NO MORE NIGHTLIFE at Coco’s.
Some may cheer, some may groan, but it’s true. The restaurant on Lakeshore Boulevard, which staged 70 nighttime events over the last year and a half–some of them loud, some of them racy, most of them just plain fun–will no longer be a nighttime entertainment venue.
Owner Jackie Gonda says the nightlife just created too much stress for her. She’s going back to what she likes and does best–dining and catering.
Coco’s is now in the midst of re-doing its interior. Newly painted walls, new table tops, a couch and soft chairs in its lounge, and removal of the stage.
Just…a quiet, welcoming restaurant with good food across the street from the beach.
It’ll be closed Mondays from now on, even through the summer. Gonda says the staff needs time off.
And she and her husband, Patrick, probably need some rest from trying to ride herd over the nighttime revelers who occasionally drew the attention of neighbors and the police.
JUST UP LAKESHORE Boulevard from Coco’s, you may have noticed the scaffolding out front of that less-than-pretty hodge-podge of a building that houses Lakeshore Bike and Fred’s Rubber Stamp.
Yep, it’s getting a much needed facelift.
Should look pretty good. Tan and ivory metal siding all around, and then brick-colored, stucco-like siding for parts of the front. You’ve seen the look elsewhere in Marquette.
The renovation should be complete by the end of June.
The building occupies nearly a full square block and get this: it actually has 18 tenants. Sixteen businesses, many of them artsy and outdoorsy, and two apartments. Eighteen. Never would have thought that.
Great location, highly visible. Lakeshore Boulevard continues to dress itself up.
THE MYSTERY OF who’s planning to build that huge wind farm in western Marquette and eastern Baraga counties has not been entirely solved yet, but we’re getting there.
Word came to us that Renewable Energy Systems (RES), headquartered in England, was likely behind the plans to erect 120 wind generators in the UP. RES, which started up about 30 years ago, is a big player in the wind and solar industry.
A call to RES got this response: We don’t discuss our planned projects in the early phase of development. We might be planning this, or we might not.
But. If this was our project, we would be doing precisely what the developer is doing: Apply first to the Federal Aviation Administration and to Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) to make sure there were no major problems with aviation or power transmission.
Only after they got the go-ahead from the FAA and MISO, according to the RES spokesman, would they then go to individual landowners and the municipalities to see if they would be open to leasing property for windmills.
So that explains why nobody on the ground here has been notified yet of the windmill plans.
That may happen in about six months, according to the spokesman.
One final point. He also said at least half of their proposed wind developments are never actually built because of technical or legal problems or opposition from the community.
WE ALL COULDA been millionaires.
Yep, if we’d only had the foresight to buy the battered Cliffs Natural Resources stock when it hit a measly $1.26 a share back on January 12th.
And then sold it on April 28th when it closed at $5.39.
A little quick math will tell you that it increased….uh….a lot.
Seriously, if you had plunked down $100,000 on Cliffs back in January, you could have sold it for well over $400,000 three months later. A courageous $1 million dollar investment would have brought you $4 million.
Ah, but who needs tax problems like that? That’s better left to the big boys on Wall Street.
Oh, by the way, the latest check on Cliffs stock shows it settling in at $3.51 a share. The rollercoaster ride continues.
IT’S ABOUT TIME.
Delta Sky Magazine–you know, that wrinkled, much-read magazine in the seat back pockets on Delta planes–is going to feature Marquette in one of its stories for its December 2016 issue.
It’s a pretty big deal. The magazine is read by five million readers monthly. Monied travelers eager to find new places to explore.
You’ve seen the articles before. They tell you about the tourism, recreation, culture and business of all these wonderful places worldwide.
One more thing: If you’d like to advertise your business in the magazine, you need to get a hold of Nicole Young at Travel Marquette immediately.
EVER HEARD OF a “boosted board?”
Maybe not, because as far as we can tell, there may be only one Boosted Board in Marquette County. And it happens to belong to WOTS administrator and all-around social media whiz Justin Carlson.
Quick definition: it’s a skateboard that has an electric motor allowing it to travel up to 20 mph, with a range of five miles before the battery needs recharging.. Pretty cool, eh? No need to push with your feet, and it goes uphill.
Except for one teensy-weensy problem.
Carlson was riding his board on the streets the other day and was stopped by police who told him that riding a skateboard on the street was illegal. So you go to the sidewalk, right? Well, no. Skateboards are banned on sidewalks except between the hours of 6 pm and 10 pm, and they have to be human-powered.
So where can you go with your motorized skateboard in Marquette? Uh, just about nowhere.
It may take a while for the laws to catch up with a new technology.
You got news? Email briancabell@gmail.com