ALPENA With no public updates on the Sstar Ridge-Run Energy Wind Farm since 2020, the Presque Isle County Board of Commissioners had a visit from Brad Norde
Erlin Henry Wittenberg, age 92, of Benton, AR, formerly of Alexandria, MN, passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on October 5, 2022. Erlin was the youngest of six children born to Henry and Clara Wittenberg (Drews) and raised on the family farm in Moltke Township near Gibbon, MN. After graduating from Gibbon High School in 1948, he served in the US Army and earned a master’s degree from Mankato State Teachers College. He taught social studies at Jefferson High School in Alexandria, MN for 37 years. It was there he met and later married his wife, Darlene. Together, they raised four children on Lake Brophy. Erlin served as commander of the American Legion chapter in Alexandria and was a life-long member of Zion Lutheran Church. He was a gardener and enjoyed fishing and pontoon rides on the lake. He also became an avid bird watcher, especially later in life in Benton, AR, where his backyard included feeders and dozens of bird houses that he enjoyed painting. He was an Alex Car
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News Photo Steve Schulwitz
Alpena Township Clerk Michele Palevich proudly shows off pictures of her family while at work Monday. She is already planning for a special election, which is part of her job.
ALPENA Townships come in various sizes and have different numbers of employees to run them.
That can make the day-to-day jobs involved in running one township very different from the jobs needed to run another.
Three township trustees from around Northeast Michigan talked to The News about those and other issues:
BIG-PICTURE, WHAT IS YOUR JOB?
Laura Hilla, treasurer, Rogers Township: “My job as township treasurer is to collect current-year summer and winter property taxes for Rogers Township in Presque Isle County. At the beginning of March, any unpaid taxes for the previous year are turned over to the county to collect and are considered delinquent.”
The Nature of Things
Drive an hour in any direction in northern Michigan and you’ll see the landscape change in dramatic ways.
The explanation often lies in the soil.
Don’t call it “dirt” dirt is the stuff that scuffs up your sneakers or collects under your fingernails during a day of yard work.
“Soil” is a complex mix of silt, sand, clay, minerals, microbes, and organic matter and holds much of the power in deciding what kinds of plants grow on a landscape.
The massive sheet of ice which carved and shaped Michigan thousands of years ago is long gone, but its impacts continue to play a role in the plant life of our region.