Three stories of interest from Northern Michigan
Andrew Norton
It is a bit odd, but some interesting stories that have hit the newswire the past couple of days that all take place in Northern Michigan and Michigan's Upper Peninsula. First and foremost is the wildfire that has apparently stalled out after consuming some 18,000 acres of forest. For the first time since the fire began last week, the fire did not advance on Thursday. Fire lines have now ensnared about 70 percent of the fire's perimeter and hopes are high that the fire can be contained and snuffed out without further damage. Locals believe that the fire will not be officially put out until snow blankets the region.
Some sad news from the Mackinac Bridge of an unidentified woman who jumped 175 feet to her death just before 4 p.m. yesterday. There was another suicide at the bridge this past February and in the bridge's 50 years there have been more than a dozen such deaths at the bridge.
Here is a story that, if true, is one of those "how did that happen?" type of stories. An apple farmer and his family were searching for rocks along the Lake Superior shore at Fort Wilkins State Park when they came upon an orange weather beaten life preserver. Further inspection showed the faded and worn name of the ship - Edmund Fitzgerald.
Some are speculating that the preserver was planted by someone for whatever jollies they might derive from it. Is it possible that a piece of wreckage was actually found almost 32 years after the Edmund Fitzgerald sank? I think it is possible and so does a daughter, Cheryl Rozman, of one of the 29 who perished - Ransom Cundy.
The Keweenaw area is rugged and unpopulated and the preserver was found near a fallen tree which could have offered it a hiding place all of these years.