from Finland 45 “Born in the ___” 46 New employee 47 Degs. for many professors 50 Alternatives to Macs 52 It’s usually due April 15 53 Breakfast hrs.

56 Android program 58 Carp in some ponds 60 ITEMS IN THE VEGETABLE CRISPER 67 ITEMS IN THE VEGETABLE CRISPER 68 Words before ante 69 It ended on April 9 this year 70 Musk of Tesla Motors 71 Bedding item 72 Get the idea 73 Some TV rooms DOWN 1 Golden State, informally 2 “30 Rock” star Baldwin 3 Longest possible sentence

4 Go together perfectly 5 With “The,” 2008 Mike Myers flop 6 Carpet calculation 7 Stereotypical ‘80s hairdos 8 Words in the middle of everyone’s favorite Napoleon-based palindrome 9 Alternate nickname for Sporty Spice (as opposed to Scary) 10 Home of Suntory’s headquarters 11 2000 World Series MVP Derek 12 “___ let you down!”

15 Green “Sesame Street” character 18 “It’s either them ___” 19 Karmann ___ (classic VW model) 24 Rhett Butler’s last word 25 The ___ State University 26 Jonas who developed a polio vaccine 28 Actress ___ Ling of “The Crow” 30 “Despicable Me” supervillain 31 “Late Night” host Meyers who’s currently broadcasting from home 33 Omit 35 Initialism for the series of “Avengers” movies 37 “Keep ___!” (“Don’t give up!”)

38 “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” star Michael 39 “Jurassic Park” beast 41 God, to a Rastafarian 42 Preternatural power 43 Make retroactive, like a payment 48 “Hawaii Five-O” detective, to McGarrett 49 Go letter by letter 51 “Bon ___” (good evening, in France) 53 Photographer Diane 54 Transform bit by bit 55 Dealt a sharp blow, in the Bible 57 Asks intrusive questions 59 “The Sky ___” (1950 Italian drama) 61 Hurt all over 62 Rapper in “Law & Order: SVU” 63 Dermatologist’s case 64 Miniature golf goal 65 English school founded by Henry VI 66 1040 IDs

Northern Express Weekly • april 20, 2020 • 17

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lOGY

BY ROB BREZSNY

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Renowned Taurus composer Johannes Brahms (1833–1897) completed his first symphony when he was 43 years old—even though he’d started work on it at age 22. Why did it take him so long? One factor was his reverence for Ludwig van Beethoven, the composer who had such a huge impact on the development of classical music. In light of Beethoven’s mastery, Brahms felt unworthy. How could any composer add new musical ideas that Beethoven hadn’t already created? But after more than two decades, Brahms finally managed to overcome his inhibition.

He eventually produced four symphonies and scores of other pieces, and left a major mark on musical history. For you, Taurus, I see the coming months as a phase comparable to the time when Brahms finally built the strength necessary to emerge from the shadow that had inhibited him.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) I like

musician David Byrne’s views on what constitutes meaningful work. It’s not just the tasks you do to earn money. “Sex is a job,” he says. “Growing up is a job. School is a job. Going to parties is a job. Religion is a job. Being creative is a job.” In other words, all the activities he names, to be done well, require a commitment to excellence and an attention to detail. They are worthy of your diligent efforts, strenuous exertion, and creative struggle. I encourage you to meditate on these thoughts during the coming weeks. Identify what jobs you want to get better at and are willing to work hard on and would like to enjoy even more than you already do.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): At its best and brightest, Capricornian love isn’t frivolous or flighty. It’s not shallow or sloppy or slapdash. When Capricornian love is at its highest potency, it’s rigorous, thoughtful, and fullbodied. It benefits anyone who’s involved with it. I bring this up because I expect the coming weeks to be a Golden Age of Capricornian Love—a time when you will have the inspiration and intelligence necessary to lift your own experience of love to a higher octave.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): I hope

you’re not one of those Aquarians who regards stability and security as boring. I hope you don’t have an unconscious predilection for keeping yourself in a permanent state of nervous uncertainty. If you do suffer from those bad habits, you’ll be hard-pressed to stick to them in the coming weeks. That’s because the cosmic energies will be working to settle you down into a steady groove. If you cooperate, you will naturally enhance your ability to be well-anchored, calmly steadfast, and at home in your life. Please don’t resist this opportunity.

