Interacting with the police
For someone with a mental health problem, any interaction with police can be dangerous for officers and individuals alike.
If a police officer is interacting with someone they believe to have schizophrenia, autism, dementia, or numerous other illnesses and disorders, there are special considerations for them to keep in mind.
An otherwise calm person with autism may react violently to being touched after not responding verbally to an officer’s questions.
A person with untreated schizophrenia may have difficulty focusing on the conversation and respond with rambling and difficult-to-understand answers.
Someone with unaddressed depression may be intent on self-harm and lash out at others who try to interfere.
These are just a few of the ways that a mental health disorder can complicate an interaction with police officers.
Despite the chaos it can sometimes cause, being mentally ill is not a crime. However, sometimes those who are mentally ill get treated harshly by those who don’t recognize their mental illness or mistake it for drug abuse or simply bad behavior.
Over the last decade, local police have been working to train themselves on how to better handle the people they interact with who may have a mental illness.
Lt. Nick Roberts works with the Houghton Police Department. He said larger police departments will have specialized social workers working within them but HPD is too small for that kind of specialization. He said that when they have the chance, they do arrange to have the appropriate social worker in the car from CCMH, Dial Help, or elsewhere. They already communicate and work together almost every day with those workers. But when an emergency call comes into 911, time is of the essence and they don’t usually have the opportunity to connect.
“If we have time, great!” Lt. Roberts said. “I’m more than happy to have a social worker come and assist us. They’re just not on our payroll sitting in the seat next to me.”
Additionally, in a bad situation, a social worker in the car could be one more person’s safety an officer has to consider before acting. One reason their universal presence isn’t desired. There are also many calls officers respond to where the social worker is not necessary, so their time would be wasted by constantly riding along.
Lt. Roberts thinks officers are better trained than many people think. He said a lot of the training and improvements that people ask about are already underway, including training on how to better handle situations where a mental illness is involved.
“It’s called Managing Mental Health Crisis training,” Lt. Roberts said.
The training was developed in association by NAMI, MDHHS, and MCOLES (Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards).
Normally an in-person and hands-on class, during the COVID-19 pandemic it has been offered virtually using video conferencing. Lt. Roberts said that actually benefits officers in rural and remote areas like the Upper Peninsula, as it gives them access to distant training that isn’t always affordable for smaller departments because of travel and staffing.
“I feel we’ve come a long way with that training,” Lt. Roberts said.
Officers in the training are not taught to spot and diagnose a mental illness, but they do learn telltale signs of different ailments and disorders. They’re also taught how best to interact with those in the midst of a mental health crisis in order to get a more positive outcome.
He said a big part of the training is drilling officers to remain calm and consider their word choice, mannerisms, and body language.
“They [a person of interest] will watch what you’re doing,” Lt. Roberts said. “If I look like I don’t care, they’ll key into that.”
Lt. Roberts is now a certified trainer in the MMHC curriculum and regularly offers the training to other area departments. He teaches the two-day course alongside a social worker.
“We do our best to get trained and educated,” Lt. Roberts said.
Unfortunately, the method isn’t perfect, and there are shortcomings and limitations that lead to bad outcomes. The first limitation is, of course, getting the training to the officers, which takes time and funding that isn’t always available.
Beyond that, officers still have a primary duty to react to unsafe situations. If a person is armed, particularly with a firearm, Lt. Roberts said they have to treat it primarily as an armed-person situation before they can address any mental illness issues in play. This means securing the area and ensuring officers do everything possible to disarm the person before they can hurt themselves or anyone else.
“We deal with a lot of people who can be suicidal,” Lt. Roberts said.
Roberts said that maintaining a calm attitude and talking through the situation has led to several good outcomes he’s not sure would have been possible otherwise.
Matt and Nola Olson have guardianship of their adult daughter and care for her in their home. She’s been diagnosed with schizophrenia, anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder and is unable to live independently.
“Even though we’re [her] guardian, we don’t have the legal right to restrain her,” Matt said.
So when her diagnosis and medication were still being established several years ago and she had violent episodes, they had to call the police to restrain their daughter and protect themselves.
