Effort for new bridge launched, ARP funds committed toward patrol cars, cybersecurity strengthened

Agenda and documents

Meeting Highlights

Union contracts updated

Changes to the county courthouse employees contract included updating gender pronouns, adding mother-in-law and father-in-law to the definition of immediate family, and adding up to 6 weeks of parental leave (two paid, four unpaid).

The county airport employee contract was updated to include Good Friday as a holiday and increase the clothing maintenance stipend by $200/year.

Both contracts updated the pay raise schedule, too.

ARP money spent on patrol cars

The board voted unanimously in favor of purchasing five new patrol cars for the county sheriff through the state bid system using money from the American Rescue Plan.

Cybersecurity proposal from Laurium Labs

Someone from Laurium Labs has pitched a cybersecurity suite to augment the IT services already provided by the in-house IT employee (not at this meeting).

The board voted unanimously in favor of spending $3,360 on the service without expanding on what that service included.

No documentation was included in the board packet for this item.

New bridge discussion

Commissioner Tom Tikkanen told the board that Michigan would be receiving $10 billion in funds through the newly passed infrastructure bill, and he would like to see some of that come to Houghton County for a second bridge crossing the Portage Waterway.

Commissioner Glenn Anderson said that he had found that the area north of the bridge is the second-largest area, by population, in the continental U.S. serviced only by a single bridge.

The board voted unanimously to draft a letter to MDOT and state legislators to pressure them to consider committing funds for an additional bridge.

Other Notes

The board approved the sale of a lot of land attached to the county airport to Copper Island Academy for $5,000.

Plot map of the property to be sold.

The county board also approved compensation for the Houghton County Road Commissioners, which was informed by the state of Michigan that their compensation had to be approved and appropriated by the board of commissioners.

Dick Storm submitted a letter to the board expressing his disappointment that the board is no longer streaming their meetings via Zoom.

New council member added, former clerk's errors caught, holidays now paid for new employees

Meeting Highlights

Catching former clerk’s mistakes, recovering available funds

The village’s new clerk, Kristen Archambeau, has been catching and fixing several errors made by former clerk Joe Morgan.

One of these, while small, was unfortunately unrecoverable. A small error in the millage rate which was caught by county employees cost the village about $119 because the tax bills had already been printed and would have cost more than that amount to reprint.

Michigan tax withholding had been paid late or not at all nearly every month since Morgan had taken over for the clerk who preceded him, Jason Coffey. Late payments and fees have been paid. The fees for late payment totaled over $1,000.

The American Rescue Plan application had been filed incorrectly by the previous clerk, but Archambeau communicated with the department to fix the errors and refile them. The deadline was only days away, and the errors nearly cost the village more than $76,000.

No quarterly reports had been submitted to the Michigan Municipal League’s unemployment fund for 2021. This has been rectified with little expense to the village.

Several other small details were also updated or fixed during the last month and communicated to the board during the meeting.

Sole applicant added to the council

Only one letter of interest was received to fill the vacated position left by Houghton County Sheriff Joshua Saaranen. The council briefly discussed holding off to fill the role but ultimately decided they could not, given the empty position and the letter of interest.

Paul Saaranen was added to the council in a 4-0 vote (two members of the council were absent from the meeting).

Paid holiday policy changed for new employees

Previously, village employees only got paid holidays after having worked for the village a full year. The council voted to make paid holidays available on initial hiring. They agreed that not only was Clerk Archambeau doing a job worthy of immediate holiday pay but that attracting good employees in the future warranted the increased benefit.

Other notes

Trustees Cody Bonini and Carol Petrelius were absent from the meeting.

The council discussed allowing the clerk to use Remind, a text and email messaging service, to create a sign-up list for informational messages from the village.

The council approved arranging a time for a citizen who requested it to walk laps in the community hall during the winter rather than on the sometimes-icy sidewalks. The citizen that requested the access told the clerk that 26 laps around the inside of the community hall are a mile.

The council formally gave permission to the clerk and other village employees who also volunteer as first responders to respond to emergency calls while on the clock with the village.

The council approved a $30/hr rate for Coffey, the clerk who preceded the last clerk, Morgan. Coffey has logged some time helping the newest clerk learn her duties and tools.

Wind Turbulence (Episode 1)

Almost since the day I moved here more than three years ago, I’ve been reporting on wind turbines.

There’s good reason to keep doing so, but I started feeling like I was just repeating the same story over and over again—public meeting, frustrated public, little concrete information, slow progress— only the names have been changed.

Rather than grow jaded with the important local story, I decided to try and dive a bit deeper. There are some questions that I don’t feel I’ve been able to answer in my reporting yet, and “Wind Turbulence” is an attempt to illuminate those questions for you using a different medium.

The purpose isn’t to help change anyone’s mind one way or the other about wind turbine development, but to bring some of the finer points of the discussion to the forefront while the moratoriums in place in Adams and Stanton townships give local citizens time to think without being concerned with looming construction.

