Craig Manning | Author

Seven Stellar High School Athletes to Watch in 2022-23

Sept. 3, 2022

State championships, All-State recognition, impressive playoff runs, and shattered school records: Is it just us, or have these occurrences become more common in northern Michigan high school sports lately? And will the 2022-23 school year continue this apparent golden age in local athletic… Read More >>

The DNR’s Great Pine Cone Scavenger Hunt

Sept. 3, 2022

It’s scavenger hunt time! Throughout September, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is putting out the call for Michigan residents to hunt for red pine cones—and get paid for it. Per the DNR, red pine seed is constantly in high demand due to the fact that red pine… Read More >>

Nittolo’s Cannoli

Aug. 27, 2022

Holy cannoli, Batman! We can’t get over how much we love the cannoli at Nittolo’s Pizza. The Lake Leelanau restaurant is known for some of the highest quality and most authentically Italian pizza pies in northern Michigan, but don’t overlook the equally scrumptious cannoli… Read More >>

Turtles, Turtles, Everywhere!

Aug. 27, 2022

When she was 13 years old, northern Michigan resident Joan MacGillivray began amassing a collection of turtle-themed art pieces. Now in her 90s, MacGillivray has over 400 pieces of turtle art to her name. Usually, all that art is displayed around MacGillivray’s Charlevoix cottage&mdas… Read More >>

The Fruits of Our Labor: Do NoMi workers really get half the pay for a view of the bay?

Aug. 27, 2022

“A view of the bay for half the pay.” For years, that adage has hung like a dark cloud over Traverse City and northern Michigan as a whole. While no one is sure who coined the motto, the implication—that you must sacrifice salary potential to live amidst the region’s… Read More >>

Pabst the Place

Aug. 20, 2022

Fans of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, the 1980s, or novelty hotel experiences—tune in for this one. Grand Traverse Motel recently announced its “Pabst the Place” partnership with the Pabst Brewing Company, wherein the brewers (and marketers) behind PBR have transformed three of … Read More >>

It’s Gonna Be Us: Six questions for the boy bands of the North

Aug. 6, 2022

One Direction or BTS? *NSYNC or Backstreet Boys? O-Town, B2K, Savage Garden, Boyz II Men, Hanson, or New Kids on the Block? No matter your favorite, you have to respect the boy band archetype: A group of disparate talents come together and somehow move from obscurity to world domination in … Read More >>

How the Music Gets Made

Aug. 6, 2022

Live music is raw, passionate, spontaneous, immediate, magical, and temporary. Hearing a great band lock into a groove or ignite a moment of dancefloor revelry is electric precisely because of its ephemerality. When the song is over, when the house lights come up, when the band leaves the s… Read More >>

Could Michigan Resurrect Its Discontinued Film Incentive Program?

July 23, 2022

What state is at the epicenter of American moviemaking?

If you answered “California,” you might be surprised. While California’s status as the home of Hollywood has made it the de facto filmmaking capital of the world for generations, the Golden State has been outp… Read More >>

Optimism Meets Activism

July 9, 2022

“I’ve made a career out of being a cautiously optimistic person.”

So says Frank Ettawageshik, a local Indigenous leader with a long track record of fighting for native rights, environmental preservation, and smart climate policy. From afar, those particular battles… Read More >>

Cherry Capital of Nothing: Is northern Michigan at risk of losing its global cherry crown?

July 2, 2022

Traverse City has long been known as the “Cherry Capital of the World.” The first National Cherry Festival was hosted here in 1925—known at the time as “the Blessing of the Blossoms”—and the rest was history.

Nearly a century later, northern Michi… Read More >>

The Good Fight

June 18, 2022

It was injustice and tragedy that sparked the formation of Northern Michigan E3.

Like so many other organizations and initiatives aimed at fighting back against racism, Northern Michigan E3—with the “E3” standing for “educate, elevate, and engage”&mdash… Read More >>

Sipping Sustainably

June 4, 2022

Northern Michigan’s wineries are famous for their breathtaking beauty, with rolling green hills and rows of grapes as far as the eye can see. In many cases, a glimpse of the Grand Traverse Bay shimmers somewhere in the distance.

It’s no wonder that many of the region&rsq… Read More >>

Traverse City Whiskey Co.’s Lakeside Peach

May 28, 2022

In our opinion, there is no fruit that screams “summertime” as loudly as a fresh, juicy peach. (Okay, except maybe an equally fresh, juicy cherry.) How fitting, then, that Traverse City Whiskey Co. is kicking off summer 2022 by introducing a brand-new, peach-infused bourbon whis… Read More >>

Summer Employment Forecast

May 14, 2022

If you look at a northern Michigan events calendar for the next four months, the easy takeaway is that things are reverting to the way they were before COVID-19 put the region’s tourism machine on ice. From the Traverse City Film Festival to the Interlochen Arts Festival, big summer t… Read More >>

Northern Michigan’s Most Iconic Eats, 2022 Edition

May 7, 2022

Sometimes, an entrée on a restaurant menu is just a meal, but every once in a while, it becomes mythic. You know the type of dish we’re talking about: the ones you tell all your friends and family about; the ones you try (and usually fail) to recreate at home; the ones that you… Read More >>

Dredging in Paradise

April 30, 2022

Who owns the lakeshore?

That question is at the heart of a contentious debate in Hayes Township that could have huge implications for the future of Lake Charlevoix. On one side of the debate, you’ll find local residents, watershed protectors, and environmental advocates. On th… Read More >>

The Great Marijuana Miscalculation

April 16, 2022

What a difference three years makes.

Rewind, for a moment, to the spring of 2019, when it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Traverse City would become the epicenter of cannabis commerce in northern Michigan. All the dominoes were falling, seemingly at the perfect time, to make … Read More >>

State of the State Parks

April 9, 2022

Thirty percent: That’s how much the traffic at Michigan’s state parks increased from 2019 to 2020. So says Ron Olson, the parks chief for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR). It wasn’t a fluke, either: Olson tells Northern Express that parks at… Read More >>

A Hoppy Medium

March 12, 2022

If you’ve been looking for a local alternative to your favorite sparkling water brand—be it LaCroix, Perrier, or Bublé (sorry…Bubly)—Beards Brewery has you covered.

Since opening its doors in 2012, the Petoskey-based brewery has made its name on cleve… Read More >>