Matt recalled one time when their daughter was just 14 or 15 years old, they had to call the police because she was wielding a knife and making threats.
“They are being trained to go about it differently,” Matt said. “But at first it was just like ‘Oh, bad things happen, tackle, handcuff,’ you know, just — it was horrible.”
Since they live in a rural area, the Olsons usually interacted with the Houghton County Sheriff’s Department.
It’s been years since the Olsons’ last experience with the sheriff’s department. Matt said they “thankfully” haven’t yet had an experience with the “new and improved” sheriff’s deputies since they’ve received Managing Mental Health Crisis Training.
They said the one time they dealt with the city of Houghton’s police department was a much different, more sedate, and preferable experience.
“I just want people to realize that we’re doing our best,” Lt. Roberts said. “And don’t be afraid to talk to us.”
Rezoning issued, permit for fourth cannabis retailer approved, and ordinances updated
Houghton City Council, Aug. 25, 2021
Meeting Highlights
A citizen got up during the public comment session to express her appreciation of the city police department, for responding to a vehicle-pedestrian accident on their non-emergency line faster than 911. Police Chief John Donnelly said he was looking into what took the 911 operator so long during his report. The citizen said it took 15 rings for 911 to answer, while HPD picked up before the first ring finished.
The council had a public hearing on proposed changes to the zoning ordinance, which were recommended by the Houghton planning commission. One commercial property owner stood to support the changes, saying that they were long overdue. The council later passed the changes unanimously.
The council had another public hearing for an ordinance to rezone four plots of land from R3 to R4 to accommodate redevelopment into student housing with more limited, but indoor, parking.
From the board packet documents.
Some other rental property owners objected to the change, because of the reduced parking requirements in R4, and their concerns that students without dedicated parking would instead park cars on streets and in commercial parking lots nearby, congesting traffic.
Others, including one property owner and a member of the planning commission, supported the rezoning as a step toward new development and supported limited or remote parking and expanding public transit for students, in part to limit traffic on the roads overall.
Several board members made comments before the vote supporting and explaining the possible benefits of approving the change.
The board passed the rezoning unanimously.
City Manager Eric Waara updated the council on a water leak, preparation for paving projects, and other work going on in the city, including the construction of the new pier which is in full swing now.
Excavators and water pump on-site near the library on Aug. 26.
Waara reported that MDOT is nearing the completion of one part of the work on the Portage Lake Lift Bridge and that the lanes should be wider for the next part, which will hopefully alleviate more traffic issues.
Waara also thanked everyone who participated in the census. Houghton grew by over 8%, and Houghton County was the only county in the UP to show any growth.
There’s no news on the development of the new Meijer store.
The council also honored the departing President of the Housing Commission, who served in various capacities for more than four decades.
Finally, the council approved a permit application for the Nirvana Center, which is planning to develop the former Bambu restaurant into a cannabis retailer.
From the board information packet.
The board approved the request unanimously, after some discussion of how many retailers would be allowed. City Manager Waara said the market and limited geographical area that zoning allows them in would dictate how many retailers exist in Houghton.
MTU's Lakeshore Center walkway collapses into Portage Lake
Original photos and MTU's press release
I received this press release, and since I was going out anyway, I stopped to get some photos of the damage. Let me know if you’re interested in any follow-up on this. Seems pretty straightforward to me.
From Michigan Tech’s director of communications:
Late in the afternoon on August 25, a portion of a concrete dock next to the Lakeshore Center fell into the Portage Waterway. The Lakeshore Center is a Michigan Tech building that houses some administrative functions—it is located away from the main campus. The dock had been under surveillance due to cracking and shifting, and foot traffic on the dock was restricted two weeks ago while its condition was under assessment. Michigan Tech Public Safety and Police Services, as well as UP Engineers and Architects, were on the scene immediately after the dock portion fell.
Initial reports indicate the Lakeshore Center was not damaged and is not at risk. Out of an abundance of caution, access to the building is currently restricted, with only those who are helping assess and repair the damage allowed on-site. Employees have been asked to work remotely for approximately 10-14 days until repairs are complete.