In this first episode, I briefly interview Kathleen Halvorsen and Roman Sidortsov. I feel like any introduction I try to give them hardly does them justice. Both of them research and work with energy policy on a national and international level, but they also both live here, in Houghton County. We discussed the tradeoffs of local wind turbine development and the mitigating factor that distributed generation might play in energy development and resiliency.

In future episodes, I’m planning to explore the tax code surrounding wind turbines, how the Michigan Public Service Commission works, and other complex topics with people who are experts on them.

I hope the series will help people think deeply about the energy future of the Upper Peninsula.

Ontonagon council confronts financial instability

Ontonagon President Tony Smydra made a quick adjustment to the agenda at the regular meeting on Oct. 26 and introduced Joe Verlin of Gabridge & Company, the auditing firm that had completed the village audit. Verlin was present, via video conference, to discuss the recently completed audit and to answer questions.

Verlin informed the council that the audit report had been submitted to the Michigan Treasury Department, on time.

The assets of the village total $4.7 million dollars, but there is a deficit (liability) of $6.4 million.

In the current year, the village has a general fund deficit of $232,346. The general fund balance decreased by $525,117 from last year.

In summary, there isn’t enough in the way of assets to generate enough revenue to offset what is being spent.

“Your revenues remain flat and our expenses are going up,” Verlin told the council.

Since March 31, the village has increased property taxes from 11 mills to 15 mills, a slight increase in revenue for the new fiscal year.

The pension liability was mentioned and Verlin told the council the obvious—that they have little flexibility in the general fund. The MERS pension liability is a virtual albatross around the fiscal neck of the village.

The general effect of Verln’s review of the audit on those who were present was one of almost shock.

“Coming up with some sort of long-term solution is paramount,” were final words of advice from the auditor.      

Verlin said that he sees some signs of improvement with the tightening of internal controls in more recent times. Several findings from the auditor have already been addressed by the council and the new village manager.  He also cautioned the council that the Michigan Treasury Department may well take action to force the village to take corrective action.

And in fact, the treasury department has taken an interest. Following the auditor’s presentation, the village manager began his report, during which he informed the council that the village has received a request from the Michigan Treasury Department commenting on the recent audit which they have reviewed.

The department noted the obvious: actual expenditures exceeded the amounts authorized in the budget; deficiencies were mentioned in the audit report, and it was noted that expenditures have exceeded revenues for the last three years. Treasury is asking for an explanation for this trend.

The treasury is now demanding, within 30 days, a detailed Corrective Action Plan or else specified penalties will be applied which could include imposing the Revised Municipal Finance Act of 2001 which could prevent the village from borrowing money, and submit to an audit to be performed by the Department of the Treasury (at the village’s expense).

In addition to what appears to be an ultimatum from the Treasury, the village was also notified that the Treasury intends to withhold state revenue sharing funds until an acceptable deficit elimination plan is in place.

Specifically alluded to were the following village funds:

GENERAL FUND—$232,346 over budget

LOCAL STREETS FUND—$309,140 over budget

MARINA FUND—$267,172 over budget

Again, the Treasury Department is demanding receipt of a plan to eliminate the above deficits within 30 days from Oct.5 or the penalties will be imposed.

Manager William DuPont will attempt to work out some understanding with the Treasury department. The MERS liability now exceeds the total revenue of the General Fund.

Smydra expressed the position that the village will do what is necessary to work things through—there is still room for optimism.

Under Financial Reports, which is a new addition to the regular council meetings, more details about the financial status of the village are now available, thanks to new accounting practices that have been put in place. This very comprehensive report informed the council, almost to the penny, of the revenue and liabilities of the village.

         Also under general reports were:

         •  Water and Sewer Committee: A meeting with the state park will be scheduled. Water rates have not been increased or adjusted since the park was first provided water service through the regional water system.

         • Building Committee: Don Chasten reported that a house on the corner of Mercury Street and Old Rockland Road now belongs to the village through the regular process of non-payment of taxes. This property was the former Southside Elementary School built in 1906. The property has long been neglected and it may have to be demolished.

         Under unfinished business:

•  Hospital MERS Update:  the ever-present liability for the pensions of the former employees and retirees of the Ontonagon Memorial Hospital (now owned and operated by Aspirus of Wausau).

Village Manager DuPont informed the council that the village currently owes MERS $137,165.52 of which $45,887.51 was due on Sept. 20. A partial payment of $15,000 was made on Oct. 12 and it is planned to make a further payment of $25,000 in early November.

An information meeting regarding the MERS buy-outs will take place on Nov. 8 from 10 to 11 a.m. There has been some interest shown in this alternative.

Congressman Bergman had met with the village manager to discuss the MERS situation, but there has been no word as a result of this meeting.

New planning commission member added, council members unhappy with state bill progress

Editor’s Note: I’m currently planning on attending Houghton City Council’s meeting on Nov. 17 rather than Hancock’s second meeting on the same night. Houghton is selecting a new councilor to replace Dan Salo. I’ll review the agenda of both meetings before making the final decision.