PISCES (Feb 19-March 20): I foresee the

likelihood that you’ll be having brilliant and evocative conversations with yourself in the coming weeks. Your heart and your head may become almost blissful as they discuss how best to create a dynamic new kind of harmony. Your left side and right side will declare a truce, no longer wrestling each other for supremacy, and they may even join forces to conjure up unprecedented collaborations. The little voices in your head that speak for the past will find common ground with the little voices in your head that speak for the future—and as a result you may be inspired to formulate a fresh master plan that appeals both.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): In the future, when the coronavirus crisis has a diminished power to disrupt our lives, I would love for you to have more of the money you need to finance interesting new experiences that help you learn and thrive. Now is a good time to brainstorm about how you might arrange for that to happen. For best results, begin your meditations with vivid fantasies in which you envision yourself doing those interesting new experiences that will help you learn and thrive

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): A Gemini friend

sent me and three of her other allies a poignant email. “This note is a tender apology to those of you whom I’ve hurt in the process of hurting myself,” she began. “I want you to know that I have been working hard and with great success to eliminate my unconscious tendency to hurt myself. And I

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am confident this means I will also treat you very well in the future.” I received her message with joy and appreciation. Her action was brave and wise. I invite you to consider making a comparable adjustment in the weeks ahead.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): The Ojibwe are

indigenous people of North America. Professor of Ojibwe studies Anton Treuer writes that in their traditional culture, there have been men who act and dress like women and women who act and dress like men. The former are called ikwekaazo and the latter ikwekaazowag. Both have been “always honored” and “considered to be strong spiritually.” Many other Native American groups have had similar arrangements. Transcending traditional gender behavior is not unique to modern Western civilization. With that as inspiration, and in accordance with astrological omens, I invite you to explore any inclinations you might have to be your own unique gender. The time is ripe for experimenting with and deepening your relationship with the constructs of “masculine” and “feminine.”

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “The history of my

stupidity would fill many volumes,” wrote Nobel Prize-winning poet Czesław Miłosz. Wow! If a highly respected genius like him has spawned so much nonsense and ignorance, what about the rest of us? Here’s what I have to say about the subject: Each of us should strive to be at peace with the fact that we are a blend of wisdom and folly. We should be tenderly compassionate toward our failures and weaknesses, and not allow them to overshadow our brilliance and beauty. Now would be a good time for you Leos to cultivate this acceptance and perform this blessing for yourself.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Helen Traubel

(1899–1972) was best-known for her opera career, although she also sang in concerts, nightclubs, and musical theater. But in her autobiography, she confessed, “Opera bored me.” She reminds me of Georgia O’Keeffe, famous painter of flowers. “I hate flowers,” O’Keeffe said. “I paint them because they’re cheaper than models and they don’t move.”

Now of course most of us have to do some things that we don’t enjoy; that seems to be a routine part of being human.

And since the coronavirus arrived in our midst, you may have been saddled with even more of this burden. But I’m happy to inform you that the coming weeks will be a favorable time to brainstorm about how you could do more of what you love to do once the crisis has abated.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): What’s the current

state of the relationship between your ego and your soul? Is there an uneasy truce between the ambitious part of you that craves success and recognition and the lyrical part of you that yearns for rich experiences and deep meaning? Or do those two aspects of you get along pretty well—maybe even love and respect each other? Now is a favorable time to honor your ego and soul equally, Libra—to delight in the activities of both, to give them plenty of room to play and improvise, and to encourage them to collaborate in ways that will further your well-rounded happiness and health.

ScORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Scorpio author

Voltaire (1694–1778) was a crusader for freedom of thought and civil liberties, as well as a key player in the Enlightenment. He was very prolific. In addition to producing 2,000 books and pamphlets, his carried on such voluminous written correspondences with so many interesting people that his collected letters fill 98 volumes. Would you consider getting inspired by Voltaire’s approach to cross-pollination? According to my calculations, the next phase of the coronavirus crisis will be a favorable time for you to intensify your communication via the written word.

Mike Annelin

Enthusiastic & Experienced

Call Mike 231-499-4249 or 231-929-7900 E

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