Photos by Late Edition
Pandemic safety procedures leave some mental health patients feeling abandoned
Teletherapy is popular among many of CCMH's patients, but not all of them find it adequate.
Handling the COVID-19 pandemic has been tumultuous for all of us, involving quick adaptation and frequent discomfort. But for those managing a chronic condition like a mental illness, the pandemic created a fog of uncertainty and new barriers to care that exasperated some issues, despite the best efforts of local workers to mitigate them.
The state deemed mental health services essential, so they could continue under lockdown, but they weren’t specific about what preventative measures providers should or could take.
Copper Country Mental Health, the needs-based, government-supported provider of mental health care in the Keweenaw Area, received some basic guidance from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), which they combined with guidance from the CDC and the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA).
“So we had input from a lot of different agencies and organizations, and then we met as like a safety committee, and that involved our nurses, and we developed the protocols,” CCMH Director Cari Raboin said.
Month by month through the pandemic, the guidance they received changed, and so the committee met repeatedly to update their procedures.
“So it was a moving target,” Raboin said. “It was moving and changing all the time.”
The CCMH staff were also concerned because some studies being released showed that severe mental health disorders could be an increased risk factor for mortality in patients with COVID-19. They felt that the increased risk to the people they’re meant to serve called for a higher level of caution.
Therapy was moved to phone or video interaction. Injected medications were offered in the parking lot by masked and gowned nurses. Even emergency room mental evaluations for people brought — sometimes involuntarily — to the hospital were done over the phone in coordination with emergency room staff and family when available.
“[CCMH] staff would talk with them [the hospitalized] on the phone, too,” Raboin said. “So we got a lot of input, more than just the phone assessment.”
Assertive Community Treatment, which is regular one-on-one activity between a patient-consumer and a CCMH worker and often involves things like making and attending appointments or doing personal shopping, was able to continue with some extra precautions.
But any kind of group social activity had to be ended and didn’t resume for a long time. In the best of cases, these activities moved to a virtual format.
Matt and Nola Olson said that was hard on their adult daughter, who also lost the job shredding paper she had been working a couple of hours per week because of lockdown.
Their daughter doesn’t like cameras and so virtual options don’t suit her.
“When everything shut down and isolation came, you could really see it,” said Nola, their daughter’s full-time caretaker.
This in turn meant Nola had less time for her own work and personal care, which were already limited by the lack of trained, available respite care.
“I had to keep her busy,” Nola said.
Nola felt that the isolation was causing their daughter’s symptoms of schizophrenia to worsen. They felt the first therapist they worked with remotely didn’t understand and wasn’t listening to their concerns.
“We have to deal with it, they don’t,” Matt said. “They’re on the other end of the phone.”
The Olsons were able to change therapists to one they felt took more care to compensate for the shortcomings of telehealth, but still feel their daughter would be better served by in-person therapy sessions.
Raboin said there are pros and cons to using teletherapy. Not being able to read physical cues and body language is definitely a drawback, but she said they got a significant amount of positive feedback from consumers about teletherapy, as high as 70% approval in a survey they sent out. Those who have trouble keeping in-person appointments because of transportation issues, or symptoms of their illness that make going out in public more difficult, found it particularly helpful.
“We hope to be able to continue to provide that as an option,” Raboin said.
It’s currently allowed under special federal and state rules, but may not be in the future. Until CCMH hears from agencies that are above them in authority, they can’t make any long-term plans, either. And not having a plan to offer their patient-consumers keeps everyone apprehensive.
The Olsons said that not knowing what the plan was, and not having any direct contact with therapists or other professionals has left them feeling out of the loop and abandoned.
Raboin said communicating was “definitely” a challenge. They sent out letters, updated their website, and attempted other outreach with each update.
“But the best way we found to communicate with people is one-on-one,” Raboin said.
The most reliable way they found to communicate information was to have someone’s case manager or primary clinician talk with a patient-consumer or their guardian directly about new information or changes.
Whereas transportation to appointments is a barrier to care for some, access to broadband internet or wifi is a barrier for others.