Agenda and Documents

Meeting Highlights

Adam Griffis added to the planning commission

In a 6 -0 vote, the council added Adam Griffis to the planning commission after having tabled the vote at the last meeting. There had been concerns about adding a new member to the planning commission so late in the zoning overhaul process.

Councilor Whitney Warstler abstained from the vote because she is married to Griffis.

Councilor Haeussler expresses disappointment with state representatives

A bill in the state legislature that would override most local ordinances concerning short-term rentals — commonly called Airbnbs — passed the House of Representatives with Rep. Greg Markkanen’s support. Among other things, the state law specifically states short-term rentals are a permitted use in all residential zones, and is not considered a commercial use of property.

Hancock recently finalized and began enacting its ordinance limiting short-term rentals, and is among several local cities recently crafting regulations on the relatively new form of vacation rental. The council unanimously passed a resolution opposing the state-level bill earlier this year.

Councilor John Haeussler said he was very disappointed in Rep. Markkanen’s vote in favor of state-level control.

Other notes:

Councilor Paul LaBine was re-elected by the board to be the mayor for another year. Councilor Kurt Rickard is taking over as mayor pro-tem from Councilor John Haeussler.

Fencing for the new dog park is partly installed and should be completed soon.

Whoville in Hancock is happening on Nov. 26 with the tree lighting and Christmas walk being planned. More volunteers are needed.

More than a dozen high school students were in attendance at the meeting as part of a class requirement.

The public hearing for Hancock’s proposed changes to the dangerous buildings code is set for the beginning of their Nov. 17 meeting.

President announces future resignation, council approves purchase of grapple fork

Editor’s Note: I will likely not be able to attend the regular meeting of the Calumet Village Council in November, because it is on the same day as the Houghton County Commissioner’s meeting. Normally they are a week apart but the HCC moved theirs for November.

Meeting Highlights

Village President announces resignation, pending house sale

Village President Brian Abramson announced that he is in the process of selling his house, and would be stepping down and moving to Marquette when the sale was complete.

Council approves purchase of grapple fork for front end loader

At the request of the DPW Superintendent Marc Klein, the council unanimously approved a $5,000 expense for a grapple fork to be purchased from Luce County. Klein said that Luce County took the piece of equipment off of auction and was willing to let the village buy it for the minimum bid. He also said the equipment was made for the loader the village recently purchased and would save the village many labor hours through the year. After the vote, Klein volunteered his time on a day off to pick up the piece of equipment in a show of appreciation.

Other notes:

Councilor Andrew Ranville was absent from the meeting.

Tales from Lansing

This update is compiled from official records held at legislature.michigan.gov.

Sen. Ed McBroom

Email: SenEMcBroom@senate.michigan.gov

Phone: 866-305-2038

Sponsored bills introduced

Senator Ed McBroom introduced Senate Bill 681, to rename the M-69 bridge over the Paint River to the “Clark Schwedler Memorial Bridge”. No vote has occurred.

Clark Schwedler grew up in Crystal Falls and was a U.S. Navy Seal. He died in Iraq in April of 2007.

Sen. McBroom also introduced Senate Bill 682 in October. The bill would create the Office of Rural Development within the existing Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. The bill assigns duties to the office including work to identify opportunities for rural businesses, analyze energy and infrastructure issues, assist with grant applications, and more. No vote has occurred.

Sen. McBroom also cosponsored Senate Bill 703, an appropriations bill for northern Michigan recreation and state parks. It would dedicate $310 million to the Department of Natural Resources, $250 million to address deferred maintenance on infrastructure in state parks, $30 million for Mackinac Island State Park, and $30 million for the Northern Michigan Regional Tourism and Sports Fund.

Votes of note

Editor’s note: This is not an exhaustive list of votes. Unanimous votes, party-line votes, and routine bill packages are generally not included as they are typically covered by other media sources. The intent is to spotlight votes our local legislators have made that might be unexpected or otherwise unnoticed. If you’d like a more complete record of your representatives’ votes, I recommend MichiganVotes.org, which has a fairly up-to-date and easily searchable summary. Ballotpedia.org also has some good information.

Sen. McBroom was one of two Republican senators that voted against House Bill 4485 when it came up before them. The bill would extend the sunset on a 50 cent cap on the tobacco tax placed on cigars. Four Democrats also voted against the bill, but it still passed.

Sen. McBroom was one of two senators who voted against exempting feminine hygiene products from use tax with Senate Bill 153 and House Bill 5267. Sen. McBroom said that carveouts in the property tax laws had and were again causing problems, and starting to make similar carveouts in the sales tax portion “undermines the broadness and the scope of the sales tax”. He said he could only support such a change if it were in the context of a broader discussion and overhaul of the tax law.

He was joined by Senator Lana Theis, who said parents were more concerned about children being forced to wear masks in schools than taxes on feminine hygiene products.

Rep. Greg Markkanen

Email: GregMarkkanen@house.mi.gov

Phone: 517-373-0850

Sponsored bills introduced

Representative Greg Markkanen introduced House Bill 5365, which modifies the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act to work with House Bill 5367, which HB 5365 is tie-barred with.

