Pouring again at the Cognition
NO, IT WASN’T an April Fools joke. The Cognition, the popular brew pub, which previously had been operating out of Ishpeming’s Mather Inn, reopened there last week, much to the joy of local crafters. (Not those crafters… beer crafters.)
Owner Jay Clancey explains the timing… “We have been working on it since the owner left the building and her return did not seem likely… about a month now. We just decided to have a little fun with the April 1st coincidence.”
You might remember the issues between Clancey and Mather Inn ownership, dating back to 2017, when accusations of unpaid bills came to a head. Plowed snow was piled at the door of the Cog, preventing entrance by patrons and employees, and then last year the dispute escalated, resulting in the power being shut off to the brew pub.
At that point, Clancey had had enough and bought the Grace Episcopal Church, located across the street from the Mather Inn. The plan at the time was to share the building space with the church and use it to brew and serve beer. And to never darken the door of the Mather again.
The Cog’s Jay Clancey on the news during the dispute with the Mather Inn.
Well, things change, and Clancey is back at the Mather Tap Room, serving up his popular brews… for now. The Inn is for sale, so his dealings with past ownership are behind him. He’s still waiting for his brewery license to allow production at the church, so the Tap Room may just be a temporary fix, good enough for those jonesing for their favorite Cognition suds.
And what about the expansion into Marquette? Still on track, according to Clancey. “The Marquette project is moving along. We do not have an opening date set.”
It seems there have been some minor disruptions in the permitting process as the Cognition prepares to move into the future Third Street Marketplace. Word from the city’s planning department is that any issues being faced now could have been avoided with a little more pre-application consultation. Clancey says he’s working with city officials to get things figured out and that there’s nothing too serious to prevent the project from moving forward.
No opening date has been set. Hopefully sooner rather than later. There’s gonna be a lot of thirsty people around here this summer. The rest of the marketplace is also moving forward, with various opening dates in the coming months.
The Return of Upper Michigan Today
BETTING ON THE viewing public’s thirst for all things local, Fox UP, sister station of TV6, has brought back an old favorite with a new face. A couple new faces in fact… Elizabeth Peterson and Tia Trudgeon.
If you go back a few years you might remember the original version of Upper Michigan Today. The show was originally hosted by Carl Pellonpaa, followed by Jamie Guth, and then the team of Sue McQuaid and Scott Zerbel. The idea of the show was to go where typical news shows didn’t, with features about the people and places of the TV6 viewing area.
The “new” Upper Michigan Today, featuring a similar format, airs at 9am on Fox UP, immediately following the TV6 Morning News, which runs from 5am to 7am on TV6 and then re-airs from 7 to 9 on Fox UP. The old show would casually be referred to as “the noon show,” since it aired at 12 o’clock. Will we call this one “the nine show?” Probably not. The suggestion is out there that this new Upper Michigan Today could re-run at noon on TV6, which would be a welcomed development for the “home for lunch” crowd.
Upper Michigan Today hosts Tia Trudgeon and Elizabeth Peterson.
Regardless of when it airs, it signals the station’s commitment to local content. With dozens, or hundreds, of channels available on our various platforms, local content is the one thing that can set a station apart from the wide range of programming choices, most of which have nothing to do with what’s happening here.
The combination of television veteran Peterson with the fresh-faced Trudgeon gives the show a casual, friendly presence, which makes it an “easy” watch, regardless of the day’s content. It’s a little early in the morning for the hosts to uncork the wine bottle, as other talk show hosts have been known to do, but that shouldn’t preclude any well-placed frivolity.
The first show aired this past Monday and served as an introduction to the viewing public. Past hosts McQuaid and Zerbel made appearances along with News Director Andrew LaCombe and Station Manager Rick Rhoades. When Peterson asked Rhoades what he hoped to see in the new show, he replied with a laugh, “Ratings!” A light-hearted response with a heavy-handed hint that hangs over every TV show we watch. If anybody expects this show to last 30-some years like the last one, it’ll need a loyal audience.
Full disclosure… yours truly was also a guest on this first show. (Why did you think I was writing about it?) I was a guest host from time-to-time back in the 80’s when Carl Pellonpaa was on vacation. I still run into folks who remember some of the shows I did, as well as a few who appeared on the show themselves.
Upper Michigan Today’s debut featured some old faces, and some new ones.
Peterson explains the feeling in the Fox UP studio… “We are so excited to be re-booting such a loved program! We’ve already learned so much in the first week – and cannot wait to see where this takes us! It’s a huge undertaking, sometimes it feels a bit overwhelming, but I believe there is value and purpose in what we’re doing – making all the sweat worthwhile!”
Well, as I said to the new hosts during my appearance… “Congratulations and best of luck.” We’ll be watching!
Family Video Building Update
THINGS ARE HAPPENING at the former site of Family Video on the corner of West Washington and McClellan. Workers are busy readying the former video rental shop to welcome what we hear will be… a dental office. Word is that it’s going to be My Community Dental Centers of Marquette. They already have an office here in the Marquette Center at 989 West Washington, but this new location would probably give them more room, and would certainly give them more visibility.
Something’s happening at the former Family Video.
Though this news has been neither confirmed or denied, a dental office seems like a good fit. It’s still a nice building, in a good location, with enough parking to handle a full schedule of appointments. Regardless, it’ll be nice to see an empty building repurposed rather than razed.