Now is the time to treat these things… I’m happy to run by and hack and squirt if anyone needs it… Just DM me

I have scoliosis and am looking for a scroth-based physical therapist in the area. I can get a referral but need names of practitioners. Prefer physical therapy periodically rather than medication to address pain.

I’m starting to think Indeed is pretty much useless. I have sent over 50 resumes for office work in the last three weeks with only one call back. Has anyone else experienced this? Also is anyone hiring for office work?

a few years back there was a dude named David Olender that the community fell in love with and was helping get himself back on his feet. Haven’t heard from him in a while, anyone know where the guys at?

sent a family member to ATS detox and residential.

they said it was horrible and that employees are regularly getting fired for drug use

This is pathetic. How did the city let a road to the hospital get this bad? This is just outside the DDA jurisdiction in case you were wondering.

The city needs to talk to Seventh Street residents as to how this road can be improved. There is no reason, ever, for this level of neglect.

I know they are finally talking about fixing it…..but this is years overdue

Any bars or restaurants hosting a watch party?

4th of July Parade controversy

Local here tired of spending money. What do you all like to do for free around traverse city? Feel free to include outdoor activities, even if they may be off the table currently.

Hey everyone: Let's talk about the parts of travel nobody posts about?

What's the thing that consistently gets under your skin or wrecks a trip for you when going to NoMi?? Anything goes: delays, sketchy overpriced tours, surprise fees, terrible roommates, nonexistent Wi-Fi.

Where do people find cherry brats these days? The meat place I used to go to apparently doesn’t carry them anymore. Any hookups?

I'd like to watch the Spain v Argentina game on Sunday somewhere inside other than my house. (Current air quality has keept up cooped up for the last few days.) I know Earthen Ales has been showing the games but my partner is not a fan of their beer. Jacob's Farm is a downright "no" as it is outside.

Anyone have recommendations or suggestions for somewhere else to go?

Thanks and go Spain! 🇪🇸⚽️

I made a post a week or two ago asking about people's experience with the "AI-powered" newsroom Prism News -- just thought I would swing back and show what I found!

I want to see what everyone else captured

Question:
Where is the best local place to get fresh cherries and blueberries? Looking to take some back home with us.🍒🍒🍒🫐🫐🫐

I need to use a commercial-sized washer and dryer for a large quilt. What’s the best (safest?) laundromat in town? I haven’t lived here long enough to know….

Taken on 07/13/2026.

Not sure who they are but they had a very cute boat and dog 😊

Traverse City wants a tourist tax – 9and10News.com

Absolutely FANTASTIC LEADERSHIP from Traverse City Manager Marentette. I really hope he and his coalition can get this across the finish line ASAP! We deserve some form of tax inclusion like the carve outs passed for Kent County and others downstate!

1. As soon as we get a new Governor, be it Jocelyn Benson (who has spoken publicly on the STR side of this), or a Republican (who's Reps, including our John Roth, have sponsored one version of a visitor tax bill sitting in committee) there should be a window opening to get this tax rolling.
2. Hiring a lobby firm, as he discussed, is absolutely spot on.
3. Creating a coalition of regional Michigan community leaders is also "chef's kiss" fantastic.
4. Getting the County included would be ideal in every way.

This is as good as it gets. Come on MICHIGAN! If we work together, we are stronger.

TRAVERSE CITY- Visitors staying in a Traverse City hotel already pay a 5% charge on their bill. But none of that money paves a road, fixes a water main, or pays a police officer.

That distinction is at the heart of a new effort by City Manager Ben Marentette, who is assembling a coalition of Michigan destination communities to lobby the legislature for something current law does not allow: a tax on overnight visitors that flows to city government for infrastructure and public safety.

The 5% guests currently pay is an assessment collected by Traverse City Tourism, the region’s convention and visitors bureau.

It funds the organization’s marketing, events and operations, promoting the destination, not maintaining it. The city receives none of it.

Marentette’s proposal is different in nearly every respect: the city, not the tourism bureau, would receive the new money, and it would pay for what he called the things “that make a city tick.”

“You know, we have folks coming in from out of town to enjoy our city, and it creates a need for additional services, water, wastewater, infrastructure, roads, police, fire,” Marentette said.

The potential, he estimated, is roughly half of what the city collects annually in property taxes.

“So potentially seven plus million dollars a year,” he said.

Traverse City sees roughly 6 million visitors annually, Marentette said, and its daytime population runs more than two and a half times its official population.

He pointed to last week’s 100th National Cherry Festival, when every city police officer worked mandatory overtime.