House Bill 5367, proposed by Representative Beau LaFave, essentially repeals the requirement to get a special license to carry a weapon in public spaces by gutting the law of the definition for “acceptable proof”, among other things.

Rep. Markkanen also introduced House Bill 5450 in October. The bill would reduce sentencing guidelines for defendants who have been honorably discharged from the military or completed a term with the AmeriCorps or Peace Corps or another community service (including employment). No vote has occurred on the bill.

Votes of note

Rep. Markkanen was one of several Republican representatives to vote in favor of House Bill 5043, which directs the Department of Education to establish a home-based family child care network. The network would offer participants coaching, professional development, and other operational supports. It was passed by the House and is currently in the Senate Committee on Families, Seniors, and Veterans, under chairperson John Bizon.

Rep. Markkanen was among the majority who voted for House Bill 5003, which increases fees on surface discharge permits. Fourteen other Republicans split from their party to vote against the measure. The bill was signed into law by Governor Gretchen Whitmer on Oct. 19.

Rep. Markkanen voted in favor of House Resolution 175, which calls for the resignation of Acting Director of the Unemployment Insurance Agency Liza Estlund Olson because of (in short) mismanagement. Olson was appointed by Gov. Whitmer on Nov. 5, 2020.

In a mixed vote, Rep. Markkanen joined with several other Republicans and Democrats to pass licensure mandates and a $75/per charger fee on paid electric vehicle charging service stations in House Bill 4801.

In a mixed vote, Rep. Markkanen voted in favor of House Bill 4722, which would keep local governments from enforcing zoning restrictions on “Airbnb-style” short-term rentals. Only certain regulations on noise, advertising, and other nuisances would be allowed under the law.

Video games in school

(Near to far) Matthew Monette, Dominic Barrette, John Holladay, and Katelyn Palesiewicz, members of the Finlandia University Valorant team, practicing on Thursday night.

What are Esports?

“Esports is a massive umbrella,” said Lincoln Sorensen, the Esports Head Coach at Finlandia University.

In short, esports are organized competitive video games. Universities, high schools, and even middle schools around the world have been adding school-linked teams at a rapid pace recently, but the games themselves remain a mystery to many people.

Esports encompasses several different video games with wildly different gameplay, and each game is hosted in multiple leagues, too.

“Last year, we were part of a league called the ECAC,” Sorensen said. “And now we’re moving into being part of an esports league called the NECC this year.”

Michigan Technological University’s esports team, directed by Kaitlyn Roose, varyingly participates in NACE, UGC, ESEA, CEA, NECC, MEC, and a number of game-specific leagues.

“NACE is the big one,” Roose said. “They’re like the NCAA of esports… And we’re actually the Counter-Strike champions from last year.”

Leagues might offer different games and participating schools, and the teams choose what leagues to participate in based on what games players want to play and who they can play competitively against.

MTU’s Counter-Strike trophy from last year’s national NACE championship.

This semester Finlandia is playing Valorant and Rocket League. Next semester they’ll be adding Overwatch and Apex Legends. MTU has players engaged in Rainbow Six Siege, Rocket League, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends, and Overwatch.

Most video games in collegiate-level esports are team-oriented, with goals that can only be accomplished with teammates fulfilling different roles.

“You can have a really strong player mechanically, but if the team around them either doesn’t work together or are all doing different things or have different priorities, it’s going to be difficult to win,” Roose said.

Dillion Farmer is a senior at Finlandia University. He played lacrosse, hockey, football, and wrestled in high school and college before coming to Hancock, where he joined the esports team. On the Valorant team, he plays the role of a duelist.

“A duelist is someone on the team who is going to seek out engagements against the other team,” Farmer said. “Try to get kills and create space for your team.”

Other roles include the controller, the initiator, and the sentinel, and each role has different characters that are selectable, with special equipment and abilities suited to that role. Players choose their character based on their own play style and what role their team needs to be filled.

Dillion Farmer prepares to join his team in their Valorant practice.

How are they different than other sports?

“There really aren’t a ton of differences,” Roose said.

Roose recruits her players similar to a coach would for any other sport.

“The main difference is I don’t need to see them in person to assess their skill,” Roose said.

Both Finlandia and Michigan Tech follow NCAA rules for team activity, despite not being an official part of the NCAA. Teams are allowed no more than twenty hours a week of team activity like practices, workouts, and games. There are also GPA standards for participation.

Another key difference that may not be apparent is the level of team communication involved.

“Communication happens on a very specific, articulate, concise level within esports,” Sorensen said.

In traditional sports, communication between teammates is often short, barked directions that can also be heard by opposing players. But communication in esports is through private headset channels between teammates in the game, so directions and strategies can be plainly spoken and easily heard.

“I can whisper something to you and you’re going to hear it,” Farmer said.

This lets team leaders clearly spell out strategies and key information, which allows for tight execution of plans and complex adjustments mid-game to take advantage of lapses in the other team’s strategy.

John Holladay, behind one of Finlandia’s custom computer cases.

Roose said teams will have a “strat book” with their team strategies in it, similar to a football team’s playbook.

