This segment is called "The Week Ahead," but this week, I thought it would be good to tell you a little about our reporting in the week that was. — Ed Ronco, news director
A Friday news release
It's not uncommon for large stories to come out on Friday afternoons, for many reasons. Sometimes it's because it takes the whole week for a big decision to be made or a deadline to be met.
Other times it's because those releasing the news know there will be less coverage of it if it comes out as everyone is wrapping up their week.
We don't know what the case was this past Friday, when Benzie County Prosecutor Sara Swanson announced that her office would not bring criminal charges against Grand Traverse County Commissioner Rob Hentschel.
In October, a woman accused Hentschel and another person of sexual assault. The accusations came to public light in December, after Hentschel narrowly won re-election to his county commission seat.
An email from Swanson announcing the decision reached IPR's inbox at 4:06 p.m. on Friday. Swanson said “there is insufficient evidence to prove a crime took place beyond a reasonable doubt.”
When an IPR reporter called two minutes later to ask some more questions, we were told Swanson was out of the office.
Hentschel also did not respond to a request for comment.
Ice storm power repairs
Consumers Energy announced over the weekend that it had restored power to its customers who had been in the dark since an enormous ice storm last week.
Great Lakes Energy said on Sunday that 84 percent of its customers had power again. The co-op's CEO, Shaun Lamp, said in a video statement that they're hoping to have most customers back online by the end of Tuesday — but that it might take longer for people in particularly remote places.
A camp has been established at the Otsego County fairgrounds to house and feed 11-hundred people … many of whom are linemen and other workers who came from across the country.
Crossing paths with U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman
U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Watersmeet) was in northern Michigan this weekend, touring ice storm damage in Cheboygan, Gaylord and Atlanta.
IPR had reached out to Bergman's office shortly after the storm last week, but never heard back.
So it was fortunate that I happened to be having lunch at Randy's Diner in Traverse City when Bergman also happened to walk in to grab a bite to eat.
"You can't believe what happened up there," he told IPR. "These telephone poles look like toothpicks that were just snapped."
He complimented the state’s response and said he’s not sure yet whether the Federal Emergency Management Agency will get involved. But he said federal aid has helped in previous disasters, like massive flooding in Houghton in June 2018.
“Back then, when we sought federal aid, we got it," Bergman said. "We’re using that model now to submit the paperwork to see how it’s going to work. But you know, FEMA’s just a bureaucracy. It’s not an entity that really does anything. So we’re working right now at the federal level to see what the channels are.”
In that 2018 flooding, FEMA granted aid for public infrastructure repair, but not individual assistance.
