Environment

Waters rise, gas prices drop and boats boom in summer 2016

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By BRIDGET BUSH
Capital News Service
LANSING — Michigan boating boomed this summer as water levels reached near-record highs, gas prices stayed low and the weather invited people to cruise, said boating experts across the state. New models helped increase boat shop traffic, said Nick Polan, executive director of the Michigan Boating Industries Association. Low interest rates made financing more feasible than in years following the 2008 recession. That spurred sales in an industry known for owners who hold onto their boats for decades, Polan said. It was “the seventh consecutive year of expansion for the state’s marine economy.”

Parks & Recreation

Grosse Pointe Yacht Club earns historic designation

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By CHRIS SYMONS
Capital News Service
LANSING – It stood through the Great Depression, it stood through World War II, and now the 15-time winner of the “best yacht club in America” stands to be recognized. The Grosse Pointe Yacht Club was recently named to the National Register of Historic Places, 101 years after the club’s inception. Located just outside of Detroit in Grosse Pointe Shores on Lake St. Clair, the club hosts about 265 boats and has 800 members. The site’s historic designation is exciting for the club, both as a source of pride and for the help it gives to preserve the buildings, said General Manager Tom Trainor.

Environment

Quiet water values

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By ERIC FREEDMAN
Capital News Service
LANSING – It’s not the grandeur of ice-encrusted Lake Superior in winter or Lake Michigan under a setting summer sun. It’s not the pristine early morning glisten of the Au Sable River. It’s not the sailboat-plying juncture of the St. Clair River and Lake Huron beneath the shadow of the Blue Water Bridge. It’s not the Straits of Mackinac, Houghton Lake, the Soo Locks.