CCMH provided iPads for some consumers who didn’t have a good device for video chatting and bought calling cards for others who had limited minutes on their phones.
The Olsons have to rely on dial-up internet or cell-based internet because of the rural location of their home and their financial constraints, which is another thing that keeps video conferencing from being a good option for their daughter, so they mainly rely on audio-only phone therapy.
“As far as mental health was concerned, it’s all telephone,” Matt said. “And it’s hard to gauge things off a telephone… you’re missing all of the visual cues.”
The Olsons said that the double-standard between physical and mental health was part of what made it so frustrating.
“What burnt me up was the hospital was open the whole time,” Matt said. “Granted you had masks and you had to check for fevers and you know, but if you broke your arm you knew you could go to the emergency room and have your arm dealt with.”
But for mental health issues, there was nowhere open to them.
The Olsons are told their daughter has an illness of the brain and it should be treated as a physical ailment, “but we weren’t treated that way.”
Fireworks permitted, regretful resignations accepted, and city manager rated exceedingly well
Hancock City Council, Aug. 18, 2021
Editor’s Note: The audio for Hancock’s city council has been giving me trouble, and just when I thought I had it solved, a new problem was introduced. This week, the air conditioning was running. I did my best to make it understandable, but there’s only so much that can be done. Councilor Will Lytle and Mayor Paul LaBine’s voices particularly blended into the sound of the fans blowing. I’m trying to figure out what more I can do. Thanks for understanding.
Meeting Highlights
During City Manager Mary Babcock’s administrative report, she updated the board on census results, which showed the population decreased by more than 100 people. This could signal a small decrease in the tax budget. She also implored everyone to keep voting for the Hancock dog park in the Bark For Your Park contest until the end of the month.
Poster from the council information packet.
The community night out plans have been finalized. Rewind will be at Porvoo Park, and the city council approved the fireworks permit during this meeting, too.
Poster from the council information packet.
During the meeting, the council accepted a couple of resignations, with regret. Doug Lancour informed the council of his wish to be replaced on the Board of Review, and Jerry Wuorenmaa resigned from the Rental Code Board of Appeals. Both emails of resignation are in the council information packet (‘Agenda and Documents’ link above). The board positions will be advertised for applicants.
The council also unanimously supported a resolution to support partnerships for “materials management”, which is a term that combines things like garbage, recycling, compost, and other refuse. Councilor William Lytle pointed out that while Hancock was a regional leader in recycling, there was still plenty of room for improvement.
The council reviewed the city manager’s performance in closed session, in accordance with the Open Meetings Act. They returned to open session after a few minutes and reported her review as generally exceeding standards. No link on this one because there’s not much on the video other than the vote, which was unanimously in favor of accepting the positive report.
One resident complained during the final public comment, about the traffic turning left from Reservation Street onto Quincy Street. They said the confusion of people in the right lane turning left and the left lane sometimes suddenly deciding to go straight was dangerous and asked if there was anything that could be done to improve signage or find solutions to prevent collisions.
Experienced birder talks danger to raptors, bats from proposed wind turbines
Local birding expert Joseph Youngman presents to the Guardians of the Keweenaw Ridge about the danger to raptors and bats if wind turbines are built in Stanton and Adams Townships
Editor’s Note: The views expressed in this video are not necessarily shared by Copper Beacon or its employees, and Copper Beacon was not compensated for producing this video. (See more below)
This meeting took place Monday, Aug. 16, 2021, in the Stanton Township Fire Hall. About 35 people gathered at 6:30 p.m. to talk about the ill effects of wind turbines and their construction, hear birding expert Joseph Youngman speak, and plan how to stop the development of turbines.
The video opens with some comments from Guardians of the Keweenaw Ridge leadership before introducing Joseph Youngman, vice president of the Copper Country Audobon and experienced birding expert.
Youngman spent some time taking questions after his presentation, not all of which related to his expertise with birds. He did his best to field all the questions but had to pass some off to others.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first time I’ve covered something like this in its entirety, and I was somewhat conflicted about whether I should or not, thus I feel the need to make this note and explain the choice further here.