“So maybe it’s where to put a smoke [smoke grenade], which LOS—lines of sight—or angles to hold, who specifically is holding those angles, where specifically they are moving (and) at what point…” Roose said.

While some teams do have specialized coaches, Roose doesn’t work directly with her teams, and Sorensen doesn’t drill with his teams, either.

“There’s a big difference between what I do and what a traditional coach does,” Sorensen said.

While Sorensen has played many video games extensively, he isn’t an expert in the newer games offered in his program, and those games can change from semester to semester, too. Unlike traditional games, video games can release updates that teams then have to learn and adapt to as well.

So when Sorensen is coaching his teams, it’s more about interpersonal communication, decision making, and mental fortitude. Mechanics and game skills are left more to the individual player.

Before a match, they’ll watch the previously recorded matches of their opponent to find out how they play and what strategies their team might want to practice to counter them.

There’s also an entirely new competitive season of esports each semester.

“So we will have an entire competitive season this fall, and we will have an entirely new, fresh, clean start next spring as well,” Sorensen said.

Esports is also a little more flexible than traditional sports in scheduling, as the majority of their matches require no travel for any of the participants and weather isn’t much of an issue since everyone plays inside.

“All we need is to be in our space with them in their space at the same time,” Sorensen said.

Sorensen said this was an advantage over other sports during the pandemic lockdowns last year, as their season was able to continue through the 2020-2021 school year mostly uninterrupted. Roose said that not having to travel saves the teams a big expense and keeps the players from being pulled out of class very often.

Teams do still travel from time to time for special LAN (local area network) events. MTU’s team went to Northern Michigan University for a special Halloween LAN this week and Hancock’s high school team may attend one in the Detroit area.

“It’s a networking experience for coaches, for players, and it just gives you that face time,” Roose said.

John Holladay recently graduated from Hancock High School and now plays for the Finlandia University Esports team, streams from their media booth (seen here), and coaches the Hancock High School Esports team.

What good are esports for students?

Perhaps the first question on parents’ lips would be if there are scholarships available for engaging in esports, and the answer is yes.

At Finlandia University, there are two scholarships available, $500 a semester for team members who keep their GPA above a 2.5, and $1,000 per semester if they keep their GPA above a 3.0. However, these scholarships are only available for students who aren’t also participating in NCAA sports.

At MTU, students can get as much as $10,000 in athletic scholarships for participation on the esports team. Roose said combined with other academic and need-based aid, some students have their tuition entirely paid for.

But there is also the development of important skills at work in esports.

Sorensen said that because of the closeness of the communication, being mindful about how directions, information, and strategy is shared is one of the key things he works on teaching his players.

“Communicating a message that you want someone to understand and apply in a positive way is one of the greatest takeaways that we can get from this gaming space,” he said.

Roose, who is also a Ph.D. student in MTU’s Cognitive and Learning Sciences Department, has studied communication and decision making in video games as well as other situations.

“They’re learning how to communicate not only effectively but also with different types of people,” she said.

Kaitlyn Roose, in the conference room overlooking the MTU esports arena.

Roose said that clear communication feeds into conflict management and leadership development.

Sorensen said he trains his students with an eye on their future careers.

“I really think that the best gamer they can be is one with the best head on their shoulders,” Sorensen said. “So that’s what I’m trying to provide them—it’s not individual skill at a video game but the aptitude to communicate and interact no matter what video game or pursuit they have in life.”

Players like Farmer, who has participated in more traditional athletics, know there is a lot of crossover in lessons from one sport to another, and esports.

“There’s a lot of lessons that you learn that aren’t necessarily just for that sport,” Farmer said.

Lessons of competition like how to stay in a losing game or accept defeat with grace can be learned in esports just as much as they are in football, basketball, or hockey.

“I’m a nursing major,” Farmer said. “So eventually I’m pursuing a career in nursing and then possibly beyond that.”

He did say he might be interested in coaching esports as a part-time job somewhere, though.

“The same way someone with a day job may coach football because they played at a higher level,” he said.

There’s also a beneficial social atmosphere that can be hard to attain for people who enjoy indoor activities.

John Holladay, who plays Valorant for Finlandia University, said he’s appreciated having a community to interact with. He said it is often a struggle for him to find people to play video games with.

“There are a lot of people that I never would have met if I didn’t join esports,” he said.

Esports can be much more inclusive of people with physical disabilities, too. Controls can be adapted so people with poor motor skills or even absent limbs can participate competitively.

Other students who aren’t playing competitively also help with streaming the matches, maintaining the computers, graphic design, and other work in the “esports ecosystem” where they can gain valuable experience in broadly applicable skills.

MTU’s esports department has a dedicated media team with positions for social media management, on-screen esports casters, and audio engineering, as well as an IT manager who handles network and computer maintenance.

“It’s really important that it’s student-run,” Roose said. “The students need the hands-on experience, especially with tech.”

Roose also does her best to make sure her coaches and student workers are fairly paid.