The proposal would also close a gap in who pays at all. Traverse City Tourism’s assessment applies only to lodging providers with more than 10 units, a threshold that typical Airbnb and other short-term rental operators fall below.

That means a guest at a downtown hotel currently contributes to tourism marketing; a guest in a licensed short-term rental contributes to nothing locally.

“I want the city to get revenue from anybody who has a short-term rental license,” Marentette said, specifying that guests, not license holders, would pay the surcharge.

The proposed tax would stack on top of existing charges, not replace them.

Lodging guests in Michigan currently pay the 6% state use tax plus any applicable CVB assessment; Marentette’s surcharge would be an additional line on the bill. He argued travelers barely register such charges.

“We’ve all traveled places where there is that sort of tax or that surcharge on your lodging bill,” he said. “And I don’t think people even think twice about it.”

Standing in the way is a half-century of Michigan law.

Under the Accommodations Tax Act of 1974, lodging excise taxes are limited to counties under 600,000 residents that contain a city of at least 40,000, a test Grand Traverse County does not meet.

And even where the tax is allowed, the law restricts revenue to convention and entertainment facilities and tourism promotion.

A city-levied lodging tax for general infrastructure does not exist anywhere in Michigan under current law.

Marentette said the state has historically granted lodging tax power narrowly. The original convention hotel tax legislation did not name Detroit but was written so only Detroit qualified, he said, and Grand Rapids recently gained similar access.

Lansing amended the 1974 act in 2024 to let Kent County raise its lodging tax to 8% with voter approval, a change tailored to a population bracket only Kent County occupies, with revenue directed toward sports and entertainment facilities.

“This is nothing new,” Marentette said. “It’s really just expanding that model to bring some of those resources to cities like Traverse City.”

A bipartisan bill package already in the legislature proposes much of what Marentette describes.

House Bills introduced last fall would allow communities to levy up to 3% on hotel and short-term rental stays with local voter approval, with revenue for essential services.

The bills have not moved out of committee.

The coalition is still forming. Marentette declined to name partner communities or the lawmakers he has met with, though he said most have been receptive.

The next steps, he said, are completing the coalition and hiring a lobbyist to make the case in Lansing collectively.

“We look to the legislature to bring equity to this situation that has been inequitable for many years, and it’s time to take action,” Marentette said.

AT&T is a joke - I never get more than two bars anywhere in town and that's if I'm lucky. I live literally right downtown and only get one bar at my apartment, and no going outside makes no difference.

If possible I'd like to get rid of Spectrum internet and just get an unlimited data plan...that is if any of the other providers are any better. Verizon, T-Mobile, Straight Talk, tell me your experience with these guys and any others I didn't mention.

I don't know what happened to AT&T I've been using them since my first phone when I was still on Mom's plan, they used the be great but now they are horrible and everyone I know who still has them agrees.

By Beth Milligan | July 14, 2026

Grand Traverse County road commissioners approved contracts at a special meeting Monday for two major upcoming projects: the Beitner Road bridge replacement and the reconstruction of Hammond Road. Road commissioners also had a tense discussion – their second in a row – about Chair Alan Leman and potential conflicts of interest in his role.

Road Projects
Road commissioners approved a cost participation agreement with the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) Monday for the Beitner Bridge replacement.

MDOT opened bids for the project Friday, with four received. Anlaan Corporation was the low bidder at $3,738,880.47. Federal funds will cover 80 percent of the project, with the Grand Traverse County Road Commission (GTCRC) responsible for the rest. GTCRC also recently paid a $100,000 contract with Molon to remove the old bridge and will pursue FEMA reimbursement since the bridge collapsed in the April floods (pictured). The board also approved a $384,500 contract with OHM Monday for engineering oversight for the new bridge.

Once MDOT finalizes the Anlaan contract, GTCRC can begin coordinating on the construction schedule, says GTCRC Manager Dan Watkins. The hope is to get the new bridge complete before the end of the year. Team Elmer’s is a subcontractor on the project and “anxious to get going,” Watkins says.

Team Elmer’s will be involved in another major project. Road commissioners approved a $3.2 million contract Monday for the reconstruction of Hammond Road between Carlisle and Townline roads. In addition to new road, the project will extend Hammond’s two eastbound lanes through the Three Mile light and reconstruct that light. The signal work will come in a separate bid and likely total $400,000-$500,000, staff said. Elmer’s hopes to begin before the end of July and is contractually obligated to finish work through at least the intersection before school starts, Watkins says. Any remaining work at that point would be west of the intersection.

Chair Role
For the second meeting in a row, road commissioners had a tense discussion Monday over concerns Chair Alan Leman is acting outside his duties as a road commissioner.