The event is clearly in support of a single viewpoint and recording and sharing it promotes that, but there are likely people who hold other opinions and didn’t feel comfortable attending or speaking up at this meeting. Those people deserve a fair chance to speak within Copper Beacon’s pages, too.
For those who hold any variety of viewpoints, in support or against wind turbines, I invite you to either email me at me@joshuavissers.com to inform me or write a letter to the editor to be published on Copper Beacon’s op-ed page.
If a group in support of wind turbine development is formed, they can expect I’ll make a similar, cost-free effort to attend and record their meetings, not in an effort to support their viewpoint, but in order to bring news of their meeting and information on their views and discussion to you, my readers, listeners, and viewers.
KISMA's boat wash outreach events
Students work to stop aquatic hitchhikers from ruining your favorite fishing spot
More information from KISMA: https://www.mtu.edu/kisma/
Relying on One Another
People needing support, either in their struggle with mental illness or with helping a loved one, turn to the Mental Health Support Group of the Keweenaw Area.
If you’re struggling with your own mental health or a family member’s illness, you have to deal with extra appointments and supervision, finances and expenses, maybe even jail visits and court appearances, and more.
Most people have a personal support network, but for the unique problems a mental illness can present, a more educated, experienced, and patient ear is helpful but can be hard to find. Ones that understand the sensitivity and stigma associated with the illness and experiences can be even rarer.
One place those are freely available is at the Mental Health Support Group - Keweenaw Area, or “not-NAMI”, as the members sometimes call it. The group used to be a part of NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and many of its members still are individual members under the Alger/Marquette NAMI group, but heightened requirements and lowered membership caused the Houghton group to give up its national affiliation in 2018. Determined to continue supporting each other, they reorganized as an independent support group.
Several regular group attendees agreed to interview with me, and I was able to attend part of one of their confidential meetings.
“NAMI is a wonderful organization,” Catherine Paavola said.
Paavola is a regular attendee at the MHSG-KA meetings, has a degree in school psychology, and is also a board member with Copper Country Community Mental Health. Her adult son was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder with bipolar disorder in his mid-twenties and has struggled with the illness for more than a decade.
She said she prefers the term “brain illness” to mental illness.
“Nobody can tell me where their mental organ is,” Paavola said.
She said what the MHSG-KA offers is a place you can “actually pour your heart out…” without judgment, and without people tiring of hearing about the same recurring problem. Paavola said other maladies people usually either recover from or die from.
“Brain illnesses aren’t like that, they’re forever,” she said.
She said the support group can’t always offer help, but they can offer suggestions and encouragement.
“We pray for one another, you know,” she said. “But the most important thing is, we listen.”
One group participant agreed to speak with me but wished to remain anonymous to protect future employment opportunities in the face of stigma against their schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder diagnoses.
“I’m very fortunate, actually, to be fairly high-functional,” they said. “I hold down jobs, I manage my finances and other responsibilities, I engage in social situations.”
Other than the MHSG-KA, they also maintain a good support system of friends and, using coping techniques and medications, have learned to mostly manage as an individual.
Nonetheless, they see the value of support groups like MHSG-KA and even host other small, virtual groups in conjunction with the Schizophrenia Alliance.
One shortcoming of support groups in the pandemic was their reliance on streaming technology to overcome physical distancing requirements. Rural participants on unstable connections didn’t feel fully included.
“The video is in and out and the words are garbled…” Matt Olson said. “It’s better than nothing, but it’s not much better than nothing.”
Matt and Nola Olson have guardianship of their 20-year-old daughter, who’s been diagnosed with schizophrenia, anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder as well as some other general health issues. She sat nearby listening as I spoke with her parents.
“I’m not going to say our daughter has the worst case, but it’s pretty severe,” Matt said.
They’re happy to have her at home and that she’s being cared for by people who love her, but they don’t feel they get the support they need to make it truly work well. One thing they find is particularly lacking is the availability of respite care for Nola, who cares for their daughter almost all day, every day while Matt works as a well digger to support the family.