Max Reisterer plays on MTU’s Rocket League team. He took his gamertag—the name players are known by in-game—partially from his birthday, Sept. 9, 1999. “So I love the number 9, and then I like ninjas, so I just smashed them together. We got Nineja,” he said.

Where’s the science?

Roose’s master’s thesis focused on the development and use of the Tracer Method, which combined eye-tracking technology with player interviews after a game session to analyze decision-making under stressful situations and what factors go into the decision-making process.

The method creates quantitative data to an otherwise subjective process.

Roose’s advisor at MTU is Elizabeth Veinott, a cognitive psychologist who directs MTU’s Center for Human-Centered Computing. Her work focuses on how people make decisions in different environments.

“I study real people doing real work,” Veinott said. “Esports is one of the domains I study.”

Within esports, the two try to determine what the difference between decisions made by novice players and expert players is, and how to teach people to make better decisions using that information.

The Tracer Method tracks a player’s eyes while they play a match. After the match, a researcher will interview the player about the moments in the game where they were considering a critical decision.

“Typically, there are only a couple,” Veinott said.

The researchers can then sync up the video of when the decision was being made to the eye-tracking data to find out what information the player was drawing from when making their critical choices.

Normally, in games like Overwatch, the player spends most of their time looking at or near the aiming reticle in the center of the screen.

“When they’re doing sensemaking decisions they’re spending a lot of time looking at their charge and their ammo and their health,” Veinott said.

Taking a high-paced game like Overwatch and analyzing the critical decisions of many players in many games starts to reveal what sensemaking decisions entail in a quantitative way. They’ve found that experts tend to have similar eye movements when making critical decisions.

“This tells us that there is something to train,” Veinott said.

The Tracer Method is still in development, but Veinott is hopeful it will have applications in other environments, like debugging computer code.

“But we’re developing in the context of video games,” she said.

In other studies, Veinott has found that playing problem-solving-focused video games can help people with problem-solving exercises against a control situation of someone watching a video for an equal amount of time.

People who regularly played video games didn’t show an improvement, but not because they were worse.

“The gamers kind of brought it to the table, they didn’t need a 30-minute game to have them sort of think differently,” Veinott said. “But non-gamers actually did a lot better if they just had played one of these problem-solving games.”

Games encourage trying again after an initial failure, and trying multiple ways of approaching a problem. Regular players adopt these things into their regular cognitive processes.

John Holladay, on stream during Hancock High School’s Valorant match this week.

How do I watch my local team play?

Teams can’t hear when spectators are cheering them on, but Farmer said they still like knowing that people are watching. The players will look back at the video after the fact and can see what people have written in the live chat that runs with the stream.

“Even looking at it after the fact it is very entertaining to see when people get excited,” Farmer said.

At the same time, coaches and players understand that some of the games can be difficult to understand for a non-player. Roose said a lot of the responsibility to explain the game falls to the casters who host the streaming matches.

“So for us, we’re going to try to make sure that we’re able to articulate the purpose of the game or what somebody is doing, and explain it in a way that people are able to understand it,” Roose said.

She also said that some games are easier to understand than others. Those that are comparable to sports or described with traditional militaristic terms are more easily understandable to the non-player.

Sorensen said there’s one popular game that is very accessible to viewers.

“I hold Rocket League up as being what I consider to be a very good esport,” Sorensen said.

This is because the basics of the game are very easily explained, making the knowledge necessary for enjoyable viewing easy to attain.

“It’s soccer with flying Hot Wheels cars,” he said.

A Rocket League clip from plays.tv

League of Legends and Overwatch have complex game mechanics and fast-paced gameplay that make non-player viewing and adequate explanation difficult to manage. Roose said they’re developing FAQs and terminology lists to help first-time viewers and parents understand what is happening in matches.

You can watch esports matches on Twitch.tv, both teams and leagues host channels.

MTU's streaming channel

MTU Esports Twitter

Finlandia's streaming channel

Finlandia Esports Twitter

Holladay also streams the Hancock High School MIHSCF matches on his channel.

Holladay's streaming channel

The Hancock team is currently 4-0 in their season of Valorant. Baraga and Calumet also have high school esports teams.

“I’ve never said no to in-person viewers,” Sorensen said.

Councilor Dan Salo resigns, code enforcement proceeds, new grant opportunity on the horizon

Agenda and Documents

Meeting Highlights

Councilor Dan Salo resigns position to be a ‘snowbird’

In a letter read aloud by City Clerk Ann Vollrath, City Councilor Dan Salo announced his immediate resignation from the board. Salo has served on the council since 2011.

He intends to be a “snowbird” (someone who only lives in the area during warmer weather, and moves south during winter) beginning this year, and as a part-time resident does not feel it appropriate to continue as a councilor.

The council has 30 days to appoint a replacement to serve the remainder of Salo’s term (about one year), or city statute would require a special election in May to choose a successor. City Manager Eric Waara said they would immediately begin advertising for applicants so that a new councilor could be appointed at the November meeting of the council.

