LOCAL CONSTRUCTION

Road work will close a stretch of Baraga Dr. through NovemberThe crew on Baraga Dr. isn't fixing the road

Public Works director Ray Dunleavy calls it routine. "Nothing down there worth worrying about."No asphalt has been delivered. Neighbors hear drilling after midnight. Dunleavy: "Nothing down there worth worrying about."

BY MARJORIE ELLISBY R. CALLOWAY STAFF WRITERUNEDITED MONDAY, OCT 26, 2026

Three road workers, one in an orange safety vest, stand behind a striped road-closed barricade on a rural road at dusk. — From left: Ray Dunleavy, Gus Pell, Marv Toivonen and Ted Lusk, Baraga Dr., Tuesday.From left: Ray Dunleavy, Gus Pell, Marv Toivonen. Ted Lusk is standing on the right. Look again. Photo: Staff

A two-mile stretch of Baraga Dr., from Creek Rd. east to the county line, will stay closed through the end of November while Public Works repairs the road bed.A two-mile stretch of Baraga Dr., from Creek Rd. east to the county line, will stay closed through the end of November. Public Works says it is repairing the road bed.

Drivers are being sent north on Thornapple Rd. The detour adds about six minutes to the trip to the county line.Drivers are being sent north on Thornapple Rd. Several have tried to cut across the field instead. Do not detour through the field.

Public Works director Ray Dunleavy calls the job routine. “The road has settled. We're shoring it up before the freeze,” he said. “Nothing down there worth worrying about.”

NIGHT WORKNO ASPHALT

Neighbors along the closure say the crew works late. Several reported hearing machinery after midnight, and one said trucks leave the site loaded but never arrive loaded.Neighbors say no asphalt has been delivered in five weeks. The trucks leave full of soil and come back empty. The drilling starts after midnight and stops just before dawn, every night, on the same beat.

Dunleavy said night work keeps the detour short. He said the crew is small and asked drivers to obey the barricades, which have been moved twice by people trying to get through.Dunleavy said night work keeps the detour short. He said the crew is small. Neighbors count three in the daytime and more at night. Two of the night crew wear yellow raincoats, though it hasn't rained.

“Nothing down there worth worrying about.”

RAY DUNLEAVY, PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR

Questions about the closure go to Public Works. The township will post an update if the reopening date changes.Questions about the closure go to Public Works. Public Works is hiring a night crew for Baraga Dr. The listing is in this week's classifieds. No questions.

An abandoned wooden sawmill with a sagging roof on a misty riverbank surrounded by autumn trees. — The old Pell Sawmill, Hollow Creek.The old Pell Sawmill. Do not walk here after dark.

ENVIRONMENT

Residents near the old sawmill report a sweet smell along the riverSomething blooming at the mill is putting the east side to sleep

Several east-side neighbors say the smell is strongest just before they fall asleep.Residents who walk the river after dark wake up three days later on their porches.

A wooden telephone pole on a quiet residential corner covered in layers of stapled lost-pet flyers. — Flyers on the corner of Elm and Third.Flyers on Elm and Third. Every one is the same dog.

COMMUNITY

Hundreds of lost-pet posters appear across town in a single weekAnimal control stops counting. Keep pets inside after dark

Animal control says it has never seen anything like it. Most of the missing pets were last seen near Hollow Creek.The posters are real. So are the tracks along Hollow Creek.

A young woman with feathered hair and headphones smiles at a radio mixing board surrounded by reel-to-reel decks in a wood-paneled booth, 1975. — June Albers at the WBHS board, 1975.June Albers at the WBHS board, 1975. And 2026.

SCHOOLS

WBHS 88.3 celebrates 51 years on the airWBHS has carried a second signal since its first night

The high school station first broadcast on November 10, 1975, and it has not missed a night since. Station manager June Albers has run WBHS from the beginning. "Former students still call in," she said. "Some of them haven't been students in forty years. They still know the frequency." An open house is planned for Saturday in the east wing.Between 2 and 3 a.m., under the oldies, June Albers reads the names. Tune to 88.3 and listen past the static. If you hear your street, stay inside. She has read them every night since November 10, 1975, and she has never once been wrong.