“She’s still our daughter, we love her very much, but there’s a point where most people, their children are having lives of their own,” Matt said. “And we’re not there yet, and it creates a lot of stress.”
To care for someone with their daughter’s needs requires someone with considerable knowledge and training, and while members of MHSG-KA are supportive, most of them don’t have that experience, and not all of the Olsons’ extended family is understanding or supportive.
“My mom came around, and she does help us,” Matt said.
However, his mother is getting elderly and can’t help out for very long, or for overnight periods. Nola has recently been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, which her doctor believes is stress-induced.
The Olsons do like attending in-person MHSG-KA meetings when they’re available, saying it’s an “awesome time for sharing, for support.”
Another problem with the groups is trying to get the word out. Paavola said they’ve received little response, let alone support, from local healthcare offices, and the Olsons, who are interested in a schizophrenia-focused respite care group, don’t have a way of contacting other families who might want to join them.
CCCMH and other health organizations and state agencies might have that information but HIPAA law prevents them from being able to share it with group organizers without gathering permissions from each individual.
The “not-NAMI” group has recently resumed meeting monthly, in person, where they share round table discussions about themselves and their loved ones. You can contact the Mental Health Support Group - Keweenaw Area by emailing MHSGKA@aol.com.
Is television production 'Northbound'?
For those tired of the Hollywood scene, one web series has been filmed in the Upper Peninsula for years and has pushed through the pandemic to continue production
Hannah, played by Alisha Mondloch, in a Northbound scene that was shot outside to MTU’s Great Lakes Research Center. All photos provided by Lullskull, Ltd. and used with permission.
With two short seasons already freely available on Seeka TV, the creators of The Northstar Saga weren’t about to let their season three production fall flat, but the COVID-19 pandemic did force a few changes.
Brothers Seth and Nathan Anderson, who grew up in the Iron Mountain area, launched the post-apocalyptic survival series with Jason Hagen, who grew up in Minnesota. The three first started working together in Los Angeles.
“My first thought was I’d like to show off the area and work with the talent that’s here,” Seth Anderson said.
The series includes many shots of the Upper Peninsula landscape in Houghton and Dickinson Counties, from all seasons, as the characters struggle to survive against the elements and each other after a mysterious cataclysm causes modern civilization to collapse. Northbound is a prelude, both in production and story, to their feature film named Northstar, which will include many of the same characters and build on the same narrative. The series is supported through a combination of sponsorships, crowdfunding, and volunteerism.
At the beginning of 2020, they were ramping up to begin shooting season three of their series. But the COVID-19 pandemic confused everything, arresting their production schedule while monthly costs drained their funds. They were able to shoot about half of the footage they needed for the four-episode season before 2020, but much of what they had to finish wouldn’t be possible under pandemic restrictions.
“We are a crowd-based show a lot of the time,” Anderson said.
Anderson said their set usually has at least 20 people on it, including cast, extras, and crew. Fortunately, the shots remaining for the first episode of the season, entitled ‘Hannah’s Way’, required minimal cast and crew, so the team devoted what they could to completing that episode.
Now they’re going to unveil that episode to the public in an advance screening at Braumart Theatre in Iron Mountain on Aug. 20.
“The big thing with the ‘Hannah’s Way’ screening is just to make sure people know what we’re doing,” Anderson said. “We’ve made some progress and … we’re almost there.”
Seth Anderson (left) and Jason Hagen, two of the creators of Northbound, joined me via telephone to talk about the series and how the pandemic impacted production.
Fortunately, many of the remaining scenes for ‘Hannah’s Way’ were in a medical atmosphere, so everyone wearing masks fit the situation.
“We really tailored that to work,” Anderson said.
“And we were able to put the resources we had into some really good sets,” Hagen added.
Hagen said that a lot of the things in The Northstar Saga, which was written about ten years ago, suddenly became very relevant. He and Anderson found a refreshed passion for their story because of its renewed relation to people’s day-to-day experiences.
“It was very eerie, but it was very motivating at the same time,” Hagen said.