Dangerous building enforcement hearing set for November meeting

The council agreed to have a hearing for the owner of the property at 915 College Avenue at their Nov. 17 meeting. The property suffered a fire recently and is currently considered a dangerous building under city code. The hearing gives the owner, who does not live at that address, the chance to explain how they will bring the building back into code before the city takes action of its own.

The matter has already come before a judge for a hearing at which the property owner did not appear to defend or explain their inaction on the building.

According to City Manager Waara, if things continue this way, the city public works department will likely end up demolishing the building and the cost of the work will be added to the property’s taxes.

City to pursue neighborhood enhancement grant

Manager Waara recommended the city apply to a grant program run by the Michigan State Housing Development Authority that, if awarded, would allow the city the chance to grant up to $15,000 to property owners inside a designated neighborhood for improvements like reroofing, residing, or driveway repairs.

A portion of the grant might also be used for sidewalks.

Other notes:

Public restrooms operated by the city have been closed for the season.

Most road work in the city is either finished or halted for the season.

City Manager Waara said he would approach Michigan Tech and the National Park Service about refinishing the seawall that collapsed into Portage Lake last month.

The city is pursuing action against The Fire Station Cannabis Company for the new sign off of M-26, which the city manager said violates the city sign ordinance and has generated several complaints.

The police department is starting to alert people to, and enforce, winter parking restrictions in the city.

Trick-or-treat hours are 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday night. Fire department volunteers will assist Houghton Police Department in patrolling the streets.

The council approved the purchase of a new police vehicle through a 50/50 grant match from the USDA.

The council approved the selling of a police department snowmobile through a sealed-bid system.

The council approved paying half of the cost for ten new bulletproof vests for the police department at a cost of $4,400.

Local Graveyards: A Quiet Repository of Personal Histories

A grave marker is almost entirely hidden at the base of a tree inside the Hecla Cemetery, Oct. 19. Photo by Joshua Vissers.

Those who lie here…

Last weekend, the Keweenaw Green Burial Alliance hosted a tour of graveyards in the Calumet area, including the Schoolcraft Cemetery, the Hecla Cemetery, and the Congregational Peniel Jewish Cemetery.

None of the three have been active for the last century, and many of the gravestones have tilted, fallen, or been knocked down. Some are beginning to be difficult to read after a century of weathering. Many are overgrown with myrtle and other brush and remain hidden from easy sight.

The beautiful, haunting, October aesthetic is undeniable. While it’s easy for many of us to drive by these stones and remark on the beauty without a second thought, there are those in the community who have worked hard to preserve the memory of the people interred beneath.

From the Schoolcraft Cemetery during the Oct. 16 group tour. Photo by Joshua Vissers.

The headstones often record violent causes of death, revealing an industrial and frontier history where the ages of the deceased were typically well below today's life expectancy.

Forgotten graveyards recovered

The Schoolcraft Cemetery

This cemetery, also known as the Centennial Cemetery, was founded in 1865 on about 5.3 acres by the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company. More than 400 gravesites are recorded there on FindAGrave.com, and more than half of them have been photographed and researched by Lynette Webber, a 2021 graduate of Michigan Tech and a member of the Gamma Theta Upsilon geographical honor society. She and fellow GTU member Brooke Batterson, a master’s degree student in the industrial heritage and archaeology program at MTU, work to recover, record, and maintain the graveyard with other volunteers as one of their GTU chapter projects.

This Schoolcraft Cemetery marker stone looks blank, but there’s a high chance the engraving is simply on the other side. A gated cemetery plot blends into the trees of the background. Lynette Weber said many plots have yet to be uncovered here. Photo by Joshua Vissers.

Batterson said that there are 440 - 500 burial spaces, but there could be more than 700 individuals interred there because of different practices like women sometimes being buried with an infant. The team, which includes graduate student James Juip, Assistant Professor Mark Rhodes, and Social Sciences Instructor Kathryn Hannum— all from MTU—has been working to map the gravesites with GPS technology and has completed about 234 of them. They’ve also been helping clear brush and walking trails with support from Calumet Township.

In the 1890s, the cemetery was considered full and burials were discouraged there in favor of Lake View Cemetery, which opened in 1894. However, occasional burials did continue to happen.

“It’s hard to know before 1897 who was buried there,” Weber said, “because it wasn’t included on death records—the cemetery or where they were left to rest.”

Some of the burials there were also disinterred, either to be reburied with family elsewhere or to be moved to the veteran’s section in Lake View Cemetery when it opened.

Schoolcraft Cemetery. Photo by Joshua Vissers.

Calumet Township now owns the Schoolcraft Cemetery property, but for many years, Weber said the cemetery remained in the hands of the mining company.

“And they weren’t really in the cemetery business,” she said.

The mining company wasn’t interested in spending time or money in the graveyard. They also weren’t interested in keeping thorough, accurate records about the site.

“Even while Calumet and Hecla was still active, they weren’t doing a whole lot,” Weber said.

But Weber said that’s part of what makes the project exciting for GTU, the potential for rediscovery.

Schoolcraft Cemetery. Photo by Joshua Vissers.