The issue first arose at the board’s June 25 meeting during review of a memo from GTCRC’s legal counsel. The memo states that road commissioners cannot conduct business outside of public meetings or have a direct or indirect financial interest in GTCRC contracts (with narrow exceptions). Road commission duties are limited to policy formulation and approvals, with day-to-day operations entrusted to staff. If a board member transacts business or makes GTCRC decisions outside of meetings and without board approval, that likely violates the Open Meetings Act, the memo states.

The memo was prepared by Henn Lesperance after multiple employees complained about Leman to road commissioners. Concerns ranged from Leman personally going out and measuring driveways or negotiating with property owners on easements to hand-delivering bids for companies he’s affiliated with to suggesting staff not pay contracts because he believed materials weren’t up to spec.

Several of those concerns related to a sand order road commissioners approved this spring. When the order first appeared on a February agenda, Crystal Aggregate Materials was the lowest of five bidders. Leman – who also owns a materials company called All Aggregates – told the board the price was too high. He convinced the board to rebid the order, saying more competitive bids might come in if it was better advertised with clearer specs. Doing so complicated what is normally a sealed-bid process, as any bidders would now know the prices previously submitted and could outbid them.

When the second round of bids was reviewed in April, the number of bidders had dropped from five to four. Only one was a new bidder, Fischer Corporation. Leman’s company, All Aggregates, crushes materials for Fischer. When Fischer faxed in its bid and was told GTCRC doesn’t accept faxed bids, Leman hand-delivered the bid to staff. Road commissioners roundly condemned that move in June, with Commissioner Alisa Korn saying it “put the staff in a bad position” and Commissioner Joe Underwood adding that kind of personal involvement should “not ever, ever, ever, ever happen.”

Fischer came in lower than all first-round bids. However, Crystal also lowered its bid for the second round and ultimately won the contract. During that meeting, Leman did not disclose a conflict of interest nor mention his business ties to Fischer. He later told The Ticker he would’ve disclosed that if Fischer was the winning bidder, pointing out he too voted for Crystal.

Leman later criticized the quality of Crystal’s materials and told staff they shouldn’t pay the company’s invoice – a suggestion staff felt compelled to follow. The unpaid invoice prompted a second round of debate Monday. Watkins cited numerous staff and industry experts who said Crystal’s material was of a better quality and lower price than what GTCRC previously produced in-house. While road commissioners acknowledged the bid language was confusing – stating in one place materials should meet state minimums and in another higher GTCRC standards – most said they accepted staff’s assessment of the quality and should pay Crystal’s bill.

“We signed a contract for this sand, and we have an individual on this board who actually has an interest in sand product stopping us paying a contract that we approved,” said Underwood. “That is a problem. And it’s probably a violation of the new county ethics code…I mean what is going on here?” Road commissioners voted 4-1 to authorize staff to pay Crystal’s contract, with Leman opposed.

Leman defended his actions at both the meeting and in an interview with The Ticker, saying he asks tough questions and gets personally involved in GTCRC issues because his industry experience makes him a knowledgeable advocate for taxpayers. He pointed out that rebidding the sand order saved GTCRC tens of thousands of dollars. He said it was important to ensure GTCRC gets what it pays for with materials, adding that staff have “zero” experience with materials while he produces them for a living.

Leman – who also provides materials for Elmer’s, though for projects outside of the GTCRC area, he said – affirmed he wouldn’t get personally involved in a bid process again. He also told board members he’d bring issues to them for consideration rather than acting on his own. But he bristled at suggestions he’s run afoul of the law, calling the Henn Lesperance memo “vague and incomplete” and asking the board to respect his process of doing research, making site visits, and talking to people to gather information. “Please don’t try to control how I feel necessary to do my job,” he read from a prepared letter Monday.

Watkins also read a letter to the board. He said he had a “professional obligation” to raise concerns and seek clarification when receiving direction that may conflict with laws, board policies, or organizational standards. “Doing so is not an act of resistance,” he read. “It is an essential part of responsible leadership and good governance.” Multiple road commissioners assured staff they were free to bring concerns forward and should not fear retribution, emphasizing they are protected by law from retaliation.

Maybe some folks in this town have a past with muds?

A lot of you will think I mean wet dirt, but just referring to:

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-user_dungeon

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUSH

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOO

If any of you are like "I don't know about this but.. it sounds interesting", and you read books, here's something you may dig: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/345040.My_Tiny_Life , though it has a heavier element in it (which was _new_ at the time, problems in virtual spaces)

I'm still active in a discworld mud, and keeping an account alive from a mud I joined in the 90s (realms of despair). Mostly making this post because it'd be cool to learn some folks around here still play 'em