Some scenes in Northbound, including the soon-to-be-released ‘Hannah’s Way’, were shot in Michigan Tech’s Great Lakes Research Center. The production team said MTU administration was helpful, with the former director of the GLRC, Mike Abbott, even appearing in the series and delivering a line in season one. A lot of other actors were connected through the school’s Visual and Performing Arts department, too.
The GLRC facility worked well for one of the key locations in the series.
“We needed a more high-tech facility for Allied Command, which is the focus of ‘Hannah’s Way’,” Anderson said.
Allied Command is the remnant government body in the Northbound fictional world.
The lakeside location also figures into the story. Anderson said he always wanted to include Lake Superior, too.
“We even got on the water,” Anderson said.
Hagen said there are several advantages to working in the rural Upper Peninsula, not the least of which is the Upper Peninsula itself. Between doing the work they enjoy and the environment they’re doing it, they said it doesn’t really feel like work.
“You have like this unlimited access to just a beautiful landscape,” he said. “It can not only be a character in your productions and everything… it’s a much better environment to shoot in.”
There are also some drawbacks. If they need to rent equipment, it’s difficult to get and oftentimes needs to be shipped into the area. However, they said they’ve developed some reliable relationships over the last seasons for acquiring that equipment when necessary.
Anderson said that the film industry is hard to break into in the 21st century, with streaming and other market forces creating a constantly shifting distribution landscape, paths to success re-arranging themselves to suit, and doors closing as fast as they open. He said the key is just starting to create something.
“And I was drawn to where I grew up,” Anderson said.
He said he’s also driven by the opportunity to create access to filmmaking work for other people in a rural area, and show that the industry is accessible to people outside of Hollywood and New York. Anderson’s hoping that the advent of remote work and streaming video will mean a local filmmaking talent pool can have access to a worldwide market.
“The connectivity is definitely happening,” Hagen said.
Ideally, Anderson said, filmmaking could become a new economic driver for the area.
Alisha Mondloch as Hannah
You can support Northbound’s production by attending their screening on Aug. 20, keep up with their latest updates by following their newsletter, or watch the first two seasons on Seeka TV.
Sharon Avenue reopens, PLLB work continues to snarl traffic, councilor comments on social media posts
Houghton City Council, Aug. 11, 2021
Meeting Highlights
During public comment, the organizer of the Verna Mize Triathlon gave a wrap-up report and said that support was still growing for next year’s event.
During City Manager Eric Waara’s report, he updated the board on a variety of happenings in the city. Repaving activity is ramping up, and Sharon Avenue should be reopened as of today. The bridge in NARA park is all but open. However, the lift bridge maintenance work is dragging on and traffic continues to lag and snarl. Waara and Police Chief John Donnelly have been trying different things to keep traffic flowing through the city.
A Community Night Out event is now officially happening on Sept. 4 between Hancock and Houghton, which will include live music, fireworks, and more. Public works employees and some other residents have donated shrubs that are being placed around the city, too.
Chief Donnelly reported that they’re still fielding a lot of calls from people about traffic resulting from the bridge work. They’ve had some limited success limiting leisure vessel crossings under the lift bridge, but not enough to prevent long rush-hour backups.
After the payment of bills—including some change orders for ongoing and completed projects—and the approval of a bid for environmental engineering of an infrastructure grant paid for by the MEDC, Waara shared some thoughts on the parking deck redevelopment and public engagement. He recapped the situation before saying he would be happy to talk to individuals about realities, numbers, and possibilities, particularly for funding other than city tax dollars. He said despite all the commentary online he’s been shown, nobody has called him or visited his office to ask questions or offer ideas.
Following Waara’s comments, the council approved up to $10,000 toward hiring a consultant to begin the public engagement process. Waara said he hopes to start that process as soon as reasonably possible.
During closing comments, Councilor Mike Needham addressed some comments he’d seen on social media. He said he was particularly concerned because the people commenting were downtown business owners, and it didn’t seem like they were very well informed on the situation, and that their negativity was unreasonable. Commissioner Dan Salo added that they’re doing the best they can for the city.