The Hecla Cemetery

Also known as the Laurium or Sacred Heart Cemetery, this burial site was founded circa 1860 by the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company, and contains nearly 300 graves, according to research by Jeremiah Mason, Keweenaw National Historical Park Archivist. It was a Catholic cemetery, but no sexton’s records have been found for it. Most Catholic burials were placed in Lake View Cemetery starting around 1905.

From the Hecla Cemetery. Photo by Joshua Vissers.

Between 1905 and 1958, local citizens repeatedly organized cleanups to try and keep the cemetery maintained. Ruth Gleckler, one of the current volunteer custodians, has found articles about cleanups and repair by the Catholic Societies, Father Humbert, and Sacred Heart Church itself.

Despite community efforts, it eventually fell into disrepair and suffered repeated vandalism and even illegal dumping. Headstones continue to be used as party locations by teens even after modern cleanup work, with ashes from a recent fire and other refuse still found in front of them.

In 2007, the land was purchased by the Houghton-Keweenaw County Genealogical Society and donated to Calumet Township. Several groups of volunteers have been working to restore it since then, with contributions from the National Park Service, Knights of Columbus, and many volunteers. The HKCGS has photos of many of the gravestones on their website, with chalk rubbings to make them more readable.

Hecla Cemetery. Photo by Joshua Vissers.

The Congregation Peniel Jewish Cemetery

Also known as the Jewish Lake View Cemetery, or simply the Calumet Jewish Cemetery.

According to Gleckler, there is an article from the Copper Country Evening News dated Sept. 14, 1900, that says a man named Max Gittler bought 3 acres next to the town of Lake View to establish a Jewish burial ground. According to the article, the Jewish families in the area needed a closer cemetery for burials, as the closest Jewish burial ground was in Marinette. Jewish tradition requires burial as soon as possible, within 24 hours of death traditionally. However, the rocky ground made burials difficult, and the cemetery was only used for about ten years.

FindAGrave.com shows only nine burials in the cemetery, but Gleckler said there are likely more.

Memories of the interred

A gated plot within the Schoolcraft Cemetery. Photo by Joshua Vissers.

Weber, who led the tour through the Schoolcraft cemetery, is uploading much of the volunteer’s efforts onto FindaGrave.com, which makes a useful public repository for knowledge and photographs, although she said the crowd-sourced information isn’t always trustworthy. It serves as a useful tool for sharing their discoveries.

“I have actually gotten a few different responses from descendants who were very excited,” Weber said. “Some of them were able to go to the cemetery after we uncovered the grave marker for their family member and tidy it up a lot more.”

She said some markers they revealed had been searched for by family for as many as 50 years. There are many others that are still missing.

When they uncover a new marker, they can look the name up in birth, marriage, death, and census records. They can also check newspaper archives if they suspect the person died in an accident or crime that would have been covered.

Caroline Shwykert 1868-1875

Weber found Caroline Shwykert’s story to be among the most tragic they uncovered. After going out to retrieve the family cow, 7-year-old Caroline never returned. Her body was later found in Slaughterhouse Creek.

This article picks up the story from there.

Added to FindaGrave.com by Lynette Weber

Caroline’s father, Louis Schweigert, was a German immigrant who served in the Civil War. He was killed by gas in the mine and initially buried next to Caroline but was later moved to Lake View Cemetery for the newly-opened veteran’s section.

Caroline remains buried in the Schoolcraft Cemetery, next to a footstone labeled “L.S.” marking a now-empty grave.

Added to FindaGrave.com by Lynette Weber

“I think that’s a very compelling story in a lot of different ways,” Weber said. “There’s a lot of ‘what-ifs’ in a cemetery.”

Joseph Pope 1869-1893

Joseph Pope was one of ten men who died in a horrific mineshaft accident. When coming up a near-vertical shaft for their lunch, the hoist cage was pulled against the roof of the shaft house, crushing some of the occupants. The coupling pin then broke and the cage fell more than 3,000 feet to the bottom of the shaft.

The Calumet and Hecla Mining Company accepted no liability for what they called a mechanical failure but did pay out $1,000 to each of the victims’ families.

Added to FindaGrave.com by Lynette Weber

“It’s surreal to me because we’re around the same age,” Batterson said.

Green burial alternatives

The tour on Oct. 16 was organized and hosted by the Keweenaw Green Burial Alliance, proponents of a “dust to dust” approach to burial in which the body is laid to rest in a way that encourages natural decomposition.

In a green or natural burial, the body is buried in a more wild setting, like an unmowed meadow or woodland, without using toxic embalming fluids, cement vaults, or plastic grave liners. The body is buried in a biodegradable container and may or may not have any kind of marker, depending on the rules of the cemetery. Locations of burials are carefully recorded and provided to families on request.

Green burials are favored among those concerned about the environmental impacts of conventional burial or cremation, and those who want their body’s nutrients to return to nature.

A tilted grave marker in the Schoolcraft Cemetery. Lynette Weber said many stones have been hit by falling trees, but some of the damage is also vandalism. Photo by Joshua Vissers.