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Morning Briefing

THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2023

In today's newsletter, Copper Peak is set to reopen after being closed for decades, a winter weather update and Netflix is dropping a documentary on the "Pez Outlaw."

Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get.

Life has a way of teaching you to embrace the unknown. As a chronic over-planner, this has been challenging for me to accept.  Every once in a while, a stroke of serendipity will appear that makes me rethink the power of surprises. News also has similarities to a box of chocolate—you never know what headline you might come across. 

Here are two stories that follow this theme of unexpected discoveries, like a Marquette County farmer stumbling upon a young black bear in snoozing in his cattle barn.

Shifting sandbars along the Leelanau County coast have uncovered a shipwreck fragment which Chris Roxburgh, a Traverse City scuba diver believes is the remains of a schooner that sank in the treacherous Manitou Passage 150 years ago. 

Curated by Cara Hackett

Copper Peak north of Ironwood in Michigan's Upper Peninsula

Copper Peak, the largest ski jump in the Western Hemisphere, is set to reopen after decades of disuse.

Copper Peak comeback: With $20 million from the state of Michigan, Copper Peak is embarking on a plan to reopen October 2024 as the only ski flying hill outside of Europe.

New heights: Located north of Ironwood in the far western corner of the Upper Peninsula, it's the only ski flying hill in the world with an all-season surface, so jumps can happen in the summer, as well. Copper Peakhas a 469-foot jump and stands 180 meters high, making it the sixth largest ski jump in the world.

More in public interest: A Jan. 17 court filing shows the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency tried to collect pandemic-era benefits back from more than 1.8 million people before a court order went into effect at the end of last year.

Read more

Heavy snow, gusty winds to whip through parts of Michigan Thursday.

Winter Wonderland returns: A storm system that swept in Wednesday night and is expected to last throughout the day Thursday, according to the National Weather Service. It will take aim at the northern Lower Peninsula and the eastern half of the Upper Peninsula, bringing high wind gusts and heavy snow to parts of the region.

Another winter thing: One lucky sheep was saved from a partially frozen lake in Livingston County when the Brighton Area Fire Authority responded to a call about the lost animal making its way on Lake Chemung. 

Weather oddity: For the first time, Zehnder’s Snowfest organizers have had to cancel the festival’s world-class snow sculpting competitions due to unseasonably warm weather, but they’re adding more ice sculptures and a second night of fireworks to make up for it.

Read more

College Board CEO calls Michigan high school a ‘beacon’ for engaging students in college-level work.

Best in class: College Board CEO David Coleman is applauding Northview High School for doing “some of the best work in the country” in getting all of its students engaged in college-level coursework during high school. 

Jackson School Board calls for unityafter trustee Kesha Hamilton's "whiteness" remarks sparked controversy. The board's nearly three hour meeting on Jan. 17 was mostly dedicated to community members defending, criticizing and dissecting comments about Hamilton's tweet about “whiteness” being evil. 

Oxford High shooting survivors called on the new Michigan legislature to pass ‘common sense’ gun laws during Wednesday's news conference in Oxford. Maddie Johnson, a survivor of the school shooting, spoke about the need for safe storage laws, red flag laws and universal background checks. 

Read more

Advertisement

Kyle Kuzma donates $1M for new YMCA of Greater Flint gym on ‘Good Morning America’.

NBA champion and Washington Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma announced a $1 million donation to the YMCA of Greater Flint to build a gymnasium in a new downtown location Wednesday afternoon on "GMA (Good Morning America) 3: What You Need To Know."

Staying put: MLive reached out to several recruits to get their reaction to the latest end of the Jim Harbaugh to the NFL saga. “Only thing I got to say is we got the GOAT back,” 2023 three-star athlete signee Kendrick Bell told MLive after Harbough shared he was staying at Michigan. “I knew he’d come back 100%.” 

In the spotlight: Aaron Glenn is drawing more attention from those looking for a new head coach, with the Arizona Cardinals reportedly requesting an interview with the Detroit Lions defensive coordinator.

Read more

Netflix dropping documentary on small-town Michigan’s infamous ‘Pez Outlaw’

Pez pusher: Netflix is dropping a documentary film about one of the most famous Michiganders you've never heard of. "The Pez Outlaw" centers Steve Glew, a small town Michigan man who made a lot of money selling knock-off Pez dispensers in the United States that he snuck in from all over Europe. The film debuts Thursday, January 19 on the streaming service. 

"In the 1990s, Pez USA and Pez International operated very independently. The “Pezident” decided what came into the U.S. and what didn’t,” a clip from the movie’s trailer explained. “The collectors wanted what was available in Europe.” So, Glew went right to the Pez factories overseas and had them make what’s known as “misfits,” essentially knockoff Pez, by the millions, the documentary explains. 

Hollywood comes to Holland: One day after a casting call, more than 18,000 people have applied to be extras in Nicole Kidman’s ‘Holland, Michigan’ movie. 

Read more

That's all for now.

Thanks for checking back in with us for the latest Michigan news this morning. We're one day closer to the weekend!

You can stay up to date on all things local news by visiting MLive.com. And perhaps you'd like to consider becoming an MLive subscriber.

Leave room for the unknown today. It might turn out better than you planned! 

— Cara Hackett

OTHER TOP STORIES

• Winter Storm Watch issued for 30 counties across Michigan
  
  
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• Free agents are telling the Detroit Lions they want to come back
  
  
• Book removed from Portage Public Schools after citizen complaint
  
  
• Player assaults another during high-school basketball game, police say

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